I will start my Guide with this chapter, People of the Mythic Age. Though I'm not much of an anthropologist, it seems to me that all the other information I collect about the Mythic Age is shaped by the people of the Age, their natures and societies. On that topic, I'm going to make a division in my Guide that many modern scholars do not. I'm going to consider a people's physical ancestry separately from their cultural origins. Though several of these cultures seem to have been founded by a particular ancestry, that was long enough ago that all sorts of people are found in all cultures, and so such a physical basis or, as some writers insensitively put it, racial basis for culture is, I am confident, not warranted. I will begin with descriptions of the people in a physical sense, as that will give a baseline for which to refer to people as they live in differing cultures. Below that section in its entirety will be the major cultures of Alzhrin.
One thing that must be touched on first is the concept of legends. Legends are a phenomenon unique to the Mythic Age. Or, at least, it is an occurrence that no longer happens in the Modern Age. I can't be sure what exactly it is that makes a person a legend. In all probability, it is a combination of multiple factors. While most people in the world are regular folk like you and I, a percentage are considered legendary. This is not merely a linguistic convenience or social status, but a description of physical and mental prowess and likelihood to influence the destiny of the whole world. In addition to generally being more capable than regular people, heroes often possess great powers which regular folk can't replicate regardless of training or practice.
Ancestries
Cactos
These large cactusfolk average about seven feet tall. They look just like if you made a giant person out of cactus. They're green and their bodies are covered in spines. Often they will trim their spines in places, such as on their hands, to make their life easier.
Due to their size and, I suspect, their fibrous plant composition, cactos are stronger and tougher than most humans. Their bodies are nearly resistant to puncturing wounds such as those inflicted by arrows and bullets, though they are considerably more flammable than fleshy beings.
Cactos have about the average rate of legends.
Clockfolk
These people were quite startling for me to discover. While of course there are rumours that some androids predated the Doom Wars, I always assumed that was the sort of tale that plagues any technical field. Discovering these Mythic Age androids, called clockfolk in this time, was a shocking realisation that the stories of their ancient origins were true.
The clockfolk are humanoids built out of clockwork, initially a collaboration between skyborn and humans shortly after they opened the Aerial Nations to other ancestries. Most of them look human, though increasingly designs are being based on other ancestries. They are built out of brass and copper. They usually, wisely in my estimation, hide all their internal gear systems from view; some clockfolk have modified themselves to show some of their gearworks for, I'm told, aesthetic reasons.
In terms of their physicality, clockfolk are obviously machines and not living creatures. This intentional design makes clockfolk distinct in their strengths and capabilities, as each one is tuned towards a particular goal. Some are very strong, some are carefully nimble, some have minds specialised in planar mathematics, to use a few examples.
It's difficult to classify clockfolk as legendary or not. As constructed people, they have exactly the capabilities they were designed to have. While some are built to be more powerful than others, I can't say if these stronger models have the same intangible command of destiny that legends are supposed to.
Human
Humans as a people are the template for the description "humanoid" and it is likely due to my own human perspective that I describe all the other people of this Age in terms of how they differ from humanity. Human ethnicities of the Mythic Age differ from Modern Age ethnicities, and so I feel it is useful for the modern reader if I briefly describe them here. It is a point of mild confusion that each human ethnicity is named the same as a culture of the Age. This, I presume, is because that ethnicity was the most common human in the early days of that culture. At the time I am here, however, human ethnicities are mixed among the different nations of the world.
Hervarðr are taller and broader than the average human from our time. They have pale skin and light-coloured hair and eyes. Hikarr are short and stocky with dusky skin and dark hair and eyes, though some have a slightly paler tone and very rarely have blue eyes. Jami are tall and heavy, frequently weighing up to 300 pounds. They have dark skin and eyes; their hair is black and typically worn in braids or dreadlocks. Shutein tend towards the average in height and build. Their skin is a light bronze; they have black hair and black (or rarely brown) eyes. Yaoren are tall and slender, with dusky skin and brown to black hair. Their eyes tend to be either brown or green.
I don't have the infrastructure to make a proper census, but I suspect the rate of legends among humanity to be low, perhaps ten percent of the population. As with the rest of my work, I take the legendary rate among humans to be the average to which I compare other people.
Jotunkin
These giant folk are descended from the divine jotun who, they say, spoke the world into existence. Jotunkin average ten feet tall and are broad and muscular. Their skin and hair varies in tone, though they seem less concerned about the concept of ethnicity than humans often are; their eyes range across liquid metallic shades.
A jotunkin's size gives them considerably higher strength than humans and many of them don't even use weapons, instead simply subduing violent folk with their large fists. The main power they have gained from their divine creators is that of language. Most jotunkin are fluent in several, and they all learn new languages more easily than other people. Most interestingly, jotunkin linguistics gives them a unique magical capability. More about this in Magic of the Mythic Age, but jotunkin perform a special kind of spoken runecraft, allowing them to invoke magical runes verbally rather than textually.
Unique among the people of the Mythic Age: as they are directly descended from deities, every jotunkin is a legend.
Laussalfar
Laussalfar are one of two main elven people of the Mythic Age. The mythic origin of the elves puts forth a shared origin among two opposing elemental forces: fire and ice. The laussalfar are the children of the Lord of Ice, and tend to share an affinity for cold-based magic.
Laussalfar are taller and slimmer than humans. Their skin is pale, almost opalescent, and their hair is similarly fair. Their eyes range from pale grey to light shades of blue. Laussalfar claim to be immortal, though they may only be merely extremely long-lived. Laussalfar also don't sleep. They do not feel cold, so their wardrobe is unaffected by the cold areas they often live in. There is a prevailing rumour among the Hervarðr that they don't breathe. The laussalfar claim this is ridiculous, but don't offer any proof to the contrary. It is true that unlike myself and the others in these chill climes, they do not have visible clouds of breath.
Laussalfar are, I think, about average in terms of legendary rate. However, due to their long lives, they seem to have collected a larger quantity of legends than most other ancestries.
Moshril
Though these catpeople are found all over the continent, they most often associate with jotunkin bands as they believe that the giants spoke them into sentience millennia ago. Jotunkin legend is quiet on this front, perhaps because they don’t want to claim a similar domain as their divine creators. There are several ethnicities of moshril, roughly corresponding to different breeds of feline.
Moshril usually manifest similar capabilities as non-sentient cats. They have good balance and reflexes, can see perfectly in dim light, and have sharp claws.
Moshril are average in terms of how often they are legends.
Skyborn
Skyborn look almost identical to humans, though they are not human. The only distinguishment from our own kind is that they appear slightly faded or washed out, an effect that increases with age. Local prevailing theories tie this to spending their lives in the sky, though the exact mechanism by which this propagates is unknown. Is it the thin air? Being closer to the sun? Some strange force exerted when the moons are close to each other? Despite the powerful scientific focus of the Aerial Nations, nobody seems to know.
Skyborn excel at learning, recollection, and mathematical logic: they perform all these tasks with at least double the proficiency of most humans. They can also communicate using radio signals, a fascinating development as this Age has not yet discovered a technological way to replicate the feat. Most people seem to assume this is a form of telepathy, but both psychics and skyborn scientists are aware that their radio communication is a different phenomenon (in fact, one that is completely nonmagical).
Skyborn are about average in terms of legendary incidence.
Svartalfar
Svartalfar are one of two main elven people of the Mythic Age. The mythic origin of the elves puts forth a shared origin among two opposing elemental forces: fire and ice. The svartalfar are the children of the Lord of Fire and tend to share an affinity for fire-based magic.
Svartalfar are about human height, but slimmer than we are. Their skin is black and their eyes are dark. Their hair ranges from grey to red, rarely being black. Some svartalfar have hair like fire, though it is exceptionally rare for it to actually give off smoke. Like laussalfar, they do not sleep and claim to live forever. As the laussalfar feel no cold, so are the svartalfar unaffected by strong heat.
Svartalfar can see in the dark, as they have a visual sense that is finely tuned to reading the heat differences between objects. Their eyes are unimpeded by bright light, so they can even pick out individuals among a high-temperature background.
Svartalfar are about average in terms of legends, except that over time the long-lived elves have accumulated many legendary people.
Thaki
The thaki are anthropomorphic foxes, tending to be 3½-4 feet in height. They are covered head to foot in short fur which is usually silvery-grey, though its exact shade varies and rare specimens have reddish-brown fur.
A quirk of their foxlike biology makes them both ambidextrous and able to move easily across shifting sand and dunes. They also have sharp claws and teeth that they can easily employ if forced into combat.
Thaki legends are a strange thing. Given the ancestry's common emphasis on subtlety and the often-flamboyant nature of legends I thought perhaps the thaki wouldn't produce any. As is typical in this unusual Age, my first impression was incorrect and they have legends at the average rate. Thaki legends exemplify the fox-people's nature of speed, stealth, and intellectually solving problems.
Thaki of all cultures tend to worship a deity named the First Fox, mother of their kind. The First Fox is a trickster god, said to have stolen the world itself from the dragons at the beginning of the Mythic Age. When she walks the world it is as an ordinary fox, distinguishable only in her ability to speak.
Virglas
Often called "orcs" by the Hikarr, these green-skinned folk are the last remnants of the lost Kaiyumba civilisation. They tend to be taller and broader than humans, but their features and large, toothy mouths are often considered unattractive (by humans, I mean).
Their own stories suggest that they were created by human sorcerers in Kaiyumba, but their original purpose has been lost to time. Whatever it was, virglas are almost supernaturally tough and rapidly regenerate any wounds they receive.
Virglas have a higher rate of legend incidence than the average. I'm not sure if this is related to the magic used in their creation or some other factor.
Cultures
Aerial Nations
This society exists on an airborne archipelago that meanders across the continent. Initially founded by skyborn, after centuries of isolation they eventually allowed others to live with them and now, due to how they travel above all of Alzhrin, the Aerial Nations are one of the most mixed cultures. Each island has a specific route which may only be changed at the dictate of the Gearmind. This entity is a powerful piece of clockwork that governs the whole of the Aerial Nations, said to have been created by the demiurge Teknos. This vast intelligence resides in the largest island, Thyrskala. Their society claims to be meritocratic, an idea that I suspect they don't pull off as well as they think they do. In their system, those most suited for a task are assigned it and then rank in society is determined by proximity to the Gearmind, gauged by the inscrutable dictates of that machine intelligence. Society slowly and subtly shifts as projects wax and wane in importance to the Gearmind. Nobody seems to question the idea that certain areas, especially the central districts of Thyrskala, have better education and thus their people are more likely to have better skills than those from other regions.
Most Aerial Nations folk possess integrated clockworks to a greater or lesser degree. Unlike the rude approximations by Hikarr unmag, these clockworks tend to be more subtle. I'm told that the majority of people I met possessed integrated clockworks but I couldn't tell. They also use clockwork devices as a substitute for mundane arms and armour. Fortunately they have no desire for conquest of the landbound nations, as the Gearmind pushes for constant improvement of the existing Aerial Nations rather than their expansion.
Aerial Nations legends are just as often accomplished scientists as they are warriors. Most legends are clockwork engineers, whether they ever leave the islands or not.
From their claims, the Aerial Nations have the most complete historical records to be found in this Age. The deity Wishenos is said to contain a complete record of all that has occurred since its inception, though most of its symbols are unrecognisable and it only rarely allows mortals to view this record.
Folk of the Aerial Nations speak Skatic, the script of which has mathematical shorthand. I'm told it's based on a written and audible transcription of the radio-language the skyborn innately possess.
The Aerial Nations faith, claimed to be part of the skyborn historical record, asserts that the world was created out of a philosophical discussion between the demiurges Logos and Teknos. In their musings on intelligence, Teknos insisted that the height of intellectual advancement was the use of complex tools. To prove its point, Teknos created the skyborn and granted them clockworks. While skyborn have an almost universal reverence for Teknos, Aerial Nations folk in general worship a pantheon of technological deities. The most prominent are: Feng Zol, Who Lurks in Stormclouds, god of rain and storms; Chin Sa the Sundered Gear, god of stone and metal; Tor Mel, Who Binds the Arc, god of the sky and electricity; Seminol the Starforge, god of flames and heat; Koris Val'el, Who Turns Cogs, goddess of animus, the animating force behind both people and clockworks; Medic Orcen, the Rebuilder, goddess of the reforge, a process by which old people and machines are rebuilt; and Wishenos, That Which Maintains, deity of consistent history.
Balsteinn
The vast caverns beneath the mountains of Southbraid are populated mostly by svartalfar, as many of the caverns are too hot for other ancestries. Svartalfar and the other people of Balsteinn have many settlements on the surface as well. Balstinians are granted their station by the Lord of Fire at birth, being one of three groups: peasant, artisan, or warrior. Peasants are foundational to Balstinian society. They tend the ley lines, harvest supplies, or mine ore. Artisans are skilled craftsmen, most often smiths, as svartalfar seem to have a natural affinity to metal. Non-svartalfar Balstinians are usually not smiths, as they have trouble matching the skill of the elves. Warriors have skill at arms or magic (or both) and do battle with the enemies of the Lord of Fire. Due to the defensibility of their home, a smaller proportion of warriors is needed for defensive purposes. The King of the Svartalfar, who is chosen personally by the Lord of Fire, rules over all the people above and below Balsteinn. The King can be of any gender and symbolically gives up their name to represent their commitment to their people and the cause of Fire. The King of the Svartalfar is always of black-elf ancestry.
Traditional Balstinian dress is thick leathers despite the high temperature in their caverns. Due to their natural heat resistance, svartalfar tend to dress more ostentatiously covered than the other inhabitants of the nation. Balstinians use metal weapons and armour, though they tend to prefer chain armour rather than the more encumbering plate.
The caverns of Balsteinn contain some of the largest clockworks instalments on the continent, since the heat of the world can be used to substitute for some of the raw magical power channelled by clockwork engineers.
Legendary Balstinians are always warriors. They tend to range across Alzhrin enacting the will of Fire.
Balstinian timekeeping is based on the rotations of Zindu's core, a pulse the svartalfar say is quite audible deep in the Hellfurnace. One rotation, taking forty hours, is a day. Four rotations is their working week, with the next rotation being used for rest. Balstinian workers are divided into three shifts, each with a different rest spin. For reasons I had trouble discerning, they refuse to track the passage of years. Balstinians speak Svarten, which uses the same alphabet as the Ishimfolk's Lessai. They claim Svarten is the original language spoken by the pre-division alfar.
The mythology of Balsteinn, drawn from the svartalfar, posits a cosmology of two warring forces: fire and ice. In the beginning of the world the demiurge Logos used the energies of this cosmic conflict to produce the world, setting it at the perfect balance point between the two extremes. Also in the beginning (although I presume this is merely near the beginning of the Mythic Age) the laussalfar and svartalfar were a single people named the alfar. This was destined not to last. The alfar divided along loyalties to fire and ice and went to war. In its wisdom (I am told) Logos divided the people physically into laussalfar and svartalfar.
There are two gods Balstinian culture recognises (although, technically, they accept the existence of the Lord of Ice as well): Heis, the Lord of Fire, god of fire and patron of the svartalfar and the mountains of Balsteinn; and Kalidos, Who Was Forged in the Spark of War, god of balance between fire and ice, bringer of reconciliation. I'm not sure if these beings can be properly considered gods or if they serve as a mild anthropomorphisation of vast, unknowable cosmic forces. In terms of the Balstinian faith, though, it doesn't matter.
Hervarðr
The Hervarðr are the people of the Ten Runic Kingdoms of Kjolheim. Hervarðr tend to view themselves as warrior-poets and having grand stories told of them is often the primary motivation for their exploits. As such, their social structure is based largely on brave and dangerous accomplishments. A peasant, the lowest rank, has performed no notable deeds. Peasants are expected to tend the ley lines and perform other basic labour. An artisan has done something of note. Artisans are expected to engage in craftsmanship. Performing adventurous acts makes one an explorer. A warrior has really made a name for themself and usually commands respect from those who have heard of them. Warrior is also the first rank at which one is eligible to challenge the king. Warriors are a sort of minor nobility among the Hervarðr and can claim a number of ill-defined social benefits from their station. A defender is more skilled and notable than a warrior. Defenders are expected to teach and protect younger Hervarðr. A scholar has performed the most notable deeds and achieved the highest honour. Scholars are expected to engage in study and lorekeeping. The highest rank in each kingdom is the king. Any Hervarðr of warrior rank or higher may challenge the king for their position; the king chooses the form the challenge must take.
Hervarðr dress in heavy woollen clothes and animal furs. They tend not to wear metal armour, despite their smithing skill. Instead they gird themselves with cured animal hide and leather, often augmented with magical runes. They usually fight with axes, most notably the large crescent axe and a fighting style that involves twin throwing axes.
Hervarðr legends are some of the most daring and violent legends in the Age. Their culture encourages heroism, even from the more normal strata of society. All legends are at least warrior rank. Non-legends rarely achieve warrior, although many of the more daring Hervarðr are explorers.
Hervarðr speak Javen, which uses a script similar to the Kogin language spoken by jotunkin.
Hervarðr cosmology makes our world out to be one of many; likening them to fruits on a structure they call the Ethertree. It's not clear to me whether these other worlds are distant planets, some manner of outer realm, or a combination of the two.
The Hervarðr worship a pantheon of deities exemplifying strength, ferocity in battle, and the force of the elements. The most important are Jannok, the Skyfist, Hammer of the North Wind, god of air and the sky, bringer of fierce winds and the winter cold; Erolya, the Weave and the Weft, Lady of the Dark, goddess of caves and darkness, mistress of all that lies underground; Gimfar Giantbane, Puissant Breath of the Sun, god of the sun and summer heat; Kazurem, the Cloudspike, Dire Storm of the East, god of storms and the sea; Fajul, Who Battles the End, god of time and fate; Orrok Hammerheim, the Soulforge, god of life and renewal; and Razzi Deathblade, the Last Shadow, goddess of death and claimer of the fallen.
Hikarr
The Hikarr are a nomadic society of travelling bands, independent and self-governed political entities, in the deserts of Khanos. This culture describes most of the people of Khanos who do not live in the city-states. There is rarely enmity between different bands, although there is occasionally a skirmish over a cache of clockworks or prominent ley line. While a majority of the bands are hunters and scavengers, making occasional use of the ley lines they come across, many bands are based around raiding, which is unfortunately viewed by many outsiders as a practice common across the whole society. Raiders use stealth and magnetism to steal clockworks from passing Aerial Nations islands and ships, and some of the stronger bands will use their clockworks to attack the cities. The more powerful bands will have an alliance with one or more city-states near their territory, though few magnets are foolish enough to trust them too implicitly. (I asked why that would be "foolish" and was told that the thaki are always pulling the strings from behind the scenes and they're natural liars and tricksters.) A Hikarr band has three positions: magnet, warrior, and gatherer. These are taken in order by the strongest and cleverest members of the band. The magnet is the leader of the band and there is only one. Warriors don't have a specified number; anybody in the band not considered skilled enough to be a warrior by the other warriors is designated a gatherer. Additionally, any shamans in the band will tend to be gatherers in a way that garners respect from the warriors, as they are able to get food and basic supplies out of the wild ley lines in the desert. There is also a special stratum in Hikarr society called the unmag. An unmag is any Hikarr with integrated clockworks. These implants cause pain or disability in the presence of the magnetic powers common to normal Hikarr bands, so the unmag unwilling to live in a city form bands of their own. There tends to be little interaction between unmag and normal Hikarr. Most unmag do not choose their fate, instead requiring integrated clockworks to compensate for injury.
Hikarr dress in loose but covering linens, usually tan. Some Hikarr wear black, though this carries a mild stigma among most bands. It also seems unwise to me in the desert heat, but it doesn't seem to bother the Hikarr who do it. They wear light, strong chain armour of a metallurgical quality I am surprised to see in this Age. Lucky or powerful Hikarr employ clockwork weaponry, but most of them wield long, curved blades called saif. Hikarr weapons and armour are both crafted from a blend of metals that is typically immune to magnetism. Clockwork vehicles are popular among bands of higher strength and status. Hikarr only use integrated clockworks in dire need, as doing so transforms a normal person into a social outcast called an unmag as mentioned above. Similarly, clockwork armour is out of favour due to its magnetic susceptibilities.
Most Hikarr legends own some clockwork gear, although possession of this technology doesn't necessarily impart that status. A surprising number of unmag are legends, as well, despite their impediments and social estrangement. In a band with only one legend, that legend is inevitably the magnet.
Hikarr speak Valen. Many also speak the Aerial Nations language of Skatic.
Though the demiurges have long retreated from the world even in this mythical time, the Hikarr speak of one who is not yet born. A sleeping, nascent demiurge lies deep within the world slowly growing to maturity. This nascent demiurge selected the Hikarr to be its custodians, gifting them with the magnetic magic of induction to prove its goodwill. It makes few demands of its people, largely allowing them to live and prosper as they choose. Most Hikarr have a vague faith, not entirely sure what their demiurge wants from them or does for them, but still proclaiming allegiance to it.
Issheim
The northern forest of Issheim is populated largely by the laussalfar. Other people live here, though the forest is much colder than its latitude would suggest. The society of Ishimfolk is a caste-based one, with societal position being determined through arcane means at one's birth. These castes, from lowest to highest, are farmer, woodworker, warrior, and noble. Farmers tend the ley lines and harvest wood. Woodworkers are society's artisans. Though they sometimes work in media other than wood, they never craft out of metal. Non-laussalfar Ishimfolk are more likely to work in something other than wood, as they have trouble matching the woodcraft of the elves. Warriors are tasked with fighting for the good of the Ishimfolk. While sometimes this involves going forth to attack their enemies, their duty is most often defending Issheim. The nobility is said to be descended from the Lord of Ice himself and tend to make decisions, enact policies, and perform other functions of governance. All nobility in Issheim are laussalfar. The nation is traditionally ruled by a queen.
Many Ishimfolk dress in wrapped silks. They also commonly have tattoos, which are always made visible through their clothing. Ishimfolk tend to fight with a staff or handstaff, often wielding the latter in pairs. They generally do not wear armour, trusting to their agility and second weapon for defence. Rarely, prominent Ishimfolk will trade for a sword or chainmail, but they never produce metal items of their own.
Legends of Issheim are always warriors or nobles, though as usual not all in these castes are legendary. Legendary warriors are more often the proactive kind.
The Issheim calendar, based on the views of the laussalfar, is something I was unable to grasp. It's apparently based on otherworldly cycles somehow related to the Lord of Ice rather than any kind of terrestrial concerns. The Ishimfolk speak Lessai, a language using the same alphabet as the Svarten language of Balsteinn. They claim Lessai is identical to the original tongue spoken by the pre-division alfar.
The mythology of the Ishimfolk, based on the origins of the laussalfar, posits a cosmology of two warring forces: fire and ice. In the beginning of the world the demiurge Logos used the energies of this cosmic conflict to produce the world, setting it at the perfect balance point between the two extremes. Also in the beginning (although I presume this is merely near the beginning of the Mythic Age) the laussalfar and svartalfar were a single people named the alfar. This was destined not to last. The alfar divided along loyalties to fire and ice and went to war. In its wisdom (I am told) Logos divided the people physically into laussalfar and svartalfar.
There are two gods Ishimfolk recognise (although, technically, they accept the existence of the Lord of Fire as well): Sotos, the Lord of Ice, god of ice and cold, patron of the laussalfar and the forest of Issheim; and Kalidos, Who Was Forged in the Spark of War, god of balance between fire and ice, bringer of reconciliation. I'm not sure if these beings can be properly considered gods or if they serve as a mild anthropomorphisation of vast, unknowable cosmic forces. In terms of the Ishimfolk faith, though, it doesn't matter.
Jami
Jami live in the island nation of Tembel in the warm Clear Seas to the south of Alzhrin. Their culture is based around sailing and many Jami spend the majority of their lives on a ship. Their society has three castes: artisan, merchant, and sailor. This is typically determined by a Jami's family, though exceptional Jami have been known to change caste. Merchant is the highest caste and artisan the lowest. The role of merchants in a society without coin requires some clarification. The way ley lines flow through Tembel, islands can only produce certain types of things. Merchant ships carry goods between different islands to help distribute ley line production evenly through the nation. Jami are ruled by captains, who may be drawn from any caste. The lowest is captain of the ship, an individual in charge of a single sailing vessel. Next is captain of the village, ruler of a settlement. Next is captain of the island, ruler of a whole island in the Clear Seas. The highest rank, of which there is only ever a single person, is captain of the sea. This captain rules all the islands of Tembel and the Clear Seas that suffuse them. A captain of any but the lowest rank is decided by a vote of all the captains one rank lower from the region in question. Captain of the island, for example, is an elected position voted on by all the captains of the village in that island. Captain of the ship is claimed through a combination of merit and persuasion. Pirate vessels are outside the normal societal strata and hold no official rank. Pirate captains hold their position through a combination of bribery, intimidation, and upholding their reputation. Though pirate captains can't vote for a captain of the village, I kept hearing persistent rumours of pirate villages hidden throughout the islands.
Traditional Jami garb is an open vest and a knee-length wrapped skirt for all genders, usually brightly coloured but pirates tend to wear black. They wear no armour, as such is a liability on the open sea. They typically fight with short, curved swords, most frequently in pairs, or use a style of unarmed combat called shaffu. Due to the oddities of Tembel's ley lines, these blades are crafted from magically or alchemically treated gemstones.
Jami tend to have a large number of legends, which may be the only thing allowing them to live on the dangerous seas of this Age so effectively. Legends tend to be captains, though there are naturally not enough positions open for every legend to be a captain. Pirate ships tend to have a lower concentration of legends than legitimate society does, though they make up for it by being particularly clever and dangerous.
Jami speak Elnor.
Jami mythology speaks of a demiurge little-known among other cultures named Somnos. Somnos was displeased with the bickering and debating of Logos and Teknos, instead devising a ship to sail the unknown Seas Between. This ship, according to legend, is our world Zindu. When Somnos left the world like the others, it left the Jami to guard its creation and find the other islands in the Seas Between.
Jami deities are concerned with exploration, protection, and the unpredictability of the sea. The most powerful among them are Jel'far, the Burning Deep, god of fire; Zimian Wayfarer, god of the sea and navigation; Hith'sarm Raincloud, god of balance and fairness, bringer of winds and storms; Tillet the Sandmaiden, goddess of shifting earth and sands; Xorif Tidewarden, god of timing and regulation; Shadow Mother, goddess of twilight; and Kerrik the Sunborn, god of dawn and creation.
Jotunkin
Jotunkin society is entirely nomadic. While I have met a few that settled permanently (mostly in human-majority cities), as a culture they don't make permanent settlements. Strangely, though, there are places throughout the continent where empty, giant-sized stone houses sit along common migration paths. I haven't yet convinced anybody to tell me where they came from. Other than what seems to me like an innate tendency towards wanderlust, the main focus among jotunkin appears to be storytelling. The primary attribute by which these giants rank each other is this skill at wordcraft, as they call it. Wordcraft is a form of poetic storytelling, extending even to the way they use magic.
Jotunkin divide themselves into tribal groups called bands, each one led by a prominent storyteller known as the First Poet. Bands tend to be comprised of twenty to thirty individuals. Smaller groups than that don't consider themselves bands (and almost never have a First Poet), while these nomadic giants rarely stay together in larger numbers. The First Poet is the most skilled storyteller in the band. When this is in question they have a poetic battle to determine the leader, engaged in their unique form of spoken runecraft. I was told that the rules of the challenge permit it to be lethal; while I observed several, none of them ended in death. The most interesting duty of the First Poet takes place once a year under a celestial body they call the Wandering Star. I haven't had time to determine whether this is a nearby planet or some artificial body, but it isn't one I recognise from my own time. Once each year, on the autumn equinox, all the bands of the jotunkin meet under this "star". It is then the duty of each First Poet to tell the stories of their band over the past year. They believe that by doing so they cement their people in history. I was unable to figure out what, exactly, they thought would happen if this ritual went unperformed. While at one of these giantmoots, several jotunkin who were not present were described as jaeten, a word I was told meant "seeking words". The jaeten are jotunkin who travel alone or in small groups (usually no more than seven, and often of mixed ancestry) to learn the stories of the rest of the world. Upon their return, which may take many years, they bring these stories back to their people and speak of them as the First Poets speak of their own kind. It is felt that if this did not occur the jotunkin would find themselves adrift from the history of the rest of the world.
Though jotunkin don't make any efforts towards exclusivity, the most common other ancestries to travel with them are humans and moshril.
Jotunkin dress largely in furs and hides. Metal armour is rare and I haven't seen a jotunkin wearing a full suit of it. Many of the giants carry no armaments, their size and strength allowing them to easily overpower human-sized opponents. Those that carry weapons tend towards staves sized for their great height, although they also often use a pair of handstaves or large hammers. Non-jotunkin travelling with the bands tend to use whatever arms and armour their travels give them access to, tailored by individual taste.
As all jotunkin are legends, their society doesn't make any special accommodations or allowances for it. Non-jotunkin in the bands may or may not be legends. Those that have been with the jotunkin since early in life either don't seem to know themselves or assume that they are.
The calendar used by jotunkin is most unusual. Six bands are designated timekeepers. Unlike the others, a timekeeper band follows a set route at a set pace, so as to determine the rate of time for other jotunkin. The six bands have interlinked routes across the continent, so one or more of them meet at regularly scheduled intervals. Naturally, they all come together under the wandering star each autumn equinox. For reasons which I was unable to determine, it is taboo to meet with timekeeper jotunkin unless regulated by their wandering cycles. It was a bit too complicated for me to determine precisely in the time I had, but the layout is roughly as follows. The first band is called Utmaer, and is said to be taken upon alternately by different folk, rather than a group of jotunkin. This is equivalent to one day, with the sun being representative of the jotunkin's journey. The Atfalgr band is nonstatic in membership, due to its cycle being only four days long. The Kjrdöv band follows a cycle about a month long, meeting with the Atfalgr every seven of their cycles. The Vordnur band follows a cycle three months long, meeting with the Kjrdöv every three of their cycles. Mjnjn band is about a year, meeting the Vordnur every four of their cycles. The sixth timekeeper clan is almost a legend, as nobody has seen them in living memory. This clan is called Übenthane, and their cycle is five hundred years long. Every storymoot they are spoken of in vague terms as maintainers of a great cycle, something which they apparently don't explain to outsiders.
Jotunkin speak Kogin, which has a script similar to the Hervarðr's Javen. Jotunkin are generally fluent in several languages.
Jotunkin legend speaks of the world being made by the jotun, their divine forebears. These god-giants, at the behest of the demiurges, brought starfire from across the universe and bound it together with divine poetry to create Zindu. In time, other gods created humanity and the jotun found their forms and their rhetoric to be pleasing. Through special (and strange) applications of wordcraft they coupled with humans, producing the semi-divine jotunkin.
Oddly for the faiths in this Age, jotunkin do not view the jotun as having physical form. Every time I asked for a description I received poetic adjectives and other non-physical attributes. It's not clear to me if jotun are incorporeal entities or if this is merely a quirk of the faith. Subsequently, jotunkin don't use pronouns to refer to their gods. Instead, a jotunkin will always use the giant's divine sobriquet. Unlike most other religions, the jotun apparently don't have codes of conduct, either. It seems to me that individual jotunkin will have different attributes they believe a jotun personifies. Those traits are then considered ideal for a person who reveres that deity. While this seems like a code of conduct to me, the individual interpretation of the jotun is deemed paramount. The six most prominent jotun are Vosnor the Architect, who designed the world and the things in it, often viewed as patient, diligent, creative, and intelligent; Zimilan the Harvester ends lives, often viewed as pragmatic, sympathetic, calculating, and nourishing; Hilier the Gardener creates life, often viewed as caring, nourishing, patient, and placid; Koliv the Stonemason creates the things Vosnor designed, often viewed as stoic, strong, settled, and brash; Atas the Poet creates new poetics and wordcraft, and is given all manner of attributes, the only restriction being that it is something the jotunkin in question aspires to be; and Dukil the Roadwarden protects this world from other worlds, often viewed as vigilant, potent, quick, and canny.
Khanos City-States
Cities in the shifting deserts of Khanos are maintained through yatil sandmagic, most frequently by thaki. Each city is a distinct political entity; they are not a single unified nation. Their society is based entirely around the subtle arts. People who are more proficient in subtlety and yatil sandmagic naturally, and quietly, rise to the top. Since their cities are constructed and maintained via yatil, the person most proficient in its use is the ruler. This is not a public honour.
People of the Khanos states dress in flowing silks suitable to the desert clime, with the colours being indicative of the individual's home city. They do not wear armour and fight, when they fight, most often with a slim, curved dagger called the kalar.
The city-state calendar is a confusing thing, primarily drawn from the thaki tradition. It is based not in years but the accomplishments of the city in question. I was also warned by a Rydel boatman that the cityfolk love lying about their deeds to outsiders, either under- or over-stating their importance. The people of the city-states speak Fyx. While Fyx is mostly pronounceable to non-thaki, there are some subtleties that only the foxpeople can master. Its written form tends to involve many homonyms and double-meanings.
Religion in the city-states is a mix of several different Khanos cultures. Thaki, as is typical for their kind, follow the example of the First Fox. Most other inhabitants of the cities of Khanos worship either the Hikarr demiurge or some of the Rydel deities. Rarely, small groups will have picked up the faith of the Saguarai.
Saguarai
The Saguarai are small religious enclaves throughout Khanos. Their society is almost entirely cactos, though on rare occasions other people will be adopted into a family. Societally they tend to be insular and a bit xenophobic, making the cactos who leaves home to travel and explore comparatively rare.
Cactos typically don't wear clothes, though their priests wear sashes coloured appropriately to their deity. Non-cactos Saguarai generally do wear clothes, as they need protection from the desert's harsh climate. They tend to wear simple clothes acquired from Rydel or Hikarr traders.
Saguarai speak Aviyya. It's not common for them to share their language with outsiders.
Saguarai recognise the divinity of the sun, fractured into the various Solar Fragments which other cultures would understand to be deities. Unlike the Ver'kamel of the High Plains, Saguarai faith considers the sun to be representative of a vast deity, rather than the direct divinity of Ver'kamel's shamans. Still, the occasional Saguarai becomes a shaman of the White as a sort of solar heresy. Each Saguarai enclave focuses on one of the Fragments above the others, which sharply tints the societal nature of that enclave. The primary Saguarai deities are Flowering Tsanar, god of light and new cactos; Obsidian Erthan, goddess of strength and cutting edges; Shifting Oblyos, god of change and movement; and Fated Xyrgan, goddess of finding endings.
Shutein
Shutein live in the nation of Tsien in the west of a vast forest called Anathos in the south of Alzhrin. The Shutein believe that a balanced development of the elements allows them to grow their Prime Element, a sort of extra element that represents mortal spirit. Their society is structured around nourishing this development and social rank is based on such. This has three primary divisions: soldier, farmer, and philosopher. A soldier's spirit is weak. This causes an imbalance with the surrounding world, compelling them to bring this pain and discord to others through war. A farmer has a modest amount of Prime Element, allowing them to connect with the land and Jadis the Way, so that they can work the ley lines and nourish their fellows. A philosopher has the most Prime Element. This leads them to question the world around them and seek truth. The emperor of Tsien is the single person with the most Prime Element imbuing their spirit. This abundance allows them great benevolence and wisdom. The emperor is the only person deemed responsible enough to govern Tsien.
Shutein dress in loose, flowing clothes. They commonly wear silks, though travellers often prefer cotton for its easier maintenance. Favoured colours vary across Tsien, although this choice may also be guided by allegiance, such as fighting school or zanwei temple. The Shutein warrior culture is highly developed; many of them use strange- and exotic-seeming weapons such as tri-staves and hook swords. Oddly, Shutein rarely wear armour. They rely on their elaborate combat styles to help them dodge or parry blows.
Shutein legends have a great impact on their society. Legends are always philosophers. An approximately equal number of Shutein legends are good or bad, to use broad terms, causing a fascinating conflict that shapes culture and legal policy. The most prominent example is that legends are a self-contained legal entity. This means that, so long as the actions of a legend don't directly affect any non-legendary citizens, they cannot be held accountable to a magistrate. While Shutein legends can't exactly be bothered to sit as magistrates and hold trial, they do enact complicated schemes of revenge against each other.
Shutein speak Chi'ar. This language has a number of slightly different regional dialects, though they are all largely intelligible to each other.
According to Shutein belief, the demiurge Logos resolved the world out of the circle of elements. Once doing so, it saw that the flow of the circle produced Prime Element and used this extra element to make humans. Shutein deities are a reflection of their philosophy, and the seven most prominent are Adel the Lotus, goddess of water; Kazak the Star, god of fires and the sun; Medun the Whisper, god of wind and the sky; Jadis the Way, goddess of earth and plants; Fatil the Circle, god of time; Kumor, Who Learned the Descending Fist, god of death and forbidden forms of gin'na; and Ryel, Who Refreshes Prime, god of life and spirit.
Vasrimr
Vasrimr live in the small nation of Vasrim, which sits in a forested valley to the northeast of Tsien. The climate there is temperate and mild with frequent rainfall. Vasrim is divided into a number of small towns, each one ruled by a chief. The six most prominent chiefs sit on the Honourable Council, which governs issues that concern the entirety of Vasrim. Standing in Vasrimr society is based on a character's perceived honour, as honour is all-important to these people. For the truly honourable, this perceived honour is the same as their personal honour. However, there are some Vasrimr who seek to live, to a certain degree, dishonourable lives while maintaining a proper social facade. While there isn't exactly a social stratification, more honourable people are accorded more respect and greater privilege. Each town has an honour colour. This is the colour people from that town wear, in varying proportion, to represent how honourable they are. Wearing an honour colour disproportionate to a person's known deeds is a good way for a blood challenge to be declared. Such challenges are rarely fatal, but are intended to serve as a reminder as to where one's place is.
Due to the climate of their nation, they tend towards lighter cotton clothing in several layers and wide-brimmed hats. Jotunkin are rare in Vasrim. As such, larger-sized accommodations and amenities are rare unless one of the giantbloods lives in a given town. There doesn't appear to be any obvious enmity, and a less keen observer might simply assume that jotunkin wandering rarely takes them through Vasrim. It seems to me like there's some reason, however, for their rarity, though I can't get anyone from either group to explain it. Vasrimr are traditionally spear-fighters, though it is considered acceptable to throw one's spear at the beginning of a battle and fight from there on out with a short blade and shield. Vasrimr have funny ideas about armour. While its use is not considered dishonourable, winning battles with less armour is more honourable. This creates a spectrum among fighters, ranging from people who wear heavy metal armour and are unlikely to die in battle to people who rush into battle completely unprotected, seeking the most possible glory at a terrible risk.
Vasrimr society is unique in that it actively seeks to recruit members from other societies. Their primary method of recruitment is through knight-errants, a concept acquired several centuries ago from some former Shutein. Knight-errants travel Alzhrin performing good deeds, acting honourably, and displaying through action the glories of Vasrim.
Vasrimr legends are said to have the greatest potential for honour or dishonour. All of the chiefs are believed to be legends, as are most knight-errants.
Vasrimr speak Mecci, which uses a script containing symbols from both the Javen and Chi'ar scripts.
The Vasrimr came together from many disparate cultures to make what they believe to be a better society and, eventually, a better world. As such, their cosmological and religious views have many parallels to those found in other cultures. They believe, like so many others, that the demiurge Logos was responsible for the creation of the world. As this was long ago and it seems to have departed, Vasrimr don't give much more thought to the issue. They are aware of the outer realms, though the metaphysical layout of them varies greatly. Some arrange them in a tree, similar to the Hervarðr's Ethertree. Some arrange them as islands in the sea, like the Jami's Seas Between. While many Vasrimr worship deities from other cultures that fit their ideals, there are a few uniquely Vasrimr deities: Belichors, the White Sword, god of just battle and honourable duels; and Hinthisar, the Evening Star, goddess of a quiet fate and acceptance of death, are two of the most prominent.
Yaoren
Yaoren live in the nation of Kellam in the Rivermarch. They're organised by noble houses, each of which controls a different region. Society is stratified between nobles and commoners, with the main difference being that nobles possess psychic capabilities. For the most part these psychic powers follow bloodlines, but there are occasional psychics born to commoner families. In such a case the psychic is expected to apply to a noble house. The prospective noble house provides them with a longsword and sends them out into the world. They are expected not to return until their value is proven.
Yaoren dress in supple leather clothing that is treated to resist water. Yaoren tend to use short, curved swords or powerful bows. Rarely, they are known to wear lamellar plate armour. Otherwise they go unarmoured, though their clothing provides a minimum of protection. Though the noble caste carries longer blades, they tend to fight exclusively with psychic powers. Many noble houses also employ martial forms that are said to augment certain psychic talents, said to have been taught by prominent spirits of light and darkness.
All Yaoren legends are psychic. They are divided apparently evenly between light-aligned and darkness-aligned.
Yaoren speak Hin. Additionally, all nobles are literate in a special psychic script. Reading and writing this script is apparently a universal talent; not being able to do so is approximately equivalent to dyslexia in terms of commonality and social repercussions.
Yaoren cosmology is focused around a balance between light and darkness. This balance is represented by a conflict of otherworldly spirits called deva and asura, respectively. Though they are unable to enter the world under their own power, they are believed to exert influence over people to achieve their goals and in some cases may be summoned into the world by powerful ritual. Every psychic is said to have a pair of minor spirits, one deva and one asura, who whispers to them and attempts to draw them towards one side of the conflict or the other.
Yaoren do not worship deities, exactly, instead venerating the spirits of light and darkness that provide their psychic powers. The most powerful being of each type is somewhat like a god, however. Vignesha, head of the elephantine Isha tribe, is a god of compassion, source of good and light in the world. Asha, king of darkness, is a deity of willpower and strength, source of the internal strength necessary to keep the world just and fair.