31 KiB
[!infobox|right] !
“Fire needs nothing from you—only that you step close enough to burn.”
🜂 Dominion Profile: Fire Type Natural Force Themes Transformation, Hunger, Purification Spirit Behavior Impulsive, radiant, consuming Favored Offerings Incense, oil, blood, meaningful items burned Resonant Sites Forges, cremation pyres, volcanoes, battlefield ruins Weakened By Cold, wet, sterile spaces; neglected hearths Common Motifs Flame, ash, heat shimmer, glowing eyes, smoke trails Corruption Signs Cold fire, blue-black flame, no light or warmth, erasure without ash Common Passive Abilities Warmth Aura, Smoldering Presence Common Active Abilities Flame Lash, Feast of Ash, Conflagration Common Spirit Forms Living flame, smoke-wreathed humanoids, coal-eyed beasts
Transformation • Hunger • Purification
“It remembers only what it has devoured.”
—Common saying in Emberwatch
Theme
Fire is not mere destruction—it is transformation made visible, hunger made holy. It is the moment a thing ceases to be what it was and becomes something else: flesh to ash, ore to blade, silence to scream. Fire consumes not out of malice, but because it was born to change the world.
A spirit of Fire does not judge. It does not pity or forgive. It blazes because it must—because to burn is to fulfill its nature. Whether it crackles in a hearth to warm the faithful, dances atop a torch carried into the dark, or roars across a battlefield in righteous fury, Fire demands only one thing:
Feed me.
It is a force of passion, release, and annihilation. And though its beauty may mesmerize, its embrace is never gentle.
When Fire comes, it takes.
Resonance
Fire-spirits are not passive forces—they are always watching. Hunger is their heartbeat, and they respond most to presence, passion, and offerings made with intention.
A Fire-spirit is strengthened not just by flame, but by meaningful flame. Every hearth kept alight through hardship, every blaze offered with reverence, every burst of fury or desire—these are its food.
Fire does not want your worship.
It wants your willing surrender to change.
What Strengthens Fire
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Tend or ignite a meaningful flame (e.g. forge, shrine, ritual pyre) | Adds 1 temporary Resonance Point (RP) to the local Fire-spirit |
| Offer a meaningful object into fire (weapon, letter, blood, vow) | Adds 1–2 RP (GM discretion); roll Will + Rituals (DC 2–3) to gain a boon |
| Perform a rite of transformation (burning the dead, purging corruption, branding initiation) | Adds 2 RP; Fire-spirit gains +1 MD or an empowered effect next ability |
| Invoke Fire through emotion (rage, lust, desperation) | If done with narrative weight, the GM may allow Fire to respond—even if unbound |
What Weakens Fire
| Action / Environment | Effect |
|---|---|
| Cold, wet, or stagnant location | Reduces the spirit’s MD limit by 1 for the scene (minimum 1) |
| Illusions or false flame | May cause spirit to lash out or refuse to act unless placated |
| Neglect of a sacred fire | If the flame is part of a pact, breaking it may trigger a Corruption Die |
GM Note: If the players forget to maintain a ritual flame during a journey or siege, consider it a narrative clock—when the fire dies, so does the spirit’s patience.
Stoking the Fire: Ritual Mechanics
To intentionally stoke a Fire-spirit, a character may perform a Resonance Rite. These can be improvised or learned through tradition.
Rite of Flamebinding
- Time: 1 minute
- Roll: Will + Rituals (DC = spirit’s PR)
- Materials: Burnable object of meaning (weapon, lock of hair, confession written in blood)
- Effect: If successful, the Fire-spirit gains 1 RP and will answer a single call (GM decides how). A failure may still please the spirit—or offend it, depending on execution.
🕯️ Fictional Example:
The warlock stands before the unlit brazier, her fingers trembling. She takes the lover’s letter from her cloak, reads it once more… then feeds it to the coals. “Let this burn away what I was. Let fire remake me.” With that offering, the spirit stirs. The flames bloom—not with heat, but with recognition.
Corruption
When Fire is touched by the Void, it forgets what it was.
It no longer warms.
It no longer transforms.
It devours, endlessly, senselessly, without distinction.
What remains is a hollow echo of the flame:
- A blaze that casts no light.
- A hunger that consumes even meaning.
- A heat so perfect it leaves no ash, no bones, no memory.
Corrupted Fire burns in shades the mortal eye cannot name—blue-black, glass-clear, shadow-white. Its smoke whispers in the voices of those already consumed, offering nothing but erasure.
This is not divine punishment. It is Fire without restraint, without cycle, without sanctity.
It does not know the difference between candle and child, torch and tongue.
It feeds until there is nothing left—and then it waits, flickering in the dark, eager for the next spark of life to reach too close.
“The house did not burn.
The memory of the house was undone.”
—From a survivor’s dream, after encountering a tainted pyre near the Ashvale Rupture
Ability Menu
Spirits of Fire manifest power through transformation, illumination, destruction, and purification. Their abilities burn hot with desire—some are violent and immediate, others slow and inevitable.
Abilities are divided into Passive (always-on effects) and Active (cost MD to trigger). Each is scaled by Power Rating (PR).
Passive Abilities
| Name | PR | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth Aura | 1+ | An area of PR meters around the spirit stays dry and temperate. Small flames burn cleaner and longer. |
| Kindling Soul | 1+ | The spirit subtly stokes the emotions of nearby mortals. Choose one emotion this is tied to (e.g. rage, love, desire, …). Everyone within PR meters of the Spirit must succeed in a Spirit + Meditation test or feel the emotion. |
| Smoldering Presence | 2+ | Flammable materials blacken; tempers rise. Social rolls involving lust, fury, or ambition gain +1 die. |
| Ash-Marked Path | 3+ | The spirit leaves behind glowing footprints or trails of embers, which chosen allies can follow. Once per day, a follower may ask a single question about the trail ahead aloud and hear a whispered answer in the crackle of the trail. |
| Burning Echo | 4+ | Every action the spirit takes leaves symbolic scorch marks—memories etched in ash. These may reveal visions of the past or emotional imprints. Other flames and fires tell the spirit what happened in their vincinity, what they burned and consumed and which emotions are or were around running hot. |
| Living Flame | 5+ | The spirit becomes flame given form—immune to mundane weapons, semi-corporeal, and able to pass through small cracks as smoke or heat. Wherever it moves, embers remain and flammable material bursts into fire. |
| Fire-Sigil Flesh | 6 | The spirit’s body burns with ancient script. Mortals who look too long may receive visions, suffer hallucinations, or be branded with one of its truths. When in social or martial encounters all onlookers of the spirit must succeed in a Spirit + Meditation check each round or gain one Slight. |
Active Abilities
PR 1–2: Lesser Fire
| Name | MD | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Spark | 1 | Ignite a flammable object, blind a foe, or light the dark within 2m. Can cause startle or panic in beasts. This ability causes 1 Injury to the target or blinds it one round if used against a creature reliant on sight. |
| Candle’s Truth | 1 | Compel a creature within 5m to speak one hidden desire or recent betrayal aloud. No save, but only works if they feel heat or trust. |
| Lick the Wound | 1 | Purifies a wound by burning it. Removes disease, minor corruption, or poison. Target takes 1 Injury but cannot be re-infected for a full day. |
| Whisper-Flame | 1 | Sends a flicker of fire to carry a whispered message up to 100m. Only those who touch the flame may hear it. |
| Flickerstep | 1 | Move up to 30 meters as a hurling flame being incorporeal while you move. Flammable material in your way may start to burn on a 1 on 1d6. |
| Consumed by Fire | 1 | Burn a small item and consume its smoke to regain vigor. Regain 1 Fatigue. |
PR 3–4: Simple / Complex Fire
| Name | MD | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Flame Lash | 1 | Whip of fire lashes out at one target. This counts as a +2 weapon with the reach and deadly tags and may ignite surroundings (GM discretion). |
| Infernal Circle | 1 | Creates a PR meter ring of fire with a center where the spirit is. Anyone who crosses it must pass a Spirit+Focus check or shy back and takes 1 Injury unless permitted by the spirit. Can trap or protect. |
| Feast of Ash | 1 | Burn a body, relic, or memory (symbolic or real). Heal 1 Injury and leave behind an aura of warmth or dread. |
| Emberstorm | 1 | Create a storm of glowing cinders in a small area. Visibility reduced, foes take 1 Injury each round they remain within. |
| Mark of the Flame | 1 | Burn a sigil into an object or person. The mark glows when lies are spoken, danger nears, or passion rises. Lasts one week. You can decide to burn your victim on specific actions (e.g. speaking a lie or coming close to a place or person). This then causes 1 Injury per round. |
PR 5–6: Greater / Archfire
| Name | MD | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Conflagration | 1 | Ignite a structure, battlefield, or forest all at once. All creatures in the zone must resist or suffer success margin +3 Injuries immediately. Anything that is flammable is set alight instantly. Can escalate rapidly. |
| Burn the False | 1 | Strip illusions, glamours, and lies through searing truth. Ends most ongoing spirit effects that aim to deceive or create illusions. Mortals see a memory of their greatest shame or truth. Spirits effects of lower levels end immediately, same or higher levels have to succeed in a contested Spirit + PR check. |
| Phoenix Wrath | 1 | Spirit burns itself to death, unleashing a nova. It reforms next round at full, glowing and purified and cleansed from all negative effects. Cannot be used again until Dormancy resets. |
| Baptism by Flame | 1 | Engulfs a mortal in fire that does not kill. They emerge changed—healed, cleansed of curses or all corruption, and marked by the spirit forever. |
| Hell-Chain Pyre | 1 | Chains of spectral fire rise from the ground, pinning all creatures in a 10m radius. Each round restrained, they suffer 2 Injuries unless they offer something meaningful to the flame spirit that has to raise a demand when using this ability. |
### Ritual Offerings & Common Practice
Even the simplest peasant rite can draw a Fire-spirit’s attention—if performed with intent.
- Oil, incense, and blood cast into open flame stir the spirit’s awareness.
- Prayers whispered over kindling shape the first spark into something sacred.
- Burning meaningful objects—a child's toy, a love letter, a shard of armor—feeds the spirit far more than mere wood or wax.
Mechanical Note:
These offerings grant Resonance Points (RP). A particularly symbolic act (burning a betrayal, enacting funeral rites) may grant +2 RP or more. When RP exceeds 4, the spirit may act without MD cost, especially if the action reflects the nature of the offering.
Tradition Touchpoints
How mortals invoke or contain the flame depends on their art. Each magical tradition dances with fire in its own way—some with reverence, others with control, and some with dangerous abandon.
| Tradition | Fire-Spirit Interaction |
|---|---|
| Spirit Binding | Fire is shackled in ash-etched vessels or scorched iron, barely held back by sacred geometry. Every mistake risks explosion. |
| Pact Magic | The spirit accepts a covenant: feed me at every full moon, or I will consume something you love. |
| Melded Souls | The host becomes a conduit of flame. Emotions fuel power, but smolder unchecked—fury may ignite, sorrow may scorch. |
| Cthonism | Descends through ancestral pyres and hearth-coals. Fire is a key to unlock buried voices, not a tool of conquest. |
| The Hollowed | Flame fills the emptied soul like oil in a lamp. Visions arrive as radiant seizures, burning away the false. |
| Alchemy | Fire is a partner in the dance of transmutation—measured, shaped, invoked with copper and breath. |
| Soulforging | Invites fire into steel with ritual hammering and blood offerings. The result: blades that glow with hunger. |
| Blood Sorcery | Blood ignites meaning; the more personal the wound, the stronger the flame that answers. |
| Veiling / Spirit Soothing | Fire is coaxed to rest through incense, stillness, and sacred silence. Calm hands tame the ember. |
| Voidcalling | Fire becomes hollow. It burns cold, erases memory, and devours joy without heat. Its light is not a blessing. |
| Common Folk Rites | Burn the year’s sorrows on festival pyres, whisper prayers into kindling, and place coals on the tongues of the dead so they might speak again. |
[!hint] GM Guidance: Fire in the Scene
- Tension Trigger: A Fire-spirit’s presence should raise the emotional heat in a scene. Conflict becomes harder to avoid.
- Ritual Hooks: Let players interact through symbolic burnings—a sword broken in flame, an oath shouted into a fire. These can create mechanical bonuses, narrative resonance, or RP.
- Environmental Impact: Fire affects more than combat. A Fire-spirit in resonance may dry the air, warp wood, make candles flare when lies are spoken.
- Corruption Warning: When spirits are mistreated or overreached, Fire may twist—burning not what’s offered, but what’s left unspoken.
Example Spirits
Lorem Ipsum
Ember Whim
A flickering spark with barely enough will to hold its shape, the Ember Whim is a child's giggle in the coals, a whisper in the hearth. It drifts on candlelight and flares in the presence of warmth or laughter, leaving soot-kisses behind. Though weak, it responds to kindness and ritual attention—and in rare moments of resonance, it may even hum with a memory of flame long past.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: Ember Whim
pr: 1
language: "flame intensity and flickers; does not speak"
size: "Tiny"
skills:
- name: Melee
desc: 1
- name: Attune
desc: 2
- name: Intimidate
desc: 1
dominion_power: 1
dominions:
- name: Fire
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 0
- name: Agility
desc: 2
- name: Fortitude
desc: 1
- name: Wit
desc: 1
- name: Focus
desc: 2
- name: Presence
desc: 2
- name: Spirit
desc: 2
- name: Cunning
desc: 1
abilities:
- name: "Warmth Aura (passive, 1)"
desc: "An area of 1m around the spirit stays dry and temperate. Small flames burn cleaner and longer."
token: Pasted image 20250804162500.png
### Ash-Drifted Witness
This solemn spirit drifts like smoke through ruins and charred homes, listening to the echoes of what once was. Its flames do not burn brightly, but they remember—each flicker a memory, each ember a whisper of sorrow or longing. Those who share their grief near it may receive a glimpse of the past, offered in ghostlight and ash. To wrong it is to invite a slow, smoldering curse.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: Ash-Drifted Witness
pr: 2
language: "Sighs in coals; flickers respond to memory spoken aloud"
size: "Small"
skills:
- name: Attune
desc: 3
- name: Empathy
desc: 2
- name: Lore
desc: 2
dominion_power: 2
dominions:
- name: Fire
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 0
- name: Agility
desc: 1
- name: Fortitude
desc: 2
- name: Wit
desc: 2
- name: Focus
desc: 3
- name: Presence
desc: 2
- name: Spirit
desc: 3
- name: Cunning
desc: 1
abilities:
- name: "Smoldering Presence (passive, PR2)"
desc: "Tension rises, flammable objects darken. Social rolls involving anger or grief gain +1 die within 3m."
- name: "Lick the Wound (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "Burns away infection or taint from a creature. Deals 1 Injury but removes one condition or corruption."
- name: "Echoflare (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "When a memory is spoken aloud, the flame flares and reveals a related vision from the past."
token: Pasted image 20250804235853.png
Kindle-Kin Marauder
!Pasted image 20250805070512.png Born of campfires, spilled oil, and the war-songs of raiders, the Kindle-Kin Marauder is flame with a grin and a blade. It delights in chaos and passion, stoking conflict as much as it revels in it. Its laughter crackles through night raids and rebellion, and it often seeks out those with hot tempers or broken oaths to ride their fury like wind-fed flame.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: Kindle-Kin Marauder
pr: 3
language: "Crackling laughter, mimicry of war cries"
size: "Medium"
skills:
- name: Melee
desc: 3
- name: Tactics
desc: 2
- name: Intimidate
desc: 3
dominion_power: 3
dominions:
- name: Fire
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 3
- name: Agility
desc: 3
- name: Fortitude
desc: 2
- name: Wit
desc: 1
- name: Focus
desc: 2
- name: Presence
desc: 2
- name: Spirit
desc: 2
- name: Cunning
desc: 3
abilities:
- name: "Smoldering Presence (passive, PR2)"
desc: "Emotions escalate. Aggression spreads like heat haze. Any dice pool with agressive intentions within 5m gets +2 dice while any attempts to quell the agression are at -1 die."
- name: "Flame Lash (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "Whip of fire lashes out at one target. This counts as a +2 weapon with the *reach* and *deadly* tags and may ignite surroundings (GM discretion)."
- name: "Cinder Leap (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "Explodes into sparks, reappearing within 20m in a burst of flame. Anyone within 1m where the Spirit reappears has to check for Agility+Dodge or suffer 1 Fatigue."
token: Pasted image 20250805070512.png
Pyre-Warden of the Threshold
Imposing and regal, the Pyre-Warden is guardian of sacred flames—cremation pyres, forge-fires, ritual blazes lit at season’s turn. It walks the line between destruction and sanctity, punishing desecration and rewarding ritual purity. Its form is a colossus of coals and bronze-etched heat, speaking in furnace tones that demand reverence. To enter its circle unbidden is to feel judgment made flame.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: Pyre-Warden of the Threshold
pr: 4
language: "Bellows like a forge; speech echoes in crackling prayer"
size: "Large"
skills:
- name: Discipline
desc: 3
- name: Ward
desc: 4
- name: Presence
desc: 3
dominion_power: 4
dominions:
- name: Fire
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 3
- name: Agility
desc: 1
- name: Fortitude
desc: 4
- name: Wit
desc: 2
- name: Focus
desc: 3
- name: Presence
desc: 4
- name: Spirit
desc: 3
- name: Cunning
desc: 2
abilities:
- name: "Burning Echo (passive, PR4)"
desc: "Leaves scorched symbols and glowing footprints that hum with ancient wards. "
- name: "Infernal Circle (active, 2 MD)"
desc: "Surrounds an area in 10m with sacred flame. Crossing the circle without permission causes Injury."
- name: "Feast of Ash (active, 0 MD)"
desc: "Consumes a corpse, item, or vow. Restores 1 MD and strengthens the warded area."
token: Pasted image 20250805000306.png
The Cradle Blaze
!Pasted image 20250805000549.png Equal parts mother and inferno, The Cradle Blaze is a paradox: the fire that gives life and the fire that takes it away. She kindles from the remains of sacrificial fields and hearths left burning too long, desiring to make beauty from ashes. Her presence ignites emotion, madness, or inspiration—depending on how she is fed. In her company, seeds sprout in soot, and dreams may catch fire.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: The Cradle Blaze
pr: 5
language: "Every crackling tongue speaks in lullabies and firestorms"
size: "Huge"
skills:
- name: Command
desc: 4
- name: Inspire
desc: 4
- name: Spirit Duel
desc: 4
dominion_power: 5
dominions:
- name: Fire
- name: Growth
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 3
- name: Agility
desc: 2
- name: Fortitude
desc: 4
- name: Wit
desc: 2
- name: Focus
desc: 4
- name: Presence
desc: 5
- name: Spirit
desc: 4
- name: Cunning
desc: 2
abilities:
- name: "Living Flame (passive, PR5)"
desc: "The spirit’s form is pure fire. Mundane weapons pass through it. Touch ignites the soul dealing 1 Injury and 1 Slight."
- name: "Burn the False (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "Disrupts illusions, enchantments, or falsehoods with cleansing fire. Reveals hidden truths at a cost. Any one affected by an illusion gets it burned away receiving 1 Fatigue."
- name: "Verdant Ember (active, 1 MD)"
desc: "Where flame touches soil, new life may sprout—twisted, fast-growing, and burning. The spirit can burn the ground in area of 25m and make it fertile again, letting small plants sprout from the burned undergrowth within 1d6 days."
token: Pasted image 20250805000549.png
Tharyeth, the Silent Conflagration
!Pasted image 20250805000928.png Tharyeth does not roar. It does not howl. It arrives like a held breath before wildfire, devouring not just flesh but memory, history, and soul. Born from genocides, burnt libraries, and silenced betrayals, Tharyeth is the Veil’s own fever—its silence warps the world. Survivors are left scorched in mind and name, unable to recall the cities, oaths, or lovers they’ve lost. Even spirits tremble in its wake.
Legends claim Tharyeth slumbers beneath the ashen ruins of Pharos, its breath still curling through halls where knowledge once burned brightest. It awakens where secrets fester too long: forgotten wars, heretical tomes, bloodlines that should not exist. In its passing, genealogies vanish, songs unravel, and entire histories collapse into soot. In the Ash River, in the Songless Cloister, in every erased chapter of Vaelora’s past—Tharyeth waits, patient as flame without oxygen.
layout: Vaelora Spirit
name: Tharyeth, the Silent Conflagration
pr: 6
language: "None; its silence is overwhelming and invasive"
size: "Vast"
skills:
- name: Intimidate
desc: 6
- name: Dominate
desc: 5
- name: Attune
desc: 6
- name: Lore (Forgotten)
desc: 5
dominion_power: 6
dominions:
- name: Fire
- name: Memory (Twisted)
attributes:
- name: Might
desc: 2
- name: Agility
desc: 1
- name: Fortitude
desc: 6
- name: Wit
desc: 4
- name: Focus
desc: 6
- name: Presence
desc: 6
- name: Spirit
desc: 6
- name: Cunning
desc: 5
abilities:
- name: "Burning Silence (passive, 6)"
desc: "Within 20 meters of Tharyeth, all sound fades. Characters cannot speak, cast spells with verbal components, or recall names. This effect bypasses wards and is considered dominion bleed."
- name: "Ash Unwritten (active, 3 MD)"
desc: "Target forgets their own name, one loved one, and the last hour of events unless they resist with Spirit + Focus. Success prevents only one effect."
- name: "Conflagrate the Root (active, 4 MD)"
desc: "Ignite a location tied to an ancient memory—a library, ancestral shrine, or battlefield. The structure is destroyed and the event erased from mortal memory."
- name: "Incinerate the Witness (active, 5 MD)"
desc: "Target a creature who carries dangerous knowledge. If they fail a resistance roll (Focus + Wit), they are turned to ash and forgotten by all but spirits."
- name: "Ashen Crown (passive, 6)"
desc: "Tharyeth cannot be named by mortals. Attempts to write, speak, or record its name decay into meaningless glyphs unless done in spirit-tongue or blood-script."
token: Pasted image 20250805001948.png