LENES: That Noisome Silence

Lord of Elves

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LENES: That Noisome Silence

My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Congratulations on finding your way, hopefully in a drunken stupor, to this thread. This is the awkward, Cesarean section birthing of "FantasyNES: Working Title." Herein we will attempt, perhaps vainly, to take traditional high fantasy tropes to their logical and (hopefully) sanguinary conclusions. As your moderator -- lucky you -- I reserve the right to accept and dismiss players as I see fit, editorialize the contents of updates however necessary, and generally act dictatorially and with malice aforethought. That out of the way, my goal is to be as fair and reasonable as possible while letting players have a very, very wide berth. In order to make this possible I will be requiring applications and will be vetting them judiciously. A panel of experts will consider all that you have to say, check your references, poke, prod and inspect you in ways that will make you feel assaulted and used and finally spit you out, covered in amniotic fluid, into the world of the NES.

That Noisome Silence is a fantasy NES. What it is not is a high fantasy "romp" with fireball-shooting mages, clear good and evil and an oriented moral compass. Instead it is a "Darker and Edgier" perspective on high fantasy tropes, set in what will soon be made clear to be a dying world with gods who are either in absentia or callous and apathetic. Yes, there is magic. Yes, there are dragons. No, having either of these things does not put you at any particular advantage.

Spoiler :

That Noisome Silence takes place, for all intents and purposes, along the width and breadth of a Europe-like continent whose climatic extremes range from tundra in the very farthest north and desert in the very farthest south. Its seas and bays, equatorial to the continent itself, create a Mediterranean climate range in the middle between the extremes and the more temperate zones which bound them.

Spoiler :

Dark green - Boreal forest
Leafy green - Temperate
Dull green - Mediterranean
Brown - Steppe
Orange - Semiarid
Tan - Desert

Special thanks goes to Eltain, for designing the original map, Thlayli for seeding it with mountains and rivers and sooner or later North_King, who will make it look pretty by fiddling around with the coastlines.
 
The Rules

Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe

As stated earlier, I, the Lord Mod reserve the right to decide who gets to partake in this august and severe experiment. Player participation will be determined by the merit of their applications, though my goal is to include as many people as possible, and generally speaking I have few mandates other than to abide by the premise of the setting and not be an idiot. That said, this often proves difficult for many NESers. All applications must follow, for my sanity and the expedience of prospective players, this template.

Culture Name: [ex. Ayanmur elves]
Starting Location: General area your culture originates in
Society: Description in brief of the general character of your culture and how it is organized, political preferences and social mores, etc.
Religion: Description of existing religion(s) in your culture and their beliefs and mandates
Mythos: Description of the mythic origin of your people
Economy: Description in brief of the most basic elements of your culture's economy; if you are a plains people do you rely wholly on agriculture or have your people been known to expand to the seas and fish, do they mine, etc
Country Names: Potential names for polities arising from your culture. More relevant later on
Person Names: Common names for members of your culture of both genders
Place Names: Titles your culture might give to different places, or just general terms like the words for town or fort, etc.

It is important for players to understand that for intents and purposes, the beginning of the NES is the beginning of recorded history. Your culture may be ancient beyond measure already, but everything known prior to now is myth and legend, and cannot be substantiated by fact. The earliest turns of the NES will last significantly longer than later turns, and will constitute an ET of sorts through a quasi-mythical “first age” in which player actions will have far more direct and dramatic effect. This is the legendary birthing of the world, and it is about the only time you are ever going to get away with fantastical antics.

Concerning the Known Races of the World

All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players

The Race of Men
Humans, men or mankind are often considered the world's “middling” race. Physically humans are largely similar to elves, though perhaps shorter on the whole. Whereas elves are almost always thought of as angelic and beautiful by humans, it is very possible to be ugly as a human. Humans live, at most, to a hundred or a hundred and twenty years of age. The physical appearance of humans varies dramatically, with skin tones as light as the most pale elves and as dark as the blackest of orcs. Humans have proven to be very successful at persisting in all of the known world's climates.

The Race of Elves
Elves are often thought of as beautiful and graceful, though this is generally by human standards. Elves do not share many notable physical differences with the race of men, other than their noted beauty, though they have been known to live significantly longer than the most ancient of men. A long-lived elf could hope to see his three-hundredth birthday, or even live to be three-hundred and fifty. Elven cultures have generally flourished in the temperate, alpine and colder regions of the known world, and elves have not shown themselves to be particularly successful in heated conditions.

The Race of Dwarves
Dwarves are significantly shorter than both humans and elves and are matched in their diminished height only by gnomes. Dwarves are roughly as long-lived as elves and are noted most for their preference for the cold. Because of their small stature dwarves have proven adept mountaineers and miners and have been very successful in alpine climates, though it is not unknown for dwarven cultures to exist in foothills and more low-lying regions.

The Race of Orcs
Though certainly beautiful to one another, even the most graceful orc is considered grotesque and mutilated by humans and elves. Physically similar to both, orcs differ in the darkness of their skin tones, the harshness of their facial features, their seemingly unnatural strength and their large tusks. Orcs, like humans, have generally been successful as societies all throughout the world's different climates.

The Race of Gnomes
Gnomes, sometimes called halflings or halfkin (or anything with “half” prefixing it) stand at the height of dwarves and are generally thought to be related, though the harshness of dwarven features is not matched in gnomes, who generally appear more humanlike in their shape and in their disposition. Gnomes have proven successful mostly in temperate climates, though cold and alpine conditions are not unheard of.

The Race of Trolls
Large, lumbering and of dubious intelligence, trolls are poorly understood by the other races of the world. Trolls, while in some cases very wise and adaptable, are often thought of as dumb and animal-like creatures. Contributing to this is the proliferation of “wild” trolls throughout the known world, who seemingly make up the majority of the race's population. The largest and most formidable of trolls are also sometimes called rabid or beast trolls. Most trolls stand upwards of ten to twelve feet tall and appear as if they were hewn from rock. This has led to some interesting mythological explanations for the race's origin, and speculation of relation to dwarves, though how this could be is not clear. It is sometimes thought that all trolls are intelligent, but that they possess minds so alien from other races that they cannot be understood the way other intelligent peoples are thought of.

The Race of Giants
Rarer still, as cultures and groups, than trolls are the giants. Giants are generally physically similar to humans, though like trolls most giants seem wild and animal-like, and are not predisposed to gathering in groups larger than five or six for any purpose other than hunting. The tallest and most brutish giants stand slightly taller than the tallest of trolls, though comparison of the two verges on nitpicking. Most giant societies – when they exist – are tribal affairs and are concerned primarily with the control of important resources, like yaks.

The Race of Dragons
Oddest and most terrible of all the intelligent races, it is difficult to understand dragons in any concrete or productive way. Dragon minds do not work the way the minds of other creatures do, and while dragons appear capable of independent thought and are known to speak mortal languages, it often appears to be in a kind of rudimentary mimicry. Dragons are not known to create descriptive or even grammatically correct sentences when they speak in legible tongues, instead they simply string together emotions or objects to communicate their desires. A dragon is not murderous, it is hungry and angry. Dragons appear to be functionally immortal, though there also appear to be fewer and fewer dragons in the world.

Note that while dragons are generally understood as an intelligent race, it is not possible for players to be either a group of dragons or a single dragon. The goal of the NES, loosely, will be to create a unique culture with one of the intelligent races and ultimately a number of states and polities resulting from that culture. At the end of the ET, which could last several thousands of years in theory, players will take charge of a single polity of their culture. This brings us to the next point.

Concerning Magic and Mages

A wizard is never late, nor early, he arrives precisely when he means to

Yes, it is possible to play as a mage. No, this does not make you anything approaching all-powerful, though certainly to miserable peasants living in dirt and muck it does make you mysterious and potentially terrifying. Mage polities will resemble more Saruman ruling from Orthanc than a “magocracy” with attendant hierarchy of mages and the like. Magic, within the world of the NES, generally consists of subtleties rather than brazen displays of power. Things have magic within them, or may have a magical effect on objects and people around them, but magic generally does not burst forth in explosions. A truly powerful mage might be able to move a great army in the daylight under cover of a spell or cause an enemy king or lord to have hallucinations or go slowly insane, but a powerful mage cannot rain down fire and brimstone upon his enemies. Magic is fading from the world, or if it isn't, it's becoming less and less useful in mortal affairs. At the beginning of the NES, during the thousand year-long (or longer) ET it will be possible to do more traditionally flashy things with magic, like carve holes into mountains or build great cities in days, but once the ET is over these achievements will become more and more difficult to replicate. Mage polities will often rely on the force of personality and authority of the mage and his apprentice(s), though mages are often significantly longer lived than normal men. Great feats of magic can also go greatly awry if they are attempted haphazardly or by inexperienced individuals, and this has been known to summon abominations and horrors beyond the mortal ken.

 
Concerning the Gods

When the gods wish to punish us they answer our prayers

This is not an NES with an established cosmology and pantheon of deities. There are gods, but they are seemingly numberless and are not properly omnipotent. At worst, they are a legion of competing demigods and celestial beings of some kind who are largely apathetic to the struggles of apes crawling in dirt and mud on a rock floating through an endless void. At best, they are squabbling deities comparable to the gods of Greek mythology who consider mortal struggles unimportant except as a way of settling personal disputes. Either way, much like magic, the gods are slowly fading from the world or at least from the sight of mortals. The functionality of the gods is largely left up to players. Divine or supernatural intervention will only get you so far, and really only at the very beginning of the NES, where most everything is thematic anyway. Generally, the gods in the early ages of the world were known to bestow magical gifts upon people and objects in order to further certain causes, or aid favored groups.

Stats, Wars and Cities

Only the dead have seen the end of war

The goal of this NES is to follow the trends of cultures, civilizations and ultimately kingdoms or nations or something resembling them. The NES should ideally run the gamut between a medieval stasis fantasy world and an environment of clans, tribes and great lineages. Stylistically I am looking for a blend of “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “The Silmarillion.” North_King's End of Empires but with elves. Accordingly the focus is less on the minute details of “How much did the Mountain King in Al-Gharzot spend on this turn's infrastructure project compared with the overall GDP of the Empire Al-Gharzotia and previous projects” and more on “In the waning years of the third age the Mountain King Hed-Ythrustag commissioned a great project to enhance the wealth and prosperity of his citizens, the dwarves of Al-Gharzotia.” Style, story and a focus on theme is the focus. Accordingly, stats are as minimalistic as possible.

Empire of Ayarurmur (Elven)/SomeGuy96
Economy: Strong
Economic Description: Based entirely on Bitcoin
Population: Large
Army: Large
Army Description: Legions of fedora-wearing neckbearded soldiers repulsing the enemy with their ignorance and foul stench
Navy: Large
Navy Description: Boats what float

City icons will be placed on the map in order to inform players as to the location of major centers of trade and population. Beyond questions of the importance of those cities to your culture, they won't serve an incredible amount of purpose. Obviously if the enemy were to capture an important city, or your capital, your prospects would suffer. Ideally your orders will have a focus on interpersonal relationships among your leaders, questions of social and political organization, and a broad view of economic progress. This should be especially true at the very beginning, where the ET turns will take us through a thousand years or more.

Wars are going to be a thing. They will probably be fought primarily in the style of actual real life conflicts, what with swords and axes and hammers and sharp, pointy sticks. Magic or the aid of mages could confer significant battlefield advantages on various armies but it will not be the deciding factor in most conflicts. Army description serves the purpose of streamlining questions of “quality” and “superiority” into a simple description of the type of troops that comprise your military and what they're good at. If you are a martial steppe culture with significant skill at using cavalry on the field you are probably not going to be very good at fielding a professional, trained army of pikemen and men-at-arms infantry, at least not without significant training beforehand.

A reminder that the bent of this NES is towards culture-building and stories, as opposed to stats and wargaming. Certainly there will be many times and many places for the last element, but questions of “who has more mans” and “how many moneys will I get from this economic project” are secondary to the overall purpose of the NES. With that out of the way, let us begin.
 
Stats and Things
 
Reserve 3
 
Reserve 4
 
Culture Name: The Seven Dwarf Clans of Almure

Starting Location: A volcano in the far northern mountain range.

Society: The dwarves are a highly conservative and isolationist culture, with trade generally not being a focus and strength being important. They are divided into seven clans: those of Bron, Ragnan, Heran, Trok, Tyran, Lone and Barin, each representing a god, and each competing fiercely to come on top. The dominant clan for years has been the clan of the Smith, or Clan Tyran, who preside over the mining of the mountains and the refining of them.

Religion: The dwarves have eight gods: the Smith, the Farmer, the Fisher, the Lumberjack, the Warrior, the Crafter, the Trader and the Taker. Each is presides over the realm of industry they are named after, except for the Taker, who is the god of the dead. Each corresponds to a clan, and the “exiled” clan, the clan of Harald, are the servants of the Taker. Each is worshipped equally save the Smith, who is seen as the highest, and the Taker, who is never worshipped save at funerals.

Mythos:
Spoiler :
In the north, at the center of a mountain whose heart is fire, the first dwarf was forged. Shaped from metal and stone, he was the earth made flesh, created by the very Smith himself. Gifted a pickax and a hammer, he was sent to wander the world, through the empty wastes of the time. A castle he built himself, in the center of his birthplace, empty but for him and his treasure. Sitting on his throne, he stayed for eons, still as the rock from which he was hewn. It may have been this way for eternity, but the Smith took pity on him and crafted him a wife from the beauty of a diamond.

Together the two ruled happily, the wife willingly consummating her marriage. Six-and-ten children she bore him, 8 boys and 8 girls, each man given a piece of land to lord over. In turn, each man took a daughter for a wife, and the dwarven race prospered.

From these eight sons the clans are descended, each claiming a son as their ancestor. Through the Age of Heroes they lived in peace on their lands, united by the ancient magic of blood. Each generation, the sons of each clan would wife the daughters of the others, binding them closer. At times, they united under one banner, to fight off the monsters and roving orcish clans.

But then the pact was broken, and war erupted between the clans. Brother against brother, wife against husband, the land way in ruins until the clan of Harald was struck from the land and every descendant of them exiled or slaughtered. Peace returned, but the pact was broken and could never be restored.

For a thousand years they lived in uneasiness, until the mists of time receded and the present age was reached. No more wars have begun, but bitter feuds are no stranger tot he Seven Clans. Still, the Smith is merciful, and the Seven have prospered. Despite the peace, however, a tension is there which cannot be exiled as easily as the Clan of Harald. Battle is looming.


Economy: While each clan focusses on the industry their god presides over, they all also farm and mine to a large degree. However, the clan of Tyran (the Smith’s clan) has claim to the most mineral rich area, and the clan of Bron (the Farmer’s clan) has claim to the best farmland. The land near the volcano is truly the only land suited to farming to a large degree, but also has the best ores, and so is hotly contested between the two.

Country Names: The names of the seven clans.

Person Names: Males are often named after their clans, and females the feminine version of the clan names.. However, here are a few more:
Male: Iren, Arten, Tyrek, Erik, Hiler, Alewn, Ligern, Alstan
Female: Iria, Helari, Alia, Trien, Tylan, Howla

Place Names: Towns are named after prominent landmarks nearby affixed with -all. Common words for landmarks in dwarvish are thus: River = Borina, Mountain = Tyra, Forest = Tyreka, Plain = Bronia, and Lake = Troka (The words generally come from the name of the clan whose industry corresponds to the landmark at hand).
 
Culture Name: Mas’sool Orcs
Starting Location: Gibraltar like area, mouth of the inland sea (both shores.)
Society:
The Mas’sool are a relatively fluid patriarchal hierarchy, with a chieftain replaceable by single combat. He is known as the Father of the tribe. The Chieftain tends to be advised by a figure known as “The Mother,” who is responsible for the spiritual well-being of the tribe. The Father and the Mother must enter into a sexual relationship, abandoning former loves and interests, to be able to fully work together for the good of the Mas’sool. However, a Chieftain can appeal to the elders to have “The Mother” be replaced by his extant wife, an appeal that is often granted.

When the mother grows to be too old to be fertile, or a chieftain becomes too old to fight, they becomes “Grandmother,” or “Grandfather,” respectively, and are responsible for teaching the young of the tribe in the history and stories of the people, and imparting important and necessary skills.

Upon ascension to Chieftainhood, and relatively regularly after that, the chieftain is expected to throw a feast, inviting at the very least the chieftain and mother of all the neighboring tribes, though many tend to invite the whole tribes. This feast, known as Hakadi, ostensibly serving to show off the power and disposable wealth of the tribe and cow neighbors into peace, actually serves as the glue for Mas’sool society. It allows for knowledge, news, and new blood to flow from one end to the other of the vast Mas’sool culture in a relatively quick manner.

Marriage among the Mas’sool is permanent and monogamous (Except in the case of the ascension of a new cheiftan or mother), and consecrated in the sight of “The Mother.” As all orcs, Mas'sool breed quickly and repeatedly.

The Mas’soul Language is a surprisingly soft, lilting one, with sounds generally being formed at the front of the mouth. There are very few harsh or glottal stops. It is very obviously from a very different language family than the harsher languages of the Orcs native to Aresool. This disconnect from Aresooli Orcs is also apparent in the physical structure of the Mas’sool. While perfectly capable of breeding with Native Orcs without any of the problematic hangups that occur between Human-orc or Elvish-orc (or even Human-Elvish pairings) the Mas’sool have a more purplish than green skin, longer but finer tusks, and a svelter build than Aresooli Orcs, though of course among both Aresooli and Mas’sool there is a large gradient overlap.

Mas’sool villages and nomadic camps follow a common pattern. Houses or Yurts, depending on the permanence of the settlement, are arranged in a circular pattern around a large, circular open space in the middle of the village. A large fire, generally raised on a dirt or stone “Mountain” is kept generally burning in the center of this space, representing the fact that, once upon a time, the Mas’sool lived around Sool herself. This fire is used for ritual purposes, as well as for cooking large meats for various feasts. Around the village, if it is permanent, is a circular palisade with a multiple of five guard towers equidistant around the palisade, each guarding a single gate. This is mirrored in non-permanent settlements by symbolic towers, either bone or wooden carved poles planted equidistant around the camp.

Religion:
Mas’sool culture is defined by the sense of loss for their homeland, and a sense of guilt over their abandonment of this homeland. This loss is written into their very name: Mas’sool literally means The Exiles of Sool, their word both for Mother and for the homeland they believe they lost. They believe that they were born when the blood of their Mother, the magma flowing from the volcanic islands they called home, mixed with the sperm of the ocean, the foam tossed up by surf. The Mas’sool believe that they had an ubolic racial “childhood,” where every want, every need, was fulfilled by the tropical islands on which they lived. This childhood was brought to a harsh end by an event they call “The Birth,” where their mother was torn asunder. The Mas’sool believe that they have a sibling, also born of the sea and of lava, but that this younger brother is a terrifying monster, who, upon his birth, devoured their mother. They call this brother Kai, or Devourer.
The greatest shame of the Mas’sool is that they fled the fight with their little brother and failed to protect their mother.

The Mas’sool believe that their mother is dead, but that Kai is still hungry and looking for them.
Some groups of the Mas’sool believe that the only way to keep themselves safe is by sacrificing meat to Kai, by burning it the large fire in the center of Mas’sool settlements. Some take this so far as to burn prisoners alive.

The Mas’sool believe that the soul of Sool is waiting for them in death, where they will be able to return to her and live as the People of Sool once did, as children without need or want. The Mas’sool feel that the only way to be worthy of this reward is to have lived a full life and to be able to tell it to Sool. The Mas’sool ensure that the souls of their dead return to Sool by giving them either a water or sky burial. It is considered a grave insult to burn the body of a dead Mas’sool Orc, and it is said that those that are burned haunt the descendants of those who defiled their body in such a way. It is believed that the only time that is not the case is if the body is consecrated to Sool via the fire pit in the center of the village.


Mythos:
Spoiler :

(Chorus):
Sing a song, singer
Tell a story, teller
Remember for us
Remind Us


(Storyteller):
I remember well
For my father told me
What his father told him
And so will I tell
Of how it came to be:​

(Chorus):
What will you sing us, singer?
What will you tell us, teller?
There is a story you must tell
And we’ll pay with a shell

(Storyteller):
Long, long, long, ago
Or so our fathers say
There was an island
Where everything can grow
And all the sunny day
No one need lift a hand

It is there we were born
The Orcs of Mas’sool
From fire and foam
The Innards on the earth torn
Glowing and set to cool
In the sea that became home

No one knew hunger
Fish swam in the sea
For man, woman, and child
There was no anger
Because fruit grew on every tree
Fresh and sweet and wild

On every island we lived
Pure and peaceful
On every see we sailed
For fish and shell we dived
and slept every night blissful
The glory of our home unveiled.​

(Chorus):
Will you tell us, singer,
Will you sing to us, teller
What happened to our home
What was it’s gloam

(Storyteller):
It is getting late
The stars are out
My back is tired
My age is great
Do not pout
It s time I retired

(Chorus):
No, singer, no
No, teller no!
Your story is not done
And you must not run!

(Storyteller):
Ahh, as you wish
though it pains my voice
I will sing and tell
What happened to the fish
Why we can not rejoice
How the Islands of Sool became our hell.

(Chorus):
Thank you, Singer
Thank you, teller
Our eyes are bright
And our mouths are tight

(Storyteller):
The Islands of Sool
For an eternity our womb
For so long our home
Fell from our rule
Became a tomb
Where many ghosts roam

For a year and day
Our home shook
A great beast below
Being born into the spray
To the sea we took
Escaping its nativity throes

Far into the ocean we sailed
Watching back at our mather
As a beast of fire and ash
Of rock and heat scaled
Our big little brother
Consumed her in a flash

We left him to his feast
because in those times
We knew nothing of war
And could not have killed the beast
Our biggest crime
We turned and put hand to oar

That is our shame
We had paradise
A rich land of ease
And we will never find the same
Another year our price
Before we left the seas

Our mother dead
We landed here
A land bereft of her love
And we shook our head
And shed a tear
For the truth thereof

In this dark land
We made a promise
A promise to the dead
though orc took sword in hand
though cousin forgot his
kin, though we had fled

We would never forget
Always live and know
Know we are not whole
And though there is regret
We will always grow
And be the Orcs of Mas’sool.

And now this story is over
I am old and tired
I must bid you farewell
I will slip under my cover
And if this story you admired
Tomorrow another I will tell.​

(Chorus):
Thank you Singer,
Thank you teller,
Thank you grandpa
And have a goodnight.


Economy:
The Sool are generally semi-nomadic, with different Mas’sool people adopting different domesticates, and spreading them over their (Loose and informal) trade network. Almost as soon as landing on Aresool, the Mas’sool became enamored with the concept of riding animals, which most of the native cultures had accomplished. Horses and Elephants became a way of life for the Mas’sool, allowing them to spread far and wide. (The Presence of Elephants on the north coast of the Inland Sea is sometimes attributed to the Mas’soul.) Of course, coastal Mas’sool people never forgot their origins, and spread their naval culture (Primarily Catamarans and net and spear-fishing) with their expansion along the coastlines.

The Mas’sool subsist on meat, semi-permanent agricultural sites, and fish, depending on location. Pigs, which were imported to Aresool in the exile, still supplement much of the diet of the Mas’sool that live in more or less permanent settlements. Other domesticates that were imported by the Mas’sool in the exile include Mangoes, passion fruit, potatoes, Bananas, chili-peppers, vanilla, and cinnamon, all of which have strongly taken to the warmer areas of Aresool.


Country Names:
Presumably Variants on the word Sool, for Mother/homeland. Husool, New Homland, Soolor, Orc Homeland, Koursool, Gold Home, though many will probably take words from locals, mangling them with the Mas’sool accent so as to make them unrecognizable.

Person Names
Spoiler :
Male:
Atarnaj
Abeseloma
Aiai
Aata
Alapai
Alevina
Amoka
Elohi
Etera
Hahona
Hakumele
Hamuapaku
Hehu
Heketoro
Hirini
Lorema
Losefa
Kakii
Kakahu
Lo
Makaio
Maru
Puelilite
Rongo
Siaki
Taine
Wi
Wirimu

Female:
Ahere
Ahorangi
Akenhi
Alewina
Arihi
Bataba
Eleele
Emere
Epa
Haeta
Lolani
Hakeke
Hanga
Harata
Hiwaru
Irapera
Kaitaka
La
Lalago
Mahina
Maikino
Paeta
Pilili
Sefa
Sefina
Stefani
Taifimoana
Wiki

Gender Neutral:
Aala
Aillana
Akua
Alaneo
Alahimo
Alana
Aluna
Anoi
Apana
Enaki
Lima
Lolan
Hayku
Olina
Hie
Ira
Jawa
Kaohu
Kaheru
Kahwiwi
Kala
Keha
Koukakala
Lelei
Lokelani
Loto
Milimili
Repata
Uluwehi
Wehilani


Place Names:
The Mas’soul generally adopt native names for places, though with the Mas’soul accent they may become unrecognizable to the original inhabitants. However, when naming areas on their own, the Mas’sool name places after characteristics of the area (Kishalla, Land of the Flowers, Awamangai, Mouth of the River, nakihanga, Snake Den, Kaingarehan, Elephant’s Food, Marutaru, Grass field, etc... )
 
Nevermind, I probably won't have time.
 
Let me know if something doesn't work or clashes, my orcs work differently to thomas's and I don't know if thats allowed. I would have gone with trolls but I remembered that NK had a huge thing for trolls so I didn't want to mess that up.

Culture Name: the Ogyr Orcs

Starting Location: Around the volcano in big mountain valley near the river on the southern half of the map.

Society: The Ogyr are a semi-nomadic culture of Orcs, who wander the Ogyr River valley and the surrounding mountains in a nomadic hunting existence during the winter months and settle to farm during the summer. Clans are organised along patrilineal lines, with the eldest Orc in the clan being the Clan Elder (and normally ancestor of the other clan members). The Elder, advised by the other elderly Clan members, is responsible for instructing other members of the Clan where to go, how to follow the trails that their ancestors travelled while roaming, and settling inter-clan disputes.

During the summer and the autumn, the Ogyr hunt throughout the mountains. During this time they live in large yurts which they pack up and take with them every week or so when they move on. As winter approaches, they begin hoarding food in greater numbers before moving down to the river valley and planting crops. During this time their yurts become permanent. The Ogyr grow the crops and harvest them in the early spring, saving a great deal for the later summer months to supplement their diets. It is during the winter and Spring that the Ogyr Great Hunts are most frequent.

The Ogyr domesticate rhinoceroses, using them for their milk, their meat, and as beasts of burden. Many members of the tribe ride rhinoceroses while migrating, as well as in combat. War-rhinos are prized by the Ogyr, and are frequently studded out to other clans to breed more.

Once every five years all the Ogyr clans gather at the Morn-e Tarmysal, the Mountain that Smokes (the gigantic volcano on the river valley) for the Ogyrmoot, where all the clans meet to trade and sort out interclan issues such as division of hunting lands and the settling of feuds.

Ogyr Orcs lack genders or sexes, as they reproduce by spawning. Spawn are borne into large buckets which are carried on the backs of other Ogyr until the spawn reach their semi-larval stages, at which point they are roughly eight inches tall and too big to fit into the buckets and no longer need constant water. They then grow prodigiously, until they are the size of an adult Orc in 24 months.

The Ogyr particularly enjoy as a supplement to their hunting and agriculture the flesh of the other sentient races, which they call 'the Delicious races'. As such, Ogyr clans regularly gather together for 'Great Hunts', or raids on the villages other sentient races. Frequently the Ogyr descend on these villages and sate their hunger there and then, but at the same time many captives are often carried off to eat later. As such, they are widely regarded as savage barbarians by many other sentient races in the region.

Religion: The Ogyr worship their ancestors as their Tribal Totem. It is believed that after the Death of the First Walker, the Ogyr creation deity, the spirits of the Ogyr attained divine qualities and thus melded with the Earth. To this day, the spirits of all the Ogyr that have passed still watch over their Clan, guiding them and protecting them from harm. The remaining Ogyr offer small sacrifices and libations to their Ancestors every spring during the Harvest Festival, as well as before every Great Hunt, and as directed by their Shaman in times of crisis.

All Ogyr clans have as their unique tribal totem the very first member of their Clan, who they believe is descended from Amun, the first Ogyr. Normally, a Shaman is responsible for interceding between the Tribe and the Prime Ancestor, and will carry the supposed skull of the Ancestor on a pole. This staff (the Pal-o Manzadrum, or Staff of the Prime Ancestor) is a sacred object to the Ogyr Clan, and the entire tribe must go to any lengths in order to get it back above all else.

The Shaman will sometimes go into a trance state when he asks the Prime Ancestor and the other Ancestors for advice. It is believed that in this state he speaks with the words of the Ancestors themselves, and thus his advice is the advice of the Prime Ancestor.

Mythos:
Spoiler :

"Let me tell you, wee spawnlings, of the origins of the the Ogyr Race."

"In the beginning, there was only the Cosmic Grub. The Grub was ravenous, and began to eat itself. From its juices flowed the seas, and its flesh became the land, and its skeleton supports the land as it bites its own tail. Its spines became the mountains, and its curves became the valleys, and so it was that all became as it is now."

"So it continued, for a thousand thousands years. Until one day, from the Flesh of the Cosmic Grub sprang the First Walker. The First Walker looked upon the Flesh and saw it was barren, and forged the trees and the flowers from the Earth. And so it was that the Land was flowered."

"But the First Walker now grew hungry, and did not desire to eat the flowers, for despite their form they tasted bitter. So he made from the Flesh the beasts of the land, and the beasts of the Sea, and the beasts of the air, and dined upon them until he grew full."

"Now the First Walker was sated and wanted not. But still he was lonely, and desired someone to speak with. So he forged from the Earth the first Orc, the Great Amun, and the first Rhinoceros for him to ride, and breathed into Amun the breath of Will and Strength, so that Amun would have these. And Amun and the First Walker were in good company, and roamed the Earth, naming the beasts and the plants and feasting on those beasts that were wholesome."

"One day, Amun was out walking, and grew hungry. So he rode his rhinoceros, and caught many animals, but the earth was then plentiful, so he tossed the carcasses where he ate. From these carcasses spawned the other races of the Earth, the Men and the Elves, and the Dwarves, and all the other races. And Amun was pleased with this, for all these races were wholesome to feast upon, and he gorged himself for a thousand years more."

"However, the other races grew faster than he could eat them, and soon the land risked despoliation. Amun spoke to the First Walker, and said unto him, "The delicious races spawn faster than I may, and I cannot eat them all. Soon they risk destruction by their own numbers, and then they will all starve. The First Walker took pity upon Amun, and said to him, "I shall cause my spirit to merge with yours, so that you may too create and make. And every year in the spring, you shall cause spores to flow off your skin, and if they land in fertile waters they shall grow into your Orcs and they shall be your children. And the First Walker did this thing, and so it was that the First Walker departed from the Earth and into our spirits."

"And so Amun spawned, and so did his spawnlings, and his spawnling's spawnlings, and the Ogyr became as a great tribe. And they learned the ways of fire, and the ways of metal, and the ways of the hunt, and they made the Brogher Mountains their home, and feasted on the flesh of the delicious races. But all this is another story, Spawnlings."


Economy

The Ogyr generally live by subsistence farming and hunting. During the winter, they grow staple crops as well as various fruits, supplemented by the meat of the delicious races. In the summer, they continue to eat these staple crops as well as all the meat they can catch. The Ogyr engage in limited trade with other races, exchanging the various foodstuffs of the mountains for high quality pottery and metal tools. The Ogyr domesticated crops are mostly barley and rye, though they also domesticate peas, turnips, carrots, onions, garlic, and cabbages.

The Ogyr do engage in metal work, though this is almost exclusively for tools and weapons. The Ogyr lack the metalworking skills to create armour, and metal ornamentation is usually deemed a waste of metals. Most ornamentation is usually traded for at the Ogyrmoot or from other races.

The Ogyr supplement their diet with rhinoceros meat and dairy products produced from the milk of the rhinoceros, such as cheeses and creams.

Country Names
Broghyr (name of the mountain chain that the Ogyr live in, lit. Ogyr-mounts)
Andar-e Tarmysal (the Land that Smokes)
Andar-e Coyela (the Land of Rhinoceroses)
Andar-e Grumm (the Land of Peas)
Bro-e Amunn (Mountain of the Prime One)
Brotenghyr (Tall Mountains)
Busandhyr (Empty Lands)
Andar-e Emran (Land of Sands)

Person Names

Ogyr spawnlings are first named after they leave their bucket. They are normally named after an attribute that the Clan hopes that they will grow up to be, or alternatively another attribute they possess deemed amusing or cute to the Clan.

Amun (Prime One)
Panamun (Favoured Child of the Prime One)
Panbroghyr (Favoured Child of the Broghyr Mountains)
Pankoyela (Favoured Child of the Rhinoceros)
Hun (Hunter)
Nemhun (Stealthy Hunter)
Katankoyela (Swift Rider of the Rhinoceros)
Katingting (Strong Metalworker. 'Tingting' is an onomatopoeic term for metalworking, named after the sound of beating a sword with a hammer)
Bar-e Grumm (Pea Eater)
Drobhar (Vast Eater. Lit. Big Mouth)
Panbariya (Favoured Child of the Barley)
Bar-e Humm (Man Eater)
Nemrim (Quiet Walker)
Sheshtar (Wise Shaman)
Pataramun (Favoured Shaman of the Prime One(
Sheshhun (Wise Hunter)
Sheshtingting (Wise metalworker)
Sheshkoyela (Wise Rhinoceros)

Place Names
The same as Country Names. The Ogyr are currently nomadic, and thus any country that forms would be based on geographic locations - the hunting range of the several clans that form the polity. Clans themselves do not have names persee, but are normally distinguished by their Ancestor, who typically has a normal Ogyr name.

Thus Bar-e Humm of the Pankoyela Clan may quarrel with Pankoyela of the Bar-e Humm Clan.
 
Culture Name: Decian Gnomes

Starting Location: The large island in the Mediterranean area and the surrounding coastline on the mainland. (I would like the other islands but I doubt I'll get those.)

Society: Decian society is based on ones ability to produce for the community. Those able produce the most food and goods or are able to procure through other means will be at the top of the social hierarchy. Of course if one is no longer able to produce they will suffer a dramatic fall from grace. Tribal Councils, with one's say based on their ability to acquire goods, is the most common form of government though a despotism does pop up every now and then if a gnome is able to monopolize food or some other vital resource. Monarchies are almost nonexistent as who your father was has little bearing on your influence in Decian society.
Decians are a exclusively settled people generally living in large settlements. (for the time period)

Religion: Generally Ancestor worship though they are very tolerant of other religions and will incorporate them if they are widespread enough. Their main belief is that there two overlapping worlds in existence, the Land of Clay (The physical world) and the Land of Spirits (The afterlife). They believe that the thoughts of living influence beings in the Land of Spirits; when the living pray to a Spirit that Spirit grows in strength and can in turn use that power to influence the physical world. As such the Decian believe that all beings have the potential to become godlike beings provided they can become great enough to be worshiped.

Mythos:
Spoiler :

The early days of the Gnomes are known to none save that the days were good and that Gnomes were free to wander pursuing whatever they wished. This all changed with the coming of the Doom. None know what the Doom was; some say it was a roving band of barbarians, some a vile plague, and others still the work of some mad god. What is know though is that the Doom brought death to the Gnomes and an end to their wanderings. Those that survived the initial slaughter of the Doom fled from their homelands and took to the sea to avoid the Doom.

Across the sea the Gnomes found a new land free of the touch of the Doom. Yet all was not well for the Gnomes as all that they had was left behind when they fled and the journey was not gentle. Was here that the Ten rose to lead the Gnomes to glory.

The Ten had been ordinary Gnomes prior to the Doom but the need of their people had forced them to become extraordinary:
The Farmer whose seeds had survived the journey and whose diligence gave him an unrivaled harvest.
The Soldier whose men were loyal and true could insure the protection of all.
The Mason who had secrets that many claim let him speak to the stone and made work beyond the ability of any other.
The Judge whose wisdom was great and prevented many a conflict among the survivors.
The Hunter whose skill was unquestioned and could bring down any foe.
The Sailor whose endurance was unyielding letting him sail longer and farther that any other.
The Bard whose silver tongue could convince any man of the wisdom of his thinking.
The Sage whose intellect was so vast he could find a use for anything placed before him.
The Miner whose strength that could not fail and which brought what was needed for all to prosper.
The Fool whose luck knew no end which brought many treasures and discoveries to the people.

Together the Ten lead the survivors into a golden age the likes of which the Gnomes had never seen and which many suspect will never see again. A grand city was constructed where all the Gnomes lived in peace free from want and fear. Tales too numerous to count came from the this era of great needs, miraculous accomplishments, and extraordinary creations and at the center of them all were the Ten. Yet like all mortals the Ten could not live forever and one by one they all met their fate:
The Farmer worked himself to death when his fields turned barren.
The Soldier was killed in his sleep when his men grew fat and ambitious.
The Mason took his own life when his secrets became know.
The Judge was attacked in the street when a man did not agree with his judgement.
The Hunter was gored when his spear broke when faced with a dire boar.
The Sailor was found on the shore after after his ship was not seen in months
The Bard was bludgeoned when when he offended a man who could not hear his silver tongue.
The Sage choked after mistaking a poison for a healing salve.
The Miner was broken after a bolder he could not lift came down on him.
Last the Fool who died when the tomb of his comrades fell collapsed on him.

With the Ten dead the city began to fight amongst themselves to determine who would lead. Blood was flowed and ruin was brought to the city. The factions fought for many a year until the city was but a shell of itself. Those with power decided that it would be wiser to form their own city rather than continue this fight over the city whose glory had passed. So the once grand city was abandoned and her people scattered across the land she once ruled.


Economy: Mainly based on the sea, though farming does occur, with a heavy focus on trade Will engage in metalwork and other crafts if they have the resources nearby, if not they will import them.

Country Names: The Free City of [BLANK], the Republic of [BLANK], etc

Person Names: (Your asking the wrong person for names, though I'll try to put something here later)

Place Names: They will tend to make names that sound "rich" and inciting often based on local landmarks.

OOC: I'll try to put up some more details later when I have the time.

Edit: After several conversations this is likely to change some, just putting that out there.
 
Would it be alright to control three cultures at the start that would merge into one culture during the ET? And would it be alright for one of those cultures to be a type of elves, which would be bred out of existence (mostly) during the ET?
 
Culture Name: Malich Humans

Starting Location: The mouth of that big river around the Mediterranean-like area.

Society: The Malich people are an egalitarian society with heavy emphasis on trade and learning. Lacking kings or any other kind of tradition involving a strong centralized authority, these people live in small city-states up the river and along the coasts, trading with each other for resources that they need.

The study of words and its meanings hold religious significance to the people of Malich, who almost obsessively label everything that they produce. Newborns are generally not named until they are 8 years of age, at which point they are given a name by the Wordsmiths of Mal.

Primitive oligarchic rule by large landowners are the primary means of governance in most cities of the Malich.

Religion: Malich people are more philosophical than religious, however, most Malichi follow several religious customs that are distinct from other cultures.

While there are no priests or any person with clear religious authority in Malich culture, people from other cultures would observe that learned man/scholars seem to fill many of the roles that priests and shamans would fulfill in others. These scholars usually never claim direct communion with any spirits or gods, but is learned in ancient customs and tales.

People in Malichi culture do not receive name until the age of eight, at which point the Wordsmiths determine the child's name from the names of famous ancestors. If a person accomplishes great things in his life, he has a chance to abandon the name that the Wordsmiths had given them and take another that he devised himself. To be the First of his Name is a great honor among the people of Malich.

For the Malich people, there is no afterlife. They believe themselves to be trapped in a neverending cycle of reincarnations. However, they believe that the spirits of the strong would become stars in order to watch over his descendants. Many Malich Scholars devoted themselves to the study of the stars-and what messages they send to the people.

Mythos: (Will attach later after some edit)


Economy: Dependent on the city. Coastal cities would be more reliant on trade and fishing. More inland closer to the river, heavier focus would be placed on farming and metalwork.

Country Names: Elrich. Lavinum. Laudas. Tralich.

Person Names: Will put up something later.

Place Names: Elrich. Heaven's Fall. The Sea of Tears. River of Qod.

__________________
 

Culture Name: The Dwarves of Kalthein
Starting Location:
Spoiler :

Society:
The Dwarves of Kalthein are a isolated and collectivistic culture. Mostly keeping to themselves, they keep the doors of Tarund shut at most times, only allowing some adventurous merchants and dwarves who live along the Adorei to come and go. From the combination of constantly mining precious resources and the isolation, they have accumulated a massive treasury that sits in the heart of the mountain. Social life is separated into different classes, with the Merchants & Mushroom farmers at the bottom, Miners and Smelters in the next tier, and Artisans and Nobles at the top. An elected board of 17 make the most important decisions for the culture, with each board member heading their own board of 33 members, which in turn watches over their assigned populations. Each board has their own personal party that vies for their own views and beliefs. At times of great trouble, either internal or external, the great doors of Tarund are closed for an indefinite time, often until the situation is resolved.

Religion:
The Dwarves of Kalthein do not follow any gods in the traditional sense. Instead, they worship the mountain they live within. Innate carvings and sculptures depict Kalthein as a towering figure eyeing the surrounding lands. He is their lord and saviour, defending the dwarves from external threats and being a central figure in their lifestyle.

Mythos:
The epic mountain of Kalthein has always been watching over the world since the beginning. As creatures and plants took root and spread across the world, Kalthein squatted and rose like a spire into the heavens, alone in his solitude. Eventually the pressure under the mountain grew so great that it forged the first dwarf, Krakei, made of the very rock that Kalthein embodied. Soon after a second, a female by the name of Laori, was born from the stone. The two dwarves took to the deep caverns of the mountain and created a family. The nine children of Krakei and Laori established homes in the mountain and soon the dwarves started to carve out the inside of Kalthein. Spreading deep into the stone and sinking mines into the very roots of the mountain. No longer was Kalthein alone; for he was host to an entire hive of civilization, one that was as much him as his own stone.

Economy:
Spending most of their lives in the mountain, mining out riches, the dwarves of Kalthein have a centralized economy of mining. Yet some venture through the great doors of Tarund, the luxurious gateway to the river valley west of the mountain, and settle along the fertile river of Adorei. Mushroom farming within Kalthein is a staple of agriculture and sustains a majority of the population.

Country Names: Potential names for polities arising from your culture. More relevant later on
Kuldn, Kalthon, Amrua, Gehro

Person Names:
Male: Kroren, Boren, Faroe, Kalden, Tleorn
Female: Laora, Hauna, Naini, Wulen, Juran

Place Names:
River - “prefix”-rei (RAY)
Mountain - “prefix”-lthe-”suffix”
Fort - “Dumur” (DEW-MEW-Er)
Town - “Doaln” (DOUGH-ALL-IN)
 
Culture Name: Telchine, or Forest, Gnomes

Starting Location: The northwestern boreal forest

Society: Telchine society is organized around clans, which trace their origin to a central figure. There are large clans and small clans, each with their own patriarchs and matriarchs, who come together to form inclusive communities known as shires, which enforce laws and provide public goods. There are no Telchine kings or rulers, as such: each clan, while based around family-ties, is very much a voluntary association, and new clans are always formed as individuals go their own way, with good or bitter partings. Hereditary has little place in the Telchine system, and family ties are only a loose basis for clans. The perceived reincarnations of the Ten have great influence outside the Clan system, and a sect of Gnomish Magi make efforts to identify the new incarnations. The Telchine diet is not particularly meat heavy: much of their livestock is bred for milk and wool, and not meat, but they have no taboos against it.

The Telchine, more than most Gnomes, are inherently magical, to a greater degree than elves. They understand the magical currents of the world in their bones more than any other society, and though they may rarely possess great power, they possess great expertise in shaping the weather, crafting illusions, and enchanting minds. They place great value on understanding the world and the accumulation of knowledge, and possess a strong intuition for nature and magic. They are also skilled craftsmen and builders, though focused more on enhancing natural beauty than shaping it into a new form: the most famous examples of Telchine architecture are natural hillsides and forests, carefully shaped, sometimes over decades, into homes and cities.

Religion: The Telchines refer to their race as the Manyborn, as they believe their race is reincarnated after death, as opposed to elves or humans who pass on to an afterlife. They share the Decian belief in the Ten, but instead maintain that the Ten are regular gnomes, like any other, and are reincarnated on death.

Mythos: When the other races, young and old, speak of creation myths, they speak of the creation of their race. They recall when some divinity descended to Earth to forge them out of starlight, or granite, or his clipped toenails, and imbued them with some special purpose. But the gnomes do not see themselves as having a beginning. They are part of the world, made of the same stuff. Their blood is river water, their milk is rain from the sky. They are kin to the wind and the earth and the oceans, brothers to wolves and badgers. They were nature spirits, caught up in the Act of Creation and given shape and substance at the beginning of time.

Economy: Telchine society is sedentary, farming and raising livestock in the rich lands of the north. Crafting, of pottery and metalwork, is valued highly, and artisans are some of the most respected members of Telchine society.

Country Names: Laters
Person Names: Laters
Place Names: Laters
 
While I would probably have gone for the more traditional 'caesarean,' good work LoE. Here's hoping you also gently but firmly reject the sad sacks that don't collaborate and have poorly fleshed out civilizations.

There's going to be MORE mountains soon. Mostly just in the extreme southwest and northeast. And definitely a good deal more rivers. At least 3-4 more major rivers.

I claim the civilization that is mine and doesn't yet have a name. Ancillary human players, consider my background and how to build off of it.

Yn Ertanjos [Of the Fall of Njos]
Melo Unaieldan [An Alternate Account of the Fall of Njos]

Yn Raghir Jormvardn - The Saga of the Dragon Kings

I. Of the Houses of Men and the Waking Days
II. Of the Line of Varald and the Coming of Tyrath
 
Reposting this. True submission inbound. :)

Mythology of the Kuldnengjer

[...] When the world was risen from the Deep [the ocean], it was still a barren glacier of winterwalk,
and there were no beings from highest to lowest, not even the smallest lichen grew there. The ice
and rock slept through a slumbering winter, and time crept as ages past.

But then, a thousand stars in the sky coalesced into the sun [or suns, depending on the skyline],
and it brought the first spring, and with it, seasons bode ready the waves of time. The currents
drove around the world, and it was no longer a stale frostlands. With the sun's light, the first
stormflower blossomed. A white skjarp [type of fish similar to the herring, ordinarily grayish
however] noticed its beauty, and in blissed awe it cast itself out of the water onto a flintstone. When
it breathed the air, it realized it had become fisleng [of-the-fish; man]. The stormflower blossomed
into a beautiful maid, and they made marriage.

Before their death, their thousand sons became the people of Svartkleppe. They were plentiful but
hungry during winter. One day, there was a beautiful girl named Elda. She walked by the Deep as
another white skjarp showed its face at the surface. When she asked it where it was heading, it
answered: "My brother once went ashore. I am here to bring him back and take his place." Afraid of
being pulled back into the Deep, Elda wished to plead. But she noted it eyed her figure, and she
said: "This is our land. Do not just take it and plunge us into the sea." "But I will," the white skjarp
answered. "No you will not. Have me instead of your land," she said. The white skjarp was
tempted, but knew she was a landleng [of-the-land, contrary to marine creatures].

"But you can never be close to me," it said, "You can not cross water." "Then teach my people to
sail," Elda replied. So the skjarp did. And Svartkleppe built boats and she sailed a kjeppe [ship type]
over the white skjarp. But it grew weary with it and wanted the land. Again, she denied it access.
"But you can never be with me," the white skjarp said, "You cannot stay in water." "Then teach my
people to swim," Elda said. So the skjarp did. And the people dove from their boats into the great
Deep and she swam with the white skjarp. But it grew weary with it and wanted the land. Again,
she denied. "But you can never live with me," the white skjarp said, "You cannot eat in water."
"Then teach my people to fish," Elda commanded. So the skjarp did. So Elda went to live in the sea
with the skjarp. But she had again tricked him. As such, when they made marriage, she impaled
him and gave his children to the fislengjer so that they would never starve.

Such was the beginning of Kuldnengjer [man]. They owe everything and nothing to the sea. For they
were given the power of the fisleng, and the power is choice. [...]

Some notes. said:
- Brackets note things that are necessary for a basic understanding of the text.
- The mythology explains the cosmological framework of the Kuldnengjer and their self-understanding as different from anything else, including other humans.
- A number of things give to the Kuldnengjer self-understanding and refers to different parts of their culture: the coalescing of navigational astral bodies (stars) into the sun, the defining aspect of "humanization" as being able to sail, swim and fish, a cultural idol in the skarp fish and the stormflower as well as the spiritually empowered positions of virgins in the Kuldnengjer culture due to the deitific position of Elda.
- Going by that implication: The Kuldnengjer are direct descendants from the first magically-transmuted man, but apparently other people exist without proper explanations of exactly where they came from. I'm aware of this. The same issue is in Genesis. It's supposed to be mythology, not a scientific text.
- I swear the Darwinian mock-imagery wasn't intentional.
- Also there's some serious Freudian stuff going on there. I'm sorry about that. Not intentional.
 
(work in progress, copy-pasted from elsewhere)

The Collegium

Location: CITY_NAME, at the foot of two mountains at the joining of two rivers

Society: At the dawning of the Age of Magic, Finn the Unwise, fair and impetuous, gathered unto herself a hundred hundred sages, god-talkers and magicians; among them, the greatest philosophers of the age. Finn and her followers, in their insanity, believed that the intelligent races had evolved from a single tribe of men, and that the races were products of magic; and that through careful reconstruction, that the language and the myth of the First Men could be derived.

The secret of the Collegium has long been lost, but all knew that Finn was a master of the vision quest--that by re-enacting the myths of the gods, members of the Collegium could gain -- some say steal -- a measure of their power.

Economy: The trade entrepot built around the Collegium, where artifacts of magical power are bartered for the necessities of life, sustains the Collegium in the absence of threats.

Country names: None. The Collegium is uninterested in expansion.
 
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