Kingdom of Ash Glossary
The Burn: This is the common name attributed to the event that destroyed civilization where all humans on the planet spontaneously combusted on April 1st, 2024.
Burn: Seperate from 'The Burn', burn is what survivors call the heat that builds up in their body when they utilize their gift. The more a gift is used without rest, or the harder it is pushed, the more heat builds up within a survivor, to the point they can catch fire from within and consume themselves.
Ash: Ash is everywhere and covers everything. For years, ash blanketed the sky, plunging the world into an icy winter. Survivors, with their peculiar ability to elevate their own body temperature, were able to survive uncommonly well in the winter. In the last couple of years, the ash has fallen from the skies and seasons are returning. Survivors wear breathing masks, or just cloth around their faces to cut down on the Ash they inhale. Think the world of Mad Max, except instead of endless sandy desert, the world is covered in grey powder.
Gift: All survivors have a single unnatural ability. Those abilities are not unique, although some are more rare than others. All gifts enhance a survivor's ability to survive in the harsh, post apocalyptic world. Because some gifts are more common than others, certain names get applied to people with those gifts. Examples include:
- Fast Movers - Speedsters. They tend to build burn very quickly, although a talented fast mover can have bursts of speed faster than the eye can follow.
- Movers - Not to be confused with Fast Movers, a mover is a telekinetic. For some reason their telekinesis does not work on living organic matter.
- Bolters - Survivors who can project some form of high energy ranged attacks. Lightning is the most common, but lasers, radiation, heat, and other forms of energy happen as well. Some bolters project from their hands, some from their eyes, some from their hearts or foreheads. Whatever manifestation they have, it always works in the same manner, although they can vary the intensity.
- Toughs - Toughs are simply very strong and tough, although it's not a constant ability, but rather one that needs to be focused upon. Surprise a Tough and they're just as easy to hurt as anyone else, but if they're prepared, their skin can absorb small arms fire without even a bruise. A tough can lift incredible weights, but the heavier something is, the more Burn the tough builds up. Also, being super strong doesn't mean the object you're trying to lift can handle being lifted. Try to lift a wrecked car by the bumper, and you rip off the bumper. Most Warlords tend to be toughs.
- Healers - These survivors are some of the most desired for a settlement, and are often kidnapped or made slaves by warlords. A healer can quickly recover from any wound, toxin, or disease that isn't instantly fatal, although that healing does draw upon the body's resources and required extra caloric intake to avoid starvation. What makes them so valuable, is that they can share that healing ability with others by either spilling their own blood onto an open wound, or having the victim consume their blood. Experiments with bagged Healer blood have been unsucessful. The blood needs to be fresh from the source.
- Flyers - Unsurprisingly, these survivors can fly. Some fly like rockets, others move slower but can hover, all leave some sort of brightly colored energy trail in their wake. There are no flyers with subtle flight.
- Ferals - This is a broad category for survivors with animalistic features. Typically, the survivor will have a specific, predatory animal they develop some traits from. Typically claws, sharp teeth, acute senses, minor cosmetic traits. Think more Wolverine/Sabertooth and less adorable anime catgirl. Their abilities are generally less impressive than other gifted, but they usually don't build up Burn the ways other do.
- Seer - A seer can essentially separate their senses from their bodies, which can then travel away from the Seer at great speed, seeing and hearing as if they were physically there. A seer's strength determines how far they can travel. While 'seeing' their body is helpless and unaware.
- Nulls - A null can, with concentration, prevent other survivors from accessing their gifts within a certain distance. A powerful null could prevent any gifts within 60' or so. A weak null might only be able to negate the gift of someone they're touching. Seers cannot sense nulls at all, and can be blinded within the area of an active null field.
Some Things Gifts Don't Do:
- Shapeshifting - While some rare survivors have developed the ability to conceal or disguise themselves, none have ever developed the ability to radically change their form. That includes shrinking or growing.
- Telepathy/Empathy/Mind Control - No survivor has ever developed the ability to influence or detect the thoughts of others.
- Manipulate Time or Space - No Time Travel, Pre or Post Cognition, no Teleportation or dimensional travel.
Burn Out: If a survivor pushes their gift too far, they risk burn out, where the heat inside them gets so intense, they begin to catch fire. A survivor who reaches burn out will suffer incredible pain and if they continue to push, will die. The strength of a survivor's gift is largely determined by their tolerance for Burn.
