Anthropology
Crabmen – Native to the Blue Reefs in the Bay of Moray.
They were forced to seek refuge within the Topaz Islands and The Yellow City by
the Squidmen and their kraken gods. Besides serving as menial labor with their
rock-crushing claws and broader bodies, they have also carved out niches
selling their magically preserved art, a great sin. Otherwise, they fight for
sport, coin and entertainment. They are either lazy or calm and do not perish
of age. But grow until they cannot support themselves.[i]
Deva – Some Angels loved the Earth too much to leave
when the Dawn War ended, and the Primal Ban was placed upon the Gods. They
choose to leave the Gods service and reincarnate as a form of adult Aasimar.
Patterned in bands of light and dark. Though those who fall reincarnate as rakshasa
eventually. Many appear in sacred Nefelus.[ii]
Elephant Demon – A fiendish cult which started in the
city of Runggara Ban in the last century and spread to many in the Hundred
Kingdoms. This cult is greatly feared in battle and has brought great success
and converts in turning back enemies, particularly the Midani of Zakhara, the
sultanates and Afyal. It is henotheistic and claims the God has devoured all
the local gods and will do so to the world. Likewise human sacrifices have
their limbs broken and are thrown in a pit shaped like a mouth to die. It is
hideous. Such a god is either Gruumsh or Asmodeus.[iii]
Dwarf, Crystal – The Eastern
Empire of Deep Darkness is no more, as is the norm for Dwarves. From the ruined
citadels beneath the Mountains of the Moon, they now range the Oligarchies and
adjoining regions. They are said to be worse tempered than normal dwarves.
Forming small and embittered clans, closed to outsiders lest they lose what
remains of their culture. This is due to the primacy of their finely made yet
grotesque crystal masks. Cut from increasingly scarce deposits in surface caves
and only removed with family or other dwarves. They are rumored to have lost
their dwarvish sight.[iv]
Elven Attitudes, For – There is a diverse discourse
regarding Elven merchants within Arodia society. The Elven Merchant Fleets have
been trading with Arodia since before recorded history and they have never
sought to conquer or preach as the Midani have done since being united by The
Enlighteed Faith. The elves have a superficially similar Elven Caste System and
being long-lived, fair and graceful, are among the Holy People. They fight
pirates on the seas and in doing so have kept the spice route to the Thousand
Thousand Islands open. They also show a keen interest in traditional religious
and cultural knowledge.
Elven Attitudes, Against – There are many reasons for
the people of Arodia to dislike Elves. If Arodia is the purest land, then the
Elves are impure outsiders who are merely ancient and wise. Elves monopolize
the best trade routes and deal with their Adventine factors and great fleets.
The elves have the gall to insist they remember with their superior cultural
records and lives. That once the continent was home to advanced civilizations
associated with their lower Varna and untouchables who the Pure People ground
beneath their Animal Nomad wagons. Accusing them of ancient hypocrisy about
their own religion.
Elves, Marsh – The people of the Yellow Plant Empire
continue to thrive. Not quite Elves and not quite dryads, the marsh elves are
pulled from the waterlogged soil as mandrakes, become charming, four-armed, and
vivacious before becoming immobile trees in age. Their carefree lives in the
river forest of Lamarakh serves a vital function in Yoon-Suin. Living on boats
and skiffs, lashed flotillas when convenient. They ae middlemen for trade
across the Purple Lands. Seen as an exotic curiosity in The Yellow City, their
language is unsolvable and unpronounceable. They greatly favour the scented
cigarettes they call kojo from the city.[v]
Hanu – A race of zoomorphic Humanoids, intelligent and
talking monkeys. In some parts of northern and western Arodia they are called
Varana, though that may represent tribes in Láhág who they share a home with.
They are certainly the same as the Zomia people, the Shanxiao. It is possible
they are the same as the Laksaman in the Thousand Thousand Isles, but those
share a Fey heritage with the rest of the Animal-Headed People. Certainly, the
name hanu is used there. They occasionally display animalistic behaviors when
their blood is up or attention wanders.[vi]
Lamarakhi – The boat people and tribes of the river
forest of Lamarakh and the River of Gods. They display all the same quirks as
the Marsh Elves in their language and smoking, However, they do not become trees
but instead have all brothers marry the same woman, and have no other wives, as
a boat cannot be split between sons. Some tribes are head-hunters who raid the
Hundred Kingdoms for cattle or man flesh. Most eat the fruit and fish of the
river-forest. They possess more wealth than any king but have nothing to spend
it on, wearing it as trinkets.[vii]
Mountains of the Moon, Nomads of the – Though the
Oligarchies hold the southern slopes and Sughd keeps the passes free from
Yak-Men. The interior of the Mountains of the Moon is home to a great many
tribes of Animal Nomads and Humanoids on the fridge plateau and valleys of the
Zomia. Here the Ogres and Idra have their origin, and many remain. The yak and
horse riders war in neighboring Xinjiang and into the Jiang Hu. Unless one
seeks to impress upon their courts, the only succor is in the fortified
monasteries which provide more civilized instruction. And they rule their high
valley fiefs jealously.
Pure People – The social system of most of Arodia
rates the people into four varna based on their purity to an idealized form and
manner, signifying their karma. Certain ancestries have a natural advantage in
this, based on their innate grace, beauty, and celestial origin. Though being
foreign naturally cancels this out. Elves are graceful and blessed with long
lives, Half-Elves only less so, Dwarves have age and skill though they lack
beauty. But those with the best karma are Aasimar, and Deva in particular,
since they are both reincarnations and native. Monstrous races in return have
bad karma.[viii]
Slugmen – Those who built The
Yellow City out of the ruins of Degringolade. It is unknown if they were always
there, but the city is their birthright, and they are the sole property-owners.
Ancient authority and a massive trade in narcotics have made them
materialistic, effete and pompons. No slugman would not be seen without fancy
outfits and eunuch slaves, but no Humanoid people who have survived so long are
weak. They value knowledge above all pursuits and are great patrons of
institutions of exploration and exploitation.[ix]
[i] See
Adventures In Yoon Suin For 5E, p.6
[ii] See 4E Player's Handbook 2, p.8
[iii] See
Yoon-Suin, the Purple Land p.16
[iv] See
Adventures In Yoon Suin For 5E, p.6
[v] See
Adventures In Yoon Suin For 5E, p.5
[vi] See Sword
of Wuxia pp.6-7
[vii] See
Yoon-Suin, the Purple Land p.11
[viii] Obviously
inspired by the real-life Hindu caste system, with some of the weird fantasy
racial baggage of the OSR RPG Arrows of Indra
[ix] See
Adventures In Yoon Suin For 5E, p.7
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