Now that my first story arc is over, I'm busy plotting out my next one. For that I'm trying to build a new group of villains, and running into a snag.
I don't want them to be HUGELY powerful. Oh, they have some decent sorcerers and the like among them. The main thing about them though is they are true immortals. Ancients beyond measure, older than recorded human history. They are older than some creatures with legit claims to godhood.
They are called the Shonokin and once had an empire stretching across most of North America. They lost to the Invaders (what they call the native Americans), and have been in hiding ever since. Not just from the Invaders (and the Europeans) but also from their gods and monsters. Slow attrition has whittled down their numbers to the point their entire species could probably just barely fill the seats at a minor league baseball field, but they're trying to make a comeback.
I want to give them something subtle to represent their ancient knowledge. After all, they have been around for over 15,000 years. This power came to mind (undoubtedly unbalanced, though the requirements are a bit steep)
Ancient Knowledge (-5)
You have been around since before most modern civilizations. Possibly since before humanity. You have literally seen it all, and so you tend to have an extremely broad base of skills and knowledge.
Prerequisite: You must have been alive and conscious for over eight thousand years.
Effect: All your skills start at Average. Your skill cap goes up by one.
Special: You can take this multiple times, once for each eight thousand years of your life. Bear in mind most gods haven't been around and active this long.
Close enough to balanced for an NPC?