Ironveil Nomads
Across the rust plains and hollowed industrial cradles wander the Ironveil Nomads - a people whose blood carries both ash and metal. They are not a tribe in the traditional sense but a moving pilgrimage, bound together by the belief that their flesh is only temporary scaffolding for something greater yet unborn.
Nomads wear veils woven from oxidized chains, scrap silk, and bone-thread. These veils are not clothing but sacred masks, protecting them from being “recognized” by the world. They claim that once the world knows your true face, it writes you into its ending - and endings, to them, are shackles.
Origins
Legends whisper that the Ironveil were forged in the aftermath of the Machine Wars. Entire communities fused with rusted engines and magnetic storms, until their descendants were no longer fully flesh nor fully steel. Their veins carry filings of iron; their eyes sometimes refract light like fractured ore.
Traits of the Ironveil
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Body Resonance: They can attune to the hum of old machines, drawing fragments of memory from them.
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Veil Oaths: Every Ironveil swears never to remove their mask except in the moment of rebirth or death. To do otherwise invites the “Recognition,” a curse said to erase them from both past and future.
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Scavenger Instinct: They can sense hidden caches of forgotten gear, though cursed items are drawn to them as well.
For the Player
Choosing an Ironveil lineage means embodying survival through constant movement and secrecy. Their Vices often revolve around concealment, obsession with relics, or fear of exposure. Mechanically, they excel at scavenging, stealth, and machine-lore, but suffer in direct social trust - the veil always speaks before they do.
For the Storyteller
Ironveil characters introduce a narrative tension: NPCs rarely trust someone who hides their face, yet the Nomads’ lore and relic-sense can open doors no one else perceives. Encounters with entire Ironveil caravans should feel unsettling: veiled silhouettes moving in silence, hundreds of bells tied to their garments chiming softly in the wind.