Environment Lores
Environment Lores teach you how to survive in natural environments, and recognise the directions of fellow travellers. It is learned by immersing yourself in that environment, ideally with a guide to its flora and fauna. Unlike Cultural Lores, which are tied to specific population centres, an Environment Lore can be applied just as well to similar environments halfway around the world from your original home.
You know how to trek, climb, or ski across mountain ranges and hilltops. You can scrabble for food, find safe caves for shelter, and anticipate landslides or sinkholes. You ignore Difficult Terrain from rocky scree or steep elevations. You recognise the hunting grounds of Stone Trolls, Wyverns, and other highland monsters.
You know how to operate an ocean-going vessel. You’re familiar with the shorthand and jargon of sailors, commonly used from the Sea of Claws to Sartosa. You can tie knots, find the wind, and catch your bearings from the stars. You know that dreadful beasts lurk beneath the waves, and that they may be kept at bay by offerings of gold, silver, or blood. Above all, you know that Manaan, god of the sea, is fickle and easily offended.
You know how to make your way in the dark when travelling underground, without getting lost or claustrophobic. You can scrabble for food and shelter, and anticipate cave-ins, earthquakes, and pockets of bad air. You recognise valuable minerals buried beneath the earth. You recognise the presence of Night Goblins and have heard stories of other, fouler creatures that lurk far from the surface.
You know of the places near your location where Morr’s grip grows slack, and the dead do not easily rest. You quickly learn rumours of the dead returning to life, and recognise the telltale signs of a Vampire or Necromancer preying nearby. You know the superstitions that supposedly keep the undead at bay (fire, silver, the light of the sun). You can decipher ehekharan hieroglyphics and recognise burial wards.
You know how to row, sail, and dock a riverboat. You can plot a route to avoid bad weather or river patrols, and ignore Difficult Terrain from all but the most sucking bogs. You recognise when a stream or marshland is disturbed by a passing monster, and when it is unnaturally still. You can talk shop with harbour masters, find smugglers to supplement your income, and pick up gossip from passing riverfolk. You can fish, swim, and tread water.
From the heart of the Drakwald to the midst of the Great Forest, you are at home in temperate woods and forests and recognise common woodland plants and animals. You can plot routes, discover shortcuts, and ignore Difficult Terrain caused by all but the most unnavigable woodlands. You know how to cover your tracks, and make simple tools and shelter from twigs and trees. You can anticipate ambushes from the sudden quieting of birdsong, and track fugitives from the trail they leave through foliage.