The Beast Fears Fire - Dry Prophets

Dry Prophets [Malevolence 3]
Purpose - To Bring Forth the Will of the Sandrisas

You could be excused for mistaking them for the dead, even as they assure you they never died, these mummified figures in white robes with knit Murrenic skullcaps whose sleeves and hems sift dust with every creaking movement. These are the human, well, once-human ministers for the elusive sandrisas, populating cold and arid monasteries above the ice. Lahesians report that the dry ones are the day-to-day authority in the mountains, to the extent that they are willing to deviate from their contemplation of the static perfection of the Mother-who-is-earth.

Dry prophets appear to be dead; corpses mummified by the cold and wind of the higher reaches of the mountains, but they do appear to breathe, at least (sometimes as much as a couple breaths and hour when they are not talking), and require, or at least appreciate food (dried meats and vegetables and honey) and distilled spirits. Lahesians say it is sometimes possible for them to approach and interact with the dry ones directly (rather than through their chosen servants) with the right gift, though dry prophets are too suspicious of foreigners to allow them the same opportunity.

Dry prophets spend most of their time pursuing their own deprivations and listening for the infrequent orders of their sandrisa masters. Older dry ones start to grow crystalline formations from their skin (usually fluorite, but occasionally emeralds, rubies or even esoteric crystals). Most dry prophets are, apparently, male, for the reason that possessing the form of the Adversary allows them to remain in active service for a longer period before giving over to immobility and ever-more-rarified contemplation of the perfection of the Mother.

Dry Prophets are said to seek to subdue any foreigner they meet, or any Lahesian they judge contaminated by the lands below.

Harm 2/Peril [Parched] Dry prophets can martial jolms to their aid and defense and have powers analogous to those of Earth Witches besides, but their sermons tend to be their first choice for dealing with intruders. Dry Prophets can move surprisingly quickly, and are quite resilient, though they prefer to use their magic and desiccating words to physical violence.

A Dry Subject
When a dry prophet sermonizes at you, face Malevolence
On a Hit, the words chap your lips and parch your throat, causing you to suffer the Peril Parched. If you fall to this Peril, you are in danger of Death's Door, if someone does not get fluids into you quickly.
On a Hard Hit, you ignore the words and do not suffer anything. On the downside, this means the prophet has decided you are hopelessly corrupt and will stop at nothing to destroy you with witchcraft.
On a Miss, you suffer Harm and Peril, a terrible headache and the chance of also suffering acute renal failure, because dehydration sucks a lot.

You speak softly. We are capsules of energy
Older Dry Prophets are said to be almost solid masses of fluorite or ruby or emerald with cores of astracite. Pretty much a malign fortune in gems and crystals just sitting there, a fact which has drawn some thieves and adventurers up from Crickton. So far, none of them have returned with major hauls, but they have come back with the occasional handful of gems and stories of what goes on up on the mountain. The prophets run, loosely, a cadre of colorful coated earth witches and some other folk who account for most of the actual government of the mountain settlements. Surprisingly little in terms of detail comes from these tales, and each mountain settlement, as isolated from one another as they are from Crickton, seems to run significantly differently from one another, though poverty, repression and deprivation seem to be thematic in all of them.