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Races
Jan 18, 2015 18:27:03 GMT -5
Post by whyemmdee on Jan 18, 2015 18:27:03 GMT -5
MAN
HISTORY: Man (from the elven word of "mancipium", meaning thrall) is the most dominant race on earth, having multiplied exponentially and risen to supremacy in the wake of the fall of the elves and the following catastrophe that destroyed most of their civilization. More than half of the global population is thought to consist of the race of Man, with most of their civilization concentrated in the eastern parts of the world, spread out and divided into a myriad of different city-states and small nations. Scientifically classified as alfus secuntus, little is known about how Mankind came into being as a full-fledged race, complete with their own genetic makeup, other than a few ancient elven histories detailing that Man, alongside the dwarves, "sprung forth from the works and bloods of elves". A multitude of scientific theories suggest that man was a byproduct of magical experimentation or genetic manipulation done by elven scientists millennia ago, while others propose that both Man and dwarf were created by pure happenstance: runt offspring from the elves, left alive to procreate and pass down their (d)evolved genes to their progeny. A relatively new and short-lived race, Man seems to have an intrinsic desire to find meaning and purpose in existence, causing them to be capable of the most virtuous of graces and selfless of acts, but also to easily succumb to the most heinous and depraved practices. Because of this, belief in a higher power is an almost universal constant in all of human culture with organized religion often playing a pivotal role in the lives of many. Man reach adulthood at around 19 years of age. The life expectancy of a Man (both male and female) is around 70 years of old, with their maximum lifespan being around 110 years. BACKGROUND:
Empire of the Emerald Isles Islander Woman Islander Man
The Empire of the Emerald Isles is a constitutional monarchy of Man founded in the year 1665 AE by Richard Enderling I, an intrepid businessman-turned-emperor, who quickly managed to draw thousands of eager immigrants from the mainland to his newly founded empire by offering well-paid jobs and lifetime bonuses for families who settled there permanently. Due to the Isle Empire's close proximity to the gnomish empire of Xiu Xi, the two nations at first were allies but have now become bitter rivals, with the former being exemplified by the rumors that Richard Enderling I was once invited to visit and speak directly with the emperor of Xiu Xi, Zhaong Wei the Wise, and the latter being manifested in the century-long War of Blue and Green, which is still being fought via random naval skirmishes and a near perpetual blockade of gnomish sea trade. The empire is currently ruled by Richard Enderling III, colloquially referred to as Fat King Dicky due to his obscene size, infamous reputation for gluttony, and childlike demeanour. During the century after its founding, the Isle Empire has flourished and developed rapidly thanks to its prime location at the center of most sea trade routes, with its capital city of Plencken coming close to rival even the other great cities of the world in power if not also in size. The people of the Isles are known to be skilled sailors and merchants and have a well-established reputation of looking foreign and exotic, with many of them having brown or sometimes even black skin and dark, almond-shaped eyes. Islander NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Adam, Adrian, Brandon, Douglas, Hank, Harold, Fredrick Examples of Common Female Names: Caryn, Hilary, Justine, Michelle, Rebbeca, Tanya Examples Common Surnames: Jones, King, Moore, Robinson, Smith, Wilson City-states of Gineas Ginean Woman Ginean ManIn 1558 AE, the people of the kingdom of Gineas went into open rebellion against King James the Pious. Two years later the people succeeded in overthrowing the king, upon which they disbanded the king's armies, dissolved the absolute monarchy, and divided up the kingdom into three equal parts, out of which the independent city-states of Calidor, Neermore, and Sinecliff would end up forming. Over the past two-hundred years the three city-states and their surrounding territories have together become the world's most powerful and influential political powers on the world stage. With groundbreaking inventions and innovations in the fields of mercantilism, science and industry, Calidor especially has earned the right to be considered the capital of the world. With many Men and those of other races having been drawn to Gineas over the past few decades, the cities have become a melting pot of races, cultures and religion, coming to encompass Kin from all echelons of society and the spectrum of morality. With the advent of organized crime in the form of the Bad Crowd, the politics and inner workings of the cities of Gineas have become rife with intrigue and corruption, murder and terrorism, with countless officials on the take amidst the governments, guilds and ecclesiarchies who yearn for more power and more money, often at the expense of the common citizen and public safety. Due to the mixture of different cultures and races over the years, the average Ginean appearance can be found all across the different spectra of height, build, and colors for the skin, eyes and hair. Ginean NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Abraham, Greyson, Isaac, Lee, Oliver, Reuben Examples of Common Female Names: Anne, Alice, Brianna, Caitlyn, Diana, Victoria Examples Common Surnames: Abram, Beckham, Cummins, Fletcher, Holmwood, Noel The Free Cities Free Woman Free Man
The eastern cities of Élia, Tersona and Matagán combined are often referred to as the Three Free, with them having formed an alliance of open trade and protection with one another in the early 1200s AE. Since then, hundreds of tiny hamlets, settlements and outposts along the fertile coasts have come to join or otherwise fall under the sway of the alliance over the centuries, with the "Free Cities" coming to establish themselves as a single nation consisting out of many. In the Three Cities class politics are incredibly important, with high fashion and the upkeep of social appearances being incredibly important to the upper and aristocratic societies. Those who belong in the middle or lower classes often aspire to move up in the social hierarchy, which can be achieved with great personal success or simply by buying yourself into the right circles. Sadly, most of them are instead often drawn into the machinations of the powerful nobles and merchant guilds, used either as pawns in needlessly complicated plots or exploited for their cheap labor in the saltmines in the nearby territories. Those who have the good fortune of living in the countryside are often considered honest folk, though they face a poor and harsh lifestyle of farming on infertile soil and fishing in dangerous, cold waters. The appearance of those who live in or near the Free Cities is often mixed: blonde hair and blue or grey eyes is just as common as auburn, red or black hair mixed with darker eye colors. The Men of the Free Cities are shorter than average, with the men favouring rough beards in the countryside, while the women usually wear their long hair in braids. In the Three Free, the hairstyles vary greatly as the ruling classes experiment with fashion appearances from other cultures, which then trickle down to the lower classes who tend to copy whatever the high society is doing. Élian NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Benjamin, Constantin, Emmanuel, Michael, Oliver, Philippe Examples of Common Female Names: Cassandra, Eveline, Isabelle, Jaqueline, Marcelle, Simone Examples Common Surnames: Bouchard, de la Croix, Marion, Parris, Sartre, Thibault Tersonan NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Alberto, Cesar, Fabio, Ismael, Juan, MatiasExamples of Common Female Names: Anita, Calista, Feliciana, Jacinta, Mercedes, Nikole Examples Common Surnames: Alamilla, Escamilla, Fonseca, Juarez, Mendoza, Trujillo Matagán NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Alonzo, Cirino, Giovanni, Lazzaro, Peppino, Salvator Examples of Common Female Names: Angelina, Carmela, Gaia, Isabela, Matilde, Ofelia Examples Common Surnames: Amato, Belmonte, Di Antonio, Franzese, Montana, Padovan Holy City of Ùr Ùrian Woman Ùrian ManThe Waste is the second-largest desert of the world, falling only behind in size compared to the elven desert-continent of Nefaria, but while it may be smaller in size, it is no less lethal. It is said that unless one is blessed by the divine, nobody crosses its width alive. At the very center of the Waste lies the Holy City of Ùr, the last bastion of civilization before coming to the edge of the lands of Beyonder to the Far East, a wild, unexplored continent cut off from the rest of the world due to its seclusion and unreachability. The city itself is thought of to be the oldest Man-made city since the Fall of the Elves and it is built against a single, solid rockformation whose peaks reach up to the skies beyond even the clouds. The only thing that allows such a large city as Ùr to not only survive, but to thrive in as scorching a desert as the Waste, is the continual stream of clear, fresh water coming down the side of the formation to the city below. It is for this reason that Ùr was given the title of a Holy City of the goddess Hera by one of the three Prognati of the Heran Sect in the early 500s, claiming that only the magnimity of a divine being beyond the heavens could possibly bring to bear such a miracle of life in as inhospitable place as the Waste. Ever since its naming as a Holy City, Ùr has been considered a Heran hierocracy with at its head the Prognatus of the East who is considered a priest-king, holding ultimate authority over the city and the Waste. Below him in rank and power is the rest of the Heran priest caste who rule the city and its people with an iron fist and a rigid set of laws which, when broken, are met with severe punishment by the transgressor. Ùrians are solely and exclusively Men who worship Hera, with foreigners and those of other races being viewed with distrust. Those who are found out to worship another deity (or even worse, none at all) are met with open hostility and are put to death should they not immediately convert when found out. The nobility of Ùr live a life of luxurious excess while those of the lower and middles classes live a life of shortage as they try to eke out a meagre existence, barely scraping by day by day. Ùrians often consider their city the pinnacle of civilization and consider their scientists, engineers, bankers and philosophers to be at the forefront of their respective fields, although the rest of the world still considers some of their ways and traditions as backwards, if not barbaric: the Ùrians are the only society that still actively support the practice of slavery, being both the single greatest user and supplier of slave labor the world over. Ùrian hunting parties, said to be sanctioned by the Prognatus himself, scour the Waste for wandering nomadic tribes and unlucky merchant caravans to capture and enslave them. The Men of Ùr tend to be of medium height and build, brown skin tanned by the fury of the sun, with large noses, dark eyes, and even darker hair. Most men have large, thick moustaches, sometimes alongside a trimmed beard. The women favor long hairstyles, as short hair on a woman is considered a sign of open rebellion against her parents. Ùrian NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Babak, Cyrus, Dariush, Jahangir, Mehmet, Sohrab, Xerxes Examples of Common Female Names: Bahar, Gulshan, Isra, Kübra, Nousha, Sanaz, Vashti Examples Common Surnames: Akhtar, Farzan, Kirmani, Mirza, Rouhani, Shahzad, Zadeh Kingdom of Saderia Saderian Woman Saderian ManThe Kingdom of Saderia is the oldest nation of Man in the world and to for those who have never been to Saderia, it is a place of legend and chivalry, a place of incredible piety and selfess martyrs, of heroic deeds and wise kings. But those who actually tread the kingdom's weathered roads and visit its dilapidated cities are soon faced with the truth: while the rest of the world has moved on with the times and adapted their ways of living with the process of industrialization, Saderia has done anything but and has been left in the trailing dust that is a lack of progress. Saderia's monarch, the Kaiser-Hertzog Gustav Hirschwald, has actively attempted to thwart any attempts at technological innovation within the realm, having gone so far as to entirely outlaw guns and any electrical devices. While other nations now employ capable police forces, armed with guns and modern feats of technological engineering, the peace in Saderia is still kept by the King's Halberdiers, warriors trained in knightly warfare and melee combat. While travel between the cities of other nations is now realized with trains and airships, the only way to reach the Saderian capital, Grauwiesen, is either by horse or by cart. Although the result of a lack of progress (or as some might say, a stubborness to adapt) has caused the nation to fall on hard times, with many of its people seeking to carve out an existence beyond its borders, most of them still cling to their state religion, Triumvism, and pray for a brighter future. Saderians are hard workers, with the majority of them being farmers, tradesmen and artisans. They are often tall, with blonde or brown hair and matching eyes. Red hair is a rarity amongst them and those born with it are considered blessed by St. Leah for girls, or St. Eospeth for boys, although no one is entirely certain where this tradition came from. Saderian NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Alfred, Diederich, Ferdinand, Gerhardt, Günther, Isidor Examples of Common Female Names: Anke, Claudia, Dietlinde, Emma, Heidi, Kristine Examples Common Surnames: Autenburg, Bachmeier, Fabel, Goldschmidt, Hafner, Nettweiser Cassian Wetlands Republic Cassian Woman Cassian Man Aian Woman Aian ManHistorically, the Cassian Wetlands were divided into two large duchies of Hexxen and Hellwhyle loyal to the crown of the kingdom of Gineas. After the Ginean people successfully overthrew their king, James the Pious, in an open rebellion in the year 1560 AE, both the duke of Hexxen as of Hellwhyle made claims to take over the ruling of the Wetlands. What followed then was an excessively burdensome campaign between the armies of the two dukes as each tried to establish control over the other. After three long, bloody years that brought ruin to both duchies, it was Drydus ap Mercer, the duke of Hexxen, who ended up victorious and soon afterwards established the Cassian Wetlands Republic of today when he implemented the concept of universal suffrage. In 1622 AE the city-island of Aia and its adventurous sea-faring people, the Aians, joined the Republic and added its borders and respectable fleet of merchant vessels to that of Cassia. In the two-hundred years since then the entirety of the Republic has been at relative peace and has become a centre of open trade and religious tolerance, with every seven years a new representative being chosen among the leading political figures of either Hexxen, Hellwhyle or Aia, who then make decisions on a national scale for the good of the Commonwealth. Corruption in the government is clamored to be minimal, although the Bad Crowd is just as active on the streets as it is in other nations (although not as badly as in the likes of Calidor). Farms are a common sight in the northern and eastern parts of Cassia, as the grasslands there are said to be the most fertile this side of the Beyonder. To the south, the iron and copper mines dominate the landscape, and recent improvements in ore processing is causing an incredible boom in industry, bringing wealth to laborer and businessman alike. Overall, the Men of the Cassian Republic are an industrious people, fiercely proud of their nation. They tend to be of medium build with fair or pale skin, and brown, hazel or grey eyes. Their hair colours range from black to dark brown - but red hair and blonde is not at all uncommon. The Aians have a reputation for being skilled entertainers and sailors, and even more skilled pirates and cutthroats. Their skin varies from between light to medium brown, and they have light to dark brown, sometimes black hair. Their eyes are usually brown, but lighter colours are nothing out of the ordinary. Cassian NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Arwel, Cledwyn, Geraint, Mordred, Owain, Uther Examples of Common Female Names: Angharad, Cerys, Eigyr, Lunete, Mairwen, Rhiannon Examples Common Surnames: Bowen, Davies, Kendrick, Llywelyn, Rhydderch, Yates Aian NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Adria, Artur, Carles, Ignasi, Mateu, Xavier Examples of Common Female Names: Anais, Gisela, Lucia, Monica, Neus, Silvia Examples Common Surnames: Agramunt, Castell, Marti, Odero, Toset, Vilaro
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Races
Jan 18, 2015 18:28:38 GMT -5
Post by whyemmdee on Jan 18, 2015 18:28:38 GMT -5
DWARVES
Female Dwarf Male Dwarf
HISTORY: Ancient elven apocrypha name the dwarves as the alfus tertius, and the same texts claim that the dwarves were created by the elves millenia ago when they still possessed the power of magic. Like Man, the dwarves were servitors to the elves before the great calamity that destroyed the elven empire almost 10,000 years ago. With the elves reduced to the nadir of their power, the dwarves quickly managed to scramble at the top of the proverbial food chain, with only man surpassing them in terms of world population and political power.
For thousands of year following the Fall of the Elves, the dwarves were considered a nomadic people, wandering the world in large tribes with no centralized government, never staying in one place for too long. They valued physical strength and power above all else and waged war against Man and the elves especially, attacking their cities and plundering their treasures. In the year 947 AE, a powerful dwarven warlord named Herleifr finally managed to unite all of the nine dwarven warbands and instead of carving a path of global conquest to secure their assured domination of the mainland, he decided to permanently settle the united dwarven people near the frozen reaches of the Ironjern mountain range. Under Herleifr's capable leadership the dwarves began to foster better relations with the neighboring Man kingdoms of Gineas and Saderia and soon established themselves as an actual, solidified nation, with a focus on mining and martial excellence. Thus the nation of Dvergerjord was formed.
Today, the dwarven nation of Dvergerjord is a divided one, with nine different city-states contesting with each other for the same resources and trade routes with the rest of the world. Though each city (colloquially referred to as a"dome") has its own ruling system, standing army and borders, and can therefore rightly be considered as an individual city-state, eight out of the nine of them are nonetheless loosely affiliated with one another by being part of the Unified Dwarven Federation. Each dome under the UNF banner acts as a satellite to the capital of Dvergerhove, a large, neutral city bordering on the dwarves' southernmost borders, which serves as the seat of dwarven political power, their greatest trading hub, and gateway to Calidor and the rest of the world.
Dwarves are capable of great feats in areas such as mercantilism, architecture and warfare; among the world's greatest merchants, engineers and generals are dwarves. To a dwarf born and bred within the borders of the Dvergerjord, the entirety of the dome where he hails from serves as his extended family and anyone outside of it is not just a stranger, but a potential rival. Those dwarves who have dared to venture beyond the city of Dvergerhove however often come to the stark realization that the rest of the world isn't that simple.
Dwarves reach adulthood at around 22 years of age. The life expectancy of a male dwarf is around 90 with his maximum lifespan being around 130 years. The life expectancy of a female dwarf is around 100 with her maximum lifespan being around 140 years.
BACKGROUND:
The Dome of Aldrigjen
Aldrigjen is a relatively new dome founded in the late 1500s when the then ruling council in Dvergerhove decided to outlaw alcohol and gambling within the capital city. Almost immediately a number of lucrative dwarves moved their now-illegal establishments a few miles north and established a small settlement there, which turned into a haven of vices almost overnight. In the early 1600s, Aldrigjen had reached enough of a population and generated enough income that the politicans decreed the town a city. Since then, the dome has remained known for its many brothels, alehouses and drug dens, and it is considered a popular destination for dwarven youngsters of other domes to visit (or sneak off to) when they come of age. In the past few decades however, the economy of Aldrigjen has dwindled considerably as crime has reached an all-time high, giving it the vilifying moniker of "Dome of Thieves". A popular saying about an Aldrigjen dwarf is that the only reason he hasn't robbed you blind is that he hasn't had the chance yet.
The Dome of Bondegard
Bondegard is one of the richest amongst all the domes for the sole reason that its territories hold the only fertile soil in all of Dvergerjord, and as such it is responsible for all of the grain deliveries to the rest of the other dwarven domes (though it excludes Sma Stjern). The dwarves of Bondegards are all farmers or herders and are known for their good work ethic, hospitality and brewing of ale.
The Dome of Farevolk
At the base of the Ironjern mountain range sits a large, looming fortress that threateningly looms over the surrounding landscape of ice and snow. It is below this massive, stone keep that the dome of Farevolk is built. The majority of the dome of Farevolk is built underground, with large mechanical machines that continually expand their halls in the earth due to an ever increasing growth in population. The women of Farevolk are thought to be the most fertile of all the dwarves and it is said that Hera herself has blessed the women of Farevolk with great beauty and grace.
The Dome of Fjelltop
The dome of Fjelltop sits at the top of one of the greatest peaks of the Ironjern mountain range. Fjelltop is home to the two greatest mining corporations in the entirety of the Dvergerjord; Dwarven Mining Inc., and Fjell Mining, both of which combined together amount to a little more than 70% of the mainland's mining ventures. Most of their mining equipment is built specifically so that only those of dwarven size can use them, and the accompanying instruction manuals are written in old dwarven so that only those who have studied the language know how the machines work, effectively assuring other nations' dependency on dwarven labor to assist in their mining endeavors. In recent years however, several large gnomish companies have managed to get their hands on old dwarven mining materiel and rumors state that some of their employees have been made to study old dwarven, with the end-goal of trying to break into the mining field and ending the dwarves' monopoly. The dwarves of Fjelltop are (in)famous for their love of dark ale and tendency for vicious bar brawls, as there is little else work available save for work in the surrounding mines, and little else entertainment available save for drinking (and fighting).
The Dome of Hvithavn
Hvithavn is located right by the mouth of the Engelzee, and is known for its great, white-walled harbor, filled with countless of fishing and whaling ships, trading vessels and sea barges. The dwarves of Hvithavn are thought of to be fairly open-minded towards the other races and they are known to be skilled sailors, made rugged by the cold, harsh winds that govern the Northern Chimney, and made hard by the sea monsters and great whales that traverse the Sea of Fumes.
The Dome of Mangevenn
Mangevenn is the only dwarven dome that is completely above ground, and is less of a city and more of a large, permanent village comprised out of huts and cabins, surrounded by a series of wooden palisades. The dwarves of Mangevenn are skilled hunters, trackers and warriors, as their primary source of food is the hunting for elk, and their primary trading goods consist of the thick, precious pelts of the many dangerous beasts that stalk the northlands. A few miles to the north of Mangevenn lies a large, expansive forest of frozen trees many miles wide and long, called the Dodskog. It is here that a savage, warlike race of bestial Men the dwarves call the Villdyr live. The Villdyr have waged continuous war against the dwarves of Mangevenn for centuries, always seeking to break past their fortifications and move further south into the nation of Dvergerjord proper.
The Dome of Sma Stjern
Sma Stjern is the most remote of the dwarven domes, lying far in the north-western region of Dvergerjord and built on a large, icy cliff that overlooks the frosted-over Northern Veil. It is the only dome not part of the United Dwarven Federation, meaning that while the dwarves of Sma Stjern do not have to pay taxes to the capital of Dvergerhove, they do not gain any benefits such as free education for children, or access to electricity. The dwarves that come from Sma Stjern are considered to be the toughest of all the dwarves due to the everlasting winter and freezing temperatures in the region and the myriad of daily hardships they have to endure to survive for years on end.
The Dome of Styggbyen
Styggbyen is a city that lies in an almost perpetual dark, as it is nestled in the shadow that is cast by the towering mountains of the nearby Ironjern range. The region is home to freezing winds, and it is said that the abyssal howling that can be heard every so often is more than just the wind making itself known, with tales of ice wyrms and wolves the size of horses being told around the hearths late at night. Styggbyen is known for its grand institute of technical learning, the Styggbyen School of Mechanical Engineering and Dwarven Architecture, and the Museum of Dwarven History, where many old dwarven artifacts are housed.
The Dome of Sverdinnse
The dome of Sverdinnse is the largest of the domes and for good reason, as its territories house almost the entirety of the dwarven nation's industrial capabilities. Most dwarven arms and armor that can be found abroad in the hands of foreigners, including the famous shotgun-axe, were more than likely built in the large dwarven factories of Sverdinnse. The dwarves that hail from here are martially inclined and are often skilled in the assembly of guns, or the craftsmanship of swords or armor.
The Capital of Dvergerhove
The capital city of the dwarven nation, Dvergerhove is a massive fortress-city built into the mountainside. The city is the most intricate of all the dwarven domes, boasting many small passageways, shops and residences built into the rock walls, great hallways filled with bronze statues commemorating old dwarven heroes, and cavernous halls which house many wondrously convoluted machines. Dvergerhove serves as the nation's largest trading hub with the outside world and houses many powerful martial and mercantile guilds. It is here where the Council of Representatives and the Dommerrad (the high judicial court) are housed and it is where rulings, decisions and laws that affect the entirety of the dwarven peoples are made and passed. Dvergerhove is considered neutral ground for all the dwarves and any grudges or disagreements that domes and dwarves may have with one another are put to rest here: the spilling of blood while in the city is considered an affront to the gods, to the laws that govern all of dwarfkind and overall, public decency. It is for this reason that no dwarf can ever take the name of Dvergerhove, as no dwarf can be born without the spilling of blood (and it is coincidentally also why there are so very few women in the city).
The Outcast Svidgard
The Svidgard (literally "those lost" in old dwarven) are those dwarves who are born outside the nation of Dvergerjord or otherwise banished or exiled from their original domes, and are therefore not given the right to take on the name of a dome. Svidgard are a rare breed, and their tales are often filled with loneliness and tragedy as they are often reviled by most other dwarves, and in some rare cases even lynched. The Svidgard often feel bitterness to their former kin who cast them out and many of them seek comfort and purpose in other lands and cultures, while others do the exact opposite: they fall back to the old dwarven traditions of roving plunder and nomadic way of life, often becoming crowders or highwaymen while wandering the world, never staying in one place for too long.
Dwarven Names
Examples of Common Male Names: Alfr, Godtfred, Gunnarr, Hjalmar, Jarl, Tyr Examples of Common Female Names: Annbjorg, Brynhild, Hedda, Kari, Runa, Svanhild Examples Common Surnames: Dwarves take the name of the domes (or their territories) they are born in as their surname.
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Races
Jan 18, 2015 18:31:50 GMT -5
Post by whyemmdee on Jan 18, 2015 18:31:50 GMT -5
GNOMES
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND:
It is commonly believed that the genetic strain of Brutus Nanus did not even exist until after the Fall of the Elves (circa -7,500 BE). There is no real scientific explanation as to how the brutus nanus or "gnomes" came into existence, although the most commonly accepted theory is that they were somehow brought into being as some manner of byproduct of the fluctuating magical energies that ravaged the world during the global cataclysmic events that transpired shortly after the Fall. When the raging fires had burned out and the great storms had passed, the gnomes were quickly taken advantage of by the other races due to their diminutive size and lack of physical strength. They were soon enslaved by the other races, though historians believe that this was not necessarily a bad thing, as the majority of them believe that the only reason the gnomes still exist today is because the other races kept them alive amidst the harsh conditions of the new world, giving them ample opportunity to breed and prolong their existence.
Due to the gnomes' assistance into helping eradicate the strain of brutus magnus in the last century of the Old Calendaring, the gnomes were set free and wholly emancipated in the year 3 AE as a reward and given ships to settle new lands across the seas. Against all odds the gnomes managed to survive their perilous exodus and discovered a new continent across the Sea of Fumes which they named "Xin Xiwang", or New Hope in the common tongue. It is there that they began to build a single empire, ruled by a myriad of different imperialistic dynasties over the centuries, that would end up stretching across the entirety of this new continent and whose size would come to dwarf those realms and kingdoms on the mainland in comparison. A sizable contingent of gnomes did not make the long voyage, however, and this small population of gnomes remained in Altum, primarily settling in Gineas and Sedis, where they were more accepted and could make a living.
In modern times the gnomish race is ostensibly "wholly" ruled over by their current absolute emperor, Zu Wei the Judicious of the Xiu Xi dynasty, whose imperial palace towers over the gnomish capital city of Lan Cheng (commonly known as Azure City), which is considered the only true city in the world that could rival the technology and power of Calidor. According to Imperial gnomes, even those gnomes who refused to make the exodus and have never set foot on Xin Xiwang are still beholden to the Emperor, which is often a sticking point between "mainlander gnomes" and their Imperial counterparts. Devotion to the Emperor and the Imperial dynasties runs so deeply in Gnomish culture, that the vast majority of Imperial gnomes actually worship the Emperor as a God rather than espouse any specific religion - those that do follow an alternative are generally Western Herists, and there is a large shrine to Hera in Azure City. Non-gnomes are forbidden to make their way beyond the walls of Azure City on penalty of death, leaving many foreigners to wonder what hidden secrets and treasures of the land lie just beyond the capital's tall spires. Gnomes are responsible for many of the technologies and inventions that power most of the world's modern cities, and their race's natural ambitiousness often has them butting heads with the equally driven Man and industrious dwarves.
Gnomes have some key physiological differences compared to the races of alfus: besides their rather small size averaging out at around 4 feet, they do not have the same set of incredibly complex organs as do the other races, such as the liver or pancreas (with their stomach taking over the duties usually done by organs they lack), and rather than having a set of lungs or kidneys, they possess but one of each. Gnomes also do not possess a fully functioning cardiovascular and immune system, leaving the majority of them prone to fatigue and susceptible to diseases, however due to their drastically different physiology, they seem to be immune to the vast majority of Kin diseases and often find a niche in the medical fields.
Gnomish Names
Examples of Common Male Names: Dutong, Gao, Jiang, Lishun, Wei, Zhong Examples of Common Female Names: An, Gufu, Lin, Miao, Rento, Sun Bei Examples Common Surnames: Cheung, Guo, Kuang, Sung, Xun, Zhao
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Jan 18, 2015 21:30:36 GMT -5
Post by whyemmdee on Jan 18, 2015 21:30:36 GMT -5
The elves, scientifically known as the race of alfus primus, are the most ancient of the sentient races from which all other strains of alfus have sprung from. Millennia ago, the vast, aelfin empire that spanned the width and breadth of the entire world was without equal. The aelfin were the undisputed rulers of the earth due to their mastery over all forms of magicks, which allowed them to produce the greatest wonders in architecture, culture and technology the world had ever seen. However, with the sudden disappearing of magic circa -7,500 BE during Saredin's reign over the aelfin, they lost their unnaturally long life-span which could span over thousands of years and their civilization swiftly crumbled into nothingness. Historians today estimate that more than 90 percent of the aelfin population was wiped out as a result of the great global catastrophe that followed. Fragmented, made physically frail and altogether powerless, the remaining pockets of now-elven survivors roamed the globe in the arid wastelands left behind by the great conflagrations until they finally settled in what is now considered their global capital of Solatium, a lush oasis city nestled in the center of the vast Nefarian desert. Today the elven race is but a mockery of its former self, with the race of Man, and to a lesser extent the dwarves, having taking dominion over the earth in their stead due to their swift breeding and rapid territorial expansion into the vacuums left behind by the eradicated elves. The elves now teeter on the brink of what some have begun to call their encroaching exctinction as the combination of low birth rates and racial interbreeding is causing the elven genome to be slowly phased out. The cultural identity of the elves is to this day still very much in flux with most of their traditions and knowledge lost during the great cataclysm. A great deal of them try to cling to the old elven ways of life from before the Fall as best they can and seek a way to restore their race's former glory, while others are ashamed or uncaring of their race's past and are simply seeking to live normal lives. Whatever the case may be for each elf, the constant among them all is that they all know very little of their own history which results in many of them struggling with finding their own identity and place in the world. Elves reach adulthood at around 25 years of age. There is a noticeable difference in life expectancy among those elves who remain for most of their lives in the Nefarian desert and those who settle in other lands. The life expectancy of elves remaining in the desert is around 120 years old, while the life expectancy of those elves who choose to live outside the borders of the Nefarian desert is around 60 years old. The maximum lifespan of an elf is around 200 years old. Those elves who are born or grow up away from the desert are smaller and often more sickly than their desert brethren, and there appears to be a correlation with increased susceptibility to illness and disease in all elves that live away from the desert for a decade or more. BACKGROUND:Clamor Antiquos
Antiquan Female Elf Antiquan Male ElfThere is a small percentage among the elves who still hold dear the traditions and way of elven life of those who came before them: these elves follow the idea of the Clamor Antiquos, the calling of their forebears. They value what they consider the purity of elven culture, architecture and engineering, and the majority of them are often seen as elven supremacists by the other races and even by some elves who do not share their views. Antiquans try to mimic the ways of the elves from before the Fall in all their acts and endeavors (sans the help of magic), meaning that they give themselves over wholly in their pursuits of whatever their goals may be and that they place a high value on elven lore and history, martial excellence, and the producing of great works of art, be it music, painting or writing. Many of them fully reject the established religions of today and still cling to the practice of ancestor worship, paying homage to long-dead elven emperors and their direct ancestors who they believe offer spiritual guidance and assistance from beyond the veil. Those who most extremely adhere to the idea of the Clamor Antiquos wish to once again see the unification of all the elves in one global-spanning empire and the return of elves as the rightful rulers of the world. They often view Man and dwarves as lesser beings that have risen beyond their station and the majority of them consider gnomes to be no more than vermin, with reports of some gnomes having been callously murdered in public by outspoken Antiquans when visiting Solatium. Antiquan NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Aerendyl, Elaethan, Ilyn, Llarien, Melisander, Tamsil Examples of Common Female Names: Alaniana, Delshandre, Eloen, Llyriana, Namavae, Teharissa Examples of Common Surnames: Augustus, Aurelianus, Fabianus, Horatius, Laurentinus, Marianus Domus Divini Divine Female Elf Divine Male ElfBefore the Fall, there existed a social caste consisting of half a dozen elven sorcerers and their families whose powers were said to rival even that of the gods. These skillful masters of the arcane were called the Grand Magi and were said to be part of the Domus Divini, the houses of the divine, giving them equal rights and powers that rivaled even the greatest of elven kings. It were these six Grand Magi who had control over the elements and complete mastery over the material world, who could conjure forth great demons from the dark reaches of the world and bind them to their service, and it is said that the most powerful of these mages could bring back life to the dead and the long dead. But after the cataclysm the art of magic vanished from this world and so did its most powerful practitioners. After those elves who survived the great fires settled themselves in what is now the elven capital of Solatium, some of them began to claim that they were descendants of the Grand Magi, claiming their names, histories, legends and lost works as their rightful heritage. These elves then immediately rose up in the social hierarchy and soon established themselves as part of the newly forming elven aristocracy, and it wasn't long before many more elves began coming forward over the following centuries claiming that they too could trace their lineage back to one of these Grand Magi. Today, a great deal of elves still claim to have a trace of the same blood that flowed through the veins of those six Grand Magi, but there are very few descendants of the Domus Divini who are truly recognized as such, and those who are accepted exclusively belong to the elven nobility (and often have been for millennia). Nevertheless, there are still thousands of elves across all of the social strata who still claim to have divine blood in their veins, clinging to an almost non-existent chance to be recognized and have themselves be elevated in the elven social hierarchy. The Six Names of the Domus Divinial-Fazil, al-Kalim, al-Maheed, al-Qadir, al-Samara, al-Zaman. Divine NamesExamples of Common Male Names: Aamir, Azid, Bassam, Hesham, Malak, Madar Examples of Common Female Names: Akilah, Basira, Hafsa, Janan, Laila, Masuma Examples Common Surnames: Divine elves take on one of the six family names of the Domus Divini. Nova Gente Female Elf Male Elf
The overwhelming majority of today's elves are Nova Gente, literally meaning "the new nation" in old elven, although this is by no means an official name or title: the term Nova Gente is but a moniker to describe the modern elf. These elves have usually all but forsaken the old traditions passed down for hundreds of generations by their forebears and have accepted the fact that their race will never again reach the height it achieved from before the Fall (though this is not always the case). Many of them have gone along with the modern times and have wholly embraced the dawn of the new world that industrialization has brought and all the virtues and vices that go along with it. The modern elf is often compared to a Man, as they are often similar in display of mannerisms and morality, religious beliefs, sexual preferences, and views on life, work and fulfillment. Nova Gente Names:Modern elves draw from the pool of names of both Antiquan and Divine, although a recent trend among some of them is to take on the more simple Ginean names to further distance themselves from their elven heritage. Examples of Common Male Names: Arthur, Charlie, Eric, Jonesy, Mark, Pete Examples of Common Female Names: Angie, Cherry, Heidi, Laurie, Silver, Vera Examples Common Surnames: Nova Gente surnames draw primarily from the Antiquan naming pool, although those who settle outside of elven lands often take on typical Man family names as well.
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