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Creative Exercise--Aleasana
- Thread starter Rhialto
- Start date
Seeing as it's been many days since my last post, I'm going to post an idea, just to make sure this thread isn't just collecting bumps.
They are an ancient race, most common in the West, though they can be found throughout all of Aleasana. The Dvergar call them "Svarts", for their swarthy complexion. The Northeners call them "Picts", for their habit of painting their bodies before they go into battle. The Aleasani call them Goblins, after their supposed resemblance to creatures in old Asani myth. The Urukh call them "Tengu", and claim they are the children of mountain spirits. The Bodai call them the Kassa'kell--the High Cave Folk. The Elves call them the Firbolg, and say they fought in league with the Formori. The Isslen call them "Ss'sk'll'sk", because they are not friendly with them, and that term means "People of Dung" in their hissing tongue. And they call themselves simply the Fir, which means in their language (a variant of Fae) "The True People". The Fir hold themselves to be the children of their goddess Morrigu, the Badb, who they sometimes call Mother Night.
The Fir are a short race, dark of skin and hair, with low foreheads, slanted eyes, and pointed ears. They clad themselves in fur and hides, and live in caves on the mountain peaksa folk famed for their savage rage, great stealth, and cunning knowledge of their home. Reclusive and primative, they live by hunting and banditry these days, supplemented by mercenary work and trading. Many a wandering merchant has seen his life ended when he took the wrong turn in the mountains, only to have a savage party of Goblins cut him off. They know no king, and keep aloof from other races, for the Fir see all other folks as enemies, or at the very least, as opponents. Perhaps that is why they slowly fade from the land, pushed aside by their more advanced, less isolationist rivals. Or perhaps it is the fact that they are fading that gives them their grim view.
Presently, few of the Picts have even deigned to notice the war, for it has had little effect on their almost unchanging lives. But as merchants grow scarcer, the war grows fiercer, and more Fir warbands join the fighting as raiders and sellswords, it begins to attract more and more notice among them. While many view it as a nuisance, some see it as an opportunity. The others are weak and divided, and if the Fir can put aside their own feuds and differences--unite and stand strong, then they may stop their decline, and become a power in the land once more...
They are an ancient race, most common in the West, though they can be found throughout all of Aleasana. The Dvergar call them "Svarts", for their swarthy complexion. The Northeners call them "Picts", for their habit of painting their bodies before they go into battle. The Aleasani call them Goblins, after their supposed resemblance to creatures in old Asani myth. The Urukh call them "Tengu", and claim they are the children of mountain spirits. The Bodai call them the Kassa'kell--the High Cave Folk. The Elves call them the Firbolg, and say they fought in league with the Formori. The Isslen call them "Ss'sk'll'sk", because they are not friendly with them, and that term means "People of Dung" in their hissing tongue. And they call themselves simply the Fir, which means in their language (a variant of Fae) "The True People". The Fir hold themselves to be the children of their goddess Morrigu, the Badb, who they sometimes call Mother Night.
The Fir are a short race, dark of skin and hair, with low foreheads, slanted eyes, and pointed ears. They clad themselves in fur and hides, and live in caves on the mountain peaksa folk famed for their savage rage, great stealth, and cunning knowledge of their home. Reclusive and primative, they live by hunting and banditry these days, supplemented by mercenary work and trading. Many a wandering merchant has seen his life ended when he took the wrong turn in the mountains, only to have a savage party of Goblins cut him off. They know no king, and keep aloof from other races, for the Fir see all other folks as enemies, or at the very least, as opponents. Perhaps that is why they slowly fade from the land, pushed aside by their more advanced, less isolationist rivals. Or perhaps it is the fact that they are fading that gives them their grim view.
Presently, few of the Picts have even deigned to notice the war, for it has had little effect on their almost unchanging lives. But as merchants grow scarcer, the war grows fiercer, and more Fir warbands join the fighting as raiders and sellswords, it begins to attract more and more notice among them. While many view it as a nuisance, some see it as an opportunity. The others are weak and divided, and if the Fir can put aside their own feuds and differences--unite and stand strong, then they may stop their decline, and become a power in the land once more...
Another post with substance, and an addendum. Seeing as we're dealing with much fewer regular posters now, you may post consequitively, provided you've waited roughly a day between posts. (And posting at 11 pm, and again at midnight doesn't count.)
The Northerners (or Jotun as they call themselves) consider themselves the people of their god, Imer, the Frost King, who breathed the Earth, Mountains, and Sky into existence, and created the Jotun race by spitting his hands and holding them together. Imer wages a constant war against his brother Loge, a fiery being that seeks to destroy what he has built.
The incredible simularity between Imer and Callach has resulted in that Aleasani deity being identified with the grim god of the Northerners, and is probably an explanation for his rise in popularity in Northern Aleasana.
The Northerners (or Jotun as they call themselves) consider themselves the people of their god, Imer, the Frost King, who breathed the Earth, Mountains, and Sky into existence, and created the Jotun race by spitting his hands and holding them together. Imer wages a constant war against his brother Loge, a fiery being that seeks to destroy what he has built.
The incredible simularity between Imer and Callach has resulted in that Aleasani deity being identified with the grim god of the Northerners, and is probably an explanation for his rise in popularity in Northern Aleasana.
There have been many claimants in the War of the Throne, but none is closer to the people's hearts than Duke Utherus Bran of Monsalvat. And there is good reason for that--Utherus is a figure from the start of the war, "the Lost Cause", a symbol of what could have been. In that first year when Ralin Valeris and Majera Alsea brought Aleasana into grim conflict to serve their own ambitions, Duke Utherus, widely respected and loved, called together his allies in the Caerleonian League (a group of city-states in the South dedicated to protecting themselves from Bodai incursions) and led them out to end the War before it started. Utherus managed a lightning strike against Cassant which came close to the city itself, his plan to crush the very heart of Ralin's sphere of influence, and then attack the weaker forces of Bandesh-Thar. If he had succeeded, the War would have probably ended in that very year. But while Valeris found himself overmatched by Utherus's strategic genius, the cunning lord of Cassant found another weapon to use against the Duke--treachery.
Count Ganelon of Maganza was a prominent member of the Caerleonian League, close in Utherus's councils. He had also come to hate and resent the Duke for his high status and indeed, his very genius, though he hid this behind a mask of friendship. Valeris had detected this animosity, and had agents approach Ganelon with a sizable bribe and offer of future support to betray his allies. Ganelon took the bribe, and at the very gates of Cassant, turned on Utherus's forces. With the Count's treachery, Valeris was able to marshal a counterstrike that sent Duke Utherus and his troops back to the South. While things were grim for the Caerleonian League, they might have yet rallied, but chance played against them.
Lord Nithus and his newly formed League of Peace managed to get Bandesh-Thar and Cassant into diplomatic meetings, stilling hostilities between the two factions for awhile. And Dominus Majera took this opportunity to crush her other major rival utterly. Utherus's weakened forces were slaughtered by the White Wolves, and the proud towers of Monsalvat were razed to the ground, its people enslaved, and the very earth sown with salt. Utherus was executed by the Dominus herself, viciously scourged to death. The Caerleonian League was finished. Its members joined either the League of Peace or Kail Illendus's faction and the war continued. And thousands mourned the Lost Cause, the True King Who Fell.
Of course some say that Utherus had a weaker claim than any who fight in the war, and that had he won the throne, this weak claim probably would have driven him to harsh acts to keep it. They note for all his good qualities, the man could be wrathful, vain, and self-centered. But they speak against legend and myth. In these dark times, where the best who fight are opportunists and the worst vile maniacs, people need to believe a just man sought to be king. And nearly did so.
Count Ganelon of Maganza was a prominent member of the Caerleonian League, close in Utherus's councils. He had also come to hate and resent the Duke for his high status and indeed, his very genius, though he hid this behind a mask of friendship. Valeris had detected this animosity, and had agents approach Ganelon with a sizable bribe and offer of future support to betray his allies. Ganelon took the bribe, and at the very gates of Cassant, turned on Utherus's forces. With the Count's treachery, Valeris was able to marshal a counterstrike that sent Duke Utherus and his troops back to the South. While things were grim for the Caerleonian League, they might have yet rallied, but chance played against them.
Lord Nithus and his newly formed League of Peace managed to get Bandesh-Thar and Cassant into diplomatic meetings, stilling hostilities between the two factions for awhile. And Dominus Majera took this opportunity to crush her other major rival utterly. Utherus's weakened forces were slaughtered by the White Wolves, and the proud towers of Monsalvat were razed to the ground, its people enslaved, and the very earth sown with salt. Utherus was executed by the Dominus herself, viciously scourged to death. The Caerleonian League was finished. Its members joined either the League of Peace or Kail Illendus's faction and the war continued. And thousands mourned the Lost Cause, the True King Who Fell.
Of course some say that Utherus had a weaker claim than any who fight in the war, and that had he won the throne, this weak claim probably would have driven him to harsh acts to keep it. They note for all his good qualities, the man could be wrathful, vain, and self-centered. But they speak against legend and myth. In these dark times, where the best who fight are opportunists and the worst vile maniacs, people need to believe a just man sought to be king. And nearly did so.
Arkhandus
First Post
Sarellion said:
The belief that Shay are actually in Aleasana as guardians to the great tree, Inarellion Calshaen-Ahb, is only taught by the elder elves in the city-state Val-Alen, where the tree is located. The elder Shay in Altania, for instance, teach that elvenkind were guided to Aleasana for the sake of helping humanity achieve a semblance of the peace, wisdom, and power of the Fae, in the hopes of making humankind worthy of transformation into Shay someday. On the other hand, Shay in the northern reaches of Aleasana still believe that the Dvergar tales are true, that Shay are exiles from the Faegrim forced to endure slavery under the Dvergar for a time. The Shay who occasionally take up residence in Dromas, however, tend to be of the belief that they are merely in Aleasana to improve the relationship between Aleasani peoples and nature, and they say that the Faegrim was once much larger before the Aleasani and Dvergar spread westward a few centuries ago. None can really confirm what the truth of Shay presence in Aleasana means.
Sarellion said:
The Three-Headed Serpent is a secret faction within the Council of Nine that seeks to overthrow Larisa. Its members are Supreme Enchanter Morcel Gallinfrax, Cassandria Africe, the Grand Diviner, and Heorn Lorcan, Master of Abjurations. Each of the three has their own reasons for opposing Larisa, and their own designs.
Morcel Gallenfrax, the founder and nominal leader of the group, is a short, plump, ugly man, with a warty face, a far cry from the stereotypical sauve Enchanter. Some say that he became a wizard because of his ugliness, and chose enchantment so that rather than hide his looks, he could force others to accept them. Ill-tempered, domineering, and brilliant, Morcel long had a rivalry with Larisa for the seat of Supreme Enchanter, and was generally held to be the greater magician, but Larisa's superior skill at politics held him back. Gallinfrax found bowing to a woman he viewed as an inferior like drinking gall, and gaining the seat after Larisa cast it aside once obtaining the position she had truly been aiming for turned a long-sought reward into ashes for him. Morcel formed the Three-Headed Serpent out of a deep desire to humiliate and humble Larisa. It is his ambition to prove her weakness as a magician, and force her to resign.
Cassandria Africe is a beautiful young woman, always dressed in the finest silks, and always looking for new ways to enjoy herself. Her brilliance as a Diviner is matched only by her decadence. It is rumored that she has used her spells to seek out the most exotic, esoteric pleasures imaginable, trafficing with fiends of the outer voids and sinister sorcerer-kings from Aleasana's distant past. She is opposed to Larisa both because her politics have made dealing with other cities problematic, cutting her off from many of her favorite habits, and because Larisa is keeping her under a closer, and closer watch, looking for a good excuse to dismiss her from her chair.
And finally, Heorn Lorcan, Master of Abjurations, an respectable-appearing older man, with greying hair and beard. While he plays the concerned elder worried about Larisa's warmongering to the other members, in truth Heorn's ambitions are the grandest of the three. Viewing Abjuration as the mightiest school, for its power is to destroy the effects of the others, wrongfully viewed as weak by others, he hopes to become Archmage and set the Abjurers over all the other wizards of Altania forevermore. As opposed to Cassandria and Morcel (who in truth Lorcan views as puppets), he has little against Larisa in truth, though he is willing to pretend that he does in order to gain his goals.
Presently, the Three-Headed Serpent seeks to undermine and humiliate the Archmage while remaining loyal to Altania. However, their plotting continues, their plans grow more and more extreme. It may be that that the Serpent will move into outright plans of assassination and terrorism soon.
Among the more enigmatic of Altania's allies is the city of Karse. A city famed for its sinister Conjurers, sorcerers of the most malignant cast, and a strange bunch of arcanists called warlocks, it is rumored that in Karse they traffic with the demonic spirits of the void, and that they themselves are not Aleasani, but some strange dark folk that preceded them in the land. Say such things in Karse, and the witchfolk will simply laugh in that strange, sibilant way they have...
High in the mountains, far above the other settlements, dwell the Syrenn. Also called the Birdfolk, the Winged Hags, or the Bloody Singers.
They are described as having the legs, feathered tail, and wings of birds of prey, with the torso of a woman, cruel talons upon their hand s and feet,and a hideous face twisted in rage and madness. But possessing beautiful voices.
This is mostly accurate, save that the hideous faces are ceremonial masks they wear into battle to frighten their enemies. Their true faces are much fairer to look upon. Their plumage is generally a reddish brown, though greys are somewhat common, and even rarer snow white individuals exist. The unfeathered skin is gernerally quite pale. Their hair and eyebrows are somewhere between hair and feathers in texture. Eyes tend towards either pale blue or dark yellow, and in structure very like that of an eagle.
The Syrenn are a selfish people, who care little for non-Syrenn, and hold the other folk of Aleasans in disdain, referring to them as "dirt folk", "mud crawlers", and the like. They generally swoop in and take what they want, raiding the other peoples dwelling here, retreating to their own homes, which are well-defended and impossible to reach without flight.
Though some tribes are more peaceful, if still arrogant, most fall into this piratical economy.
In battle they use their magical voices to entrance foes. Their preferred weapon is an elaborately carved wooden war club or mace. Ranged bows or thrown javelins or half spears are occasionally used from above.
Fortunately, they are only a problem for a little over half the year. During the coldest months they live elsewhere, their clans and tribes flocking to the south and warmer climes. None know where they go, but wherever it is, it contains trees not seen in Aleasana, with white wood, for their white masks and weapons are carved from it.
All known Syrenn are female. Various theories on their menfolk exist. Some say they keep them in their unreacable mountain holds. Others believe that they stay wherever it is that the Syrenn go during the winter. Some believe that they form their own tribes who live elsewhere, only rendevouzing with their women folk to mate, likely in the south. A darker belief is that there are no man among the Syrenn, and that they steal the fair men of land bound people to seed them with child or to sate their dark lusts. And some believe that perhaps the Syrenn may simply not need men, and that no males exist among their race.
OOC: And here's the Aleasana Harpy.
They are described as having the legs, feathered tail, and wings of birds of prey, with the torso of a woman, cruel talons upon their hand s and feet,and a hideous face twisted in rage and madness. But possessing beautiful voices.
This is mostly accurate, save that the hideous faces are ceremonial masks they wear into battle to frighten their enemies. Their true faces are much fairer to look upon. Their plumage is generally a reddish brown, though greys are somewhat common, and even rarer snow white individuals exist. The unfeathered skin is gernerally quite pale. Their hair and eyebrows are somewhere between hair and feathers in texture. Eyes tend towards either pale blue or dark yellow, and in structure very like that of an eagle.
The Syrenn are a selfish people, who care little for non-Syrenn, and hold the other folk of Aleasans in disdain, referring to them as "dirt folk", "mud crawlers", and the like. They generally swoop in and take what they want, raiding the other peoples dwelling here, retreating to their own homes, which are well-defended and impossible to reach without flight.
Though some tribes are more peaceful, if still arrogant, most fall into this piratical economy.
In battle they use their magical voices to entrance foes. Their preferred weapon is an elaborately carved wooden war club or mace. Ranged bows or thrown javelins or half spears are occasionally used from above.
Fortunately, they are only a problem for a little over half the year. During the coldest months they live elsewhere, their clans and tribes flocking to the south and warmer climes. None know where they go, but wherever it is, it contains trees not seen in Aleasana, with white wood, for their white masks and weapons are carved from it.
All known Syrenn are female. Various theories on their menfolk exist. Some say they keep them in their unreacable mountain holds. Others believe that they stay wherever it is that the Syrenn go during the winter. Some believe that they form their own tribes who live elsewhere, only rendevouzing with their women folk to mate, likely in the south. A darker belief is that there are no man among the Syrenn, and that they steal the fair men of land bound people to seed them with child or to sate their dark lusts. And some believe that perhaps the Syrenn may simply not need men, and that no males exist among their race.
OOC: And here's the Aleasana Harpy.
