Skaa Thief

The skaa are a race of humans on Scadrial.

The skaa were effectively created by the Lord Ruler when he forcibly divided the people of the world. Skaa were believed to be descendants of the people who did not support the Lord Ruler during his rise to power, unlike the nobles. However, it is later revealed that skaa were created during the Lord Ruler's Ascension, when the he altered the physiology of people. The majority of the people he changed became skaa; built to be shorter, hardier, and more fertile. These physical differences were small, and have mostly been erased by noble and skaa interbreeding over the thousand years of the Final Empire's history. All skaa Allomancers are the result of noble and skaa blood mixing during some point in the person's heritage. This is a death penaly for the halfbreed as well as their family, if they are found by the Lord Ruler and his Steel Ministry.

While not technically slaves, because by law they are not the property of their masters, in practice they are treated like cattle and given about as much respect. The skaa are the beaten down, oppressed working class, and because of this many are timid in regards to the nobles. Skaa generally keep to themselves, and in the cities, a large number turn to a life of crime to sustain themselves.

Those who are not criminals are worked to near death in some situations by their masters. Plantation skaa were especially brutalized and often did not live as long as their city counterparts as they were killed if they were unable to work. Only very skilled skaa were able to have a trade and work as a craftsman, although they were still underpaid and looked down upon by the nobility.

Skaa living in the outer dominances, far from the Central Dominance, are allowed to own lands and become rich, but the Lord Ruler does not allow this to become publicly known.

Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ tools

Equipment: A small knife, a map of the city you grew up in, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp

Suggested Characteristics

Skaa are shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life — and maybe get some payback on all the rich people who treated them badly.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I hide scraps of food and trinkets away in my pockets.
2	I ask a lot of questions.
3	I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me.
4	I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
5	I eat like a pig and have bad manners.
6	I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7	I don’t like to bathe.
8	I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding.

d6	Ideal
1	Respect. All people, rich or poor, deserve respect. (Good)
2	Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Lawful)
3	Change. The low are lifted up, and the high and mighty are brought down. Change is the nature of things. (Chaotic)
4	Retribution. The rich need to be shown what life and death are like in the gutters. (Evil)
5	People. I help the people who help me — that’s what keeps us alive. (Neutral)
6	Aspiration. I’m going to prove that I’m worthy of a better life.

d6	Bond
1	My town or city is my home, and I’ll fight to defend it.
2	I sponsor an orphanage to keep others from enduring what I was forced to endure.
3	I owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets.
4	I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me.
5	I escaped my life of poverty by robbing an important person, and I’m wanted for it.
6	No one else should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through.

d6	Flaw
1	If I’m outnumbered, I will run away from a fight.
2	Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it.
3	I will never fully trust anyone other than myself.
4	I’d rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fair.
5	It’s not stealing if I need it more than someone else.
6	People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve.