Mistrunning is the ability to move about freely throughout the Mists and to manipulate it. A Mistrunner is a necessity to anyone that wishes to travel through the Mists. The Mists are a dangerous place, it is always wise to have someone along that can help out.
Anyone can move in the Mists, but only a Mistrunner can prevent himself from getting lost. The Mists are constantly changing, so maps are all but useless. Plus numerous gates dot the landscape and can randomly transport someone far away from where they want to be. Seeing in the Mists is also difficult. The Mists are like a thick fog, limiting sight to only a few meters. Mistrunners have the natural ability to see without problems in the Mists. This helps them guide themselves and others through the dangerous faerie realms. Basic travel through the Mists is something that can be done without having to make a skill roll.
Creatures that live within the Mists have little trouble getting around. It is as if the possess the talent of mistrunning naturally. Creatures from the True Realms that lack the mistrunning skill suffer a penalty of minus 1 die on all skill rolls that require sight.
A mistrunner can also manipulate and bend the Mists to their bidding. This skill is difficult to perform because of the natural magical power of the Mists. The Mists get a magical resistance against any manipulation attempts by a mistrunner. This resistance roll depends upon the strength of the Mists in a given area. The further from a True Realm the mistrunner is, the stronger the Mists are.
By manipulating the Mists, a mistrunner can control the Mists around themselves. This can be done in several different ways, according to the desires of the mistrunner. The Mists can be bent to form shelter, masking the mistrunner from unwanted attention. A mistrunner can also gather the Mists around himself, making it more difficult for others to function, or to obscure a hasty retreat. When a runner gathers the Mists in a way such as this it doubles the normal penalty of minus 1 die for creatures without mistrunning skills.
The Mists can also take on physical form for short periods of time. Thus the mistrunner can manipulate the Mists and form objects, such as weapons, which they can use.
Some areas of the Mists have been corrupted by the original cataclysm that ended the old worlds. These areas are considered high magic-dead tech zones. Here, magical energies are at their zenith. Spell effects are doubled in these areas, whether the caster desires that or not. This is often a surprise to the caster as the zones are not actually fixed in their location. These zones drift throughout the Mists freely. The over all size and strength of a zone varies. Some are small, measuring less than a meter across, while others are hundreds of kilometers in diameter.
Most of these zones have such a high magical output that mundane technology will cease to function. Any tech that enters one of these zones must make a save to remain operative. The user makes an essence save for each tech item they possess. An item must repeat this procedure for every hour that it remains in the zone. Once an item fails this save, it will never function in that particular zone. A mistrunner may use her mistrunning skill to use tech in a dead tech zone.
There are numerous crafts that sail through the murky Mists. A mistrunner is essential as a pilot for these Mist barges. These barges float through the Mists, much like a boat sailing over the water. In fact, some vessels are capable of travel in both the Mists and on the seas of the True Realms.
When attempting to pilot a barge through the Mists, the pilot must make a skill roll every hour during uninterrupted travel. The target number is based upon the size of the barge, each barge has its own piloting target number. Generally, the larger the barge, the higher the target number. This is because a mistrunner has to displace more of the Mists to move a larger craft through it.
Each barge has a helm, which has been implanted with magical energies. The amount of magical energy is indicated by a helm level, usually numbering from -2 to +2. The helm level is added to any mistrunning rolls the pilot needs to make. If the helm of a Mist barge is destroyed, the barge will begin its descent towards the ground. A mistrunner may attempt to make a safe landing with a helmless barge, but the normal piloting target number is greatly increased. A craft so damaged may not continue to be flown until it has a new helm or the old one is repaired.
Gates are interdimensional portals leading to almost anywhere. Most of the gates are now defunct or dormant. A dormant gate can be reopened by a skilled mistrunner. Active gates can be used by anyone, one merely needs to pass through it most of the time, however some gates require a key of some sort. The key for a gate can be a scroll, a ring, or nearly anything else. The gates are extremely old and the locations of all but a few have been lost to the ages. The city of Wayfarers Way lies near several active gates.
Surviving in the Mists is a difficult and dangerous thing. Aside from the numerous creatures that call the Mists home, there is the constant need for food and shelter. Both food and water are in abundant supply. However, not all of it is safe for creatures of the True Realms to consume. This is where the mistrunner's skills are needed once again. Water is easiest to find, so a mistrunner need only make a skill roll based on a base target number of 6. Of course terrain and location may affect the target number to some extent.
Finding edible food is a bit more difficult. This requires a skill roll against a base target number of 7. Much of the food in the Mists is poisonous to denizens from the True Realms. The mistrunner must be able to discern what is good and what is bad.
Shelter is perhaps the most difficult thing to find. Most natural shelter, such as caves, are already home to some form of creature. The mistrunner must be able to tell where the safest camp grounds are and what areas to stay well away from. Finding safe lodging requires a skill roll against a base target number of 8. Even if this roll is successful, it does not guarantee a safe night's rest.
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