The Pathburners

"Crossing the hell scape had etched the souls of those that would come to be called the Pathburners. We could imagine
no other name. The molten cinders of the Wörld burned our pasts away, making all that came before a trail of ashes."

Who Are the Pathburners?

As the lands rot, fewer and fewer descendants of the collapsed kingdoms venture beyond their village limits or even city
walls. They instead cower and skulk in their dark hovels for scraps. But who can blame them? From the forests, plains,
deserts, caves, and mountains emanate dual sounds, sounds of grinding and piercing shrieks. Are they the Wörld
tearing asunder? Or are they creatures devouring unfortunates who sought to unlock the deadly mysteries that await
out there? Lucky for those trembling in the refuse of fallen civilizations, the Pathburners seek a way. As a
Pathburner, it’s your job to face what others fear and protect your charges from the dangers that await. It is not a job
that many survive but those who stick to it become the best at what they do.

Motto & Sayings

“The Paths shall set you free.”

“Our secrets die with us.”

Themes of the Pathburners

Bold Explorers: The entire purpose of the Pathburners. As a Pathburner you have an inherent hunger or desire to see
the other side, whatever it may be and for your own reasons whatever their ill or grand intent.

Already Dead: The Pathburners are considered to be one of the most effective scouting bands remaining alive. Many
attribute this to the fact that the Pathburners consider themselves to be already dead.

Closest Thing We Got: You were not supposed to be the voice of the Pathburners, and you sure as hell weren’t
supposed to be the only Pathburners. The people of the blighted lands may see you as pretenders to the title until
you’ve established reasons for people to look to you as more.

Elites Are More Glamorous: Becoming a true Pathburner cannot be an easy task.

Incompletely Trained: Pathburners all show up with different skillsets, much of them untrained in the art of scouting.
One of the strengths of the Pathburners is their ability to compliment one another’s skills and sharing an openness to
learning which is how, in the end, they are an effect band of scouts.

Brought Down to Badass: Even without their powerful cadre mages, most veteran Pathburners are skilled scouts and
tacticians who have the confidence of their brethren to lead when the time comes.
Scout Hero: The Pathburners are renowned for their unwillingness to give up in the face of surmounting odds or ever-
changing lands. They are not spies or raiders, they are primarily scouts and will seek use of whatever tools are at their
disposal to win while avoiding use of force where necessary. They like to always have the best intelligence on what is in
front of them before moving in and will use ambush, stealth, subversion, and other scout tactics as their methods of
choice; the Pathburner philosophy seeks to maximize effectiveness while minimizing risk.

I Gave My Word: They'll take pains to stick to their word and will back out only if they feel that staying is against
the Pathburner’s long term interest. Even then, they'll try to fabricate a legal or pseudo-legal way out rather than just
break ranks.

A Lighter Shade of Grey: The Pathburners are not heroes. It has been known that they have some nasty sorts broken up
by a few whom are truly decent. Still, they won't stoop to the levels of the Stam hordes, erratic Shaman-women,
cultists or errant strongmen.

What Do They Do?

They are scouts for hire who worship the Paths. They are almost always on the move and both powerful figures,
factions or just those with coin or items for trade pay the Pathburners to find what awaits over the burning horizon or
under the cracked darkness.

● An insane queen with an obsession seeks a treasure that will surely win her more power; hire the Pathburners.

● A small faction with resources and shrewd intentions fears what looms in the forests; hire the Pathburners.

● A powerful occult lodge has lost contact with one of their cells. The lodge hires the Pathburners.

● A righteous community elder seeks forbidden knowledge to protect her people. She hires the Pathburners.

In the past it has been typical for the people who hire the Pathburners to try and pull them into warfare and conflict.
Those mad with power will demand they become assassins or those more sly will suggest they become a more
“permanent” part of the payroll. Once you’ve hired the Pathburners to find a relic of the past you find having a
clandestine band of scouts at your disposal gives you a few extra options. The Pathburners are used to this and will melt
away as soon as they smell trouble. The Pathburners detest being brought into war and will usually seek ways to void
their contract if they feel they are being pulled by the gravity of war by their benefactor.

Who Joins the Pathburners?

People with an acquired taste of the unknown. People who have tasted, one way or another, the touch of the Paths and
somehow cannot shake the feeling that as the lands crumble and the great wastes expand, that discovery of the
unknown, the forbidden, the forgotten is all that is left to truly feel alive. The life of a professional scout is filled
with constant movement and discovery. But it also comes at a cost, often a broken mind from the horrors that creep
from the warped cracks of the lands.

So How Does It Begin and End?

Before one permanently become a Pathburner, one must undergo a symbolic "funeral" where last goodbyes are spoken
to friends and relatives and all ties to their former lives are cut under the watchful eyes of a Pathsinger. It begins with
chanting and toasts, then those seeking to join bid farewell to their friends and loved ones under the melodic but
somber singing notes of the Pathsinger. This “funeral song” is said to clear the name and restore any lost honor of the
person and their family, even removing curses. Among those who knew them they are recorded and remembered as
dead, under pain of cursed death and are viewed as having found glorious and redemptive death among the Paths. The
Pathburner must then work to make this a fact through a courageous, honorable, and worthwhile death.

Pathburners are typically marked with grim tattoos and equipped with items that aid in their efforts to remain
clandestine to the Wörld. When a Pathburner dies among the Paths they are burnt to ash, mixed in water, and released
down a slope thus returning them to the Paths. The Pathburners celebrate the fact that the fallen has finally found the
ultimate unknown path, Death.

The headquarters of the Pathburners, known as Crossroads Redoubt, was said to be lost with great regret as the
colorless fog swept the lands. As the Pathburner’s activities often spread across a large portion of the known and
unknown lands, they regularly create and camouflage sturdy crates which contain clothing, food, and weapons in
various locations in case they are needed. Unfortunately, many of these crates are lost as the warped Wörld convulses
and dies, but some from bygone eras are said to still be out there containing treasures of the bands…

What calls you to the Paths?

People join the Pathburners have, at the very least, a desire to explore the unknown and take risks to do so. Something
in their past has led them to this point.

How Did You Come to the Pathburners?

All come to the Pathburners in different ways for different reasons, but all come in a desire to fill a hole where there
once was nothing.