Hellmare is an extraordinary horse (male or female), capable of low-level Shadow-shifting, with human-like intelligence, psychic ability, high stamina, high strength, and fighting ability. Some can read, some can also write, some can cast spells, and some can shapeshift. Their lifespans are similar to that of Amberites; in most things, Hellmares are to horses as Amberites are to humans.
Hellmares can be any size - as large as Morgenstern or as small as a Miniature Horse - and any color (or combination of colors). A few can be mythical forms - unicorns, pegasus, kirin, hippogriffs, etc - although none are centaurs (and the Unicorn of Amber is not a Hellmare). They are all horse-shaped, with the only exceptions being the hippogriffs and similar horse-hybrids (even the shapeshifters have a horse base form).
Each Hellmare is a thinking, rational, expressive, emotional being. This can have good sides - they all understand Thari and can be given commands, and they will act on their own initiative when they know something needs to be done and can do it - and bad sides - they tend to have personal quirks, not all of which are endearing, and they don't always obey the commands they're given. Younger Hellmares tend to dislike associating with normal horses (despite later breeding concerns), and have been known to play pranks on them and generally abuse them unmercifully.
Hellmares are not retroactive. By that, I mean that the likelihood of any horse that appeared in the Chronicles was a Hellmare is miniscule. Morgenstern and the two striped horses (Benedict's Glemdennig and Merlin's Tiger) have been used for breeding stock, but none of them are Hellmares.
The Hellmares were a creation of Sand; the name comes from a comment made about the mare she rode for some time in her youth. This mare was one of 5 half-Chaos-bred horses given to her as a gift by Dworkin; they are still alive inside the Hellmare's Shadow and keep tabs on their descendants. Sand, too, keeps her eye on the Hellmares, by frequent visits, a Hellmare to ride, and by a sorcerously-kept studbook.
There is internal organization to the Hellmares; the original five rule as a head council, and various of their children serve as lead magicians, as teachers, as warleaders, and even as diplomats. In times of need, the Hellmares can form an enormously effective cavalry-based army.
Certain Hellmares will attach themselves to an Amberite (or, more rarely, a Chaosite or a Shadow person); there is a magical component that allows the Hellmare to know when their person is in danger and to hear when they're called (even across Shadow), but the bond is primarily that of a knight to a liege lord. Hellmares do "retire" and go back to their Shadow; the most common reason is to start reproducing the breed.
Hellmares are selective breeders. They breed with the best horses they can find - in Chaos, in Shadow, and in Amber. The Shadow horses are taken to the Hellmare's home Shadow - a Shadow carefully guarded to permit the entry of Hellmares, normal horses, and one or two select people only. Hellmare-Hellmare breeding pairs are rare but do happen. Hellmares commonly have one or two foals per pregnancy; twins are much more common than in normal horses.
All is not roses in the Hellmare breeding program, however. There are always mutations: inability to shift Shadow, a lack of intelligence that would impair Shadow-shifting, physical and mental abnormalities and deformities that make extraordinary travel difficult. These are no longer Hellmares; they are called Unfit, and one of Sand's tasks when she visits is to collect these Unfit Hellmares and remove these from the Hellmare Shadow. She then removes the Shadow-shifting ability (if any is present), and will sometimes sell them in Shadow or in Amber. Once a Hellmare and his/her chosen mate have produced an Unfit Hellmare, they usually stop producing foals.
There are, contemporary to this game, 11 generations of Hellmares. The first is the original five horses; the tenth generation is the most common for younger-generation Amberite mounts. The ninth, tenth, and eleventh generations are still growing; older generations have ceased to increase in number. Generations are determined by the generation of the parent(s); a generation can begin as soon as 5 years after the birth of a Hellmare of the previous generation, and can last upwards of 100 years.
basic Hellmare costs a character 29 points. (Objections will be overruled by the comment of "Damned right it's expensive, look at what they can do!") Originally, this came from various powers pulled from the Creature and Artifact section of the Amber Diceless book and manipulated to fit; I've since come up with a two-page sheet (second page is useful, but optional) describing their stats, which I'll proceed to explain.
| Total points for a Hellmare works as follows: |
Tg = Youngest generation (in my game, 11) Hg = Generation of this Hellmare (GM determines generation) |
Total Points = N + ( ( ( Tg - Hg ) + 1 ) * 5 ) |
So now the GM has 39 points to distribute among 11 stats, a number of optional powers and abilities, and the same Good/Bad/Zero Stuff as the PCs. The GM, you ask? Why, yes. Hellmares are like retainers, in a way - it's not the player who creates the Hellmare, it's the GM.
Anyway. The stats. "Hellmare" is the base level; generally, around two to four times greater than an average light horse (a Thoroughbred, an Arabian, etc). "Human" (I couldn't think of another name) is 1.5 to 2.5 times greater than an average light horse. And "Horse" is your average horse.
| Stat | What it does |
|---|---|
| Strength |
N/PC equivalent: Strength, very high Creature/Artifact equivalent: Immense Vitality or better. Human level Hellmares can pull a maximum of about half the world record for log pulling (128 tons or 256,000 pounds for 2 Clydesdales), so about 128,000 pounds (64 tons). Hellmare level ...uh... Hellmares can pull the whole 128 tons as a max. This is not to say that they'll like it. |
| Warfare |
N/PC equivalent: Warfare, Chaos or better Creature/Artifact equivalent: Combat Training or better. Why yes, they can be much worse in battle than their riders. That's one of the times they actually follow all of their rider's directions. |
| Stamina |
N/PC equivalent: Endurance, one aspect Creature/Artifact equivalent: Amber Stamina or better. Oh, come on. They have to at least try to keep up with their riders... |
| Toughness |
N/PC equivalent: Endurance, one aspect Creature/Artifact equivalent: Resistance to Normal Weapons or better. How hard a Hellmare is to injure, as compared to normal horses (who, if you don't know, are damned easy to injure - one might even say they are prone to injury.). |
| Speed |
N/PC equivalent: ? Creature/Artifact equivalent: Engine Speed or better. How fast they can go, obviously. Average top speed for a normal horse is somewhere between 30 and 50 mph. It is possible that some day a Hellmare will be able to run faster than Morgenstern - but don't bet on it. |
| Intelligence |
N/PC equivalent: ? Creature/Artifact equivalent: aspects of Able to Speak or better. Just how smart a Hellmare is. No, they can't actually speak. Trust me, you don't want to hear that all the time. |
| Psychic Defense |
N/PC equivalent: Psyche, defensive aspects Creature/Artifact equivalent: Psychic Resistance or better. Having a Hellmare taken over by someone else would be a Very Bad Thing. |
| Psychic Ability |
N/PC equivalent: Psyche, offensive and sensitive aspects Creature/Artifact equivalent: Sensitivity to Danger or better. Umm... Not much to say here; pretty self-explanatory. |
| Healing Ability |
N/PC equivalent: Endurance, healing aspects Creature/Artifact equivalent: Rapid Healing or better. This is pretty much relative to normal horses, like Toughness. Not only do horses get injured far too often, they also heal slowly... |
| Shadow Travel |
N/PC equivalent: limited Pattern or Broken Pattern Creature/Artifact equivalent: Shadow Seek and Able to Mold Shadow Stuff, or better. No Hellmare can ever beat even a basic Pattern wielder in a direct Shadow-shifting contest. Broken Pattern adepts will beat a Hellmare 90-95% of the time; Broken Pattern initiates will win out about 75% of the time. Hellmare Shadow-shifting does not include the ability to control Hellrides; Hellmares can assist their riders in difficult Shadow work, but again, not Hellrides. |
| Shadow Tricks |
N/PC equivalent: limited Pattern or Broken Pattern Creature/Artifact equivalent: Shadow Seek and Able to Mold Shadow Stuff, or better. Ability of a Hellmare to tap into slightly different methods of Shadow-shifting to break barriers and solve tricky travel issues. |
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|---|---|---|
| Sorcery | ||
| Rack 1 spell for rider | Same as Rack Spell. | |
| Rack named and numbered spells for rider | Same as Rack Named and Numbered Spells. | |
| Rack and use named and numbered spells (for rider) | Same as Rack and Use Spells. | |
| Sorcerer | Can use, create, and store spells just like the Sorcery power for PCs/NPCs. | |
| Shapeshifting | ||
| 1 extra form | Same as Alternate Form. | Named and numbered extra forms | Same as Named and Numbered Forms. |
| Limited Shapeshift | Same as Limited Shapeshift. | |
| Full Shapeshift | Same as Shapeshifting power for PCs/NPCs. | |
| Power Words | ||
| 1 of rider's Power Words | Same as Contains Power Word. | |
| Named and numbered of rider's Power Words | Same as Named and Numbered Power Words. | |
| Own Set of Power Words | Same as Power Words power for PCs/NPCs, with the limitation that Hellmares can have no more than 10 Power Words. | |
| Other Abilities | ||
| Writing | Because not all Hellmares can write - it requires a certain dexterity (of either lips or hooves). | |
| Trumpable | Hellmares that can be Trumped are very very rare things indeed; Intelligence, Psychic Ability, and Psychic Defense must all be higher than 15 points each for a Hellmare to be Trumpable. | |
| Unfailing Sense of Direction | Yes, it is possible for Hellmares to get lost - all except these. Hellmares with an unfailing sense of direction can get where they want to go even under the influence of drugs or other confusing influences. | |
| Broken Pattern Shifter | Hellmares whose Shadow-shifting ability is corrupt (like these) rarely continue to be Hellmares. A few manage it however; these Hellmares must have Shadow Travel scores lower than Hellmare level. | |
| Chaos Affiliation | Hellmares who have chosen denizens of the Courts of Chaos as their riders. A certain immunity to the effects of Logrus on their innate Shadow ability is conferred with this bond, to be lost once the Hellmare retires. | |
| Mythical Form | Any basic form that is not completely horse-shaped, particularly the hippogriff, unicorn, pegasus, hippocampus, and any other horse hybrids except the centaur. Very unusual. | |
| Interpreter Cat | 32-point cats that are able to mentally link to any Hellmare and speak Thari in that Hellmare's voice. Usually reserved for the first two generations of Hellmares, although some may be lent out to younger members of the breed.
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| The last line is reserved for any other artifacts (or creatures) peculiar to and independently acquired by a Hellmare. For instance, if a Hellmare comes equipped with a blanket that confers Invulnerable to All Conventional Weapons on the wearer. If, on the other hand, the rider gives his Hellmare the same item, the character pays for it, not the Hellmare. | ||
dmittedly, Hellmares look way too powerful. But consider this: they're still horses. They usually still eat green leafy things. They have blind spots, literal ones, right in front of their faces. They weigh a thousand pounds or so, which makes weight-sensitive locations more than a little tricky. And horses don't always work indoors - tight turns are bad things, for instance.
They shift Shadow, yes, but it's slow, and a basic Pattern initiate - even a basic Broken Pattern initiate - can be far more effective. Any Hellmare sorcerer is far more likely to make the grass grow quickly than to scatter fireballs, even if all they have is spells their rider racked. Hellmare shapeshifters are incredibly rare in any level of ability.
Hellmares have their own luck, independent of their rider. So if the rider has high Good Stuff and the Hellmare has high Bad Stuff and someone shoots an arrow at them, chances are the Hellmare is going to get hit. This can also result in the Hellmare disappearing due to misfortunes like being held captive or being sent on a psychadelic trip (yes, that has happened).
And then, of course, there's the weird quirks some Hellmares come with. Just a personality quirk, really, and yet it can be so irritating. Maybe he decides to roll while you're riding. Or maybe she ignores everything you say unless it's absolutely essential that she obey.
No Hellmare will consistently act like a normal horse, unless it's part of some elaborate ruse. But don't start thinking you can count on that. Your stallion may have helped you dig and shore up a pit yesterday, but today you can't get him away from the cute filly three Shadows from your destination. Your mare might refuse to leave the barn one day and refuse to return to it the next, but she'll be quite happy to come into the Palace and investigate the musician's loft in the Great Hall until she's ready to go back to her stall. He might act like a normal horse for weeks on end and then suddenly decide to lead a horsey revolt in the stables (happened...). The only guarantee is that the antics will be kept to a minimum when it's really, truly necessary.
Get two or more Hellmares in one place, and they'll stand together and make noise at each other. The best guess is that they're gossiping; if so, they're as gossipy as the Amber Royals. This is, of course, assuming that the Hellmares in question get along; feuds are possible between Hellmares, although they rarely turn out fatal.
There's one more issue to consider: if there is a threat to the Hellmare's home Shadow, all Hellmares will be called back to defend it. While this may not mean the Hellmare will immediately lose their rider and take off, it probably means that there will be an empty stall the next time the rider needs a horse.
dvancement for a Hellmare is very simple: either the character pays more points, or another generation of Hellmares appears and adds 5 points to all previous generations of Hellmares. The character contributions, once the initial 29 points are paid, have no fixed number. Points spent in a Hellmare are not returned unless the Hellmare dies, retires, or is called back to serve the species.
It is strongly suggested that points are not spent exclusively on the Hellmare, as too many points spent on a Hellmare of low generation is likely to result in a new Hellmare when the old one gets called back to serve the species as a whole. Any Hellmare (except the first generation) with more than 1.5 times the generation baseline provided by the player is eligible to be called back permanently. Points over 29 will be returned to the player; the remaining 29 will be spent on a new Hellmare.
Sheet for an Interpreter Cat
Hellmare webpages:
Carnegie
Loutra
Number of Hellmares......existing in Shadow, Amber, and Chaos: upwards of 1000....that have riders and have appeared or might appear in Lost and Found: 23.
...in Chaos: 3. ...in Shadow: 5. ...that have retired from active service in-game: 1.
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