Fantasy The Hunt Lore

Archie · Sep 25, 2019

THE HUNT

WIP!

There are competing mythologies about the creation of the world and the existence of Gods. Nearly every race has its own set of beliefs. Before Valko and Arkrath Ida launched a purge of other Human sects that resisted Irudinism, there were numerous Human pagan religions as well.

Irudin

The Humans believe Irudin, God of fire and of the Sun, created the first light in darkness, then the second light (the moon), his wife. The light combined with the darkness to create matter and Earth. The races of Earth, minus Humans, are all evil (including Human allies) because they were created by darkness in its attempt to resist the Sun. Those races tended to the forest, creating a canopy of leaves that blocked the light from the Earth, or, like Dwarves and Orcs, hid from the Sun within their caverns. There used to be an Irudinite Heresy called Daemonism which believed the Daemon, an evil God, lived on the Starlit Isle, where there is no daytime, but this sect, led by Torian Ida, was slaughtered on orders of Torian's brother, Arkrath, seventeen years ago, with Valko's support. Presently, the Great Volcano Tribe, who function as the leaders of the Fire Temple, assert that there are no Gods but Irudin.

Irudin only communicates in strange messages, drug/meditation-induced hallucinations, and dreams, and only with the Ida clan, who train their whole lives to receive God's messages and access his magic. They have a number of elaborate rituals for summoning Irudin and receiving his commands (never in the RP will Irudin just randomly talk to people, Ida or not). Irudin blesses the Ida clan with the powers of fire, firebreathing, lightning, illumination, radiation, smoke, and ash, generally used for destructive purposes. Irudin is a harsh master, and all priests of the Fire Temple are expected to dress in red and white. All priests once they finish training have a weaker version of the Ida magic, regardless of their genetic origin (though all priests are recruited from the Great Volcano tribe). All Fire Priests can breathe fire, though many destroy their throats learning how to do so and die.

The Great Spirit of the Forest

An even more mysterious God, the Spirit of the Forest speaks through the dreams and hallucinations of Shamans of the various non-Human tribes, and to the Shamans among Pagan Human clans who survived the Volcano Tribe's inquisition. Virtually all Gods worshipped by people of the Forest are held to be inferior to the Great Spirit, who rules them in a Pantheon. For the past fifty years, the Spirit has not intervened in the forest, and did nothing to stop the human invasion. In the past, however, she was rumored to grant the few followers she deemed worthy (called "elects") with immense power to command the wilds and the animals, with supernatural strength and senses, with the ability to heal and create life anew. As they can give life force, they also supposedly can take it away.

While every race worships their own local deities for the most part, most of the land-dwelling tribes have shamans that try to communicate with the Great Spirit. She only speaks to those who are "close to nature", who abandon the trappings of civilization, such as contact with other sentients and long clothes. Shamans for this reason are generally isolated from their villages, but command a position of respect. To gain her approval, the Spirit in demands that her followers "rediscover their true nature" and "find themselves".

Alkai, God of the Mountains

The Dwarves claim Alkai is Dwarven, the Orcs claim he is Orcish, the Dragons claim he is an ancient and powerful Dragon, and all three of them agree that he hates Valkyries and Harpies. According to the Dwarves, Alkai handed the metalworking knowledge to the Dwarves, and the Orcs stole it. Then, it was bought from the Orcs by a con artist named Max Nemeth of the Engyr Tribe. According to the Orcs, Alkai handed the metalworking knowledge to the Orcs, and then the Dwarves stole it, and then Max Nemeth of the Engyr Tribe bought it from the Dwarves. Regardless of how it came into the possession of the Orcs, Dwarves, and Humans, all parties except the humans agree that Alkai invented bronzeworking and ironworking (while the Humans only have knowledge of bronzeworking). Alkai is the God of wisdom, of gadgets, of innovation, and of commerce. He is said to protect the industrious and shrewd. His following is near-universal among Dwarves and Orcs, while the Dragons worship him as a lesser God to the Sky God. Many human merchants, soldiers, and workmen worship Alkai, but only underground - worship of any god except Irudin is illegal for humans. Despite their lax attitude towards religion compared to the other tribes in general, the Engyr tribe are as ferocious as the Ida in persecuting Alkai-worshippers, because they claim Alkai isn't real and that they invented bronze working by themselves.

The Dwarves have volumes of books that explain that claim that Alkai is a being from another world, who visited this one, then left behind scrolls filled with technology. The Engyr tribe has since stolen these scrolls, but nobody is able to translate them. Followers of Alkai, by speaking his code, are able to direct, even from extreme distances, Golems of stone during their dreams.

All Alkai's followers agree that Alkai was originally a dragon, who could not produce metal himself, so he had to instruct [insert chosen people, see dispute above] to produce technology for him. According to the last surviving Dwarven scribes (the Humans tried to kill them all but some still hide away in the mountains), the scrolls Alkai brought with him are in all different languages and nobody really knows what they all say.

Ventir, God of the Sky

According to the Dragons, Ventir was Alkai's more powerful sister, and the most powerful Dragon to have ever lived, who grew so powerful that she breathed the sky into existence. The harpies and Valkyries agree that Ventir was a dragon, but believe that she came to this world to get away from the other dragons. All three have the same origin legend - that Ventir came to a planet which was just a barren rock with nothing on it but the Great Volcano of Talor, then breathed the blue sky into the air, creating a habitat. The Dragons then believed she birthed the dragons, who birthed all living creatures (the Dragons calling themselves the "all-fathers" and "all-mothers"). In contrast, the other two sky-peoples (and any others) believe Ventir was one of many dragons, who wanted to escape the others, and when they saw that she had created a wonderful world that they had yet to burn, the other dragons flew to it to destroy it and eat all the creatures that had populated there. According to the Valkyries and Harpies, the other Dragons sided with Ventir's evil brother, Alkai, to kill her, while the Dragons believe that she lived 1,377 years then passed away naturally. Ventir's followers believe they can control the wind, the weather, and the storms with her rituals, and that they can bring clouds upon the world to disguise their flight patterns. To pray to Ventir, one must sacrifice land-dwelling creatures by dropping them from high heights, supposedly so that Ventir's soul, which is now permanently entombed in the Dwarven mountains, can eat their spirits moments before they die.

Mereth, God of the Ocean

Generally depicted as a merman (though the Naga have their own portrayal), Mereth is believed to be the ancestor of all things in the Sea, and his followers claim they can control the waves. Unlike the other Gods, Mereth communicates quite often, through voices from the ocean floor that supposedly direct the movement of both the Mer and Naga. The voices are unintelligible in any language, but are in some kind of Morse code, which both races have learned to decode. They convey orders, which in the past have led to loot (from shipwrecks), as well as good fishing grounds. Followers of Mereth pray to him alongside the Great Spirit, and are rewarded (far more frequently than the Spirit's followers on land) with control over sea creatures
Magic is poorly understood by all races except the Dwarves, who used to have a somewhat scientific understanding of how it worked. There are vaguely two kinds of magic - God-given magic, which can come to anyone who the Gods favor, and arcane magic, which draws on nearby energies. The exact mechanism of both types is unknown. The dwarves believe that all magic is arcane, and that the Gods are just extremely powerful beings (or beings that live in high-energy environments like in volcanos, the Sun, or Ocean trenches) and feed energy to users, but there is no evidence this is not the case, as nobody has been able to physically locate a God. Meanwhile, this idea, called "Deistic materialism", is sacrilegious in all religions.

There is no strict difference in the strength of God-given and arcane magic, but strength depends on different factors. Arcane magic depends on one's neural sensitivity to environmental energies. This strongly correlates to physical and emotional sensitivity, so strong magic users generally aren't brute force fighters. God-given magic depends on how much a God favors a person. Sometimes, this is extremely arbitrary (all members of the Ida Clan capable of performing rituals are given extremely powerful destructive magic by Irudin, but virtually no one else is), while in other cases it's more philosophical (the Great Spirit blessing those who she deems to have "rediscovered their true nature").

God-given magic is constrained to the powers a God can give (see the Gods section), while Arcane magic can really be anything.

The following is a table of magical sensitivity, from highest to lowest, among major races, along with the percentage of the race that can cast at least some spells:

Faeries - 72%
Elves - 52%
Mer - 43%
Dark Elves - 37%
Naga - 30%
Rat-kin - 20%
Harpies - 10%
Valkyries - 7%
Humans - 5%
Dwarves - 3.5%
Orcs - 1.2%
Centaurs - 1%
Trolls - 0.2%
Dragons - 0.1%
Map incoming

The Great Forest spans the entire continent of Belmar, but Humans have deforested and made into farmlands, or desolate plains, around a quarter. Inside are a number of geographical features, such as the Segror Mountains, home of the Orcs and the Dwarves (presently, their survivors). The center of the the continent houses Star Lake, and inside of it, Starlit Isle. Human settlements are scattered throughout the forest - a way the Confederal government aims to keep control.

Belmar is flanked on three sides by ocean, and on the fourth-side by the desolate snow-covered mountains, through which it is said humans first migrated to the continent.

All civilizations in the Great Forest have been destroyed, but hideouts exist. The one exception is the fortified Shadronian swamp, guarding the only land passageway to Starlit Isle. The Swamps of the Shadronians are a sightly location. The trees stand well over two hundred feet in height. The canopy has grown to where it is so intertwined that it blocks out the sun, making it extremely dark. The only light comes from the lanterns along the walk ways. All buildings and paths are built above the waters of the swamp. To the Shadronians there are many villages and towns, but to someone that has seen their civilization would only see one giant city. There is a thirty foot wall that surrounds the outer portion of the swamps, and lies two hundred yards from the very edge of it. There are two more inner walls, each surrounding the areas. One the very outer wall, there are 8 Towers and gates. The middle wall has 12 Towers and gates, and the very inner wall only have 4 towers and gates. The walls are built of an unknown stone found only in the swamps. Yet the Shadronians have wooden posts that cover the stone. They have done this to make it seem like the walls are made of wood, it was to trick the enemy. Scattered along the outer wall are pikes drove into the ground with skulls attached. Before anyone gets to the swamp, there are signs scattered all around, with one word written in any and every language possible…….”Death”.
History

According to the official history of the Confederation, the God Irudin was angered at the sloth and slovenliness of the humans in the continent of Talor, across the sea, and thus brought an eruption upon Talor which forced the dozens of tribes of humans West, to migrate across the snow-covered mountains and onto the Eastern Plains of Belmar. Then, Arkrath Ida of the Great Volcano Tribe, and Valko Daan of the Karal Tribe bravely banded together for the survival of the people, creating an alliance that eliminated heresy. For ten years, they bided their time and co-existed with the races of the forest, while eliminating those with "wrong" ideas of the past and of God, before heroically conquering the Forest in a scheme supposedly brilliantly concocted by Valko Daan alone (though possibly with input from Irudin). According to the human government, bronze working and all other technologies and gadgets the ingenious Engyr tribe had developed were of their own invention, and these technologies spread West from Talor to Belmar.

Of course, the official history is littered with inconsistencies. First, the Great Volcano had erupted numerous times before - the Dwarves figured this out by measuring layers of ash baked into the sediment of the Eastern Plains - none of which generated catastrophe. Instead, it seems as if the eruption was uniquely devastating this time because humans had cut down most of the trees of Talor, which made the environment vulnerable. Once the harvest failed because of the ash clouds, barren and desolate lands turned to a dust bowl, that rapidly destroyed the topsoil of most of Talor and created a famine.

It is said that Valko and Arkrath Ida voluntarily formed the Human Confederation in recognition of the need to survive, while their people were already migrating, but older humans readily tell of a war waged between two factions that emerged during the Talorian famine. For decades, Talorian politics was dictated by a struggle between Nemeth, city of the Engyr tribe, named after the famed "inventor of bronzeworking", Max Nemeth, and the Great Volcano Tribe, which occupied a protected plain atop the Great Volcano. The Great Volcano is the largest known Volcano on both Talor and Belmar, but has "mini-mountains" jutting from its surface that protected a fertile plain from the lava of eruptions. Meanwhile, the ash from eruptions fertilized the soil and made the farmlands uniquely rich. The two sides - the Engyr with their bronze, crossbows, and siege weapons, and the Great Volcano Tribe with their fire-breathing priests and God-given magic, had waged war for centuries.

Once the famine occured, both sides turned on the other tribes to collect food. Valko Daan of the minor clan Karal unified several other tribes in a rebellion against the Engyr, and defeated chieftan Clayton Nemeth in a battle. The shrewd Arkrath Ida then realized he too would lose, and formed a confederation with Valko, who then ordered all the tribes to migrate West. Clayton Nemeth, meanwhile, murdered anyone outside the Nemeth family of the Engyr tribe with the bronze-working knowledge to ensure that his clan would maintain a position of power in the Confederation.

After arriving in Belmar, the Humans rapidly degenerated into infighting as they came from all ethnic, linguistic, and racial groups and followed different religions. Some tribes, like the Great Spirit-worshipping Melythin, were annihilated completely. Within the Ida clan, there was also infighting, as Torian Ida believed that the forest was governed by an evil spirit known as the Daemon, while his brother Arkrath denied the existence of any deities besides Irudin. Valko would ultimately settle this dispute by killing Torian's followers. Since Irudin dictated that calamity will fall on anyone who spills the blood of the Ida clan, Torian himself was not killed, and remains locked away in Valkonia Prison to this day.

Tribes

The three most politically prominent tribes in the Confederation are:

Engyr - Founded by Max Nemeth and still centering on his family, the Engyr tribe claim to be the inventors of bronze working, and since then have developed a number of other technologies. They are singularly responsible for the technological progress of humans against other races, at least in their minds. The Engyr crave all knowledge, and, since the human conquest of the Forest, have been known to experiment on humans.

Karal - Formerly an insignificant warrior tribe, the Karal have risen to prominence because of the leadership of Valko. While his death and that of his half-brother Irwin, who he nominated as his successor, have thrown the tribe into its own succession crisis, the Karal are a large tribe (believing in absorbing their defeated foes and aiding the weak in exchange for submission, thus having taken in many former "heretical" tribes, as well as starving tribes, after the migration) and are unrivalled in mounted warfare.

Great Volcano - The Ida clan claims to have been the first humans to have set foot on the planet, and thus formed a covenant with Irudin that has granted them immense power. While the Great Volcano Tribe numbers in the thousands, it has always centered around the Ida clan, who train from birth to gain the powers and blessings of Irudin. The Ida are surrounded by hundreds of disciples and priests who form the Fire Temple. With the exception of those blessed by the Great Spirit (and nobody has been blessed by her for half a century), the Ida clan are without question the most powerful magic users on the planet, though their magic is almost entirely destructive.

There are dozens of others, each numbering between the thousands and tens of thousands.

Government System

Each tribe in the confederation is represented in the cabinet, where their chief is either Minister or Vice Minister of something related to their tribal profession. This both keeps them in the capital city of Valkonia (and easier to control), and keeps them happy with a position of power not only over their own tribe, but over all living things. Each of the allied races to mankind, regardless of their population, is given 1 minister position, just like any human tribe.

The top authority of the Confederation is simply called the "confederation leader", and there is no title that goes with this. There have been many attempts by Karal politicians to install Valko as King, but these were resisted by all tribes. Any attempt to give him a more benign title, like Prefect, Consul, or Primarch, were vetoed by the Ida clan. The reason for this is that there are only two titles above Minister in the Confederation government - both called "Archon". The Confederation Leader is one Archon, while the head of the Fire Temple is the other Archon. By creating a position above Archon, the Confederation Leader will diminish the power of the Volcano Tribe. There is no set procedure for choosing the leader - in the past, Valko simply declared himself Primarch and enforced it.

After the death of Valko and the ritual suicide of Irwin, the confederation government has been thrown into chaos. The ailing, 70 year old Arkrath Ida is currently the highest authority, but despite his best efforts, the Cabinet refuses to make him the Confederation Leader officially. Most of the chieftans are fearful that if the religious leader also becomes the military leader, the Ida clan will establish permanent dictatorship. Each chieftan is jealous of the powers of the other, and constantly trying to advance his position while preventing others from increasing their power.
Human settlement is greatest in the fertile South and Southwest, near Valkonia. Most of the land on the continent is still forested. All rivers seem to flow to the coast, and to the Lake.
All NPCs introduced so far:

Arkrath Ida is the aging patron of the Jda clan, born of Chieftan Grokai Ida, the fourth king of Great Volcano. Never the most powerful Ida mage in his youth, he was noted for his outstanding political judgment, and rose rapidly through the Fire temple. He gained power during the eruption of the Great Volcano. His brother Torian and high priest Mithrune declared that Irudin had caused the eruption to drive humanity West to fight the “demon of the Starlit Isle”, but Arkrath knew this PR blunder would cause all of Talor to turn against them. His prediction came true, as the Ida’s ancient Engyr rivals mobilized a broad coalition against them.

The Ida were losing the war when Arkrath poisoned High Priest Mithrune, and proclaimed that the “eruption-demon theory” was a perverse heresy. This alone would not save the Ida Clan, so he conspired with Valko Daan, leader of the Karal warriors, subjects of the Engyr. Under the conspiracy, the Ida and Karal would wage a two front war against the Engyr, while not allying in name, and would not make peace until the Engyr were destroyed.

Valko betrayed the pact, and received Clayton Nemeth’s submission before turning all tribes on the Ida. Arkrath and Valko at this point agreed there was no future in starving Talor, and underwent the migration together.

When arriving in the Great Forest, Arkrath consolidated his religious by relying on Valko and the Volcano Tribe Chief, Kamar. Torian continued spewing the heresy of the isle demon, so Arkrath had him put under house arrest. He then instituted an inquisition against all humans who didn’t worship Irudin. Arkrath was generally pragmatic and accepted “syncretic” mergers of pagan and Irudinist religions. He soon found that Valko was far more enthusiastic about the purge than he was - “heresy” became a convenient accusation Valko could levy against all his enemies.

During the conquest, it was Arkrath who cast the heatwave spell that burned down a quarter of the forest. This spell involved generating a wave of hot air through fire cast to the West, that would generate a gentle breeze across the forest. Humans then set fires, and the gentle breeze carried the flames in the right direction.

Arkrath had only one child, who was thrown into the Volcano when his wife Telermine was “chosen” by Irudin. She jumped into the Volcano with the boy.

Arkrath plays the mediator in his clan, though he is close to death. His favorites are his cunning nephew Horang, who he sees a lot of himself in, and his charismatic and powerful niece Zarashi. The fact that they are often at odds ensures that Arkrath often has to separate them.

Horang is the first son of Torian Ida, brother of Arkath. From a young age, Horang was clever and diligent, but was less favored by Irudin than his hot-headed and sadistic brother, Bloodrang. Worse, Horang was a bastard born of Torian’s mistress. Even though he was older than Bloodrang, he always had a lower status in his youth for this reason. Torian himself was a fanatic who believed that anyone favored by Irudin was superior, taking Bloodrang’s extremely strong magic as proof of his superiority over his brother. Bloodrang bullied Horang in their youth, holding him down and burning him all over his body - to this day, Horang never removes his armor in front of others. Torian allowed it, stating that only the strongest would survive and that Horang wouldn’t be so weak if only he was more faithful to Irudin and didn’t think so much. Initially, Horang cried and whined, but soon his once friendly demeanor became cold, and he simply plotted and bided his time.

At the young age of 13, Horang saw his opportunity when Torian clashed with Arkrath over the demon of the isle. Horang offered to condemn his father in public, lying about how Torian admitted to his family that the demon was just a hoax, if Arkrath would promote him to the thankless administrative job of Seneschal. Arkrath happily agreed. Being the temple’s master of letters, Horang then combed the archives for dirt on the aging Clayton Nemeth. Once he obtained it, he blackmailed the Engyr Chief for a set of dwarven armor said to enhance magic, known as the Dragonmold.

At that instant, Horang became probably the most powerful mage on the continent. He delighted from then on in humiliating his brother at every opportunity. Instead of resorting to simplistic measures like burning him back, Horang was far more elaborate, and far more sadistic. It started with badly beating his brother in duels, and making a show of how effortless it was, then enchanting his clothes to set on fire at public events. But when Bloodrang was 18, Horang unleashed his cruelest trick. He hired a prostitute for his brother, posing as a noblewoman - reckless and prone to scandal, Bloodrang gladly accepted her enticements to make love in Valko’s bedroom during a cabinet meeting where Horang was supposed to be presenting. Horang feigned sickness so the meeting was cut short. When Valko returned to his room, he was furious. Horang suggested the punishment for consummation in the Confederation Leader’s bedroom be castration, but Irudin had commanded that the blood of the Ida clan should not be spilled. To Valko’s amusement, Horang offered to castrate his brother with flames to get around this problem.

As for his father, Horang paid altar boys to pretend to be Irudin and whisper him messages in his cell, which became more and more insulting and nonsensical as time went on. Torian Ida went completely mad, raving about how Irudin commanded him to consume his own feces, so he would obey.

As Seneschal, Horang often represented his uncle at cabinet meetings, witnessing Valko’s descent into madness. He stoically endured all Valko’s insults, until he decided he had other options. Two weeks before Valko’s death, Horang was spotted entering the Bronze Works of the Engyr tribe and conversing with Bertrand.

Of all the Ida, Horang has the worst relationship with Kamar and his favorite Zarashi, seeing too much of Bloodrang in them. He sympathizes with Vareth, but also despises him for not being able to engineer his own power play against his family. He is close to the Engyr, and visits their bronze works frequently.

Next to Zarashi, Bloodrang is potentially the most naturally powerful human mage, bested only by his brother because of his armor. Irudin loved Bloodrang in his youth, giving him many messages and many dreams. As a kid, Bloodrang had it all. While he was of only average height, he was blessed by Irudin and born his father’s only legitimate son. He was violent and faithful, as Torian thought an Ida should be. Taught that the strong, blessed by Irudin, had every right to dominate the weak, Bloodrang entertained himself by tormenting the altar boys and his brother, whose magic was much weaker. It started with random beatings, but soon he was burning them. Torian encouraged this behavior as an assertion of power.

When Arkrath clashed with Torian, Horang sold his father out and became Seneschal. Bloodrang refused to renounce the heresy of the isle demon, and was also imprisoned. Weeks later, he found out that Horang of all people had convinced Arkrath to release him. Soon, he found out why. The next years of his life were filled with nothing but constant humiliation by his brother, who had turned psychological torture into an art form. Bloodrang’s only escape was into women’s bedrooms - a good looking young man, he had no trouble finding girls who were willing to give him a place to sleep away from the temple.

This ended up setting him up for his brother’s cruelest joke. Horang hired the most expensive prostitute in the country to pose as a noblewoman and court Bloodrang for months. He fell madly in love with her, only for the whole thing to become a trick to lure him into the confederation leader’s chambers.

Horang had the woman killed before she could say anything, then inflicted on Bloodrang the most painful and degrading punishment he could think of. As an Ida, Bloodrang’s punishment was kept strictly private - it wasn’t even the confederation, but the Temple that officially carried out the sentence. But Bloodrang felt more shame than he ever had in his life - he was a man whose balls had been burned off.

His shame channeled itself into resentment, not just towards Horang but towards everything - the temple, the confederation, the non humans. Still a strong mage, the temple used him every time they needed refugees incinerated, heretics burned, or slaves branded. He overcompensated for his scorched manhood by demonstrating utmost cruelty at all times. His punishment and crime being kept private was officially a privilege, but Bloodrang knew it was a curse, just as his brother intended. Nobody knew what had happened to him, so there was no one to talk to, no shoulder to cry on, and no one to show him sympathy. He had no way of coping except by taking his anger and resentment out on the few innocent victims his uncle and brother made available to him. He hates most of his tribe, except Kamar and Zarashi who share his favor from Irudin and some of his traits.

Fenris was always the un-favorite of his uncle, Valko. The charismatic, brilliant, and utterly insane Valko detested Fenris for being a “blockhead” and a “weakling”. Though physically strong and imposing, Fenris took pity on the many victims of the confederation’s cruelty. As a youth before the enslavement of the forest, Fenris’s friends were from the lower castes of the his tribe - the tribes that the infinitely prejudicial Karal had absorbed, but who lacked “strong features”. The thin and light haired lower castes came to idolize Fenris for embodying the ideal physique of a Karal warrior, which that superficial tribe put so much value on. Soon, he began to see himself as their savior.

This would not do. Fenris’s father Irwin believed the lower castes to be a contaminating influence, and ordered him to separate himself from his friends or he would execute them all. Valko, however, was more cunning and suggested a crueler alternative. Fenris was a Daan, and had to be treated with respect, but his friends did not. He was made to comply with the warrior code and train day and night. Every time he made a mistake, his best friend would be savagely whipped in the yard, even over the most minor transgression. All Fenris wanted to do was save poor Axel, and he quickly learned to be a diligent warrior and cover up his softness with a pretense of bravado and callousness. At the age of 18, he was rewarded when his friend was set free, but Axel, who had endured countless lashings for Fenris’s mistakes, no longer wanted anything to do with him, and for that matter, neither did any of his old friends.

Fenris fell into a state of depression for years. He was given the worst jobs, and felt completely alone. He had nothing in common beyond his mask of bravado with the other Karal, and his father showed more affection to his chief retainer than to him.

Fenris’s fortunes changed when Valko ordered his “unworthy” sons to commit ritual suicide to clear the way for his brother’s succession. Irwin then impaled himself. Fenris was next in line by the hereditary system of the chiefs, and thus became the leader. He dreams of changing the tribe and the confederation to become more humane and equal.

Fenris hates the Ida clan, who he sees and having all the viciousness of the Karal for none of their honor. He sympathizes with Assuni and the other non-humans on the cabinet. He admires Evelyn for setting free so many slaves on her own coin, though he’s forbidden by his veneer and position from saying this. He envies Valkner, who was a great warrior and fought alongside him many times, but who then made the brave decision to go off on his own - something Fenris has wanted to do. He both pities and utterly detests Haakon, who he sees as a stupid puppy who would have done anything for a pat on the head from his father, and the embodiment of all that was wrong with the Karal.

Bertrand Nemeth was the second son of Clayton Nemeth, Engyr leader during the Last War of Talor. From a young age, he was a prodigy and seen as a genius even by Engyr standards. His elder brother, Marko, in comparison, was probably of above average intelligence by the standards of most humans, but not by those of the Engyr. Still, their mother Sylvia doted over Marko, who was their firstborn and by rights would inherit the tribe, with Bertrand by his side as his adviser.

Bertrand was in his teens when his father lost the Last War to Valko. Calculating that the Karal, long the warrior caste of the old Nemeth Kingdom, would be moved by a show of honor, Bertrand arrived at Valko’s camp and offered an alliance. Valko’s brother Irwin scoffed at the idea of making anything except subjects out of a defeated enemy, especially one unwilling to fight to the death. At that point, Bertrand challenged Irwin to a duel, agreeing that the loser had to sever his dominant hand. Irwin obviously prevailed, but instead of cutting off his hand, Bertrand stuck it into a fire, impressing the Karal with a resolve they didn’t expect from an Engyr. He then appealed to Valko, stating that Clayton had killed all with the bronze working knowledge outside the Nemeth clan, and that they too were willing to commit suicide - as he was willing to burn his hand - if they were not granted a central role in Valko’s confederation.

Bertrand was celebrated upon his return, and convinced his father to make him the Chamberlain. In doing so, he had underestimated his mother, who was the greatest of the Engyr scribes, chosen by Clayton for her unparalleled intellect. Fabricating a scandal that claimed Bertrand was conspiring with Valko to overthrow Clayton, Sylva had Bertrand banished. He took refuge among the Ida, who let him in in exchange for dirt on Clayton - the same documents Horang would later use to blackmail him. Bertrand then realized what he needed to do. Claiming that Sylva and Marko were Alkai worshippers and doctoring evidence so elaborate that it was irrefutable - complete with dozens of false but historically accurate talismans, Bertrand gave Valko the perfect excuse to imprison his relatives and place him in charge of the Engyr as Clayton’s chamberlain. This he did in exchange for documents detailing bronze working.

Valko was overjoyed when the Karal made their first bronze swords, and arrived at the Engyr Bronze Works, proclaiming that all Engyr would be arrested on charges of heresy now that they were no longer needed. Bertrand showed up with a small army of his own, donning full bronze armor. Valko scoffed at the idea that the Engyr could beat skilled Karal warriors, and ordered his men to attack.

But something went wrong - the Karal swords bent and blunted in the face of real bronze armor. They could not even penetrate leather. Bertrand had given the Karal a false recipe, which contained too much copper and was not strong enough for battle. As the Karal were getting cut down, Valko ordered a general retreat to the palace. Thinking civil war was imminent, he ordered the hunt to return to Valkonia immediately, and sealed the gates of Confederation Roost.

When Bertrand showed up outside the gates with his well armed force, he brought his aging father with him. Identifying Clayton as the source of the Alkai heresy, he proudly announced that, complying with Confederation Leader’s orders, the apostate had been caught.

It soon became clear why Bertrand saved Valko when he could have just killed the man. Across town, Kamar Ida had refused summons by both sides to join them, and was prepared to take over himself once the Confederation Leader was dead.

Bertrand is renown for his exceptional cunning and intellect. In the last years of his life, it is said he was the only man besides Irwin that Valko still listened to. His hand having been burned off, he relies on brilliant engineers like Hessian to carry out his orders. He despises the superstitious Ida clan, though he has a good relationship with Horang, who he believes to be an atheist. He respects all intelligent people, and admires Assuni for her shrewd move to preserve her race’s survival. Of all the major human leaders, he is probably the least racist - even Fenris’s bleeding heart reformism is rooted in a paternalistic outlook towards “lesser people”.

Flavia is perhaps the most powerful non human in the confederation. Born as the daughter of the Matriarch of the Harpies, Artara, she took power at a young age when Artara was burned by the dragons, and she killed her rivals in single combat.

Flavia hatched a plan to reverse the poor fortunes of the harpies in the war against the dragons, who were often joined by the Valkyries. When she heard of Valko’s migration, she arrived to greet the young warlord, and flew over the advancing procession of humans, guiding them through the foreign land to sources of fresh water, herds of animals, and finally to the fertile Southwestern Delta where Valkonia was founded.

It was an open secret among the human elite for twenty years that Flavia was Valko’s mistress, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Valko was her gigolo. The warlord was utterly smitten with Flavia, whose strength exceeded that of any human, and whose intellect was unparalleled. It is said that Valko hated his sons so much because he never had any - a rumor stated that orphan babies with dark hair were claimed by Valko as his own, and that he never laid with another woman. Valko called Flavia his “ruler”, and it was clear that she was the dominant one in their relationship. This made her immensely unpopular among the Ida - the idea of submitting to a non human not blessed by Irudin’s grace was unacceptable. But one of her first moves was to have Valko imprison Torian Ida, the leader of the fanatical faction in the Ida clan, to avoid there being any problems.

It was largely Flavia who came up with the plan of conquest - she found the disease, she suggested the infected food supplies, and Horang Ida came up with the idea to spread fire through creating a consistent air current.

Then, Flavia initiated part two of her plan, which immortalized her in the minds of her people. Deploying hordes of humans and firecasting Ida onto mountain peaks, she oversaw the slaughter of all the young Valkyries and dragons, wiping out their future. With their roosts occupied, the other sky people were forced to land. Harpies communicated their positions to humans, who then attacked and killed them.

Because of these achievements, Flavia was accorded a respect by political insiders not given to any other non humans. Many understood that she was the real brains behind the conquest, even if Valko in public received all the credit. Valko himself made sure everyone knew that his lover was truly in charge, at one point calling her “our true leader” at a party. The Ida inqusition naturally ensured this news never left the palace.

Flavia could have ruled the world through her doting and admiring gigolo, but she wasn’t interested in power. Valko thought that she loved being on top of society as much as he did, especially since she seemed to love being on top of him so much. But he was mistaken - all she wanted was to avenge her mother, Artara, and rid her people of the dragons who had oppressed and hunted them for centuries. Her love for Valko lasted only as long as she was sexually attracted to him. When they met, he was 25, and the handsomest creature she had ever seen. Five years after conquest, he was forty, while, as a harpy, she had barely aged at all. She discarded him five years ago, seeking out younger blood instead. Valko took this badly, and took out his anger on his ministers, who he levied all kinds of ridiculous allegations against.

Flavia is utterly despised by the Ida clan, and the contempt is mutual. They see her as an inferior being who they had to bow to, and she sees them as a bunch of zealots who are obsessed with strength, but underneath are too afraid to take what they really want - dominion over mankind. Instead, they inhale “sacred herbs” and wait for a God who they’ve never even met to give them direction. The Engyr respect her intelligence, but she doesn’t care much for their fascination of machines. Believing that Max Nemeth was a thief who stole bronze working from the dwarves but wasn’t even able to steal ironworking, she thinks they are fake and insubstantial. Meanwhile, the Karal idolize her, as they do harpies in general. Harpies embody raw strength, directness, revenge, and single-mindedness, qualities the Karal worship in place of a god. However, their admiration is not entirely about ideals - Harpies seek out mates that are strong, but who they can nevertheless have their way with. Karal, meanwhile, are strong and well built, but are taught from birth to revere and obey those who are even stronger.

Among the cabinet, Flavia respects Assuni most for her brilliance in deposing the leaders of her tribe and securing a place in the confederation. They have much in common in this respect.

As Minister of Skies, she has dominion over anything over 300 meters in elevation, this including most mountains. She supports the confederation because it ensures the privileged position of her people as the rulers of everything above the plains where mankind dwells. Harpies have been fighting the sky war against the dragons for centuries, and so they naturally believe that atrocities are inevitable, and care nothing of them.

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Fantasy The Hunt Lore

Archie

Not even my final form

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