Court of Saints & Spirits Lore Exodus & The Early Settlers - Sonori Long ago, there was a crisis in a realm called the Overworld. While the exact nature of the cataclysm is lost to time (!secret1), their havens from ruin were known as gateworlds, locales that were typically inaccessible by conventional magical means. With the combined efforts of the Overworld’s magi, alchemists, & Magisterial Adepts, they were able to form a nexus to these gateworlds by constructing massive apparati to stabilize the connections with the gateworlds. a massive exodus from the Overworld began, and these refugees arrived to new and strange worlds. After a year of fleeing from doom, the nexus point of the Overworld was severed, leaving this network of gateworlds on their own. Soon, this network began forming diplomatic & trade relationships between these disparate realms. Those with sufficiently substantial resources and retained expertise were able to create new gates while others were lost, either to natural disasters, invasions, enraged locals or fauna, or internal strife. These events would herald the dissolution of the old network that the inhabitants of the Overworld established and the beginning of a new order. Some would form alliances, making their own internal network of gateworlds, even going as far as to disconnect from the old network entirely. Each world began to become their own unique entity, the ties of the Overworld civilization being left to obscurity. Sonori was the designation of one of the first series of gateworlds established during the exodus. Every gateworld connection is unique, depending on the location and the connection to that realm. Some connections only allowed one person at a time while others allowed a river of travelers to cross simultaneously. More bizarre cases included gates that seemingly reverse people's personalities, strip the spirit from bone, or even dissolve the perception of time. The Sonori worldgate allowed the free flow of multiple peoples to transmat through the gate at once, but only living, organic material, and to flow only in one direction. These settlers were surprised to flee through the gate ladened with their belongings, only to be expelled to the other side with not even the clothes on their back. Tools, weapons, books, provisions, vehicles, clothing, all were either dematerialized or sent somewhere other than the intended world, as the magical and technological might they brought from the Overworld was unbound in one fateful step. Left to fend amongst the elements of this alien world, and armed with only their living knowledge, the old functionaries and bureaucrats quickly became superfluous, while a new cabal of magi, alchemists, and military personnel, some of whom even helped work on the Worldgate devices, used their skills and prowess to lead these settlers to brave this new world. However, life in this new world did not come easily, with many of the settlers were from urbanized areas finding this new primitive life-style was completely alien to them. The season was an unusual concept since on the Overworld there was only eternal summer. To make matters worse, the old order enslaved many of the lower echelons, taking them away from their families in order to build the shelters necessary for the settlers. Reports of cannibalism reached the ears of many when the season changed to cold and the trees, plants, and animals slumbered beneath cold, white alien matter that melted to water with the coming equinox. Without access to their vast written stores of knowledge, their native magic, alchemical supplies, tools & technology denied to them, they were forced to struggle and adapt. Using primitive tools their distant ancestors would have used, the early settlers cobbled rudimentary structures for shelter, while the academics began to categorize the knowledge they possessed in their minds down on whatever they could inscribe before too much was lost in their struggle for survival. The magi found their sorcerous arts transformed in this new world in ways that would astound them back in the Overworld. The alchemists without their reagents and their traditional ingredients, were forced to forage and experiment with the local foliage & fauna to try and replicate similar reactions. The Magisterial Adepts were similarly impeded, having to construct tools using the most rudimentary mechanical advantage, instead of vast moving mechanical computational monasteries they once lorded over, huddled in crude workbenches to assemble the basest forms of machination. Soon these clumps of settler’s hovels formed into arrays of cottages and villages, and eventually cities proper over the seasons. Unfortunately, these developments would soon attract the attention of the indigenous inhabitants, the spiritkin (!secret). After the first few catastrophic encounters of the settlers with the spiritkin, the fledgling civilization was brought to its knees. The same cabal that had helped forge the wayward refugees into a cohesive group once again answered the call. Though all written accounts have long since crumbled into dust (!secret), this organization helped push back the spiritkin and established the pylons, wards that bar the spiritkin from entering the perimeter of human controlled land. After this conflict, the erstwhile group came to be known as The Court, the most powerful congregation of military, magi, alchemists, & Magisterial Adepts in this new world. They had cemented their power with the settlers, and would come to be seen as essential to the running of civilization in the coming generations, as all knowledge, magic, technology, and political power flowed through them. Eventually this would become transmigrated into spiritual hegemony as well, pushing away the Overworld ways that lingered as high and low-born alike bent the knee to The Court's new divine mandate. The First Expansion & The Wards The initial villages formed a patchwork for the main trades of goods between the settlers, and trade helped with the recovery from the cataclysmic clash with the spiritkin. However, refugees from destroyed settlements were abundant, and those who lost their already scant possessions either flooded the few towns left standing, succumbed to exposure, or turned to banditry. Not to mention the ever present threat of stray spiritkin on caravans and less defended areas. The response from the survivors was the formation of regional militias, and a massive consolidation of people within the few remaining settlements. Veneration of the court began slowly, mostly as adoration amongst the survivors of the conflict who had firsthand witnessed the power of the organization, the levels of powers wielded by the prodigies of the Overworld staggering in the supposed magical bleakness of this new world. The practitioners of the old faiths found only a spiritual emptiness when invoking their well-worn prayers since escaping to this new world. Sensing a vacuum that could be leveraged to increase their hold over the fledgling colonies, However, despite the boons of nature, the toll of the conflict still was being experienced. Conflicts between Court officials about who should rule lead to a brief intercine conflict (!secret) which resulted in masters in fleshsmithing and alchemical synthesis being lost in this new world, along with their most intimate trade secrets, rendering those fields stuck to fumbling novices. Such conflicts, while dramatic in scope, were limited amongst areas controlled by The Court, and quickly written out of the history of the Epherium. Diseases raged through the quarters, the old pathogens finding themselves being supplanted by the new native microbes, causing more disease and death. To protect from animals and bandits, earthwork and stone walls were built. To protect from spirits and spirit-kin, the apotropaic pylons were created. Initially consisting of several iterations of small structures surrounding villages and towns, after the destruction of Forestrall, a moderate sized settlement that survived the initial Spiritkin conflict, but was utterly destroyed by a spirit emergence, an event not seen during the initial conflict but reported by towns many leagues away. In order to prevent these emergence events and congregations of spiritkin, The Court rallied the towns to build a series of pylons around the perimeter of the cluster of remaining human settlements, using the Worldgate as the center of this new world. While not all relocated to the safety of the pylons, roughly 60% managed to find refuge (!secret). Within this ring of protective magic, the spirit-kin and any emergence events could not breach, but found a new domain of problems within their refuge. This area did not have any noticeable metal deposits, and its areas of arable land were limited. Much of the stores which had been stored for the coming winter had been abandoned during the flight to the safety of the wards. Already strained from lack of infrastructure to support the refugees from the outlying villages and settlements, the acolytes of The Court faced a difficult decision. Their efforts on collecting all the knowledge they still possessed into categorized volumes for further reference and future generations would be in vain if their society crumbled into famine and ruin. So they bent their efforts instead to maintain the survivability of this new area. First they created primitive enclosures using mud reinforced with straw and timber and hardened into great domes by magic, ill-fitting and cold comfort compared to the former domiciles they fled. Once aggressive or illusive creatures were drawn to settlement using magical hypnosis and most were able to be domesticated as food animals or as replacement for pets. They lend their magical sight to identify the most habitable areas for habitation and crops. The pylons blocked the spirits (!secret), but the town militias never faulted in their sentry after the experiences with spirits eruptions and the spiritkin. Most importantly, problems with health and anemia was remediated with the cultivations of several native plants and fungus The Vantii Wars Unbeknownst to the Epherium at large, there was another “human” presence on Sonori, which did not come from the settlers or any other settlement from the Overworld. These interlopers to their manifest destiny were called the Vantii, known in later days as The Vantii Horde. They were first encountered in vast cave networks and lava tubes during mining expeditions to find the iron ore the Magisterial Adepts of The Court were accustomed to using. The workers initially thought these to be shadowy humanoid-like insects scuttling around, but when they accidentally collapsed part of a colony of _____, food and labor creatures used by the Vantii, they quickly slaughtered the miners, a contingent of Court admins, and the entire mining settlement on the surface (!secret). After investigating the lack of communication from their representatives for a valuable mine, a local militia was gathered from neighboring villages by some Court disciples who gathered from the nearby sanctuary. Upon arriving, they discovered hordes of insects lead by cadres of humans clad entirely in armor of insectoid armor and chitinous robes. The disciples tried to quell their foes, but were not prepared for seemingly endless waves of creatures lead by trinaries of Vantii, commanding the insects like a general directs soldiers into combat, even noting monstrous beetles or centipedes not seen above ground being used as mounts for skittering cavalry, or even living siege weapons. War had come for the settlers. (Vantii invasion) Word had reached the Court about the unusual underground dwellers called the Vantii had destroyed the mining settlement, but could not possibly fathom what appeared to be a concerted invasion of the adjacent settlements, and the spirit wards did nothing to deter them, marking them as a threat perhaps not of this world. During the course of the warmer seasons, these insectoid had ransacked the borderlands before the forces could be mobilized by the loose confederation of towns under the leadership of the Court, nominating a single representative to help with the Vantii, named Thorim Descreillimus, Court Response Siege Countermeasures - Abbot of Destruction Thorim Desecrillimus and mutual destruction The Second Expansion Having overcome the ravages of the war with the insectoid Vantii, a reformation happened within The Holy Epherium. Recognizing the lack of secular infrastructure and military to match the up and coming grandeur of their planned sacred rule, the gazetted Court members united the remaining city-states into a cohesive political entity. Another factor that helped solidify the greater Epherium was contact with friendly humanoids. These were people who had either been cut off during the retreat from the spiritkin before the pylons had been established, or wayward souls who had made their way into the wilderness after coming to this world through the Worldgate. The former was a surprise, the latter being a complete shock to the doctrine instilled into the citizens of the Epherium by the histories and teachings of The Court for generations. Golden Age of Hegemony The Incident at Garruma However the need for metals was one of the great quests for the Epherium… The Summons of the Schismatic Supplicants Crises & Stagnation Another war with the Vantii preceded a series of calamitous events that shook the Epherium’s and The Court’s foundations to their knees. Dissolution of the Epherium However, during this time a change had come over the hierarchy of The Court. They began to withdraw from the overarching secular matters of the Epherium, instead leaving it to entrusted houses who would oversee the day to day runnings of government, trade, matters of public affairs, and The Court would oversee all matters Divine and Magical. Civil War Call of the Spirits (Current Age) The armistice between the kingdoms formed by their leaders on the day of ____ was sorely tested in land scrambles and border skirmishes along newly divided territories of the former Epherium. Passage about ambitions of satellite kingdoms to achieve autonomy, large pretender kingdoms looking to make a new Epherium. Cultural divisions, failing wards allowing creatures and spirits back within civilization, old religious sects not associated with Court finding succor within the periphery. Setting Details Theme Dressing Low amount of hard metals, in particular iron. Return of indigenous fauna/spirits Ancient structures, breaking down Very wet, temperate climate. It rains and snows very seldomly, but it is an omen because that is when strange spirits appear. There can be events similar to acid rain, but the omens of this event can usually be foretold. The construction is mainly cobb, lean-to tents, timber and thatch. Well-to-do people or communities have structures made of lumber, masoned stone, or even a magical poured stone/concrete. Making large stone fortifications is difficult, so hillforts and earthwork ramparts are common. Humans are dominant species, but are not native to the environment. Most of the indigenous flora and fauna is larger thanks to good supply of food, water, and oxygen. There are plenty of ductile metals, copper, tin, gold, silver, however iron is almost non-existent. Its exploitation is highly coveted and regulated. Salt is also in high demand. Clothing, armor, and weapons are made from useful plants, as well as hides, bones, scales, sinew, and even more exotic parts. Frozen ice fields with lots of methane contained within the ice, it has pits of flames disgorged beneath. Trade goods are usually exchanged for platinum pieces, which are rare but more easily available than the iron trade bars used to trade in high monetary amounts. The pylons which help keep away larger fauna and spirits were created in the early days of settlement, where the Court had set up. Unfortunately, the Court no longer maintains the outer pylon structures, causing communities near the barrier edge to come into danger. The majority of kingdoms were based on the survivors of the resettlement. Usually cities or towns were founded by one of the settler survivors, so they all tend to share the name of that founder as their last name. Surnames are actually middle names here, used only as identification for strangers in regard to which exact family unit they were born from. The Founder Name is usually the biggest indicator of where a person originates from when traveling abroad. The major religion is veneration of The Court, the ancestral magic users who helped the settlers thrive in this new land. The founding members are gods, with newer additions going through beatification to sainthood. In this land, magic and divinity are one and the same. Region is plentiful in other metals, such as lead, gold, silver, mercury, lithium, and uranium. Silt-claws are a major nuisance in areas of river deltas, but also yield valuable materials in the forms of meat, viscera that yields good alchemical ingredients, and claws and carapace that can, with time, be turned into valuable weapons. Caves older than the living memory of even the spiritkin snake beneath much of the continent, most appearing to be old lava tubes. Along with mushrooms found there, there are also insect hives that yield bounties of usable chitin, leathers, eggs, secretions, and meat. However, they must survive chasms, cave-ins, lack of breathable air or toxic gasses, alongside being guarded by fellow predators, colony soldiers, and Vantii shepards. The muse… divine inspiration or spirit possession? They say outside the kingdoms of the ring, there are places where people and spiritkin exist in harmony, of a sort. The creation of life is one of the most important achievements that The Court biomancers have yet to replicate, but the creation of magical flesh is one of the steps that they have been able to replicate, and to great results. While arms, limbs, and regular musculature/skin are common enough for most with them to not be gawked at by the general populace, functionary and sensory organelles are rare. Magical flesh, also when improperly maintained, can be vulnerable to dispelling, causing massive and immediate problems for the person. Ancestor worship is prevalent through the Kingdoms of the Stone Ring, as they are all descendents of the original settlers, who are deified within the nations, being one of the common cultural threads. Members of the court, when they initiate into the higher mysteries, are often shorn of familial bonds and take on identities of founding members of The Court, often taking on the role of their vaunted ancestors if of that lineage. While they can choose, most will go down the path of founding Court members who are predecessors or ancient relatives. Those who do not know their bloodlines often choose based on characteristics or deeds they wish to emulate. While they are supposed to stay out of the affairs of the great houses, it is common knowledge that for some obligations blood is thicker than faith. Often Ancient structures are scattered throughout the lands outside the Kingdoms, with some appearing to be of different designs than any recorded by different eras of the Settler civilization. All of the structures within the Kingdoms have been scoured by The Court. The fauna that the settlers have been able to domesticate have mainly been pack herbivores. The exception being Lacqses, a large canid creature with a massive head and jaws that while sitting on its hind, stands 4 feet. The domesticated version is slightly smaller, but retains the same large head. An ancient mossy forest, swampy with flooded ruins and massive creepers covering everything. It is filled with skeletons, remnants of foolish people who fought over this land, and tried to build there to exploit the whiteroots which enhances vitality. The forest controls the vine-infested skeletons, with many not knowing the forest is all one connected entity, come to uproot a fortune only to be turned into yet another marionette of the defending horde. Around the Tear of the Sky the Mercury Knights fiercely guard their otherworld charge, the tear-shaped meteorite that crashed during a different epoch, to secure it’s otherworldly properties. These are not typical magi-knights of The Court, they have no external magic or incredible armaments. Instead, they control a miraculous ever-shifting cloak of liquid metal, forming armor before being impacted by a mortal blow, and turning into a myriad of martial shapes to strike at foes. Although their mastery of metal may be impressive, their bodies are stained with the tell-tale signs of heavy metal poisoning. Spiritkin are presumed to be the native sapient inhabitants of this colonized world, although in terms of culture and technology from all outward appearances they are stone age primitives. They shrink away from encroaching civilization, never acting in a way approaching aggressive or tactical, but seemingly taking action without rhyme or reason. Leaving sticks upright in dirt, organizing pebbles and rocks in patterns, staining water with primitive pigments, even dancing when no music is playing, and in some cases of them simply walking off cliffs and sheer drops without seeming to notice. Old tales of the Spiritkin having been inhuman, ferocious predators seem to be tall yarns when compared to modern evidence. Fungal and moss farms are a burgeoning industry that had no equivalent in the Old World. In large areas of land that were excavated by the retreat of massive glacial sheets, the trees of the south were not able to spread fast enough before massive areas were left open to erosion. While recent in geological terms, it was almost a generation before the Settlers realized the blight of arable land left fallow, as dust storms and herds of migratory beasts fell across frontier settlements. A solution was discovered in and around The Whistling Dread cave networks. Large, tower-like mushrooms which grew very quickly and more importantly, were non-toxic when prepared for cooking. And on the rimeward sides of mountains, highly resilient moss was taken and cultivated away from the mountains, where it flourished as well. The tendrils of this moss could be treated, dried, and woven into textiles, while the nutritious if flavorless produce could be eaten. These products are now ubiquitous amongst almost all the factions and nationalities of Sonori. Vidhalle, known as the spirit warren, is a tangled knot of space that seems to defy all the senses. A claustrophobic series of rocky formations that travelers tales say are the haunts of very particular spirits which seemingly tease and trick waywards interlopers, but never with seeming malevolence. What ends are perpetrated by these mischievous beings, no one knows. The distribution, breeding, & training of breeds of creatures from the old world is quite the lucrative business. The Shield Isles are sparsely populated due to the great storms that protect the ports of the mainland. Although it is rich in schools of fish and beds of molluscs, their tumultuous conditions render any work near the Brinelash Sea fiendish. Although old fisherman and fishwives tales are hard to believe, there are boozy recollections of monstrous leviathans that swim around, though the lack of first-hand accounts are telling. Rillor are automatons used by The Court to patrol areas where it is dangerous to have Magi or Enforcers be sent out. They are strangely designed, looking almost like upturned pots covered in magical scrawl known only by artificers of The Court. From the downturned spout spring dozens of blue-fleshed arms that propel it along the ground, each tipped by strange gemlike talons. How it defends remote outposts or villages is still unknown to the general populace. And less known if there are even stranger, more deadly designs. House Brachskii has a unique charter with The Court for the extraction of iron and other precious metals, despite belonging to one side of the intercine conflict. N’regaton, the master of that house, has even acted as a mediator for border conflicts between the two largest fragments on the Epherium. Curses are a huge business in the ancestor worshiping kingdoms in the Caldarian Region. Often inscribed in lead, wood, stone, they are said to be more effective when inscribed upon certain contraband materials. Although this used to be firmly within the domain of functionaries of The Court, it now is usually delegated to laymen or those lower within the ranks of True Magi. After paying for inscription, it would be placed with those who had untimely or tragic deaths, so it would act as a spiritual task for their spirit in order to let go of the mundane and embrace the spiritual journey onwards. Freelance adventuring is frowned upon within the kingdoms, usually given to the same grouping as vagabonds, traveling lechers, or bandits. Usually mercenary groups, guilds, or acting as a household agent are the ways to explore and exploit with enough clout to venture without being accosted by local or regional authorities, as well have enough people to dissuade marauders. Slavery was common among the early settlers, but after the establishment of The Court, the concept of enslaving fellow descendents of the holy founders was seen as contentious bordering on heretical. The formation of a working class more akin to serfs with minimum working rights and wages guaranteed by fealty to particularly wealthy families, organizations, or households. Hedge Magic, what is called the Lesser Mysteries is more abundant than the mysteries of Soul Sourcery (Greater Mysteries), both being firmly in dominion of The Court’s control. While lowly practitioners may be encountered in the public, magi of renown or ability are usually only found within institutions of The Court, or by certain high-ranking Household members, obscenely rich merchants, or royalty. Very rarely will they be on beck and call for various sundries, but The Court also will lease magic-users to various factions for subterfuge or warfare, for an obscene price. Call of The Ancestors is a euphemism for individuals or peoples who engage in ancestor worship under the auspices of The Court. While almost all of the humans on Sonori can claim descendancy from on of the primary settler families, it tends to be limited to those who know their direct lineages, otherwise it is usually to venerate immediate family ancestors, mage-saints whose deeds speak to a particular professions or ideologies, or founding court members who settled particular regions. “Saints anoint you” is a common greeting, blessing amongst the Court-fearing peoples of Sonori. Spirit mask, ability to summon an ancestral shade by tying the apparition to a memory or object. Chantry, laity, Ecclesiastical Coven (senate of lower to high ranking Court members, debating affairs relating to faith and how it dictates secular life), ablutions The Ephemeral vestment, a glowing magical sign seen floating above the forehead of the The Archives of Strauemon, the store of all knowledge that The Court holds, is located within the heart of their domain, though no lay people know of its exact location. Having learned the lessons of their ancestors, the AoS holds no books, but instead the decapitated heads of former Court members of the past. The magic binding the remnants of their memory and former life to these macabre curios are complex, but The Court views guarding this knowledge against the ravages of time and ignorance a most worthy task. How their heads seem to emulate their personages when clearly their spirits reside within the bosom of the Mage-Saints is a hotly disputed and controversial topic often squashed by the upper echelons of The Court. Short robes, togas, shawls are common amongst the populace. Long pantaloons are an affectation of barbarians who have not been brought to heel to the culture of The Epherium. Drab or uncolored clothing is mainly seen amongst commoners, with nobles/merchants/Court members of society having garments dyed in vibrant hues of cyan, yellow, red, and green. Straw hats covered with animal skins or weaved with treated leaves to survive the elements. Amongst high-ranking members of the military and the Court, they often wear elaborate masks, either lead or wooden masks inlaid or completely covered with precious metals. These represent the ideal they both strive to achieve and to instill within those around them. Only those whose accomplishments vault them to the top of their field can go about without a mask and not be considered gouache. And upon death, their likeness is made into a death-mask which would be a template for those wishing to reach such heights. There are two centers for gathering amongst the populace in most towns and cities throughout the realms of the old Epherium: bath-houses and markets. While most settlements of sufficient population have a market no matter how meager, only towns proper have the size for a bath-house, while cities like ____ have multiple bath-houses, one for each neighborhood. Military legions of the kingdoms are divided into 4 separate components: recruits, veterans, officers, and auxiliary. [WIP] Household gods, called ____, are one of the unique things developed in the world of Sonori. All the families of the Great Houses have shrines which link the souls of the households together with the souls of their ancestors. This spiritual energy generates lesser spirits that are like household spirits, who when appeased Bodyist Clergy were one of the first founding sects of The Court, being established as a martial order in the early days of settlement when only primitive weaponry was fashioned alongside crude shelter. Founded by enthusiasts of ancient hand-to-hand combat that was obsolete in the Overworld, and guided by transcendentalists for all aspects of mental and spiritual discipline, they proved an effective defense for vulnerable settlers in the early days of conflict with the Spiritkin. While considered one of the Lower Mysteries and considered passe by the majority of The Court, it is practiced among the more mentally and physically focused of the common populace, it has also found wide, continued use amongst the militaries of the land, as well as mercenary outfits and partisan gangs of the Colours. “Alms of Wrath” is a motion called by a near unanimous Concordant Assemblage when a common threat appears which casts the shadow of conflict amongst a significant portion of remnants of the Epherium. They call upon all kingdoms and Houses to lend aid to whatever crises loom, and the holy task force is led by senior members of The Court. Very few times is this called, but it is usually a devastating refrain to any discordant tribulations. Communal living was once a necessity during the initial settlement and expansion, being huddled amongst simple wards to keep spirits away from where people and animals lived. Nowadays, communities are traditionally tight-knit even after plenty of space is available within the pylons simply due to the logistics and the communalism inherent in city life. Kingdoms & Factions The Court True Magi Shrub Conjurer Hedge Mage Vine Sorcerer Tree Wizard Philosopher Treant Alchemists Mercury Knights Sulfur Breathers Dancers of Sun and Moon Conjurers Bodyist Clergy Delta Exorcists unknown unknown unknown Scribblers (bureaucracy) Sects Ranks The Thaumaturgical Synod (Headed by the Supreme Magister) Arch-Theurge True Apostle Chaplain Exarch Priest of the third eye Supplicant Magisterial Adepts Prelate of Later Day Voltage Artillery Preacher Gravity Apostlitic Kingdom of Hidolith Orentill Commonwealth The Hand of Illtoro (Rebels) Barony Houses (Pretender Houses on the periphery of the two main factions, also known as periphery kingdoms) Wind-Wastes Tribes & Mercenaries The Right Honorable Association of Grocers & Teamsters Great Households House Durentill House Grant House Brachskii House Rethoram House Nerlith House Vengoran House Nurrilomos (Banished by The Court) The Arch Apostates (Vexilus) (!secret) The Concordant Assemblage - Meeting of Houses and Kingdoms to determine affairs relating to kingdom affairs. Most internal conflicts are handled between them on Court ground, considered common and more importantly holy ground. Political/Sport Associations Caestus (Associated color: Green) Javelin(Associated color: Blue) Staff (Associated color: Red) Flail (Associated color: White) Political Parties are not typically bound to a certain ideology, but rather groups of people who bound together in ever-shifting alliances of convenience. They The Earth Spirit Spiritkin Spiritmonger Regions, Locales & Haunts Kingdoms of the Stone Crown Batholisk Region Caldarian Region Gods and Mage-Saints of the Court Rumors The Juros Empire (!secret) Immortals Sand-tornado Satraps Nehata -Coin Armor, Merchant Princes (!secret) God-concubines Eunuch-Thralls Flora & Fauna Known Peoples of Sonori The Narill-Hari - Wanderers and merchants (Irish Travelers - Pavees) - Narill-Hari are a traveling caravan of disparate families who travel amongst the kingdoms, having no true loyalties to any political party or kingdom. While aspersions about pagan practices abound, they answer the call of the ancestors as most cosmopolitan peoples do, although some affections regarding their unique culture and lifestyle influence their devotions. Regarded by most as worthless vagabonds, they usually have contacts amongst disparate factions for telling information they gathered along their travels and from other Hari, as well as wares to hawk amongst villages they are in good rapport with. Branistron - Warriors and Wayguides (Strong individualist themes) Vantii Horde (???) - Seemingly humanoid beings encased within insectoid armor, ridding beetles and centipedes into battle. They have an armistice with the kingdoms after a series of great wars. They are also not native to the planet either. Always greet outsiders with groups or multiples of 3. Rumors of sulfur breathing mantis gods whom they revere, dwell deep within their territories, though none living have seen the inside of a Vantii Hive. Tanith Peoples - Moon worshippers who maintain their own autonomous region in the no-man's lands around the periphery surrounding the two warring kingdoms. Known for being level-headed traditionalists. These people taught the settlers the trade of using insects for food and armor/weapons that they learned from the Vantii when they separated from the reset of their people to try and survive in the wilderness. They were a client state whose culture and autonomy was slowly being absorbed by the Epherium, but sides with the General ____ who established the Kingdom of placeholder. They are now guaranteed autonomy in exchange for their expertise, but who knows how long such an alliance’s guarantees will hold. Wind-waste Tribes (Sedavish) - Semi-nomadic tribes who wander through the wind waste deserts and tundras that encircle the kingdoms of the stone crown are seen as entirely barbaric monsters by the mostly cosmopolitan inhabitants of the former epherium. Very few remember this group mentioned in the annals of The Courts myths of the great migration. But rarely is the common opinion an accurate reflection of the truth. The Sedavish peoples, as they are known to themselves and those who interact with them, were one of the original peoples who fled the crises of the Overworld, and have retained a little of the original culture that could be preserved in this new world, mainly through the craft of oral legends. They differ from the tawny/olive and yellow skinned people within the kingdoms, being more of an ashen white color akin to the bleak hues of the wastes they travel. Standing around 6 or 7 feet, they are much taller than any other human ethnicity around, and confusion over gender is common since their strong but toneless frames and cultural affections makes dimorphism hard to discern to the outsider. They almost universally shave their heads, male or female, charcoal markings on faces universal indicators of class, occupation, or family. But the most peculiar is the filling and pointing of teeth when coming of age for the peoples of the Sedavish, leading to fevered fables in the kingdoms that wind-wastrels are cannibalistic giants who murder and pillage. Dresmory - The farthest from the base humanoid, Dresmory are an ever-present threat to any kingdom dwellers trying to pass any of their bulwarks festooned amongst the mountains of the Stone Crown. Topping out just under 4’10” usually, purple-bluish skin, with reddish coloration around their large pointed noses, pointed ears, finger-tips and toes. Their most striking feature is their incredibly slanted eye, beyond anything normal seen within the normal range of human ethnicities on Sonori, sometimes almost parallel with the long axis of their faces. Their battle abilities are second to none as they wield enormous strength, agility, and being able to ken (!secret) with local mountain predators makes them treacherous in raiding parties or in defense of their moots. Not to mention the highly unorthodox volcanic glass weapons which they wield, although not long lasting, have unearthly abilities normally reserved for members of The Court. Magic, Medicine & Technology To the laymen, all aspects of life are magic, However, only those initiated into knowledge come to realize the professions of magician, doctor, inventor are but singular aspects of knowledge either derived from surviving Overworld knowledge or from the trial and error of experimentation Hedge Magic (Lower Mysteries) Soul Magic (Higher Mysteries) Mundus Adepts (Technologies and Sciences)