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From the Ashes, Hope RisesThe Final Empire was built on the backs of the skaa — the downtrodden descendants of those who opposed the Lord Ruler’s ascension a thousand years ago . They are the faceless masses of Scadrial, tasked with plowing the barren fi elds, sweeping the ash-covered streets, tending the opulent nobility, and serving at the whims of their “betters.” But a few skaa cast off the chains of their destiny to be something more. They are thieves, Allomancers, fi rebrands, and rebels. They fi ght the system of oppression and brutality to give their people something they lost long ago — hope .

Skaa: Tin & Ash is an essential supplement for the Mistborn Adventure Game, designed for players, Narrators, and fans of the Mistborn novels. Developed in cooperation with Brandon Sanderson, this guide expands the canon of the novels, providing new insights into skaa throughout the Final Empire. Inside you’ll fi nd detailed information on the history and beliefs of the skaa; the lives of city, canal, and plantation skaa; the skaa criminal and political underground; and famous skaa such as the Citizen, Mare, and the Survivor of the Flames.

For players of the Mistborn Adventure Game, there’s a bounty of new rules for creating and playing your own skaa Hero, including new Stunts, equipment, Networks, and locations to explore and liberate!

Also included is an epic adventure, Beasts of Burden, set in the black heart of the skaa criminal underworld. An old friend has gone missing in the slums of Luthadel, and you have been hired to fi nd him before it’s too late. As you close in on the truth, you fi nd yourself and all you hold dear under assault from all quarters by a shadowy syndicate . What is this foe protecting, and how will you strike back? Your very survival hangs in the balance…

TM

TABLE OF CONTENTSTHE WORDS OF THE SURVIVOR . . .5

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

BOOK ONE: TIN & ASH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111. A Secret History of the Skaa . . . . 13

The Origins of the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13The Breaking of the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The First Half-Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Relations of Nobles and Skaa . . . . . . . . . . 17Modern Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18After the Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2 . The Lot of the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . 21Population Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Classes Among the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Appearance and Physiology . . . . . . . . . . . 22Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Skaa Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Rights and Legality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Half-Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Skaa Allomancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Skaa in Different Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Skaa in the Dominances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Central Dominance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Northern Dominance . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Western Dominance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Eastern Dominance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Southern Dominance . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Outer Dominances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Khalfi, the Hidden City . . . . . . . . . . 34

3 . City Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35City Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Factory Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Street Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Manor Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Artisans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Criminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Prostitutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Beggars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Skaa Slums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Thieving Crew Dens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Slipping Through the Cracks . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Black Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Eastern Street Slang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4 . Plantation Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Escape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Liberation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Superstition on the Plantation . . . . . . . . . 53Life in the Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

The Pits of Hathsin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565 . Canal Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Types of Canal Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Pilots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Support Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Cleaners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Dock Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

WayStations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Smuggling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6 . The Skaa Underground . . . . . . . . 63Thieving Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Typical Crew Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Trafficking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Crew Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Informants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68The Underground After the Collapse . . . 69

The Luthadel Assembly . . . . . . . . . . 707 . Skaa Rebellions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Historical Rebellions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Miner’s Climb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74The Children’s Rebellion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Modern Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Yeden’s Rebellion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

8. Skaa Belief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Worship of the Lord Ruler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Superstition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Faith After the Collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Church of the Survivor . . . . . . . . . . . 81Other Faiths After the Collapse . . . . 83

9 . Skaa Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Building Your Skaa Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Common Skaa Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Skaa Destiny and Tragedy . . . . . . . . 86Skaa Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Skaa Advancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Gaining a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

TABLE OF CONTENTSUsing Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Changing Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Spending Advancements . . . . . . . . . . 92Black Hill Skaa (Skaa Only) . . . . . . 93Citizens of Khalfi (Skaa Only) . . . . . 93The Silk Charade (Skaa Only) . . . . . 93Yeden’s Rebellion (Skaa Only) . . . . . 94Luthadel Assembly (Skaa Only) . . . . 94

Skaa Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Fast-Acting Poisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Other Common Skaa Equipment . . . 97

10 . Notable Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Spook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Spook (Serious Threat) . . . . . . . . . . 103Playing Spook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Spook as an Ally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Spook as an Enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Kelsier’s Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104Quellion (The Citizen) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106Demoux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107Mare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108Yeden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Folosst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110Trest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Plin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

11. Black Hill Plantation . . . . . . . . 115Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Important Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117Points of Intrigue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

12. Two-Fist Slum . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123Important Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

13. Kav’s Barge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Important Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

14 . Secrets of the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . 133Skaa Allomancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133Refugees among the Skaa . . . . . . . . . . . .134Education and Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135Khalfi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Fell’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Whispers in the Mist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

BOOK TWO: BEASTS OF BURDEN . . . . . . . . . . 141Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

What’s Been Happening? . . . . . . . . . . . . .144What Happens Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144The Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146What the Heroes Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149Vital Components, Clues, and Pacing .149

1 . Under the Yoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Scene Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151Setting the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152Key Events and Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . .153Vital Components, Clues, and Pacing .153Secrets of the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153Primary Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154Wrapping Up The Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

2 . Wolves Amongst Sheep . . . . . . . 165Scene Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165Setting the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165The Lieutenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166Primary Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172Wrapping Up the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

3 . Culling The Herd . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Scene Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182Setting the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182Vital Components, Clues, and Pacing .182Secrets of the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183Undoing the Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183Primary Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187Wrapping Up the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

4 . Leader of the Pack . . . . . . . . . . . 197Scene Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197Setting the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197Vital Components, Clues, and Pacing .198Primary Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199Awarding Advancements . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

5 . Aftermath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Scene Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208Primary Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208What Comes Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211

Appendix: NPC Summary . . . . . . . 213

At the height of the Final Empire, the skaa toil and suffer as slaves for lit-tle reward . Victims of the brutal social hierarchy set in place by the Lord Ruler, they’re legally inferior to the nobles and must obey their dictates. On the plan-tations, the skaa tend the hardy brown plants . In the mines, they dig out metal and stone in harsh and dangerous conditions. Along the canals, they pilot and crew barges carrying the bounty from the countryside and ashmounts to the cities . Within the cities themselves, they tend the noble estates and carry out all manner of tasks that make the urban centers run. All this — all the skaa accomplish — is done to line the nobility’s pockets .

At least, all that most skaa accomplish. Skaa also run thieving crews, black markets, and information networks, trying to get something for themselves under the noses of the Steel Ministry and the nobles . These bold few, who defy Lord Ruler’s insistence that they obey, carve out their piece of the pie by whatever means necessary. Because their disobedience violates the laws of the Final Em-pire, these skaa often have to resort to violence, bribery, or intimidation to keep their activities from reaching the Obligators’ notice. There are few true “good guys” among these skaa lawbreakers — nearly everyone has some blood on his hands. Even those with the best of intentions and the brightest hope for the future of the skaa have few illusions about the true way of things in the Final Empire. Accomplishing anything significant requires ruthlessness, the cost counted by the bodies left behind .

Though some skaa fight for freedom and rights for their people, just as many are villains in their own right, willing to step on their brethren in their climb to the top. Especially among the thieving crews of the skaa slums, steal-

INTRODUCTION

8 MISTBORN ADVENTURE GAME

ing from or selling out one’s fellow skaa can lead to profit and prestige. Skaa crime lords exploit and subjugate other skaa. Skaa who are on top of the heap becomes targets for equally ruthless upstarts, so they often have to become even more committed to cutthroat methods to keep their station . Though some regard this self-destruction with the scorn it deserves, many others see it as just another part of their lot; after all, it’s no different than what they’re subjected to by no-bles or Obligators every day.

There are also idealistic skaa who strive to improve the lives of their people. Some believe they can enact minor, reasonable changes to make things a little bit better. Others follow bolder visions, striving to undermine or topple the Final Empire to finally free the skaa from noble bondage. Ironically, the most powerful tools to affect this type of change are those skaa with noble blood — the Allo-mancers. Skaa Allomancers are quite rare, but they are the only ones who possess the magical might to defy the Steel Ministry and go toe-to-toe with noble Mistings and Mistborn . They are hunted ruthlessly by the agents of the Canton of Inquisi-tion, and so must remain out of sight, working undercover or traveling at night through the mists .

Creating change among the skaa population takes immense effort . Skaa are, as a rule, poorly educated and reluctant to act against their masters . This is no ac-cident — it was part of the Lord Ruler’s plan since the dawn of the Final Empire . Using the Steel Ministry as his agents, the Lord Ruler suppresses the skaa with widespread superstitions, unfair laws, Allomantic soothing, and his most devious invention: a religion devoted to himself.

With the Lord Ruler as their god, the skaa come to believe that their place is ordained — not inflicted upon them but part of a natural and holy order. True change can come to the Final Empire only if the skaa see another way . The Lord Ruler’s infallibility and immortality must be broken . Someone else must rise to become a new focus for the worship of the skaa. And this person must rise from the ranks of the skaa themselves.

TIN AND ASH 9

On many plantations, nobles attempted to treat skaa as though they were more akin to their betters. As you will see in the highly detailed examples ahead, skaa cannot operate

without the full measure of strictures the Lord Ruler dictates . Noble masters have tried giving skaa up to two hours a day of personal recreation; alloing skaa to collect and ration their

own food (tantamount to taking food from the mouths of noble babes); and even to marry acceptable partners. These attempts,

though noble in spirit and perhaps more “satisfying” for the skaa, have failed to increase productivity without exception. The skaa have proven, time and again, to be too unwilling or ungrateful to return work and sweat to their nobles in kind,

choosing instead to squander the goodwill proffered them and thus ensure the need for continued noble dominion .

– Selection from Experiments in Skaa Husbandry, by Gerrance Hasting

BOOK ONE

TIN & ASH

THE FIRST HALF-SKAAThough the Lord Ruler believed he thought of everything, there were more

than a few areas he was short-sighted on — interracial mixing being one of them. Skaa and nobility have always been able to produce offspring, since the only real genetic difference between them at their inception was the capacity for Allomancy.

Interbreeding between the nobility and skaa occurred almost immediately, even within the first generation after the Lord Ruler’s Ascension. In most cases, the mixing of the bloodlines was hidden. Children born of skaa women typically just lived among the skaa, with no questions asked. It wasn’t until the first “skaa” with Allomantic powers surfaced that the Obligators took notice. To the Lord Ruler, the mingling of the bloodlines might present a danger to his new order, but Allomancers coming from the skaa caste were the true threat. The Steel Ministry acted swiftly and brutally, enacting severe laws against intermingling and dictat-ing a skaa woman must be killed if there was any risk she might bear a nobleman’s child . Lords who resisted were summarily silenced (often, permanently), and the deed was done: the children of skaa and noble were sentenced to death without remorse or exception.

Half-skaa and their place in society (or lack thereof) are detailed further in Chapter 2, starting on page 27 .

RELATIONS OF NOBLES AND SKAAOver the 10 centuries of the Final Empire’s existence,

the relationships between skaa and noble have evolved. What began as a caste division established along political and genetic lines has mu-tated to meet the changing realities of the Final Empire, such as the dilution of both the skaa and noble bloodlines; the frequent uprisings and house wars; political shifts in the Final Empire’s orthodoxy; and the rise of cities and urban skaa .

Though the Lord Ruler has gone to great pains to ensure his Empire will be eternal, he has not been afraid to alter those plans to ensure its stability and the safety of the social order . In ear-lier centuries, skaa sometimes enjoyed much more freedom under a caste system which enforced separation of noble and skaa but not the actions of either; or less, when the skaa were formally enslaved to individual noble lords; or a greater interdependence, as when skaa worked the lands of noble houses in exchange for protection from rival lords’ armies. When any of these sys-tems proved too prone to rebellion, intermingling of the races, or manipulation by the noble houses, the Steel Ministry changed the laws to reassert order and control .

TIN & ASH 17

A SEcRET HISTORy

will fare better than a skaa worker forced to spend every waking moment out in the fields. The roles they’re forced into are primarily what distinguish one skaa from another. In a way, the nobles have unwittingly created a caste-like structure among the skaa based on location and employment . It is rare for skaa who work on plantations to intermingle with a dockworker or a skaa butler . The only way a skaa may escape their predetermined lot is to drop out and join the underground ranks of beggars, thieves, and rebels (see page 63) .

Skaa who become criminals often have a much higher standard of living than other skaa, or even than the poorer nobles. If they can escape the control of the no-bles who essentially own them, they can earn the freedom and resources to make their lives far more comfortable. Consequently, the criminal underworld is home to many of the Final Empire’s most ambitious and clever skaa — those smart enough to see opportunity and gutsy enough to take it. These skaa live on a knife’s edge, though. No-bles and Obligators can ruin what any skaa has built with enough effort — it just takes a bit more time to do so to those living outside the system .

APPEARANcE AND PHySIOLOGy

Despite propaganda to the contrary, the skaa look just like nobles for the most part. They tend to be a few inches shorter than most nobles, primarily due to malnutrition in their youth, but the truth is any skaa in Kelsier’s time could pass for a member of the nobility, provided he had the means, his appearance were well cared for, and he had a proper wardrobe . The only noticeable difference is that fair hair is less common in skaa, and its presence usually indicates some amount of no-ble ancestry .

Nobility and skaa are born with similar fac-ulties . Physically, their brains are almost identical at birth. Yet years of abuse, poor nutrition, environmen-tal factors, and emotional Allomancy from their no-ble masters take a toll on the skaa . Though they’re not born with any greater likelihood of illness than nobles, skaa endure constant abuse and have few means to get treatment for mental or physical ill-nesses . Consequently, trauma, depression, and paranoia are common among the skaa and often lead to suicide .


THE LOT OF THE SKAA

SKAA IN THE DOMINANcESThough there are three subcultures of skaa, the peasant class may be broken

up into several types, depending upon which dominance they live in. Each region in Scadrial has its own unique flavor, and the skaa who call a particular dominance home are often marked by their location .

CENTRAL DOMINANCEThe varied terrain, noble houses, and towering spires of Luthadel combine to

make the Central Dominance one of the more interesting (and dangerous) places for skaa to live and work. Here, anything could happen. In addition to the city skaa, plantation skaa work on large plots of land owned by wealthy, prominent noble houses . Here, the canal skaa are primarily tied to a house and are only allowed to travel between waypoints to extract or deliver cargo.

A devoutly religious skaa who leaves one of the other dominances is likely to travel here, believing the close proximity to the Lord Ruler will bring good luck.

NORTHERN DOMINANCEThe Northern Dominance is primarily agriculture-based and its brown land-

scape is filled with large swaths of land tended carefully by plantation skaa. A few miners, most of whom are owned by House Venture, dig deep for metals and other goods in caves beneath clusters of rocks. The life of a miner is very similar to that of the plantation skaa . They often keep the same hours and are rewarded similarly — which is to say, very long hours for the bare necessities needed for survival.

The city of Urteau also lies in the Northern Dominance. This is the second largest urban center in the Empire and the ancestral home of House Venture, the most powerful noble house in the Final Empire. The Steel Ministry has a major presence here, though their power is tempered by the massive influence Straff Venture holds in the city. Because Urteau is an economic hub, many canal skaa may be seen traveling up and down the canals to ensure goods are exported.

WESTERN DOMINANCE This dominance claims to have built a cultural center — Tremredare —

within its rocky borders . The city is a tourist attraction for nobles who seek a reprieve from the headaches of their rule and is surrounded by plantations of a mediocre yield. Because of the high volume of nobility who travel here, skaa are more tempered and a higher number of soothing stations can be found throughout the city .

Unlike other skaa, most who live in Tremredare wear the uniforms of serv-ants, chefs, and other workers befitting their specific station. In many ways, Trem-redare is a fantasy for nobles and skaa alike, for the Steel Ministry’s heavy-handed approach is muted here and murders are typically done behind the scenes . While they still occur, blood rarely runs through the streets. In its stead is a heavily sani-tized atmosphere with an emerging class of skaa artisans who are little more than “pets.” These talented skaa are independently owned or sponsored by a specific

TIN & ASH 31

THE LOT OF THE SKAA

CRIMINALSNo life presents greater risks — or promises of reward — for a skaa than

that of a criminal. But one is not simply born a criminal; it is a life that often begins when a skaa flees his or her masters. Technically, the very act of shirking traditional skaa duties is a criminal act, for in doing so the skaa defies the Lord ruler’s edicts in pursuit of their own “selfish” desires. Clever skaa runaways use elaborate schemes, such as obtaining false identity papers or paying someone to “stand in” for them at their normally assigned posts, while ohers simply sneak away, since few nobles notice when one skaa disappears .

Once out on their own, without the patronage or “protection” of a noble house, the escaped skaa must find new ways of surviving. Theft, robbery, and violence soon follow, and from there “crime” transforms from a necessity to a lifestyle . Most skaa criminals specialize in robbery or burglary, though a few of the more daring ones dabble in smuggled goods, blackmail, prostitution, and even low-level racketeering in areas where the law is more lax.

Unfortunately for most, the criminal lifestyle is often short, and most are quickly caught and executed early in their careers. However, a cunning few man-age to survive and thrive outside the bounds of the Lord Ruler’s society, often by banding together into thieving crews. These crews use their numbers and shared expertise to stay alive when others can’t. They typically hide out within the shadows of skaa slums, taking over abandoned dwellings and blending with the throngs of city-born skaa that pack the streets.

Life on a thieving crew is a constant game of cat and mouse between the crew, the Steel Ministry and noble houses, where the likely outcome is a swift and bloody death. Obligators and house guards are on perpetual watch for crew activ-ity, and Obligators act swiftly and fiercely to bring them down. Successful skaa criminals are very good at picking up stakes on a moment’s notice.

Though most skaa criminals do what they do for purely self-serving rea-sons — better to live a short, exciting life than one under the boot of their overlords — such rebellious acts are also essentially political. By writing their own fate, criminals deny the nobility a “sov-ereign right,” and thus become dis-sidents by default . More than a few skaa criminals view their profession as the only form of defiance available to their kind, and use their operations to disrupt the rule of the nobility (in addition to lining their pockets) . The line between practical survi-vor and political revolution-ary grows very blurry at times, and many criminals honestly couldn’t tell you which side they fall on .

TIN & ASH 41

cITy SKAA

likely, death at the hands of the master . Those willing to risk returning do so only once, to save those closest to them. The few who do repeatedly return to help skaa escape usually form alliances with rebels or with canal skaa so they have a way to fight back against the masters or transport refugees once they have escaped.

LIBERATIONLiberating skaa from the plantation skaa is not as easy as it sounds. Despite

their brutal oppression and mistreatment, fear — of the noble master, of capture by the overseer, of the mists, of the Lord Ruler’s divine wrath, of the unknown

SKAA HEROES FROM THE PLANTATIONAs hard as it can be for a skaa to escape a plantation — both physically and

mentally — those who do possess iron will. A Hero from the plantations has seen the worst of what nobles are capable of, and the scars of his time there remain deep. Most likely, the Hero’s Tragedy happened on the plantation. Think about the specifics of the plantation and how they might feed into his or her tragedy. Which house owned the plantation? Who was in charge? Was it focused on farm-ing or did it have a mine? What kind of work did your Hero do? What weakness in the plantation’s setup allowed your Hero to escape — or was getting out a gruesome and bloody ordeal? Is he still pursued by his owners?

A plantation skaa likely starts out somewhat naïve compared to his fellows, lacking the typical skills possessed by traditional recruits to a Crew. When think-ing on your Traits, consider how long ago your Hero escaped the plantation, and use that to determine how developed his skill set is. The Hero’s age could vary greatly, too, since nobles work skaa from the day they can work the fields to the day they die.

Your rural Hero might also have some misconceptions about how the world works outside the plantations, especially when it comes to the Lord Ruler and the Obligators, religious faith or folk superstitions. For example, does he still be-lieve in the godhood of Lord Ruler, or expect the Lord Ruler to punish him using divine powers? Is he still afraid of the mists and mistwraiths? Think on some of the experiences that first upset his worldview — they could lead to all kind of good stories in play.

A plantation skaa’s experiences shape him from a very young age, no doubt influence his outlook on the nobility. How do those early experiences affect your Hero? Does he still harbor resentment against his former master, or the nobility as a whole? Does he seek revenge wrongs committed to him? How does the Hero see urban nobles as less cruel, or simply cruel in a different way? Thinking on these deeper questions will make your plantation Hero an even more inter-esting and unusual character at the game table.


PLANTATION SKAA

to the right buyer. Canal skaa who move cargo through busy or restive areas tend to be very diligent in their official duties, in order to avoid being shifted over to a less interesting (and lucrative) route. While most of these information brokers reveal secrets only to the highest bidder, some have more noble aspirations and pass on what they find only to skaa resistance cells or other causes.

TyPES OF cANAL SKAAMany types of skaa live and work in the ca-

nals, including:

PILOTSTimeliness is everything to the canal

skaa ordered to navigate a boat for his no-ble lord . Corner any pilot, and you’ll likely learn a great deal of statistics, including how long it takes to travel from the South-ernmost Dominance to Luthadel, the aver-age number of trips in a month, what boats are the fastest, and which pre-scheduled routes are best for certain types of cargo .

In many ways, a skaa effectively owns the craft he pilots, setting his own shipping schedule based on his expertise. Especially skilled ship pilots might contract work for multiple houses, commanding an additional fee for their speed or discretion . Legally, this fee goes back to the skaa’s noble master, though many canal pilots skim a bit off the top . Most nobles don’t ask too many ques-tions about a good pilot’s comings and go-ings, as long as the pilot ensures the barges arrive at their destinations on time and with all cargo accounted for .

SUPPORT CREWSupport crew for the bulk of each ship’s skaa,

tending to jobs ranging from cooking to scouting and maintenance to pulling the vessel itself. Unlike pilots, who are usually adult men, support crew can be any age or gender so long as they are willing to work hard and follow orders. A barge typically carries as few support crew as necessary to make more room for cargo, but some pilots give rides to plantation escapees or criminals on the run in ex-change for a little extra help. Members of the support crew tend to bond, and may develop romantic relationships since they spend so much time together.

TIN & ASH 59

cANAL SKAA

position, as one must constantly deal with backstabbing, informing to the authori-ties, ego clashes, and other competitive squabbles which constantly threaten to tear even good crews apart.

Women rarely join thieving crews; in some, they’re treated just as poorly as they would be on a plantation or in a noble house . Sure, there are plenty of more enlightened and egalitarian crews, of course, but there are no guarantees in the criminal underground. Whatever the risks, a thieving crew may offer a greater opportunity for a woman to take hold of her own fate and rise above the station dictated to her. While she must vigilantly protect herself against her fel-low crewmembers as much as against outside threats, a female thief can also rest assured she won’t be raped and killed by noble masters with the blessing of the Lord Ruler’s laws. Clever women band together for mutual protection, often by joining a larger crew with women on their roster, or in some rare cases joining an all-female crew.

While Kelsier’s crew is the foremost example of a crew from the Mistborn novels, most crews have no Allomancers and operate more like Camon’s crew. Though the underground is the perfect place for a skaa Allomancer to hide their abilities from the Steel Ministry, they still require special training and purified metals, and often demand a large fee for their services. Still, recruiting even a single Misting is a major coup for most crews; crews with more than one Misting are quite rare, and those with a skaa Mistborn are virtually unheard of. More likely than not, any crew that boasts about its many Allo-mancers is simply trying to spread its legend and strike fear in rival groups.

TYPICAL CREW JOBSThe various work thieving crews take on demands

a variety of skill sets and specialists. Though thieving crews sometimes collaborate with one another on a big job, they’re usually looking for ways to make their own fortunes rather than partners with whom to split their ill–gotten gains. Here are six of the common jobs and their potential rewards, along with useful Traits for Heroes filling those roles:

SMUGGLINGSome canal skaa moonlight

as members of a thieving crew. Weapons, Allomantic metals, drugs, and illegal books are fa-vorite types of contraband. Smug-gling over the waterways can be extremely profitable, provided the pilot can dodge a surprise inspection. Typically, smugglers take payments as a percent-


THE SKAA UNDERGROUND

when they do happen, they’re more likely to be committed by one brave indi-vidual than a group. The other miners usually regard the rebel as a fool, but gladly accept the loss of one more person competing against them for food .

THE cHILDREN’S REBELLIONTwo centuries ago, hundreds of skaa children ages 12 and above were found

walking together on the edge of the Outer Dominances. They were headed straight for Luthadel, picking up stray escapees and other kids as they went. Bonded to-gether in misery, the children had planned to talk to the Lord Ruler and beg for his forgiveness. They thought that they had done something wrong to warrant their mistreatment at the hands of the nobles and wanted to make amends .

Despite the fact it was illegal for skaa to travel alone and in groups , many nobles didn’t go out of their way to stop these children, fearing acting against the children would earn them a reputation as callous, or perhaps out of some moral objection against harming those so young. But when the group were discovered by Obligators, they were rounded up and taken exactly where they wanted to go — to the Lord Ruler’s palace .

No one saw the children emerge from Kredik Shaw once they went in . Most nobles insist the children were legally and righteously executed, but some Obligators insist the Lord Ruler accepted the children as a sacrifice or somehow transformed them into Steel Inquisitors . Following their disap-pearance, the Lord Ruler declared all nobles must capture or kill dissidents, regardless of age or gen-der, under punishment of death, as a hedge against future “moral weakness.”

MODERN RESISTANcE

The most common type of rebellion in the modern day is subversion made by an individual or small group, rather than outright revolt or a bold attempt at creating large-scale change. These subversives are typi-cally part of the larger skaa underground, plying their trade in thieving crews, black markets, smugglers, or blackmail operations (see page 63). After all, stealing from a noble

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SKAA REBELLIONS

indeed cousins to the kandra. Likewise, it is indeed true the mists have an intel-ligible agenda, though that purpose is far removed from the sinister motives the skaa attribute to it .

FAITH AFTER THE cOLLAPSEWarning: This section contains major spoilers for the Mistborn trilogy. This

section is best read upon completion after the first book: The Final Empire.With the Lord Ruler’s death, the primary belief on Scadrial lost its object of

devotion. Kelsier’s schemes set him up as a sort of replacement, albeit one with-out the oppressive authority of the Lord Ruler, and many skaa transferred their reverence to him, in the form of the Survivor.

CHURCH OF THE SURVIVORPrior to the death of the Lord

Ruler, Kelsier struggled might-ily to introduce doubt among the skaa faithful . While questioning the divinity of the Lord Ruler aloud courted death at the hands of the Steel Ministry, they couldn’t control what happened in the minds of the skaa. Centuries of abuse and flimsy religious excuses for it provided fertile ground for the seeds of distrust; what Kelsier planted there grew into the Church of the Survivor.

The Church of the Survivor devel-oped naturally out of the events leading up to the fall of the Lord Ruler . Kelsier’s death and the religion that sprang up after it stemmed from multiple political and cultural forces — only some of which he had planned for. As OreSeur went out in Kelsier’s guise,rumors spread about the Survivor’s resurrection, and his legend grew. Eventually, priests of the Survivor organized around a basic dogma, wearing simple smocks and scarring their arms in the manner of the Survivor to display their faith. These priests, like many skaa after the Collapse, came to their faith as a vocation rather than ordination by an au-thority, and took the word out to skaa throughout the New Empire .

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SKAA BELIEF

COMMON SKAA TRAITS

ProfessionsBeggar Canal Pilot Cleaning Person

Coachman Con Artist Courier

Factory Worker Farmer Gangster

Informant Laborer Merchant

Overseer Rebel Servant

Shepherd Smuggler Spy

Survivor Thief Tinkerer

SpecialtiesBlack marketeer Can hide anything Canal traveler

Dodges trouble Easily overlooked Expert craftsman

Eye for detail Flatterer Good with tools

Guerilla fighter Hard to read Hidden strength

House contacts Inside man Knows thieving crews

Master of the streets Plays dumb Quiet as a mouse

Sense for danger Trusted servant Voice of experience

FeaturesAlways dirty Blunt speaker Brawny

Calm and collected Disheveled Flexible

Good listener Hardy Heavily scarred

Jittery Practical dress Resembles a noble

Scrawny Speaks in street slang Sturdy build

Superstitious Team player Tireless

Unbroken will Unmemorable Unreadable face

PersonalityCautious Crafty Cunning Dedicated

Deferent Determined Docile Duplicitous

Haunted Humble Meek Naive

Obedient Orderly Pliable Rebel with a cause

Resentful Respectful Suspicious Vengeful

SKAA DESTINY AND TRAGEDYSkaa with ambition beyond the tasks their masters assign them still usually

remain modest, if only for their own survival. Only a few skaa openly strive to-ward lofty goals, since they’ve been so deviously trained to remain submissive.


SKAA HEROES

This chapter contains a brief description of the most notable skaa in the Final Empire, including several prominent ones discussed in the Mistborn novels. The following sections include information that’s revealed and plot developments that occur over the course of those novels, so beware of spoilers if you have not yet read those novels.

SPOOKTime Frame: Midway through The Hero of Ages

Once, Spook was nobody: a child his own parents tried to kill to save their own skins; a street-talking urchin no one could understand; a useless Misting in a crew filled with real heroes; a coward who left his uncle to face a siege alone; and a love-struck kid Vin never noticed.

He sought a purpose, and started constantly flaring Tin to push his limits, to help his friends . . . and somewhere in the middle of it all he found himself changed . He could see the finest details, he could feel changes in texture and temperature through cloth, and soon he became overwhelmed by smells and sounds and tastes...

Now Spook wears a blindfold to keep out the light, and a heavy coat to guard against the slightest chill. He moves only at night to avoid the searing rays of the sun . He needs Tin like other people need food or water, and if it helps him learn something new or valuable to Vin and her crew, all the better.

Spook’s ability with Tin isn’t the only extraordinary thing about him. When he was stabbed and left in a burning house to die, he heard the voice of Kelsier

10 NOTABLE SKAA

SKAA HEROES

12

TWO-FIST SLUM

The city of Austrex contains one of the more unique — and dangerous — skaa slums in the Empire . It runs parallel to a series of warehouses near the city’s border, and once served as a huge canal route directly to the civic center. The canal was drained when the Lord Ruler commanded that the canals be re-built in a more secure location closer to the city center . Many barracks were slated for demolition in order to bring the new canal through, so nobles turned their skaa out of their housing to find their own shelter and food. However, the nobles still needed the skaa to remain in Austrex and continue working in the factories and mills. This led to an unorthodox arrangement and gave birth to Two-Fist Slum.

The crux of the noble plan was a financial arrangement that let them provi-sion a paltry share of their revenue from trade to go directly to feeding the skaa workers. The skaa could be fed, then sent home…but the deal included no provi-sion for housing the workers . With no prospects of shelter, the skaa took refuge in familiar terrain: the old canal. A ramshackle series of shacks and buildings sprung up, some on the canal’s bottom and others dug into the deep walls like caves. Only the lowest of the low settled here, those tasked with menial labor in Austrex’s noisy mills. Crime followed soon enough, and today, “Two-Fist” is a watchword for getting killed needlessly because you wandered into the wrong place .

Two thieving crews hold dominance over the slum. They bribe officials to look the other way, seizing whatever they can from Two-Fist’s despairing popula-tion. Those under their protection enjoy lives of comparative comfort (for skaa anyway). The rest exist in a state of perpetual terror, living at the mercy of either of the two crews as well as the nobility who ostensibly hold sway over them all.

To make matters worse, the two gangs are perpetually at each other’s throats. The first group, the Mist Rid-ers, enjoy a reputation as supernatural killers, moving only at night and perpet-uating rumors that they can command the mistwraiths themselves. The second crew, the Boxings, focuses on more practical criminal enterprises: running protection rackets and staging the oc-casional quiet robbery at the behest of noble houses who pay them to make trouble with their rivals.

Both gangs hate each other’s guts, and neither is willing to leave the slum to their enemies . Clashes are infrequent but brutal, leaving bodies strewn across the canal floor and further feeding their sinister reputation . The nobility gener-ally leaves them be — perfectly content to let the skaa kill each other off — but the gangs’ battles have begun attracting the wrong sort of attention. Every now and again, some nobleman proposes a brutally efficient solution to the Two-Fist problem: re-flooding the canal and killing all who live there. So far, that’s proven too radical for the city’s rulers, who need the population to continue running their factories . Should the bur-geoning gang war ever spill out beyond its borders or threaten the city’s prosper-ity, the Boxings and the Mist Riders may share a common fate: drowned like rats in a rain barrel .

IMPORTANT FIGURESThe following represent the ma-

jor Villains and Extras in the Two-Fist slum . Narrators should feel free to swap any of them out with Villains and Ex-tras of their own, or even Heroes if the player is willing and the scenario fits his or her character concept .


TWO-FIST SLUM

13

KAV’S BARGE

Kav’s barge is a medium-sized boat manned by a crew of six canal skaa. Led by Kav, the skipper, the ship makes frequent trips between Urteau, which is controlled by House Venture, and the capital city of Luthadel . Though primarily tasked with hauling cargo for House Venture, the barge also carries travelers for a high price .

House Venture allegedly supervises the skaa on Kav’s barge closely, but as is the case with other canal skaa, there are simply too many skaa and too few nobles to oversee them. Scrutinizing a profitable crew like this is a low priority for Lord Venture, who, as the most powerful man in the Empire next to the Lord Ruler, has far more important and profitable matters to attend to.

Kav’s barge is large enough to fit twenty to thirty people comfortably, less the six members of the crew. Nobles are given cloth-backed seats, while skaa sit on wooden benches or are stashed below the decks along with the cargo . In addition to seating and storage space, the barge also has a few heavy chests and padlocks used for valuables or, in rare cases, skaa prisoners.

The crew has managed to eke out a living by supplementing their operations for House Venture. Kav has turned the crew’s affiliation with the most powerful House into an asset and often incurs paid favors; many of the other Houses believe that helping Kav is a subtle way of currying favor with Lord Venture. They’re en-tirely wrong in this belief, of course, but Kav does little to dissuade them from such delusions. As a result, the crew often carries messages back and forth, along with gifts and other boons to help the nobles position themselves appropriately.

Thanks to their profitable side venture, Kav’s barge can support multiple peo-ple on one person’s pay instead of each of them just merely scraping by. To spend

time with their families, the crew docks at common waystations along the route . The members of the crew sometimes trade places with similar-looking relatives, so they effectively trade off canal work and caring for their children without rais-ing hackles with the Venture overseers.

IMPORTANT FIGURESThe following represent the major Villains and Extras at Kav’s barge. Narra-

tors should feel free to swap any of them out with Villains and Extras of their own, or even Heroes if the player is willing and the scenario fits his or her character concept .

KAVKav is the barge’s skipper, an amicable, short fellow. Polite and well man-

nered, Kav knows when to keep his mouth shut and when to talk. His demeanor has earned him the right to pilot his boat somewhat autonomously . Lord Venture allows him to conduct business with other houses to attain goods like spices, foodstuffs, and fibers. The exchange of weapons, contracts involving affairs of state, and other more sensitive matters remain beyond Kav’s reach. Kav doesn’t mind that some of the crew don’t like each other much, but won’t hesitate to pay Lily a little extra to find out what his shipmates are up to.

KAV (AVERAGE THREAT)Attributes: Physique 3, Charm 3, Wits 4Standings: Resources 6, Influence 5, Spirit 3Resiliences: Health 9, Reputation 8, Willpower 7Traits: Natural Leader; Likeable; Discreet Businessman


KAV’S BARGE

BOOK TWO

BEASTS OF BURDEN

Beasts of Burden is a personal adventure that challenges the Crew on its own turf. A small-time underworld ally of the Crew has fallen suddenly and inexplicably ill. The Crew’s seemingly innocuous investigation into the source of this illness draws them inexorably toward a criminal enterprise whose unre-strained brutality is only overshadowed by their ability to extort and blackmail. This clandestine organization responds to the Crew’s investigations with swift and radical retaliation aimed not at the Crew, but at everything the Crew holds dear. The Crew must protect their own vulnerabilities and formulate a counter-attack against a skaa gang whose strength lies in its organization, cunning, and ruthlessness rather than Allomancy or legitimate political power. Will the Crew uncover the secrets behind the Narrow Men before their own operations are de-stroyed by this rival Crew?

Warning to Players: The remainder of this chapter provides a detailed and spoiler-laden overview of the adventure. If you plan to play Beasts of Burden, we recommend you stop reading right here!

BEASTS OF BURDEN AT YOUR TABLEBeasts of Burden is designed for between two and five gaming sessions de-

pending your Crew’s play style. Objective-oriented Crews that care less for ancil-lary plot matters and personal development can move at a brisk pace, while the material provided in the adventure can easily last longer if the Crew opts for in-depth exploration of secondary characters or the adventure’s effects on the Crew’s friends and families .

INTRODUCTION

Skaa: Tin & Ash Preview - Crafty Games... CFG7005 Price: $24.95 9 781940 094939 Printed in the USA...

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Transcript of Skaa: Tin & Ash Preview - Crafty Games... CFG7005 Price: $24.95 9 781940 094939 Printed in the USA...