DreamerYesterday I opened a topic in which I wondered about the consequences of a world with a constant day and night. I received a lot of great suggestions, so I decided to share my idea for the people that live in the Nightlands.
Physical Description
They are shorter than an average human, though not by much. 5,5 feet is the tallest they can become. They have paler skin and usually only dark hair. Their eyes are golden and glow in the dark, (like a cat's), their teeth are fanged.
Culture
The Darklanders live in a very hostile environment. Therefore they have little concept of things like war, they are obsessed with survival and care little about who owns what land, and who bends the knee to who. To them it is clear that those who protect them, rule them. Because most of the land is filled with darkness those who control fire are in charge, in this case firemages part of a religious order known as the Daybringers.
The Darklanders are very few in number and live together in small fortified cities. There are nomads who seek out the solitude of the wild, and a number of mining colonies.
Men and women are considered equal in almost all accounts. The only points in life when sex matters is for procreation. Love between the same sex is considered nothing out of the ordinary, there is no concept of marriage though and multiple partners are encouraged. Anything to tip the scales in favour of life.
To that end their diet is very different from ours. While there are certain plants and herbs they eat, they are more likely to eat meat. They are a society of hunters, specifically they hunt boars, deer, rabbits (all these creatures are of course unlike the kind we know, and have adapted to a diet of mostly fungi). They also keep cattle like giant Scall, a large crustacean which serves several functions. Its scales can be used to craft armour with, its meat can be eaten, and the animal itself, while slow, can be used to travel the harsh terrain.
Their technology is very limited in several ways, mostly because of the materials available. Still, because of their religion they have made great advances in medicine. The Darmorians have an extreme taboo when it comes to death. Most of the herbs they consume have the property of delaying ageing and increasing the health in general.
A creature called Venat torments the Darmorians. Its sting infects the body and they have to resort to amputation quite often to avoid the entire body being infected. Because of this, many Darmorians lack limbs and instead have prosthetics made from wood or metal.
Upon death Darmorians are not buried, instead what is edible is consumed by their family and the rest of it is burned. This has given the Darklanders a bad name, and have made them feared among others who enjoy depicting them as savages.
Religion
The Darmorians are monotheistic. They believe ina god, but don't particularly trust or worship him. Instead they simply agree that they are subject to his whims and they must deal with that. Some see this God as a representation of "Death".
A life, to the Darmorians, is seen as a battle against this God. Until now every battle has been lost, but they keep on fighting trying to achieve immorality or at least keeping people in this world for as long as possible.
Due to this murder is considered a horrible sin, worse than we can imagine. It is not just a crime against one person, but against the world as a whole. In this land where death is so common, the idea of killing one another is considered horrible.
The Church has a group of executioners known as "The Nightbringers" they kill people who need the mercy, or need to be executed for certain crimes. They commit the sins so the rest of the humans do not have to. Their lives are committed to this sin, they spend their off-time in silent prayer to their only God. They do not ask for forgiveness, instead they curse Him for His cruelty. For each life they take, they leave a scar on their arms, as a reminder for their crime.
When a Nightbringer is not available, murderers are left on giant poles at the edge of the city to be eaten by the wild.
Priests are called Daybringers. While there are all kinds mages within the realm who can bend all kinds of elements, only Firemages are allowed within the order of the Dayrbingers. They have a dual function to rule over the rest, and to protect them. They carry staffs through which they channel their light. Most of the monsters in the wild are not accustom to light, and they avoid it.
Naming
Darmorian males have names usually ending with:
-Los, -Lan, -Lun, -Ran,-Ros, -Van,
Females have similar names but they "a" at the end to signify a different gender.
Families usually share the same beginnings of names to signify relation (as they do not have last names):
Father: Elos
Mother: Alvana
Children:
Alos, Alun, Elvana, Elrosa
Technology
As I said earlier, the Darmorians don't have any particularly high tech advantages to other cultures. They are very good at medicine and have perfected the craft of Firecraft.
One of their inventions is called Everfire and has helped them survive the harsh conditions of Darmor. Everfire is fire that can withstand extremely harsh conditions like wind and rain and it will burn for weeks. The roads from and to the city are lit by Everfire and the flames are sold, mostly as a gimmick to other cultures.
I think that's pretty much it.
Any questions on this race?
Physical Description
They are shorter than an average human, though not by much. 5,5 feet is the tallest they can become. They have paler skin and usually only dark hair. Their eyes are golden and glow in the dark, (like a cat's), their teeth are fanged.
Culture
The Darklanders live in a very hostile environment. Therefore they have little concept of things like war, they are obsessed with survival and care little about who owns what land, and who bends the knee to who. To them it is clear that those who protect them, rule them. Because most of the land is filled with darkness those who control fire are in charge, in this case firemages part of a religious order known as the Daybringers.
The Darklanders are very few in number and live together in small fortified cities. There are nomads who seek out the solitude of the wild, and a number of mining colonies.
Men and women are considered equal in almost all accounts. The only points in life when sex matters is for procreation. Love between the same sex is considered nothing out of the ordinary, there is no concept of marriage though and multiple partners are encouraged. Anything to tip the scales in favour of life.
To that end their diet is very different from ours. While there are certain plants and herbs they eat, they are more likely to eat meat. They are a society of hunters, specifically they hunt boars, deer, rabbits (all these creatures are of course unlike the kind we know, and have adapted to a diet of mostly fungi). They also keep cattle like giant Scall, a large crustacean which serves several functions. Its scales can be used to craft armour with, its meat can be eaten, and the animal itself, while slow, can be used to travel the harsh terrain.
Their technology is very limited in several ways, mostly because of the materials available. Still, because of their religion they have made great advances in medicine. The Darmorians have an extreme taboo when it comes to death. Most of the herbs they consume have the property of delaying ageing and increasing the health in general.
A creature called Venat torments the Darmorians. Its sting infects the body and they have to resort to amputation quite often to avoid the entire body being infected. Because of this, many Darmorians lack limbs and instead have prosthetics made from wood or metal.
Upon death Darmorians are not buried, instead what is edible is consumed by their family and the rest of it is burned. This has given the Darklanders a bad name, and have made them feared among others who enjoy depicting them as savages.
Religion
The Darmorians are monotheistic. They believe ina god, but don't particularly trust or worship him. Instead they simply agree that they are subject to his whims and they must deal with that. Some see this God as a representation of "Death".
A life, to the Darmorians, is seen as a battle against this God. Until now every battle has been lost, but they keep on fighting trying to achieve immorality or at least keeping people in this world for as long as possible.
Due to this murder is considered a horrible sin, worse than we can imagine. It is not just a crime against one person, but against the world as a whole. In this land where death is so common, the idea of killing one another is considered horrible.
The Church has a group of executioners known as "The Nightbringers" they kill people who need the mercy, or need to be executed for certain crimes. They commit the sins so the rest of the humans do not have to. Their lives are committed to this sin, they spend their off-time in silent prayer to their only God. They do not ask for forgiveness, instead they curse Him for His cruelty. For each life they take, they leave a scar on their arms, as a reminder for their crime.
When a Nightbringer is not available, murderers are left on giant poles at the edge of the city to be eaten by the wild.
Priests are called Daybringers. While there are all kinds mages within the realm who can bend all kinds of elements, only Firemages are allowed within the order of the Dayrbingers. They have a dual function to rule over the rest, and to protect them. They carry staffs through which they channel their light. Most of the monsters in the wild are not accustom to light, and they avoid it.
Naming
Darmorian males have names usually ending with:
-Los, -Lan, -Lun, -Ran,-Ros, -Van,
Females have similar names but they "a" at the end to signify a different gender.
Families usually share the same beginnings of names to signify relation (as they do not have last names):
Father: Elos
Mother: Alvana
Children:
Alos, Alun, Elvana, Elrosa
Technology
As I said earlier, the Darmorians don't have any particularly high tech advantages to other cultures. They are very good at medicine and have perfected the craft of Firecraft.
One of their inventions is called Everfire and has helped them survive the harsh conditions of Darmor. Everfire is fire that can withstand extremely harsh conditions like wind and rain and it will burn for weeks. The roads from and to the city are lit by Everfire and the flames are sold, mostly as a gimmick to other cultures.
I think that's pretty much it.
Any questions on this race?
Auror