The Bitterness: the terrible gift of the White Robes

To my respected colleagues and professing masters,

From Tandis of Peakshadow, sometimes called the Tenderfoot

In response to your inquiry regarding my paper, I will say that of all the gifts of the White Robes, the ability of the Ranger to strike at and hit the goblinoid creatures is one of his most fearsome. Some of you have likened it to the Berserkers of Northrun, but this behavior is not a wild battle frenzy, at all.  Rather it is a way of channeling naturia to effectively bless his attack and that blessing would appear many times more potent than what even a Hierophant could impart.

Called "the bitterness" by the Rangers, they have described this ability as being accompanied by an almost preternatural anger. Unlike the Berserker’s frenzy, which is madness born of blood and fear, The Bitterness is a cold, controlled wrath. Rangers describe it as though their eyes sharpen and their heart hardens. The world grows narrower, more defined: the sway of a goblin’s neck, the tremor in its breath, the gap in its guard. This is not rage without control, but anger honed to a razor’s edge.

The Rangers insist it is Erenth itself lending its anger through them, punishing the corruption of the Urok’s fallen line. I have had several conversations on this subject. One Ranger said to me, "“I see red, but I strike true.” Another admitted, “It burns like bile in my throat, but I thank it all the same.” The third claimed, “The Bitterness is no friend to me. It is my shadow. It walks with me so long as I walk against them.”

The Hierophants have named it “Gall of Baere” — and agree that it comes from those bound to the earth. They say it is literally a taste of the fury of naturia. Often, when they see it, they are unnerved. It exceeds what their blessings can do because it is not mediated by ritual — it is direct power poured through mortal anger. One believes it must be the same animating power of the so-called Aeniresa of old who were said to be angry without reason and who walked in fury in the world.

Lastly, it should be noted that it comes at a cost — the Ranger feels the burn of wrath each time. Too long without venting it, and some Rangers grow restless, ill-tempered, unable to sleep. Moreover, it is utterly lost if the Ranger betrays his Oath through willful evil — for then, the wrath turns inward, and naturia abandons him.