Setting Ideas: The Green Compromise

Today, we are taking a break from an endless queue of stat-blocks. Recently, I ran into an old background idea of mine that I wrote elsewhere, so I decided to post it here (with a few sentences polished here and there and a few new paragraphs added).

The Green Compromise

A sect of benevolent (or at least staying away from bloodthirsty might-makes-right, eat-or-be-eaten, you-are-either-hunter-or-prey mentality) druids came to a conclusion that further development and expansion of civilization is impossible to stop without resorting to cataclysmic solutions which they wanted to avoid for various reasons (ranging from compassion for other living beings that would be annihilated, through the fact that power needed might exceed their means, and last, but not least, they might destroy themselves as well). Instead, they decided to influence the civilization development, hoping to shape it into a more acceptable form.

They noted that the horizontal and numeric spread of civilization is primarily driven by need for agricultural lands, and at the same time new agricultural lands lead to further increase in population which drives further territorial expansion. This lead them to conclusion, that the territorial spread could be reduced by either preventing or at least reducing population growth or by increasing efficiency of food production.

One of the factions decided that preventing population growth is not feasible solution so they choose the second solution: they harnessed their earth, water, weather, and plant magic to increase soil fertility, provide water and sun in right proportions, enhanced the plants, and multiplied the crops by orders of magnitude. As intended, this slowed but not completely stopped cultivation of new lands for farming, allowing to sustain much bigger urban populations without need for corresponding increase in rural population.

Their assistance came at certain conditions, giving the druids political voice in settlements, important advisory role in matters related to necessary expansion, a degree of sovereignty over wilderness, and some degree of control over population growth and expansion.

However, constantly growing population increases demand for mineral resources, which can't be solved that easily. While some druids have ideas for promoting safe and stable mining practices, even they know it might be a road to nowhere. Unlike plants and animals, minerals can't really be tended to grow in sustainable way... And the process of transporting them alone is a huge issue that requires building roads, reshaping the land, and seeking more and more deposits before the old ones are depleted.

The Green Compromise has to deal with other issues as well. Many forces subtly or not so subtly work to undermine it from all the sides—those who want the expand the untamed wild lands and diminish the civilization, the apologists of unrestricted urban growth, the free farmers who detest the organized, strictly controlled agriculture, and even darker groups scheming to undermine the very balance of the world, destroy the civilization and corrupt the nature. Various druidic factions and wildland communities view the Green Compromise with suspicion, contempt, or outright hatred. Arcane colleges are slowly developing their own alternatives to druidic magic, intending to replace village druids with agricultural magicians. Priests of both rural and urban cults envy the good old times, when they did not have to share their spiritual authority with uncouth animists. Common folk, mercantile organizations, and nobility alike rarely understand the intricacies of equilibrium needed for the system to work, responding to stable supply with increased consumption. Many would like to turn all the wilderness, which was supposed to be preserved by the Green Compromise, into more and more cities and estates.

Can the Green Compromise survive? Will it quickly collapse under onslaught from all the sides or slowly fade away, hacked away piece by piece? Who will come on the top after all is said and done?

Campaign Idea: Rise Of The Green Compromise

The Green Compromise is an idea, a proposal brought by groups of druids before the monarch of a young kingdom surrounded by deep forests and high mountains. They offer to aid the realms with their magic—blessing crops, warding off pests, and mitigating unpredictability of weather—asking in return for restrictions on expansion of settlements, lumbering, and mining.

The court is intrigued but not yet sold on their ideas, and various factions push for and against committing the kingdom to the compromise. Aristocrats holding a lot of agricultural land already, are favorable toward having stable, secure harvests, as do yeoman farmers tending their own farms—while those who hold fiefs which are more forested and would like to expand further, and landless farmers, whose only hope for prosperity is to be settled on newly cleared areas are less swayed by the ideas of lumbering and settlement restrictions. The merchants worry about securing suitable routes through the forests and mountain passes, the priesthoods preach both for or against the idea, as directed by their deities dogmas.

Are the PCs agents of one of the factions working to fulfill their goals (druids, royal court, a magnate or an alliance of many)? Envoys of the court whose role is to examine the possibility of proposed coexistence in practice (or secretly investigate if the druids are trustworthy and honest in their proposals, and not having a secret hostile agenda)? Assembly of representatives of various factions designated to deal with issues that could undermine the Compromise in its infancy?

Urban Horrors: Bones In The Lake

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Urban Horrors: Bones In The Lake

There is an artificial lake in a big city. The lake is surrounded by a park—free growing grass around walkways, some trees, some bushes shielding the place from surrounding streets. A few swings and children's slides, some benches and tables. Nothing fancy but pleasant nonetheless. The lake itself has two small islands and some bridges going over corners, flocks of ducks and geese often roam around, and always a few people sit around throwing feeding birds with bread.

And yet, this place has a dark secret, both metaphorically and literally.

There are no beaches, the banks are steep, and there are warning signs reminding that swimming is forbidden here—the lake was never made suitable for it. The water is dark, most people looking at it are surprised by the feeling how deep it must be, though the impression fades away quickly forgotten. The lake never freezes, at least not completely. Always a few sulky people keep around spending their time by the water, though they are often spread far and wide, rarely acknowledging others.

One would have to be particularly keen observer, not easily swayed by distractions and misdirection, to notice those bland, gruff regulars are too bland, too indistinct, hard to recall and describe afterwards.

This hadn't caught anyone's attention, yet, but people are going missing. People no one will be looking for—homeless, junkies, drunks, runaway kids from far away. Such people slip through cracks in large cities every day after all. Here, though, here, they end in the lake—offerings from the regulars to the lake itself, sunk in the inky depths. Over the years so many deaths turned the lake into an abyss, no bottom, only darkness dwelling below, closer and closer to the surface with passing decades.

Is that an old god? An alien presence? A twisted genius loci? No one knows, not even the cultists that feed it. The thing is, spirits of the dead offerings are nowhere to be find for those who could seek them... Will that strangeness finally lead someone in the know to the lake?

The Past

Before the lake was made, before the city spread its ever-expanding bulk around this land, there was a rural community here. It was surrounding a small pond, feed by a stream or a spring, and in less enlightened times, it was customary to throw offerings into its waters. With time, though, the city grew and absorbed the village, the people moved away, the land was repurposed, the pond and the stream and spring landscaped into something else, and then into the lake again.

Many years later, some of the descendants of those who lived in the village returned. At first it was one or two... Then more of them came to live nearby, and more... And they started making sacrifices to the lake, to the depths—at first trinkets, then animals, then people. Not that many, a few each year, but it was enough, the link was made, the offering accepted. They sought more of their kinfolk and brought them to live in the surrounding city. Those who refused to return were left alone, those who would not keep the secret joined the sacrifices...

The Now

The cultists, if they can be called that, are but a handful of people, but each of them makes a few sacrifices each year and the numbers add. No one is suspecting anything amiss, at least not among law enforcement, city officials, or social workers. The cultists avoid targeting those who are living nearby, avoid connecting disappearances to the lake—which has no record of any drownings, not even suspected drownings. In fact, some of the cultists take care to keep local children away from water to avoid attracting undue attention.

The Cultists

Why do they do that? They probably could not really say themselves. As they make their sacrifices and their connection to the abyss at the bottom of the lake grows, they become less distinct, more vague, their lives become more and more distant, slowly dissolving in the shadows—while it might sound horrific it is anything but that—the lake slowly takes away mundane concerns, hardships of modern life, disappointments, failures, and regrets. The cultists are left with a sense of calm serenity. They might be dismissing their humanity in the process, but it feels right.

The Future

Is the force in the lake growing? Is the abyss deepening? Is its power a scam, a fake sense of tranquility holding humans-turned-monsters in its sway, but powerless to offer them anything but a narcotic bliss as they kill for it?

Or is that something more? A growing new deity? A sleeping old one? A gate elsewhere?

Can the cult be stopped? Or will the lake attract new servants if the old ones are rid of? And how could that even be done? With violence? Feeding the cultists to the lake itself?

What would happen if the lake itself was disturbed—if someone had the connections to have it drained, filled up, reshaped? Would that solve the problem... Or uncover whatever the darkness in the depths really is and doom the city?

Fantasy Races: Rivalries And Alliances, Part 4—Lorms And The World

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Part 1: Azan and kyo, kai-tang, and oc'cli.

Part 2: Kyo and kai-tang, xenopi, and purlings.

Part 3: Troldhrym and azan, kyo, and therigens.

The Arrogant And The Humble

Azan and lorm are peoples far apart of each other. The former prize civilization, progress, and complexity. The later favor simple living in tune to the ebbs and flows of the surrounding world. Respect for natural balance and harmony with the surrounding world, the so cherished qualities of lorm are not recognized as virtues by azani culture.

Majority of azan view lorm as primitive swamp dwellers, unworthy of attention, the impression exacerbated by lorm rarely having resources worthy of azan's time and effort. They are also viewed as too sluggish and stubborn to enslave—and from their side they simply stubbornly refuse to follow orders of their captors anyway.

Some azan do have a vested scientific and magical interest in lorm, however, considering their symbiotic bond with lorm-moss a mystery to be unraveled. A few of them are driven by scholarly curiosity, a few by potential inherent in the immortal, memory-storing moss. Lorms' willingness to cooperate with azani scholars is limited by the later's ethical... flexibility. Being willing to discuss and participate in a few innocent experiments is one thing, agreeing to vivisection and experimentation on your eggs and growing children is another.

From their side, lorms consider azani to be people out of touch with the balance, too driven, too blinded by their pride to see that they are riding the wave of current success without regard to risks and the price paid around them. Because of this, they prefer to avoid azani whenever possible, to minimize chance of being struck with fallout of their actions.

Of Swamps And Jungles

Lorm and kai-tang share many similarities: they prefer living in small groups in seclusion, they favor a calm, peaceful existence, and have penchant for deep philosophy. They rarely meet, though, for lorm are living in temperate marshes, while kai-tang are dwelling in tropical jungles. When they do met, they find to have a lot in common in spirit, even if kai-tang are far more intellectual people while lorm are more reliant on intuition and quiet contemplation.

Still, the understanding between those two people is not perfect, as kai-tang are much more likely to favor academic and technological progress, even if moderated by their small population, and philosophical and ethical considerations, while lorm prefer to adapt to the ebb and flow of the life and the world.

The Refined And The Disheveled

Take a number of the qualities kyo view as vulgar, bundle them together, and you will get lorm. They wallow in wet mud, wear dirty rags, supplement their otherwise perfectly reasonable diet of invertebrates, fishes, and small amphibians with rotting plants, they build no grand cities, gather no wealth, don't hold ranks and titles... Basically they are embodiment of the worst aspects of earth and water mixed together, just like their home swamps.

Because of this, no respectable kyo would deal with lorms directly, though low rank Brown caste kyo might sometimes consult them when it comes to tending the land. A number of lorm settlements and communities exist within the boundaries of the Radiant Empire, nominal protectorates left mostly to themselves, paying a purely symbolic tithe, often with an otherwise rare Brown caste magistrate appointed as an overseer.

The Moon Orphans And The Swamp Dwellers

Luminars are newcomers who arrived from an alien moon of vast deserts and small but lush valleys. In a senses, lorms' swamps are at the same time foreign and yet somehow familiar to them. Still, both races had little opportunity to become acquaintance with each other. When they do, lorms are likely to be the first to expose luminars to the teachings of the druids and veneration of nature... And their approach to death, decay, and cycles of life can have unexpected effects on luminarian culture and theology, if they find common language in the first place.

The Beast-fey And The Moss-folk

Therigens and lorms sometimes become neighbors, when the former settle along the border of the swamp inhabited by the later. They usually maintain amiable but distant relationship, avoiding interfering with each other, though Green Law courts often cooperate with nearby lorms when their expertise in tending to vegetation and dealing with swamp critters is needed or some local threat affects both therigens and lorms. Red Law courts occasionally come into conflict with lorms, who rarely strike back, unless pushed too much. Of many races, therigens are the most likely to compete over local resources or cooperate in harnessing them together with lorms.

The Giant-Blooded And The Moss-haired

Relations of troldhrym and lorms are usually next to nonexistent... Lorms are wary of troldhryms' aggressiveness, while troldhrym are suspicious of lorms' "witchcraft" and consider them some sort of swamp trollkin witches that should be avoided. They also have little need to venture into swamps, and lorms keep no treasures worthy of raiding for.

Occasionally, a troldhrym will venture into the marshes inhabited by lorms, seeking their counsel and wisdom, or supposed magical expertise. Lorms usually try to get rid of such visitors quickly, though subtly, providing them with confusing answers, often riddles, or send on long quests, which only adds to their mystique in the eyes of troldhrym.

Fantasy Races: Rivalries And Alliances, part 3

Part 1
Part 2

The Boisterous Giants And The Arrogant Midgets

Descendants of the giants and kinfolk to the trolls, troldhrym are violent, loud, and reckless. They fight for the glory and the rush of battle, they insult those around for the joy of verbal spar, and they eat, drink, and mate with equal passions. Their brutality and lack of subtlety are far from intellectual pride of azan and yet, there is a certain sense of understanding between those people as both of them have their deeply ingrained pride in themselves and their culture.

Troldhrym and azan interests are rarely coming close but they are sometimes linked together because of business—troldhrym martial prowess makes them decent mercenaries in azan eyes. Their physical capabilities would make them great slaves, but azan know better than to try to enslave people so focused on individual freedom and so prone to violence at the same time. The little geniuses are not above using subtle magic, trickery, and hefty bribes to ensure troldhrym services. Interestingly, azan working with troldhrym usually adapt to the giants' insults quickly and efficiently. In fact, many of them surpass their colleagues in that field, considering developing of new insults a way of minor intellectual challenge.

Outside of buying troldhrym services, azan have little interest in the giants, and vice versa. Troldhrym culture is seen as too savage, by azan, and azan civilization is viewed by troldhrym with mild disdain as too urbanized, too pampered, and too shielded from the elements and the world. The acceptance of slavery common among azan aggravates troldhrym as well, on occasions even pushing them to raid smaller azan facilities to free the slaves, even not of their own race.

The Glorious Warriors And The Radiant Traders

Kyo, like azan, are content to let the mercenaries fight for them and troldhrym make great mercenaries. Their relation is more complex than between azan and troldhrym, though. While kyo respect honor and sense of pride, their concepts of honor and proper behavior are very different from troldhryms', in many aspects they are opposite, with troldhrym focusing on one's individuality and personal glory, while kyo assign prestige for actions benefiting the community and Radiant Empire first. They are also much less accepting of dramatic failures, though they can, to a degree, accept a failure caused by sticking to the expected forms. Unlike azan, kyo are unable to comprehend troldhrym insults, finding that custom deeply disturbing and distasteful. On the other hand both people share their deep appreciation of certain luxuries, though exact choices in food, beverages, and jewelry are quite different.

Kyo are usually more than happy to use their wealth to pay troldhrym mercenaries and use them as front line units and shock troops, but due to unruliness and recklessness they are rarely used for defensive units or honor guards. Troldhrym gladly accept kyo money, and keep a degree of respect for kyo merchants for providing them with exotic luxuries, but they are not above raiding them to acquire those riches easy way or free the slaves kept by kyo.

The Children Of Elements And The Dwellers Of Forests

Surprisingly, the courageous and boisterous troldhrym show strange caution when encountering therigens. There is a bit of superstitious wariness of fey entities mixed with lack of conviction that therigens are actual sapient beings and not only speaking animals. A few troldhrym point out to some old legends suggesting that therigens might be a creation of old troll witches to play tricks on the giantkin, other suggest that they are descendants of tricksters that instigated the quarrel that made their ancestors thralls to the troll-wife. This makes the majority of troldhrym to treat therigens with respect and distrust, with a very small minority taking time to stalk and even hunt therigens.

On their side, some therigens seems to enjoy the feeling their kin inspires in troldhrym, playing tricks and practical jokes on the giantkin. A few industrious theirgens even went so far that they played animistic totems for isolated groups of troldhrym. The rest takes the advantage of the troldhrym caution to keep them at distance, away from the manors and courts of the therigens.

Creation Myth: Archipelagia

In the beginning there was only the Night. The Night was all that was, for there was nothing else. The lone Night gave birth to the Cosmic Egg and it was no longer alone. The Cosmic Egg was quiet and cold, though, so the Night started a fire to warm the Egg. The Night never before started the fire and got burned and scorched and grew all black from the ash and smoke, and the pain drove the Night to hide behind the Cosmic Egg creating division between the Night and the Day. The Day warmed the Cosmic Egg from one side while the Night cooled it from the other, so the Night started turning the Egg around so it would be warmed from both sides, and the Cosmic Egg was turning and warming until its shell cracked and splintered and fell apart. Inside the Cosmic Egg, there was the slumbering World. The World awoke when the shell fell apart and it cast the shards of the shell away, and the shards flew and spread across the Night and the Day, except for the three eldest and largest shards that circled the World just behind its grasp. And all those shards became the Firstborn—the gods of the skies.

The World then warmed itself by the fire and cooled itself by the Night and after some time spawned multitude of progeny, the Secondborn. The Secondborn were small and insignificant to the World, though, and it did not care about them, and as it wandered and moved, and stretched, and shaken, and scratched itself, it crushed and killed many of the Secondborn, and gave no thought to their demise. The Secondborn were afraid and pleaded to the World to be careful and to spare them, but they were small and insignificant so the World heard them not. The Secondborn despaired and grew desperate, and when the World went to nap, they met and conspired, and decided to kill the World while it slept, so it would not wander anymore, nor move, nor stretch, nor shake, nor scratch itself, killing no more Secondborn. As they decided so they done, each Secondborn stabbing the World, and while they were small and insignificant, and could not pierce deep into the World, they were so many that the sheer number of wounds caused the World to bleed profoundly and die.

The Secondborn never killed the World before so they were unprepared for the amount of blood springing from its wounds and were cast aside or flooded with the World's blood. Many were crushed by the blood, many held their breath until they suffocated. Those who were surprised and did not held their breath, and those who held their breath but decided to let go before they suffocate swallowed the World's blood and were changed. As the blood flew from the many wounds and flooded the surface of the World, only the World's head and feet, and elbows, and knees, and fingers, and toes, and other members stuck above the blood. The Secondborn that survived found themselves beneath the waves of the blood, and they changed to live underneath the blood, and they sucked the power of the World from the blood until it grew transparent, and they grew to be the gods of the sea, mating and fighting, and giving birth to a multitude of creatures living in the depths.

When the Secondborn stabbed and killed the World, when the blood gushed from the wounds, the unspent seed of the World gushed too, spilling across the surface of the World. Where the drops of World's seed dropped, either on the exposed members of the World, or in the depths of the flowing blood, the volcanoes rose above the waves, and gave birth to the Thirdborn—the gods of fire and the islands scattered across the sea. And they wielded the great power over their islands and their roots beneath the waves, but their power did not extended into the waves of the sea, nor across them. As the Thirdborn were scattered far and wide, only a few were close enough to each other and unbarred by sea to mate, fight, and give birth to living things of their own. The remaining Thirdborn lived apart and alone until the children of the Secondborn crawled on their islands from the sea, and the children of other Thirdborn sailed over the seas to them...

Fantasy Races: Rivalries And Alliances, part 2

The Proud Herons And The Sagacious Apes

Kyo and kai-tang civilizations have different norms and ideals. Kyo culture is extrovert, expansive, hierarchical, emphasizing success, wealth, luxury, prestige, social advancement, and face. For kyo intent of an action is of lesser importance than following the prescribed forms. Kai-tang society is rather introvert, egalitarian, composed of semi-isolated groups with little desire for expansion, emphasizing intellectual honesty, spiritual development, and enlightened action—kai-tang are expected to understand intents that drives the action and balance the means and results of the action. Despite this differences, societies of both races are mostly meritocratic, rewarding individual achievements and capabilities with respect and prestige.

When kyo and kai-tang met, there is an obvious distance between each other. Kyo view ape-men as archetypal noble savages—creatures holding certain wisdom and grace that partly redeems their uncivilized (i.e. non-kyo) ways and grant them a measure of respect, but savages nonetheless. Kai-tang pity kyo's obsession with hierarchies, wealth, and social stance, as straining and hindering their intellectual and spiritual integrity and advancement. Both appreciate the interaction with the other to a certain degree, as an exotic distraction and an instructive moment (even if the lesson learned is usually picking aspects aligned with their own culture and avoidance of following the ways of the other race in matters that aren't similar already). The perceived exotic savagery and their physical strength combined with intelligence makes kai-tang mercenaries popular supplement of the Radiant Empire forces. A number of kai-tang settlements became protectorates of the slowly expanding Radiant Empire, retaining a high degree of autonomy, with some minor organizational glitches related to imperial expectation of having single directors clashing with kai-tang preference for selected associations performing equivalent roles together.

While the trade between the two races exist, it is sometimes frustrating to kyo merchants because of kai-tang philosophically driven assignment of values to goods and services. This splits kyo merchants into two camps: those who are irritated by dealing with kai-tang, and those who got used to kai-tang approach, treating it as a game with its own unique rules and forms.

The Winged Merchants And The Curious Swimmers

The xenopi are a real conundrum to kyo. Are they beasts of the sea only incidentally capable of communication, with a semblance of culture created via cunning mimicry? Or are they a really weird sapient beings to whom normal behaviors of sapient races, such as family bonds, sexual mores, material possession, and social divisions are alien concepts? Resembling a common sea food does not help solve that dilemma. From their side, xenopi are eager to help kyo reach mutual understanding between their people... Which of course confuses the matter, as xenopi have hard time understanding many crucial aspects of kyo life themselves. Why exchanging things is so important to kyo? Why social rank is that important to kyo? Why would low rank kyo follow what high rank kyo instructions if it does not agree with the instruction... And so on, and so on.

Kyo merchants do visit xenopi settlements, acquiring some xenopi produces via exchange of gifts, a process less reliable than regular trade or barter, but occasionally being very profitable. More than one minor kyo peddler earned a fortune by acquiring ingots of rare metals or high quality pearls from xenopi that had no foreseeable need for them. Curious xenopi are more than happy to join kyo merchant crews on their voyages to travel far and wide, and sometimes kyo merchants even agree to such requests, hoping that exotic nature of xenopi pet will attract more curious customers, and increase the merchant's prestige.

Xenopi venturing into the Radiant Empire jurisdiction have a vague legal status—killing a speaking entity would be certainly improper, even more mistaking it for a sea food and eating it, but at the same time they are known for their very limited ability to behave properly, even at the degree expected from a culturally inferior race. The expulsion is favored way of dealing with problematic xenopi.

The Feathered People And The Furred Nuisance

Whereas xenopi might be a conundrum to kyo, purrlings are a primarily a nuisance to the Radiant Empire. They are unruly, reckless, mischievous, disrespectful, loud, have no sense of shame or respect for authority. They are what kyo culture despise made alive and running around. And to add insult to the injury they enjoy eating birds' eggs out of their nests...

And yet, while they might be epitome of uncivilized behavior for the Radiant Empire, kyo show a surprising level of tolerance for their antics. This partly caused by kyo not treating purrlings seriously, more like a speaking animal that is barely suitable for a role of a pet when well behaved, or annoying pest if it moves past certain limits. While there is no imperial law prescribing legal status of the furred nuisances, they are generally treated as pets or wards of their companions, who take responsibility for the purrling's antics and any injuries caused and are denied legal personality of their own. Recently in some regions, it became fashionable for prestigious and wealthy kyo to keep a few purrlings, as mascots, and amusement. This fad might last until purrlings strain the kyo patience or become replaced by a new, more exotic pet.

Purrlings living among kyo love to mimic (imperfectly and without understanding of nuances of the etiquette) the kyo behavior while spurring a ridiculous claims to fictional ranks and titles that would be blasphemous for any proper kyo citizen. Many purrlings that entered into contact with kyo even for a short time are impressed with kyo vanity and behavior and are inspired into a new levels of mock-behavior of their own, occasionally trying to recreate kyo society and hierarchy among fellow purrlings, until they got bored or distracted by some new experience.

Fantasy Races: Rivalries And Alliances, Part 1

What happens when fantasy races (well, technically species, but certain system popularized term "race" when referring to humanoid or at least playable creatures that it became a game mechanic term so I stick to it here) contact each other... How do their distinct biology, culture, philosophy, and behavior interact and what can result in such meeting?

The Haughty And The Vain

"The only megalomania I can stand in my presence is my own."

Azan and kyo are arrogant, believing in their respective superiority over other sapient peoples. For azan, their pride is feed by their magical and technological mastery, for kyo, it is derived from their religion and extent of their mercantile empire. For both, their pride shaped their language, culture, and philosophy.

When two cultures with so deeply ingrained sense of superiority meet a clash seems inevitable. Thankfully, both races disdain direct confrontation, preferring convoluted schemes, economic and diplomatic pressure, and use of hired, enslaved, conjured, bred, or constructed minions. This sometimes leads to political or economic intrigues and conflicts being played via proxy polities, often oblivious to the true reasons of the struggle. Another factor diminishing the degree of animosity between azan and kyo is their social structure: azan lack any large scale unity except for academically-bent colleges and economically-focused corporations, while kyo, formally being united via the Radiant Empire suffer from political divisions between regional governors. Neither race desires extensive territorial expansion: azan are too low in numbers due to their slow reproduction rate while kyo are very deliberate and careful in their expansion to avoid over-extension. 

With all that factors considered, the usual interaction between azan and kyo is surprisingly smooth, with both sides having acquired a degree of respect for the other race field of expertise. In fact, some azani directors and kyo governors reached an unspoken agreement of treating their competition for resources and influence as a game of sorts, trying to outmaneuver the opponent, possibly sacrificing lesser beings in the process but avoiding escalating the conflict into a direct one.

The Scientists And Philosophers

"Kai-tang are surprisingly smart for a species with such ridiculous amount of hair."

For two races with strong intellectual focus azan and kai-tang have some similarities and even more differences. While azan favor applied sciences and utilitarian philosophies, kai-tang prefer wider erudition and speculative philosophy. Both races use a voluntary groups composed of a few individuals as a primary social unit, tied by shared interests, profession, or intellectual pursuits. Self-centered azan usually view their cabals as a pragmatic way of organization for purposes of gaining tangible benefits with emotional relations and spiritual aspects downplayed. Kai-tang associations on the other hand are considered important part of one's spiritual development. Violence is rarely the first solution that either race uses to solve their problems—azan being too pragmatic to risk their life needlessly while kai-tang being too philosophically minded to react with immediate aggression. Both races can be terrifying when roused to battle, though, trying to annihilate grave threats—azan using their magic, technology, and minions, and kai-tang combining physical prowess and magic.

Both races tend to live in small communities and isolated groups, minimizing chance for organized conflict. When azan and kai-tang come into blows, it is limited struggle, almost universally caused by dispute over a noteworthy resource, and often takes form of one of more ruthless azani corporations harassing kai-tang settlement through intermediaries, "rogue" monsters, arranged accidents, and an occasional catastrophe until they leave or agree to sell the resource.

Occasionally an azani cabal or even a corporation hires a kai-tang or an association of them as skilled labor force or even as low-tier assistants and overseers for less intellectually-capable laborers. From time to time, more academically minded azan or even whole colleges recognize intellectual achievements of kai-tang scholars and sages, entering into scholarly correspondence to exchange ideas. Larger kai-tang communities might commission azani engineer when they decide that technological solution to an existing problem is the most appropriate.

The Pattern-makers and the Pattern-seekers

"I looked and I saw. The movement. The dozens teethed wheels interlocking with smaller and bigger teethed wheels. Things with shapes that have no names revolving around each other. Lights circling lights like if they were stars. Metal, stone, crystal, and smoke. It was enthralling, it was terrible."

Azan and oc'cli are in many ways oppositions. Azan have an intense sense of intellectual superiority that makes them seek mastery over the world, bending their environment to their needs, and believing themselves to be the source of order. For them "natural" is a derogatory term, synonym of inefficient, base, chaotic, product of random processes, and in dire need of being improvement or discarded to make place for deliberate creation. Oc'cli are seeking harmony and intuitive enlightenment, trying to discover and understand the ultimate pattern of things, which they believe is inherent in all things, but especially in the nature.

When azan care to pay attention to oc'cli at all, they disdain their focus on intuition and mock their intellectual slowness—and more than one azan hypothesized that oc'cli might be result of someone's failed experiment to create dedicated savant-minions. Oc'cli on the other hand have troubles with incorporating azan advanced technology into their interpretations of the ultimate pattern. Some of them are easily fascinated and confounded by complexity of azan creations. A few creeds declared azan creations to be disruptions to the pattern itself, especially in regions where azan were particularly rapacious at exploiting local resources, creating a number of oc'cli guerrilla groups targeting azan installations wherever they can find them.

Cultures: Ilutan

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Ilutan

Ilutans are a group of related tribes of horse nomads living on large stretch of temperate steppe stretching between a mountain range and an inland sea.

Cosmology And Religion

For Ilutans, the Earth, the Sky, and the Night are the primordial powers of the world. The Earth and the Sky are lovers of indefinite, or even shifting genders, but the Night is invariably feminine. The Sky and the Night appear in various myths as different aspects of the same entity or twin siblings. Beyond the boundaries of the Earth, the Sky, and the Night lies the Abyss, containing things without form or name. Physical manifestation of the Abyss is the Sea, which Ilutans view as discontinuity in the body of the Earth, through which nameless seeps into the world in the form (or more accurately formlessness) of salt water.

The primary ritual measurement of time for Ilutans are sunrises and sunsets—viewed as unions of the Earth and the Sky, called together couplings, and lunar months, which are considered to be birth, growth, and demise of the Earth and the Sky's child.

The world is considered to be full of numerous spirits with different attitudes and interests. Spirits tend to be capricious, often cunning, and sometimes malicious. Talismans and amulets of various kinds are popular among Ilutan to ward off the malicious and capricious spirits, and to attract benign ones.

Food

Meat and milk are primary ingredients of the nomads' fare. Wild fruits, starchy roots, and honey of steppe bees are common supplements of their diet. Agricultural produce is viewed as inferior food, used mainly as fill and reserve for lean times. The most favored is meat of herd buffaloes, sheeps, and goats, and hunted antelopes. Wild fowl and their eggs are readily eaten as snacks, but they lack the esteem given to meat of four legged animals. Pork and poultry are considered inferior meat, suitable primarily to settled people, and are eaten only when there is no other meat available. Ilutans do not eat foods derived from sea, except for the salt due to association of the Sea with the Abyss. Freshwater fish and shellfish are occasionally eaten but are treated with suspicion.

Ilutans drink large amount of milk, but their favorite beverage is fermented honey, often mixed with wild fruits, and sometimes with milk. Some Ilutans developed taste for wine and ale, traded for or taken by force from settled neighbors. Part of available milk is processed into salty butter, yogurt, and cheese, readily eaten at all times.

Available food is shared during tribal rites or famine, with people that contributed to acquiring available food having choice of better portions than the rest.

Sex, Marriage, and Family Life

Ilutans have rather relaxed attitudes to sex and sexuality, with only few strict rules.

After sex, a person should refrain from having different sexual partner until the Earth and the Sky unite three times. Having different partner in this time is considered to be physically and spiritually unhealthy. Strictly speaking this restriction does not apply to twins, for they are considered to be a single person spiritually.

There is no inhibition about sex in public, but certain degree of privacy is preferred to avoid friendly advice, ribald jokes, and occasional words, songs, and sounds of encouragement delivered by amused bystanders.

Marriage is an act of will of both spouses. A pair needs only to publicly announce their marriage and together prepare a meal for witnesses. Potential spouses cannot share grandmother. It is still allowed for people sharing grandmother—but not mother—to participate in sexual activity a long as it could not lead to conception, though.

Spouses are obligated to maintain sexual fidelity for seven unions of the Earth and the Sky since their last intercourse with their married partner. After this time they can legitimately appease their needs with another partner. Catching a spouse during the act of infidelity allows the wronged spouse to beat the paramour on the spot (but not at later time if the paramour successfully flees) as long as no long term injury is caused. The unfaithful spouse can be punished in some imaginative and annoying way as long as no long term injury is caused, though escape providing no protection from the punishment beside delaying it until later. Shaving some or all of the spouse hair, painting his or her face face with green or blue dye, forbidding consumption of meat or alcohol for the next fourteen unions of the Earth and the Sky, or lashing the spouse's rear with stinging nettles are all common punishments.

Marriage is for life, but Ilutans are allowed to leave their spouses in case of impotence or frigidity, crippling injury, curse, incurable disease, or exile.

Biological paternity is of little relevance socially and there is no social stigma associated with births by unmarried women. Spouse is responsible for playing primary role in supporting and teaching children of a woman, but the tribe cooperates deeply in care for children.

Ilutans recognize between physical gender ("sex of flesh"), spiritual gender ("sex of spirit"), and social gender ("sex of tribe" corresponding to division between preference for masculine roles of herding and hunting, and feminine role of crafting). It is expected that sexual partners should have some set of complementary genders, but it is not obligatory outside of marriage. Most Ilutans have some degree of sexual experience with both sexes during their teenage years.

Social Life And Values

The primary values for Ilutans are matrilineal kinship (including people sharing common ancestress), personal freedom, and bond between comrades in arms. The following value are tribal bonds, and then camaraderie between various Ilutan tribes.

Forceful coercion is serious crime against freedom, but lies and deception are acceptable forms of manipulation.

Fighting together against common foe or surviving a calamity together is considered to be a source of strong spiritual bond only slightly weaker than blood kinship bonds, and in case of exceptional enemies, and great cataclysms may be considered equal to them.

Ilutans are not paying large attention to promises and oaths ("speaking is easier than spitting", "words don't harm"), they are fond of bawdy jokes, witty invectives, and exaggerated boasts.

Private property is very loose concept. Except for intimate possessions (weapons, amulets, talismans, clothing, trophies, jewelry, favored mount), sharing belongings with other members of the family and the tribe is common, but a compensation is expected if the possession is broken or its utility is exhausted in some way. Property is only protected within the tribe, so there is no restrictions about stealing belongings of other tribes, as long as the act does not endanger either tribes or causes direct or indirect injury.

Ilutans of all sexes love wearing various gold and silver jewelry but they do not consider it particularly valuable ("can't catch antelope with gold", "silver does not quench thirst"). Gold, silver, and bronze coins are often used as adornment—after being drilled they are made into necklaces and earrings or sewn onto clothing and armor. High quality iron and steel is viewed as more valuable than "colored" metals, especially in the form of weapons, arrowheads, tools, needles, and horseshoes.

Settled people are treated with mild contempt as fearing freedom of nomadic life, with the exception for settled magicians, smiths, and miners.

Justice And Punishment

Ilutans judge offences according to the harm caused to kinfolk and tribe, with tribal rally determining the fitting verdict.

The most severe punishment is exile, reserved for people who brought great harm on the tribe, greatly violated freedom of another member of the tribe, deliberately crippled another member of the tribe, stole amulet belonging to another member of the tribe, or is bearing sickness or curse threatening the tribe. Involuntarily causing serious harm three times is considered to be a sign of dangerous curse. Additionally, anyone who disagrees with a final decision of the tribe on any matter can go on exile voluntarily, taking only his personal belongings.

Lesser punishment is social ostracism—exclusion from social and ritual life of the tribe for a set amount of time. Ostracized member of the tribe keeps the right to meager share of food during famine (but not during tribal rites) but is denied right of choice of portion and has to satisfy with scraps left behind by others.

Both the exile and the ostracism can take greater or lesser form. Greater form is binding to all the tribe members, including kinfolk, spouse, and comrades in arms  of the punished while the lesser form has no hold over close ones.

Ilutan justice focuses mostly on compensation for wrongdoings. Destroying or damaging property prompts demand of replacing the loss. Temporary injury requires providing the injured and his close ones with adequate support. Permanent injuries usually require compensation in form of herd animals, in number deemed adequate by the tribe. An offender lacking the means to provide compensation to the victim is subject to ostracism, unless he ventures on a journey to acquire such means or offers to provide services to the victim—the offender can ask the tribe to set a period of servitude adequate to his offense.

All judgments are taken by all the tribe members currently present in the camp. The sides present their arguments and demands, and witnesses state their knowledge of circumstances of the event. During the judgement all the tribe members can speak sharing their thoughts and opinions about the case discussed. Once started, the judgement has to be continued until its resolution. The adult tribe members can't eat nor drink alcohol (they can refresh themselves with non-alcoholic beverages), sleep, have sex or participate in other activities. They can only leave the assembly to relive themselves. Breaking those rules or deliberate extending the debate can be punished with ostracism.

Intertribal judgments are rare and restricted to long term injuries caused by a member of one tribe to a member of the other tribe, stealing of horses or herd animals, and disputes over pastures or watering places. Intertribal judgments usually take form of negotiations and can easily lead to minor skirmishes, but escalation of violence is frowned upon unless the initial dispute was over death of Ilutan belonging to either tribe.

Death

Ilutan have rather vague ideas about afterlife, focusing more on their current life. Common belief is that spirits of women can remain in touch with their descents providing them with good luck and protection against malicious spirits while the male spirits wander the world unseen until their essence slowly disperses between the Earth and the Sky. Spirits of people that performed outstanding deeds can be reborn within their bloodline or more rarely tribe. People who died due to treachery of a kinfolk or a comrade in arms, sorcery, serious sickness, terrible misfortune, or childbirth may raise as vicious, hateful wraiths.

During the funeral the favored mount of the deceased is sacrificed and its roasted meat is shared between people present. Personal belongings of the dead are shared between kinfolk, comrades, and friends, the rest are shared within tribe as needed. The corpse is left naked under open sky, on the sacrificed mount's stretched skin, with the mount's skull placed under the head, and covered with a mat woven out of dry grass. A piece of roasted meat and a bottle or at least a cup of fermented honey with milk and blood are left in the body's reach.

Bodies of people that are suspected to raise as wraiths are buried hunched under small stone cairns. Those who committed treachery against their kin or comrades are taken to the sea coast and thrown from cliffs together with all their belongings while magicians are cremated and their ashes and bones are used to make amulets for the tribe.

Magic

Ilutans are suspiciously respectful when it comes to magic. Protective amulets are very commonly employed as wards against malicious spirits, disease, and misfortune, and talismans are often carried to bring good luck and prosperity.

Unlike many other peoples, Ilutans do not consider writing magical ("lie written down remains lie", "writing down my name does not take it away"). They employ writing rarely, relying on oral traditions instead.

Practitioners of magic can be members of the tribes, but do not have to. Magicians that remain part of the tribe are expected to use their magical abilities for the benefit of the tribe. Magicians that live apart of the tribe can demand payments for their services. Known magicians are often given gifts to ensure their future favors. Ilutan magicians that do not belong to the tribes are usually settled. Often, it is a need for permanent abode and immovable magical paraphernalia such as herb gardens, binding circles, libraries, or consecrated space, that made the magician leave the tribe. Settled magicians often sever their blood ties with their kinfolk, as well.