Currently, the only race available to player characters is Aiian, though it has two alternative blood-lines which one may apply for.

Currently, the only race really known of is the Aiian race. Anything else borders upon myth, or outright fiction told by salty sea-dogs with idle time on their hands.

Still, most Aiians have a fair knowledge of the mythical 'others': the
races whom are not Aiian. Some are vast and horrible monsters, while others are eerie phantoms. Many a night has been whiled away with tales of these creatures.

Aiian/Islee'/Surelain/Iklothri/Alassasuren/

The Children of Ilseus

 

Aiian -

By our standards, Aiian's appear human. Indeed or the purposes of this game, the word 'human' is a translation synonymous with the word 'Aiian'.

Typical Aiian males stand about five foot ten in height, and have ranges in body weight similar to humans. Aiian females are often somewhat shorter, and slighter of build, though this is by no means descriptive of all.

Hair and eye color range across the board, though bold, red hair is often indicative of Islee' heritage somewhere in the family line, and can spurn some ridicule and distrust.

Skin tones range from pale white to nut brown, to a light rose. This differences, however, are primarily a result of exposure to the sun, and says little of place of birth.

If left without sunlight, most Aiian skin tones revert to either a pale-white, or a light amber. There is little actual differentiation. All that be inferred by skin tone is that one who takes the sun and tans with it has sailor blood, while one of whiter skin who burns, and with exposure, reddens in time, has clerical blood. The noble family, when not exposed to the sun, carries a faint blue or greenish tint to their skin.

Most Aiians are of common blood, and, on the new island, nearly all have seen their measure of sun. All share the same origins, either being from the homeland island, or having been born of parents from the homeland.

Islee' -

The Islee' (pronounced iz-LEE) are a specific Aiian bloodline. Historically, they populated the homeland's eastern peninsula, over time attaining some minor idiosyncrasies of appearance, and a sort of hearth-taught, simple native language.

The eastern peninsula, known of in Aiian as 'Gara', meaning, 'tainted land', sank into the sea over two hundred years ago. The common Aiian belief is that the unsavory practices of the Islee' brought this fate upon themselves: an act of Aiia upon the sinners.

Though the Islee' were thought to have wholly perished in the destruction of their land, there are many in homeland society who bear many of the earmarks of their bloodline.

Though no one has seen what can be proved to be an Islee' in at least two centuries, there are still commonly held opinions on their most notable traits. These include bright red hair, a propensity toward a quick and violent temper, and a skin that tans with a small bit of sun to a rich, dark wooden-brown.

Though perhaps not Islee' in heritage, there are a good number of people today who have one or more of these characteristics; whether as a result of interbreeding, pure Islee blood, or random occurance, none can say.

If there are true Islee in the world, or on the island colony, they're sure to keep quiet about it, as even mild suspicion can bring forth hard words and violence. There are some tenants in law that even allow incarceration of admitted or proved Islee', should such a person ever surface. None ever have in the island colony.

The Islee name for their sunken homeland is 'Lilleal' (pronounced lill-E-el), which, to them, doubtlessly bears a far better feeling than 'tainted land'. To speak this word in Aiian society (or indeed any of the Islee' hearth-tongue) is highly dangerous, and quite telling of the speaker.

Surelain -

A royal Aiian bloodline. One who is 'Surelain' basically has ties to the royal family. This bloodline is rare, and is hardly ever seen in one who does not have a good knowledge of their family history, and a fair bit of wealth and prestige.

Those of Surelain blood have slightly blue or green-tinted skin, if they have seen little sun of late, and burn quite easily on exposure to the elements. One will hardly ever see one of Surelain blood acquire much of a tan. If anything, they will get increasingly pale and bleached upon exposure, reverting to a cream-color, with the barest hints of green or blue.

Though Surelain serve in a few different vocations back on the homeland, on the island colony, if they are present at all, they will most likely be priestesses in the church of Aiia.

Remember, the island colony was originally a considered a dumping ground for the poor and criminal of the homeland. Though this is not so today, the hard life in Gray Harbor is still a step down in prestige, and if one's pc is Surelain, they would have to have a very good reason for having made the trip.

Iklothri -

A name in Old Aiian that roughly can be translated as 'the failed of the sea'. Mythically, these creatures are one of the goddess Aiia's first, failed attempts at creating life.

The tales are wide and varied, but most depict the Iklothri as huge, swelling waves, big enough to swallow twenty greatships, with black, sucking whirlpools which serve as eyes, and low mournful cries that can echo for miles.

Ships lost at sea are often said to be food for the Iklothri, and the sailors within gobbled up treats, for ever jealous are the soulless Iklothri of their younger cousins, the Aiians. Such jealousy, it is said, had brought them to be very wicked indeed.

Alassasuren -

In the old Aiian, this is often read as 'the failed of the air'. Younger cousins to the Iklothri, though still slightly older than the Aiians, the Alassasuren are similarly without souls, endlessly wandering the air of which they are comprised.

Commonly thought to be invisible, the Alassasuren are not slow and methodical like the Iklothri, it is said, but quick and impulsively violent, ever changing, as is the characteristic of their flesh.

It is said one cannot detect an Alassasuren until its thin crying can be heard in ones ear, and by then it is far too late. A death by throttling is often described as 'Alassasurien', or 'Lassian' as this is the reputed way they enact their sudden rage upon their younger cousins, the Aiians.

As the Iklothri, their hate for the Aiian race springs from jealousy at their being Aiia's favored. Such hate can be an extremely dangerous thing.

The Children Of Ilseus -

- In the legends, after Aiia's work in the creation of her people, the god of the air, Ilseus, brought forth his own manner of mortals in retaliation.

Though religious texts probe in greater detail the many different kinds of Ilsean prodigy, there are two forms commonly spoken of around tavern fires and the hearths of sailors.

The first are a constant source of joy and angst for the Aiian people, these being whales. Commonly thought of as the angels of Ilseus, these beings are regularly hunted with great fervor by Aiian sailors. Indeed many ships have been commissioned on holy crusade -often captained by members of the noble family of the regent herself- to bring down the beasts. Though also a rich source of food, lamp oil, and other resources for the Aiians, the hunt is primarily enacted in reverence to Aiia: to harm, wherever possible, the evil god Ilseus who raped Sylrien, goddess of the sea, and nearly destroyed the Aiian people so many centuries ago.

The second of the Ilsean spawn that are known well by the common Aiian is that of the infamous underfolk.

Little is known about the lives of the under- folk, even in legend. Some stories say that they are similar in appearance to Aiians, though with fishy scales and fins. Others claim that they are hideous monsters with fiery eyes and barbed tales.

About the only thing that all the tales agree upon is that they have webbed feet, and two of them only. The reason they agree upon this, is that the bottoms of these feet have, supposedly, been seen, standing on the underside of the surface of the water.

The underfolk live as the Aiians do, but instead of living in the air, atop the earth, drinking water and breathing air; they rather live on the underside of the island in a mirror universe, drinking the air and breathing the water.

In myth, these creatures can stand on the divide between the air and the water, treating it as firm ground, those Aiians nearby seeing only the soles of their webbed feet.

This is one of the primary deterrants for Aiians who wish to break the religious law of never parting the water, save with ships. It is said that should an underfolk see an Aiian through the water air divide, it will reach through the barrier and snatch them up, bringing them to live in their liquid world forever.