D&D Homebrew Races - Markeen / Genie Doubles

A homebrew race of genie-blooded duplicate who love to travel and trick mortals, for Dungeons & Dragons 3e/3.5; created by Aboleth Eye!
As always, though this homebrew was made with D&D 3.5 edition in mind, with a few tweaks you can absolutely use this material with Pathfinder 1st edition! -- Aboleth Eye

The Markeen are a diminished race of genie, their ancestors stripped of their elemental mastery and bound to be reborn bound to the form and lifespan of a mortal on the Material Plane. They keep their existence and powers a secret, as mortals might seek them out mistaking them for true genies. All the Markeen are bound by this secret existence, as well as a ritual Search for their mortal double all their lives. Markeen love traveling and having adventures along the way, using their skills and cleverness to manipulate mortals and cement a legend for themselves among their people.

Author's note: The Markeen were original creations for the Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium (1992), a supplement book for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (2nd edition D&D). The supplement offered many unique creatures for the D&D fantasy setting Al-Qadim--which is set in Zakhara, the Land of Fate, within the well-known Forgotten Realms setting). The setting and all its creatures in the supplemental were created in 1992 for TSR Inc by designer Jeff Grub--all loosely inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights, the history of the Muslim Caliphates, and Arabic and Middle Eastern folklore.
This homebrew version is meant as a tribute to the original works; to bring the Markeen as a player option to Dungeons & Dragons for 3e/3.5 edition (and Pathfinder 1st edition).

"Be careful what you wish for,
lest it come true."
-- Aesop

How They Met Themselves (circa 1860-1864)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Origins

The Markeen are a race of lesser genies with a duplicitous existence, in more ways than one. Disconnected from the Elemental Planes, they are born on the Material Plane and are all bound by a very unique curse. Known as “genie doubles”, all Markeen are born as physical copies to another mortal humanoid creature native to the Material Plane. Unless magic gets in the way, the mortal and their soul-bound Markeen will develop and share the same appearance their entire lives. And speaking of which, the mortal and genie double are also bound by having a shared maximum lifespan!

It is currently unknown what historic or cosmic event caused the Markeen to be ostracized and diminished from their true genie peers. It is an event so ancient and esoteric that not even the elemental Genies or the Markeen themselves even know. Each side has very different stories, each with its own variations and changes over the centuries.

In order for a Markeen to be born, they must be conceived at the same time as another mortal soul on the Material Plane. You cannot talk about the Markeen without also bringing up their Mortal Double. When two humanoid women on the Material Plane conceive a baby at the exact same time on the Material Plane, there is a chance that one will be born as a Markeen. Luckily, not every mortal on the Material Plane has a genie double; one in one hundred double conceptions will manifest a mortal and a Markeen in the end.

Both mortal mothers normally have similar pregnancy stories, suffering little natural illness or fatigue and both having a safe delivery. The two children are even born at the exact same moment--but they could come into the world literally anywhere on the Material Plane from one another. There appears to be no limit to their initial distance. But it is extremely unlikely, on top of the unlikelihood that a Markeen would be brought into the world, that the children will even be on the same continent. Events in the world affecting the mothers' lives, however, may affect the pregnancy but the children will never be harmed so long as they both live.

The only sign that the infants are born with a unique connection is that they have a unique single scar or birthmark only they two share.

Neither child will show any signs of genie-hood until they reach puberty. It is virtually impossible to tell which is the genieborn and which is not without one's genie-related powers being manifested. The Markeen child will always physically resemble their mortal double’s, which may mean they do not resemble their own human parents. Luckily, most mothers who have the mortal and Markeen children will usually be the same race.

In terms of personality, the children usually are influenced by the lives they and their parental figures lead, as well as cultural differences regarding diet, religion, etc. If any personality similarities do crop up, it is usually one or two physical habits they share (such as a penchant for snapping their fingers or rocking back and forth on their feet). But among the genieborn there is usually a sense from early childhood that they do not belong; that there is something out in the world they must do. The Markeen child is also usually a free-spirited and creative individual growing up.

Upon reaching puberty, a mortal and genie double’s shared birthmark will begin to glow, signifying a magical bond is in place between the pair. Typically, a mortal with a genie double in the world will awaken arcane or other magical gifts at at this time. Meanwhile, the Markeen youth will awaken the unique spell-like abilities and instincts of their genie heritage.

The gift of flight often comes upon them suddenly, surprising the young genieborn and startling all who see it happen. Usually, an older Markeen will sense this young genie awakening and travel to meet them before these gifts are made too obvious.

As the genieborn grows they are usually made aware of their outsider natures by an elder Markeen. Sometimes, as they awaken their powers, they tap into their locate person spell-like ability and are drawn to the closest Markeen. This is normal among the genieborn, and many in their secret circles are tasked with finding more of their kind as they travel the world.

Once the secrets of the Markeen are revealed to them (see Personality and Culture below), the young Markeen seeks out their mortal double. This quest unites all genieborn and is known as the Search.

Another aspect to the bond between a Markeen and their mortal double is that they have the same expected lifespan. Unless incidents or disasters occur, the pair will live the same amount of days and years. Only if a Markeen completes their Search and is inducted as a hayan (one of the mystic storytellers of their kind), will they be freed from the physical time limits of their double.

It is unknown if the Markeen are each new souls of the exiled genie race, or if they are reincarnations of past Markeen genies given a second life upon the Material Plane.

Personality and Culture

The Markeen race is extremely secretive--not only are they born a copy of another mortal soul, due to their heritage they are often confused for being true genies in disguise. All traces of the Markeen have been snuffed out to protect their people. They do this not only to protect those unaware of their powers, but to prevent any Mortal Doubles from suspecting they exist.

When a Markeen reaches puberty and begins to manfiest their powers, they often are compelled to locate the nearest of their kind, hoping for answers. Mature genieborn also make it a mission to locate young markeen before they manifest any gifts--sometimes they inspire the youngling to follow secret clues to a Markeen hideout, and other times they just reveal the truth that they are a duplicate of a mortal and they are destined to be wanderers. Some Markeen that especially disdain mortals will kidnap Markeen children (and sometimes murder their mortal parents to remove all ties to mortal society) and have them brought to one of their secret enclaves. The Markeen are protective of young genieborn, but are also afraid they cannot be trusted with keeping the Markeen secret due to their naivete.

Regardless of how they are raised, a young genieborn will usually be a free spirit and wish to travel. Their gifts are often suggested to be a sign of a great destiny, beyond the convention of their home village or land. They also learn to use their locate person ability to sense out other Markeens, as well as their mortal doubles (should they be within range).

A Markeen youth will be brought into the fold by another, taken to a secret enclave usually protected by magic or taboo. Old ruins, shady tavern basements and other unsavory locations are a perfect place for the Markeen to gather and scheme and tell tales. Every Markeen enclave is built around one of their mystics, the Hayan. Every Hayan is a powerful storyteller, and it is up to them to impart The Memory to the young Markeen.

The Memory is the tale of the Markeen people. The tale usually goes that the Markeen were once a powerful race of genies on the Elemental Planes, outsiders of mischief, barter and sorcerous mastery of the elements like any other. However, the Markeen were unjustly exiled from their planar homelands by the other jealous genies--the nobles of the efreeti, dao, marids and even the djinn conspired against them. The Markeen were stripped of their great elemental powers and banished to the Material Plane for a great offense. However, no enclave knows the exact offense or reason they were weakened and bound in this manner; every enclave has a slightly different idea, as it has been passed down orally through millennia between the Markeen.

True Genies ignore the Markeen, believing they are a weak offshoot of their resplendent elemental nature. The Markeen also dislike true genies, believing their ancestors were undeserving of such gross exile. However, neither side of this divide can recall any exact moment revealing what the Markeen did to “earn” the curse they live under. The Markeen only have their oral histories clouding the past, and true genies have long forgotten it so they do not care why.

But the Memory always continues in the same manner: as Markeen they are bound by destiny and form to a mortal person upon the earth. They are not truly themselves--their parents were mere vessels for them to be born as a copy of another mortal life. Though they are descendants by fate of powerful genies, they are tethered in lifespan and destiny by this undeserving mortal.

The hayan continues on regaling the inducted youth with tales of their people--the Markeen have always been legendary wanderers in the world. They bring wonder and magic to the world, all the while using their cunning to deceive foolish mortals and face off against powerful creatures, including genies.

Upon learning their history, the young Markeen are sworn to secrecy to protect their kind and their secrets, under penalty of death. Genieborn live their lives among civilized peoples, but awareness of their existence could inspire fear or evil ambitions if their secret got out. True genies are extremely prevalent in mortal fairytales, forced to grant wishes and miracles. This has made the Markeen vulnerable to being preyed upon by genie hunters, sha’ir arcanists and mages seeking power. There are rumors among the Markeen that their people were once preyed upon and tortured for power they could not give. Thus, mortals are forbidden to stumble upon or learn the secrets of the Markeen. Likewise, the Markeen must keep the secrets of their people, and are warned not to reveal their abilities (especially flight) before mortals.

The Hayan will then tell the second tale of the Markeen inheritance: the Search. The Search is a great task all Markeen must undertake: the genieborn must wander the earth, searching for their mortal double. The first Search is a rite of passage for each genie double, all Markeens learn to travel as mortals and use their gifts subtly to locate their mortal half. Young Markeen, learning of their other half’s existence, are often overwhelmed by questions and take the quest straight away looking for answers. The Search is only required to last a year or so at most, but it is expected that most genieborn may never find their mortal counterpart. Search quests in the past have supposedly lasted entire decades before one's mortal double has been found, if at all.

The goal of the Search is more to expose these young Markeen to the broader world, train their talents in secret, seek out other Markeen enclaves and learn their version of the Memory, and find their own niche within mortal society. Some Markeen spend their entire lives on the Search—often the quest fades to the back of their minds as they gain a taste for adventure and trickery.

It is sadly assumed that most Markeens will never meet their mortal double, considering the vastness of the Material Plane. Any successful Search is considered a legend among them, and they are often successful only after decades of traveling. All Hayans of the genieborn have completed their Search, and they inspire those they protect and guide with the revelations from it.

Any Markeen who has succeeded in the Search are changed forever upon meeting their mortal double. Envy and anger are extremely common, as many mortal doubles are great members and contributors to mortal society. Fear is also common--to know the location and nature of one's own perfect copy can feel like a threat lies in wait for the Markeen. Inspiration and grief are rare but not impossible; many Hayans speak of the poetry and music they heard upon seeing themselves incarnated as another, and they sometimes experience relief or sadness at knowing they were never alone in the world.

Markeens undertake the Search with all of these undecided emotions on their mind. Some decide to use their mortal double's likeness against them, creating chaos and implicating them in dangerous and shady activity to draw their double to them instead. Others wish to replace their mortal double, attaining everything they feel they deserve by force. It is extremely rare for a Markeen and mortal double meeting to end peacefully.

Mortal doubles, if they ever suspect or meet their genieborn double, also struggle with varying emotions. Most believe they are long-lost twins or relatives, while others fear them as evil shapeshifters like doppelgangers who wish them harm. Usually, because of their shared likeness, the mortal may encounter people who have met their double and become confused and suspicious. Rarely, if a mortal double and genie double meet, will they part as friends or newfound family--but it is not impossible.

Outside of the Search, the Markeen are all united by their innate talents for elemental magic and guile. They are free spirits upon the Material Plane, bound by a secret knowledge that they are something greater than any mortal race. Luckily those who use genies and elemental spirits in their work, like the sha'ir wizards, are not innately capable of binding the Markeen. The genieborn do fear these sorts of arcanists, however, as they can more easily recognize their powers and will seek out knowledge of things they do not understand.

Genie hunters, those who despise geniekind, are also not friends of the Markeen. While some Markeen are themselves vengeful against the arrogance and wrath of genies themselves, for both personal and ancestral reasons, mortal genie hunters may confuse a Markeen for one of the lesser true genies. However, sometimes a Markeen will pose as an expert in genie magics or history to get close to mortal genie hunters and arcanists; in order to steal knowledge and artifacts for themselves, as well as erase all knowledge of their kind.

The Markeen have been swindling and charming mortals since the first of them was mortally born. Their talents for cheating and flattery are tools for survival in the ambitious world of mortal men. The Markeen are firstly loyal to themselves and to their people above everything else. If any mortal learns of the Markeen secret, or seeks to do harm to any of their brothers and sisters, they take every effort to stop them.

Most Markeens are tricksters, procurers and charlatans; they rarely use their spell-like abilities or flight unless absolutely necessary and no witnesses abound. They usually pose as mundane humans who have a couple tricks they've picked up, nothing more. Unless their mortal double is an elf or other demihuman race, they rarely resemble anything other than human. If their elemental gifts are revealed accidentally, they often lie that they are air or fire genasi of extremely weak bloodlines at most; but if pressed they cannot hesitate to threaten a curious person if they continue to press. They dislike anyone who seeks to uncover their deepest secrets, and will lash out if their trust is broken.

Genieborn are usually rogues or fighters, selling off information and learning how to hone their cleverness in battle. They dislike committing to mortal or theological causes like rangers and paladins do, but sometimes they seek out these paths to infiltrate their groups and snuff out knowledge of genies and the Markeen by them.

Bards are considered less dangerous for Markeens to be--innately magical and free-spirited, but never expected to be anything but non-magical spellcasters. Storytelling and exaggerating are also expected of bards. The genieborn have no innate attraction to most other spellcasting classes--sorcery is something they cannot help, but committing to the study of wizardry is usually too rigorous and draws too many eyes for their liking. A few will dabble in conjuration specialization, wishing to steal secret lore about genies and feel the rush of unleashing elemental powers like their ancestors once could like gods.

As genie descendants, most Markeen have no natural affinity for the natural world of the Material Plane and forgo becoming druids. However, a radical few have been known to become summoners and shapeshifters of elemental creatures--believing elemental druid magic the best chance at returning to true geniehood.

Markeens seek travel more on the Material Plane than any other. They both dislike and fear the Elemental Planes because they may come across true genies who will harm them. The Material Plane is also the one they know best of all, and their mortal double is somewhere there for the genieborn to pursue.

Among the older Markeen, they are extremely against the younger generations from revealing their natures. However, in the age of adventuring parties, some mortals can be trusted with the Markeen secret. Though forbidden from ever entering a Hayan's enclave, a mortal ally to a Markeen may be allowed to learn the secret, so long as they swear under penalty of death to never reveal it.

A great Hayan must assemble a full enclave of their people, and the hopeful genieborn asks them and all their people for permission to reveal the secret. The Hayan is final judge, but most Markeen will demand information about the reputation of the mortal or mortals in question, who must additionally pose no threat to their kind. If granted, the genieborn is bound by an oath to maintain the secret told. If a person sworn to secrecy ever reveals the Markeen's secret, the Markeen who vouched for them must slay them or they and all mortals they trusted with the secret will be hunted down by all Markeen until death....

Markeen Racial Traits

The following are the racial traits for a Markeen character:

Medium Outsider (native, genieblood)

Markeen can use and create magic items only usable by genies. However, they are too weak to be compelled by effects that target true genies, such as the Sha'ir class' call genie ability or planar ally spells.

Ability Scores: Strength -2, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma
Speed: 30 feet, fly 20 feet (average)
Genie Double: All Markeen are born with the appearance and exact birth date and time to a fully mortal humanoid child on the Material Plane. At adulthood, it is virtually impossible to tell a Markeen and their mortal counterpart apart when standing side by side.

Additionally, a Markeen’s existence came about at the exact same time as their mortal double’s. They share the same date and time of birth; and their maximum lifespan is equal to their mortal counterpart’s. However, they suffer no ill effects if their counterpart dies before them (and vice versa).
The mortal double is always a human or half-human (half-orc/half-elf/etc) of equal Effective Character Level.

Some Dungeon Master’s may choose to have the Mortal Double as NPCs in their settings, while some Player Groups will have a Markeen and their Mortal Double as Characters.

Spell-like Abilities (Sp): If a Markeen has a Charisma score of 12 or higher, they can use the following spell-like abilities once per day. Their effective caster level equals their character level.

1/day: flame blade, gust of wind, invisibility (self only), locate person (mortal double or other Markeen only), and summon nature’s ally II (small air elemental only).

Skills:

Markeen have a silver tongue and gift for telling tall tales. They have a +4 racial bonus to Bluff and Perform (storytelling) skill checks.
Additionally, a Markeen has a +4 racial bonus to Disguise checks made to impersonate their mortal double’s race. This bonus increases to a +8 on checks made to impersonate their mortal double themselves.

Favored Class: Bard. Markeen have a talent for procuring stories, goods and information no one else has. They typically display a love of travel and meeting new people, and they use their talents to influence and befriend mortals useful to their Search.

Fighters and rogues among the Markeen often hire themselves out as adventurers or mercenaries to influential mortal groups or their leaders, in order to infiltrate their organizations and reclaim stolen genie and Markeen secrets and objects. Otherwise, they are extremely eager to destroy their mortal double, instinctually believing they are a threat.

Languages: Common plus one elemental language (Aquan, Auran, Ignan, or Terran) (chosen at 1st level)

Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, or Terran

Level Adjustment: +2

ECL: 3+

Challenge Rating: +2

The Markeen Hayan [NPC Prestige Class]

The Hayan are the great storytellers, guides and protectors of the Markeen race. Legendary wanderers themselves, they have undertaken the Search and accomplished what so few genieborn have done: they have met their mortal counterpart, and the pair parted in peace! Rewarded with greater genie powers, inspiring tales of their people and eventual expanded lifetime; the Hayan has an awful responsibility to their people. They are bound by the Markeen secret, and live or die by maintaining it (as well as granting others' permission to share it).

The Hayan is intended to be a prestige class first, as they become the keystone to entire communities of Markeen. If their ire is drawn or their trust is broken, however, they can make powerful antagonists bolstering their Markeen allies to destroy offending parties.

Prerequisites:

Markeen only
Must have met their Mortal Double and done them no harm, completing the Search
Bardic Music ability
Perform (storytelling or oratory) 9 ranks

Hit Dice: d6

Class Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Disguise, Hide, Knowledge (any, taken individually); Move Silently, Perform (any), Profession (any), Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device

Skills per Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier

Table: The Markeen Hayan Class

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spellcasting
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Secret Keeper, Genie Tales, Tale of Enemies	--
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3		+1 level existing class
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Genie Powers	--
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Tale of Searches	+1 level existing class
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Oath Keeper	--
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Genie Powers	+1 level existing class
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Tale of Tricksters	--
8th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+6		+1 level existing class
9th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+6	Genie Powers	--
10th	+7/+2	+3	+3	+7	Tale of Wonders, Timeless Body	+1 level existing class

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Markeen Hayan gain no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.

Secret Keeper (Su): At 1st level, a Hayan must willingly submit to a magical oath binding them to the secrets of their people. If they ever reveal their true natures as Markeen to an intelligent non-Genie creature native to the Material Plane, they have one week to either erase the creature’s memory or cause the creature’s death themselves (by violence, magic or accident), or else their lives are cut short magically.

If a week has elapsed (7 days or 168 hours) from the moment the secret left their lips and the non-Genie Material Plane creature who was told the secret still exists, the Markeen Hayan immediately dies, as if affected by a disintegrate effect (no save).

Genie Tales (Su): At 1st level, a Hayan gains the genie tales ability. Genie tales follows the same rules as bardic music (see Bardic Music, page 29 of the Player’s Handbook). Markeen Hayan levels stack with bard levels for the purposing of how often a character can use genie tales or bardic music. Markeen Hayan levels do not stack with bard levels for determining which bardic music effects and spells a bard has access to. Each of these effects counts as a use of bardic music.

Tale of Enemies: A Markeen Hayan can speak a tale of how the Markeen eliminated a threat to their peoples’ existence sense if the secret has been told again. The Hayan spends a daily use of bardic music and rolls a Perform check, lasting 10 minutes. At the end of the tale’s duration, the Hayan benefits from a scrying effect (cast as a 4th-level spell) to locate the closest non-genie or genieblood creature who knows of their peoples’ existence, or the closest Markeen who has willingly told another Intelligent non-genie or genieblood the secret. If the offending creature is a Markeen, treat the Will save modifier as if you have secondhand knowledge at minimum.

Tale of Searches: A Hayan can speak a tale in an elemental language recalling one of the Markeen’s Searches for their mortal counterpart, instilling a wanderlust in a single listener. Up to a number of Markeen (equal to the Hayan’s level) are granted a +1 morale bonus to all skill checks made for the next year, so long as the skill check is directly related to the affected genieborn’s Search for their mortal double. Additionally, the affected Markeen are given an endure elements spell effect for one week.

Use of this ability requires a daily use of bardic music equal to the number of Markeen to be affected by it. A Hayan can only grant this bonus to a number of Markeen equal to twice their class level at one time.

If a Markeen blessed in this manner is able to find their mortal double within the time limit, this song’s effect expires and the Hayan who granted it automatically learns the Search was a success.

Tale of Tricksters: The Hayan tells a story in their ancestral elemental language about Markeen who successfully deceived beings as powerful as true genies, done to aid in protecting the Markeen secret from being revealed. The Hayan spends a daily use of bardic music and grants a single creature within 30 foot range gains a glibness spell effect, as if cast by a 10th level caster (lasting 100 minutes).

To benefit from this ability, the listener must be able to see and hear the Hayan.

Tale of Wonders: At 10th level, a Hayan can use the power of stories to physically shape the world into a place safe for telling tales of the Markeen. Once per day, a Hayan can use two uses of bardic music to tell a ten minute tale of a wondrous space, creating a secure shelter effect fit for genieborn (caster level 12th). The space is more extravagant than normal; with rich carpets on the floor, eight pillows for seating, an unlit central brazier with kindling, eight curtained alcoves with bedding on the floor, and brass bowls with fresh figs, pomegranates and other local fruits in season. The space is a hardened sandstone dome outside, with a chimney, and an arcane lock effect on two windows with shutters and a wooden doorway.

Like a normal secure shelter, an unseen servant effect can be activated with the proper material components used while casting. The same for the focus of an alarm spell effect as normal.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At 2nd level and every even level after, the Markeen Hayan gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if they had also gained a level in a spellcasting class they belonged to before gaining the prestige class. They do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

This essentially means that they add the level of Hayan to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly.

Genie Powers (Sp): At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, a Hayan gains one of the following improvements to their racial spell-like abilities. Each can be chosen once.

Flame Blade: A Hayan can use their flame blade racial spell-like ability at-will from now on. Additionally, once per day, the Hayan can use fires of purity (SpC/CD) as a racial spell-like ability.
Gust of Wind: The Hayan can use their gust of wind racial spell-like ability at-will from now on. They can additionally cast whispering wind once per day.
Invisibility: The Hayan can now use their invisibility racial spell-like ability at-will from now on.
Summon Nature’s Ally II: The Hayan gains the ability to cast summon nature’s ally IV once per day (choosing one medium wind elemental or 1d4+1 small wind elementals only).

Oath Keeper (Su): At 5th level, a Hayan can grant another Markeen permission to share the secret of their people’s existence with a sapient, non-Genie mortal. The hopeful Markeen must succeed a Bluff or Diplomacy check for each designated mortal, opposed by the Markeen’s Sense Motive check to convince them to become trusted. Other Markeen can assist the Hayan with the Sense Motive check to determine if the chosen mortal is trustworthy and poses no threat.

If successful, the Hayan can spend two daily uses of their Bardic Music ability per designated mortal to bind the hopeful Markeen with a magical oath. They must swear before all Markeen present that they will share the secret only with the designated deserving mortal, do whatever the enclave asks of them and will mete out punishment if the mortal betrays their trust. The hopeful Markeen becomes permanently linked to the designated trusted mortal through the Hayan’s Oath Keeper ability, so long as the designated mortal lives. A Markeen affected by Oath Keeper has an arcane mark of the Hayan's name permanently added to their bodies. If they or their trusted mortal breaks the Oath Keeper vow, the mark becomes an unhealable scar (a sign of their untrustworthiness among the Markeen).

A Markeen given permission to share the secret with a mortal through the Oath Keeper ability of the Hayan must obey any spoken or written command the Hayan gives, as part of their vow of trust. If an avowed Markeen rejects their Hayan's command, the Hayan may at-will spend a daily use of Bardic Music to inflict a geas/quest effect on the offending Markeen, always demanding they slay their trusted mortal. They can at-will take back the geas/quest effect after the Markeen apologizes and performs the original task, or they may choose to not end it. This effect's caster level is the Markeen Hayan's character level or 15, whichever is higher.

The Hayan becomes instantly aware if a mortal bound by Oath Keeper speaks the Markeen secret or records it in any form. Additionally, they gain a +4 circumstance bonus to the save DC of their Tale of Enemies scrying effect against the offending mortal.

The Markeen who are by Oath Keeper must destroy their trusted mortal who broke the vow or have their memory erased. The Hayan may give the order directly and inflict the geas/quest effect from above in this case. If the Markeen under the Oath Keeper vow fails to do so after one full week has elapsed, the Hayan must alert their Markeen community to hunt down the Markeen and mortal bound by the Oath Keeper vow. The Hayan has an additional one full week to have this task accomplished; if they fail to do so, they immediately die as if affected by a disintegrate effect in (no save).

A Hayan can have a number of Oath Keeper vows active equal to 1 plus their Charisma bonus at a time. If they wish to allow another Markeen to create an Oath Keeper vow with them, the Hayan must have another mortal bound by Oath Keeper killed or their memory erased first.

Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 10th level, a Hayan no longer takes penalties to their ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that they have already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the Hayan still dies of old age when their time is up.

Additionally, the Hayan’s maximum lifespan is increased beyond their Mortal Double’s. Ascending as a Hayan means the genieborn no longer is tied to their double’s lifespan. Their maximum lifespan is increased in secret by the Dungeon Master (by +2d100 years).

Author's Notes

I did not anticipate coming across the Markeen when I did. I was going through my tabletop game books on my computer and came across the Al-Qadim Monstrous Compendium by accident. Honestly, I must have downloaded it years ago in my early days of D&D research and the file ended up being copied over when I upgraded laptops four years ago. I never really made use of the book, considering I am not as well-versed in Arabic and Middle Eastern folklore (aside from a pop culture and D&D-based understanding of genies and such).

But overall, I am extremely intrigued by the roleplaying potential of the Markeen. As non-player characters, a game master could make a Markeen be a living copy of one of their player's characters--introducing a either a capricious rival or dangerous antagonist for their group to face. As player characters, however, their Search instantly gives a character a motivation to adventure: to meet their double

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