World Travel & Gateways

“A toll is only the first price. Find out who needs the road kept open, and how long they can afford to wait.” — The Edgewalker (as recorded by Dusana)

“Dusana wrote that down because he says it well, not because it is true. I have crossed forty of these gateways. Not one of them was a throat. Several were somebody’s whole life’s work, kept open in bad weather by people whose names he did not ask for.” — Mira of the Wandering Circle, in the margin of Dusana’s copy

Global Travel Procedures

Core Travel Procedure

For each leg of a journey, draw 3–4 cards using the decks for your destination and controlling authority.

• ♠ from the destination deck: sets the scene (place).

• ♡ from the destination deck: introduces the local actor or faction.

• ♣ from the Wilds (general hazards) or destination (if strongly policed): brings pressure.

• ♢ from the authority that gates the route: papers, escorts, rights, or exceptions.

Set a travel timer by the highest rank:

• 2–5 ⇒ 4 segments

• 6–10 ⇒ 6 segments

• J/Q/K ⇒ 8 segments

• A ⇒ 10 segments

On success, advance to the next leg; on failure, mark delay, debt, or diversion and resolve a consequence in the fiction.

Mode Rules

Sea Legs

(Amaranthine, Dolmis, Aberderrin, Gulf of Oshiira, Inland Sea). When crossing international waters, the controlling authority is either the origin port’s navy or a neutral convoy league.

Mountain Passes & Underways

(Aeler, Himadri, Taharkan highlands). Any A may convert a surface route to an under-route. ♢ from Aeler always codifies outcomes — no roll — for sealed doors, breath time, and escorted segments.

Desert Legs

(Sahel, Red Desert, Fhara drylands). Water is the primary resource. A dry well hazard can end a journey.

River Legs

(Belworth, Ayokhan rivers, Oshiiran canals). Bridges, booms, and law in Vhasia/Viterra; reed-mazes and bell-lines in Mistlands; canal mothers and weigh-houses in Oshiira.

Steppe Legs

(Violet Steppe, Kuvani grazing lands). Remount stations and grazing compacts. The Ykrul and Kuvani both use story tolls.

Shadow Corridors

(Valewood, Ways Between, Thin Shore). Add a regional taboo: never count to nine, never speak the ninth name. A 9 in the seed triggers the Hollow’s attention.

Universal Travel Hazards (d18)

When drawing a Club from the Wilds deck or from a region’s own hazard table, you may roll on this expanded table for additional flavor. These hazards integrate elements from the Eastern Realms, Dhahara, and the Way of Silk expansions.

Gateways & Control Points

Edgewalker’s Notes on Leverage

A Diamond gives you an opportunity. To use it well, establish who recognises it, what it permits, and why that matters now. A beautiful seal in the wrong jurisdiction is a heavy piece of wax.

Begin with the decision you need. Find the person able to make it. Learn what constrains them: supplies, time, witnesses, orders, a promise they intend to keep. Then secure a useful alternative to their cooperation. Until you can bear their refusal, they are negotiating with your need.

• Passage Tokens: Check the route, the holder and the expiry. Passage for an empty wagon may be worth little to you and a great deal to someone whose cargo is spoiling. Establish whether the permission can be transferred before offering it.
• Seals & Stamps: Learn who honours the mark and who can suspend it. Keep the supporting papers. A clerk who can defend an approval to a superior has a reason to issue it promptly.
• Story Debts: Find out what was promised and who witnessed it. Ask for something the obligation can actually support. An oath is useful because its keeper takes it seriously; inventing terms destroys the basis of your claim.
• Spirit Objects: Learn the custom before proposing an exchange. A spirit may want a duty performed, an intrusion ended, or an object returned. Possession alone gives you no assurance that it will bargain.

At one harbour I needed a detained pilot released before the tide turned. His employer had offered money. The harbour-master preferred to keep both the pilot and the possibility of a larger payment. I obtained the outbound masters’ signatures on a statement that they would remain at berth without their licensed pilot. Their contracts charged delay to the harbour. They signed because they needed him too.

I gave the harbour-master the statement, the first hour’s charge, and a release form requiring no admission of fault. He read the signatures twice. The pilot was outside in seven minutes. I had said fourteen words. The masters supplied the force; I had made it possible for them to apply it together. Had they been willing to sail without him, my paper would have been worthless.

Make the demand narrow. Show enough evidence to be believed. Give the other party a usable way to agree. If compliance will not end the pressure, expect resistance: you have given them nothing to buy. Honour the settlement. You may need people to fear your next demand, but you certainly need them to trust your receipt.

Keep a reserve when you can afford it. Spend it when it purchases the objective. A claim preserved while the grain rots is an expensive souvenir.

Playing the Uncharismatic Face

The Edgewalker can lead a social scene without winning affection. Show the preparation: a visit to the clerk, a verified obligation, an ally with a matching interest. At the negotiation, state the desired decision and the concrete reason someone might make it. Quiet precision can be more unsettling than a speech, especially when an apparently minor contact proves able to stop a powerful person’s business.

Give that preparation real weight under the existing core procedures. Establish what the leverage makes possible, then resolve uncertainty through the normal core loop and applicable rules. This portrayal grants no new skill, automatic success, free String, or power to dictate another character’s choices. A refusal can be sincere, affordable, or based on information the Edgewalker lacks. On success, let the gate actually open: resentment need not cancel a well-earned result. Later consequences should follow what the parties did and promised.

For a playable starting package, see Edgewalker — the uncharismatic Face in the Complete Guide to Subclasses.

Four Uses for an Open Gate

The four travellers were asked what they would do with passage through a closed gate. Their answers pursue different kinds of success.

The Edgewalker: Get the cargo through before negotiating anything else. Have the keeper acknowledge the delivery. Once our obligation is discharged, we can discuss the next one from a better position.

Mira of the Wandering Circle: Find the person who asked for us. Share a meal if they offer one. I would like our next visit to begin with someone recognising our faces. I cannot demand that welcome in advance.

Ume Nineterrace, Rota-Keeper: Ask who opens it tomorrow. If we have used an exceptional permission, arrange an ordinary one for the next wagon. A successful crossing should leave a workable route behind it.

Naru of the Fourth Terrace: Count the people who came with us. Ask whether this is still where we meant to go. An open gate makes a choice possible; we are allowed to choose another road.