The Branding

The Branding As Tradition

The Branding is one of the most extreme punishments given in Talingarde, which can only be bestowed by a magistrate of the Axiomatic Church in rare circumstances in which the offender has not only committed a grave crime against canon law that demonstrates their mortal sin, but they must have demonstrated through recidivism or character an unwillingness to seek absolution or rehabilitation for said crime. Considering the god Mitra is both a reformed demon prince and embodies in their doctrine the concept of redemption, the Branded are truly some of the most villainous Talireans to have ever lived, and it is a sentence given only a few times every year.

Those sentenced to undergo the Branding are sent to the seaside prison-fortress of Branderscar in Lower Myrcia. There, using an enchanted iron heated by coals, a runic "F" (meaning "forsaken") is burned onto the skin of the convicted, a spiritual rune that cannot be hidden by magical means and emanantes a pulse of Evil, marking them forever as villains and condemning their soul to never see the light of Mitra. Even now, however, Mitran priests hope for a moment of redemption: if they confess and recant before their execution, their soul might be purified through the tribulations of Tartarus after their execution and keep them from being tossed into the Pit.

Along with the Branding, these forsaken face either execution or a sentence of forced labor in the nearby salt mines that essentially amounts to execution. How long it takes before they face this secondary sentence depends on their behavior and willingness to show an interest in recanting. This can be days or years, though it also depends mightily on the opinion of the lord warden and the prison's chaplain.

The Branding As Character Trait

Your Branding is also a trait your character has like their Ancestry or Class, that grants with it some mechanical and flavor considerations.

Think about why your crime and circumstances demanded this, the most high and severe of sentences. You are to be executed, and the form of this sentence is listed with the Branding. Though how long it takes to be eventually executed can vary, it just happens in your case that you will be executed in three days when the lord warden returns from business abroad.

In addition to granting a bonus skill and feat, your Branding is also a mark on your body and soul. It is a powerful enchantment that cannot be hidden by alteration or illusion magic, though it can be physically covered or disguised. It also is always detectable by a detect evil spell, unless some other spell counters such an effect. There is a useful side-effect however: the brand burns when detect evil senses it, meaning that you get a fair warning that someone smells your damnation.

The remove curse spell removes this enchantment, after which the scar remains but can be healed through an effect that would heal any normal scar.

Below are the available Brandings for player characters. These are just starting points: feel free to change and edit as you would a Background.

Arsonist

You have willfully started a fire that destroyed life and property. To be sent to Branderscar, you didn't start just a minor little trash fire. Your act of arson threatened a major town, city, church or castle and likely cost several or many lives. You'll be punished for your crime by facing the fire yourself.

• Skill: Athletics
• Feat: Incredible Initiative
• Benefit: You always have the tools by which to start a fire at hand, or can scrounge them up in all save the most extreme circumstances, and can easily assess a structure's weaknesses, though more out of a taste for destruction than necessarily a sapper's expertise.

Blasphemer

You have violated one of the churches, cathedrals, or holy sites of the great divine Mitra or their Sacred Heptead. To be sent to Branderscar this was no minor act of vandalism. Instead you have done something flagrant and spectacular to dishonor the Pantokrator. You will be crucified and left to die under the sun.

• Skill: Religion
• Feat: Recognize Spell
• Benefit: You know when you are on holy ground, feeling the oppressive presence of Good and always know what would be required to despoil it and bypass its wards and protections, though may not necessarily have the means at hand.

Brigand

You were part of an organized group who waylaid innocent people on the road for their coin and treasure. Eventually you were captured, or more likely sold out by your comrades. You must have been dangerous enough to be sent to Branderscar as well. You are to be beheaded.

• Skill: Stealth
• Feat: Terrain Stalker
• Benefit: No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When you are in a civilized settlement, you can get away with minor criminal offenses, such as refusing to pay for food at a tavern or breaking down doors at a local shop, since most people will not report your activity to the authorities.

Burglar

You had a foolproof plan to steal some great treasure. Alas, the scheme had a fatal flaw and went horribly awry. To be sent to Branderscar prison, this was no ordinary robbery attempt. You tried to steal something of great value or religious significance. For this, you will be hanged.

• Skill: Thievery
• Feat: Subtle Theft
• Benefit: You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to a network of other criminals. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you.

Deserter

You had deserted from the military of one of the Six Realms, and been recaptured. Gross insubordination or dereliction of duty can be treated the same way by court martial. To get sent to Branderscar this was more than a routine dereliction of duty, but abandoning your post during a time of crisis in supreme laziness or cowardice punishable by beheading.

• Skill: Athletics
• Feat: Diehard
• Benefit: You always know who the weakest links are and the most likely places to find dissent and mutineers in the ranks, and can always find an opportunity to stir up some trouble within an organized and military-style force.

Extortionist

You have defrauded money from someone by using blackmail or threats of violence. To end up in Branderscar, this was no minor act but an attempt against someone of great prominence and for exorbitant stakes. Possibly you were a member of an organized crime syndicate. You will be sent to the salt mines for a life of hard labor.

• Skill: Diplomacy
• Feat: Hobnobber
• Benefit: You still have the leverage you had before you were imprisoned over a person of great prominence. Describe who they are, and once you are free, you may return to blackmailing them to give your organization aid, but should do so carefully.

Forger

You were an expert at forging imperial or church documents. Alas, your forgery while competent was not entirely undetectable, at least by magic. Forgery is not usually a capital crime, but this forged document could have cost lives, undermined the reputation of the Church or endangered the realm, and will land you in the salt mines to be worked until death.

• Skill: Crafting
• Feat: Specialty Crafting (Forgery)
• Benefit: Any forgeries you make are considered "perfect" and are not detectable by mundane means, as you are not liable to make the same mistakes as before. You still need to beat the DC on the check to make them, as some are more complicated than others. Magic can still reveal your treachery.

Grifter

You tried to bilk someone out of their cash. To end up in Brandescar Prison, this was no petty con job or penny ante racket. Instead you brazenly tried to defraud someone important of a huge sum of money. And it almost worked too! Oh well, to the salt mines with you!

• Skill: Deception
• Feat: Charming Liar
• Benefit: You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona. If this second identity is "burned", you can spend a week preparing a second one.

Heretic

You have denied the supremacy of Mitra and Axiomatic dogma and been condemned for it, whether decrying the worship of the Pantokrator or declaring some hidden truth of the world, or even been found in worship of a wicked god such as Ka-Ata-Raya, Zoryan, or Asmodeus himself. For this to be a capital crime you were not content to keep your heresy to yourself: You tried to sway others. You will be broken on the wheel in an attempt to force you to recant and repent, before you are crucified under Mitra’s sorrowful gaze.

• Skill: Occultism
• Feat: Deceptive Worship
• Benefit: Part of why you were considered so dangerous by the Inquisition is that you and your small following had happened upon a secret truth about the world. It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the Axiomatic Church. Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign.

Hexer

You were caught casting curses, necromancy or other forbidden magic, misusing a magical item, or delving into forbidden arcane lore. Arcane magic is mistrusted through much of Talingarde, only widely accepted in Helveylyn and Arzardys, and is highly regulated by imperial and church law. Your hexing must have been unforgivable to be sent here, and you will be burned at the stake.

• Skill: Arcana
• Feat: Trick Magic Item
• Benefit: When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

Kidnapper

You have abducted someone; perhaps to ransom them, to sell them into slavery, or something equally unsavory. Unfortunately you were caught and your victim was rescued (if they weren't rescued -- you would be guilty of murder instead). To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you must have abducted someone of great importance or in a particularly dastardly manner, earning you a hanging.

• Skill: Intimidation
• Feat: Quick Coercion
• Benefit: You have a safe house (that is, a lair) somewhere, a lair that you can store things away from the other villains and even people, one that the authorities don't yet know about, and can quickly find another within a few weeks if one's cover is blown.

Murderer

• Skill: Intimidation
• Feat: Intimidating Glare
• Benefit: You are never unarmed or harmless. You always know where to find a weapon more dangerous than simple improvised ones, or opportunities by which to inflict violence on others.

Pirate

Piracy has historically long been a bane to the Talireans. Ornassi corsairs and Vendalic vikings have over the centuries made raids on the coasts, and used the geographic isolation of the Rough Bounds to shelter them. The Darian dynasty partially came to prominence by rooting out pirates, but occasionally another takes up a black flag. Pirates are bound for the gallows.

• Skill: Acrobatics
• Feat: Steady Balance
• Benefit: When you need to, you can secure free passage on a sailing ship for yourself and your adventuring companions. You might sail on the ship you served on, or another ship you have good relations with (perhaps one captained by a former crewmate). Because you're calling in a favor, you can't be certain of a schedule or route that will meet your every need. Your DM will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go. In return for your free passage, you and your companions are expected to assist the crew during the voyage.

Poacher

Much of the hunting grounds of Talingarde are crown or knightly property, a privilege of the nobility. Most of the time, however, punishment and enforcement can be relatively light. However, you did not merely poach: you killed a creature sacred to the Talireans such as a unicorn, oliphant, or worst of all, a gryphon. The punishment is hanging.

• Skill: Survival
• Feat: Experienced Tracker
• Benefit: You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition, you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, and so forth.

Resurrectionist

It is forbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse after it has been sealed in its tomb by the clergy of the Axiomatic faith. Some may not honor this ban: necromancers, golem crafters, self-styled natural philosophers and alchemists delving into the forbidden secrets of death. These ghouls expect no mercy from the magistrates of the realm, and by sending you to Branderscar to be beheaded, you have received none.

• Skill: Medicine
• Feat: Forensic Acumen
• Benefit: You carry the scent of death with you. Unintelligent Un-Dead ignore your presence unless provoked, while intelligent Un-Dead may still act against you but are better disposed to treat you as a possible ally.

Seditionist

You have attempted to covertly stir up rebellion against your rightful sovereign. This differs from treason in that you used words and incitement, even conspiracy, but did not take action. A subtle difference to be sure, but it is the difference between being hung on the gallows and a slow suffering upon the rack.

• Skill: Deception
• Feat: Lengthy Diversion
• Benefit: You always know how to find the disgruntled, the naive or gullible and take advantage of them lead them to revolution. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among the common folk, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Smuggler

You assisted in the bringing of contraband into the borders of the Holy Lawful Empire. Such contraband includes gunpowder, narcotics, heretical documents, or worst of all: slaves. Alternatively, you helped provide for enemies of the Six Realms, such as supplying weapons to the hobgoblins of Laggunsea or secreting criminals away from Talingarde. You will be hanged.

• Skill: Stealth
• Feat: Experienced Smuggler
• Benefit: You are acquainted with a network of smugglers who are willing to help you out of tight situations. While in a particular town, city, or other similarly sized community (DM's discretion), you and your companions can stay for free in safe houses. Safe houses provide a poor lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret.

Spy

You were conducting espionage on behalf of a foreign power. This is most likely the Commonwealth, a powerful elf-dominated superpower based out of Ornassus to the east, which while not Evil has a deeply expansionist bent, seeing its duty as the unification of the world under its banner, but it could be more local such as the Kings Under the Mountain or the hobgoblins of Laggun. You have been disavowed by your paymasters and are soon to be beheaded.

• Skill: Society
• Feat: Courtly Graces
• Benefit: Your knowledge of how bureaucracies function lets you gain access to the records and inner workings of any noble court or government you encounter. You know who the movers and shakers are, whom to go to for the favors you seek, and what the current intrigues of interest in the group are.

Traitor

You have willfully worked to bring down the beloved current Monarch of the Holy Lawful Empire, the beloved High King Markadian V, of House Darius, seated in Myrcia and Lord Protector of the Six Realms. High treason is the only crime that is still punished by the gruesome ritual of being drawn and quartered. Your stay at Branderscar will be brief.

• Skill: Society
• Feat: Canny Acumen
• Benefit: This crime makes you one of the most infamous people in the Six Realms and the attempt will not be easily forgotten, but that means you have a great reputation with all of those who wish ill on the Good people, earning you a stay in the most vile of places, even amid more intelligent monsters interested to hearing about your plot.

Warlock

You have been found guilty of communicating with or consorting with fiends or other wicked beings from beyond. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunters within the inquisition, known as the Sphinx's Lodge. This is common for witches especially. You will be burned at the stake for this crime.

• Skill: Occultism
• Feat: Reveal True Name
• Benefit: You know a ritual by which you can communicate with an otherworldly being of middling rank and power that can give you information or aid, though always at a price. The ritual requires a human sacrifice, or something equally grave. If you are an actual Witch, the entity serves or is associated with your Patron, but is not the Patron itself.