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====== Ravelcrux ======

Sequel campaign to Ravelcrux Part I, of which no written records survive. No chronicle was kept; this is basically a tl;dr encyclopedia to keep track of all the weird cultures and lore that were sloshing around. 

^Ravel ^
|"To untangle, disentangle, unwind", also "to entangle, become tangled or confused." The seemingly contradictory senses of this word (ravel and unravel are both synonyms and antonyms) are reconciled by its roots in weaving and sewing: as threads become unwoven, they get tangled. |
^Crux ^
|1. a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point. \\ 2. something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty. |

- [[http://dictionary.reference.com/]]

====== What Came Before ======

So you want to know how it happened, right? Ravelcrux. Maybe the biggest thing that ever happened. Or the second-biggest, if you ask the priests with their tattoos and their scrolls. If you want to understand the Ravelcrux, though, we've got to start at the beginning. Not the Ravelcrux's beginning. Everything's. It's all connected, a thousand thousand long threads all stretching backwards in time, snarled and straight, pulling on each other.

===== First Age: Chaos =====

Some say that in the beginning there was nothing. Those people are stupid. Nothing can only give birth to nothing, and so there would be nothing forever. In the beginning, there was everything. 

What chaos is, that's a long telling. I'll tell you the fast way, the simple way. Chaos is pure matter and energy and time-stuff and maybe fate if you want to believe in that all wound up together, roiling and weaving and breaking and changing. It is all things at once, never just one thing. Everything exists, but nothing has a chance to be. You see?

Then, somewhere in the Chaos, a thing appeared that kept its shape. Big, long, black at one end and white at the other. The thing, it slowly got bigger, grew branches at both ends. Later we called this thing the Worldtree. Not really a tree. Nobody knows what it really is, but it was the opposite of Chaos. Around it, Chaos became settled, took one shape and wore it forevermore. Land formed, water flowed, gravity kept both those things out of the sky. A great disc, spinning around the tree that pierced it through the center. Nothing else, though. No life. Not yet.

===== Second Age: Humani =====

Then the Humani arrived. Or maybe they were always here and just woke up. They brought with them plants, birds, beasts, some even say too they brought life too small to be seen. Life spread across the thirsty world and the Humani built their cities tall and proud in the shade of the Worldtree's branches.

The world is stable, stable enough to live anyway. A mountain slowly wears down to sand, but not in an instant. The tree makes it so. But this rule is not absolute. The early Humani, they were clever. They came to learn that if they concentrated hard enough, they could make the world stop being stable for just a moment in just one place, change it how they wanted before the Tree slammed the gate shut again. They called this Magic.

Magic, it was hard to do in those days. You had to train hard and long, and its masters guarded their secrets jealously. Powerful, though. Sorcerers seized kingdoms and declared war upon each other. Somebody figured out that the world had two sides, and both got settled through the power of Magic. Cities rose, monuments, palaces, then temples all for the glory of the mad elite few. All so many ruins, now. 

===== Third Age: Ravelcrux =====

Magic was the strength that raised and toppled empires- magic, and none other. The Humani lived and died for a thousand years paying homage to Magic, or maybe more time than that. Nobody knows exactly. The problem with Magic is that it's limited always- the Tree keeps everything too stable. So eventually, somebody whose name and deeds have been lost to time decided to destroy the Tree. How, we still don't know too much. Reversed its nature, made the world-eating Chaos Beasts spring forth from its broken body.

A great wave of raw energy burst outward from the place where the Tree once stood as jagged splinters of its branches rained down across the land. Everything was destabilized, changed, made into a new form. Nothing was the same. Nothing could ever be the same. So many died, so much was forgotten. The survivors all became something new, remembering their Humani ancestors only through half-forgotten oral histories and the ruins that dot the world.

===== Fourth Age: Rebirth =====

Lucky for us all, the broken fragments of the Worldtree scattered throughout the land were enough to stabilize the world again eventually, at least most of the way. Some parts of the world broke off entirely and went spinning off into the Mists. Magic became much easier to use and master thanks to less stability. Scattered peoples started to rebuild civilization on the ruins of the old, and eventually started to fight each other bitterly over resources. Terrifying beasts, monsters, and spirits born of the Ravelcrux lurked in the dark corners of the world. And the center of the world where the Tree once stood was once again a roiling mass of Chaos growing progressively larger and larger on a slow track to consume everything.

As the instability mounted and the end of all things seemed to loom inescapably closer, four heroes arose as if in response to the world itself's cries for help. The Syncretism calls them the Four Saints, but we historians, we know that they called themselves the Fuchsia Fab Foursome. They were actually pretty funny people, not like the somber statues and religious paintings you see every day. They liked to have a good time. First was Sharji the Messiah, who knew the secrets of resurrection and walked the line between life and death before finally sacrificing himself to turn the Chaos back to its source and save all of existence. Then was Twill the Fate-Weaver, who used her silver tongue and mastery of relationships to bind the peoples together as one. Even sworn enemies agreed to live as brothers after listening to Twill's righteous speeches. Then we have Nicolai the Redeemer, who lifted dark curses and provided exemplary leadership to the new peoples. Finally there was Salcon the World-Mother, the dragon that carefully orchestrated and funded the Four Saint's missions of justice and continued to work tirelessly to help the world to grow.

===== Fifth Age: Syncretism =====

The actions of the Four Saints ushered in a new time of unity and prosperity. Some time after the death of Nicolai the Redeemer, the Syncretism was founded from an earlier religious organization (the Order of Azure Skies) to provide a centralized resource and authority for the unification of all the world's peoples. Salcon, thought to be eternal in life, started aging (relatively) rapidly after having her first children. Now she's blind and feeble, never coming out of her home. Twill lived a great long time and never showed any signs of aging at all for well over a century after retiring from adventuring life, but disappeared a few decades ago- some say that her unusually long life finally ran out, and others that she merely withdrew from society to allow the next generation to take over. Me, I think maybe there was discomfort about how she lived her life and how she was portrayed at the Syncretism's sermons. Her discomfort and theirs both.

Things aren't all good forever, though. They never are. As the world re-stabilizes, some of the parts of it that went spinning off into the Mists have come back, re-joined. Some of them still have peoples on them, and one of those people are the mighty Altani who do not respect the Syncretism or even the right to exist of anything but themselves. From deep, deep beneath the earth come up the Khazani with their drills and shocklances and brain stapling, come to claim the surface world for their own. And in dozens of outlying frontier towns, discontent with the Syncretism grows stronger every day. This always happens in places where the Syncretism has less power, where the censors aren't listening all the time to arrest you for speaking out. 

Let me tell you more about the Syncretism. In the Third Age, the Humani sorcerer-kings permitted no gods save themselves, and every Humani worshipped whichever leader held dominion over them with complete fervency or else was set to death. Magic was power was authority was divinity. The Ravelcrux added new and different powers to the world, mighty spirits born of magic and the intelligence of Humani, but wholly apart from and ambivalent about their origins. The survivors sometimes worshipped the most powerful spirits, agreed to follow the rules of that spirit in exchange for its protection and assistance. Worshipped spirits were given homes in the form of statues or idols. The statue did not represent a deity; the statue was literally where the deity lived. Big centers of trade had whole temples filled with a number of statues housing major and minor deities of the region where the common folk could petition for blessings in the form of prayer. This is how we first domesticated gods.

In the time of the Four Saints, Chaos-based weaponry was used to destroy a city. An unintended side-effect of this was the physical and metaphysical fusing together of the gods in that city to a single huge being of stone and a crowd of voices speaking as one with confusion. The Four Saints named this new being the Godgoyle and set it on the path of righteousness. Out of many, one. The Godgoyle came to understand that its new fused existence was a blessing and started to consume and assimilate all the other gods and powerful spirits it could find. One god. One religion. One people. These are the Syncretism's ideals.

There are still a few deities scattered around the world that refused to join and were clever enough to hide. Some are from the original world pantheons, with statues to call home and a history of service. Others are wild and untamed who care nothing for answering prayers. All of them are heretical to the Syncretism, who promises to hunt down and integrate these deviants into proper society the way the Four Saints would have wanted.

====== The Peoples ======

In the time of Rebirth, every people was its own nation and culture. Now we are one by the actions of the Syncretism, but we still look different from each other. Very different indeed. And in the border towns and the wilderness and in the small places of our hearts we still try to live as our ancestors did and keep a few of our old traditions and ideas from disappearing from the world forever.

There are three big types of people, still: the Scions who built civilizations, created art, made records, waged war on each other. Scions are and were the most like the original Humani in appearance and temperament, though maybe the Humani might have disagreed. There are twelve large nations of Scions, all of which have been mostly absorbed by the Syncretism.

Then we have the Wildfolk, peoples twisted hard by the Ravelcrux and forever wild and strange. Wildfolk have much more unusual appearances and cultures, and most lived in tribal societies. Now the Wildfolk have been more thoroughly integrated into mainstream society with its rules and dress codes and languages. Some like it, others bear it like caged birds. Others never got the hang of it and still live wild on the reservations or the borderlands.

Last are the Spirits, immortal beings each taking its own unique form and possessing power in abundance. Some were benevolent, some evil, and most completely ambivalent. There are few great spirits left now living as individuals, and none in society. All join the Syncretism unless they're too clever to be caught like Sir Lunkey or the Primal Raccoon. The priests //hate// those guys.

===== The Scions =====

The Scions have all been integrated by the Syncretism, and this social mixing has also lead to a large amount of genetic mixing as well. Many people of the modern world can claim some amount of mixed heritage, though the old phenotypes still remain strong.

^Yurzani, Dwellers Beneath ^
|In the Second Age, a Humani sorceress built her empire on top of a huge network of underground caverns she named Yurzuga- "Underworld". To this underworld she banished criminals, political prisoners, dissidents, and anybody else she pleased to live and die in the sunless realm with no chance of parole for them or their descendants. The Ravelcrux erased that empire from the face of the world, but those who dwelt in the Yurzuga were protected from the worst of the effects. In the Fourth Age, they emerged again, blinking, into the light. \\ \\ Those with Yurzani heritage tend to have extremely pale skin and hair, red eyes, sharp teeth and feel discomfort in direct sunlight. In order to keep up morale in a sunless realm the ancestors of the Yurzani invented many new reasons to party, and the Yurzani had an incredible number of cultural festivals (most of which have been declared non-syncretic now.) Yurzani prided themselves on their stonework and hospitality. |
^Tokani, Blood and Conquest ^
|During the later years of the Ravelcrux, a much larger tribe whose name has now been lost to history was on the verge of wiping out the crippled and exhausted Tokani when their leaders made a desperate bargain with a powerful creature known only as the Veiled One. The Veiled One granted the Tokani warriors great power in exchange for the living sacrifice of their enemies. Their enemies routed, the Tokani then took to raiding other tribes and, eventually, other nations for sacrifices to appease their goddess-queen and keep themselves from suffering the same fate. Eventually one Tokani hero rose up and slew the Veiled One, but by then the Tokani had already firmly established themselves as the most hated and feared of nations until they were quietly absorbed by the Syncretism. They currently make up a disproportionate number of the soldiers who defend the realm from invaders and professional athletes who entertain the masses. \\ \\ Those with Tokani heritage are tall and strong, possessing thin, whiplike tails, bronzed physiques and bright scarlet hair. Traditional-minded Tokani follow the ways of their ancestors and tattoo or scarify themselves to seem even more intimidating. Tokani prided themselves on their strength and fearlessness. |
^Ludani, Wind Followers ^
|The Ludani rode out the Ravelcrux on the Sky Islands which float kilometers above the earth where the air is cold and thin. They built mighty cities there powered by the wind and flew between them on their lustrous dark-feathered wings. In time they decided themselves to be above the other peoples of the world in more ways than one and used terrifying weather magic to commit atrocities against the "groundwalking barbarians". For this offense their great patron (the dragon Gorshnip) cursed the entire race with stunted, vestigial wings incapable of flight and banished them to the world below, where they remained until Nicolai the Redeemer led them back to glory at the dawn of the Fifth Age. \\ \\ Those with Ludani heritage possess black wings sprouting from their backs, black hair and black eyes but skin of an azure blue. The Sky Islands are open to all races now according to the commands of both Nicolai the Redeemer and the Syncretism, and the Ludani living there try not to dwell on the sins of their ancestors. Ludani prided themselves on their music and familial loyalty. |
^Nogani, Nomads of the Sea ^
|The Nogani existed on both sides of the world-disc before anyone else, though the two sides had completely forgotten about each other by the time the Four Saints rediscovered the connections. Every Nogani was born on a ship, and every captain was king. Several ties per year, they would all come together for a Shipmoot and trade goods, stories and blows. Even now those with Nogani blood still hear the ocean calling them when they go to sleep at night in their homes, though those who heed the call must naturally operate under license from the Syncretism or else become pirates. The seas are no longer free. \\ \\ Those with Nogani heritage possess no body hair whatsoever from head to toe, webbed fingers and toes and have no whites in their eyes- everything is a deep, reflective black like the eyes of a seal (or a shark). Few modern Nogani wear the extremely skimpy or entirely nonexistent clothing that was the fashion of their ancestors anymore, however. Nogani prided themselves on their connection to the ocean and their freedom. |
^Bhutani, Silent Hunters ^
|The Bhutani came from a thick, deadly jungle teeming with life. Razor boars, shadowfanes, enormous spiders, assassin vines, poisonous insects, bloodfruit- every source of food the Bhutani came to rely on also regarded the Bhutani themselves as one of its own sources of food. Living in an environment where the food chain was in fact more of a food circle shaped the Bhutani in two ways: the first being that caution and planning were preferable to recklessness, and the second being the Bhutani fixation on eating and meals. In ancient Bhutani culture, there was no greater honor to a fallen foe than to eat it, and many are the stories of Bhutani forces cannibalizing the remains of those foolish enough to encroach into their domain. The historians say that Sharji the Messiah followed his people's traditions, but the Syncretism denies this loudly and firmly. \\ \\ Those with Bhutani heritage have strong, curving horns jutting from their heads and blue or green hair. Even in a time of supermarkets where their old rivals have been domesticated and consigned to farms, those among the Bhutani who remember the old ways view everything that died to sustain them as a worthy equal. Bhutani prided themselves on their honor and their cuisine. |
^Zimani, the Technologists ^
|The mountainous homeland of the Zimani during the Fourth Age perched on the edge of the Chaos. Magic was highly unstable and Magic-users treated with suspicion and distrust, and for good reason: destabilizing reality led only to the Chaos creeping ever closer to the front door. The Zimani turned instead to other means to build their civilization: firearms and steam and whole cities heated by thermal power. They were clever, but also xenophobic and distrustful of outsiders. The Syncretism changed at least one of those. \\ \\ Those with Zimani heritage have skin the color of fine ash and bright blond hair, but most peculiarly an additional, second smaller set of arms situated underneath their first pair. In the old days, they often intentionally designed their unique inventions to require additional hands to use in order to reduce their usefulness to their enemies. The Zimani prided themselves on their industry and resourcefulness. |
^Martani, Welcoming Skies ^
|On the other side of the world from the proud Ludani, similar Ravelcrux phenomena led to the creation of an entirely different cluster of Sky Islands inhabited by another race of winged people. The islands of the Martani are situated much closer to the ground, however, and so their culture developed in a different direction. While they at first had a bitter rivalry and competition with their neighbors the Hyrani over resources, the two were brought together through a Romeo and Juliet-style tragedy and remain the only example of widespread harmony between two different races before the advent of the Syncretism. Today, the Martani's home isles are considered a premiere tourist and vacation destination due to the stunning views and friendly locals. \\ \\ Those with Martani heritage have thin builds and light brown skin with great, batlike wings in place of arms that can be used to glide through the air with ease. Extra fingers on their wingtips allow them more or less the same amount of manual dexterity as that enjoyed by the other races. The Martani prided themselves on their scientific advances and acceptance of others. |
^Hyrani, the Arcane ^
|Like the Zimani on the other side of the world, the Hyrani's ancestors carved out a civilization on the edge of the Chaos. Unlike the Zimani, they chose a very different route towards combating the deteriorating effects of Magic: that of full-scale embracing. Instability of time and space meant that the Hyrani became masters of magic that manipulated those very qualities. It was Hyrani advances that led to the creation of the worldwide network of teleportation Gates that the Syncretism relies upon, and many Hyrani continue to consistently pursue careers in arcane research and education. \\ \\ Those with Hyrani heritage are largely unremarkable in appearance except for the large third eye in the middle of their foreheads. This eye can be moved and focused independently of the normal two below, and a Hyrani is never giving anything their complete attention until they're pointing all three eyes at it at once. The Hyrani prided themselves on their magic and architecture. |
^Shinani, Burning Ones ^
|The homeland of the Shinani is a land in constant geological flux. Highly active volcanoes dot the land, earthquakes strike regularly, and several colliding oceanic currents frequently create large tropical storms. On the plus side the land is lush, incredibly fertile, and almost impossible to invade. This is why the Shinani never bothered to build anything large and permanent, instead favoring tings that can be constructed (and re-constructed) quickly. Noting is permanent, change is inevitable. Life is good, but fleeting. The Syncretism has had a harder time converting the Shinani than any other culture, because the Shinani don't like to follow rules that they think are pointless. \\ \\ Those with Shinani heritage have skin black as midnight, and their hair is constantly ablaze. When a Shinani gets particularly excited or upset (which is often) the flames spread to envelop their whole bodies. The Shinani prided themselves on their adaptability and ingenuity. |
^Rosani, From the Labyrinth ^
|The Labyrinth is endless canyons and tunnels, all steep stone and trickling water and whistling wind. The Labyrinth is also alive, somehow. It moves and changes. You can't map it, and you can't depend on a given settlement to stay all together for long. All the houses and banks and buildings, they ever so slowly drift apart and together again. The ancient Rosani lived here happily, painting mazes on their buildings and clothes, tracing mazes in their temples as a form of devotion. The Syncretism decided that the Labyrinth was too unstable for proper civilization, so only a few remain now. Their old buildings have filled up instead with folks of every nation and creed, all looking for a place to be left alone. \\ \\ Those with Rosani heritage have bright violet eyes, an unerring sense of direction, strong arms and long snakelike (but scale-less) tails in place of legs which give them an excellent sense of balance but prevent them from riding bicycles. Those who remember the old ways regard life itself as just another maze to navigate, and take care when making decisions in order to arrive where they want. The Rosani prided themselves on their art and stoicism. |
^Reikani, Tradition Keepers ^
|The Reikani lands are dry, sandy, and largely empty. Civilization grew there only thanks to extremely careful use of resources and strict adherence to the customs and practices of those who had come before- taking time and material away for experimentation would inevitably lead to a shortage, perhaps a fatal one. To ensure that the important lessons and traditions would never be lost, the Reikani trapped the consciousnesses of their leaders into a mystical artifact made of blue stone twenty meters tall that they called the Whispering Column. As the Ravelcrux ended and the Reikani came into contact with other lands and peoples, the need for their old traditions became less severe but the council of the past in the Whispering Column only tightened its grip on their culture. By the time the Four Saints came to the Reikani, they had rules about every aspect of existence right down to a short list of approved beard styles and which foods were permissible to eat on which days of the week. The Syncretism eventually smashed the Column and found very easy converts among the Reikani people, desperate for someone to tell them what to do. \\ \\ Those with Reikani heritage have short, ruffled feathers sprouting from their heads instead of hair (although they have regular hair on other places of their body). Their eyes are yellow with vertically slit pupils, and their eyelids close from side-to-side instead of top-to-bottom. The Reikani prided themselves on their caution and memory. |
^Chakani, Faceless Cursed ^
|The Chakani survived the Ravelcrux by hiding in the depths of the Blackwater Swamps, where mosquitoes swarm thick and it is easy to be lost forever without a trace. Humani corpses from the Second Age lie preserved underneath the water, and sometimes they get up and slosh around for a while to terrorize the living. Time sometimes seems to run differently in Blackwater, too- there are places that you can spend a weekend and emerge to find that a whole year has gone by in the rest of the world. The Chakani build their treehouses and stilt-dwellings here, passing between them in flat-bottomed boats. For most of history, they were left entirely alone- what they had, nobody else really wanted. \\ \\ Those with Chakani heritage are unremarkable in appearance except for the fact that they lack a face. A Chakani sees without eyes, smells without a nose, tastes and eats and talks and kisses without a mouth. Some Chakani wear masks, others decorate their blank faces with pretty patterns. Almost all of them wear outrageous clothing or unusual hairstyles in order to stand out as individuals. The Chakani prided themselves only on the accomplishments of their people, particularly warlocks and fashionistas. | 

===== The Old Wildfolk =====

The following wildfolk were well-established and well-known during the time of the Four Saints, and all had representation at the First Conference.

^Valani (Fairies) ^
|Fairies are about the size of a cat with insect-like wings and relatively short lifespans. Most Valani are unashamed hedonists that pursue good food, alcoholic beverages and casual sex wherever they can be found. Twill the Fate-Weaver was of the Valani and a most unusual individual at that; her example inspired many others of her kind to strike out into civilization and experience all the world has to offer. |
^Borkani (Ogres) ^
|Ogres are hulking brutes with fists the size of babies who live in squalor, ignoring everything that isn't of direct interest to them. What is of interest to an ogre varies greatly depending on the ogre in question; every ogre has an overwhelming fascination with a single craft or skill that they pursue to the exclusion of all else. All day, every day, stopping only to eat and sleep and take care of other basic biological urges like making baby ogres. Most of these skills are of limited usefulness, such as reciting prime numbers or carving wooden spoons or stacking rocks on top of each other- but none can deny that whatever an ogre does, they are likely to become the very best at it in the entire world. |
^Thunani (Trolls) ^
|Trolls are hideous in both appearance and smell but possess beautiful, soothing voices. In the old days they were filthy cannibals who used those voices to confuse and strip the defenses from their prey; now they are drawn to other professions that allow them to be predatory in a more socially acceptable context such as politicians and lawyers. The best and most righteous trolls work to overthrow tyrants and reveal hypocrites, but even those individuals are huge assholes. No one will ever really understand a troll until they have destroyed the thing they love most. |
^Laigani (clones of Laigart) ^
|Laigart was a sorcerer-king in the Second Age who was obsessed with beauty and attempted to surround himself with it. Nothing was more beautiful to Laigart than himself, however, so he developed a spell to clone himself and kept casting it nonstop until his death. This was the origin of the Laigani, a once-proud race of Scions who were one of the most dominant nations in the world during the time of the Four Saints. Their society collapsed due to the actions of the troll Shevmort the Anarchist, however, and now the few who cling to the old ways are classified as wildfolk. |
^Krujani (Mites) ^
|The Krujani are a relatively young race of tiny, red-skinned, horned and tailed creatures that originated from the Chaos encroaching on the mechanical tunnels underneath the cities of the Zimani. Mites love to tinker with machinery, but have very little understanding of "safety" or "personal property" and were originally viewed as vermin until led to safety by the Four Saints. Now Krujani infest every major city, and a few have received wide acclaim as inventors and innovators. |
^Gashani (Goblins) ^
|The Gashani seem to be extremely numerous- swarms of individuals all moving as one. In truth, goblins are a hivemind centered around a tall, beautiful and terrifying queen whose workers are mere extensions of her will, and there are relatively few queens. There had been no non-violent contact between the Gashani and other races before the Four Saints managed to invite them to the first World Conference. Today, many Gashani queens hire themselves (and their swarms) out as disposable mercenaries, manual labor, or data collectors. |
^Dracani (Dragons) ^
|The Dracani are incredibly powerful and long-lived beings with very little resemblance to Humani at all. They lived out the Ravelcrux and the Fourth Age segregated by gender on opposite sides of the world, each believing themselves to be the first and last generation of their kind. Now the second generation has arisen and the Dracani must find their place in a world full of smaller, weaker beings that greatly outnumber them. Female dragons breathe fire; male dragons breathe frost. There is some evidence that the first generation of dragons actually were created slightly before the Ravelcrux began in the Second Age, but the truth remains a mystery. |
^Fotchani (Shadows) ^
|Fotchani are humanoid shadows, three-dimensional silhouettes of pure darkness who once worshiped gods of fire and twilight. In order to reproduce, a female Fotchani must consume an infant from another race first, leading to their reputation as baby-snatchers and even beings of pure evil. While still widely mistrusted, the Fotchani have for the most part seamlessly integrated into society and are considered one of the greatest wildfolk "success stories". |
^Shomani (Centaurs) ^
|The Shomani traditionally lived in nomadic, communal tribes where everything was shared, from food to tools to mates. A centaur has two sets of genitals- one humanlike and one horselike- and the set in front is always the opposite sex of the one in back. A centaur typically has four different biological parents, but is raised by the entire tribe and celebrates every holiday with an orgy. Centaurs that have been acculturated by the Syncretism sometimes overcompensate for their kind's legendary impropriety. |
^Jadani (Giants) ^
|Men and women three stories tall who move and speak very slowly indeed, often so low that the smaller, less patient races cannot even hear much less understand. The Jadani are pacifists who sustain themselves on nothing but stone and rock. As a Jadani ages, their bodies slowly and irreversibly turn to stone as well. Those who take the time to know a Jadani are often surprised by their knowledge of earth magic and philosophies. |
^Merani (Merfolk) ^
|The merfolk dwell underneath the surface of the oceans of the world. Some call them half-fish, but half-dolphin would be much more appropriate- a Merani is all mammalian. The Merani migrate nomadically from place to place and communicate entirely though a language that is signed rather than spoken. The Syncretism has had extremely little success integrating merfolk, as they simply do not have the same presence or social pressure as they do on land. Unfortunately, this also means that the Syncretism does not give the Merani any protections against those who would prey upon or exploit them. |

===== The Adversaries =====

The following three nations- Altani, Khazani, and Mortani- developed on portions of the world that splintered off during the Ravelcrux and have since rejoined it. The Syncretism names them the "Adversaries" because they are the only ones large and powerful enough to challenge their authority.

^Altani (Elves) ^
|The Altani are tall and beautiful and better than everyone else in every conceivable way. Better at art, better at war. They're nearly immortal and believe everything beautiful belongs to them by right, and are happy to tell you how inferior you are to them. Even those Altani who are the most compassionate towards us think of themselves as animal rights activists. Someday they're probably going to put us in zoos or just kill us all and write a pretty poem about how we regrettably deserved it for being such uncultured, violent cretins. Fuck 'em. |
^Kazani (Dwarves) ^
|They come from deep under the earth, farther down than even the Yurzani have ever gone. Short and muscular from the intense pressure, eyelessly blind from the dark and feeling their way around with their beards. They ride up in great drilling machines and tear apart anything in their way- stone, earth, cities, people. Then they build new cities on top, fast and strong and sure. I think they want world domination. I don't know if they can be stopped. |
^Mortani (Liches) ^
|In the blasted scorching wastes of the rimward Lightside deserts there crash to earth the corpses of great unknown god-beasts, cosmic whales beaching themselves on our shore. Their alien flesh, bones, teeth, hair, blood- all valuable, but getting some means you'd have to beat the crawling abomination-cities of the Mortani to the punch. Dead but still-animate, taking on a thousand shifting forms as their fleshcrafters model new bodies at whim. The Mortani are horrific, but luckily they don't seem to care about any of the rest of us so long as we stay out of their way. |

===== The New Wildfolk =====

These Wildfolk did not attend the First Conference- they were unknown, geographically isolated, part of the Splintered Lands that only more recently re-attached, or simply did not exist yet. All are still considered full citizens of the Syncretism so long as they dwell in its lands and follow its laws.

^Luntani (Barnacle-Folk) ^
|The Luntani are humanoid from the waist up. From the waist down, they are inseparably attached to an immobile barnacle-like shell that they can withdraw into in case of danger. Because a Luntani cannot ever move from the place where its egg hatches (barring unusual circumstances) their eggs have come to have a high value on the black market and many Luntani live in near-slavery to whomever owns their resting place. |
^Talrani (Doppelgangers) ^
|The Talrani are a magical accident, the result of large numbers of people overdosing on the drug Crimson Tar and melding together into a single organism with the ability to change its form to appear like anyone they please. A small circle of them are currently infiltrating the Crimson Tar black market trade in order to locate more of their kind without drawing any undue attention to themselves. With such fearsome and insidious power, it remains to be seen what effect the Talrani will have on history. |
^Wizzani (Gnomes) ^
|The diminutive Wizzani originate from deep distant forests where they developed exceptional skills at gardening and growing all sorts of plants, whether for food or for aesthetics. The Wizzani also possess a unique defense mechanism: when stressed or frightened, a Wizzani may turn themselves to stone temporarily (including everything they are holding or wearing). The Syncretism has had great success in integrating the Wizzani, although there is at least one hidden and unregistered village of gnomes underground somewhere that rejects the teachings. |
^Maljani (Succubi) ^
|The Maljani are highly androgynous beings that can change their bodies to switch fluidly between male and female sexual characteristics, even mixing and matching them on a whim. They also produce pheromones that cause others to love them on contact, which they used to use to rule over others in any way they pleased. When first discovered and introduced to the world, their leader decided to use its powers to enthrall all other world leaders and install itself as absolute dictator- a plan that was foiled immediately by the presence of the troll leader, who like all his kind fervently desired the destruction of the thing he loved most and carried his desires out with a table-knife. Today succubi are by and large as respectable and upright of citizens as any, and have mostly abandoned the exalted positions of power and rulership their race once enjoyed. |
^Notani (Mummies) ^
|Before the Ravelcrux, a great Humani civilization flourished in the lands rimward of what is now the Boiling Sea. They carefully preserved the bodies of their exalted dead and laid them to rest in complex subterranean tombs, surrounded with treasure. A few decades ago, those same dead started to re-awaken. Mummies have no memory of who they used to be, and truthfully it doesn't matter. They trade away their millenia-old finery for food and goods, turning their old houses of death into homes for living. The Notani cannot die of old age, but are as vulnerable to violence and accident as any of us. Being undead, they cannot reproduce. When the last Notani dies their race will be gone forever, perhaps. |
^Maerani (Sprites) ^
|Every spring, a new generation of sprites hatches in their alpine lake homes. They dwell underwater in the homes constructed by their ancestors, bonding and exploring and carefully recording all of the knowledge they possess in their community's Memory Palace for the benefit of future generations. Come the next spring they enter cocoons for a week, then emerge transformed. A mature sprite has beautiful wings that it uses to leave the water and take to the air, but no mouth. A mouth isn't necessary, for a mature sprite has but one function: to mate wildly and then to die, strewing the mountainside with their little finger-length corpses. Eggs are laid in the community lake, and shortly afterward a new generation hatches to start the cycle again.|
^Caynani (Werewolves) ^
|A werewolf is born with two bodies from the same womb: a wolf puppy and a Humani-looking baby with golden eyes. The two are inseparable in all but the most literal sense until the onset of puberty, where the two bodies slowly and awkwardly fuse together into a hybrid form. By the time a werewolf becomes a mature adult, they can switch between their two shapes at will with ease. Once considered savage and highly mistrusted by more civilized peoples, the Syncretism has for the most part tamed the wolves and brought them into the fold. Werewolves have strong family bonds, excellent senses of smell and almost never choose vegetarianism. |
^Sharjani (Treants) ^
|Long ago, an evil spirit called the Gardener turned hapless people of all nations into helpless trees while maintaining their sentience and ability to feel pain. The Four Saints slew the Gardener and released its hundreds of captives from their ensorcelment, but soon after the Four Saints left all the members of this new society were slaughtered by another evil spirit, Zhao the Many. Sharji never forgot. When Sharji learned the secret of resurrection, he came back and put right the second great injustice done to these people. He did not know that when he reached beyond the veil of death to bring them back, he also brought back a splinter of the lingering tree-magic within them. In time, those that Sharji brought back sprouted branches, became covered in bark. They became a new race named for their savior. |
^Gwarani (Mind Flayers) ^
|In the rimward Lightside desert where the extraterrestrial god-beasts crash down and are rapidly broken down for salvage by the Mortani, one particular god-beast strayed far from the normal regions and smashed down in a coastal scrubland outside the bounds of the lands the Mortani consider their own. As it happened, it was infested with humanoid parasites that drank its cerebrospinal fluid as an important supplement to their diet. The Gwarani managed to survive even when their host did not, and now they host a small, but successful village in and among its bones. Though they live in air now, the Gwarani still require access to cerebrospinal fluid and brain matter in order to survive- and have no qualms about satisfying this need from sentient creatures, should the need arise. Perhaps as a result of their alien origins or diet, the Gwarani are naturally telepathic and highly gifted in mental magics. |
^Refani (Phantoms) ^
|The Refani are an enigma. In all ways, they appear and act just like normal Humani except for the fact they they only can be viewed- indeed, maybe even only exist- in mirrors. When a Refani moves or interacts with the reflection of a thing in the real world, the real world is affected equally by a seemingly invisible force- but take away the mirror, and the force disappears. Scholars have asked the Refani what existence is like for them when they aren't reflecting the real world, but it seems that our language has no vocabulary for the space outside the looking-glass. |
^Xiphani (Mothmen) ^
|Thought by many to be only an urban legend, the Xiphani are real but only rarely seen. The appearance of a Xiphani in a settlement is a great cause for alarm, for everyone know that where a mothman goes horrific disaster is always only a few steps behind. The truth is that the Xiphani have a limited ability to see the future and appear on the dawn of catastrophe in an attempt to spread a warning, but are instead blamed for it due to their inability to communicate in any way other than pantomime and projecting emotions. |
^Hemani (Cyclopses) ^
|The Hemani were created not by the Ravelcrux but by more artificial means in the Second Age and imprisoned in volcanoes around the world by their sorcerer-god masters to harness their exquisite smithing skills. It is for this reason that most remaining Hemani have cultivated an intense, personal hatred of all deities and would-be deities. Only the Hemani men are wise, skilled and immortal; Hemani women are much smaller and shorter-lived than the men (averaging a lifespan of twenty years) and possess the mental acuity of cattle. Only one Hemani child in a thousand is born male, and every female is near-identical in every observable and genetic sense. And so the volcanic prisons of their kind are generally structured around a single chained man and his harem of interchangeable daughter-wives. |
^Felani (Catgirls) ^
|There is no such thing as a catboy. The Felani are a one-sex race that is capable of having offspring with males from any other race, generally in groups of one to three little Felani kittens whose hair patterns resemble their father's race. It's also not unusual for a Felani to be raised solely by her father, and there is little or no distinct Felani culture to speak of. You'll find them around the edges of every culture, trying to fit in or failing that, slinking off in the night without a word to anyone to find more interesting lives elsewhere. |

===== Players =====

Players are all currently serving as crew on the Jenny Haniver, a small merchant ship that makes runs out to the outlying colonies. Of the nine total crew members, six are potential player characters and even those that are not selected will still be on board as NPCs. Like mainstream society, the ship is completely racially integrated. Unlike society, it is mostly full of adventure-seekers and outcasts who want to live under their own terms in one of the very few ways that is left to them. The Jenny Haniver is an ironclad with a magically-enhanced engine, submersion capability, and several hidden compartments for smuggling.

NPCs:

  * **Fheraz the Joker:** Rosani owner of the Jenny Haniver. A charming scoundrel with a keen eye for business.
  * **Grishnak the Oily:** A troll. Fheraz's best friend and also his lawyer.
  * **Lapaka the Serene:** A Nogani woman. The ship's captain.
  * **Tengill the Lost:** Has been here the entire time, but getting eaten by the Godgoyle's body erased him from the universe's memory.

Players:

  * **Phalanx the Secondborn:** The Dracani son of Salcon and Chryold, who knows the value of cunning and persuasion over brute force. He escaped the Syncretism's control by mailing himself to the outer colonies and fell in with Fheraz's crew afterwards, where he provides a useful service by using his breath to cool the ship's machinery and maintain its refrigeration units. He's currently searching for the truth of what happened to Twill and avoiding agents of the Syncretism when at all possible. 
    * Play elements: Personal connection to the Four Saints (uncover the truth of what happened to them), unique appearance and celebrity status, prove your worth as an individual.
    * Ability themes: breathe frost, use natural weapons, strength of personality
  * **Wallanna the Loud:** Wallanna is Fheraz's Rosani niece whose parents were taken by the Altani at a young age. She loves to drink, fight and boast. Like her uncle, she values freedom above all and gladly dwells at the fringes of society in order to keep it. Unlike her uncle, she's willing to take a direct (sometimes foolishly so) stand against what she perceives as injustice. Despite their disagreements, she has a great relationship with her uncle and he's always supported her and bailed her out of jail when necessary. 
    * Play elements: Relationship with party's employer, grudge against Altani, possible reunion with long-lost parents, punch above your weight
    * Ability themes: Shotgun, trash talk, acrobatics
  * **Jote the Frowner:** A Yurzani who was formerly a paladin of the Syncretism, Jote is very uptight and serious all the time. When in the service he doubted nothing and relished the opportunity to live out his oath to defend the weak and helpless, but became progressively more disillusioned by his order's failure to do so for the poorest and most marginalized elements of society. At this point he's gone AWOL and joined up with a band of scoundrels to survive, and feels extremely lost. 
    * Play elements: Find purpose and rebuild foundation of personal beliefs, help people, gain appreciation of new viewpoints and methods.
    * Ability themes: Warhammer, ally defense, leadership and buffs
  * **Lumash the Itchy:** The traditional sorcerous arts of the Chakani were declared non-syncretic long ago, but a few scattered individuals kept them alive. Lumash was apprenticed to a warlock who taught her some of them before a Kazani dreadnought surfaced near their village and butchered everyone. With no home to go back to, Lumash took to the road to finish her education on her own. Although she has every reason to hate the Kazani, her close brush with them has brought her to a startling realization: they are cursed just as surely as her own people, and as one of the last practitioners of curse magic she feels driven to find out why. 
    * Play elements: Uncover hidden truths about the nature of reality, use creepy magic, think outside the box, help the cursed.
    * Ability themes: Summon spiders, place debuffs, dismantle magical effects
  * **Opherion the Scarred:** Opherion the Glamorous was a moderately famous Shinani musician whose anti-establishment lyrics and good looks made him popular with the youth. Unfortunately, he drowned after drunkenly driving a limousine into the ocean while wearing nothing but olive oil and sunglasses. He woke up again in a pile of corpses being fed into an incineration chamber by hazmat-suited workers and slipped out a side door before anyone noticed he wasn't actually dead. No longer physically recognizable as himself, Opherion's mental state has also been changed. He remembers most of his former life except for a few maddening details (such as his own death) but sometimes finds himself also flooded with memories that he doesn't recognize as his own. 
    * Play elements: Find out the truth of your own death and resurrection, achieve or reject enlightenment.
    * Ability Themes: Singing buffs, uncanny knowledge, indirect fire magic
  * **Vili the Drifter:** Vili is clearly Zimani, but she never knew her parents or felt like she particularly belonged anywhere or with anybody. She bounced around various orphanages and foster homes while growing up until becoming a legal adult and quietly slipping off into the night, missed by no one. Possessing a keen mind for mechanical devices, she's survived on her own through odd repair jobs and the occasional petty thievery. Fheraz offered her a long-term job on the spot after she installed a modern flush toilet in the ship's head, and she's enjoying the steady meals and place to sleep that this affords her. Though she's still in denial about it, she is secretly hoping that this time she has finally found a family and a place to belong. 
    * Play elements: Find reasons to stay, slowly develop bonds, defend them fiercely.
    * Ability Themes: Mechanical tinkering, sniper rifle, stealth
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