Species Overview

Dazhdvog¶
"Dwarf"-ish. Russian feel. Live underground.
Social: +1 Will
Infravision, Burrowing
- Lifestyle: Underground miners, quarriers, stone-builders. Inspired by Slavs and dwarves.
- Magic: Healing & protection — stone-steadfastness, warding, resilience. See Dazhdvog Magic.
- Element: Earth — grounding, trustworthy, steady.
- Culture: Practical, charismatic, community-focused. See Dazhdvog Culture.
- Relationships: Favored by Sektarri (trusted allies). Respect Fluvarri, dislike Kampanni (unrooted wanderers). Neutral to Verdanni.
Fluvarri¶
Marshwiggle-ish. Native American feel. Fish-frog people. Live along shores.
Mental: +2 Cunning
Swimming, Jumping
- Lifestyle: Sedentary marsh and river dwellers; fishing, trading, cunning survivors.
- Magic: Illusion & Glamour — manipulate senses, create false images/sounds, beguilement. See Fluvarri Magic.
- Element: Water — flowing, enduring, adaptive.
- Culture: Marshwiggle-inspired pragmatism, slyness, and endurance. See Fluvarri Culture.
- Relationships: Distrust Qnassi, appreciated by Dazhdvog, allied with Verdanni, tolerated by Sektarri.
Humans¶
Very adaptable. Newcomers. Typically live with established races.
Adaptable (+1 to any 3)
+(2) points to spend on Gifts
- Lifestyle: Diasporic — humans live among all other races, adapting to their cultures.
- Magic: None inherent; can learn the magic of whichever people they are raised among.
- Element: None — adaptability is their “element.”
- Culture: Descendants of Hume’s migration from another world. Often liminal, sometimes distrusted, sometimes valued as versatile intermediaries. See Human Culture for more.
Kampanni¶
Fae-ish. Romani feel. Small flying people. Butterfly/moth/dragonfly people. Live in airborne nomadic caravans up on high places. Mental: +2 Will Flitter, Spark - Lifestyle: Nomadic flying caravans, preferring heights (cliffs, treetops). See Kampanni Flights. - Magic: Evocation (air & lightning) — quick spells, lightning, wind manipulation. See Kampanni Magic. - Element: Air — fleeting, nomadic, restless. - Culture: Romani-inspired; wandering outsiders, distrusted by many. See Kampanni Culture. - Relationships: Friends with Qnassi (fire + air synergy), friends with Verdanni (seen as “little companions”), distrusted by Dazhdvog, disliked by Sektarri empire.
Qnassi¶
Lizardfolk. Aztec feel. Somewhat nomadic; travelling from settlement to settlement.
Physical: +2 Vigor
Fire/Heat Resistance, Natural Armour
- Lifestyle: Semi-nomadic, cycling through sacred hearth-villages.
- Magic: Blood-alteration — take on the best traits of lizards (regeneration, toughened scales, claws, fire-hardiness). See Qnassi Magic.
- Element: Fire — restless, holy, destructive and renewing.
- Culture: Aztec-inspired semi-nomadism, ritual fire festivals, Living Ember carried across settlements. See Qnassi Culture.
- Relationships: Favored by Sektarri; rivals with Fluvarri; kinship with Kampanni.
Sektarri¶
Catfolk. Egyptian feel. Most live in cities/large villages.
Social: +2 Influence
Claws, Jumping/Falling
* Lifestyle: Sedentary, centralized, empire-builders. Inspired by Egyptian pharaonic structure, but with a twist: their “magic” is Technology — metallurgy, mechanics, architecture. See Sektarri Empire.
- Element: Metal — permanence, sharpness, artifice, empire.
- Magic Equivalent: Technology (forges, machines, complex tools, bronze and steel). Seen by others as unnatural or soulless, but respected for its effectiveness.
- Culture: See Sektarri Culture.
- Egyptian-inspired monumentalism: stone and metal monuments, temples, and tombs.
- Divine kingship: the empire’s ruler is both high priest and Pharaoh-like warlord.
- Bureaucracy, scribes, and overseers enforce tribute cycles from the other races.
- Relationships:
- Favor the Qnassi (fire-lizards) — both for their tribute (obsidian, pottery, warriors) and because fire/metal together are useful.
- Favor the Dazhdvog (earth-dogs) — trusted allies, as their healing/protection magic complements Sektarri war-machine.
- Rivals with the Verdanni (wood-elves) — empire vs. resistance, permanence vs. growth.
- Distrust the Kampanni (air-moths) — too flighty, unrooted, impossible to tax.
- Pragmatic respect for Fluvarri (water-frogs) — useful but viewed as sly.
- Humans are scattered throughout; in the empire, some rise to prominence as loyalists.
Verdanni¶
"Elf"-ish. Early Western European feel. Plant/tree people. Live in tree-top villages in the forests.
Physical: +2 Finesse
Plant Control, Root Down
- Lifestyle: Treetop principalities, elegant but politically divided. Inspired by Elves + Vodacce. See Verdanni Principalities.
- Magic: Botanical Alchemy — command plant growth, shape wood, herbal medicine/poisons. See Verdanni Magic.
- Element: Wood/Plants — growth, flexibility, cycles.
- Culture: Agile, lithe, artistic, proud. No genders — reproduce by combining seeds. See Verdanni Culture.
- Relationships: Friends with Fluvarri and Kampanni, rivals of Sektarri (resist empire hardest).