Arcana: Creatures

Tailors

A Creature Story for Everway

by Erik Amundsen

Taken from a badly damaged manuscript in the Chamber Platinum's Special Collections Chamber at the Library of All Worlds

...a large number of people I interviewed in Strangerside have claimed to see them. Most of them quickly add that it was not them who saw these creatures, but someone they know. "A friend of a friend," or something like that; they usually shuddered at that point and cast a glance or two over their shoulders.

They are described as being approximately human in height, shape, and build, though slight and angular of feature. They have swept-back hair, long, pointed ears, and almost hooflike club feet. A few of them are also said to have small twisting horns on their crowns like satyrs, though not all do. The most striking and frightening aspect of their appearance is that they look to be made out of liquescent darkness or shadows and have auras that are sometimes visible to the naked eye. Most report the auras to be red or orange, but two reported having seen subjects with blue auras, and one claimed to see green. Their eyes are the same color as their auras.

	Tailors
	Air 4 (Crafts) Earth 3 (Resisting Magic) Fire 4 (Running) Water 7 (Stealth) Powers: Invisible in Shadows

The people I interviewed had a number of different names and explanations for them, believing them to be dark faeries, demons, or even the undead shade of a satyr. Most also had cultural lore which accounted for these creatures or their like; frightening spies in the darkness. It wasn't until I made the acquaintance of a Basahn storyteller by the name of Gala Harper that I learned most of what follows, and what they call themselves.

She claims they refer to themselves as the Tailors.

Though she refused to relate the origins of their relationship, Gala claims that the Tailors and her people have maintained a fierce, intense hatred for one another which has lasted for centuries. She claims that each Basahn keeps a knife hidden on his or her person that is to be used only to fight and kill Tailors.

[There is a page of text here which is badly damaged and illegible]

The Tailors take their name from the cloth that they create and exclusively use to make their garments. I had the fortune to obtain an open-fronted tailor robe and examine it for quite some time. It is very light and strong, much like fine silk, and I am assured that it will resist a blade as well as a Crow's scale shirt. The most impressive feature of this garment is that it absorbs all light. In trying it on, I was both frightened and delighted to find that it not only absorbed the light that was shining on itself, but also the light that was shining on me as well. I fear that I may have frightened my esteemed colleague...

[Again part of the document is badly damaged and illegible]

[Gala] said the Tailors come from a place they call Red World. The Basahn know very little about this place, but it is rumored to be a sphere far beyond those we know. The stories she heard spoke of a world with a dim sun, floating root systems for clouds, and plagues of wormlike creatures that devoured large portions of the land. She speculates that it may have been these last that forced the Tailors out into the spheres.

I have only heard of them being discovered in two settings, and Gala seems to confirm this. A person is likely to happen upon Tailors only in the deep wilderness or in heavily populated cities. Apparently, they live in the wilderness. Gala says one of their prime occupations, much like humans, is farming. They attempt to keep these farms as far away from other intelligent beings and as well hidden as they possibly can. In fact, Gala claims that if a thinking creature so much as stumbles onto their territory, they will pick up and leave within the day. In the cities, they are likely to be anywhere, but only seen in disused alleys and abandoned buildings, such as those that seem to crop up in ever-increasing numbers in Strangerside. Gala insists that they are only seen when they want to be.

[The rest of the page appears to be ripped out entirely]

[Tailors] are not terribly courageous and will only fight when cornered or when the odds are five to one or better in their favor. If they wish to attack a person they will always do so from ambush; using their natural stealth and powers to attack the sides and back of their target. They hit and then run, much like the tactics of a silent, invisible wolf pack. When their quarry is no longer able to escape or fight, they will often appear all at once and move in for the kill as a group. Sometimes, if their victim is not Basahn, they will not kill them, either taking them hostage, or forcing them to act as an agent for the Tailors. If found on their farms, Tailors fight with oddly shaped (and suspiciously light) farming tools. If elsewhere, they use heavy daggers or strangling scarves made from their [cloth].

[More damage--the next few pages seem to be bloodstained in places]

It is usually through these agents that the Tailors make themselves known. In their trade of secrets, the Tailors seem to wish to remain the deepest secret. Very few agents of the Tailors are said to retain that position very long, being either killed by those the Tailors spy upon, or being taken out of service by their employers. It seems, beyond their pathological desire for privacy and undisturbed land to till, the Tailors have other motives for their eavesdropping; I dare say that, much like humans, these beings are interested in knowledge for its own sake, though by other means.

[There is yet again more damage, as well as more of what appears to have been blood]

...[An unknown male interviewee sa]ys that they are ruled by mysterious beings known as the Foragers. He characterizes them as very large Tailors (slightly taller than human) in full, unhelmed armor. He claims that their auras are like rainbows and the one he saw demonstrated knowledge of the Broken Sword path of Magic.

[Ink has been spilled here, I suspect it was deliberate]

...reputed to be masters of alchemical magic. These wise ones have great status in Tailor society. Gala claims that many of the more fiendish poisons catalogued by the Chamber were first dreamed up by these creatures. They also make great use of incendiary and smoke producing agents. Gala tells me that they can perform many other, more impressive feats with their knowledge of alchemy. I would speculate that their wonderous cloth was the product of their alchemical experiments. I would go on to haza...

The document at this point is especially damaged and most of the writing is lost in large, rusty stains that cover the document. Gyve, the author of this work, was apparently taken to visit someone by Gala, in order to prove something she had told him about the Tailors' magic and their designs on humanity. The narrative itself gets a bit spotty here, but Gyve claims to have met a Basahni boy of about 12 years in age who had been somehow transformed by the Tailors. He then goes on to mention something about a type of pink fleshed melon, which I can only assume he has linked somehow to the boy. The closing appears to be some kind of warning, though the text is, as I have said, badly damaged, and the handwriting is quite hurried and almost, in and of itself, illegible.

It is known that Gyve disappeared shortly after completion of this document, along with this, the sole copy. It was found by chance five years later, in the stacks of our special collections. With it was a small, white silk pouch bearing Gyve's mark, that of the shackles. Within are two large black seeds. Also of note, is the last line of text, in a neat, flowing hand that does not belong to Gyve, in Cleacuun:

"You only know what we allow you to know."

Tailors copyright © 1999 Erikku Amundsen, used with permission.