estelle
New Member
Minotaur
Taur folks are a straightforward, direct lot. They decide what they want and go for it. Many of them don’t pay attention what they destroy and who they harm in the process; many do pay attention and try to negotiate and avoid violence.
Quite often it’s a taur who says it out loud that the king has no clothes on, and the first to act on that realization. A sizeable part of the taur population lives in simple tribes on the plains south of Qeneas, while the other part usually live in larger settlements. Very few choose the tranquility of the countryside, or hermit life.
Hardly any of the taur have the long-term focus to learn arcane magic, though some make a connection to patron spirits and deities, and then follow their guidance fervently.
Taur art is usually simple and direct, and quite often rough around the edges, yet very powerful in its expressive ability.
Svirfneblin
The rock folk, as their own name for themselves describe it, are solid and often traditional people. They like established rituals, methods proven by a long time, and they are famous for being reliable. Once a svirf gives you their word, you can count them keeping it.
Despite their famous stability, rock folk do move forward, socially, emotionally, and professionally, but the process is usually slow and deliberate. However, making progress is essential to their state of being, and if they see one of them not changing at all for a very long time, they have a phrase for that: rock sickness.
Most svirf tend to be introverts and quiet in company, letting others do most of the talking, but if you ask one of them to explain something, take a seat and bring some food and drink – you’ll need it. Svirf always live in communities where they can contribute, otherwise they feel useless and their existence pointless, to the point of becoming suicidal if left alone for long. They also like to know things, and have a strong tendency to spread out in groups, and hardly any settlement is without at least a family of them.
Many svirf learn to be wizards, sitting in their workshops and testing, testing, testing, until they are satisfied with the result and its repeatability. Hardly any have the inclination to serve lofty ideals and deities, though patron spirits with detailed, specific pacts are very much their cup of tea.
Svirf art is almost always sophisticated, detailed, and enduring. In their minds, there’s no point in putting the effort into a beautiful thing if at least a few generations can’t enjoy it.
Verdan
The verdan are very much sociable, and form communities on short notice anywhere they meet. Within minutes they will find common interests and common roots deep in the past, and immediately treat each other as ‘related’, which many non-verdan confuse with being ‘relatives’. These folks don’t need shared blood to feel kinship (though they very often find some link with that, too). It’s very rare that a member of this race has no spiritual periods of meditation or just musing, and all of their settlements have a place for ‘merging’, as they call communing with nature and its spirits.
Verdan mostly live in rural communities, many of which are far away from other settlements, as they feel connected to nature. They love forests, open grassy plains and rivers, but no so much mountains and the sea.
If you start a conversation with a verdan, you can be almost sure that it’s going to end up in an open and accepting discussion of the great wisdoms of life and the different paths one can take, even if the original topic was something as down-to-earth as finding a hammer for a nail in a plank.
Verdan art tends to be fluid and infinite, avoiding angles and enclosed patterns. One of their favorite motif is the weird thing they call ‘fractal’, which loosely translates to ‘depiction of infinity’ in their language.
Human
Humans are very inquisitive, most others would say indiscretely prying. They ask about others, try to find out their connections, want to know how that family secret dish is made, why you do a thing in that particular way, and why not differently. They incessantly want to discover something, anything, and are usually not shy about talking about it.
Quite often it’s a human who pokes into corners (physical, social, spiritual, mental, etc.) where others don’t want or dare to, finding new solutions and new dangers. For the latter, a high number of communities are directly wary of humans and their dabbling in the unusual. Humans usually live peppered around, in small groups or mixed with other races, as they usually feel buried under a lot of their own kind (probably because of their own prying nature).
Human art and craft is very often surprising for others, making them wonder why on earth that thing is attached in that angle, or that way of wielding a tool happens that way, not the well-trusted one.
South of Qeneas: plains where taur live in nomadic tribes, often fighting with each other and with neighbors. The tribes hold that fighting is necessary to forge the character of a person, though any other adversity is also advantageous. Ritual duels are a part of everyday life, but very rarely to end in death or mutilation. Accepting defeat and giving respect to someone better than you is the point here, not killing each other.
West of Qeneas: large stretch of forest, slowly rising land to a high cliff at the western shore. Three lumber guilds maintain many logging camps, and while there can be cuthroat (literally) rivalry between them in towns, out in the wilderness they keep their distance and hold a live-and-let-live view.
North-west of Qeneas: rough and rocky terrain, lots of crags and fissures, some with hot steam outlets. Small villages dot the landscape, many svirf live here and practice their craft to the advantage of the nearby communities. Verdan also like the region for its stark beauty and spirituality.
North of Qeneas: tundra with nomadic human tribes, who always welcome long-standing visitors and accept any race into the tribe very easily. As a result, hardly any tribe is purely made of solely humans. They are hunters and gatherers, and deliberately venture out of the tundra to trade news, tools, stories, and anything interesting with surrounding cultures.
East of Qeneas: the gateway to the kingdom proper, Darios Province is rich but laden with byzantine politics and shady deals, most Qenean folk are sensible enough to feel adverse to that life. Still, some covet their luxurious lifestyle, yet most who venture there find they are not fit for the unscrupulous attitude and end up living in squalor, or dying in it.
Under Qeneas: the Umbral Sea lies beneath the surface of the region, stretching out north and a little west. All entrances to the underdark ocean are sealed off, after the horrifying invasion of sinister creatures 12 generations ago. There's always gossip that there are unfound and therefore unsealed passages down, but no-one can claim to have directly spoken to someone who actually knows such a location.
Qeneas: the seat of power is Highport, where Duchess Katarina resides. The city is a bustling trade point, with boats flowing in from Darios Province, bringing luxury items and taking produce and crafted tools back to the central provinces. The main source of water and trade route if the Swiftflow. Contrary to its name, the river is slow and tame once it reaches the plains as it arrives from the west.
Highport: The guilds of the city are powerful and mostly govern the districts, although there is always talk about tension between the guildmasters and the duchess. The city sits on the two sides of the Swiftflow with 14 bridges providing access across the river. Most of the bridges are narrow and rarely used. The three main ones are the Fork Bridge (it forks in the middle), the Silver Bridge (connecting the entertainment quarter and the noble quarter), and the Oak Path (leading out of the city to the farms from the merchant quarter).
Forest of Mists: most folks think this is all the forest west, but those in the know are aware that it's a strip of the eastern edge of the large expanse. However, since you need to cross it to get to the depth of the forest, it's what most people consider the main feature of the expanse. There are many tales of shapeshifters, witches, fey, ghosts and enchanted groves one can find in it.
Davost: small town famous for its wines, festival and very fine steel. The duchess is a regular visitor, appearing with her retinue and bringing fame and gold for the settlement.
Nibenna: village to the west of Highport, halfway between the city and the Forest of Mists. Unassuming, everyday little settlement.
Duchess Katarina Manios, verdan. As an example of atypical verdan, the duchess is the strict and meticulous ruler of the varied folks, cultures and terrain of Qeneas. It is no easy task managing such a mixture of fringe and mainstream, philosophical and pragmatic, fluid and traditional people. She has done this task longer than anyone before her, and it does not seem that the crown is unsatisfied with her methods and results. It looks like she is going to stay for some time.
Her main tool for achieving the above is compromise. The duchess is famous for knowing her subjects very well, and finding ways to give and take at the same time, by offering the proper deal which makes all interested parties (political, financial and cultural) at least somewhat satisfied with the expected outcome.
Captain of the Grey Wolves Luigi Magore, svirf. This man has a precarious task of managing the power struggle of the guilds, noble houses and orders in the city. He is necessarily very tactful, perceptive and knows the laws well.
Sergeant Geoff Lichten, taur. A no-nonsense soldier responsible for safe passage and tax collection outside Highport, the sergeant is not a popular person, but he apparently couldn't care less. He gets things done, folks fear and respect him, and he is content this way.
High Magus Pietro Ditamasse, human. Very rarely seen, the High Magus is never seen to do magic publicly. There's whisper that he is not actually a wizard, just an advisor, but no-one ever dared to challenge him to prove anything. He apparently has the full trust of the duchess.
Master Senechal Clara Sierra, verdan. This woman is in charge of overseeing trade, paperwork, and the flowing money of the city. She is surprisingly cheerful compared to her title, and likes to take part in the festivities in Davost with the duchess. Nonetheless, the city thrives and gold flows, and she's had the title for more than two decades now, so she must be good at her task.
Prominent groups: the Grey Wolves (city watch), Order of the Word (lawkeeper knights), The Golden Eagles (royal guard, taxing and protection), The Pure (religious inquisitor order, officially hunts users of dark magic, known for overreacting), the wheelmaker and the tanner guilds (currently engaged in a strife which sometimes involves bloodshed, earning the strong dislike of Duchess Katarina).
Please don't post here. Ask your questions in the OOC thread.
Taur folks are a straightforward, direct lot. They decide what they want and go for it. Many of them don’t pay attention what they destroy and who they harm in the process; many do pay attention and try to negotiate and avoid violence.
Quite often it’s a taur who says it out loud that the king has no clothes on, and the first to act on that realization. A sizeable part of the taur population lives in simple tribes on the plains south of Qeneas, while the other part usually live in larger settlements. Very few choose the tranquility of the countryside, or hermit life.
Hardly any of the taur have the long-term focus to learn arcane magic, though some make a connection to patron spirits and deities, and then follow their guidance fervently.
Taur art is usually simple and direct, and quite often rough around the edges, yet very powerful in its expressive ability.
Svirfneblin
The rock folk, as their own name for themselves describe it, are solid and often traditional people. They like established rituals, methods proven by a long time, and they are famous for being reliable. Once a svirf gives you their word, you can count them keeping it.
Despite their famous stability, rock folk do move forward, socially, emotionally, and professionally, but the process is usually slow and deliberate. However, making progress is essential to their state of being, and if they see one of them not changing at all for a very long time, they have a phrase for that: rock sickness.
Most svirf tend to be introverts and quiet in company, letting others do most of the talking, but if you ask one of them to explain something, take a seat and bring some food and drink – you’ll need it. Svirf always live in communities where they can contribute, otherwise they feel useless and their existence pointless, to the point of becoming suicidal if left alone for long. They also like to know things, and have a strong tendency to spread out in groups, and hardly any settlement is without at least a family of them.
Many svirf learn to be wizards, sitting in their workshops and testing, testing, testing, until they are satisfied with the result and its repeatability. Hardly any have the inclination to serve lofty ideals and deities, though patron spirits with detailed, specific pacts are very much their cup of tea.
Svirf art is almost always sophisticated, detailed, and enduring. In their minds, there’s no point in putting the effort into a beautiful thing if at least a few generations can’t enjoy it.
Verdan
The verdan are very much sociable, and form communities on short notice anywhere they meet. Within minutes they will find common interests and common roots deep in the past, and immediately treat each other as ‘related’, which many non-verdan confuse with being ‘relatives’. These folks don’t need shared blood to feel kinship (though they very often find some link with that, too). It’s very rare that a member of this race has no spiritual periods of meditation or just musing, and all of their settlements have a place for ‘merging’, as they call communing with nature and its spirits.
Verdan mostly live in rural communities, many of which are far away from other settlements, as they feel connected to nature. They love forests, open grassy plains and rivers, but no so much mountains and the sea.
If you start a conversation with a verdan, you can be almost sure that it’s going to end up in an open and accepting discussion of the great wisdoms of life and the different paths one can take, even if the original topic was something as down-to-earth as finding a hammer for a nail in a plank.
Verdan art tends to be fluid and infinite, avoiding angles and enclosed patterns. One of their favorite motif is the weird thing they call ‘fractal’, which loosely translates to ‘depiction of infinity’ in their language.
Human
Humans are very inquisitive, most others would say indiscretely prying. They ask about others, try to find out their connections, want to know how that family secret dish is made, why you do a thing in that particular way, and why not differently. They incessantly want to discover something, anything, and are usually not shy about talking about it.
Quite often it’s a human who pokes into corners (physical, social, spiritual, mental, etc.) where others don’t want or dare to, finding new solutions and new dangers. For the latter, a high number of communities are directly wary of humans and their dabbling in the unusual. Humans usually live peppered around, in small groups or mixed with other races, as they usually feel buried under a lot of their own kind (probably because of their own prying nature).
Human art and craft is very often surprising for others, making them wonder why on earth that thing is attached in that angle, or that way of wielding a tool happens that way, not the well-trusted one.
Geography
South of Qeneas: plains where taur live in nomadic tribes, often fighting with each other and with neighbors. The tribes hold that fighting is necessary to forge the character of a person, though any other adversity is also advantageous. Ritual duels are a part of everyday life, but very rarely to end in death or mutilation. Accepting defeat and giving respect to someone better than you is the point here, not killing each other.
West of Qeneas: large stretch of forest, slowly rising land to a high cliff at the western shore. Three lumber guilds maintain many logging camps, and while there can be cuthroat (literally) rivalry between them in towns, out in the wilderness they keep their distance and hold a live-and-let-live view.
North-west of Qeneas: rough and rocky terrain, lots of crags and fissures, some with hot steam outlets. Small villages dot the landscape, many svirf live here and practice their craft to the advantage of the nearby communities. Verdan also like the region for its stark beauty and spirituality.
North of Qeneas: tundra with nomadic human tribes, who always welcome long-standing visitors and accept any race into the tribe very easily. As a result, hardly any tribe is purely made of solely humans. They are hunters and gatherers, and deliberately venture out of the tundra to trade news, tools, stories, and anything interesting with surrounding cultures.
East of Qeneas: the gateway to the kingdom proper, Darios Province is rich but laden with byzantine politics and shady deals, most Qenean folk are sensible enough to feel adverse to that life. Still, some covet their luxurious lifestyle, yet most who venture there find they are not fit for the unscrupulous attitude and end up living in squalor, or dying in it.
Under Qeneas: the Umbral Sea lies beneath the surface of the region, stretching out north and a little west. All entrances to the underdark ocean are sealed off, after the horrifying invasion of sinister creatures 12 generations ago. There's always gossip that there are unfound and therefore unsealed passages down, but no-one can claim to have directly spoken to someone who actually knows such a location.
Qeneas: the seat of power is Highport, where Duchess Katarina resides. The city is a bustling trade point, with boats flowing in from Darios Province, bringing luxury items and taking produce and crafted tools back to the central provinces. The main source of water and trade route if the Swiftflow. Contrary to its name, the river is slow and tame once it reaches the plains as it arrives from the west.
Highport: The guilds of the city are powerful and mostly govern the districts, although there is always talk about tension between the guildmasters and the duchess. The city sits on the two sides of the Swiftflow with 14 bridges providing access across the river. Most of the bridges are narrow and rarely used. The three main ones are the Fork Bridge (it forks in the middle), the Silver Bridge (connecting the entertainment quarter and the noble quarter), and the Oak Path (leading out of the city to the farms from the merchant quarter).
Forest of Mists: most folks think this is all the forest west, but those in the know are aware that it's a strip of the eastern edge of the large expanse. However, since you need to cross it to get to the depth of the forest, it's what most people consider the main feature of the expanse. There are many tales of shapeshifters, witches, fey, ghosts and enchanted groves one can find in it.
Davost: small town famous for its wines, festival and very fine steel. The duchess is a regular visitor, appearing with her retinue and bringing fame and gold for the settlement.
Nibenna: village to the west of Highport, halfway between the city and the Forest of Mists. Unassuming, everyday little settlement.
People
Duchess Katarina Manios, verdan. As an example of atypical verdan, the duchess is the strict and meticulous ruler of the varied folks, cultures and terrain of Qeneas. It is no easy task managing such a mixture of fringe and mainstream, philosophical and pragmatic, fluid and traditional people. She has done this task longer than anyone before her, and it does not seem that the crown is unsatisfied with her methods and results. It looks like she is going to stay for some time.
Her main tool for achieving the above is compromise. The duchess is famous for knowing her subjects very well, and finding ways to give and take at the same time, by offering the proper deal which makes all interested parties (political, financial and cultural) at least somewhat satisfied with the expected outcome.
Captain of the Grey Wolves Luigi Magore, svirf. This man has a precarious task of managing the power struggle of the guilds, noble houses and orders in the city. He is necessarily very tactful, perceptive and knows the laws well.
Sergeant Geoff Lichten, taur. A no-nonsense soldier responsible for safe passage and tax collection outside Highport, the sergeant is not a popular person, but he apparently couldn't care less. He gets things done, folks fear and respect him, and he is content this way.
High Magus Pietro Ditamasse, human. Very rarely seen, the High Magus is never seen to do magic publicly. There's whisper that he is not actually a wizard, just an advisor, but no-one ever dared to challenge him to prove anything. He apparently has the full trust of the duchess.
Master Senechal Clara Sierra, verdan. This woman is in charge of overseeing trade, paperwork, and the flowing money of the city. She is surprisingly cheerful compared to her title, and likes to take part in the festivities in Davost with the duchess. Nonetheless, the city thrives and gold flows, and she's had the title for more than two decades now, so she must be good at her task.
Prominent groups: the Grey Wolves (city watch), Order of the Word (lawkeeper knights), The Golden Eagles (royal guard, taxing and protection), The Pure (religious inquisitor order, officially hunts users of dark magic, known for overreacting), the wheelmaker and the tanner guilds (currently engaged in a strife which sometimes involves bloodshed, earning the strong dislike of Duchess Katarina).
Please don't post here. Ask your questions in the OOC thread.
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