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From Charnosdnd
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Characters
Aasimar(Deva): The Nedicean Aasimar are almost all grandchildren of the god Nede himself or of the celestial host he has summoned over the centuries to champion his now long corrupted cause of purging evil from Charnos and making it into a Good-aligned utopia. The noble social structure is made up almost entirely of Aasimar. As the actual Celestials and Half-Celestials are all warmarshals and generals, leading the training of his crusades, the administrative positions of his theocracy are filled by Aasimar clerics and paladins. A good portion of them, however, are also Paladin-commanders, leading columns of holy warriors.
Dragonborn: The Dragonborn are, obviously, a draconically descended race, surprisingly close in ancestry to the kobolds. The kobolds tend to think of the dragonborn as their big dumb cousins and dragons tend to think of them as the cute little guys who want to think they're really those two-legged humanoid races. The Dragonborn, to their credit, don't listen to either other race and comport themselves with honor, dignity and humility and are welcomed heartily throughout the world despite their intimidating stature and fierce looks.
Drow: The Dark Elves are sometimes called the First of Shadow and are the result of an unfortunate coincidence. At almost the very moment the Obsidian Emperor was defeated in the part of the high grasslands now called The Wound and his death cries forever changed the land and tainted it with the shadowfell a portion of the Feywild met worldfall there, and the sudden blending of planes irrevocably changed the Eladrin that came through... Now tainted with the power of the plane of shadows the Drow have become like a new people altogether, scraping together a harsh living in The Wound and surviving on deceit and theft on the more fortunate races. Many Drow make their way away from their tainted and now anchored home, seeking out a better, or simply easier, way of life. The drow have skin that ranges from deep black to midnight blue, white to inky hair and eyes in a variety of shockingly pale colors.
Dwarves: The First of Earth on Charnos, according to legend they were crafted from the soil and rock of the continent of Cytheria by the hands of an oppressive god who their ancestors overthrew and usurped, stealing all it's secrets. They indicate their advanced magitechnology and their primal connection to the earth of Cytheria as evidence of this. They have the capacity to create their own species of servitor beings, of which the Troglodytes and the Gnomes are the only examples so far, heralding a godlike power to manipulate the building blocks of life. Their sprawling cities, both above and below ground, are full of conveniences and necessities that the other empires simply cannot fathom. Dwarves are born very seldomly as the contented, individualistic dwarven oligarchs are busy with their own affairs and seldom marry, let alone have children. The end of the dwarven lifecycle is unique as well and removes immediacy from the life of a Dwarf. A Dwarf that meets a natural death on Cytherian soil becomes permanently part of the land, living as a Cytherian Guardian, an elemental of earth, for all eternity.
There are Dwarves on Electrum as well, descendants of immigrants who tired of their fellows' ways. They organize themselves into Clans to distance themselves from their conceited forebears and are stalwart allies against the Cytherean dwarves, though they do encounter an amount of prejudice.
Elves and Eladrin: The current day fey folk of Charnos are, in fact, the descendents of immigrants of Thilsedrad ("From the West" in the local Elven tongue) meaning they came from other planes through the feywild and settled there. As such, the Elves do not have their own nation and in fact blend with human society fairly consistently, minus complications that arise from the long fey lifespan. For instance, Elves and Eladrin are seldom accepted into longterm governmental positions as it is considered very unfair to the shorter lived races. Eladrin blend as Elves do, but some remain in their mystical cities, only emerging into Charnos during a worldfall.
Gnomes: One of two servitor races created by the dwarves, the Gnomes are treated as second class citizens, just above slaves in the pecking order. They are primarily crafters and house servants, allowed to learn magic in special academies created for them. Very few gnomes are brought up to fight, those who are are exclusively wizards who lead Troglodyte battle groups. Gnomes who escape to Electrum have many horrible tales to tell of twisted experiments, meant to be a third servitor race, but not yet complete.
Halfings: The halfling race on Charnos came about due to the mercurial nature of human genetics. They first sprang up as a human subrace, but slowly began to form their own subcultures within human ones. From then on it was understood that where humans could be found, halflings could be found. Humans are rather protective of their little cousins as well, and it's known that if you pick on a halfling his bigger brother will be along to show you what for. Halfling and Humans, in fact, sometimes form almost lifelong friendships where they refer to themselves as "cousins" and for all intents and purposes are family.
Humans: The First of Fire. The humans were introduced to Charnos after the current pantheon found the abandoned realm and introduced them to relieve the stagnant societies that had been built by the other First Races. They are known for their adaptability and their ambition, very little stopping a human being from reaching his or her goals.
Kobold: An extremely content race, completely assured of their own superiority due to their draconic heritage. Small and arrogant, as insufferable as Kobolds can be to deal with they are very good smiths and crafters and their wares are highly sought after. They primarily travel in small caravans when outside of their mine homes and
Naga: The First of Water, this spiritual race are snake from the waist down and primarily human-like from the waist up, though green tinted skin, scaly patterns, snake-eyes and sharp fangs aren't uncommon. They stick mostly to the swamps of Electrum now as they've been driven from their ancestral homes by Nede and live primarily monastic lives, supported by a culture that exalts purity and strength of mind and body.
Orcs: The First of Wind are a flighty, nomadic people with strong tribal ties but no permanent homes. They revel in strength and conflict, often challenging each other or other peoples to friendly brawls, and sometimes not-so-friendly raids when times are hard. Orcs who live in the cities are most often traders or craftsman who send home the finer things made in the cities for their tribal goods, often thought stylish by the upper crust of society.
Tieflings: This strange and widely varied race of demonblooded scoundrels have a reputation for trickery and silver-tongued deceit, sometimes unfairly earned and other times perfectly fitting. Tieflings blend a great dearth of vestigial but obvious demonic traits (Such as tails, horns, unusual cold or warmth, sharp teeth, unusual hair, eye and skin color, vestigial wings, etc.) with human blood, having the supernatural genetics of the infernal or abyssal within them. Whatever their reputation, Tieflings also have the savvy to make themselves fit in wherever they really WANT to.
Warforged: Warforged are a product of Cytherean engineering, part flesh and part mechanical living constructs, powered by a willingly transferred soul. The idea originally was to be able to carry on a person's experience and memory long past their lifespan and ensure they would be useful and strong for much longer than normal, however there was a glitch in the process. The spark of the soul did transfer, but not the memories or experiences, effectively creating a new person entirely, though with perhaps the lingering echoes of their former life. The designs for warforged were stolen long ago and now they can be found on all three continents in varying numbers, though they are very rare. It is usually those of little or no faith in the gods that decide to give their soul to a warforged, believing that this way they will live on and remain productive to society. The warforged themselves look humanoid to varying degrees, some have very human faces, others have very armor-like, alien faces. They are generally accepted wherever they go, and some even give them a measure of additional respect, like walking monuments in a way.
Deities
Religions
- Ribald the Emperor. (Unaligned) God of Law, Justice, Fate, Civilization and Cities.
- Ribald the Emperor is the patron deity of the empire of Electrum and is often considered the leader of the pantheon of light. He is a figure of utmost authority, appearing as a man clad from head to toe in ornate platinum armor with a cloak of white fur and violet felt. All laws set forth in the land of Electrum are consecrated in His name, as are new settlements.
- Phiraun the God-and-Goddess. (Good) Deity of Purity, Love, Compassion, Sex and Generosity.
- Considered to be one of the strongest forces of Good in the world, Phiraun appears as a man and woman, seperate but always either holding hands or entwined and always speaking in one beautiful, loving voice. Temples to Phiraun are also houses of pleasure, holy courtesans attending to body, mind and soul and expecting only donations in return, though it is well known that soldiers and paladins don't even need that. The clerics and paladins of phiraun are very well loved for their generosity and compassion and are famed for an equal righteous anger and ferocity in the face of evil and destruction, which can be surprising given their God-and-Goddess' purviews.
- Thesta the White. (Lawful Good) Goddess of Scholars, Doctors, Alchemy, Light and Knowledge.
- Appearing as an older woman in a doctor's coat and spectacles, Thesta is matron goddess of the schools of Electrum. She is prayed to for most scholarly pursuits, including good test scores for the young, as well as for healing of the sick and injured as the knowledge she presides over includes medicine and the sciences. Whearas Phiraun is most often seen as a mystical deity of magical healing, it's Thesta who is the inspiration for mundane doctors and apothecaries the world over.
- Xephal the Mysterious. (Unaligned) Deity of Secrets, Luck and Shadows.
- Kerathis the Wild. (Unaligned) Goddess of Plants, the wilderness and animals of all kinds.
- Kundali the Insightful. (Lawful Good) God of Self Improvement, Honor and Ancestry.
- Akhet the Watchful. (Unaligned) God of Death, Prophecy and Guidance.
- Mirielle the Traveler. (Good) Goddess of Roads, Rivers, Bards, Adventure and Travel.
Evil Gods
- Vexurthil the Defiler. (Chaotic Evil) God of Rape, Desecration, Disease, Domination and Pain.
- Urukardt the Bloodthirsty. (Chaotic Evil) God of Murder, Dishonorable Combat and Pillage.
- Sylan the Selfish. (Evil) Goddess of Theft, Scorn, Greed, Vengeance and Disloyalty.
- Liesel the Vain. (Evil) Goddess of Immortality, Deceit, Undeath, Infidelity and forbidden magic.
- Nede the Mad. (Evil) Was once a good god, but is now a god of conquest, misbegotten causes, insanity and imperialism.
