Perks & Quirks

ALANTHII

The cultures of Alanthii, the Vasriel city formed from the twined and enmeshed branches and canopies of the giant trees in the south of Dalkiar. Ancient and a bit self-absorbed, the culture focuses on living with nature instead of in opposition to it.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

ANLADRIAN

The seaport of Anlador is home to this culture, with its sea-maze, its towering, mechanized locks, and its dual personality as an old drab military town now surrounded by a bustling trade hub beyond its inner walls.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

AREGIAN

The center of Ur culture, Areg is a city of massive carven and engraved stone circles and spheres, standing as a study in both grandiose form and detailed function from the perspective of the giants. Cycles of all kinds - life, death, love, war, commerce, and philosophy - find themselves inscribed in the stone surfaces of the city’s walls, and their winding, visual storytelling merges in strange ways when walls and cycles converge and then split off again.

The Ur have made an attempt to build Areg in such a way where other species could feel welcome, but its simple scale is offputting to most others, and its vast, inscribed halls and otherwise crude niceties make it a difficult place to love for any but its makers.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

BETRILLAN

The pastoral Betril Isle, nestled safely off the coast of Dalkiar, has been home to the kâlindival for centuries. Not enough of a threat to invade, and with a home situated to be unimportant from a strategic perspective, Betril has withstood the holy wars which devastated Dalkiar mostly intact, and its inhabitants reflect that in their bucolic, friendly passivity.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

CAVAGAR

The Gochin cities and villages who swear fealty to them form the Cavagar culture, a loosely defined group whose beliefs and behaviors stem from an unshakeable faith in self, an undue reverence for the past, and a distaste for external opinions.

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CERIPHŒSIAN

One of the lost cultures of the Adaric Archipelagos, far to the south. Separated from the North for hundreds of years, their perspectives are quaint and archaic, and they have had a difficult time re-integrating into the modern world.

The Republic of Ceriphos was known as the center of wisdom and knowledge of the Adaric Archipelagos. Originally formed by runaway slaves from Rhaliman, it proudly aligned itself against the barbarism of that slave state. While they grew powerful and fought valiantly against the injustices of the slavers, in the end, their pride proved their undoing. Refusing to see see the growing threat of Ilduroth, or the need to ally against a far greater evil, Ceriphos fell when the iron fleet sailed from Ilduroth, leaving Deligos and Rhaliman alone to fight the awakened evil of the wraith queen.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

CHALLINAI

Tiring of the constant wars and politics of Dalkiar, these hardy explorers ventured west, to Vadria, and forged homes there from the wild, unconquered lands from the salt mines of Challinar to the rich loam of Aendor.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

CHRYSIALBAU

The combined lands of the Courts of Snow and Soot, the Zephriel kingdom of Chrysialbau has never known peace, for change is in its very nature. Few who sojourn there remember it clearly, and fewer still care to recount the tales they do recall.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

CONSPIRACY

The Dölgöthran Conspiracy is a vast, loose network of Dölgöthran agents, all working in one way or another to further their dark masters’ ends. While many Dölgöthros adopt the Culture of their host species, some, upon learning the truth, will turn their interests to their true nature, and the culture of the Conspiracy is what they find.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

DELIGOSIAN

One of the lost cultures of the Adaric Archipelagos, far to the south. Separated from the North for hundreds of years, their perspectives are quaint and archaic, and they have had a difficult time re-integrating into the modern world.

Deligos was a loose confederation of seafarers, traders, and pirates, attempting to make their way in the world and removed from the conflict between Ceriphos and Rhaliman.

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ECHOINE

The Lyðuðræ come from a deep place in the earth, a towering city of acid-carved stone, complete darkness, and the unending clacks and snaps of echolocation all around them. To most foreigners it is madness, but to the Lyðuðræ it is the Deep Dream.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

HENGIAN

Those who hail from the Isle of Henge, named for the immense and ancient stone monoliths which dwarf the city built underneath them, has a long and storied history of sailing, piracy, and putting one’s nose where it does not belong.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

ILDUROTHI

One of the lost cultures of the Adaric Archipelagos, far to the south. Separated from the North for hundreds of years, their perspectives are quaint and archaic, and they have had a difficult time re-integrating into the modern world._

Ilduran was the first kingdom of the Archipelagos, and although its citizens held firm against the growing barbarity and bloodthirst of the younger kings, its kings fell, slowly, into the thrall of the dark voices deep within the island’s heart.

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KHOZHN-AH

The culture of the Drakkhozhn mainland, Khozhn’ol. Militaristic, amoral, and ancient.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

MALTHARIAN

The apex of culture and progress on Dalkiar, home to the Autarch and his Council of Oligarchs. Expanding its influence daily by providing magical power to remote areas and its own military, the Autarchy is the de facto master of the modern world.

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RHALIMANI

One of the lost cultures of the Adaric Archipelagos, far to the south. Separated from the North for hundreds of years, their perspectives are quaint and archaic, and they have had a difficult time re-integrating into the modern world.

Rhaliman, overly reliant on enslaved laborers, was the greatest military power of the Archipelagos, and was ultimately responsible for marshaling the remaining might of the islands against the encroaching darkness of Ilduroth after the fall of Ceriphos.

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THÂRNUL

The Golden Age of the Kâlindur ended when their island home sank beneath the waves, and the Kâlindur have never forgotten - or recovered. The Exiles occupy half-hearted settlements or wander, never quite finding their way back to a home which ceased to exist long ago.

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VANAGARI

The Vasriel of Vanagar rejected the sun and the trees, choosing instead the dark, frozen majesty of their ice-carven halls. Heavily political, deeply treacherous, and harrowingly beautiful, the Tenebriel and their chosen home are reflections of each other.

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HERMIT

Hermits have left behind civilizations and cultures for reasons known only to them, and have learned to live by their wits and their instincts.

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NOMAD

Nomads reject greater civilization and retain the bonds of small familial groups, moving from place to place to avoid scrutiny and remaining fiercely loyal to their blood kin, while eternally suspicious of outsiders.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS

WANDERER

Unlike Hermits, Wanderers occasionally desire the company of others, though their tolerance is low and they’re unlikely to make or keep deep relationships. Always on the move and always alone, whether they’re running to or from something is never clear.

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COMMON BACKGROUNDS