Anthropology
Agogwe – Humanoids from the headwaters of the Akpara
River. Having been victimized by the Akota and Stygians, they have been pushed
into their southern range of Naymbe. They are different in that they display
bestial features, such as body fur and claws for burrowing. They are fierce
warriors who live nomadically in temporary burrows. They are said to be pale
for Imarians and friends to the Wakymbi.[i]
Cassava – A staple crop across many parts of the Three
Lands, particularly Lokossa. It is so ubiquitous that few remember anything
special about it except it is poisonous until soaked. And in times of crisis
some people don’t soak it long enough. What few remember is that it arrived at
the height of Antiquity from Arkhosian explorers sailing east along far island
chains to an unknown Continent. Following the tentative maps of mad Elves. They
grew wild in the ruined gardens of their cities before their edibility was
rediscovered.[ii]
Eloko – A
form of Fey who dwell within the BIda Rainforest. They do much to make it
dangerous, being keen eaters of any form meat, Humanoids especially. They are
often confused with Night Men or Human Nghoi. They live in tree hollows and
rarely group together. They are found more in the immense choking equivalent in
the Feywild. No ruins of the Yellow Plant Empire come near their territories
because they kept them out of the Plane.[iii]
Entare –
Terrors of the savannah beyond The Three Lands, these creatures with the chests
of men rising from a lion, fight fiercely with the Meru-descendent tribes for
the delicious cattle. Untold in number and range, all that is known about them
come from their flatter-faced brethren in Zakhara, the wemic. People of Nymabe
say they were made by the Kosan and not the Overpower, those of the three lands
have not met them since the Dawn Age.[iv]
Imbulu –
The Fey folk of Imaria tend more towards the animal cast, residing in the thick
forests for of the bIda and the southern ranges of the Weeping Mountains, known
as the Kuba Taaba. Called Hengeyokai in other lands, they have suffered greatly
in past ages. First persecuted by roving bands of Eladrin from some ancient
slight, then subjugated by the Yellow Plant Empire and the Kosan. For this they
live in animal-specific villages and shun all but the Wakyambi. Though the
ambitious trade on their magical knowledge to become rich in distant cities.[v]
Kingdoms – Each of the five surviving kingdoms of the
Three Lands is centered on a cultural group that has subsumed tribal identities
but retained a distinct identity unlike Nymabe, though much has been shaped by
the Long War with Deshur. The kingdoms each have their own law codes, honor
systems, magical traditions, attitudes towards slavery and towards those they
deem lesser; some which are extraordinarily harsh. The devastation has meant
power is at a very local village or city level and almost always hereditary.
Accusations of collusion with the eternals are feud-starting, but common.
Lion Bands – Mercenary units that have left the Three
Lands. Frequently employed by Elven Merchant Fleets, Zakharan elite, Stygian
Nomes and by the best Planar organizations alongside the other adventurers.
They are stereotypically known for their elaborate hair and use of shiny metals
to decorate their chest armor to advertise their presence in battle. They still
maintain traditional spear and shield-fighting methods, though they adopt
Nyalan-style heavy armor when fighting in colder climates. They have a poor
relationship with the Spears of the Dawn, as the Spears believe the war with
the Eternals is not yet done.
Long War, The – When the Emperor Shangmay of Nyala
invaded Deshur to add another province, the Pharoah was forced back to the
underground catacombs beneath his city. To consult with the terrible spirits
beneath the Weeping Mountains and the powers of ancient Zannad. What emerged
were the undead Eternals, who could not stand the living except as flesh to
keep them in their twilight state. For seven and a half generations they advanced,
devoting more and more time to pacifying as conquering. It has been two generations
since Emperor Kaday threw them down and The Three Lands are still recovering.[vi]
Mask Societies – It is rumored that secret societies
of magical mask-makers rule of many villages across Imaria. While masks are
frequently used in rites across the southern reaches of the Three Lands and
Nyambe. It is unknown how much they serve what authorities were already there.
To betray their identity or lose a loaned mask is a horrible fate. These masks are
said to grant strange powers.[vii]
Night Men, The – Horribly mutated, flesh-hungry, and
hairless. Night Men are the descendants of the two-tiered castes that today are
only found among the Dark Ones. During the Hot Period of the Dawn Age, their
original civilization was founded south of the Akpara River but came to its
abrupt end at the hands of the Yellow Plant Empire. Those who could not flee to
the Underdark were forced to endure bacterial warfare and abandonment by the
ruling caste for the coastal islands extending into the Endless Blue. They are
apparently Goblinoids.[viii]
Ngoloko –
The word for Half-Orc in the languages of Imaria which distinguish them from
their relatives. Apparently, the children of the Kosan who were spared for not
being kosan. There are no known communities of them, and it appears the
original people have died or rejoined their Human relatives.[ix]
Serpentis, Circles of – Some Druidic Circles are not
forces of weal. On such group which has long vexed the Earth is the Circle of
Serpentis. Comprised of Yuan-ti who crown Zehir master of all the serpent
spirits. They work in lands of former Zannad to infiltrate and bring havoc
among the warm-blooded Humanoids. Defeated first in Stygia and Nerath, their
historically recent losses in Zakhara have driven them further down the coast
to the depths of Imaria. Where the jungles meet the Laughing Storms.[x]
Servants of the Sands – Stygia is ancient and has long
been entranced by the passage of time, and how to slow it. The rhythm of the
waters and the desiccating sands taught them to make mummies and carve
geomantic structures to achieve life eternal. In this way Pelor, was honored
just as much for the mastery of time as the sun. His priests and the secular
students have learned the arts of altering and seeing the passage of time. The
payment is to be enrapt alive in bandages and nowadays plates, as they pay back
their borrowed time. They also are fond of clockwork.[xi]
Spears of the Dawn – To root out the Eternals from
their last pockets, elite warrior bands were charged with the grim task. Forty
years later, these loose adventuring bands continue. Spears come from every
walk of life and offer an outlet for those who buck social conventions. They
should be welcome in any village or palace but must fight evil too great or
unnatural for the locals. They are regarded as unpredictable but necessary,
with minor breaches and taboos overlooked. But though those who fail are regarded
as little more than vagabonds and suspected of being bandits.[xii]
Sun Faith – An adaptation of the Enlightened Faith of
Zakhara, filtered through the indomitable will of Stygia and carried over the
mountains to wasted Deshur, elaborate prayer houses in Krisi and the open air
in Meru. Transforming the primacy of Fate over even the Gods, to that the Sun
God is the source and only true deity fit for worship. Leading to tensions and
riots over sacrificial communal rites. The faith is taught by clergy called Sun
Teachers, who read the scriptures and interpret the Four Corners of the
Mountain. Trained from an early age, their hierarchies are like their
counterparts, local.[xiii]
Unthlatu –
The half-Dragons descendants of ancient Zannad, and Maru-Qet. Some even
describe them as being part lizardfolk. Regardless, they practise ancient forms
of sorcery and do not welcome outsiders. They dwell in the green lands of
Lokassa and even the Night Men avoid their coastal swamps.[xiv]
Utuchekulu – Small things crawl across the Weeping
Mountains, just as vicious as the Night Men of the jungles. Few can recall
their description, some sort of hybrid of Dwarves and Goblinoids was reported
by Zakaharan merchants. Great detail was laid upon their blood-red teeth and
single long fang. They eat the dead and can leap far greater than their size
attests. Mabwe is said to truce with them and those merchants say the teeth are
dyed. Tremors drove them from the Underdark, and some among their kind are
hated for their shadow magic.[xv]
Wakyambi –
Fey people of the bIda Rainforest and lesser in Nyambe. They recount they lived
in the sky above the sun. Such words are puzzling to scholars, either the unexplored
Feywild of southern Imaria is distinct, or the wakyambi hold its position to be
above the Earth. They are exceedingly tall, with violet eyes and possess tails,
which make others see them as akin to the Imbulu. They were said to be favoured
by the Kosan and had to made up for it with violence after. They are ruled by a
council of the aged, grow orchids and live in trees.[xvi]
[i] See Nyambe African Adventures pp.36-37
[ii] Cassava is
a centuries old West African staple which is why I think Kevin Crawford added
it in without noticing it was brought by the Portuguese from South America.
[iii] Adapted from Nymabe African
Adventures p.205
[iv] See Nyambe African Adventures
pp.143-144
[v] See Web-article Imbulu from the
Nyambe fan-site, the comics of Juni Ba
[vi] See Spears
of the Dawn, numerous mentions
[vii] See Nyambe African Adventures
pp.67-68
[viii] See Spears
of the Dawn p.133
[ix] See Nyambe African Adventures
pp.29-30
[x] See Textbox
in Primal Power p.53
[xi] Inspired by
the Xelor class from Dofus/Wakfu, Diviner Wizard subclass from D&D 5E
[xii] See Spears
of the Dawn p.7
[xiii] See Spears
of the Dawn
[xiv] Adapted from Nyambe African
Adventures pp.40-42, Dragon Magazine #122 p.30
[xv] Adapted
from Nyambe African Adventures pp.42-43, Dragon Magazine #122 p.28
[xvi] See Nyambe African Adventures
pp.43-44
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