Mendicant Savants
Campaign 2[edit]
Travelling the roads of the empire can be dangerous. Cutthroats, brigands, monsters, and more stalk the dark roadways across all the regions. Travel from village to village is rare, let alone between regions. And yet, the Mendicant Savants travel. Many stories exist about the savants, both good and bad; as people will always fear strangers. What can be guaranteed is that the mendicants are travelers, large families travelling by caravan from village to village. When they arrive, they set up a camp on the outskirts. During the day they set up food stalls and sell wares from around the empire. At night, they put on shows and play music to entertain the village.
Mendicants are typically revered for the news they bring, the entertainment, and the quality of their wares; but those dark stories still persist. The featureless white masks with the upturned or downturned mouth on each of them breeds distrust with locals, who are likely to blame every accident and missing item on the travelling folks for days after they leave. Sometimes young adults will join up with the Savants as they travel, and the travelling folk get blamed for that as well. They seem to weather it all in good spirits though, as the mendicants travel along, telling their stories, selling their wares, and keeping their secrets.
Campaign 1[edit]
The Mendicant Savants have been around as long as anyone can remember. Dressed all in white with featureless masks, the Savants will not speak with anyone unless a donation is made first. Savants are said to be sacred beings who swing a bell meant to identify and protect them, and travel the world as nomads, sharing information and offering to trade with those who are willing to donate them some coin.
Very little is known about the Savants except that when one becomes one, they give up their identity and take on the identity of a savant. They speak in the plural, though they do not seem to share all information among them. There are strict laws in most of the kingdoms against hurting a savant, but they hardly seem necessary, as even without the laws, the superstitions about the savants would keep even the scariest bandit at bay. There are many stories of people who hurt the Savants, only to face untimely deaths, and their families stuck under a cloud of bad luck for generations. Many claim they have faced bad luck simply for being rude to one. Whether there is truth to this or not, it seems much easier to simply be nice to a savant, especially since trading with one can often lead to great boons.
Currying Favor[edit]
Mendicant Savants carry with them a great pack, or sometimes drag an animal carrying their pack. They love to barter, and will trade you items from rare to mundane for other trinkets and objects or hard coin. As they are always travelling, they do not have food or lodging except that which they purchase. A donation is always required to even speak with a savant. Some say the better the donation you give, the better the items you are shown or the better deal you will be cut; but a savant will tell you any donation is appreciated.
