Briar

Overview

The Briars are infused by the realm of Spring, a fecund realm of exhuberant natural forces whose green Eternals care only for life and not at all for humankind. The briars are filled with primal energy, direct and uncomplicated and prone to outbursts of destructive rage.

Briars are most comfortable in military roles, although their primal nature can make them powerful in the Conclave. Some prosper in the Synod where their direct approach to the Imperial Faith often gives them spiritual insight. They often find the Bourse confusing and become easily frustrated by the complexities of the Senate.

The briar lineage is intended to appeal to players who want to play something primal or visceral, with a strong urge to straightforwardness and physicality. They also offer opportunities to play characetr swho are highly critical of the complexities and shortcomings of civillised society. Briars also allow characters to play with some themes of discrimination; this Lineage is presented as suspect by many groups within the setting.

One inspiration for the briars draws on characters such as Swamp Thing who are outside yet drawn to the human world. Both the Hulk and Edward Hyde represent a struggle between civillised impulses and the desire to break free of societal restriction. Fictional vigilantes who take a direct, simplistic, approach to solving the problems of society like the Punisher and characters such as Conan the Cimmerian and Kull the Conqueror represent a physicality and desire for simple solutions to problems. Tyler Durden from Fight Club displays a more extreme version of the same archetype. Pragmatic, direct characters are good examples of the briar mindset as in the story of Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot, or the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones shoots the swordsman to avoid an unnecessary duel.

What briars are not

• Dryads. Briars are infected by the primal magic of Spring, it tends to make them energetic, physical and wild, but it does not turn them into a tree nor instil them with a mystical awe for nature. They feel no more affinity to plants or trees than a normal human being does. While many briars reject the complexities of civilization they do so because of a difficulty fitting in, not because of an instinctive need to protect nature or be close to it.

Sobriquets

Leshy, Barkbleeder (derogatory), Spriggan, Cicatrix, Greenscar, the twisted

Iconic trappings

• Patches of bark Briars have patches of bark that grows in place of skin. The bark can grow anywhere on the body, but must cover areas of skin, it does not extend out away from the body. The effect is best created using latex prosthetics, as make-up by itself will not give the right raised profile. It is better to try and cover a few iconic areas of the body; we do not recommend trying to cover all visible skin. Briar's bark-skin can spread across the body in response to wounds suffered. The bark-skin is as sensitive as normal skin covered in a thick layer of latex would be.

Other trappings

• Green eyes. Briars may have exotically green eyes. Cosmetic contact lenses can be used to achieve this. The pupil can be any shape or design so long as the predominant colour is green.
• Thorns. Some briars have thorns growing from their skin, usually along the lines of the body like the cheekbones or the forearms. The thorns emerge from patches of bark, which requires a suitable prosthetic, but you can have them emerge directly from the skin. If you phys-rep this effect by taking thorns from a rosebush and gluing them to your skin then try to ensure that you put them in places like the face where people are unlikely to catch them.
• Prominent veins. Many briars have distinct veins in dark green or black that spread out beneath the skin. These are particularly prevalent near areas of bark-skin, emerging from underneath the growths. This effect is easiest to create using make-up.
• Restless demeanour. Young briars are often filled with the energy and vitality of the realm of Spring. They rarely sit still for long and are constantly active and mobile. Try to move just a little quicker than is necessary, lengthen your stride when you walk and allow yourself to become frustrated with delays.
• Quiescent demeanour. It is rare for briars to reach old age, but that those do often experience a transformation becoming as lethargic and sluggish as they were active in their youth. Avoid speaking quickly and try to pause a moment before speaking or reacting. Give a small groan if you have to rise from a sitting position as if it were an effort, like the creaking of wood as it flexes. You can move as quickly as you wish, but if you have to run then try to build up to your full pace rather than an immediate sprint.

Roleplaying Briars

Briars blood influences the character of the one who possesses it. Not every briar expresses these effects to the same degree, but characters who demonstrate these roleplaying trappings possess stronger lineage than those who do not.

• Briars are straightforward. They make straightforward plans, and instinctively take the most direct route through (or round) any given situation. They dislike complexity for its own sake, and respect plain speaking over elaborate argument. They generally express a pragmatic desire to get problems solved now, and where several options are available, they look for the simplest solution. They will neither avoid a perceived problem, nor dwell on one they see as irrelevant. This straightforwardness can also make them blunt or even rude in social situations, as they rarely hold back from saying what they think.
• Briars are mercurial. Briars change their minds easily, they are swayed by circumstances and whatever seems important at the time. They tend to be spontaneous in their displays of emotion (sometimes inappropriately) and their moods shift without warning. They want what they want now, and some are over-eager to simply take the thing they want and then keep it as long as it interests them, discarding it when they become bored with it. Briars live for the moment and few see any need to plan for the long term.
• Briars are primal. They are often scornful of the trappings of civilisation, dressing simply, using tools only when they make a task easier, some even eschewing material possessions altogether in the long term. They are often driven to pursue self-sufficiency, and may be commonly found among small pioneer communities. Their straightforward attitude may combine with this to make them uncertain in social groups larger than a few dozen individuals known personally to the character, particularly if the roles and responsibilities within the group are not clearly defined.
• Briars are physical. They like tangible, solid, physical things, rather than getting excited by ideas or concepts. They commonly become frustrated or bored in intensely cerebral situations – they make their point and then expect things to move on swiftly to a conclusion. While this often makes them appear “simple” it is not that they are less intelligent than other humans, just that they have little patience for what they perceive as convoluted logic, circular discussions or anything which over-complicates what seems to them a simple matter. When confronted by a mental or social situation, they often try and solve it in a physical way (for example, if someone is upset they provide food or go and smite the source of their friends’ unhappiness, rather than formulating a social response to the problem).
• Briars "bleed bark". The signature quality of the Briars is that when their skin is broken, it heals over with bark-like material. Sometimes this material has thorns embedded in it. Most of this bark-like material will eventually peel away, usually to reveal fresh skin underneath, but some of it never disappears – every Briar has a few patches of bark that appear permanent. While barkskin doesn’t offer any armour or protection, the Briars are naturally tougher than mortals. They are notoriously resistant to disease, for example, and a Briar who appears ill is probably expressing mild symptoms of a more serious illness indeed. The bark tends to grow over a period of a couple of hours, giving the player time to go OOC and add some more bark. The intent is that a Briar who receives a lot of damage will “spread” their barkskin effect, but that there is no requirement for them to keep the bark from event to event. For example a Briar who has taken a cleaving blow to one arm may add rings of bark to that arm for the rest of the event.
• Briars may degenerate into madness. Some briars become increasingly frustrated culminating in a spree of destruction. Danger signs include the Briar becoming increasingly frustrated until they start to lash out. A Briar that completely loses touch with their humanity becomes a beast, killing anyone who gets in their way and striking out against structures and individuals that represent authority and civilisation. They often depart the civilised world completely, withdrawing to natural places (especially forests) and engaging in what amounts to banditry and terrorism.

The Blood

Briars are warm blooded mammals. They mate and breed just like humans, they have hair, and they give birth to live offspring.

Briars are almost never born expressing their lineage. Most briars tell a similar story; they sustained a serious injury and the site of the injury was quickly covered in a barky “skin.” In almost all cases, magical healing was involved. It is believed that magical healing catalyses the Spring lineage, causing it to express itself more openly. However, magical healing does not always trigger the lineage – some individuals are healed several times before their briar lineage manifested. It is also believed by the scholars of Urizen that any Spring Realm magic has the potential to trigger the expression of the briar lineage lurking in the blood; it is just that the most commonly encountered form of Spring Realm magic is healing magic.

Because the lineage can hide in this manner it creates suspicion and distrust. Some people feel betrayed when their friend turns out to be a briar; other newly revealed briars (especially if they were unaware of their lineage until later life) suffer shock and damage to their stability when they discover they have been lineaged all along, and when the urges of the blood become more powerful. Some more prejudicial characters inflict serious injuries on suspected briars that are then healed with Spring magic, hoping to reveal hidden taint – as well as ensuring their own ranks remain pure.

After death, a briar’s entire body is slowly covered with bark, appearing a lot like a mishapen,fallen log. It is a common belief that a briar who avoids magical healing will lose the taint of the blood and not pass it on to their offspring, although this is probably wishful thinking. The Eternals of Spring are likely to recognise briars as kindred spirits, although this may not be a uniformly positive experience.

According to superstition, an area where a dead briar has lain will be seeded with alien, supernatural foliage. Many individuals, especially among the Navarr, Marchers and the Highborn, insist that dead briars be burnt to prevent this happening.

Lines of the Briar

Part of the prejudice some Imperials feel comes from past events where angry and frustrated Briars attempted to rebel and secede from the Empire, and the suspicion that their very biology is a tool for the Spring Eternals to colonize the realm. At a (recent point in the past) a briar independence movement attempted to secede from the Empire and claim territory of its own, with tragic consequences.

• Briars are seldom seen in League society. They're too direct for the subtleties of Dead Reckoning.

• Many Marchers believe Briars are accursed, and have nothing to do with them.

• The Navarr are especially suspicious of the Briars, seeing a connection between them and the Vallorn.

• Intellectuals in Urizen find the Briars too instinctual, too direct.