NutraNESIV.6: The Dread Kings of Ekra
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KaiserElectric
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Speaking of aging, do elfs and orcs age similar to humans? ie would a human and an elf hit adulthood at the same time?
Seon
Not An Evil Liar
And if they get bitten by a vampire, do they live forever?
I'm curious about the age thing too. How far apart are generations usually spaced? Long lives plus early childbearing usually means overpopulation. On the other hand, that would be a good excuse for constant war 
I made my leader 40 years old, assuming that that would make her 'young' but not a child. Accurate?
I made my leader 40 years old, assuming that that would make her 'young' but not a child. Accurate?
Dreadnought
Deity
The Rules said:
40/280 --> 1/7 = ~10 year old human...so a 40 year old elf is still a child if taken by the ratio only. In typical fantasy works, this ratio pattern seems to hold pretty constant; for example, a beautiful elf observed by a human may seem to be a late teenager/early 20 year old, but is actually many decades old.
That was my impression.
nutranurse
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Nah, I am for the most part ignoring the ages you guys put (I realized it was a bad call on my part to ask that stuff without fully explaining things).
Elves live for between 250-300 years. Orcs for between 200-250. Orelfs anywhere between 100-200 years. Goblins a scant 40-60.
Now, it is not known why Elves live so much longer, but it really does not matter: very few Ekrans live to see past their 200th birthday. The Ekran society is a violent one due to the obsession with cultivating fear, and while this violence may have changed from outright tribal wars to subtle conflicts due to the 'civilization' brought forth by the High Kings it is just as bloody (if not more so).
Elves/Orcs have long childhoods, actually. From 0-20 they are considered infants/toddlers (and age appropriately to that), from 20-50 they are children and 50-90 to 100 they are adolescent. Again, their bodies age appropriate to that during these periods. Now, I am not going to go into the traditions and rites of middleborn orcs/elves (who make up the majority of the orcish/elven population) as you guys take on the roles of Highborns, deal mainly with other Highborns, and truthfully only care about other Highborns. Basically, it boils down to a Highborn mother deeming her child as ready to enter the adult world and that child expressing his/her wish for what they would like to do with their lives (mercantile path, warrior's path, priest's path); normally this has already been decided for them well in advance and much of their century-long childhood has been spent gearing them for this. Once the child 'declares' they are tested by the local masters of their field and are then admitted into society as adults. If they fail they are ejected from the Highborn world and must find their way among the middleborn.
Orelfs complicate this tradition.
Ever since the 2nd high king 'united' the High Kingdom by taking an Elven wife the majority of High Kings have been Orelfs. Orelfs pretty much combine the best of both their parents, taking the raw strength of their Orcish fathers and the Elven graceful dexterity of their Elven mothers. Orelfs are notorious for their physical and mental prowess and by all means dominate the fields they are in (that is to say, everything but the Culthood, though they are ardent leaders of the Goddess Sect), which would be quite upsetting to the Orcish and Elven population were it not for the fact that unions between Orcs and Elves are difficult to produce large numbers of offspring. Most Orelf babes die in their infancy, and every single Orelf High King has been a single child (to illustrate the low birth rates among the population). Not to mention, very few Elf-Orc pairings happen outside the Highborn society. It is not that the middleborn peoples hate each other or do not mix races—they do from time to time in the most cosmopolitan of settings—but the will to is just not there. If it's not for love then they just do not really see why you would doom your family to such hardships as serial stillborns.
So in the 2,000-ish years of the High Kings about 11 generations have passed.
Elves live for between 250-300 years. Orcs for between 200-250. Orelfs anywhere between 100-200 years. Goblins a scant 40-60.
Now, it is not known why Elves live so much longer, but it really does not matter: very few Ekrans live to see past their 200th birthday. The Ekran society is a violent one due to the obsession with cultivating fear, and while this violence may have changed from outright tribal wars to subtle conflicts due to the 'civilization' brought forth by the High Kings it is just as bloody (if not more so).
Elves/Orcs have long childhoods, actually. From 0-20 they are considered infants/toddlers (and age appropriately to that), from 20-50 they are children and 50-90 to 100 they are adolescent. Again, their bodies age appropriate to that during these periods. Now, I am not going to go into the traditions and rites of middleborn orcs/elves (who make up the majority of the orcish/elven population) as you guys take on the roles of Highborns, deal mainly with other Highborns, and truthfully only care about other Highborns. Basically, it boils down to a Highborn mother deeming her child as ready to enter the adult world and that child expressing his/her wish for what they would like to do with their lives (mercantile path, warrior's path, priest's path); normally this has already been decided for them well in advance and much of their century-long childhood has been spent gearing them for this. Once the child 'declares' they are tested by the local masters of their field and are then admitted into society as adults. If they fail they are ejected from the Highborn world and must find their way among the middleborn.
Orelfs complicate this tradition.
Ever since the 2nd high king 'united' the High Kingdom by taking an Elven wife the majority of High Kings have been Orelfs. Orelfs pretty much combine the best of both their parents, taking the raw strength of their Orcish fathers and the Elven graceful dexterity of their Elven mothers. Orelfs are notorious for their physical and mental prowess and by all means dominate the fields they are in (that is to say, everything but the Culthood, though they are ardent leaders of the Goddess Sect), which would be quite upsetting to the Orcish and Elven population were it not for the fact that unions between Orcs and Elves are difficult to produce large numbers of offspring. Most Orelf babes die in their infancy, and every single Orelf High King has been a single child (to illustrate the low birth rates among the population). Not to mention, very few Elf-Orc pairings happen outside the Highborn society. It is not that the middleborn peoples hate each other or do not mix races—they do from time to time in the most cosmopolitan of settings—but the will to is just not there. If it's not for love then they just do not really see why you would doom your family to such hardships as serial stillborns.
So in the 2,000-ish years of the High Kings about 11 generations have passed.
KaiserElectric
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Thanks for the information on aging. Thankfully I didn't inadvertently make my lord a toddler. 
Lord would be the appropriate title for our leaders, right?
Lord would be the appropriate title for our leaders, right?
nutranurse
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Yep! Lords are the equivalent of kings really, but it would be seen as an act of rebellion to call yourself a king when the high king rules (the Aldaval did that and got their horse-ridding asses handed to them). I'll include a list of titles in the design document I am going to post at some point.
Tecknojock
Keeping the world running
Speaking of the High king, I think that star would look very lovely within my territory 
nutranurse
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When you see the stats you'll see why Urst would be hard to conquer 
theDright
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I know the demographics for Ekran society will vary by region, but what is a typical distribution of the classes? You said True Highborn are 1% of 1% or at least very small when compared to the lesser Highborn and Middleborn, but how do they compare to the population of goblins?
nutranurse
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Goblins easily make up more than half the population of Ekra. I would put the estimate between 55% to 75%, it's just that unsure. Most Elves and Orcs live in cities/castles or towns very nearby these places.
Dreadnought
Deity
A quick perusal of the PC signups show me to be, in fact, the only Certainly Civilized faction of them all.
nutranurse
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The Imperial Ekrans have 'Imperial Integrity', which makes it easier for them to favorably deal with NPCs and Major/Minor factions.
The Last Kingdom of Lawaiod have the 'Laws of Cedros' trait what, well, the effects of this trait will be revealed in due time.
In so far as clan traits, the Imperials have 'certainly civilized, silver-tongued, & cultured', while Lawaiod has 'devout, ruthless, & seafarers'.
edit: Oh, and front page has info on the Cult of Many/Goddess Sect. It does not really detail what they believe in because all they really believe in is 'cultivate fear'. Which I hope is abundantly clear by now
The Last Kingdom of Lawaiod have the 'Laws of Cedros' trait what, well, the effects of this trait will be revealed in due time.
In so far as clan traits, the Imperials have 'certainly civilized, silver-tongued, & cultured', while Lawaiod has 'devout, ruthless, & seafarers'.
edit: Oh, and front page has info on the Cult of Many/Goddess Sect. It does not really detail what they believe in because all they really believe in is 'cultivate fear'. Which I hope is abundantly clear by now
theDright
King
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A quick perusal of the PC signups show me to be, in fact, the only Certainly Civilized faction of them all.
You missed spryllino on page 2
Will we learn more about the Last Kingdom in Update 0? So far we have heard nothing about them; they could be a non-Elf/Orc/Orelf/Goblin society for all we know.
And I guess different sects of the Cult of the Many differ only on how to cultivate fear amongst the people? This is one crazy religion
nutranurse
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Yes, the Last Kingdom will become more of a player during Update 0. Update 0 has only two events, one about the general situation and one about Lawaiod.
And I guess different sects of the Cult of the Many differ only on how to cultivate fear amongst the people? This is one crazy religion
Exactly that! Some sects think it is best to murder the fourth child of every family, others think it best to give gifts to your enemies. It ranges wildly, but the Cult leaders do their best to keep things from getting out of hand.
nutranurse
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Update 0
The Dread Lords of Ekra
10HK143-11HK10
Grand Occurances
The Manastorm
The Dread Lords of Ekra
10HK143-11HK10
Grand Occurances
The Manastorm
The High Kingdom ended on the night that the sky lit up with a thousand colors. All eyes in Ekraall eyes across the worldturned upwards that night and watched on as El-Or was bombarded with meteors that would later be called mana. The Ekrans did not know it yet, but magic had just been brought into the world.
Immediately the next day the Ekrans did learn that the manastorm heralded a new era of death, destruction, and deterioration. But most of all fear.
That night a meteor crashed through the palace apartments of High King Bogor-Taniion's, killing the beloved leader and his queen-consort in their sleep. The palace was immediately put into a state of disarray, but news of the high king's death would not break till the next morning. What followed was a display of the kind of brutal politics characteristic of the dread lords of Ekra. With Bogor-Taniion dead his sole child and son, Gogzur-Garion, was now ruler of the High Kingdom. Gogzur-Garion, however, was little more than an infant and had been born barely over a year before. At first the sister of Gogzur-Garion's mother, the Noroloth Princess Aewethwen, took charge of the chaotic situation as Gogzur-Garion's regent, but this lasted all of three days before Aewethwen was murdered in the streets of the imperial capital, Urst.
Afterwards Elder Higar, a high-ranking member of the Cult of Many and friend and adviser to the late High King Bogor-Taniion, was named regent. The regency lasted nearly a year before Higar was forced to step down by the Prushnak clan of the Ganziir Dynasty. The Prushnak's clan leader, Lord Vudush, named himself regent, but ruled for a scant few months into 11HK3 before his kin-clan of Vir forced Vudush from the position out of jealousy and spite. The Vir in turn ruled over the infant High King through their own clan lord, Lord Padush, who quelled Urst's confused and riotous population with an iron fist. Padush ruled for over three years, and his reign was a particularly ruthless one that saw numerous minor clans of his own dynasty culled so that the Vir had a firm control of the hills east of the Gaarouk Mountains. In 11HK7 Lord-Regent Padush looked ready to extend the Vir's control further when the wrathful Noroloth entered Urst armed and prepared to kill Padush. Somehow the murder of Princess Aewethwen had been blamed on the Vir's clan-lord and the Noroloth came seeking vengeance under Aewethwen's half-brother, Vice-Lord Hirion.
(+5 Fear→Clan Vir "Brutal & Underhanded Regency")
Whether or not Padush actually had a hand in the murder hardly mattered, for the Vir clan-lord fled Urst for the Padsah Fortress south-east of the imperial capital. Hiron seemed all too happy to let the brutal clan-lord go and gave Padush no chase, nor ever hinted at one over the first years of the regency he had taken bloodlessly from Clan Vir. Hiron would spend the next three years attempting to stabilize his control over the traditional Imperial Domain, though the battle would be a difficult one that distracted him from the ambitious schemes of the clans all throughout the High Kingdom.
The Last Kingdom
On the island called Lawaiod, centered in the Bay of Isil, lived the only peoples to beat back the forces of the High Kingdom and remain free. Among its own peoples the kingdom had no name and they lived the semi-tribal existence that plagued the distant ancestors of the great clans of today. To all other Ekrans, however, the kingdom was known as the Last Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Lawaiod-Isil, though mention of the kingdom at all was a grave crime in the High Kingdom. Lawaiod-Isil was avoided by the Ekrans, and the island existed in near-complete isolation. Occasionally a trader from the northern lands of Hekra and Elas-Ch would make contact with the hardy natives and bring back wondrous goods not seen anywhere else in the world.
On the night of the manastorm Lawaiod was spared no more than the rest of El-Or, but a particularly large mana-meteor struck the center of the island. The meteor was immense compared to the others that pelted Ekra, and the devastation it wrought saw dozens of tribes wiped out of existence as flames consumed the islands. Those that survived fared little better, and for the full decade after the manastorm the fires never once subsided. Those Lawaiods brave enough to venture into the heart of the former home returned telling tales of a large, glowing rock surrounded by a blue flame that was cold to the touch.
§§§
Maps
Clans & Capitals @ End of Update 0
nutranurse
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Stats will be out by tomorrow afternoon.
Tecknojock
Keeping the world running
Dang it, I briefly had control of the throne too 
I guess I will just have to take it back.
I guess I will just have to take it back.
