If you spend 1 hour befriending and feeding a Medium beast of CR 1/2 or less, you become its mounted guardian. The type of beast you can befriend this way is determined by your archetype, but must have an Intelligence score of 2, 3, or 4. The beast you are the mounted guardian of is your unusual mount. It follows you and is loyal to you, but it acts independently. Your unusual mount shares your initiative and takes its turn simultaneously with yours.

While most shadowcasts prefer not to contemplate their counterpart, you are deeply curious about them, even going as far as finding a portal to the Material Plane, planning to find and observ e them—perhaps not unlike a naturalist studying a rare animal. However, something happened along the way that led you to adventure.

Nomads typically move between multiple areas where they set up for a season or two and then move on, typically on a circuit between grazing grounds and other useful locations. Because they are not constantly on the move, nomads value equipment that lets their temporary settlements and the often harsh environments around those settlements be made more comfortable, and, because nomads are not always welcomed with open arms, they often try to maintain at least some level of secrecy around their camps.

Itinerants are typically those with skilled or semi-skilled professions such as tradespeople, doctors, and spiritual guides like clergy. They tend to receive a warm welcome from the communities they travel to, but that welcome comes at least partially because they make active efforts to fit in.

Circusfolk not only spend their lives traveling, but entertaining. Unfortunately, not all communities are equally-receptive to the shows they put on, and stigmas around circusfolk can sometimes escalate into dangerous situations requiring a fight or a speedy escape. Their equipment reflects this tension.

Caravanners typically have beasts of burden and wagons, so while their equipment needs to be as rugged as that of any traveling culture, they can often deal with a little bit of extra weight if some other concern makes it worth it. Still, every pound of equipment carried is a pound of carrying capacity that can’t be devoted to trade goods, so a balance must be struck.