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Vion is a campaign setting I have been working on for a while now. The basic concept, in terms of planes, is that there is a giant black hole at the center of the "planar wheel" so to speak. The black hole is so supermassive that it's force would exceed that of the universe's expansion, causing the universe to cave in on itself. Thus, a god or some great and terrible power, decided they would put a "prison" around the black whole (probably thinking it was some monster). The idea was that they would distribute the force of the pull of the black hole evenly throughout a system, and try to put it almost in a vacuum with many, many layers of protection, and that would stop the "monster" from eating the universe. Of course, the people who did this had literally no concept of astro-physics, but they dealt in magic, and as such their very need to do this action cause the magic to work. However, it has some strange and unintended consequences. The force of the black hole did not so much vanish as go beyond the walls and protections put up around the hole. However, because of the planar protections, the whole of existence was pulled towards the black hole but could not reach it. Because of the complexities of astro-magic, the whole of existence started to swirl around the prison of the black hole, and matter started changing in strange ways.
But in any case, what really is important here are the areas inside of the prison. They are composed of the Outer Planes, Inner Planes, and Material Planes. The Outer Planes are those that border the edge, beyond which is the Swirl. They are the heavens, hells, chaos and limbo. They represent the first vanguard between the Swirl and the "monster". The Inner Planes are those of the elemental planes, Fire, Metal, Electricity, Positive, Earth, Wood, Water, Shadow, Sonic, Crystal, Air, and Negative. They represent the balance upon which the strength of the Outer Planes is rested, ball bearings in the swirling wheel of the prison. The Material Planes, composed of Divine, Arcane, and Psionic energy, are the energy that holds the rest of the planes together.
The planar barriers that separate these planes are what keeps the Swirl out, and what separates and controls its power. Thus, Planar Travel is simply not possible, although some creatures may ignore the Planar Barriers not by moving through them but by stepping around them so to speak (believe me, even those creatures don't really know exactly what this entails), but the people of the Material Planes have no such ability.
This leads us to the topic of these posts, the races of the Material Planes. They are separated out into Kolosso, which is the Arcane material plane, the Luminous Refuge, which is the Divine material plane, and Xap, which is the Psionic material plane.
Sa’Thok are the tribal troll-like humanoids that live in the plains of Kolosso. They hold several famous tent cities that have a sort of representative government, but the vast majority of Sa’Thok live in their tribal homelands.
Personality: The Sa’Thok are a relatively solemn people. They respect nature and all of life, and as such have major problems with people who would harm it, and this can lead to some problems when interacting with other races, leading to the Sa’Thok looking sort of uptight. During tribal celebrations and holy days, of which there are twelve, the Sa’Thok show their joyous side, although these holidays are sort of toned down in the larger city federations that are part of Sa’Sakla.
Physical Description: The Sa’Thok stand roughly 6’2” inches to 6’8” on average, with not a great height change between sexes. They usually weigh around 190 to 240 pounds, with the male Sa’Thok weighing a great deal more than the female Sa’Thok. Their skin ranges from a light green to a dark brown. Their eye color is usually brown or blue. Their ears are long and pointed, and their teeth are rather sharp, with the canines jutting out as prominent tusks. Their hair ranged from red to black, rarely any tone lighter than a light brown.
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Relations: Sa’Thok have a stronger relationship with the Ingoba than the other beings who live in Kolosso, who live more naturally than the other races, but they tolerate and accept the Batchi and Seder.
Lands: Sa’Thok live in the plains of nothern Kolosso, and also in the foothills in the center of Kolosso. Their main cities, and the Sa’Sakla capitol, lie in the foothills of Giki’Tsa.
Religion: The Sa’Thok worship the twelve spirits that represent all of the world. The Sa’Thok do not have direct worship of them, but instead consider them the ancestors of the Sa’Thok race. The twelve are; Turtle, Bear, Horse, Eagle, Lion, Snake, Wolf, Fish, Bat, Hare, Rat, and Fox.
Language: Sa’Thok sounds very gutteral, compared to the more precise and clipped Seder, the flowing and haunting Ingoba, or the singsong cheery Batchi. Sa’Thok is not a commonly used language throughout Kolosso.
Names: Sa’Thok names are usually given from an ancestor, such as the Sa’Thok’s grandparet, great-grandparent, or even great great-grandparent. As such, it is considered an insult to the original name holder when the Sa’Thok acts out of line with the laws of the tribe that they live in, or with the guiding principles of the Sa’Thok people. The surnames of the Sa’Thok are based on the tribe of the Sa’Thok, and are divided into twelve tribes.
Male Names: Surak, Misra, Uhkar, Ansur, Oram, Kamal, and Jikan.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Sulafaat, Dapaht, Hisaan, Musaru, Elasad, Thorban, Daved, Sameki, Hufash, Elornaab, Faer, and Fialeb.
Adventurers: Sa’Thok adventure to gain wealth, adventure, and move away from the oppressive homes where they grew up. Often the oppression is only perceived, and the parents of the Sa’Thok only wanted the best for their child, but the children rarely see it that way. Thus, adventuring is often a form of rebellion for Sa’Thok children.
Ingoba
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The Ingoba are Satyr like creatures, known for their musicality and their role as diplomats throughout Kolosso.
Personality: The Ingoba have a very slick and slippery personality. They are trained to lie convincingly from a young age, and it becomes a habit for many Ingoba to constantly lie. Of course, they are also trained from a young age to be able to find lies and tell whether or not they are true. They are not courageous, explicitly kind, or just. They consider those qualities almost like faults. They are, usually, logical to a fault, trying to gain control of their emotions, for emotions can betray one quite quickly in the courts of Korhun.
Physical Description: Male Ingoba stand at around 5’3” to 5’9”, females at around 5’6” to 6’0”. They usually weigh somewhere around 130 to 160 pounds, for both genders. Ingoba naturally have fur covering all of their body, usually a little sparser on their upper body, and relatively little on their face, but Ingoba nobility tend to shave their upper bodies and their faces entirely, leaving nothing but their hands and lower body with fur. Sometimes they will shave designs and patterns into their fur, although that is usually only the nobility. Because of how fast Ingoba hair grows, only the nobility can afford to be shaved that often. Ingoba fur ranges from brown, to blonde, to black. It is very, very, very rare to have an Ingoba with red fur, but not entirely unknown. Ingoba faces are usually sharp and angular. Ingoba eye color usually matches their fur color, which is disconcerting for some creatures. Male Ingoba have long curved horns, like mountain goats, although females will also grow horns, usually shorter than the male’s horns.
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Relations: Ingoba tend to have very good relations with the other cultures in Kolosso. They are naturally good diplomats, and as such are often able to broker peace among the races and cultures of Kolosso when it would otherwise be impossible. Of course, this isn’t always possible.
Lands: The Ingoba’s homeland, Korhun, is also the great bastion of Ingoba culture. It holds large populations of Batchi and Seder, and a smaller population of Sa’Thok, but the overall government structure remains run by the Ingoba. Korhun is mainly located on a large forest, near the high mountains that separate Saer from the rest of Kolosso. In the southeastern portion of Korhun is the Wastes, the great span of desert that was the original capitol of Korhun, before the great wars between the Sa’Thok and the Ingoba. Those wars were many hundreds of generations before the current period in the history of Kolosso, but the Wastes remain. None live there besides some fragmented populations of Ingoba who have been mutated and twisted by the arcane ravages that remain in the area.
Religion: The Ingoba do not worship a god. They are much too down to earth for that. They forswore all things religious after the destruction of the original capitol in what is now the Wastes. They prayed to their gods during the wars, and none came to save them.
Language: Ingoba is not an easy language. It has many, many subtleties, and it is extremely easy to mislead or even straight out lie with it, without drawing ire of others. It is very lyrical, especially when compared with Sa’Thok.
Names: Ingoba names are usually just recycled names of older generations, not closely associated with ancestors. Alternatively, they might be characters in a song that particularly inspired the parents, or the name of a song itself.
Male Names: Golias, Davoss, Sidh, Aleixoss, Cernunnos, Éber, Fiachr, and Belenos.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Lugubelenus, Gurtheyrn, Iudocus, Morcant, Maelseclain, and Áedh
Adventurers: Ingoba adventure for various reasons. It would difficult, if not impossible, to determine exactly what reasons, for the Ingoba are highly personal creatures, and most certainly not for the purposes of others do they act. Their reasons for adventuring are similarly personal. One common reason is the seduction of power, and the seeking thereof.
Batchi
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Batchi, devil-looking creatures, are the primary traders of Kolosso, transporting ships from their isle nations to the rest of the continent. They are known for their supposed wealth and power, which remains almost non-existent, politically. Because of their staunch connections with the Ingoba, they have protection from most governments that might try to steal their goods.
Personality: Batchi have a sort of stout personality. They are staunchly loyal, and generous to those they care for. They are thought to be quite stingy by those who have not really interacted with them, for the Batchi traders at the very least do tend to hoard money, if only to keep their businesses afloat. Batchi are considerably more communal in nature that just about any other race in Kolosso.
Physical Description: Batchi tend to be around 3’2” to 3’8” feet tall, and around 60 or 80 pounds. Females remain the same size and weight as males, generally. They have long, flexible tails. Unfortunately, said tails are not prehensile. Batchi have rather strange eyes, which do not actually have pupils or whites or even irises. Instead they are one solid color, and sort of reflect light like how the eyes of cats shine even in the darkness. The Batchi are theorized to have begun life in deep underground caves, and their eyes were designed to catch as much light as possible. However, now that they live entirely on the surface of Kolosso, they have learned to change the amount of light that enters their eyes. This change is signified by a change in the brightness of the Batchi’s pupils, the less light the darker their eyes (E.G. If they are out in the sun, their eyes will be dimmer), the more light the brighter their eyes (E.G. If they are in a lightless cave, their eyes will be fairly bright; not enough to see with solely, but much brighter than normal). Batchi hair color ranges anywhere in the rainbow. Usually the hair is a completely solid color, and the most common are the primary colors.
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Relations: Batchi have a fairly good relationship with most of the countries in Kolosso, if only because they are the major trading power in the world. However, just based on race, the Batchi are not hated, per se, but they are certainly not the most favorite of the races of Kolosso. They are very alien in comparison with the other races, and their eyes are considered very disconcerting.
Lands: The Batchi control the Southern Isles off the coast of Korhun and Saer. They control minor trading depots all over Kolosso, but their main base of operations are in the Southern Isles.
Religion: Batchi worship a trading god named Kraetismos. She is the god of all trading and fate. Her creed is that no bargain shall go unfulfilled, and the Batchi believe that when they die they will go to her and have their debts tallied and if they have a clean slate they can go on to heaven (or a heaven like place), and if not, to a place similar to hell.
Language: The Batchi language is not rough or guttural so much as utilitarian. The sounds tend to be a little clipped and short, if only so as to be most effective and to not waste energy. Most Batchi end up learning Ingoba anyway, just in case they must trade with more important and/or distinguished clientele.
Names: Batchi names are pretty random. Usually they are based on some person that the parents of the Batchi felt particularly indebted to, but sometimes they are named after something like the parent’s trading ship, or the name of a particular star they use to find their way, or a trade wind. Surnames are based on the route the family uses to trade.
Male Names: Photias, Hemokrates, Zephros, Marias, Hermolaos, Dimitrios, and Orestes.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Northwind, Southshore, Eastriver, Midroad, and Westsea. Other names in those lines are the usual.
Adventurers: Batchi adventure to protect those they are close to, to gain power in order to be able to better protect their family, or to gain money. Of course, there are always alternate reasons, but those are the usual ones.
Seder
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The Seder are the humans of Kolosso. They are exceptionally strong in magic, and they are known for their powerful seers and healers.
Personality: Seder are naturally fearful of others. It isn’t full blown xenophobia, but it has some similar effects. Seder have a fairly difficult time communicating with others. They are trustworthy and honest when they do connect with a creature, but until then they might treat that creature with some amount of mistrust or suspicion. After forming a bond, however, they become quite kind and helpful people.
Physical Description: Male Seder are usually from 5’2” to 5’8”, while females range from 4’8” to 5’4”. Male Seder usually weigh around 130 to 160 pounds, while female Seder are usually 90 to 120 pounds. Seder hair color is usually white or a very, very, very light blonde, and some very rare children are born with grey colored hair, although that is certainly unusual. Seder eye color is generally blue, green, or grey, or some other light color in that range. Seder are generally quite frail creatures, and not at all known for their physical strength or stamina.
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Relations: Seder are very isolationist. They tend to not like speaking to non-Seder creatures at all, although they will if they have to. This is not them being aloof, as many think, but that they generally just feel very uncomfortable around other races. This can be kind of insulting for some creatures.
Lands: The Seder control Saer, which is a human only country surrounded by mountains and with the only other side walled off by the astral sea. They have a minor presence in other countries, especially Korhun, but they don’t have many landowning rights in those countries.
Religion: The Seder worship the White Queen, who is the god of foresight, peace, healing, and magic. The monarchy of Saer is based on the idea of the ruler being the female descendant of the White Queen.
Language: Seder is less utilitarian than Batchi or Sa’Thok, but certainly also less flowing and over the top than Ingoba. It is not commonly used by non-Seder, because the phonemes are much harder to pronounce for non-Seder creatures.
Names: Seder names are fairly simple, really. They are usually divined for, just before the child is born, and the answer is what the child is called. Surnames are based on the job the family does, usually, but translated into Seder.
Male Names: Caetrus, Losat, Efra, Olrin, Tyrus, Njorant, and Volundr.
Female Names: Freyra, Friggr, Grida, Verdandu, Svanhildr, Helus, and Heidr.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Nassra, Anthonsen, Addren, Ovgren, Urda, and Osvuldr.
Adventurers: Seder adventure for many, many reasons. Some seek wealth, some seek power, some seek knowledge. Their reasons, tend, however, towards a more metaphysical goal. Their abilities, in most any field, are such that they, in general, do not really need to adventure in order to acquire and possess wealth, and as such their needs are rarely of that vein.
The Zaletah are birdmen, graceful and strong, who worship the fae that live in their forest homes.
Personality: Zaletah tend to be joyous within Zaletah communities, and helpful to all, but relatively jaded outside of the roosts that they call home. They are often interested in smaller more simple things that are alien to other races, like the wings of a beetle, or the knots on a tree. They often become overawed at the bustle of larger cities, with so much to see and learn. To outsiders and those not from their roost or clutch, they are usually cold and aggressive, never learning how to act otherwise.
Physical Description: Zaletah are about 6’ 6” to 7’ 5” on average. Females are slightly taller than males, and tend towards brighter colors. The hues that males evoke are often darker and more subdued, while females tend toward bright, almost gaudy colors. Zaletah have no hair, instead they have feathers, which appear all over the Zaletah’s body, in small tufts and clumps. Their faces are slightly like those of a partially bovine humanoid, with long, pointed ears. Their feet are large, and end in short claws.
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Relations: Most races see the Zaletah with a natural fear or loathing. The Icaron tend to see only the jaded and cold atmosphere and presence the Zaletah appear to hold, and their strange physique. The Taroh do not worship them, but hold a great respect for their ability to take to the skies, and into the domain of the Mother Eye. This is the same reason that the Icaron do not like them so much, for they view the sky as the domain of Domhdún, and any who transgress there as usurpers of his domain, besides of course the birds and dragons, who are his children. They tolerate the Zaletah because they cannot truly fly, only a sort of half flight, which is not half as insulting to the Icaron.
Lands: Zaletah live in mostly temperate forests, seeing as they cannot survive intense heat or cold, it killing off the chicks before they get the chance to hatch. Zaletah build giant canopy houses and tents. They tend towards being nomadic, and not overhunting a single spot quickly. The tents tend towards being smaller, with a small collection of family treasures that have been passed down from generation of Zaletah to generation.
Religion: Zaletah do not really worship, at least not in the same way that the Icaron, Gorazgor, or Taroh do. They view the fae and nature spirits of the northern forests as sort of hatching gods, but do not hold worship for any gods themselves. They harbor and protect the hatchling gods from others who would kill them, and train them to fly. The fae, the hatching gods, then fly into the cold northern mountains, for a reason that none know. No Zaletah have ever gone there, and they do not wish to, for it is far too cold for their hatchlings, and the hatchling gods, while incredibly kind and caring, scare the Zaletah.
Language: Zaletah speak a minor localized variation of Sylvan, with a greater emphasis on the vocalized portion. Zaletah generally use a sort of pictorialized system of writing, drawing pictures in order to leave messages for the chicks, rather than writing down stories. They greatly fear the power of written words, viewing it as the domain of the other races, and giving them power over the Zaletah’s soul. They dislike writing greatly, and therefore deal very badly with scholars and librarians.
Names: Zaletah tend to name based on what they want their children to become, rather than qualities that they seek to embrace. Common names are usually translations of jobs and animals that the Zaletah parents want their chick to become like. Family names are based upon the roost upon which the chick is born, not the parents that hatched it.
Male Names: Geshra, Sihng, Forassoom, Krif, Difredas, Quet, Coul, and Saroon.
Female Names: Sohn, Geheht, Esoloaria, Tesra, Iksila, Okrit, and Sommna.
Adventurers: Zaletah take up adventuring to further empower their homesteads and roosts, even to the dismay of many old-fashioned Zaletah, who fear what the strange mortal gold will bring to their race. Some adventure to see what is beyond the roosts that the Zaletah call home, but they tend to be in minority. They desperately hate iron, and cannot abide by its touch.
Taroh
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Taroh are a moon-worshipping ogre-like race in the Luminous Refuge. They are in control of most of the trade routes in the Luminous Refuge, and as such, the trade.
Personality: Taroh are very accepting of others. They have faced quite a bit of persecution, almost entirely from the Icaron, and as such are very understanding of others. They do hold a little bit of hate in their collective hearts for the Icaron. They still trade and interact with the Icaron, but they often try to sabotage when they can. Taroh tend to be very slightly more individualistic, especially compared to the Icaron. Their tribes are usually only a family or group of no more than 10 or 15, although the usual number is much smaller than that.
Physical Description: Taroh are much taller than all of the other races of the Luminous Refuge. They are on average several feet taller than the tallest race, coming in at about 9’6”. They are also very bulky in comparison to most of the humanoids, weighing around 300 pounds, at the very least. They have even, smooth grey skin, and relatively little amounts of hair. They quite often have extensive tattoos all over their body, since in Taroh culture it is common to get a tattoo for every struggle one overcomes in their life.
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Relations: Taroh have relatively peaceful relationships with the Gorazgor (barring the small faction that live in Kilsamar) and the Zaletah. The Icaron view them with distrust, although the Taroh do a surprisingly good job of hiding their religious differences, and that allows them to interact, albeit slightly chillier than the relationship between the Gorazgor and Zaletah and the Taroh.
Lands: The Taroh live in basically three separate locations, although they do tend to have colonies literally all over the Luminous Refuge. The most populous location is the Lower Tribal Lands, in the south and east of the Luminous Refuge. The Lower Tribal lands were originally the place where the Taroh believe they were born, as a race. However, they really grew their culture in the Higher Tribal Lands, but most of the Higher Tribal Lands were stolen by the Icaron and the Gorazgor. The Taroh also have a quite sizable population in Fillad, where they hold joint governmental powers with the Gorazgor who live there.
Religion: The Taroh worship, in general, a Moon god, known as Kifolüm, the Mother Eye. Her Priests are charged with watching over the Taroh tribes as they leave the homelands and trade among the other humanoid races. They have a rather minor, politically, role in Taroh life. Those Taroh who live in Fillad often take up the religion of the Gorazgor, especially those born and raised in Fillad.
Language: The Taroh language is eloquent but still functional. Because Taroh, up until recently, transferred all of their knowledge through stories, verbal language was very important to the Taroh, sociologically. Their written language is, and was, very rudimentary.
Names: Taroh names are chosen by the Priest of the tribe that the Taroh is born into, based on religious signs, as well as previous holders of the name. Taroh born in Fillad take up the names of the Gorazgor. Family names are based on the tribe itself, and only used for relations outside of the tribe.
Male Names: Ogah, Illos, Faroom, Iter, Fediq, Dima, and Polurat.
Female Names: Irsial, Growet, Quiras, Gitom, Hahoom, Nahar, and Opet.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Great Horn, Elder Tree, Green Boulder, Fallen River, and White Branch. Tribal names are always two words.
Adventurers: Taroh adventurers often adventure in order to acquire wealth, or power, but sometimes also in order to find out about their own personality, especially those who live in Fillad. Fillad born Taroh are often separate from tribal Taroh, as well as the Gorazgor that they grew up with. They tend to have a lot of issues with identity and such.
Gorazgor
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Gorazgor are the very, very religious racial group that live primarily in the southern forests of the Luminous Refuge. They are separated into the Fillad and Kilsamar Gorazgor, culturally.
Personality: Gorazgor are very utilitarian, in personality. They tend to follow the religious laws of their cultures very strictly, and believe in complete and total faith. Doubt is treated as a mortal sin, in their culture. This is especially true in Kilsamar, where religious extremists hold power over the government. The actual religious leaders have fled Kilsamar for Fillad, where there is a large population of Taroh, who the extremists in Kilsamar think are stealing the land of the Gorazgor. Many Gorazgor, even those who live in Kilsamar do not take this view, and do not even care about the Taroh in any way, but they do what those in power in Kilsamar want because they do not wish to go against what they view as religious law.
Physical Description: Gorazgor are small and spindly, with thin limbs. Their skin is usually silver or black, and their hair almost always a pure white. Their faces are slightly ophidian, and their skin has tiny scales, which leads some to utilize snakes when making racial slurs against the Gorazgor, especially in Icaron, where snakes are culturally evil creatures. They stand usually at around 4’7” to 5’1”, and weigh, usually, somewhere around 110 pounds, both male and female Gorazgor. Their eyes are almost always a pure silver.
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Relations: Gorazgor deal fairly well with the Taroh people, although that is really it. They are too far away from the Zaletah to really communicate with them, although there are some cultural similarities that can be utilized. The Icaron dislike and distrust the Gorazgor, viewing them as “snake people”, whereas the Gorazgor really don’t have a strong connection to snakes, culturally at the very least, at all.
Lands: Gorazgor are far less spread out compared to the Taroh. They really only have strongholds in Fillad and Kilsamar, although those states are quite different and very opposed to each other. There are a few colonies of Kilsamar in Icaron, but because they are so disliked, they rarely travel and stay in Icaron in large numbers.
Religion: The Gorazgor worship a small pantheon of gods, known as the White Gods, the head of the pantheon being Inobu’s incarnation in the Luminous Refuge, Orioch. The religious teachings of the White Gods are fairly peaceful, but religious extremists have taken over most of the religion, twisting the ancient teachings for violence and oppression in the state of Kilsamar, the holy land of the Gorazgor. The actual religious leaders of the priesthood of the White Gods now live in Fillad, and try their best to spread the teachings of the White Gods, but the religious extremists have it out for those elders.
Language: Gorazgor is a very eloquent and flowing language, compared to the languages of the Zaletah and Icaron, which are much, much less so. Gorzagor does not have a written language, besides the great runic slabs of stone whereupon the tenets of the White Gods are written, in Kilsamar.
Names: Gorazgor names are rather unique, given those names of other races in the Luminous Refuge. The Gorazgor have names specifically based upon the date upon which they are born in the Gorazgor calendar. There are no male or female specific names.
Example Names: Namor, Isssiat, Kikkiras, Safoor, Mitasge, Garrasno, Haraas, Roomsa and Jirassea.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Uiliasna, Itrios, Geiar, Hurista, Ortias, Noofset, Okrais, and Eviisla.
Adventurers: Gorazgor adventure for many reasons, usually very personal. Some adventure for money, in order to support Fillad or Kilsamar, some for greater personal fortune, some for recognition. The predominant reasoning, however, tends to remain to be slightly religious in nature.
Icaron
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Icaron are the desert dwelling humans, who are highly religious and who tend to be very zealous and very very religiously driven.
Personality: The Icaron are very zealous in their nature and personality. They are highly dedicated to their god, and rather than spread his religion, view it as something that only they can savor and deserve. They tend to be jealously restrictive on their religion and information in general.
Physical Description: The Icaron have skin tones that range from dark brown to a light cinnamon, almost certainly caused by the harsh sun of their homeland. They stand around 5’6” to 6’0” tall, the women around the same height as the men. They tend to remain bald, especially women, the men usually sporting long, flowing beards. The Icaron people’s hair color tends to remain the same through the race, a dark, silky black, and their eye color ranges from a light blue to a dark brown.
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Relations: Icaron doesn’t have bad relations with other races, they simply do not have a relationship period. They have some minor trade with the Taroh, who also bring news from other countries, and maybe some contact with the Gorazgor, but minimal with the Zaletah and the volcanic isles in the south. The Icaron really prefer it way, though, since they have a hard enough time dealing with their own inner politics.
Lands: Icaron takes up the whole of the central wastes and deserts of the Luminous Refuge. They also have control of parts of the flatlands that surround the deserts.
Religion: Religion is highly important to the Icaron people. Even those who do not worship Domhdún, the leader of the Icaron pantheon, view religion as essential. The main group of those who do not worship Domhdún are the Diaspa, the barbarian-like nomadic peoples of the inner sanctum, the harshest and most desperate part of the Icaron lands. The inner sanctum has scorching heat in the day, and freezing, bitter cold during the night. The Diaspa worship their own set of gods, and those gods are especially important to them.
Language: Icaronese is a very strange language. It seems very alien, compared to the languages of the other mortal races in the Luminous Refuge. It is very difficult for the other humanoid races to translate, and many struggle with learning it in the first place. It uses several concepts that are not found in Taroh, Gorazgor, or Zaletah, such as gendered nouns, gendered verbs, linguistical concepts of formality that are not tied to body language, and a few others.
Names: Names in Icaronian culture are chosen by the grandparents of the child, or the parents if the grandparents are not able to be asked. Surnames are held and passed down via the father, I.E. the children take the father’s surname.
Male Names: Dunnis, Alek, Andries, Arnoud, Izaak, Leu, Jelle and Edwun.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Arbeit, Eikenboom, Dirkse, Geelen, Haumann, Pennders, Abels, and Van Dael.
Adventurers: The Icaron adventure for many, many reasons. Some adventure to see the world, and not just the tiny world of the deserts of Icaron. Some seek fortune, and some seek atonement for the wrongs the Icaron empire has done in the past (they have done quite a bit).
The Korde are a hulking, fungus covered species who are a “failed” experiment of the Xanie, who tried to make organic slaves, but the results were too willful to use as slaves, and too strong to destroy.
Personality: Korde are silent, and their personalities are often rudimentary, since the Xanie did not create them to think, but to serve. They tend to be steadfast and loyal, mainstays from their days of servitude, although far too used to their former slavery to submit easily to orders.
Physical Description: Korde are great, hulking creatures. They are physically incredibly strong, standing at roughly 14’5” to 14’11” tall. Their skin is covered in fungus, so much so that it has been theorized that they are literally made of fungus. No one is quite sure. Their actual countenance is quite alien, two pairs of eyes quite low set on their torso, they appear as elementals from outerspace. They usually weigh 300 to 500 pounds, on average. Korde reproduce via asexual reproduction, simply splitting after they hit a certain mass. This effect does not have any in-game effects, and usually will only happen once or twice in a Korde’s lifetime, even those who live quite long.
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Relations: The Korde usually stay away from the Xanie, although they are not on directly hostile terms. They do not have problems with the Vavantiel or Tetri at all, comparatively.
Lands: The Korde lands are mostly based in Algol’Nua, the mushroom forest on the easternmost part of the southern continent of Xap. They also have a population in Y’sgrad and Bahuraab.
Religion: The Korde do no worship any real gods; unlike even those races in Kolosso, the races of Xap are almost uniformly atheist. If they worship at all, it would be an abstract concept, and the worship is not so direct as in the Luminous Refuge. Indeed, even in Kolosso, gods are viewed more as patrons who should be respected, rather than actual beings that should be worshipped.
Language: The Korde language is guttural and yet at the same time soft. Some have described it has if the waves of the ocean crashing upon the shore could be at the same time mixed with a breeze. In any case, it is one of the least frequently spoken languages in Xap, given the difficulty in learning it and also that it has little to no immediately value, given how little Algol’Nua and Y’sgrad trade.
Names: Korde names are rather haphazardly chosen by the original Korde, given their physiology; it is literally whatever the Korde is thinking of at the time. Korde do not have family names.
First Names: Kossa’lar, Isasiran, Toksak, Quairt, Lofga’hat, Okairhi, and L’noha.
Adventurers: Korde adventure for an astoundingly large number of reasons, chief among those being that they are pushed away by their progenitor, they seek spiritual or mental fulfillment, they seek to understand their origins. More so than any of the other races, the reasons for which Korde adventure are quite varied.
Xanie
Spoiler
Xanie are a crystaline race that live in Xap, especially powerful psionicists. They are theorized to be made entirely of crystal.
Personality: Xanie are entirely analytical, sometimes criticized for being too much so. Their brains favor logic over irrational emotion. They are the exact opposite of the fragile and volatile Tetri in that sense.
Physical Description: Xanie are made entirely of crystal. The color of the crystal ranges from any of the colors of the rainbow, although usually it is green or blue. The light they absorb in the crystal helps power them, and is used in order to break down any food they eat, since they do not have a digestive system as such. Xanie typically stand anywhere from 5’0” to 5’6” tall, and almost always weigh somewhere within 180 and 250 pounds. Otherwise, Xanie look and appear exactly as humans.
Spoiler
Relations: Because the Xanie are so isolated, geographically, they have little to no relations with the Vavantiel who live in the northern continent, although they have established themselves with those who live on the southern continent, the scant few of them, as well as the Tetri and Korde, the latter being sort of looked down upon by the Xanie. However, this does not really affect day to day relations that much.
Lands: Xanie reside mostly in the ice and crystal fields of Kik’re, where their great palaces have been built. It is not uncommon, however, to see Xanie in other areas, although almost certainly not in a city highly populated with Korde.
Language: Xanie is very, very alien, and actually almost, if not literally impossible for most of the population of Xap to speak. The Korde could, if they wanted to, but the Vavantiel and the Tetri are pretty much entirely unable to. Xanie sounds like tinkling, and is produced from the Xanie vocal box, which rumbles small crystals together in controlled creation of sound. This can be used to form words from other languages as well, but an accent always remains.
Names: Xanie names are based on their language, and chosen by the Xanie child, when they become old enough to gain sentience. Surnames are never really used, although they do exist in case Xanie need to distinguish based on the family a Xanie was born into, as well as if they leave Kik’re.
First Names: Kikkasko, Lkiksrak, Qutkikopet, Mikkaktu, Bukkako, and Tikksas.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Kakkagrat, Kestkitpo, Lokksrat, Bittsarat, Kkotka, and Ittskit.
Adventurers: Xanie adventure for usually purely personal reasons. They want power for themselves, or personal wealth, or personal understanding. Rarely does a Xanie adventure to help others, or to bring benefit to others, although it is not unheard of.
Vavantiel
Spoiler
The Vavantiel are the telepathic desert and mushroom forest dwelling humanoid races of Xap. They are the only race found in large numbers on both continents.
Personality: Vavantiel are highly empathetic, especially due to the symbiotic creature that lives in their brainstem, which allows them to feel the surface emotions of another person, as well as communicate with that person telepathically. They are also very sensitive to what others say and think, although those used to dealing with other cultures feel this less so, a Vavantiel who has lived all of their life with other Vavantiel can find another race’s mind terrifying, especially the Tetri and the Xanie. Vavantiel, in their own communities, do not ever lie. The concept to them is as alien as the Xanie and Tetri’s minds.
Physical Description: Vavantiel have tentacles that grow out of their head, remnants of the symbiont that has grown into their brain. Because of its location, the back of Vavantiel’s heads tend to bulge with extra weight and substance, from the symbiont. Vavantiel stand roughly 3’7” to 4’1” tall, and usually weigh from 60 to 100 pounds. Their pupils are a milky white, as are their irises, which makes them look blind, which is entirely untrue. Their skin is almost entirely and solidly blue. Their actual body shape otherwise closely resembles a human.
Spoiler
Relations: Vavantiel are known to have good relationships with all of the races they encounter, although some mistrust them because of their telepathy. Because of their honesty and their ability to read others, they often function as judges and magistrates in communities with more than one race.
Lands: Vavantiel have two strongholds; Bahuraab, on the southern continent, and Vodzha, on the northern continent. They are very, very different, in government type and outlook. Bahuraab is very family and tribal oriented, with the desert scouring away any pity from their culture. Vodzha is more based on community and city, rather than family, with a strong central government, and the mushroom forests where they live give a source of relative plenty. Many Vodzha view the Bahuraab as mere barbarians, and the Bahuraab have a tendency to view the Vodzha as lazy pigs.
Language: Vavantiel do not themselves have a language. Among other Vavantiel, they use telepathy, and with other creatures they generally also use Telepathy to communicate in Xap Common, although they might resort to speaking with creatures made uncomfortable by telepathy.
Names: Vavantiel do not really have names in their own colonies and communities; they are identified by a cumulation of their personality, experiences, self identity and personal outlook. In a sense, each Vavantiel has a sort of telepathic flavor, that other Vavantiel can sense and “taste”. This is not communicated in words, and explaining this to non-Vavantiel can be a very different task. Indeed, because non-Vavantiel generally do not have telepathy, they cannot truly “taste” the name of a Vavantiel. For non-Vavantiel, however, most Vavantiel take up a separate name, which is usually just a string of numbers. Because they do not themselves have a language, they do not have names they are willing to use, and Xap Common, being an amalgamation of other language, doesn’t give any names either, they do not have any examples to use, which is why they resort to numbers. The number strings are usually around 5 to 8 numbers long, with two or three letters of Xap Common placed afterward, to help differentiate. If they are living in other communities, Vavantiel might take up a name that fits the people who live in those communities, but that tends to be rather rare. Surnames are based on city where the Vavantiel lives, in Vodzha, and on the tribe that they are a part of in Bahuraab.
First Names: 192644-APO, 42237-BGT, 76583429-HI, 169109-JUT, 10858-VS, and 254281-NMI.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc:Bahuraab: Faadimo, Rodeuum, Deoun, Karanaab, Shaamesat, Kamra, and Nuzhoom. Vodzha: The city where the Vavantiel lives.
Adventurers: Vavantiel adventure for many reasons. Some seek to move away from their community of origin, after facing a loss, or some trivial embarrassment, and facing the endless, unendurable onslaught of the prying minds of their community members. Some seek to understand other’s minds. Some are pushed out of their communities by their parents or the elders of the communities where they live.
Tetri
Spoiler
The Tetri are the human race of Xap. They are highly inventive, zany artificers and alchemists.
Personality: Tetri, although they do have a tendency towards the lawful alignment, are very zany and hectic in personality, and very very chaotic in personal outlook and actions. They tend to ignore social customs in order to increase personal gain and freedom, but they do follow actual legalities and laws to the letter.
Physical Description: Tetri appear as humans do, but with brilliantly colored hair and eyes. Tetri hair is always an incredibly bright color, but usually is either red, orange, or blue. Tetri eye color matches their hair color, in the same intense shade as their hair. They usually have incredibly pale skin, mostly from time spent in laboratories. In all other aspects, they are the same as humans.
Spoiler
Relations: Tetri have a good relationship with many races. They do not really connect very well with the Korde, but they have strong intellectual connections with Xanie, and trade agreements with the Vavantiel. They do tend to be sort of looked down upon by the Bahuraab, if only because they have strong ties with Vodzha.
Lands: Tetri occupy Qiras and Xinga, which are rival countries. In addition, they are spread all over Xap, having small populations in Kik’re, Vodzha, Y’sgrad, and Algol’Nua.
Language: Tetri is a very very different language from the other languages spoken in Xap, if only because those other languages themselves are quite alien and different, even from themselves.
Names: Tetri names are chosen by Tetri parents. Surnames are passed along in the female line, so that a mother’s name is what is taken by the children.
Male Names: Kinstan, Duncan, Illiam, Ean, Jerick, Cyril, and Kamerin.
Female Names: Kayleen, Marigold, Emilee, Doreen, Moirrey, Paaiet, and Ealisaid.
Family Names/Surnames/Etc: Thorn, Vann, Breeshay, Hildar, Freat, and Svanhildar.
Adventurers: Tetri adventure, mostly, for knowledge. Some adventure also for rebellion (against parents, social norms, gender norms, etc etc), but many adventure to gain knowledge, be it knowledge of the world, personal knowledge, psionic knowledge, whatever suits the character.
The races are mostly nice. I personally would have liked to throw in one or two which are wholly inhuman, but these at least are unique enough, in general. I would give more thought to the climates of the various regions though.
Why even have 'Kolosso Common exist? If nearly every merchant and adventurer trades or otherwise has dealings with with the Batchi or Ingoba, surely such people would simply learn one of those languages?
Sa’Thok: I would refrain from using art too similar to an overly-established franchise. Surely there are trolls which look distinct enough from the Warcraft III-and-thenceforth-variant but still fit your preferences? I do like their animistic and ancestor-focused culture, though the faith based on normal Earth creatures strikes me as a very poor fit. I would advise you to look at things from the perspective of 'what creatures are common on this world and fit the northern climate?'. This would flesh out the cultures more, help see what everyday life is like and such.
Ingoba: I approve of bringing a race normally on the sidelines to the fore here. I do wonder how they maintain their balance though? Four hooves offer good enough balance, but two would most likely essentially mean that one has to always focus on balancing as not to fall over, or are their hooves as large as those of camels? Even so, Ingoba would likely dread slippery surfaces. I would consider a penalty to 'balance' skill, possibly counterbalanced by further bonuses to some other skills.
What (if anything) do they wear? Are they herbivores? Why did lying become so important to their culture?
Batchi: They do not come off as alien at all, to me at least. Eyes which glow in the dark and a tail are not really all that strange. Maybe consider a few other physical traits.
At the now what do they use their tails for? Balance? Fly-swatting? Combat? Don't they get in the way of riding and sitting? All these species have a very humanoid body-shape, extra frills notwithstanding. Possibly go for a somewhat more dinosaur-like lower body shape, which would capitalize on the tail as something to use for balancing and better explain how a small race has a base speed of 30.
Sailors and traders from the southern isles makes sense. What are their ships like? Could they explore the oceans? How much cargo do they usually carry? Again, I am curious about the climate.
Seder: If you include humans at all, making them a niche race does make sense.
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What of population numbers? Architecture? Cuisine? The more you have on any culture, the better we can comment.
__________________ Brewing a new setting (3.5 ed D&D). The setting is complete and ready to play. Indeed, here is the recruitment thread for the first run.
The above post was probably snide, snippy, tongue in cheek and/or opinionated. Consult your sense of humour before vexation. If still vexed, attempt to cease giving a damn. Thank you for reading this public service bulletin.
You forgot religion in three of the four psionic races. I also don't understand why you needed to draw up three worlds when it will be extremely difficult for them to interact in any way. Your races are not bad, but it seems that each land has a large race, a small race, two medium races: one human race, one mutated race, and two animal/alien races: One diplomatic race, one trading race, one race not liked by any others, and one magical race. The combinations aren't all the same, but there is not much variation. It just seems boring, and your average players won't really appreciate the differences.
__________________
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MesiDoomstalker
Thread won! I don't think I have the authority to do that but whatever
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