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The race of Svarts is not truly nocturnal, although svarts seek shelter from the bright light of midday. Svarts are active in times of long shadows--early morning and twilight--and into the early hours of the night. They appear to be as reclusive in the middle of the night as they are during bright daylight. Given this proclivity for gloom, they can sometimes be found in heavy forests and in cavern systems.

A typical svart stands belly-high on a human. Its skin has a strong blue or blue-gray cast, and its eyes range from yellow to orange to red. It is humanoid, proportioned much the same as a human, although the arms are a bit long and the head a bit large proportionally. A svart wears rough clothing of nondescript sort, almost always in need of repair or patching.

A svart possesses almost-human intelligence, and also possesses a great cunning. A svart will seldom be surprised, for it is naturally wary and has senses half again as keen as those of a human. A surprised svart will seek to hide or escape rather than confrontation.

A svart community can number over two hundred individuals. The basic family unit is called a "tumble" and numbers roughly a dozen members.

A community will appear only in an area where enough cover can be found for each tumble to have a degree of both cover and privacy--two tumbles will never be found living directly adjacent to each other.

A svart is adept at hiding and sneaking (Stealth 80) and foes will find pursuing a svart troublesome (Savagery 75). A svart is ambidextrous and has absolutely no preference for using one hand rather than the other.

In every group of at least six svarts encountered, one will be a strongarm. A strongarm svart is simply a large svart that is acknowledged as a warrior and carries better weapons and armor than an average svart.

For every two or three dozen svarts, there will be a shaman. Each community has a nominal leader, the fightchief.

Svarts avoid most other humanoids, although they will sometimes deal with the weaker types. They often host a colony of blackrats within their community, but the tie between the two species is unknown at this time.

Attacks: A svart will carry a handful of darts that each inflict 1-10 +1 Harm, and use a hand weapon such as a hand axe or small sword for 1-20 +1 Harm.

Defense: A svart has 4 points of armor due to its size and agility.

A typical svart will have perhaps $200 worth of coins or semi-precious stones.

Attacks: A strongarm will carry a net in addition to the arms of a typical svart. The net will be thrown at foes, and will entangle an opponent on a successful attack roll. The target will be entangled and at half capabilities for 1-4 ABCs unless a check against (Speed x2) is successful.

A strongarm will have perhaps $300 worth of coins or semi-precious stones.

Attacks: A shaman carries a blowgun with darts that inflict 1 Harm plus VT that induces sleep if the target fails a check vs. (Health x2). The victim will pass out for 3-12 ABCs.

Defense: A shaman has 6 points of armor due to its size, agility, and a preternatural energy that conveys 2 points of protection against even Supernatural Harm.

A shaman possesses more wealth than any other type of svart, valued in the neighborhood of $1000 worth of coins and semi-precious stones.

A fightchief possesses $400-$800 worth of coins or semi-precious stones.