Paragons of the Luminant Age

Paragons of the Luminant Age is a book of Weird Fantasy characters and archetypes for Pathfinder 2nd Edition, offering up a range of interesting people to befriend, bedevil, and befuddle, along with a chance to play as a senator, quantum church assassin, or more! The Luminant Age is a strange time in a strange world, inspired by works such as The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and it takes uncommon people to live in it. Our veteran crew of authors, including Mark Seifter (one of the creators of Pathfinder 2nd Edition) will make sure you're ready for it.

Unique among the city-states of Edulph, Ourichor never bent its knee to any foreign tyrant or homegrown demagogue. Six centuries of republican rule have given the people a certain pride rarely seen in other lands, a brisk independence and an occasional stubborn contrariness that is just distinctly Ourian. Every citizen of the Republic believes, deep down in their heart, that they are the captains of their own destiny.
-Sister Sighing-Water

Paragons of the Luminant Age is a  24-page zine containing eight NPCs from the city of Ourichor, shown off with brilliant art, evocative cutscenes, and our versatile Moon system of variant NPC goals and motivations (is the Hierobishop friend or foe? Well, it depends.) In these pages, you will meet:

• The Hierobishop Diligence-in-Mourning, head of the Ourian branch of the Church of the Blinded Angel. A former Leonite war-monk and recently raised to the episcopal throne, Diligence finds that politics is a battlefield as treacherous as any he’s ever encountered.
• Young Lissa Inshariss, a fisherman’s kid who decided that given the choice between poor and honest fishing and dangerous and potentially profitable pearl diving, she’ll take the latter, thank you very much. It’s cost her hearing and a few other scars, but Lissa doesn’t regret a thing.
• The suave and handsome Ras Sorulien, illegitimate son of one of the richest and most powerful merchant clans in the city. His father is dead (Ras may or may not have had something to do with this), so now the question is—who inherits?
• Seria Lascier, who doesn’t look like much. A quiet, mousy, medical student at one of the Six Colleges, she’s easy to overlook. Which would be a mistake, since Seria’s one of the premier daimonologists in Ourichor, peeling back the layers of reality one by blood-spattered one.
• Chane Grethale, a street orphan from the Arsenal docks who’s made something of himself. These days, Chane is the man you talk to if you want to get things done—whatever those things might be.
• And last but not least, meet the extended family of the eccentric Joy Of The Bright Minnow Chasers When It Appears. Deeply connected to a hive of axissave seabirds, Joy was chosen the hive's Godbird as the liaison between avian and human.. These days, Joy scours Ourichor for odd ingredients and inscrutable Godbird requests - which also makes them a natural informant.
• Led by the Dead King Vademph ‘Goldfang’ Reisz, a boisterous, not-quite-all-there fellow who switches easily between hearty charm and absolutely excessive amounts of violence. A youth working in the ichor refineries has left Vee a bit prone to hallucination, but he doesn’t let that slow him down (…possibly he should). Also Chane’s former and Ilsejzan’s current boyfriend.
  
• But if Vademph is the face of the operation, then Ilsejzan Dar is the brains. The Broken Guild’s number two, Ilsejzan makes sure that the numbers add up, the rackets are running smoothly, and all the bribes get paid on time. She also has a sword. Just noting.

We are a city of lies and a city of liars. We wear masks to hide our faces, and we weave stories and tales to hide our hearts. No one in Ourichor will fight you fair, face to face. That isn’t how it’s done here. A knife in the back, a word in the dark? Now that’s the Ourian way.
-State Inquisitor Thimesh Issfel

But wait, there’s more! Paragons of the Luminant Age also contains two archetypes, each one with unique mechanics rarely found in Pathfinder and supported by in-universe quotes and documentation.

• Learn the secrets of Esseweaving, the art of manipulating the silver strings within (almost) every living thing. An ancient and secret art, esseweaving allows one to heal, to harm, and to puppeteer the bodies of those they meet.
• Mysticism not to your taste? How about politics? You too can become a Senator, wielding power and influence in the Republic of Ourichor. Your name opens every door and your words can inspire and terrify in equal measure.

Ourichor is a place where everything’s for sale. Like, look, it’s a city built by a bunch of rich sods who got kicked out of their old place because the wrong guy owed them money. Give me an hour and a sack of sthalers and I could buy three lifelong friends, four senators, and a spiffy hat with a feather in it. Pay them enough and an Ourian will do anything.
-Mouse

Paragons of the Luminant Age is produced by Mikhail Rekun and Andrew Mullen, a pair of well-regarded Pathfinder veterans featured in books such as  the Dark Archive and Lost Omens Legends, with additional writing by Jessica Redekop (Rage of Elements) and Mark Seifter (director of game design at Roll for Combat and one of four leads for Pathfinder 2nd Edition). Art is provided by Inkary (https://www.artstation.com/inkary) and Eryn W. Thompson (https://www.erynwilliams.com/). Editing by Simone D. Sallé and layout by Jen McCleary.