Malkin (blurb)
“Seek, first among all other things, one truth; that all who were born unto this world deserve their opportunity to find freedom.” – Alith-Handar, First Among the Free
Description
Though the Malkin themselves do not often take kindly to the comparison, physically they resemble a race of bipedal cats, fur-covered humanoids with pointed ears and a long, non-prehensile tail. Perhaps their most defining characteristic though is their innate resistance to spells, which cannot be controlled but can become stronger in some Malkin with time and effort.
Many of the adult Malkin on the continent today were not born here, but were instead bred by the arcaners of Magedom as servants and soldiers in that far-away land. Under the leadership of Alith-Handar, a large number of these so-called Kargath managed to escape during the Great Uprising of 2014 A.T. and eventually made their way to the continent where they have sought to create a new home and cultural identity for themselves. Perhaps unsurprisingly, nearly all such Malkin possess an extreme distrust of mages and a fear of being confined.
The Malkin race claims no official nations or built-up cities of their own. Instead, those Malkin who have not integrated themselves into the populations of other lands, live in a series of dispersed enclaves that maintain sizable territories in unclaimed areas across the continent, and they will fiercely defend their territory. Though natural-born hunters, and often possessing martial training from their former lives in Magedom, Malkin today can be found in nearly all walks of life.
Racial Bonuses
- Begin with 10 Skill Points (SP)
- Begin with 6 Life Points (LP)
- Begin with 2 Resurrections
- Begin with one Weapon Skill (all pre-requisites must be met at character creation)
- Begin with one innate Spell Shield skill. This innate ability is always on until used. Once this ability is used it is treated as a per-encounter skill. Similarly, if used between encounters, it automatically returns after 5 minutes. The call for this is “Spell Shield”.
- May purchase additional innate Spell Shields for 6 SP each
- May purchase LP to a maximum of 12 LP
- Must pay double Skill Points for the Magery skill
- Must take double the amount of required time in order to regenerate Magical Energy
- Must take double the amount of required time in order to regenerate Spiritual Energy
Mandatory Costuming
- Prosthetic furry, pointed ears
- Make-up indicating the patterned skin of a large hunting cat (all exposed skin must be represented)
- Solid, singularly black or brown make-up is not permitted
- Long cat-like tail
Racial Aging
| Youth | Elderly | Aging | Max. Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 years | 75 years | 5 years | 130 years |
Youth: This is the minimum starting age for a given race. This is also the minimum age that can be achieved through rejuvenating spells.
Elderly: This is the age when the effects of time begin to take their toll and benchmarks aging negatives for a character, eventually affecting their Life Points.
Aging: Upon reaching the age indicated in the “Elderly” column, a character’s maximum LP decreases 1 Life Point for every increment of years indicated in the “Aging” column. For example, if the racial maximum LP for a goblin is 8 LP, a 42-year-old goblin character would have a maximum Life Points of 6. (A 42-year-old Goblin is 12 years over “Elderly” and, marking two increments of aging at 5 years each, reducing that characters’ Life Points by 2.)
Maximum Age: Upon reaching the age indicated in “Max. Age” the character is deceased and may not resurrect.
Nations and Lands
Although malkin do not have a land that is exclusively their own, Magedom, the kingdom of their origin, still has a substantial population of “Kargath” – malkin who did not choose to leave those lands. Kargath malkin are unlikely to ever be seen on the continent of Ariel at this point in history.
History
Although the malkin do not know the specific details or mechanisms of their species creation, it is known that they were a made people, and that the ancestors of the modern malkin were once elves. Having encountered a magic-resistant jaguar-people in distant lands during imperialist explorations, ancient Magedom scholars sought to replicate this ability for their own soldiers and servants, experimenting first with volunteers, and later it is said, on prisoners and political rivals.
Although many experiments were unsuccessful, some historical records remain that detail enormous hunting-cat like beings with humanoid intelligence and an almost perfect resistance to magic, who were wildly aggressive and unsuitable for the purposes for which the experiments were intended. Perhaps thankfully, both the processes that led to these near-cousins of the modern malkin, and to the creation of the malkin themselves, were lost sometime after a sustainable population was created, in one of Magedom’s many internecine wars.
For centuries, the malkin were soldiers, servants, and bodyguards, magic-resistant shock troops in a land where magic was the order of the day. Even malkin who had no direct duties pertaining to combat were trained to fight from the creche, and the vast majority of living malkin are trained in at least basic combat skills. Malkin whose resistance to magic was particularly strong would often be tasked with cleaning up magical disaster areas, and some were even trained in the arts of magic themselves.
When the continent of Ariel was rediscovered by Magedom fleets, some malkin, then calling themselves ‘kargath’, accompanied the emissaries sent to the peoples of this new land. They brought back stories of large swaths of open lands, and a distinct lack of magical rulership.
During the offing of a civil war in Magedom, a large population of malkin, following a charismatic leader by the name of Alith-handar (self-named for the Emperor of the Golden Age of Magic), declined to fight. Using a vast communications network and a logistical structure, the group named themselves ‘Malkin’, after their ancient name, and rose up, taking the fleets of Magedom and sailing for the continent of Ariel. The mages who opposed this movement found that their magics availed them little upon the magically resistant malkin, who reached landfall and spread out across the continent, settling in population groups in whatever nations would have them.
A contingent of malkin, including Alith-handar, settled the town of Dream, in the northern reaches of the Duchy of Gelrich in Harodom. In exchange for full citizenship for their refugees, this contingent of Malkin aided Harodom in retaking the City of Hogsport during the war with Eldersire, the magic-resistant and blooded troops proving decisive in the recovery of the city alongside Harodonian regular forces.
Factions
Although not strictly formalized, one of the goals of the malkin has been to forge a cultural identity, leading to members of the species trying their abilities at a variety of different trades and roles. Many malkin are of course farmers and hunters, helping their new settlements to survive and thrive. Not all malkin align with a faction, but some view the broad strokes that make up the factions as a guideline on how an independent civilization of malkin might one day be achieved. As these are not formal groups, some malkin subscribe to multiple factions, or move between them as they try to find a personal identity.
- Wrights are Malkin who have primarily focused their interests and efforts in fine craftsmanship. Jewellers, smiths, leatherworkers, armourers, weaponsmiths, and even alchemists, the wrights wish to keep the skilled trades that they spent much of their lives working alive.
- Mangere are Malkin who have focused on the arts of haggling, barter, and trade. These malkin often will represent a group of malkin who wish to negotiate land settlement or similar, and are frequently wealthy or well-to-do.
- Thegn are Malkin who focus on their martial skills. Either working in national armies (often hunting magical monsters or foes), in small independent squads of sellswords, or as bodyguards, the thegn are well-skilled warriors even by the standards of the malkin.
- Galdor are easily the smallest group: Malkin who have decided to pursue arcane magic as a primary interest or vocation. Treated with varying degrees of suspicion by other malkin, the galdor nevertheless use knowledge gleaned from years in service to the magocrats of Magedom to the betterment of their communities. Galdor tend to be daring experimenters in magic, trusting in their resistance to keep them safe from the consequences of mishaps.
- Scatha are Malkin who view personal property as distinctly… optional. Although not every scatha is a thief, many know the way into buildings and containers that do not belong to them, and most of them know how to insert a knife where someone would prefer it not go.
These factions are simply the most dominant among the Malkin at the moment – by no means are they the only ones, or the only ways in which the malkin as a people are finding their own identity.
Authored by: Andrew Dunlop
Fantasy Alive Lore Team 2026
Copyright © Endless Adventures Ontario