![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omorkaThe applesauce bread, toasted, with a thin spread of butter and then slathered with pumpkin butter, is almost good enough to convince me breakfast is a good idea after all.
I oversteeped an Irish Breakfast. I'm going to be up until 3.
Ah, well. On to the next installment of the GURPS Jorune background:
Note: Much of this is adapted directly from Skyrealms of Jorune 3rd Ed.; some is adapted from Soren Petersen's and Matthew Pook's partial conversion to GURPS 3rd edition, modified to fit GURPS 4th edition and my slightly different conception of Jorune.
The player character races of Jorune fall into three categories: Humans, the essentially unchanged descendants of the original colonists; the five types of mutated humans - the more robust Boccord, the more gracile Muadra, the ogre-like Trarch, and the two aquatic mutants, the freshwater Acubon and the saltwater Salu; and the artificial races of Terran descent created by Iscin - the amphibious Blount, the feline Crugar (and their offshoot the Cygra), the canine Woffen, and the ursine Bronth.
Player characters will generally be tauther, inhabitants of one of the lands ruled by the Council of Ardoth who are applying to be drenn, citizens with full rights, including both voting and applying for access to the Dharsage of Ardoth's stock of Earth-Tec. PCs who are not planning to be tauther should "design in" a reason to be traveling with the tauther, such as being their employee or dependent. Starting point values should be 120 points, with no more than 40 points of disadvantage and no more than 5 points of quirks. The standard level of Literacy is Illiterate; more than half of all humans cannot read, and the rate is even higher for all other PC races (the only universally literate races on Jorune are the thriddle and the shanthas). However, Semi-Literacy (5 pt advantage) is very common, and most tauther should consider taking at least this level of literacy, since they may receive written notices from the Dharsage or the local Sage or Kesht.
--
Category 1: Humans
Humans are the standard on Jorune as they are on Earth. The 3500 years since the colony landed has not significantly changed the unmutated descendants of the colonists, so there is no point cost - positive or negative - to play a human. They use the standard height/weight tables for their ST. However, the following should be noted:
- All Humans speak Entren, the language descended from the languages spoken by the original colonists. It is based on English grammar and syntax, and it and English default to each other at -4. Some words are from the other languages spoken by the colonists, mostly Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, and Mandarin. There are also large numbers of loan words from the shanthic tongue and from Triddis, the thriddle language. The different regions have different dialects, which all default to each other at -1; the player should note which dialect his or her character speaks - For example, Entren (Burdothian), or Entren (Jasp).
- Humans cannot learn how to weave dyshas at all; they are not sufficiently sensitive to the flows of isho. They can learn how to Interfere with orbs and bolts, but can only do so when carrying a crystal that attunes them to their own isho field or under the influence of daij, the flesh of a rare freshwater fish only found on Voligire, the continent dominated by the ramian.
- Most Earth-Tec requires a scan to operate. While a very few are programmed to operate for any creature carrying human DNA, which would include all the PC races, most are set such that any human - but only an unmutated pure-strain human - can operate them.
- All Jorune humans are descended from approximately 6,000 survivors of the original Earth colony. These survivors were a mix of North American, Central and South American, European, African, and Asian descent; the only racial group conspicuously absent were the Australian aboriginals. There has been universal mixing since then, so any set of ethnic features might be found in any human community (although some are more common in some realms than others).
Category 2: The Near-Human Mutants
Acubon (-14 pts)
Acubon have +1 ST (10 pts), -1 IQ (-20 pts), and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts), Amphibious (10 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick, scaly skin, 5 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +2 (2 pts), and Pressure Support +1 (5 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Ugly (-8 pts), Bad Temper (-10 pts), Dependency (immersion in fresh water, weekly, -10 pts), No Sense of Humor (-10 pts), and Reputation -2 (vicious, territorial, and unfriendly, all other races, -10 pts). (Note: An acubon who does not have the option of returning to his or her lake or river realm and must live among humans would also have Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts), but this is exceptionally rare.)
Acubon stand about 5' 10" tall, on average; there is no significant height difference between the genders. Their frames are still clearly human, with webbed hands and toes and a thick, slightly scaled skin in shades of brown or gray. Males are bald; females have stringy white hair. Their noses are flattened, barely more than two nostril slits, which they can close underwater. They have visible gill slits running from just below and behind their pointed ears to the base of their thick, short necks; they keep these closed when out of the water. Their mouths are lipless slashes. They must spend at least six hours immersed in freshwater every week, or their skin and gills dry out and they sicken and die. All Acubon speak their own racial language, Acuba. It is descended from English, as is Entren, and Acuba and Entren default to each other at -6. Acuba has no native written form, and almost all acubon are Illiterate.
Common skills among acubon are Brawling, Savoir-Faire (acubon), Spear, Stealth, Swimming, and Sports (Diving). There have been no reports of acubon with Isho Manipulation, and only a handful of acubon with Isho Resistance are known to have existed.
Boccord (36 pts)
Boccord have +2 ST (18 pts due to size) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages Extra Hit Points +2 (4 pts), Isho Awareness (5 pts), and Isho Resistance +2 (4 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Gigantism (0 pts), Increased Consumption +1 (-10 pts), and Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (everywhere but Ros Crendor, -5 pts).
Boccord are the second most human-looking of the mutants. Their features are somewhat coarser than a human's, they have a brow ridge like a Neanderthal's and broad, muscular jaws, and their hands and feet are even larger than their large frames would suggest. A male boccord stands about 7'2" tall, on average, and weighs 270 pounds or more. Female boccord stand 6'9" on average, and weigh around 230 lbs or more. Male boccord have extensive body hair and thick beards, and both genders have unusually thick head hair. Boccord speak Entren, although those of Ros Crendor have their own dialect.
While their racial resistance to external isho prevents boccord from weaving bolts and orbs, their isho awareness allows them to attune themselves to the seven Colors of isho, and they may learn the isho skills of Signature and Interference for those Colors they are attuned to. Female boccord, in particular, find the Colors of Desti and Launtra easy to attune to.
Other skills common among boccord are Animal Handling, Bow, Savoir-Faire (boccord), and Two-Handed Sword.
Muadra (13 pts)
Muadra have -1 ST (-10 pts) and +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Isho Awareness (5 pts) and Isho Manipulation (10 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Reduced Hit Points -1 (-2 pts), Reputation -1 (sneaky and disloyal, most full-blooded humans, -5 pts) and Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts).
Muadra are not obviously nonhuman; the only visible signs of their mutation are their reduced stature and their very slightly pointed ears. Muadra are short, with large heads, thin limbs, and small hands and feet for their frames; males stand 5'5" on average (and never taller than 5'9") and weigh about 130 lbs, while females stand about 5'2" (and never more than 5' 6") and weigh about 115 lbs. They speak Entren; since there are no muadra-majority communities, most of them speak in the dialect of the region they grew up in.
Muadra are the only one of the hominids who can weave isho into dyshas, although they must attune themselves to the seven Colors of isho in order to do so; those who learn these skills may take the title of Caji. They cannot learn the skill of Interference, being too closely bound to the isho flows, but they may attempt to Unweave a dysha they know. They may also learn the skills of Signature and Tra-Sense.
Other skills common to muadra are Savoir-Faire (muadra), Isho Weather, and (for urban muadra) Streetwise.
Salu (30 pts)
Salu have +1 ST (10 pts) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts), Amphibious (10 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick, scaly skin, 5 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +2 (2 pts), and Pressure Support +1 (5 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Unattractive (-4 pts), Dependency (immersion in salt water, weekly, -10 pts), and Easy to Read (-10 pts). (Note: A salu who does not have the option of returning to the Undersea Realm and must live among humans would also have Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts), but this is not the case for the vast majority of salu in human society.)
Salu males stand about 5' 11" tall, on average; females are usually three inches shorter. Their frames are still clearly human, with webbed hands and toes and a thick, slightly scaled skin in shades of green, gold, and/or silver. Males are bald; females have thinner hair than humans in shades that match their scales. Their noses are flattened, barely more than two nostril slits, which they can close underwater. They have visible gill slits running from just below and behind their enlarged, pointed ears to the base of their thick, short necks; they keep these closed when out of the water, although they tend to flap when the salu is excited or angry and stick out when the salu is frightened or surprised. They must spend at least six hours immersed in salt water or sea-water every week, or their skin and gills dry out and they sicken and die. Salu speak a burbling dialect of Entren with a large vocabulary of salu-specific terms for things related to undersea living.
Other skills common among salu are Savoir-Faire (salu), Seamanship, Shipbuilding, Swimming, and Spear. There has, to date, been only one report of a salu with Isho Manipulation, and the thriddle are still investigating to see if this individual actually existed. Isho Resistance and the skills of Interference and Signature are very rare among the salu, but known to occur naturally in occasional individuals. (The salu are also the only race other than humans who are known to be able to develop these skills under the influence of daij meat.)
Trarch (-7 pts)
Trarch have +4 ST (36 pts due to size), -2 IQ (-40 pts), and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts) and Acute Vision +1 (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Unattractive (-4 pts), Gigantism (0 pts), Odious Racial Habit (talks not just with hands but with club, -1, -5 pts), and Primitive (2 TLs below campaign in most areas, -10).
All trarch have the skill Axe/Mace at DX (2 pts).
If a boccord has Neanderthal traits, a trarch is positively australopithecine. Male trarch are even taller than boccord, at an average of 7'4" and about 300 lbs; female trarch stand about 6' 10" and weigh about 260 lbs. Both genders have thick, curly body hair; broad, stooped shoulders; short legs compared to their torso length; a very pronounced brow ridge; heavy, protruding jaw muscles; short head hair with a widow's peak; large and strongly pointed ears; and a pair of bony projections on their chins. Males have sparse beards without mustaches. Their noses are broad and flattened; the nostrils are not visible from most normal angles.
Trarch speak Troffa, a language related to Entren (mutual default at -3) but with a smaller spoken vocabulary and a larger proportion of ramian and shanthic loan-words. It is grammatically incorrect to speak Troffa without an accompanying set of gestures, as these carry some of the tense and number markers; while it is possible to just use hand gestures, normal practice is to use a club, shillelagh, or metal-shod staff in one's dominant hand. From a distance, it is hard to tell if two trarch are merely speaking animatedly or preparing for combat. (Watching a thriddle speaking Troffa is universally acknowledged to be hilarious, not least by the trarch.) 95% of trarch are Illiterate; those who can read and write use the Entren alphabet phonetically, with a set of arcs and lines written over the letters to indicate the gestural component. They have regressed in technology even farther than most hominids, but they do still practice bronze smelting and use metal weaponry and armor; some trarch bronze-smiths are quite talented.
Despite their primitive ways and low intelligence, the trarch have very human senses of humor and culture. They are remarkably dextrous for their size and appearance, with hand-eye coordination and fine motor abilities every bit the equal of a human's. Trarch who move to human cities can buy off the Primitive disadvantage, but replace it with Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts). Neither Isho Manipulation nor Isho Resistance is known to occur among trarch, although the muadra point out that it is unlikely that anyone has ever searched particularly hard for either ability among them. Other skills common among the trarch are Brawling, Climbing, Naturalist, Savoir-Faire (trarch), Stealth, Survival/Forest or Survival/Jungle, and Tracking.
Category 3: The Children of Iscin
Blount (-50 pts)
Blount have -1 ST (-10 pts), -2 IQ (-40 pts) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Amphibious (10 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +1 (1 pt), Reduced Consumption/Cast-Iron Stomach +2 (2 pts), and Regeneration (slow, 10 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Ugly (-8 pts), Dependency (fresh or brackish water, daily, -15 pts), No Sense of Smell/Taste (-5 pts), and Primitive (3 TL below campaign in most areas, -15 pts)
The blount were the first of Iscin's bioengineered races, and they are a mixture of human DNA with that of frogs, salamanders, and toads. Blount would be about 5'4" tall if they stood upright, which they almost never do, finding squatting and stooping more comfortable; females weigh about 120 lbs, while the males are lighter and skinnier. Their heads are large and frog-like, with tiny external ears; their shoulders are narrow and sloped. Their chests are flattened, almost hollowed, while their bellies protrude. Their arms are narrow and short, with long, webbed fingers and a short opposable thumb. Their legs are bowed but muscular, with long, webbed feet. They have internal gills and can breathe air or water with equal ease; their skins are slick and must be kept moist or the blount will dehydrate and die. They are completely hairless, and usually colored in speckled shades of green and brown. They are partially mammalian, despite appearances, giving live birth and suckling their young; their infants have tails when born and cannot breathe air until they are almost two years old. Blount have no nudity taboo, and only wear clothing - usually leathers and furs crudely stitched together - when they are cold.
Blount live in swamps, ponds, and bayous. A typical village consists of six to ten mud huts, each containing a family group of three to six blount. The oldest blount is usually the leader of the village. Their largest community, the closest thing there is to a blount city, is on the southern shore of Lake Dau-ou-deh; it contains about two hundred blount, led by a hereditary chieftain. They live as TL 0 hunter-gatherers, crafting tools from wood, stone, leather, and bone. Unlike the hominids, the blount can eat and get nutrition from pretty much anything; while they will certainly eat gerrig and durlig, they don't need it in order to thrive. Their typical diet consists of swamp plants and fish, which they rarely bother to cook.
Their language, Abahth, consists of peeping and croaking phonemes, and does not appear to have more than a cursory relationship to Entren, or any known language (no defaults). It has no written form; all blount are Illiterate unless they learn to read and write another language. Blount have no organized religion; they venerate Iscin, their creator, but have no particular beliefs about him, and their moral code boils down to "Don't murder, don't steal, and don't get caught." No blount are known to have Isho Manipulation or to use the Signature or Interference skills; comments made by some blount suggest that a few rare individuals may have Isho Awareness, but this is merely conjecture. It is also known that at least one blount, a servant of Iscin, was able to use Earth-Tec.
Other skills common to the blount are Area Knowledge (Lake Dau-ou-deh), Botany, Knife, Poisons, Savoir-Faire (blount), Stealth, Survival, and Swimming.
Bronth (44 pts)
Bronth have +3 ST (27 pts due to size) and +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste and Smell +1 (2 pts), Claws (blunt, +1 damage, 3 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick pelt, 5 pts), Extra Hit Points +2 (4 pts), and Temperature Tolerance +2 (okay down to 15°F, on average) (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Code of Honor (Bronth) (-10 pts), Increased Consumption +1 (-10 pts), and Odious Racial Habit (malmis-freaks, -1, -5 pts).
The bronth were the last known race created by Iscin, and his first unqualified success (the fifth race, the leonine tologra, appear to be extinct, or possibly mythical, although the bronth insist that they did exist and in fact migrated as far as the shores of Dobre with them). They resemble humanoid bears, with a thick, coarse pelt in shades of black and brown (claims that bronth who settled in the far north developed white pelts are as yet unverified). Bronth can walk on all fours as easily as on two legs, although they rarely do so around humans; the palms of their hands are as tough as the bottoms of their feet. Male bronth stand somewhere between 7'2" and 8' tall, and weigh between 500 and 800 lbs. Female bronth stand between 6'10" and 7'8" tall and weigh about the same as their brethren. Bronth usually wear trousers and, if the weather isn't too warm, a loose shirt; females may wear a long tunic instead.
Bronth society is governed by a simple moral code:Iscin is to be revered; remember him in all things. Slavery is a crime against life; those who practice it , or who witness it and do nothing, are enemies. Intentions are paramount; actions can be forgiven, but not ill intent. Birth is the sacred act of life-giving; respect birthers and those who defend them. Bronth religion is based on the two core ideas of the sacredness of life and life-giving, and the teachings of Iscin, their race's foremost life-giver. Most bronth believe that Iscin will return to his children at some future point, and holy wars have been fought over whether he will be resurrected or reincarnated, and if the latter, whether he will return as a human, as a bronth, or as a tologra.
Bronth are as intelligent as humans, but prefer for their social structures to be less complex. A bronth baht, the equivalent of a human village, usually consists of only 30 to 40 bronth, all of whom are related to each other. Bronth are usually monogamous, and the husband usually joins his wife's baht, although there are occasional exceptions to both rules. Their cities, or ru+baht (the "+" represents a growling-click, a sound that only bronth and woffen can produce; humans should substitute an "r" followed by a click), are merely collections of bahts arranged concentrically. The center of a baht or ru+baht is always an open, circular commons area. They prefer round buildings with high ceilings, although they like for their sleeping quarters to be partially or wholly underground. Their language, Boru, has a similar grammar to Entren, from which is it probably descended, but the isolation of the bronth in Dobre and its use of several phonemes not possible for the hominids render them mutually unintelligible. The bronth use an adaption of the Ertren alphabet for writing, with extra symbols borrowed from the old Russian alphabet to represent the ursine phonemes.
Bronth are fond of strategic thinking, and always look out for the long-term. They have a tendency towards grand conspiracy theories, especially where humans, ramian, or shanthas are concerned. They also enjoy strategic games; they are wizards at chess, go, and their own strategy games. They dislike games with strong random elements, and will not gamble on games of chance.
Bronth are omnivores, but prefer meat to vegetable matter. They are less dependent on durlig than the hominids, being better equipped to derive nutrition from the native plants and animals of Jorune, but they do still need it for a few specific amino acids. They don't mind this, considering durlig a sacred gift from Iscin; they usually eat it stewed with onions and the leaves of the pabrid plant, which blunts the taste somewhat. Their large size means that they must eat twice as much as a human; they prefer to space this out into five meals a day. They are also fond of malmis, the sludge of sediment and yeast that accumulates at the bottom of barrels of rusper-ale; this goop is unpalatable for most other creatures (except the blount, who will eat pretty much anything), but bronth will scoop it from the bottoms of barrels with their bare hands.
Bronth never have isho abilities early in life. A few get a vague prickling feeling when in the presence of large, flowing concentrations of isho; these few usually develop Isho Awareness somewhere in late middle age (females who develop it almost always do so at the beginning of menopause). These bronth can begin learning dysha-weaving once their awareness blossoms. Isho Resistance occasionally occurs in bronth without Isho Awareness; when it appears, it occurs from infancy.
Other skills common among the bronth are Animal Handling, Broadsword, History (Dobre), Games, Savoir-Faire (bronth), Strategy, and Tactics.
Crugar (4 pts)
Crugar have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +2 (4 pts), Claws (sharp, cutting damage, 5 pts), Combat Reflexes (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Perfect Balance (15 pts), and Sharp Teeth (1 pt).
They have the disadvantages of Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (-25 pts), Bad Temper (-10 pts), Code of Honor (crugar) (-5 pts), Color Blindness (-10 pts), Impulsiveness (-10 pts), Intolerance (woffen) (-5 pts), and Reputation (killers of Iscin and all-around warlike and violent people, all non-crugar, -3, -15 pts).
All crugar have the skills Climbing at DX-1 (1 pt) and Jumping at DX+1 (2 pts).
The crugar are Iscin's second creation, and they consider themselves his first success, and thus the Eldest of his Children. They resemble humanoid pumas; their heads are almost completely catlike, and they have long tails that help their excellent balance. Males and females are the same height and weight; they stand about 5' 10" on average, and weigh around 160 lbs. Their hands and feet are equipped with sharp, retractable claws. Crugar can run on all fours more quickly than they can on two feet, although obviously they cannot carry anything in their hands while doing so. The crugar pelt is thin, usually in shades of light brown shading to ivory on the chest and belly, although gray and even black individuals are known. Crugar are fastidious about their fur, brushing and combing it frequently. Females have four breasts, and longer head hair than the males. In warm climates, they go naked or wear a simple kilt or loincloth; in colder areas, they wear sleeveless tunics that leave the limbs unrestricted and capes of heavy fur.
Crugar are very territorial; they instinctively want to claim an area as their own, and react badly to anyone coming into their space. The only way a crugar can accompany any other sentient being for any length of time is on a mission to protect the territory of the race of crugar as a whole, which is how they justify their wars against the other races, or by constantly reminding themselves that their companions are not crugar and thus are not equals to be contended with. They will unite under a charismatic leader to "defend" their territory, which they believe rightfully includes the Gauss Valley, where they and all the other Iscin races were born. However, if this leader falters, or is struck down, their army quickly falls to squabbles over personal territory and falls apart. In their home nation of Temauntro, crugar live in well-separated areas; a crugar village, called a pawm, may take up as much room as a large human city. Crugar of higher status have larger territories. A crugar den usually consists of a large cleared outdoor area to lounge and run in, a wooden or mud-brick circular house with tall windows for the storing of property, and a sleeping area with a raised floor and a roof, but no walls. Crugar never live with other adult crugar, and they do not form permanent pair-bonds; mothers raise their litters of two to four cubs alone, although the father usually offers her and the cubs frequent gifts of food until they reach puberty. Two crugar conversing are either passing along important information or about to fight; small talk is unknown among this race.
There are no civil laws among the crugar. A village is "ruled" by the strongest, most dominant member, usually (but not always) the largest male. Their culture is dominated by their religion; they revere Iscin above all else, and consider him a martyr to the evil resident in the human race. They believe that a second human, whom they call Bom Varis, slew two of the original crugar, and was stopped by Iscin; Choundra, the eldest of all crugar, attempted to kill Bom Varis in revenge, as was his right, but due to treachery on Bom Varis's part, it was Iscin who died instead. In the crugar's mythology, Bom Varis represents everything evil about humanity, and Iscin everything good. Their great military leader, Chaln Dolcha (pronounced as if both "ch" digraphs were "sh;" humans almost always pronounce it as read, which angers the crugar), condensed their religious traditions into a series of declarations and laws:Declaration 1: Iscin died as a martyr to the evil of Bom Varis. Declaration 2: All humans bear within them both the good of Iscin and the evil of Bom Varis. Declaration 3: Humans cannot be trusted, save for Iscin himself, who will one day return to his children. Declaration 4: The Woffen and Bronth abandoned the Valley where they knew safety, and are anathema. Declaration 5: The Crugar will one day return to their homeland. Law 1: When the moon of Gobey is new, all crugar will worship Iscin, praying for his return. Law 2: The body made by Iscin is inviolate; none shall violate the body of a crugar, living or dead. Law 3: Kill only with passion and purpose. Law 4: The Defense of the self, the defense of the race, the defense of the home, and the defense of Iscin are reasons to kill.
Crugar are omnivores, capable of eating vegetable matter as well as meat. They prefer to eat small animals they have hunted and caught themselves, which they usually consume raw; they are capable of deriving all the nutrition they need from native meat. This diet is supplemented with wild vegetables during spring and summer, and with flatbread made with codditch in the winter. The crugar do not eat durlig; the smell makes them gag. Its place in their diets is taken by the native mowgah roots, which vaguely resemble parsnips; these are prepared by wrapping them in wet codditch shucks and roasting in the coals of a fire. Crugar cannot consume alcohol, which is a mild poison to them, but they find the berries of the limrah plant to be similarly intoxicating.
The crugar language, Chaun-Tse, is a distant descendant of English, modified to fit the crugar's mouth; it and Entren mutually default at -6. It is written using the Entren alphabet, when it is written at all. Crugar have very little literature, and hardly any more art, although their sculptures can be remarkable. Their primary art form is dance, at which they excel. Personal poise and grace are very important to the crugar; they find clumsiness intolerable, even personally offensive. Most crugar have no isho skills, but the thriddle Bennid Ho'Gomo discovered, back in the time of Caji Gends, that some crugar are able to sense and attune to the black isho of Gobey, the dark moon, and use its dyshas. (The thriddle now generally consider Bennid to have made an error in judgment, but that can't be fixed.)
Other skills common to the crugar include Brawling, Broadsword, Savoir-Faire (crugar), Running, Spear, and Stealth.
Cygra (29 pts)
Cygra have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +2 (4 pts), Claws (sharp, cutting damage, 5 pts), Combat Reflexes (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Perfect Balance (15 pts), Sharp Teeth (1 pt), and Temperature Tolerance +2 (okay down to 15°F, on average) (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (-25 pts), Code of Honor (cygra) (-5 pts), Color Blindness (-10 pts), Impulsiveness (-10 pts), and Reputation (killers of Iscin and all-around warlike and violent people, all non-crugar and non-cygra, -2, -10 pts).
All cygra have the skills Climbing at DX-1 (1 pt) and Jumping at DX+1 (2 pts).
The cygra are the northern cousins of the crugar. They are usually an inch shorter than their cousins, and their fur is longer, usually white with spots or streaks of black or gray; they tend to be vain about their fur. They lack their cousins' bad temper and their intolerance of the woffen, and their territorial instincts are less intense. They are also less fanatical in their devotion to the Iscin religion, choosing to shun those they find unworthy rather than killing them. They do share their cousins' poor eyesight.
Cygra speak a dialect of Chaun-Tse and have the same potential for isho abilities as the crugar. Their common skills are similar.
Woffen (32 pts)
Woffen have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +3 (6 pts), Claws (blunt, +1 damage, 3 pts), Discriminatory Smell (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Sharp Teeth (1 pt), and Temperature Tolerance +1 (okay down to 25°F, on average) (1 pt).
They have the disadvantages Chummy (-5 pts), Code of Honor (woffen) (-5 pts), Compulsive Carousing (-5 pts), Intolerance (crugar) (-5 pts), Poor Color Vision (-5 pts), Reputation (rowdy, smelly, and loud, all hominids, -1, -5 pts), and Will -1 (-5 pts).
The woffen were the third creation of Iscin, and in some way represent the opposite of their older "brothers," the crugar. They were largely based on a combination of human and wolf DNA, but they have some aspects that are coyote-like as well. They resemble humanoid wolves, with very lupine heads, more human shoulders and hands, a wolf-like tail, and digitigrade legs. An upright male woffen stands about 6' tall on average and weighs about 180 lbs; females average 5' 9" and weigh about 160 lbs. Female woffen have four breasts. Woffen can drop to all fours to run for short distances, but unless they have sufficient time to go through a regimen of stretching exercises or ingest the gawdieth limilate, their tendons seize up after (HT-d6) seconds. Woffen of both sexes wear tunics of cloth, or leather in colder weather, along with a loose robe in formal situations. While not as fastidious in their grooming as the crugar, most woffen brush their fur daily, and some woffen tie beads or bones into their fur as decoration. Their fur sheds heavily each spring, which can cause problems in human establishments.
Woffen are gregarious, and in fact suffer from anxiety when alone. They also have a need for clearly defined hierarchies; they must know exactly where they stand in the pack ranking at all times, and will challenge those around them to contests of wits, speed, strength, or skill constantly to figure out where they stand. They will readily accept non-woffen as "packmates," but those who are so accepted will also be challenged for their place in the pack! However, once everyone's place is established, woffen work very well in groups, whether raising a building, sailing a ship, or fighting in an army. Their loyalty to a leader they consider both fair and competent is absolute. Woffen are devoted mates and parents, and usually marry for life, but their concept of marriage allows for occasional extramarital dalliances as long as these are temporary and all involved are friendly to each other. Children are cherished, especially since miscarriage is common for woffen females and it may take a couple years to conceive and complete a pregnancy successfully. Most successful pregnancies end with the birth of twins or triplets, although litters of up to six are not unheard of.
Woffen also play well together, and they have a psychological need to play frequently. They are fond of active sports involving catching, throwing, and running. Choral howling is another common leisure activity. They also enjoy alcohol; the shenter, a combination community center and tavern, usually located underground, is the center of any woffen village. Unfortunately, alcoholism is common; the authew, woffen who are dependent on rusper-ale and stomeh, walk with a shuffling stoop and are pitied by their entire community. Even those who are not authew are subject to disabling hangovers, which can only be cured by getting drunk again or by the stoma limilate, which stains the teeth and tastes bitter. Woffen are omnivores, though they prefer meat to vegetables. They do need durlig for complete protein, although they need less than humans. During times when meat is scarce, they make a thin broth by boiling bones and dip a flatbread made from barley and ground durlig root in it. In more plentiful times, woffen cooking fills the air with delicate smells; while they do enjoy raw meat on occasion, most woffen cuisine is cooked, and in fact much of it is palatable to hominids. The intense sense of smell of the woffen leads to combinations of herbs and meats that humans can't always distinguish.
Woffen legal codes are short and simple. Usually the laws of a village or city will be found publicly posted near the main entrance. Punishments for breaking the laws range from public humiliation (including "showing throat" to one's victim), to ostracism, to marking and exile. In addition, almost all woffen subscribe to a basic moral code, passed down by tradition:Iscin is to be revered, each person in his or her own way. None that speaks should come to harm at the hands of another without great cause. Property is absolute; take not what is not yours. Slavery is anathema; to enslave another is a capital crime. Most woffen believe that these laws were given to them by Iscin himself. Each village usually contains one or two elders who take on the role of priests, interpreting the wisdom of Iscin for the villagers and leading public celebrations, but the woffen are much less formally religious than either the bronth or the crugar. Those who feel especially pious retreat to the wilderness in pairs or threes and howl at the moons together in honor of Iscin and other respected ancestors.
Woffen villages rarely have fewer than thirty inhabitants; woffen cities rival human ones in size. Woffen architecture is low to the ground, even squat, with wide windows, large doors, and underground rooms and basements. Often what appear to be separate buildings will be connected by underground tunnels. Typical lighting levels are low; the woffen can navigate familiar places by smell. Wooden buildings are preferred to stone ones, and often the roof serves as an open upper floor. Their art suffers from their inability to tell red from green (they are completely red-green colorblind, and have trouble with light blues and light yellows as well). Woffen music almost always includes singing. The woffen language, Thowtis, is closely related to Boru (mutual default at -2), and written with the same alphabet. Woffen literature tends to run to lists and genealogies, but some of their poetry is quite touching by human standards.
About one in six woffen is sensitive to the isho of Ebba, the gold-and-silver moon. The muadra taught the woffen some of the dyshas of that moon to use in self-defense against the crugar. Knowledge of any other dyshas is extremely rare, and Isho Resistance is not known to occur among the woffen at all.
Other skills common among woffen are Brawling, Broadsword, Carousing, Running, Savoir-Faire (woffen), Stealth, and Tracking. Woffen who cannot control their tails often have the Easy to Read disadvantage.
I oversteeped an Irish Breakfast. I'm going to be up until 3.
Ah, well. On to the next installment of the GURPS Jorune background:
Note: Much of this is adapted directly from Skyrealms of Jorune 3rd Ed.; some is adapted from Soren Petersen's and Matthew Pook's partial conversion to GURPS 3rd edition, modified to fit GURPS 4th edition and my slightly different conception of Jorune.
The player character races of Jorune fall into three categories: Humans, the essentially unchanged descendants of the original colonists; the five types of mutated humans - the more robust Boccord, the more gracile Muadra, the ogre-like Trarch, and the two aquatic mutants, the freshwater Acubon and the saltwater Salu; and the artificial races of Terran descent created by Iscin - the amphibious Blount, the feline Crugar (and their offshoot the Cygra), the canine Woffen, and the ursine Bronth.
Player characters will generally be tauther, inhabitants of one of the lands ruled by the Council of Ardoth who are applying to be drenn, citizens with full rights, including both voting and applying for access to the Dharsage of Ardoth's stock of Earth-Tec. PCs who are not planning to be tauther should "design in" a reason to be traveling with the tauther, such as being their employee or dependent. Starting point values should be 120 points, with no more than 40 points of disadvantage and no more than 5 points of quirks. The standard level of Literacy is Illiterate; more than half of all humans cannot read, and the rate is even higher for all other PC races (the only universally literate races on Jorune are the thriddle and the shanthas). However, Semi-Literacy (5 pt advantage) is very common, and most tauther should consider taking at least this level of literacy, since they may receive written notices from the Dharsage or the local Sage or Kesht.
--
Category 1: Humans
Humans are the standard on Jorune as they are on Earth. The 3500 years since the colony landed has not significantly changed the unmutated descendants of the colonists, so there is no point cost - positive or negative - to play a human. They use the standard height/weight tables for their ST. However, the following should be noted:
- All Humans speak Entren, the language descended from the languages spoken by the original colonists. It is based on English grammar and syntax, and it and English default to each other at -4. Some words are from the other languages spoken by the colonists, mostly Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, and Mandarin. There are also large numbers of loan words from the shanthic tongue and from Triddis, the thriddle language. The different regions have different dialects, which all default to each other at -1; the player should note which dialect his or her character speaks - For example, Entren (Burdothian), or Entren (Jasp).
- Humans cannot learn how to weave dyshas at all; they are not sufficiently sensitive to the flows of isho. They can learn how to Interfere with orbs and bolts, but can only do so when carrying a crystal that attunes them to their own isho field or under the influence of daij, the flesh of a rare freshwater fish only found on Voligire, the continent dominated by the ramian.
- Most Earth-Tec requires a scan to operate. While a very few are programmed to operate for any creature carrying human DNA, which would include all the PC races, most are set such that any human - but only an unmutated pure-strain human - can operate them.
- All Jorune humans are descended from approximately 6,000 survivors of the original Earth colony. These survivors were a mix of North American, Central and South American, European, African, and Asian descent; the only racial group conspicuously absent were the Australian aboriginals. There has been universal mixing since then, so any set of ethnic features might be found in any human community (although some are more common in some realms than others).
Category 2: The Near-Human Mutants
Acubon (-14 pts)
Acubon have +1 ST (10 pts), -1 IQ (-20 pts), and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts), Amphibious (10 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick, scaly skin, 5 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +2 (2 pts), and Pressure Support +1 (5 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Ugly (-8 pts), Bad Temper (-10 pts), Dependency (immersion in fresh water, weekly, -10 pts), No Sense of Humor (-10 pts), and Reputation -2 (vicious, territorial, and unfriendly, all other races, -10 pts). (Note: An acubon who does not have the option of returning to his or her lake or river realm and must live among humans would also have Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts), but this is exceptionally rare.)
Acubon stand about 5' 10" tall, on average; there is no significant height difference between the genders. Their frames are still clearly human, with webbed hands and toes and a thick, slightly scaled skin in shades of brown or gray. Males are bald; females have stringy white hair. Their noses are flattened, barely more than two nostril slits, which they can close underwater. They have visible gill slits running from just below and behind their pointed ears to the base of their thick, short necks; they keep these closed when out of the water. Their mouths are lipless slashes. They must spend at least six hours immersed in freshwater every week, or their skin and gills dry out and they sicken and die. All Acubon speak their own racial language, Acuba. It is descended from English, as is Entren, and Acuba and Entren default to each other at -6. Acuba has no native written form, and almost all acubon are Illiterate.
Common skills among acubon are Brawling, Savoir-Faire (acubon), Spear, Stealth, Swimming, and Sports (Diving). There have been no reports of acubon with Isho Manipulation, and only a handful of acubon with Isho Resistance are known to have existed.
Boccord (36 pts)
Boccord have +2 ST (18 pts due to size) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages Extra Hit Points +2 (4 pts), Isho Awareness (5 pts), and Isho Resistance +2 (4 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Gigantism (0 pts), Increased Consumption +1 (-10 pts), and Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (everywhere but Ros Crendor, -5 pts).
Boccord are the second most human-looking of the mutants. Their features are somewhat coarser than a human's, they have a brow ridge like a Neanderthal's and broad, muscular jaws, and their hands and feet are even larger than their large frames would suggest. A male boccord stands about 7'2" tall, on average, and weighs 270 pounds or more. Female boccord stand 6'9" on average, and weigh around 230 lbs or more. Male boccord have extensive body hair and thick beards, and both genders have unusually thick head hair. Boccord speak Entren, although those of Ros Crendor have their own dialect.
While their racial resistance to external isho prevents boccord from weaving bolts and orbs, their isho awareness allows them to attune themselves to the seven Colors of isho, and they may learn the isho skills of Signature and Interference for those Colors they are attuned to. Female boccord, in particular, find the Colors of Desti and Launtra easy to attune to.
Other skills common among boccord are Animal Handling, Bow, Savoir-Faire (boccord), and Two-Handed Sword.
Muadra (13 pts)
Muadra have -1 ST (-10 pts) and +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Isho Awareness (5 pts) and Isho Manipulation (10 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Reduced Hit Points -1 (-2 pts), Reputation -1 (sneaky and disloyal, most full-blooded humans, -5 pts) and Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts).
Muadra are not obviously nonhuman; the only visible signs of their mutation are their reduced stature and their very slightly pointed ears. Muadra are short, with large heads, thin limbs, and small hands and feet for their frames; males stand 5'5" on average (and never taller than 5'9") and weigh about 130 lbs, while females stand about 5'2" (and never more than 5' 6") and weigh about 115 lbs. They speak Entren; since there are no muadra-majority communities, most of them speak in the dialect of the region they grew up in.
Muadra are the only one of the hominids who can weave isho into dyshas, although they must attune themselves to the seven Colors of isho in order to do so; those who learn these skills may take the title of Caji. They cannot learn the skill of Interference, being too closely bound to the isho flows, but they may attempt to Unweave a dysha they know. They may also learn the skills of Signature and Tra-Sense.
Other skills common to muadra are Savoir-Faire (muadra), Isho Weather, and (for urban muadra) Streetwise.
Salu (30 pts)
Salu have +1 ST (10 pts) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts), Amphibious (10 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick, scaly skin, 5 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +2 (2 pts), and Pressure Support +1 (5 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Unattractive (-4 pts), Dependency (immersion in salt water, weekly, -10 pts), and Easy to Read (-10 pts). (Note: A salu who does not have the option of returning to the Undersea Realm and must live among humans would also have Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts), but this is not the case for the vast majority of salu in human society.)
Salu males stand about 5' 11" tall, on average; females are usually three inches shorter. Their frames are still clearly human, with webbed hands and toes and a thick, slightly scaled skin in shades of green, gold, and/or silver. Males are bald; females have thinner hair than humans in shades that match their scales. Their noses are flattened, barely more than two nostril slits, which they can close underwater. They have visible gill slits running from just below and behind their enlarged, pointed ears to the base of their thick, short necks; they keep these closed when out of the water, although they tend to flap when the salu is excited or angry and stick out when the salu is frightened or surprised. They must spend at least six hours immersed in salt water or sea-water every week, or their skin and gills dry out and they sicken and die. Salu speak a burbling dialect of Entren with a large vocabulary of salu-specific terms for things related to undersea living.
Other skills common among salu are Savoir-Faire (salu), Seamanship, Shipbuilding, Swimming, and Spear. There has, to date, been only one report of a salu with Isho Manipulation, and the thriddle are still investigating to see if this individual actually existed. Isho Resistance and the skills of Interference and Signature are very rare among the salu, but known to occur naturally in occasional individuals. (The salu are also the only race other than humans who are known to be able to develop these skills under the influence of daij meat.)
Trarch (-7 pts)
Trarch have +4 ST (36 pts due to size), -2 IQ (-40 pts), and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages Acute Hearing +1 (2 pts) and Acute Vision +1 (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Unattractive (-4 pts), Gigantism (0 pts), Odious Racial Habit (talks not just with hands but with club, -1, -5 pts), and Primitive (2 TLs below campaign in most areas, -10).
All trarch have the skill Axe/Mace at DX (2 pts).
If a boccord has Neanderthal traits, a trarch is positively australopithecine. Male trarch are even taller than boccord, at an average of 7'4" and about 300 lbs; female trarch stand about 6' 10" and weigh about 260 lbs. Both genders have thick, curly body hair; broad, stooped shoulders; short legs compared to their torso length; a very pronounced brow ridge; heavy, protruding jaw muscles; short head hair with a widow's peak; large and strongly pointed ears; and a pair of bony projections on their chins. Males have sparse beards without mustaches. Their noses are broad and flattened; the nostrils are not visible from most normal angles.
Trarch speak Troffa, a language related to Entren (mutual default at -3) but with a smaller spoken vocabulary and a larger proportion of ramian and shanthic loan-words. It is grammatically incorrect to speak Troffa without an accompanying set of gestures, as these carry some of the tense and number markers; while it is possible to just use hand gestures, normal practice is to use a club, shillelagh, or metal-shod staff in one's dominant hand. From a distance, it is hard to tell if two trarch are merely speaking animatedly or preparing for combat. (Watching a thriddle speaking Troffa is universally acknowledged to be hilarious, not least by the trarch.) 95% of trarch are Illiterate; those who can read and write use the Entren alphabet phonetically, with a set of arcs and lines written over the letters to indicate the gestural component. They have regressed in technology even farther than most hominids, but they do still practice bronze smelting and use metal weaponry and armor; some trarch bronze-smiths are quite talented.
Despite their primitive ways and low intelligence, the trarch have very human senses of humor and culture. They are remarkably dextrous for their size and appearance, with hand-eye coordination and fine motor abilities every bit the equal of a human's. Trarch who move to human cities can buy off the Primitive disadvantage, but replace it with Social Stigma/Second-Class Citizen (-5 pts). Neither Isho Manipulation nor Isho Resistance is known to occur among trarch, although the muadra point out that it is unlikely that anyone has ever searched particularly hard for either ability among them. Other skills common among the trarch are Brawling, Climbing, Naturalist, Savoir-Faire (trarch), Stealth, Survival/Forest or Survival/Jungle, and Tracking.
Category 3: The Children of Iscin
Blount (-50 pts)
Blount have -1 ST (-10 pts), -2 IQ (-40 pts) and +1 HT (10 pts).
They have the advantages of Amphibious (10 pts), Doesn't Breathe/Gills (10 pts), Nictitating Membrane +1 (1 pt), Reduced Consumption/Cast-Iron Stomach +2 (2 pts), and Regeneration (slow, 10 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Appearance/Ugly (-8 pts), Dependency (fresh or brackish water, daily, -15 pts), No Sense of Smell/Taste (-5 pts), and Primitive (3 TL below campaign in most areas, -15 pts)
The blount were the first of Iscin's bioengineered races, and they are a mixture of human DNA with that of frogs, salamanders, and toads. Blount would be about 5'4" tall if they stood upright, which they almost never do, finding squatting and stooping more comfortable; females weigh about 120 lbs, while the males are lighter and skinnier. Their heads are large and frog-like, with tiny external ears; their shoulders are narrow and sloped. Their chests are flattened, almost hollowed, while their bellies protrude. Their arms are narrow and short, with long, webbed fingers and a short opposable thumb. Their legs are bowed but muscular, with long, webbed feet. They have internal gills and can breathe air or water with equal ease; their skins are slick and must be kept moist or the blount will dehydrate and die. They are completely hairless, and usually colored in speckled shades of green and brown. They are partially mammalian, despite appearances, giving live birth and suckling their young; their infants have tails when born and cannot breathe air until they are almost two years old. Blount have no nudity taboo, and only wear clothing - usually leathers and furs crudely stitched together - when they are cold.
Blount live in swamps, ponds, and bayous. A typical village consists of six to ten mud huts, each containing a family group of three to six blount. The oldest blount is usually the leader of the village. Their largest community, the closest thing there is to a blount city, is on the southern shore of Lake Dau-ou-deh; it contains about two hundred blount, led by a hereditary chieftain. They live as TL 0 hunter-gatherers, crafting tools from wood, stone, leather, and bone. Unlike the hominids, the blount can eat and get nutrition from pretty much anything; while they will certainly eat gerrig and durlig, they don't need it in order to thrive. Their typical diet consists of swamp plants and fish, which they rarely bother to cook.
Their language, Abahth, consists of peeping and croaking phonemes, and does not appear to have more than a cursory relationship to Entren, or any known language (no defaults). It has no written form; all blount are Illiterate unless they learn to read and write another language. Blount have no organized religion; they venerate Iscin, their creator, but have no particular beliefs about him, and their moral code boils down to "Don't murder, don't steal, and don't get caught." No blount are known to have Isho Manipulation or to use the Signature or Interference skills; comments made by some blount suggest that a few rare individuals may have Isho Awareness, but this is merely conjecture. It is also known that at least one blount, a servant of Iscin, was able to use Earth-Tec.
Other skills common to the blount are Area Knowledge (Lake Dau-ou-deh), Botany, Knife, Poisons, Savoir-Faire (blount), Stealth, Survival, and Swimming.
Bronth (44 pts)
Bronth have +3 ST (27 pts due to size) and +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste and Smell +1 (2 pts), Claws (blunt, +1 damage, 3 pts), Damage Resistance +1 (thick pelt, 5 pts), Extra Hit Points +2 (4 pts), and Temperature Tolerance +2 (okay down to 15°F, on average) (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Code of Honor (Bronth) (-10 pts), Increased Consumption +1 (-10 pts), and Odious Racial Habit (malmis-freaks, -1, -5 pts).
The bronth were the last known race created by Iscin, and his first unqualified success (the fifth race, the leonine tologra, appear to be extinct, or possibly mythical, although the bronth insist that they did exist and in fact migrated as far as the shores of Dobre with them). They resemble humanoid bears, with a thick, coarse pelt in shades of black and brown (claims that bronth who settled in the far north developed white pelts are as yet unverified). Bronth can walk on all fours as easily as on two legs, although they rarely do so around humans; the palms of their hands are as tough as the bottoms of their feet. Male bronth stand somewhere between 7'2" and 8' tall, and weigh between 500 and 800 lbs. Female bronth stand between 6'10" and 7'8" tall and weigh about the same as their brethren. Bronth usually wear trousers and, if the weather isn't too warm, a loose shirt; females may wear a long tunic instead.
Bronth society is governed by a simple moral code:
Bronth are as intelligent as humans, but prefer for their social structures to be less complex. A bronth baht, the equivalent of a human village, usually consists of only 30 to 40 bronth, all of whom are related to each other. Bronth are usually monogamous, and the husband usually joins his wife's baht, although there are occasional exceptions to both rules. Their cities, or ru+baht (the "+" represents a growling-click, a sound that only bronth and woffen can produce; humans should substitute an "r" followed by a click), are merely collections of bahts arranged concentrically. The center of a baht or ru+baht is always an open, circular commons area. They prefer round buildings with high ceilings, although they like for their sleeping quarters to be partially or wholly underground. Their language, Boru, has a similar grammar to Entren, from which is it probably descended, but the isolation of the bronth in Dobre and its use of several phonemes not possible for the hominids render them mutually unintelligible. The bronth use an adaption of the Ertren alphabet for writing, with extra symbols borrowed from the old Russian alphabet to represent the ursine phonemes.
Bronth are fond of strategic thinking, and always look out for the long-term. They have a tendency towards grand conspiracy theories, especially where humans, ramian, or shanthas are concerned. They also enjoy strategic games; they are wizards at chess, go, and their own strategy games. They dislike games with strong random elements, and will not gamble on games of chance.
Bronth are omnivores, but prefer meat to vegetable matter. They are less dependent on durlig than the hominids, being better equipped to derive nutrition from the native plants and animals of Jorune, but they do still need it for a few specific amino acids. They don't mind this, considering durlig a sacred gift from Iscin; they usually eat it stewed with onions and the leaves of the pabrid plant, which blunts the taste somewhat. Their large size means that they must eat twice as much as a human; they prefer to space this out into five meals a day. They are also fond of malmis, the sludge of sediment and yeast that accumulates at the bottom of barrels of rusper-ale; this goop is unpalatable for most other creatures (except the blount, who will eat pretty much anything), but bronth will scoop it from the bottoms of barrels with their bare hands.
Bronth never have isho abilities early in life. A few get a vague prickling feeling when in the presence of large, flowing concentrations of isho; these few usually develop Isho Awareness somewhere in late middle age (females who develop it almost always do so at the beginning of menopause). These bronth can begin learning dysha-weaving once their awareness blossoms. Isho Resistance occasionally occurs in bronth without Isho Awareness; when it appears, it occurs from infancy.
Other skills common among the bronth are Animal Handling, Broadsword, History (Dobre), Games, Savoir-Faire (bronth), Strategy, and Tactics.
Crugar (4 pts)
Crugar have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +2 (4 pts), Claws (sharp, cutting damage, 5 pts), Combat Reflexes (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Perfect Balance (15 pts), and Sharp Teeth (1 pt).
They have the disadvantages of Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (-25 pts), Bad Temper (-10 pts), Code of Honor (crugar) (-5 pts), Color Blindness (-10 pts), Impulsiveness (-10 pts), Intolerance (woffen) (-5 pts), and Reputation (killers of Iscin and all-around warlike and violent people, all non-crugar, -3, -15 pts).
All crugar have the skills Climbing at DX-1 (1 pt) and Jumping at DX+1 (2 pts).
The crugar are Iscin's second creation, and they consider themselves his first success, and thus the Eldest of his Children. They resemble humanoid pumas; their heads are almost completely catlike, and they have long tails that help their excellent balance. Males and females are the same height and weight; they stand about 5' 10" on average, and weigh around 160 lbs. Their hands and feet are equipped with sharp, retractable claws. Crugar can run on all fours more quickly than they can on two feet, although obviously they cannot carry anything in their hands while doing so. The crugar pelt is thin, usually in shades of light brown shading to ivory on the chest and belly, although gray and even black individuals are known. Crugar are fastidious about their fur, brushing and combing it frequently. Females have four breasts, and longer head hair than the males. In warm climates, they go naked or wear a simple kilt or loincloth; in colder areas, they wear sleeveless tunics that leave the limbs unrestricted and capes of heavy fur.
Crugar are very territorial; they instinctively want to claim an area as their own, and react badly to anyone coming into their space. The only way a crugar can accompany any other sentient being for any length of time is on a mission to protect the territory of the race of crugar as a whole, which is how they justify their wars against the other races, or by constantly reminding themselves that their companions are not crugar and thus are not equals to be contended with. They will unite under a charismatic leader to "defend" their territory, which they believe rightfully includes the Gauss Valley, where they and all the other Iscin races were born. However, if this leader falters, or is struck down, their army quickly falls to squabbles over personal territory and falls apart. In their home nation of Temauntro, crugar live in well-separated areas; a crugar village, called a pawm, may take up as much room as a large human city. Crugar of higher status have larger territories. A crugar den usually consists of a large cleared outdoor area to lounge and run in, a wooden or mud-brick circular house with tall windows for the storing of property, and a sleeping area with a raised floor and a roof, but no walls. Crugar never live with other adult crugar, and they do not form permanent pair-bonds; mothers raise their litters of two to four cubs alone, although the father usually offers her and the cubs frequent gifts of food until they reach puberty. Two crugar conversing are either passing along important information or about to fight; small talk is unknown among this race.
There are no civil laws among the crugar. A village is "ruled" by the strongest, most dominant member, usually (but not always) the largest male. Their culture is dominated by their religion; they revere Iscin above all else, and consider him a martyr to the evil resident in the human race. They believe that a second human, whom they call Bom Varis, slew two of the original crugar, and was stopped by Iscin; Choundra, the eldest of all crugar, attempted to kill Bom Varis in revenge, as was his right, but due to treachery on Bom Varis's part, it was Iscin who died instead. In the crugar's mythology, Bom Varis represents everything evil about humanity, and Iscin everything good. Their great military leader, Chaln Dolcha (pronounced as if both "ch" digraphs were "sh;" humans almost always pronounce it as read, which angers the crugar), condensed their religious traditions into a series of declarations and laws:
Crugar are omnivores, capable of eating vegetable matter as well as meat. They prefer to eat small animals they have hunted and caught themselves, which they usually consume raw; they are capable of deriving all the nutrition they need from native meat. This diet is supplemented with wild vegetables during spring and summer, and with flatbread made with codditch in the winter. The crugar do not eat durlig; the smell makes them gag. Its place in their diets is taken by the native mowgah roots, which vaguely resemble parsnips; these are prepared by wrapping them in wet codditch shucks and roasting in the coals of a fire. Crugar cannot consume alcohol, which is a mild poison to them, but they find the berries of the limrah plant to be similarly intoxicating.
The crugar language, Chaun-Tse, is a distant descendant of English, modified to fit the crugar's mouth; it and Entren mutually default at -6. It is written using the Entren alphabet, when it is written at all. Crugar have very little literature, and hardly any more art, although their sculptures can be remarkable. Their primary art form is dance, at which they excel. Personal poise and grace are very important to the crugar; they find clumsiness intolerable, even personally offensive. Most crugar have no isho skills, but the thriddle Bennid Ho'Gomo discovered, back in the time of Caji Gends, that some crugar are able to sense and attune to the black isho of Gobey, the dark moon, and use its dyshas. (The thriddle now generally consider Bennid to have made an error in judgment, but that can't be fixed.)
Other skills common to the crugar include Brawling, Broadsword, Savoir-Faire (crugar), Running, Spear, and Stealth.
Cygra (29 pts)
Cygra have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages of Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +2 (4 pts), Claws (sharp, cutting damage, 5 pts), Combat Reflexes (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Perfect Balance (15 pts), Sharp Teeth (1 pt), and Temperature Tolerance +2 (okay down to 15°F, on average) (2 pts).
They have the disadvantages of Bad Sight (Nearsighted) (-25 pts), Code of Honor (cygra) (-5 pts), Color Blindness (-10 pts), Impulsiveness (-10 pts), and Reputation (killers of Iscin and all-around warlike and violent people, all non-crugar and non-cygra, -2, -10 pts).
All cygra have the skills Climbing at DX-1 (1 pt) and Jumping at DX+1 (2 pts).
The cygra are the northern cousins of the crugar. They are usually an inch shorter than their cousins, and their fur is longer, usually white with spots or streaks of black or gray; they tend to be vain about their fur. They lack their cousins' bad temper and their intolerance of the woffen, and their territorial instincts are less intense. They are also less fanatical in their devotion to the Iscin religion, choosing to shun those they find unworthy rather than killing them. They do share their cousins' poor eyesight.
Cygra speak a dialect of Chaun-Tse and have the same potential for isho abilities as the crugar. Their common skills are similar.
Woffen (32 pts)
Woffen have +1 DX (20 pts).
They have the advantages Acute Hearing +3 (6 pts), Acute Taste & Smell +3 (6 pts), Claws (blunt, +1 damage, 3 pts), Discriminatory Smell (15 pts), Enhanced Move +1 (ground, must be on all fours, 15 pts), Sharp Teeth (1 pt), and Temperature Tolerance +1 (okay down to 25°F, on average) (1 pt).
They have the disadvantages Chummy (-5 pts), Code of Honor (woffen) (-5 pts), Compulsive Carousing (-5 pts), Intolerance (crugar) (-5 pts), Poor Color Vision (-5 pts), Reputation (rowdy, smelly, and loud, all hominids, -1, -5 pts), and Will -1 (-5 pts).
The woffen were the third creation of Iscin, and in some way represent the opposite of their older "brothers," the crugar. They were largely based on a combination of human and wolf DNA, but they have some aspects that are coyote-like as well. They resemble humanoid wolves, with very lupine heads, more human shoulders and hands, a wolf-like tail, and digitigrade legs. An upright male woffen stands about 6' tall on average and weighs about 180 lbs; females average 5' 9" and weigh about 160 lbs. Female woffen have four breasts. Woffen can drop to all fours to run for short distances, but unless they have sufficient time to go through a regimen of stretching exercises or ingest the gawdieth limilate, their tendons seize up after (HT-d6) seconds. Woffen of both sexes wear tunics of cloth, or leather in colder weather, along with a loose robe in formal situations. While not as fastidious in their grooming as the crugar, most woffen brush their fur daily, and some woffen tie beads or bones into their fur as decoration. Their fur sheds heavily each spring, which can cause problems in human establishments.
Woffen are gregarious, and in fact suffer from anxiety when alone. They also have a need for clearly defined hierarchies; they must know exactly where they stand in the pack ranking at all times, and will challenge those around them to contests of wits, speed, strength, or skill constantly to figure out where they stand. They will readily accept non-woffen as "packmates," but those who are so accepted will also be challenged for their place in the pack! However, once everyone's place is established, woffen work very well in groups, whether raising a building, sailing a ship, or fighting in an army. Their loyalty to a leader they consider both fair and competent is absolute. Woffen are devoted mates and parents, and usually marry for life, but their concept of marriage allows for occasional extramarital dalliances as long as these are temporary and all involved are friendly to each other. Children are cherished, especially since miscarriage is common for woffen females and it may take a couple years to conceive and complete a pregnancy successfully. Most successful pregnancies end with the birth of twins or triplets, although litters of up to six are not unheard of.
Woffen also play well together, and they have a psychological need to play frequently. They are fond of active sports involving catching, throwing, and running. Choral howling is another common leisure activity. They also enjoy alcohol; the shenter, a combination community center and tavern, usually located underground, is the center of any woffen village. Unfortunately, alcoholism is common; the authew, woffen who are dependent on rusper-ale and stomeh, walk with a shuffling stoop and are pitied by their entire community. Even those who are not authew are subject to disabling hangovers, which can only be cured by getting drunk again or by the stoma limilate, which stains the teeth and tastes bitter. Woffen are omnivores, though they prefer meat to vegetables. They do need durlig for complete protein, although they need less than humans. During times when meat is scarce, they make a thin broth by boiling bones and dip a flatbread made from barley and ground durlig root in it. In more plentiful times, woffen cooking fills the air with delicate smells; while they do enjoy raw meat on occasion, most woffen cuisine is cooked, and in fact much of it is palatable to hominids. The intense sense of smell of the woffen leads to combinations of herbs and meats that humans can't always distinguish.
Woffen legal codes are short and simple. Usually the laws of a village or city will be found publicly posted near the main entrance. Punishments for breaking the laws range from public humiliation (including "showing throat" to one's victim), to ostracism, to marking and exile. In addition, almost all woffen subscribe to a basic moral code, passed down by tradition:
Woffen villages rarely have fewer than thirty inhabitants; woffen cities rival human ones in size. Woffen architecture is low to the ground, even squat, with wide windows, large doors, and underground rooms and basements. Often what appear to be separate buildings will be connected by underground tunnels. Typical lighting levels are low; the woffen can navigate familiar places by smell. Wooden buildings are preferred to stone ones, and often the roof serves as an open upper floor. Their art suffers from their inability to tell red from green (they are completely red-green colorblind, and have trouble with light blues and light yellows as well). Woffen music almost always includes singing. The woffen language, Thowtis, is closely related to Boru (mutual default at -2), and written with the same alphabet. Woffen literature tends to run to lists and genealogies, but some of their poetry is quite touching by human standards.
About one in six woffen is sensitive to the isho of Ebba, the gold-and-silver moon. The muadra taught the woffen some of the dyshas of that moon to use in self-defense against the crugar. Knowledge of any other dyshas is extremely rare, and Isho Resistance is not known to occur among the woffen at all.
Other skills common among woffen are Brawling, Broadsword, Carousing, Running, Savoir-Faire (woffen), Stealth, and Tracking. Woffen who cannot control their tails often have the Easy to Read disadvantage.
