Sneak Peak: Original Ancestries of The Black Ballad

Well, hello, you lovely legion of chaos goblins. Pat Edwards here with a special holiday season sneak peek at some of the new playable species included in The Black Ballad.

The concept of creating original ancestries for player characters is obviously not a new or novel concept. At this point, it seems like the overwhelming majority of indie TTRPG books with original settings also include new player species. We here at ye olde Forge of Storytelling love the challenge this presents… can we create some new playable ancestries that are not only fun, interesting, and fresh, but also fit organically into the specific world we’ve built? New player species should not be superfluous set dressing in your world, but rather exemplify the lore of your original setting. To that end, let’s take a little look-see at some of those included in The Black Ballad:

Gargoyles

Art by Veronica O’Niell

Let’s start with the admittedly least original of our “original” player species. Myths have surrounded these curious stone creations for ages. Are they guardians that ward off evil spirits? Are they empty vessels for ethereal entities to inhabit? Or are they simply decorative water spouts helping maintain proper building drainage? We find the wildly varied nature of gargoyle lore to be fascinating, and in them, we saw the potential for the perfect lifeform that would find itself stuck between life and death.

In the world of The Black Ballad, gargoyles are sentient constructs with no immortal soul, no god, and no afterlife. They may live for centuries, but once their life is over… it is over. The Sunless Crossing is neither a mortal plane nor an afterlife. It exists in its own liminal space between all other planes of existence. As such, gargoyles have come to claim it as their own, a place where they can attempt to find some modicum of tranquility away from the relentless chaos that seems to plague all mortal realms.

Most souls that arrive in Nox Valar are only temporary residents waiting for their admittance to an eternal afterlife. As such, many gargoyles have assumed protective roles in this society. They take pride in helping these oft-beleaguered souls reach their respective afterlives. And when a gargoyle feels like they are done living… they may take their place along the shear walls of the mesa supporting Nox Valar. Letting the light within fade, these stalwart creatures revert to lifeless statues, forever watching over their home of The Sunless Crossing.

Unhallowed

Art by Olivia Hintz

The vast majority of souls that arrive in the Sunless Crossing are merely “passing through.” This could be for a number of reasons… perhaps the weave of fate has seen that they are destined for resurrection, or perhaps no god has laid claim to their soul, meaning they do not yet have an afterlife to go to. Because of this, most denizens of Nox Valar, the city at the heart of the Sunless Crossing, are considered temporary residents. But what does temporary mean when dealing in terms of gods, immortal souls, and infinite planes of existence?

Well, what it means is it isn’t all that uncommon to find souls who’ve been waiting quite a while… there are souls in Nox Valar who have been waiting there for more years than they actually lived on the mortal plane. And some, as one might expect, get exceptionally restless with that arrangement. For some souls, there are only so many thousands of times you can play cards at the House of Dawn, so many years you can spend meditating in the Still Garden, counting the billions of worthless discarded coins in Gilded Hills, and reading the histories of every single world in the Codex of Mortal Realms… when a soul reaches the breaking point of their patience, they may search for alternative ways to leave the Sunless Crossing, often trying to return to their mortal life.

And for those who actually succeed? Unfortunately, it is rare for them to like what they find. The very act of leaving the Sunless Crossing via illicit means carries a hefty set of consequences. Upon breaking the veil and returning to the mortal plane, a wayward soul loses all memory of their first life. They remember nothing of who they were before dying. And even their previous time spent in the Sunless Crossing is reduced to vague, foggy memories. Their time on the mortal plane is short indeed, for the moment they fall asleep, they are instantly returned to Nox Valar. In the end, the very act of leaving the Sunless Crossing results in the soul becoming inextricably bound to it. Their identities and afterlives are forever forsaken. All that is left for them is to start anew.

Soul Stitched

Art by Gareth Keenan

A universe where magic exists is inherently complicated. A universe where specifically resurrection and necromancy magic exist is not only complicated but messy as hell. What is living? What is death? What does it mean to be a conscious creature that was alive, died, and then brought back to some abominable state of unlife? We’re not here to answer those questions. We’re here to answer the question: what happens to an undead creature destroyed by divine magic? At one point, they were a soul. That type of immortal energy doesn’t just disappear entirely. So, what happens to it? I’ll tell ya…

When an undead creature on the mortal plane is “killed” by divine magic, their essence is sent to the Sunless Crossing. However, they are not fully formed souls, able to self-sustain. As such, they must regularly consume the souls of others, and when they feed, an aspect of that being becomes a part of them, integrating into their identity. This is why they are known as the Soul Stitched, sometimes cheekily referred to as the “Unliving Collective.”

Being a Soul Stitched is not an easy or relaxing existence. Their being is constantly on the edge of unraveling altogether. This inner turmoil is represented in their appearance. Soul Stitched appear as an amalgamation of all the souls they’ve consumed, looking as if they are literally “stitched” together from many different souls. There is no happy ending for their kind… it is merely a game of surviving as long as possible until you unravel completely.

So, there you have it… a little peak behind the curtain. If you haven’t sussed it out yet… we designed the Sunless Crossing to be a bit of a haven for the misfits of the multiverse. We hope this has gotten your character creation gears grinding away. What do you think your first character in the Black Ballad is going to be? Let us know in the comments!

Cheers!