#baykok

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 As long as people have believed in soothsaying, prognostication, and any other such synonym of telling the future, there have been people, particularly emperors, generals, and the like who wish to gain some surety that in the battle tomorrow, they will emerged victorious and not on the end of a pike or captured and ransomed back to their own people.

It only makes sense, particularly in a fantasy setting, for someone to cut out the middleman and blend warrior traditions with divination, giving rise to the augur skalds that we will be focusing on today.

Now, while their specific context of this archetype from Arcane Anthology mentions a Mwangi-native warrior lady learning divination from the mystical nation of Nex, this archetype could easily appear anywhere where divination is widely practiced as well as warfare, be it burgeoning empires, survivalist cultures that sometimes stay alive by raiding, and so on.

These skalds, in addition to their normal duties, have a knack for reading the future both in the long term, and in the immediate short term, making them very well informed about what might happen even when they don’t know the details, giving them an edge beyond their prowess, magic, and inspiring performances.

 The most basic of abilities associated with these warriors is a sort of second sight, preternatural awareness, or other sense that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of their foes, but still requires the augur to interpret them.

Channeling their magic and oracular talents, these skalds can glimpse the future to answer questions about upcoming events. As they grow in power, their prophetic power expands, and can even contact higher powers to ask questions.

They can even use their awareness in combat, able to read the future actions of a foe to identify an upcoming gap in their defenses that they can exploit, though they can only do so a few times a day.

Enjoy the skald but with you had access to some thematic divination utility and knowledge gathering? This archetype might be for you. You lose some skill utility and resistance to certain effects, as well as some of the versatility of the spell kenning feature, but you make up for it for being able to regularly get a good vibe for upcoming events and the occasional big buff to an attack when it really counts. With this in mind, I’d build this skald with some flexibility in mind to adapt to what you learn, and go from there, but you’re free to build them how you wish.

 Given their role as both warriors and prophets that are specifically called upon in times of war, these skalds can often be war oriented, but more importantly, they are likely more concerned than most for more practical aspects of prophecy and wisdom rather than the esoteric stuff that often alienates wizardly or divine diviners from others. After all, putting yourself in harms way very often tends to give a certain perspective on the fragility of life and how quickly a thread can be cut short, possibly even destroying a destined path as a consequence, which is a whole other bag of worms.

  When the skald Yavnir warned his jarl that invading would only lead ruin to their civilization, the jarl, whose name has been stricken in shame, had the augur executed for treason in a fit of arrogant fury. Now, the ghost of Yavnir still lingers in the ruins of that abandoned hall, waiting to deliver a prophecy to a new prospective jarl.

 Created in the image of a mighty general, the shabti Savnet had a knack for combat and tactics, but her interest in the nature of predestination has also allowed her do apply her divinatory skills to her combat training. She can’t help but sense that some element of destiny is preparing her for something she cannot see yet.

In Ojibwe folklore, the baykok is a malevolent spirit, often depicted as a skeletal creature with translucent skin and glowing red eyes.

The baykok is said to haunt the forests of the Greak Lakes region of North America. It flies through the trees, attacking its victims with invisible arrows or beating them with clubs. The baykok is said to devour the liver of those it kills.

The baykok will only prey on warriors. It emits a shrill cry when it attacks.

Image source.

Monster master list.

The Baykok is a malevolent spirit of Chippewa folklore.

Sharing its territory with the infamous Wendigo, this haunting, skeletal huntsman swoops through the forests of the Great Lakes occasionally letting out shrill cries into the cold night air. It appears as a severely emaciated corpse – essentially loose skin draped over a skeleton – and carries with it a bow, a quiver of poison-tipped arrows, and a club.

It is said the Baykok was born when a revered and mighty hunter was somehow separated from his team and from his quarry, causing him to become lost in the forest. Unable to find his way back, the hunter eventually died. Refusing such an unfitting end, the hunter clung to life and refused to leave his heavy body. After some time, a clumsy and disrespectful hunter came by and accidentally disturbed his remains, awakening him. What arose was not a living man, but a spirit bound to a corpse. The Baykok had awoken. From then on, the Baykok hunted not animals as its prey, but its fellow warriors and hunters.

As an adept hunter, the Baykok knows the forests of the Great Lakes well. It rarely leaves the lands it knows, ensuring any who seek it are always on its ground. Few who become its victim ever see it in person, either due to its hunting skills or because it is a supernatural being, though it is described as a skin-draped skeleton with eye sockets containing pinpricks of red glowing light in place of true eyes. Though it is rarely, if ever, seen, the Baykok's presence may be given away by the sound of its creaking skin and the popping of its bones as it creeps up on its victim.

The Baykok shoots its victims with invisible poison-tipped arrows which induce a state of unconsciousness. While they are unconscious, the Baykok uses its hunting knife to make an incision before ripping open their chest and devouring their liver (an organ that is particularly nourishing to the undead). Following this, the Baykok sews its victim's chest shut with supernatural threads, healing the wound and leaving no evidence of its attack. The victim may live for hours or even days without realising something is wrong, until they succumb to the effects of having their liver removed, where upon they will suddenly become horribly ill and soon die. Should the Baykok feel subtlety is not required, it may forgo its magic arrows and simply club its quarry over the head until unconscious or dead.

As a supernatural, undead creature, the Baykok is exceptionally hard to dispatch. It is said the only way to defeat it for good is to tear apart its skeleton and grind the bones to dust before scattering them so that they cannot regenerate. However, as the Baykok is such a good hunter and only hunts those who are out alone, it is unlikely to be caught.

🌈 Chroma Pack for the Undead Baykok on Patreon

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Normally the elemental power of a kineticist is used to destroy or on occasion create, raising up structures from raw material with pure force of will. Some, however, use their kinetic powers to repair and heal, manipulating the elements and matter of their patients to close wounds.

Typically, this is seen with hydrokineticists, who manipulate the flow of life, or aetherkineticists, who manipulate and spin flesh subtly to bind it back together. However, with the advent of phytokineticists and the secrets of Psychic anthology, those normally associated with plants can heal as well with raw positive energy, and indeed, qualify for this archetype.

These chirurgeons are the absolute experts in the field of kinetic healing, going above and beyond others in raw skill, which they put to great use.

 In addition to repairing wounds, the healing of these mystics can sooth various conditions that they learn to treat, much in the way a paladin can.

Furthermore, they can improve their healing further to heal even greater wounds, can heal themselves more quickly, and even bring the recently dead back to life.

Lastly, these mystics have a much larger buffer than most other kineticists, but can only use it to absorb the strain of healing, rather than anything else.

If you’re interested in a healer that doesn’t use spells at all, and also has the flavor of expending their own energy to heal others, this archetype certainly has a lot of appeal, just remember that you won’t get infusions, and can’t use burn to boost your blasts, so your offensive variety will be limited, though still powerful.

 I can imagine these kineticists being a rare thing, typically found in remote locations where they eschew the battle-focused power of the elements in favor of healing and protecting. Alternately, they might be more active in lands where divine healing is harder to come by.

  There is darkness in the forest of Erpshad, but there is light as well, a kabal of phytokinetic healers ward and heal travelers, protecting them from the baykoks and other wandering undead with lashing tendrils of plant matter and blinding blasts of positive energy.

 When a chapel collapses, a mysterious figure appeared, moving heavy stones with a mere gesture, and tending to the injured, who were able to walk around soon after as if they hadn’t been crushed at all. However, when time came to thank the stranger, they were gone, vanishing into the crowd. Someone caught a glimpse of dark skin and white hair, however.