In Cf you have to accept some people whip your ass, and you whip some people's. Even characters played by Twist die, sometimes in horrible fashion. They just do so less often than the rest of us.

Villagers in mid ranges enjoy a bit of an edge, but at hero a lot of times at best they are just on equal footing with their cabal powers. And NOBODY suffers as much without a cabal item compared to a villager, which people need to keep in mind.

And deathful Nexun bards?
Of the six premiums (one left the island).
Kyalaru had 157
Yrillbink had 121
one had 34
the other two had 8.
And I'll count Telene, who had 20.
Lasentia, my char, amassed 14 as a herald, if that tells you anything.

Look at imperial bards, those are far scarier in my opinion