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Damsel Book Two - Beneath The Shadow
Exerpt from the Damsel Book:
After the war with between the Tautha and Fae, the Fae who called the Wild Hunt
were banished from their Groves by the Queen Faerie and her Vogue.The Banished did
not want to go far from their lands hoping that one day they would be forgiven and
aloud to return, so they came to the feet of the great mountains and took residence
in the thick and tall forests there.
But the years waned and they felt themselves forgotten and the land they dwelt
in was dark and always in shadow of the tall rock and their spirits, already tainted
by the power of the Wild Hunt, grew darker and they began to hate the Tautha and their
own kin, and despising the light and green delved underground beneath the rock into
ancient caves.
There the Unseelie, the Court of Opposites of the Queen's Vogue, were changed,
losing all colour and became completely white of skin, hair and eye. Living beneath
had robbed them of the vitality of the sun and moon. To replace their denuded power
they collected bright stones and glittering metal to adorn their bodies and to fuel
their twisted magics.
As years passed above them they enslaved inferior races and consorted with them
to produce the Haegs, blacked skinned madiens in their own dark-glamourous image,
to be their soldiers for when the White Witch called them back to the surface again
for revenge.
The Unseelie Dhrow
The second Damsel Book intoduces another race into the Aryiki world, that of the Unseelie
Dhrow. The Unseelie are spirits that have become dark and wish to control other species
for their own amusement and power. Like the Fae, they are all Magi. The Dhrow do not
have the same source of power as the Fae, who get their mana from the sun and moon
and nature; the Unseelie dwell underground where the ley lines are weak. To increse
the power of their magicks, which are mostly spells of dominion and control, the Witches
wear copious amounts of silver and gold jewellery.
Dhrow Witches exhilarate in the violence and
speed of battle.
The Unseelie race refers to the bondaged races as well, which include the Haegs and
Dallags. The Haegs are creations of the Dhrow, black skinned and shock-white haired
immitations and crosses between a Dhrow maiden and some other creature. They are used
as bodyservants and soldiers; some of the promising or pure Haegs (of only Unseelie
perantage and magic) have their own authority and are minor magi. The lowest in the
chain of slavery are the Dallag, misshapen creatures of such ugliness that they are
rarely seen outside of their poorly crafted armour, which protects them in the mines
and as fodder in battle.
The Slaughs
 The Unseelie Society is based
around powerful Witches and their followers, called a Slaugh. The most poweful Slaugh
has the White Witch, or leader of the Unseelie, at its head. Each Slaugh has its own
territory and acts as it wishes and the Slaughs raid and fight each other constantly
and allegiances shift faster than the rocks cut by the thousands of Dallag slave miners.
The five strongest Slaugh are provided with army lists, damsel types and Heroines.
They are the:
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White: The White Slaugh Slaugh
is the strongest of the Unseelie Slaugh. Its leader is the current White Witch, Lashvixatrix,
who continues the tradition of favouring her Slaugh to keep it and herself in power
for longer.
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Gomorra: The
Gamorra Slaugh is regarded as decedent even amongst the other Dhrow. Within the Slaugh
there is little regard for the separation of the Haeg and Dallag from the Dhrow. All
consort with each other regardless of rank. It has been said that in the Slaugh’s
deepest caverns Dhrow and Haeg mate with the beasts to produce offspring so twisted
and unsightly that they are banished to the depths forever.
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Sadomax: The sounds that echo from
the twisted confines of the Sadomax Slaugh’s caverns are horrifying enough to send
creatures fleeing in mindless panic and to nauseate the cruel Dhrow that have to bear
the empty stretches of jagged stone to reach the Slaugh’s entrance. Within the caverns
and tunnels only the tempered minds of the Unseelie can stand the torturous horrors
that are inflicted upon slaves, beasts, servants, and most amazing and disturbing
of all, on the Dhrow themselves.
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Domina: Dhrow of the Domina Slaugh
are the most skilled magi in the Unseelie. Gold and silver chains drape their white
shapes, linked together in intricate tapestries of mana foci as the vines of the forests
used to. Threads run through their hair making it sparkle in the torch and glow-light
like the starry sky when the Dhrow did not live beneath.
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Darachul: Where the Gomorra breed
with Haeg to create uniqueness, the bloodthirsty Darachul copulate with leather-winged
creatures and giant spiders to produce half-caste off-spring; Haegs with the faces
and torsos of ebony beauty, their lower bodies and legs that of the beast, or sprouting
from the Haegs back, wings or chitinous legs, oozing lethal poison.
In battle
 The Slaughs really fight pitched
battles against each other and have yet to journey to the surface in strength. Typically
a Slaugh will raid another for slaves or precious jewels and metals. A raiding party
comprises of a few dozen individuals lead by a Witch or Heroine. Only a few of the
maidens are Dhrow, most are Haegs, or sometimes Dallag because they are both expendable
and numerous.
It is forbidden for a Dhrow to be killed, there are not enough of the spirits to allow
real warfare. Instead capturing a White for torture and ransom is preferred. The Haeg
and Dallag rarely get this treatment, they suffer the consequences of fighting.
The preferred weapons of the Dhrow and Haeg are spiked flails, maces, whips and wicked
daggers. Some larger weapons such as halberds are used, mainly for the killing of
Dallag and monsters. Almost no armour is worn; the Unseelie have natural protection
and the Haeg do all they can to emulate their mistresses. The stunted Dallag encase
themselves in metal armour and Iron Maidens, suits with scores of spikes sticking
out in all directions.
Army Lists
 The Damsel book
has full army lists for each of the five Slaugh. Whilst the Slaughs can recruit damsels
from a standard set, each Slaugh also have their own specialised damsels such as the
Gomorra Slaughs Luhst Maidens, Harnax Haegs for the Sadomax, or the crossbreed
Arachaeg of the Arach Vamp Slaugh.
The book also contains Items and Spells for Units and Heroines, and new attributes.
In fact each of the main races, the Dhrow, Haeg and Dallag have special rules for
their own kind. Dhrow are all Magi, Haegs are of varying purity and Dallag are blind
meaning they move towards the largest source of sound or vibration and attack it if
uncontrolled (and care little for the losses they take, their lives are poor already).
Damsel Book Two has a different format for Damlel types, giving more detailed information,
supplemental rules, and a larger image.
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Notes
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P
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Base
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Fig
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6
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4
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4
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3
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Haeg,
M, Glamour 1
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15
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8
x 6
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1
- 2
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6
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6
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4
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3
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Dhrow,
M, Glamour 2
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20
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8
x 6
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1
- 2
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Six Yellow eyes glowed fiercly
in the dark tunnel. Slowly the grew larger and larger, coming to the yawning mouth.
And then the monstrous beast, brown hairs covering pulsing black flesh in ugly patches,
came into the torchlight, and upon the beast's back rode a Witch.
Beasts can be ridden by Dhrow or
Haeg, but only one kind of Unseelie can be in a Unit.
Whilst the rider is a Handler,
the size of the beast and the rider's own want to fight can still see the beast become
Uncontrollable on a 6 rolled at the start of its movement.
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Other Material
The Damsel book also has scenarios and rules for fighting Beneath the Shadow - in
dark ravines or twisting tunnels where dangerous monsters may reside. A list of manufactures
producing suitable miniatures and their images provides a starting point for collecting
a Slaugh raiding force.
Playtesting
A Sadomax Slaugh meets a Gomorra Slaugh. This playtest uses 1st Draft Army Lists and
Tunnel terrain rules.
Read...
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