Post by Myrdraxxis on Sept 30, 2011 22:27:53 GMT -5
Humans:
Humans are the major power in Mundus Magica, and dominate all of the world’s nations after the Hyddick Confederacy fell. When The Mage of the beginning brought Mundus Magica into this dimension, he led the first human settlers into what would become known as Megolin, and later Nostia.
Hellans:
The Hellans are a race born from the wake of the Mage Wars. The magical backlash from the final battle warped and mutated humans into other humanoids such as the hellans and beastmen. The Hellans are a race of dark-skinned elfish humanoids with horns that wrap around their skull. Slightly longer-lived that humans, Hellans are generally dark-skinned with light hair coloring. When their nation, the Hyddick Confederacy, fell to the Megolin Federation, the surviving Hellans fled to the desert of Ceberus. Most managed to avoid detection by Megolin forces in the deep sands of the desert. There, they began their society anew. They refused all contact with the outside world, and built cities that floated on vast hovering barges that travel the desert in a nomadic existence. The Hellans of modern times are no longer the powerful nation of Hyddick, but now nomadic tribes, suspicious of all outsiders and preferring to remain in their desert home.
Hellans are masters of blade work and incorporate magic into their martial skills, becoming strong Spell Blades. Hellans are also masters of illusion magic, a school not widely practiced by humans. There are Hellans that have mastered both Illusion Magic as well as Spellblade work. These elites are known as Death Jesters.
Beastmen:
Like the Hellans, the Beastmen are a race that came into being from the Mage Wars. The Beastmen are aptly named, a race of large, mammal-like humanoids of considerable size (the males at least). Unlike the Hellans, the Beastmen never created a central government or nation. They preferred to stick with their clans, or integrating themselves into the established societies. After the collapse of Megolin, the Beastman race began a slow decline, and in modern times few Beastmen remain, as compared to earlier times. They mostly confine themselves to rugged wilderness areas in Elborn, Ceberus or the Frontier.
Shades:
Shades appeared after the Mage Wars, but unlike the Hellans or Beastmen, were not made from mutated humans. They were brought into being by pure arcane will, a conglomeration of magic and sentience. Over time Shades gathered into a small society on the Darkened Isles, and maintained a reclusive existence away from the other races.
The Shades are divided into Houses, who each govern and island of the Darkened Isles. After the Second Great War, The Darkened Isles fell into disarray as the rogue shade and blood mage Qwaser Weivyr killed the Baron of House Weivyr and fled for Mundus Veritas, only to return and raze the Darkened Isles with his army of cultists. What became of the Shades in recent times remains largely unknown, though reports from Vaerian scouts speak of activity on the Darkened Isles.
Celestials:
The Celestials are a race the only exist in the oldest of historical tomes in Morah Academy and the Great Kyros Library. It is said that the Celestials walked Mundus Magica before humans even settled there. Even before the Mage of the Beginning pulled it into our dimension. Old journals written by the Mage (discovery claimed by Altinorian scholars 2 years before the Second Great War) speak of the Mage exploring Mundus Magica and finding a great civilization of angel-like beings. Little other writings exist, and the fate of the Celestials is unknown, though recent scholars have hypothesized that the ruins found in Ceberus and the Frontier are of Celestial origin. It is said that some of the old human lines carry Celestial blood within them, such as the legendary Sorian line.
Arkarris:
The Arkarris are a race of avian humanoids that appeared in Mundus Magica only twenty years ago. Or rather, they only revealed themselves to the other races of Mundus Magica twenty years ago. Arkarris have made no effort to really interact with the other races, but at the same time many individual Arkarris have begun to scatter across the world. The Arkarris were taken with surprise and suspicion when they first appeared. Many were quick to accuse the Arkarris for the disappearance of the Elborn settlements and even the disappearance of the dragons to the Frontier. The birdmen have neither denied nor affirmed these claims.
The Arkarris make their homes deep within the darker parts of the forests of Elborn, places that had long been avoided by its human settlers. Old Elborn folklore used to speak of woodland spirits that would occasionally appear to a villager or town to warn of some small disaster or impending harm and many researchers believe that the Arkarris are these ‘spirits’. Arkarris appear to be humanoid birds, that walked on two legs and have wing-like arms and hooked claws for hands. A rough sketch of one is as follows:
Arkarris are…different to say the least. Few often feel comfortable around the birdmen, as they seem to be “wrong” somehow. Everything about them is shrouded in secrecy, and even the magic that they practice is an art that no one has ever seen before: a fact that draws Arcia to them and makes them widely mistrusted by Imperial Vaer. Arkarris are considered to be highly intelligent, and have the racial ability to hold two lines of thought at the same time.
One Arcian scholar had the opportunity to interview an Arkarris, which revealed a bit of Arkarris culture:
From the records of Destron Amlythian, Scholar of the II Division, College of Kyros.
“You are called Eraik the Old, correct?”
“Correct, human. That is the name I have kept for thirteen centuries.”
“That’s…a very long time. Do all Arkarris live that long?”
“It is possible, though I am one of the few who still remember the old times of the Third Age.”
“Third Age?”
“The Ages of Arkarris history, measured by the catalytic changes in our society. In the Third Age I made my home in the Dark City of Skreeakk.”
“I’m sorry, city? A few Arkarris villages have been discovered, and I must say that none of them really constitute being called a city.”
“*chuckling* you know little, human. Arkarris cities do not exist in a plane which other minds can perceive them.”
“So..your cities are in a pocket dimension?”
“Pocket Dimension? That is a very inelegant term, but I suppose it will suffice. Arkarris long ago mastered the art to see beyond the veil. To harness the power of unreality and give it form.”
“I..I don’t think I understand.”
“In time you will, human. In time.”
“Right…moving on. You mentioned that your Ages change due to major events. What ended this Third Age?”
“Our government collapsed in on itself as our people abandoned Skreeakk. We could no longer believe the Lie of Hekerok..”
“The..what?”
“The Lie was the basis on which our society was founded. Our history, our pasts.”
“But…you call it a lie? Why?”
“Because it was a lie!” *cackling* “It was a very good one, carefully constructed. For a time I convinced myself to believe in it. But in the end, I could not bring myself to fully accept Hekerok’s Lie, and soon, neither could others.”
“But, I don’t understand. You follow a lie, but you KNOW it’s a lie?”
“Of course. As was the lie before Hekerok’s. It too crumbled.We needed more fiction to support our society.”
“Why would you prefer a lie to the truth?”
Our language, our magic and our ways are built upon inconsistencies and half-remembered symbols. All were great lies at one point. The earliest were the best. But only a few such as I remember more than a few mostly decrepit lies. Lies have their uses.
The First Age was built upon the lie that Arkarris were made to rule over all life. That we were to be absolute masters of life. It was a good lie and life was good. But hateful truth intruded upon his lie, and the First Age crumbled. The world changed and we changed with it. We could do nothing to control it.”
“Tell me of this First Age.”
“The First Age was made glorious by our alchemists. They imbued their runes into our wooden structures, and our golden cities rose to cover the land.”
“Wait..golden cities? With wooden structures?”
“It was a simple magic. Rather than turning our houses to gold, they allowed these buildings to be both wood and gold at the same time. Our perceptions need to be burdened by one fixed state.”
“That’s…so these alchemists. Was their way the truth, or another lie?”
“Hah! You are learning, human. They were closer to the truth, but not entirely.”
“I think it’s amazing that your people could render an object to have two states at once, neither state cancelling out the other?”
“Such was their glory. The First Age ended in terror and madness.”
Well…back to my earlier question. Why do you place emphasis on lies?”
“When word of the truth spread across our empire, the arkarris destroyed all of their things and each other. The few who survived huddled in the ashes of the ruined world. Somehow they heard the Truth but survived the madness. To protect themselves, they created elaborate fictions. These have carried on for millennia, burying the hated truth in fiction and lie. And the arkarris of the Second Age believed, at least that was the intended goal. Yet still some could see past the lies. Yet so afraid of the truth were they that they forced themselves to believe the lies. Do you see our curse, human? To believe in something we know to be a lie?”
“But…surely the truth isn’t so bad? What could possibly be that bad about learning the truth?”
“Human, the truth is fate that I would not wish on the greatest of enemies. It is the end. It is doom. And I speak to you to warn you, because I see that your kind fast approaches the day when that truth will be upon you."
Humans are the major power in Mundus Magica, and dominate all of the world’s nations after the Hyddick Confederacy fell. When The Mage of the beginning brought Mundus Magica into this dimension, he led the first human settlers into what would become known as Megolin, and later Nostia.
Hellans:
The Hellans are a race born from the wake of the Mage Wars. The magical backlash from the final battle warped and mutated humans into other humanoids such as the hellans and beastmen. The Hellans are a race of dark-skinned elfish humanoids with horns that wrap around their skull. Slightly longer-lived that humans, Hellans are generally dark-skinned with light hair coloring. When their nation, the Hyddick Confederacy, fell to the Megolin Federation, the surviving Hellans fled to the desert of Ceberus. Most managed to avoid detection by Megolin forces in the deep sands of the desert. There, they began their society anew. They refused all contact with the outside world, and built cities that floated on vast hovering barges that travel the desert in a nomadic existence. The Hellans of modern times are no longer the powerful nation of Hyddick, but now nomadic tribes, suspicious of all outsiders and preferring to remain in their desert home.
Hellans are masters of blade work and incorporate magic into their martial skills, becoming strong Spell Blades. Hellans are also masters of illusion magic, a school not widely practiced by humans. There are Hellans that have mastered both Illusion Magic as well as Spellblade work. These elites are known as Death Jesters.
Beastmen:
Like the Hellans, the Beastmen are a race that came into being from the Mage Wars. The Beastmen are aptly named, a race of large, mammal-like humanoids of considerable size (the males at least). Unlike the Hellans, the Beastmen never created a central government or nation. They preferred to stick with their clans, or integrating themselves into the established societies. After the collapse of Megolin, the Beastman race began a slow decline, and in modern times few Beastmen remain, as compared to earlier times. They mostly confine themselves to rugged wilderness areas in Elborn, Ceberus or the Frontier.
Shades:
Shades appeared after the Mage Wars, but unlike the Hellans or Beastmen, were not made from mutated humans. They were brought into being by pure arcane will, a conglomeration of magic and sentience. Over time Shades gathered into a small society on the Darkened Isles, and maintained a reclusive existence away from the other races.
The Shades are divided into Houses, who each govern and island of the Darkened Isles. After the Second Great War, The Darkened Isles fell into disarray as the rogue shade and blood mage Qwaser Weivyr killed the Baron of House Weivyr and fled for Mundus Veritas, only to return and raze the Darkened Isles with his army of cultists. What became of the Shades in recent times remains largely unknown, though reports from Vaerian scouts speak of activity on the Darkened Isles.
Celestials:
The Celestials are a race the only exist in the oldest of historical tomes in Morah Academy and the Great Kyros Library. It is said that the Celestials walked Mundus Magica before humans even settled there. Even before the Mage of the Beginning pulled it into our dimension. Old journals written by the Mage (discovery claimed by Altinorian scholars 2 years before the Second Great War) speak of the Mage exploring Mundus Magica and finding a great civilization of angel-like beings. Little other writings exist, and the fate of the Celestials is unknown, though recent scholars have hypothesized that the ruins found in Ceberus and the Frontier are of Celestial origin. It is said that some of the old human lines carry Celestial blood within them, such as the legendary Sorian line.
Arkarris:
The Arkarris are a race of avian humanoids that appeared in Mundus Magica only twenty years ago. Or rather, they only revealed themselves to the other races of Mundus Magica twenty years ago. Arkarris have made no effort to really interact with the other races, but at the same time many individual Arkarris have begun to scatter across the world. The Arkarris were taken with surprise and suspicion when they first appeared. Many were quick to accuse the Arkarris for the disappearance of the Elborn settlements and even the disappearance of the dragons to the Frontier. The birdmen have neither denied nor affirmed these claims.
The Arkarris make their homes deep within the darker parts of the forests of Elborn, places that had long been avoided by its human settlers. Old Elborn folklore used to speak of woodland spirits that would occasionally appear to a villager or town to warn of some small disaster or impending harm and many researchers believe that the Arkarris are these ‘spirits’. Arkarris appear to be humanoid birds, that walked on two legs and have wing-like arms and hooked claws for hands. A rough sketch of one is as follows:
Arkarris are…different to say the least. Few often feel comfortable around the birdmen, as they seem to be “wrong” somehow. Everything about them is shrouded in secrecy, and even the magic that they practice is an art that no one has ever seen before: a fact that draws Arcia to them and makes them widely mistrusted by Imperial Vaer. Arkarris are considered to be highly intelligent, and have the racial ability to hold two lines of thought at the same time.
One Arcian scholar had the opportunity to interview an Arkarris, which revealed a bit of Arkarris culture:
-=-
From the records of Destron Amlythian, Scholar of the II Division, College of Kyros.
“You are called Eraik the Old, correct?”
“Correct, human. That is the name I have kept for thirteen centuries.”
“That’s…a very long time. Do all Arkarris live that long?”
“It is possible, though I am one of the few who still remember the old times of the Third Age.”
“Third Age?”
“The Ages of Arkarris history, measured by the catalytic changes in our society. In the Third Age I made my home in the Dark City of Skreeakk.”
“I’m sorry, city? A few Arkarris villages have been discovered, and I must say that none of them really constitute being called a city.”
“*chuckling* you know little, human. Arkarris cities do not exist in a plane which other minds can perceive them.”
“So..your cities are in a pocket dimension?”
“Pocket Dimension? That is a very inelegant term, but I suppose it will suffice. Arkarris long ago mastered the art to see beyond the veil. To harness the power of unreality and give it form.”
“I..I don’t think I understand.”
“In time you will, human. In time.”
“Right…moving on. You mentioned that your Ages change due to major events. What ended this Third Age?”
“Our government collapsed in on itself as our people abandoned Skreeakk. We could no longer believe the Lie of Hekerok..”
“The..what?”
“The Lie was the basis on which our society was founded. Our history, our pasts.”
“But…you call it a lie? Why?”
“Because it was a lie!” *cackling* “It was a very good one, carefully constructed. For a time I convinced myself to believe in it. But in the end, I could not bring myself to fully accept Hekerok’s Lie, and soon, neither could others.”
“But, I don’t understand. You follow a lie, but you KNOW it’s a lie?”
“Of course. As was the lie before Hekerok’s. It too crumbled.We needed more fiction to support our society.”
“Why would you prefer a lie to the truth?”
Our language, our magic and our ways are built upon inconsistencies and half-remembered symbols. All were great lies at one point. The earliest were the best. But only a few such as I remember more than a few mostly decrepit lies. Lies have their uses.
The First Age was built upon the lie that Arkarris were made to rule over all life. That we were to be absolute masters of life. It was a good lie and life was good. But hateful truth intruded upon his lie, and the First Age crumbled. The world changed and we changed with it. We could do nothing to control it.”
“Tell me of this First Age.”
“The First Age was made glorious by our alchemists. They imbued their runes into our wooden structures, and our golden cities rose to cover the land.”
“Wait..golden cities? With wooden structures?”
“It was a simple magic. Rather than turning our houses to gold, they allowed these buildings to be both wood and gold at the same time. Our perceptions need to be burdened by one fixed state.”
“That’s…so these alchemists. Was their way the truth, or another lie?”
“Hah! You are learning, human. They were closer to the truth, but not entirely.”
“I think it’s amazing that your people could render an object to have two states at once, neither state cancelling out the other?”
“Such was their glory. The First Age ended in terror and madness.”
Well…back to my earlier question. Why do you place emphasis on lies?”
“When word of the truth spread across our empire, the arkarris destroyed all of their things and each other. The few who survived huddled in the ashes of the ruined world. Somehow they heard the Truth but survived the madness. To protect themselves, they created elaborate fictions. These have carried on for millennia, burying the hated truth in fiction and lie. And the arkarris of the Second Age believed, at least that was the intended goal. Yet still some could see past the lies. Yet so afraid of the truth were they that they forced themselves to believe the lies. Do you see our curse, human? To believe in something we know to be a lie?”
“But…surely the truth isn’t so bad? What could possibly be that bad about learning the truth?”
“Human, the truth is fate that I would not wish on the greatest of enemies. It is the end. It is doom. And I speak to you to warn you, because I see that your kind fast approaches the day when that truth will be upon you."
