Men and Animals of all the Earth
Aasimar – Just as Tieflings bear the mark of fiends,
some mortals are born with celestial markings. Like their fellows, the largest
contingent defines them, the ever-reincarnating Deva. For few celestials beget
lineages. Those that do or those born at miraculous times impart a radiance.
Bright or golden skin, hair and eyes are common, halo-like glows and sacred
geometries make them distinct from a distance. Great are the expectations and
many join religious orders for correct instructions. Some say there is a
connection between the celestials of draconic Gods and types of Kalashtar.[i]
Animal Nomads – Quite a broad range of people who have
their homelands east of the Vidya Mountains or the Forest Wall Mountains. In
early Antiquity, the nomads of the southern plains were known to ride any
animal but horses while those of the northern plains rode horses alone.
Nowadays the horse riders predominate but there are still occasional bands of
mammoth or bison riders in the Spearwood. Ethnically, they tended to be
Nangian, though many of the antiquated western sort have ridden into Adventia,
Zakhara and Arodia and forgotten their origins or their cities have been
consumed by the growing desert.
Ballbeasts – A variety of monsters found in Adventia
inside and along the Deepwoods. Each monster is a mammalian creature with a
head as large as its body and no neck. Some are like pine martens, some like
sheep and some possess no limbs and just a maw to bite into prey by weight of
numbers. They are domesticated to serve as field and forest animals by the
Goblinoids, Humans and Elves of the northern Deepwoods. They are emblems of the
Riverlands and appear just as often as sheep and cattle in markets and crests.[ii]
Changling – It is said that Avandra helped a beautiful
woman when the world was young. She was pursued by a cruel suitor and after
helping her twice the goddess gave her the ability to change shape. She became
an Assassin and gave birth to children of her own gifted the same.
Doublegangers are self-centered creatures with rubbery flesh. Ols in the
ancient togues. Their children with the deceived are slender and ethereal,
uniformly light in tone and with oversized eyes. Changelings are mercurial yet
peaceful, changing physical identity and beliefs to adapt into large
communities, coopting into the societies of others.[iii]
Dark Ones – A two-tiered caste society, comprised of
two brother races, the small dark creepers and the man-sized dark stalkers.
Native to the Shadowfell and Underdark, these mysterious Humanoids enrapt all
but the upper face in black cloth to shield themselves. These are all that is
left of a Goblinoid society from western Imaria, destroyed by the Yellow Plant
Empire. Those who first fled did not mutate from the toxins but instead were
immersed in true darkness. It is speculated that there is a great deal of Human
in them now, from gloomy planar folk and patrons of Assassin societies.
Demi-Human – The races which share a similar form of
bipedal, primates with “natural” skin tones and hair thickest on the top of the
head, with Humans having the commonality and so being the baseline. Magic is
not innate except as a Plannar condition or inheritance. All of them can
interbreed, though some phenotypes become indistinguishable from one kind
except in subtle ways or the median not meeting one race’s standards. In some
cases, groups like Goblinoids or Giants overlap to some extent, indicating the
boundaries are more porous. Or that definition is defined more by appearance
than heritage.
Dinosaur – Know to the common people as behemoths
along with other massive reptiles, these animals first arose on the early Earth
during the Hot Period of the Dawn Age. Though badly reduced by the Cold Period
and the upheaval of the Dawn War, they continue in the remote regions of the
world. Independently tamed in Zannad, Peloria and beyond the Known World.
Dinosaurs are prized as first war beasts and then as beasts of burden. Like
elephants, dinosaurs must be captured in the wilds and tamed though there is
never a guarantee they won’t turn on their handlers even in battle.
Dragon – Dragons were made in the image of their God,
Io. He made them without his divine spark but intermixed the forces of the
Elemental Chaos and with a mind and soul from the Astral Sea. Though Io met his
end, his divine children, or born from his corpse, Bahamut and Tiamat became
competing gods, and dragons the same or deliberately opposing to both. The
fundamentum, is the true mark, conveying elemental-charged blood from the heart
to the gizzard and maintains their temperature. A leviathan, a singular society
and lord, cooperating seldomly.[iv]
Dragonborn – An age-old question has consumed this
race, are they made from Dragons, dragons born from them or are they separately
made by dead Io? Such an answer would define the nature of subserviate and
arrogance. Dragonborn are equally Humanoid and dragon, possessing a fundamentum,
snouts, frills and claws but neither normally wings nor tail. Dull scales give
no indication of inner power. Their heyday was Antiquity, where the clans ruled
Arkhosia that stretched across the Earth. Honor was their food and
self-improvement trumped face. With its fall they are scattered, even Nerath
denied the clans never congregation, out of fear.[v]
Dwarf – A race of Demi-humans,
so named by the Elves and Humans. Originating in the Forest Wall mountains,
dwarves were created by Moradin but subjugated by the Giants during the Cold
Period of the Dawn Age. Following their rebellion and emancipation, the dwarves
migrated to the Underdark of the Known World. Dwarves live in increasingly
interbred clans, with clans forming kingdoms which claim theoretical descent
from the Empires of the Deep Darkness. Their knowledge of craftmanship is
magical even if they shun somatic spells as too unreliable and prone to
dialects.[vi]
Dwarf, Duergar – When the Giants enslaved the Dwarves
during the Dawn Age, they held to their creator Moradin. When their freedom
came, there was division because many felt that they had done so by their own
hand and done so by delving deeper where the giants could not follow.
Unfortunately, they came upon the Mind-Flayers, who were far eviler. The duergar
escaped again, with Asmodeus as their god to haunt the Underdark as sinister
and slave-driving as the Drow. They took their anger against the Northern Empire
of Deep Darkness under Tronskal and brought death to any clan which could not
escape.[vii]
Dwarf, Half – Curiously, half-dwarves have one of two
phenotypes. A median build with muscular upper backs, a common trait to go
white-haired even when young and a tendency to voluminous hair and beards. Or a
taller and more heroically build than even a human, with limited hair even on
their heads. These so-called Mul (mull) from the regional dwarven term mulzhennedar,
which means strength. The rarer Mul seems to be associated with difficult pregnancies
and limited fertility. Half-dwarves can be found in the hills where Dwarves and
Humans have mingled for centuries, carving out hamlets of prospectors and
surface miners.[viii]
Elven Caste System – Elven communities of the early
empire were unspecialized, but as the complexity of the Elvish Empire grew,
dedicated crafts and specialties were soon enshrined in law as family rights
and eventually whole categories of occupations were devised to be practiced as
allied crafts. The use of magic for scholars, Magic-Users and priests was
reserved for the Summer caste/High Elves. Pathfinding, hunting, and
arboriculture for the Spring caste/Wood Elves. Agriculture, smithing, and
warfare for the Autumn caste/Fire Elves. And entertainment, storytelling, and
assassinations for the now missing Winter caste.
Elf – A race of Demi-Humans, Elves ae descendants of
the Eldrain of the Feywild, who settled on Earth during the Dawn Age and began
to diminish due to a lack of available Magic. Though they are diminished in
both size and lifespan, they still forged the Elven Empire over the course of
early Antiquity. Many still live under the magical Elven Caste System imposed
there. Elves are uncommon on Earth, despite this, Elven culture is seen as the
root of civilized Adventine society.[ix]
Elf, Half – During the time of the Elven Empire,
relatively little contact was made between the elves and the Primal animists.
But with the arrival of the Korlathi in Adventia, this changed, echoed wherever
elves and human civilization met. Elves were the epitome of everything someone
could wish to be and the Fire Elves more so. In the collapsing frontier, many dynasties
were founded by this wooing and elvish culture became high culture. There are
enough to form their own communities when they don’t live among one people.[x]
Elf, Non-Caste – When the Elven Empire was at its
height and instituted the Great Enchantment, many on the poorly governed
fringes rebelled or fled. In Zakhara, they fled the oases into the desert. And
in the Spearwood, bands of independent wanderers tore down the magic towers in
rebellion. In this way the Desert Elves and the Wild Elves formed, independent,
violent, and bitterly estranged from Elven culture.
Giant – When the Earth was still hot, the Primordials
set forth their elemental servitors to mold. The titans found the work too small,
so they made their own. These smaller being were of flesh as they were of the
Plane. Inspiring divine prototypes in their common image, yet soon discarded.
When the Gods’ creations emerged, they were there to enslave them, Dwarves,
Gnomes and True Dark Ones especially, for they were shapers. Such actions and
their allegiance to their forefathers brought them destruction in the Dawn War,
though many hoards they gathered. Still vengeful, they lurk among the wildest
regions.[xi]
Gnolls – Large zoomorphic Humanoids formed by the Dead
God Gorellik, who was
slain and eaten by Yeenoghu during the Dawn War. Under his sway, gnolls can be
born from demonic hyenas and seek only violence, winnowing themselves,
deliberately scavenging and not making, enslaving and eventually eating
captives too strong to perish but embracing those who descend to their
savagery. Fiendish blood has tainted them so that those packs who turn to Gods
or Primal Spirits still dream in Abyssal. As a culture, they retain the nature of
hyenas; nomadic bands, strong pack lines and lineage traced through equal-sized
mothers.[xii]
Goblin – The most common and so most reviled form of
Goblinoid. Goblins live in tribes throughout the Known World. It is believed
their origins lie in the ancient Hobgoblin empires of the Dawn Age, where they
were bred to serve as servile labor, marked by their stunted form and rigid tribal
authority by unstable chiefs. This same approach makes them robbers, with only
the weak and the takers. In Adventia, their main body is in the Greentide. Whose
length has sapped some of their aggressive spirit and now live as men in
Sactaphrax & Undertown.
Goliath – Hailing from the Frostfell, the utter cold,
are a race of semi-giants which have split across the vast plains of northern
Nangia. To the east they travelled to Noonara, on the borders of the Spirit
Kingdoms to contemptuous laugh at the rider Animal Nomads. To the west they
have settled the tops of Dwarven mountains. Driven by a love of competition,
they prize honest challenges and their own victories. No territorial boundaries
for their wanderlust and they are foolhardy in their daring. Their cultures
tend towards the worship of Primal Spirits, and the Gods of the sky or mountains.[xiii]
Hobgoblin – The most basal form of Goblinoid. More
akin to Demi-Humans in shape, hence hob - “man”. They emerged from the
conceptual void between the divine brothers Corellon and Gruumsh sometime
during the middle of the Dawn War, when the pantheons clashed in the now-lost
Vale of Blood. Proto-Hobgoblins (Uruks) developed several militarized
proto-states during the Hot Period, taming Dinosaurs and undergoing selective
breeding to create other goblinoid races. The longest-lasting was in the
Feywild, giving some a Fey cast. In the
east were the Bakemono and in the south, the ancestors of the Dark Ones and
Night Men.
Halfling – Created by the workings of Sehanine and Melora yet adopted by Avandra.
Halflings are erroneously assumed to be half the height of a Human. But tend to
be taller and heavier than “half” suggests. They are proportioned as humans and
share the same complexions, yet most have dark hair and eyes. They do not grow
beards, but sideburns, with complicated hairstyles common. Seen as warm,
fearlessly curious and affable, they have avoided notice of the bigfolk through
humbleness and practicality. This and the emphasis on the hearth, even while
commonly nomadic, has kept a consistent culture for thousands of years.[xiv]
Human - Born of clay and as
common as clay, the Demi-Humans are measured against their most common element.
Those who eternally seek new opportunities and in doing so display a decisive
rashness. Bereft of patron God, for he was slain in the Dawn War and none truly
remember him. This void is filled with a craving of power and moral
flexibility. Their commonness means human settlements are the first locations
distant races flee to. And their many empires mean they are accustomed to
seeing other races, so long as they are local. Indeed, many regional races have
some human ancestry.[xv]
Humanoid – So dubbed by being beyond the limited
boundaries of the Demi-Human form. With a combination of traits such as
pronounced features, animalistic countenance and coloration. On a higher level,
these races bear the service or make of Gods in disjunction with the Systematic
pantheon, yet may adopt it regardless. Hence why Tieflings are not humanoids
but demi-humans for their god is an unwholesome, if consenting member. Zoomorphic
humanoids, are much simpler, being bipedal and thumbed versions of animals. Yet even then the Animal-Headed People of the
Thousand Thousand Islands break any pattern.
Kalashtar – In ancient times, immortal dream spirit
bound themselves to lines of mortals. Why is varied, Shamans who reached out to
the spirits of reams, generations of psionic practices and even those who
subsumed into greater dreams. Each kalshtar or many at once is tied to one of
the inhabitants of the plane of dreams, while they sleep their companion is
said to live. Those practicing psionic disciplines are of the east, the shamans
are of the north and those whose who are part of the western Dragon dream with
the redness of their skin replaced with blue or gold.[xvi]
Minotaur - Children of a Primordial after his
corruption into a demon prince. Baphomet’s defeat, yet not destruction, led to
the minotaurs settling the isle of Ruul in the Crowded Sea, shepherded in
civilization by Erathis and their wild nature by Melora. Such acts by higher
powers leaves them still revering priests and cult leaders as the highest. A massive,
furred Humanoid between neck and ankles, frequently making and adopting
labyrinths as symbolic metaphors for their dual nature. Yet Baphomat always was
preaching. In the end Melora and Kord destroyed their island, scattering them
and marking their undying enmity.[xvii]
Orc – The sons of God, and that god is Gruumsh. Shaped
by his will for victory in the manner of his nature. Sometimes copied through
gouging out their own eye. In that way they are as perfect in form as their
cousins are made in the manner of the Seldarine.
Orcs process the caverns of the hills and mountains into raiding strongpoints.
It is always easier to take from those deemed not worthy. In that manner orcs see
kin as the sole social tie. A tribal leader will change as strength waxes and
wanes, but far-wandering bands still recognise tribal kin.[xviii]
Orc, Half – The origins of this nearly Human people
are obscured for being obvious. They certainly favour their human lineage
excluding a tendency of shorter lives, gray skin, dark graying hair, subtle yet
Orcish jaws and greater heft. Their origins have been said to include
interbreeding along the frontier by Primal-worshiping societies, brutal
barbarians or disparate survivors of previous chaos clinging together. Some say
the Hobgoblins brewed them up or Kord made them wholecloth. Another legend says
they were a tribe drenched in the gore of Gruumsh’s falling eye. Regardless,
they burn with a willful fire that takes hold anywhere given time.[xix]
Ogre - During the Dawn War, Giants were drawn to the
southern coast of Nangia by the lure of megafauna. The sudden collision of
Arodia thrust the Mountains of the Moon beyond the sky. Hill, storm, and cloud
giants build their halls throughout the ranges, bringing enslaved dwarves to
carve their palaces. In time the magic faded, stunting the great people. Ogres
ate their uncles and Irda pined in their chambers, brewing magic akin to flesh
twisting Zannad. The Gods did not entreat this and turn the mountains over. The
ogres have since scattered to dance and breed with evil spirits.
Ogre, Half – The beings called Half-Ogres are rare in
the world, larger than Humans but far smaller than Ogres. They either occur
rarely on the fringes of society or in larger numbers within Nangia’s Zomia.
There, they are an ancient if sparse race, dating back to the end of the Dawn
Age where the Ogre and Idra lords of the crumbling mountain palaces bred with
the human nomads to form a hardy people. Those half-ogres have a poor
reputation as bandits, but so do most of the mountain people. With chaos in Jungo,
more are following the mercenary paths down the rivers.
Ogre Magi – Over a thousand years, the Ogres have
sought spiritual power through the worship of powerful elementals, savage Gods
and fiendish spirits. Those spirits which have come among them gave birth to a
planetouched race, the equivalent of Tieflings but much closer to their source.
Ogre Magi have terrifying magical powers and greater intelligence, allowing
them to rule or destroy as they see fit. The parental spirits have taken on
quality of the ogres as well and become oni; fiendish, shapeshifting, flesh
eating and deceptively quiet monsters.
Shifters – All across the world, the others fear the
hidden hunger of the shapechangers, the flesh-hungry, cursed were-beasts. Yet
in hidden corners, some change to a brutal irony, becoming more like a man and
only slightly like a beast. Like a panther or wolf. It’s not known why, but
these shifters are truer in soul and form. Yet that does not make them tame,
those of the Spearwood have thrown back countless tribes of Animal Nomads and
Korlathi, as have others elsewhere. Yet the Age of Chaos has driven many to be
neighbors to the settled, with many conflicts and opportunities.[xx]
Thri-kreen – They say the Primal Spirit Sand Father,
or Old Grandfather to others, plucked a sand beetle, giving the wisdom of the
lizard and cunning of the fox, among varying insect traits. Reinforced by their
inborn knowledge, what they call the Ancestral Khanate. Allowing newly hatched
communal clutches to talk and hunt together, even when not claimed by their
birth pack. Not as a religion, for they see worship as a source of
legacy-granting power, like money. Allowing their empire, Val-Karri a century’s
dominance of the Known World’s deserts prior to their subjugation by Arkhosia.[xxi]
Tiefling – While applicable to any child born tainted
in body by fiendish powers, commonly it refers a specific culture. Those of
Bael Turath bear a common origin and similar infernal appearance. Large growing
horns, thick non-prehensile tails, pointed teeth, solid-colored orbs and
unnatural skin and hair, frequent reds. A certain amount of arrogance has never
left, they bear the heritage of nobility. Scattered and frequently shunned
since, the vagabond imperial bloodlines were once seen as dying. But the Turathi
nobles have begun to reclaim their place. From Nerath to the current age, they
continue to rebuild with their Human brethren.[xxii]
Quaggoth – Savage wanderers of the Underdark. Humanoid
in form, they survive their lowly position with the ferocity of a boar and the
succor of the subterranean Primal Spirits. Though they make stone, they eagerly
take metal to complement their strength and resistance to poisons. They attack
Elves as surface Drow. They may be the yetis of the Mountains of the Moon.
Certainly, they are called Mi-Go.[xxiii]
Warforged – Stone and metal without, wood and
blood-like lubricant within. A unique rune upon the forehead, “ghulra”, Truth
in Primordial. Others recount that Bael Turath made something similar and in
the province of Héyun were skull-faced guardians. More than three centuries
ago, King Eothyr III
of Nerath first paid the Society of Imperial Artificers to make an artificial
being that imprisoned no independent spirit. His son Elidyr bade them for war
against Humanoid unrest. Mighty were their hollow victories, and many noble
paid scutage for them. Yet most veterans were lost in the regional wars after.
They still are made albeit fewer.[xxiv]
Yuan-ti – Zehir could not create a race of his own in
the Dawn Age. So, he seduced Avandra for the teachings of reshaping what others
made. She was not fool, and her love came the caution he would need permission.
So Zehir taught Asmodues the art of murder when the angel came for plotting.
The death of He Who Was meant no permissions needed for Humans, and he reshaped
many to his pleasing. Yet eventually he was forced to relinquish them
unaligned. They built or expanded Zannad, his Continent-spanning empire of
slavery and sacrifice. Caste purity by closeness to serpent form.[xxv]
The Powers that Be
Circles, Druidic – Though not all of them are priests
or think of themselves in the Westermen term. Across the Earth, Primal mystics
and warriors form informal groups for worship and coordination. With mystics
seeking out far off others as they grow older and introspective while warriors
banding together for a mutual goal. Circles number between three and seven and
may not align in any form except a desire for sharing knowledge. These circles
can be dedicated to good or ill as they please. Irregular meetings and
overlapping groups are common.[xxvi]
Gardens, Druidic – Druids spend a great deal of time,
energy and sometimes gold cultivating their gardens. Though few may ever
recognize them as such. Druids use their shapeshifting abilities to create spaces
or activities in remote or seemingly natural surroundings. Growing powerful
herbs, ancient species of creatures and glorious plants. The goal is, after the
druid has passed, the garden will spread naturally and non-invasively into the
natural heritage of an area. It is one of the few things that bind druids
beyond their Circles.[xxvii]
Gods – Deities are spirits of
the Astral Sea that possess a spark of divinity. Like others of that Plane,
they are immortal and comprised of the silvery higher stuff. They may take on
many aspects and forms, yet each is a set identity. Worshipped as needed. Any
creature may cultivate a spark within themselves over time, feeding their soul
or drawing on those of their faith. But the catalyst is unknown, until a rising
star bursts from the Earth into the heavens. Many minor gods choose regular
quiescence and scope to avoid the Primal Ban that would require them to leave.[xxviii]
Gods, Evil – The Gods of woe. Asmodeus for tyranny and
domination, ruler of the Nine Hells. Bane for war and conquest, many regardless
of alignment offer prayers. Gruumsh for destruction and marauding barbarian
hordes. Father of the Orcs, Corellon’s brother-enemy. Lolth for shadows, lies
and spiders, she was of the Seldarine. The Chained God is not spoken of. Tiamat
for wealth, greed, and envy. Patron of chromatic Dragons. Unspoken Torog for
the Underdark, patron of jailers and torturers. Vecna for undead, necromancy, and secrets. Both not
meant to be known and desired to be kept. Zehir for darkness, poison, snakes and
Assassins.[xxix]
Gods, Dead – Gods may be immortal, yet there are not
invulnerable. Able to be discorporated and destroyed by might and deed. Haramathur, Io, Lakal, The God of
the Word and Zorthos, victims of the Dawn War. He Who Was,
usurped and erased by Asmodeus. Turen, slain by a mortal who might be his
brother, Archa-Bane. Amoth slain by demon princes. Aurom killed by Nerull, slain
by the Raven Queen. Khala, slain for her wrath. Laeris maybe killed by Venca. Sagawehn, killed for her
aggression. Semuet inhabited from the Far Realms. Nusemnee slain by her father
Zehir within the Age of Chaos.[xxx]
Gods, Good – The Gods of weal are named as such;
Avandra of change, freedom, trade, travel, adventure, and the frontier. Seen as
the goddess of luck and patron of Halflings. Bahamut the Platinum Dragon, god of justice,
protection, nobility, and honour. Monarchs are crowned in his name and first of
the metallic Dragons. Moradin, god of creation and patron of artisans,
especially miners and smiths. Creator and inspiration for Dwarves. Guardian and
protector of the hearth and family. And Pelor, god of the sun and summer. The
keeper of time and lord of agriculture. Most popular among ordinary Humans.[xxxi]
Gods, Pagan – Pagan Gods theoretically are any gods
which are deemed unimportant or mere Exarchs of others yet persist in
self-importance. Yet the word pagan has very specific connotations that has
helped make it popular wherever Nerath once trod. Pagan is a term for
interpretations of gods which involve bloody rites, feats of self-importance
and violence. Mixed with Primal rites and priests transmitting knowledge orally.
So are lesser in the eyes of the urban civilized people. Humanoids generally
are not pagan because they worship spirits and gods who acknowledge yet defy
the other gods.
Gods, Unaligned – Some of the most widespread faiths.
Corellon of spring, beauty, and the arts. Patron of arcane magic and the Fey.
Erathis of civilization, the muse of great inventions, founder of cities, and
author of laws. Ioun is of knowledge, skill and prophecy. The patron of magic’s
study. Kord is lord of war and storms, who revels in strength. Melora is of the
wilderness and the sea, foundation and fear of the world. The Raven Queen is of
death but not the dead, mistress of fate and winter. Sehanine is the moon and
autumn, therefore trickery, illusions and love.[xxxii]
Gods, Seldarine – From the domain of Arvandor come the
Gods of the Fey, and the Elves and Eldrain in particular. Known as the
Fellowship of the Brothers and Sisters of the Woods, they consisted of
Corellon, Sehanine, formerly Lolth and all their Exarchs. Erroneously assumed
to be respective patrons of eladrin, elves and Drow, only they remain bound. These
deities spent most of their time isolated within the Feywild during the Dawn
Age. Though Lolth turned upon Corellon during the Dawn War, and maybe as a
consequence. This brought the others into contact with less refined races and
spread their teachings. See (The Plane Above - Secrets of the Astral Sea
pp.37-38, Divine Power p.51)
Gods, Systematic – The Systematic pantheon is the one
popularized by the Empire of Nerath and formulated from the early intermingling
of Arkhosia and Bael Turath. Which in turn draw on the global dialogues spurred
by the Elven Empire, surrounding the Dawn War and the principal Gods within,
much from pre-Enlightenment Zakhara. It downplays the worship of minor gods of
regions, saints and Exarchs as unimportant, though individual orders still
honor them. As it was Nerathi, it is most common in Adventia. Broadly it is
syncretistic, though most other faiths strongly believe in different regional
names and prioritize gods who have greater local effect.
Exarch – A champion or agent of a God, demon lord or
other being of great power. These might be saints, archangels, the exalted and
minor gods risen or subsumed by their masters. Their numbers vary, Avandra has none
for she desires closeness. Bane has cowed the Goblin gods to serve him. Moradin
has the Moradinsamman, which counts over nine minor deities only on interest to
Dwarves. Exarchs gain no innate powers but can draw upon the resources of a god
to perform their tasks. Regardless of anything else, an exarch enters by mutual
agreement with the deity.[xxxiii]
Kyuss – In what may have been Nocturnus, a mortal grew by dark
betrayal and manipulation, slaying his followers and himself to emerge a thing
of worms and decay. His worms consume all, yet cannot make him a God as he
craves, to bring forth the Age of Worms. Kyuss lurks in some corner of the
Underdark, on a bone throne of mighty meals. His words, spoken or written bring
forth worms in the mind.[xxxiv]
Primal Spirits – As the Dawn
War raged, the Earth gained its own powers, plentiful beyond counting. Incarnations
of places and life, without need for worship, some till the world’s end. To see
them is to visit the Spirit World. They are not Gods, though many culture merge
them with no harm. Gods are like monarchs, spirits are family or friends,
though power offered can have taboos. Sometimes dismissed as The Old Faith.
Their power weakens in the Feywild and Shadowfell, as separate Planes. The twenty-four
great Elders are known across the world by many names, but they uphold the
Primal Ban.[xxxv]
Primordials – The makers of creation. The vast beings,
free of good and evil yet never creatures of cosmic law. They emerged from the
Elemental Chaos and shaped the Earth, Feywild and Shadowfell in the early days
of creation. They crafted the elementals, Genies, the titans who begot the
Giants and the Genasi. Though some genasi say they were merely influenced. It
was in the Dawn War they learned to hate, for they Gods denied the Planes
impermanence. Across all places, there are sixty-four notables who are free,
imprisoned or dead, and have not succumb to the Abyss and become demon princes.[xxxvi]
Hidden Orders, The – Somewhere beyond ken well those who have achieved
perfect mastery of body and mind and have emerged from them unfettered. No
doubt they have some ultimate plan, but it is inscrutable except to those who
have accepted its highest charges and the Gods themselves. They strike pacts
with those of sufficient aptitude, progressing through the First, Second and
Third Order to eventually join them. If they do not perish on their masters’
behalf prior.[xxxvii]
Nature of Being – It is accepted that any Humanoid comprises of a body,
animus and soul, but beyond it is philosophical. Living requires all three,
less for animals and necrotic impetus or foul feeding to sustain one missing
element. The body is comprised of Planar material and the soul enters and
leaves from realms unknown, granting consciousness. Unless destroyed, waylaid
or consumed. But animus is the life force which moves the body and rots without
a soul. Undead contain animus as does constructs. The mind rests either with
the soul or the body and its cleavage define corporal or incorporeal undead.[xxxviii]
Psionic Orders – Psionic arts require discipline and so have been
cultivated since before the end of the Dawn War by various orders and
bloodlines. No guiding principle or alignment connects these groups, some gain
power over the surrounding area or become subordinate. Many are monastical
traditions developed from the ancient Sun and Moon Style, the writings of the
Talaric Codex, hidden orders or military companies. These include the; Basilisk
Fury Adepts, Cerulean Adepts, Eternal Seekers, Guiding Hand, Fists of Zuoken,
Four Winds, Iron Brigade, Path of Thirty-Seven Obstacles, School of Unmatched
Excellence, Soaring Blades, Tiger Claw, Twilight Dreamers and the Unseen Hand.[xxxix]
Revelations of Melech, The – A heretical tome which lists the known
Starspawn of the cosmos and their malign influences on Earth. Melech was
apparently some sort of astronomer, but nothing else is known. The text is
quite rare and only found in the greatest worldly and Plannar libraries. The
known list of stars are: Acamar, The Corpse-Star, Allabar, The Opener of the
Way, Blue-White Ulbar, Caiphon the Purple, Morinbund Hadar, Nihal, the Serpent
Star, and The Cursed Green Sun, Gibbeth.[xl]
Starspawn – The stars in the sky are relied on for astrology, predicting
the patterns of fate for everything from kings to crops. But some stars have
fallen under the sway, or always were of foul things from The Far Realm. Beings
which gaze with their celestial eye towards Earth. They watch and listen and
make pact with those who would be their agents. They would remain like that if
not for the agitations of the rogue star Allabar. Which the Revelations of
Melech proclaims arises during the Ages of Chaos to bring destructive and
corrupting avatars to the Earth.[xli]
Slaying Sword, The - A bane weapon created during the
Elven Empire. Made from mithril, first to kill Goblinoids, it was reforged by
Dwarves to slay Giants and Elves to slay Dragons. What made the sword unique
was the enchantment shifted during this process. The killing power was in
proportion to the might of the wielder. It has been lost and hidden many times.
If found, it is frequently assumed to be a steel throwback of a bronze blade
due to the patina with dwarfish work on the hilt. The blade is leaf-shaped, and
about eighty centimeters long.
Young Gods, The – Named for their form, not their age.
These asinine divinities spend their eternity engaged in petty games and
relationships with each other. Only wielding their immense power when troubled
from beyond their maddeningly anachronistic realm. There is no record of them
in the Dawn War, yet they act as if creation was but a passing event. Some
appear Human and others bear more infernal visages, as do their creations, they
may be from elsewhere in the Planes. There are at least ten pairs, but they
shift with dalliances. They offer no benefits to worshippers beyond their
astral realm.[xlii]
[i] Inspired
more by the 2E description from the Planes Walker Handbook, with the additional
twist that the Eliatrope
from Wakfu do share more similarities to Deva after all.
[ii] Inspired by
the Edge Chronicles Prowlgrins, Wig-Wigs and Dofus/Wakfu Gobballs
[iii] See 4E
Monster Manual p.71, Textbox in Divine Power p.69, 4E Eberron Player's Guide p.29, Ols are
from the book series Deltora Quest
[iv] See
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons pp.6-21
[v] See 4E Player's Handbook, p.34, Player’s
Handbook Races – Dragonborn pp.4-22,
scattered Dragon Magazine lore articles
[vi] See 4E
Players Handbook p.36
[vii] See 5E
Monster Manual p.122, 4E Monster Manual 2 p.92
[viii] First type
are based on Enutrofs from Ankama’s Dofus/Wakfu, second type are Dark Sun Mul
from Dragon magazine #391 pp.55-58
[ix] See D&D
Players Handbook 4th edition p.40
[x] See D&D
Players Handbook 4th edition p.42
[xi] See 4E
Monster Manual pp.120-125
[xii] See Dragon Magazine #364 pp.10-11,
#367 pp.47-54
[xiii] See 4E
Players Handbook 2, p.12
[xiv] See 4E
Players Handbook p.44
[xv] See 4E
Players Handbook p.46
[xvi] See Dragon
Magazine 385 pp.11-16, Eliotropes class from Dofus/Wakfu
[xvii] See 4E
Players Handbook 3 p.10, Dragon Magazine #369 p.5
[xviii] See 4E Monster Manual pp.203-205
[xix] See 4E
Player's Handbook 2 p.14, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms p.258
[xx] See 4E
Players Handbook 2 p.16
[xxi] See 4E
Monster Manual 3 pp.192-193, Dark Sun Campaign Setting, p.22, Dragon Magazine
#411 pp.15-19
[xxii] See
Player's Handbook, p.48, See Player’s Handbook Races – Tieflings
[xxiii] See 4E
Underdark, p.152
[xxiv] See Dragon Magazine #364 pp.27-35
[xxv] See 4E
Monster Manual pp.269-273, Monster Vault pp.288-291
[xxvi] See Textbox
in Primal Power p.41
[xxvii] See Textbox
in Primal Power p.42
[xxviii] See 4E
Players Handbook, p.20
[xxix] See 4E
Dungeon Masters Guide, pp.162-163
[xxx] See Textbox in Divine Power p.40,
Dragon Magazine #390 pp.44-50, Scattered mentions in 4E Tomb of Horrors and The
Plane Above - Secrets of the Astral Sea
[xxxi] See 4E Players Handbook pp.21-22
[xxxii] See 4E Players Handbook pp.21-22
[xxxiii] See Textbox
Divine Power p.138
[xxxiv] See Open Grave pp.206-207
[xxxv] See Primal
Power p.44, pp.120-129
[xxxvi] See Heroes
of the Elemental Choas pp.32-33
[xxxvii] See Arcane Power p.89
[xxxviii] See Open Grave p.7, p.9,
Psionic Power p.92
[xxxix] See Psionic Powers p.38,
52, 57-59, 66, 69, 73, 74-77, 79, 110-118, 124-129
[xl] See Dragon
Magazine #386 pp.17-25
[xli] See D&D 4E
Monster Manual 2 pp.184-187, D&D 4E Monster Manual 3 pp.195-197
[xlii] See the
cast of Homestuck from an outside source having achieved respective godhoods
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