Though the Shattering divided the world, for most, life went on; not so for the residents of Nastal, whose world ended that day. While most of Orn suffered little lasting damage from the Shattering, the lands of Nastal endured unparalleled exposure to the Void. Some say that the troubles that plague Nastal are the result of weakened boundaries between realms, but whatever the reason much of northern Nastal is a wasteland where soulless raiders hunt any travelers who are too slow to evade them. These are the Soulshorn.
Prolonged exposure to the hollow wind near the void is known to drive people mad. Extremely strong hollow wind, however, can actually damage a person’s soul. Such people go beyond mere madness, becoming deranged raiders. Most civilized races, and even some monstrous ones, are wary of contact with the Soulshorn, as they are known raiders and any meeting with them is more than likely an attempt at an ambush or a robbery, if not an attempt at murder or enslavement. Soulshorn tend to band together into loose groups, where allegiance is really only maintained through strength and amassing resources.
Soulshorn live a half life, a cursed life, if it can still be called living. Already driven to desperation due to the lack of resources and the inhospitable nature of the lands around the Void Scar, Soulshorn live on borrowed time. While the hollow wind at first only drives them mad, making them volatile and confrontational, it eventually completely destroys their mind, leaving them little more than feral husks of their former selves. Other Soulshorn still keep these feral ones around, releasing them during raids to wreak havoc and chaos on foes, or to provide entertainment by setting them against each other.
Becoming a Soulshorn
Anyone who spends too long exposed to the Void risks madness, but the process seems accelerated in Nastal, especially around the Void Scar. Anyone who spends a prolonged time in the area, voluntarily or involuntarily, risks the ill effects of the hollow wind.
The change takes place over a minimum of three mestruns during which the player must be in play: the first event after prolonged exposure, their Spirit is reduced to two thirds its normal value (rounded down). The second event, it is reduced to one third its normal value (rounded down) instead. In the final stages of exposure, at the third event, their Spirit is completely depleted.
If the player survives the ordeal, they unlock the Soulshorn Stigma and may respend their race using karma.
Costuming for Soulshorn Characters
Soulshorn are easily identified by their animalistic rage and the way they compulsively mutilate their own flesh. Finger extension prosthetics should be displayed; gaunt, bony, emaciated fingers and limbs are a result of prolonged exposure to the wastes. The madness drives the Soulshorn to constantly cut, pick at, or gnaw their own flesh, leaving them with chewed or missing lips as well as visible open wounds or scars; being unable to feel pain, the Soulshorn do not dress their wounds. Soulshorn often keep a pair of dark goggles with them, as the sun reflecting off the wastes as left them with an extreme sensitivity to light. Being outcasts and raiders, Soulshorn often wear whatever they can get their hands on, typically a ragged assortment of attire rugged enough to stand up to exposure to the wastes; they also typically carry an assortment of salvage, junk, and other remnants.