[OOC] The Prophecy

[Mercinus3]

My posting schedule will be a little bit sporadic for the next few weeks as some of my family from the States are over to visit and my graduation ceremony, amongst other things. As something has been mentioned about adding things to the character sheet, I'll add something about the sudden 'honour' that he is obliged to take, as seen in the recent post, plus the scarred tissue underneath the cowl.

M3

[Shienvien]

Have been slightly preoccupied myself these days; will be posting tonight or tomorrow morning.

[ASTA]

Is this still open? I have a character mind.

[Dark Jack]

Ugh, see, I've been dreading that the day would come when someone new wanted to join the RP before Mahz found a solution for the thoroughly underwhelming post size-limit that prevented me from adding the Compendium. Yes, The Prophecy is still open to new players and you'd be welcome to submit a character, although as things are now there would be a severe problem in actually making a character compatible with the universe. This is high fantasy with fairly detailed lore and mechanics when it comes to the world, races and magic, and without the Compendium new players don't really have a chance to familiarize themselves with this before making the character.
Hmm... How about this: for the moment you can just try to explain the character you have in mind without writing a full CS, and in the meantime I will try to break up passages of the Compendium that are the most important to designing a character for the universe and put them here. I'll have to reformat the text and such, since the original format was lost during Guildfall, but I should be able to have the most important bits ready fairly quickly, considering that they're already written and just need reposting.

[Shienvien]

@Jack: I do have contact with him from before he said they wish to join the RP, actually (from a Skype RP group Alf added me a long while back). As an extension, they have an access to the Compendium (if you recall, I got it out of the old site in its entirety, minus the hiders; hence a technique of "paste the thing over Skype" exists and is readily available). If something remains confusing still, they can ask here (he wanted to use a character of his own race - physically powerful somewhat wolflike (not shapeshifter) beings I guessed might be from somewhere west for the iteration of this world; his character would probably also be what is essentially a sound-elementalist by another name)?

I also spent some time thinking how, rather than Aemoten being in Rodoria (and quite used to it by now), the rest of the characters would fare when introduced to Sekalynic, Egemic or Drylandic (er... Amratarians and other such) cultures. Not all that likely to happen (but who knows?), but it could be quite interesting...

(Also, Mahz essentially stated they would like to, but don't really know how to fix the problem, since it has to do with the architecture - of what? the language they use? the server? he didn't specify - and he doesn't really have the means to handle it. I am partway inclined to offer to look at the thing and see whether I can fix it myself...

(If Syn is truly gone, then we should probably edit the available character spaces up. Might need Syn/Yoshua's confirmation on that.)

[Dark Jack]

Oh, well I didn't know that. That solves the issue of not having seen the necessary/useful information from the Compendium; I'll need to know more about this wolflike race of yours (for them to come from the west or south would be feasible, although which direction is more likely would probably depend on their culture more than anything else), but generally speaking if you have the desire and knowledge to participate, you're welcome to submit a character for review.

As for removing Syn's character from the roster and updating the number of free spaces displayed in the OP (not that I see any particular urgency in the matter, unless we suddenly saw a huge increase in interest from new players) I was pretty much just waiting for some final and certain confirmation that he had indeed dropped out. His absence alone is about enough, though... I'll keep it in mind and do what has to be done when I feel the time is right.

[Legion X51]

Hello there. I'm from the same group as Shienvien and ASTA. I'd also like to enquire about the possibility of playing a character.

This character would be of a new race, by your leave.

The Éireannach are an ethnicity of humans who live in the far western lands, even further than the fearsome Xhurl-njok. The Éireannach are often considered to be analogous to barbarians by most civilised races, living as they do on the move much of the time and with very few settlements, preferring to instead live off of the lands surrounding their few permanent settlements. The tales of fierce warriors painted in red and white patterns (similar in style to the Britons on Earth, for an example) mostly originate from the regions surrounding Laighean, the main region of the Éireannach homelands. Raiding surrounding countryside for food and often plunder, the Éireannach most often are seen fighting in unorganised morasses of warriors, descending upon the hapless townsfolk of the small villages and towns outside of Laighean. The Éireannach's main claim to fame is the fall of the Kingdom of Thessaleia, which used to be the last bastion between the civilised world and the Éireannach. After a two-month long siege of the city of Larissa, the Éireannach stormed and sacked the city and murdered thousands upon thousands of the inhabitants.

However, domestically, the Éireannach operate surprisingly orderly. Though they are not a truly 'unified' nation, the Éireannach have different 'areas' or as they call them, contaetha. Contae Laighean is the main area of habitation, in and around the city of Cathair Dhoire, which has a population of 11,000 people. The other counties of Gaillimhe, Garman and Chorcaí are all organised around their respective 'capital cities', which are Láirge, Ros Comáin and Leifear, with populations of 2630, 1895 and 1446 in that order. The Contaetha are loosely organised as a confederation which elects the King or Queen of the Éireannach, though they operate as separate 'kingdoms' for all other purposes. The most powerful Contae is, of course, Laighean, which controls the few trade lanes that the Éireannach operate into 'civilised' lands beyond the frontier, as well as being the most populous. Each Contae is ruled by a Bíocúnta, or count, and the King/Queen is chosen from the counts of the Contaetha. Surprisingly, literacy is common amongst townsfolk, but that is more to do with the deep sense of community within most Éireannach towns, being as they are small in size, and the town or village elders will teach the children of the settlement how to read and write in the Éireannach language, and basic numeracy. The more intelligent of the children will progress to learn leadership and survival skills in preparation for succeeding the village elders in their position and for leading the Éireannach armies to war, whilst the less intelligent will learn a particular occupation, be it trading, farming, blacksmithing or mining.

Unlike other ethnicities of humans, sexual diversity in the Éireannach is arguably less noticeable - women and men are almost equally capable, which has given rise to a feeling of resentment the Éireannach have for more 'civilised' nations that view women (or men) as property, or second-class citizens. In Éireannach history, the struggle to survive has led to an interdependence between the sexes, and the lack of diversity between the two sexes has inhibited the rise of either a patriarchal system or a matriarchal system, as both genders worked together to form a stable community and to defend the contaetha from external invaders. As such, female warriors in Éireannach armies are a common sight - there are no 'limits' to which role a person may take in an army.

Sound OK?

[Dark Jack]

Two prospective new players? Oh my... I think I nearly fainted there for a moment. And they both want me to add new races into the universe, though I imagine that at least these "Éireannach" would be relatively easy to fit in due to their nature and location; for them to have a place in the west with their culture - apparently waging wars rather liberally against neighbouring civilized nations - they would have to be really far west, past even the lands of the Xhurl-njok, which would act as a natural barrier for them to have much interaction with nations to the east anyway, due to the inhospitable nature of the Xhurl-njok.
Reading through your description, Legion, I do find myself wondering: how does this race differ from humans? You only really described how they were similar to humans, and to me it sounds mostly as though they are humans, just with a different culture... which would not make them a new race, but rather a new nation. If I'm wrong, then how do the Éireannach differ from humans? That's really a big factor in deciding whether they are even acceptable or not.

Their culture do sound familiar, though... to me it sounds like a cross between the Qetemak nomad tribes and the Kátimit barbarian territory, with the main differences being that the Qetemak don't build settlements at all and the Kátimit are generally more settled than what you describe.

[Legion X51]

EDIT: Doing more thinking, I'm actually going for a near-human race after all, apologies. I'll get a list of 'differences' between them and humans shortly, after brainstorming.

Right, preliminary list of differences, as worked with Shienvien and a couple others:

- Eireannach have a lifespan of 320-ish. (As worked out by a simply 4d100 roll, suggested by one Alfhedil)

- There are two 'ethnicities' of Eireannach, the Forestfolk and the Highlanders.

- Forestfolk are smaller and leaner than Highlanders, and usually possess mottled-colour skin to blend in with the foliage and undergrowth. Forestfolk are possessive of superior agility and upper body strength to climb trees, hunt in the forests and scale obstacles - for example, a cliff face. Forestfolk are naturally gifted for reconnaissance or archery work, as their agility and upper body strength aids them in avoiding detection and shooting bows.

- Highlanders are stockier, thicker-set and broader, with less agility and more raw muscle power. They have tanned skin to cope with the harsh sun of the mountainous regions of the Contaetha.

That's as much as I've got so far, but I'm still brainstorming.

[Dark Jack]

Of course that's fine; generally the less new aspects I have to fit into the universe, the less work for me in making it all work on a larger scale, so that'd be excellent.

Oh, and I only just now realize I didn't actually confirm this to you specifically yet, but there is room for more players, yes, so feel free to submit a character for review anytime.

[Legion X51]

Updated with list of differences - I've changed the Eireannach to non-humans again. Apologies.

[ASTA]

Del-korm society mostly revolves around violence. Biologically, they're incapable of registering fear as a legitimate emotion, which is perhaps the chief reason behind the del-korm's low life expectancy (of which is a mere thirty-five years). Honed for contending with massive prehistoric bison and mammoth-like creatures, del-korm bodies are wrapped in dense, thick muscle, gifting them with unnatural physical strength and surreal toughness. A heightened sense of smell, keen night vision and excellent hearing encompass their main senses, thought they are also able to use the world's natural magnetic field to calculate their current location and maneuver across the land.

They place uncompromising emphasis on deeds and actions, and scorn empty threats, cowardice and boasts unsupported with tangible evidence. In their land, one does not open their mouth to word threats without first being adequately prepared to put those same threatening-words to action.

Honor in combat is not held in high regard when it comes to warfare, as war is considered a competition where the principal objective is to emerge victorious, which often requires ‘unorthodox’ or ‘taboo’ tactics to be utilized. Some of these methods include killing a wounded creature, feigning a retreat and/or wounds, consuming young, ambushing someone or something without giving them a fair chance to resist, or creating insidious traps to lure unsuspecting prey to its demise are all considered viable parts of military stratagem in Malkor-Kurz.

Cities, roads or other signs of advanced infrastructure do not exist. Instead, del-korm make their homes in forests, caves and burrows, while others might instead choose to sleep outside on the ground.

Marriage is an alien concept to the del-korm, who believe that ‘owning’ someone is wrong. Instead, Companionships are used, which are informal partnerships shared between del-korm of any sex, and are typically centered around a ‘deal’ or ‘understanding’ made between both parties. To provide an example, one del-korm may offer to share his or her home with another in exchange for food, mating privileges or access to the partner’s cache of psychoactive mushrooms. Del-korm in a companionship are not bound by a contract or by harsh punishment should one of them opt to leave their partner, and there is no set limit to how many partners one individual is allowed to take. Because (most) del-korm do not feel strong sexual or romantic attraction for one another, violent altercations over 'unfaithful behavior' rarely break out.

Leaders do not exist in any shape or form within the del-korm species; to them, government inhibits the intrinsic right to freedom and choice that all living things are born with, while it is widely assumed that all creatures are masters of their own fate. However, del-korm do tend to group themselves into clan-like organizations called 'krill', where they are unified by extensive companionships made up of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. Krill membership is not permanent, and hopping from krill to krill is rather common (especially if your antics constantly anger everyone around you to the point where staying in a specific krill endangers your life).

Malkor-Kurz is a place where reputation is perhaps the most vital part of an individual del-korm’s existence. It is a currency in a sense—one that increases and decreases in value as a person conducts themselves in the land.

---

This is all watered-down information (indeed, to discuss everything on the del-korm species would require five or so pages). The land of Malkor-Kurz is something that I’ve been working on for about a year now, and it’s rather hard for me to summarize its contents without leaving out important parts. The above text may come off as confusing, so if clarification is needed, merely ask me and I will tell you.

[Dark Jack]

@Legion: All right, then... so they're basically humans with longer lifespans, one ethnicity of which has a skin color that is rather unusual to humans, but otherwise they are very much like humans? How does their population maintain itself between their long lifespans - which would usually implicate a long reproductive cycle - and their aforementioned warlike culture? Though I suppose with lifespans that long and a reproductive cycle short enough to replenish their numbers lost due to war, continuous war would almost be necessary for them to avoid their population increasing uncontrollably to the point of their growth being entirely unsurstainable. (A small divergent thought of mine is that if they do require constant war like this and has been participating in such warfare, then they must either still have at least one other nation between themselves and the Xhurl-njok or only recently have expanded as far; if someone persistently showed aggression against the Xhurl-njok the way the Éireannach are described to, chances are that they would not last long before the Xhurl-njok decided to remove the annoyance they would represent.)
I also wonder just how genetically compatible these Éireannach would be with other races. They are described as being very humanlike, but with lifespans that are almost as long as those of penin... Interbreeding between races would be difficult to accomplish.

@ASTA: One thing I have to address immediately is the fact that I flinch when a species is described as having any kind of "unnatural" property about them. It's probably just an exaggerated adjective in this case, but I object to the use of that in this context very strongly; no being that is not innately supernatural, such as immortals, have any kind of "unnatural" anything. Your del-korm are strong, I get that, but not unnaturally so. They have muscles, and they have strength proportional to those muscles unless empowered by magic, which I seriously doubt that the entire race has.
That little detail aside I quickly realize that the del-korm definitely would not fit in as a race from the west. I think they should be a southern race instead, from the Malith Jungle or further; this is really the only place remote and unpopulated enough that creatures like these would be tolerated by the civilized races, and the only place with wildlife exotic enough to contain creatures of the caliber that the del-korm supposedly deal with.
Aside from that they sound like a very powerful race, and yet another one that would very quickly provoke hostile relations with most other nations. Their culture aside, however, I would like to know more about their racial properties; a bit more description in terms of what they look like and how they function on a more individual level, as well as their actual lifespan rather than just their life expectancy (the life expectancy of Niin is generally even lower than that of del-korm, but their natural lifespan is over two hundred years).

And with both races I find myself wondering: why would they travel all the way to Rodoria, a journey that would be very long and extremely perilous for either of these races? I would like a credible explanation to that, at least, before considering implementation into the universe.

[Shienvien]

South has been described to have quite a lot of warrioresque peoples in them - my own Sekalyns included -, so I would have imagined an aggressive species would have harder time there than in the barbaric west... Unless it is even farther south or the Sekalyns (and other human peoples of the region) and del-korm somehow can coexist. The niin - who are also southern - are inherently even more chaotic, but by description are generally slightly more agreeable? (Although I still find it surprising niin have managed to avoid extiction.) The xuhrl-njok sprynes themselves are thorough sociopaths and haven't been eliminated by the peoples adjacent to them, either... Weren't large parts of west also canonically described as constantly warring?

[Dark Jack]

Oh, the west - the one past the Yawning Gorge - is not generally barbaric compared to the eastern lands in Kirirak... in fact Junica, while with a markedly differently structured heirarchy and foreign norms, is probably just as civilized as Rodoria, and even the Xhurl-njok (when referring to the Xhurl-njok as a people one can omit the "spryne"-part, as it refers to individuals within the race rather than the race as a whole), though sociopathic, are relatively civilized. Being warlike does not rule out being civilized (I could draw inappropriate parallels to countries from Earth, but in the name of peace it's probably better that I don't), and even if the western lands are almost perpetually at war with each other, they do generally have the common sense not to pick a fight with someone they can't defend themselves against, and unless there are significantly more nomadic Éireannach than I envision there being and that these were somehow capable of rallying as a combined force at very short notice, the Xhurl-njok would probably be too much of a mouthful for them. The Xhurl-njok are frighteningly powerful, if you recall, especially when there's even just several of them working together; the main reason they haven't been destroyed by the other western countries is that no single other western nation commands enough power to challenge them like that, and due to them being constantly at war with each other they haven't managed to band together to fight them. After all, the Xhurl-njok may attack them once in a while, but so does every other country around them.
...Of course the Éireannach could just avoid conflict with the Xhurl-njok altogether and that would solve most of the problem; then instead of having a pissed-off Xhurl-njok empire at their neck, determined to eradicate them, they would just have to endure occasional skirmishes when they felt bold enough to move against them.

And I did indeed envision the del-korm as being further south than even the Sekalyn, though probably not by much; their culture is less of an issue than the way it and their general properties is described, namely as coming from contending with creatures not present in northern lands. The race itself could probably exist in the west, but the circumstances they live under would fit better with either the south or off the shores of Kirirak somewhere.

[Shienvien]

To be fair I do not know much of xuhrl-njok culture(s) besides them being sociopaths, and purely self-oriented (in which the aforementioned sociopathy plays a part)... That xuhrl-njok are highly intelligent, that I didn't doubt - just look at their magical capabilities, and I don't mean sheer prowess here -, but I guess I mostly imagined their sociopathic selves to be either fairly solitary or make temporary small groupings for when it currently happens to be useful for them (or a strong one threatening to blow some weaker ones up if they don't do as requested ... and the weaker ones doing what was demanded because they objectively figure they can't win and getting blown up is not at all beneficial for an individual). ...But they actually managed to convince a substantial number of their species that an unified empire composed of xuhrl-njok is something they would all individually gain from? Oh dear.
(I vaguely recall the spryne-part meaning "nation" ... and them sometimes using it interchangeably with individual because each one is out for oneself only anyway.)

...Speaking of which, I can't exactly imagine niin making a nation, either. I figure they wouldn't simply be able to care about being a people long enough, let alone bother with making a nation with borders and rulers and such rather than just settling down wherever seemed convenient, only to wander off again when something more interesting is on the horizon.

And hmm... Yeah. You haven't said there are beasts as great as those of the Malith Jungle in the west ... but you hadn't said there weren't, either, and there are couple of creatures that are big and fearsome enough in the north, too, including in Rodoria. Some species of powerful bovine-kin (such as used to be here until - surprise - humans hunted them to extinction ... actually, all over the world there used to be massive beasts that humans eradicated) or similar alone would explain why creatures like del-korm showed up... I think currently the main issue with del-korm being from the south (no conflicts with locals provided) would be climate. (Arctic del-korm variant in southern Balazth? Erm...) Could a large island off of northwestern Kirirak work? Del-korm have been placed on an island before.
(ASTA's character was/is somewhat of an outcast, as I've understood, which in part explains how he ended up so far... And for the matter, del-korm *can* live quite long if they don't get killed ... not sure how long exactly - he can specify -, but well over a century, if not a couple of centuries.)

[Legion X51]

Dark Jack said
@Legion: All right, then... so they're basically humans with longer lifespans, one ethnicity of which has a skin color that is rather unusual to humans, but otherwise they are very much like humans? How does their population maintain itself between their long lifespans - which would usually implicate a long reproductive cycle - and their aforementioned warlike culture? Though I suppose with lifespans that long and a reproductive cycle short enough to replenish their numbers lost due to war, continuous war would almost be for them to avoid their population increasing uncontrollably to the point of their growth being entirely unsustainable. (A small divergent thought of mine is that if they do require constant war like this and has been participating in such warfare, then they must either still have at least one other nation between themselves and the Xhurl-njok or only recently have expanded as far; if someone persistently showed aggression against the Xhurl-njok the way the Éireannach are described to, chances are that they would not last long before the Xhurl-njok decided to remove the annoyance they would represent.)I also wonder just how genetically compatible these Éireannach would be with other races. They are described as being very humanlike, but with lifespans that are almost as long as those of penin... Interbreeding between races would be difficult to accomplish.

Alright, let's get rambling.

Regarding the points about the Xhurl-njok and the Eireannach potentially coming into border conflicts, I can re-instate the Kingdom of Thessaleia (human kingdom, not much work to do and most of it I've done for another RP already, so no worries there?) as a buffer state between the Xhurl-njok and the Eireannach so as to prevent both sides from coming to blows. I had the Eireannach and Thessaleians almost at constant state of war - similar in a way to the late Roman Empire and its struggles with barbarians.

Regarding the lifespan and warlike culture - the Eireannach have a maturity rate that is similar to humans, in that they reach adulthood and full maturity at about 18 or so. They 'do' have a long lifespan, I know, but it's quite rare for Eireannach to reach their maximum lifespan - things like injuries, diseases, accidents, all of those have impacts on lifespan, as does your social class, what with being able to afford food and the like in towns. I'd say that the average commoner would be good to reach 250 or in that area, whilst the rich and the 'royalty' are more able to reach 300-320.

As for interbreeding, though the Eireannach are similar in appearance to humans, I think humanity would be the only race with whom they could successfully breed, with maaaaybe Nightwalkers being a very rare and 'barren' partnership. Most other races are a no-go.

[Shienvien]

Éireannach and Nightwalkers I guess could have the same kind of incompatibility backlash as humans and Nighwalkers - namely that the half-human hybrid would always be completely and utterly blind (which would also give a logical justification to why such relationships would be looked down on). Just a suggestion here.

Also, as I pointed out - long lifespan doesn't necessarily mean long period till maturity. There are Earthern beings which can hit hundred and twenty, but are full adults at three or so. And yeah ... wars, illness, predators, underabundancy of food, low conception rate, the factors which bar exponential population growth rate are many. Here I will also note that fertility period may not last for the entire adulthood - human women past forty-five or so very rarely conceive naturally despite the life expectancy being at about eighty (and lifespan cap at over hundred), for instance.

[Dark Jack]

Shienvien said To be fair I do not know much of xuhrl-njok culture(s) besides them being sociopaths, and purely self-oriented (in which the aforementioned sociopathy plays a part)... That xuhrl-njok are highly intelligent, that I didn't doubt - just look at their magical capabilities, and I don't mean sheer prowess here -, but I guess I mostly imagined their sociopathic selves to be either fairly solitary or make temporary small groupings for when it currently happens to be useful for them (or a strong one threatening to blow some weaker ones up if they don't do as requested ... and the weaker ones doing what was demanded because they objectively figure they can't win and getting blown up is not at all beneficial for an individual). ...But they actually managed to convince a substantial number of their species that an unified empire composed of xuhrl-njok is something they would all individually gain from? Oh dear.

They are sociopaths, but they are still capable of rational thought; if there is a Xuhrl-njok (just occurred to me that I've been spelling it wrong all this time) spryne that is notably older, more powerful or skilled than its peers, then the ones around it can easily reach the decision to either band together in order to overcome this powerful specimen or, in case of ones with more agreeable personalities (they may not feel any sympathy for others, but they feel no particular desire to hurt them, either), decide to ally themselves with it. In either case even though Xuhrl-njok sprynes are indeed solitary creatures, it's in their best interest to have others of their kind to work together with in order to ensure their survival. Calling their society an "empire" was not correct of me... they don't really have a nation at all, per se, but their people do occupy a region that they rule supremely, mostly organized into these aforementioned groups either lead by that one powerful central figure around which the group formed, or ruled by general consensus in groups formed of weaker Xuhrl-njok sprynes. The main reason they don't go around wiping civilizations off the map is the fact that they aren't united as one people, so surrounding lands usually just have to contend with the individual bands making raids to capture slaves for labor and sustenance.
What I'm trying to get at is that if someone were to repeatedly target the Xuhrl-njok, attacking them rather than just fight them off when they attack, this would build up consensus even across the various bands of them... and given a common objective, the Xuhrl-njok can act with unity. Raiding them too frequently or for too long would eventually make them recognize the raiders as an enemy to their species as a whole, and they would obliterate them.

Shienvien said (I vaguely recall the spryne-part meaning "nation" ... and them sometimes using it interchangeably with individual because each one is out for oneself only anyway.)

Spryne does mean "nation" in their language, but since they don't have a nation to begin with they don't use it when referring to their species collectively, but only when referring to individuals or groups within their people. When referring to their people as a whole it is omitted.

Shienvien said ...Speaking of which, I can't exactly imagine niin making a nation, either. I figure they wouldn't simply be able to care about being a people long enough, let alone bother with making a nation with borders and rulers and such rather than just settling down wherever seemed convenient, only to wander off again when something more interesting is on the horizon.

You're right, of course, which is why they never formed one.

Shienvien said And hmm... Yeah. You haven't said there are beasts as great as those of the Malith Jungle in the west ... but you hadn't said there weren't, either, and there are couple of creatures that are big and fearsome enough in the north, too, including in Rodoria. Some species of powerful bovine-kin (such as used to be here until - surprise - humans hunted them to extinction ... actually, all over the world there used to be massive beasts that humans eradicated) or similar alone would explain why creatures like del-korm showed up... I think currently the main issue with del-korm being from the south (no conflicts with locals provided) would be climate. (Arctic del-korm variant in southern Balazth? Erm...) Could a large island off of northwestern Kirirak work? Del-korm have been placed on an island before.

Hmm... you're probably right; my main concern was the creatures specifically mentioned in explaining about them, namely bisons and mammoths, neither of which I felt too fond of imagining on the same latitude as northern Kirirak, Rodoria in particular, but obviously there exist creatures even more dangerous than those even in those regions. The part of them being arctic is news to me, though... did I miss that somewhere? Was it mentioned? But obviously they can't come from the tropical south if that's the case. Eh... yeah, I guess they could come from the far west, but if so a substitute for prehistoric bisons and mammoths would have to be found as to what they contend with... shouldn't be too hard; Reniam has loads of dangerous beasts of its own, along with a wide selection of animals from Earth. Or they could have an island, if that is preferrable, although this would still have to be a good ways to the west, or entirely new issues would arise (most notably having to deal with Melenian ships and pirates, but also other things particular to that part of the ocean).

Shienvien said (ASTA's character was/is somewhat of an outcast, as I've understood, which in part explains how he ended up so far... And for the matter, del-korm *can* live quite long if they don't get killed ... not sure how long exactly - he can specify -, but well over a century, if not a couple of centuries.)

So it just randomly wandered across the continent and found Rodoria? I suppose it's a passable explanation, particularly if they really live that long. It is a very long way to wander, though, especially if it had to find a way past the Yawning Gorge to get to the eastern part of the continent.

Legion X51 said Regarding the points about the Xhurl-njok and the Eireannach potentially coming into border conflicts, I can re-instate the Kingdom of Thessaleia (human kingdom, not much work to do and most of it I've done for another RP already, so no worries there?) as a buffer state between the Xhurl-njok and the Eireannach so as to prevent both sides from coming to blows. I had the Eireannach and Thessaleians almost at constant state of war - similar in a way to the late Roman Empire and its struggles with barbarians.

Don't worry about working out a detailed explanation for Thessaleia, a brief sentence or two about what kind of kingdom it is would suffice quite fine for the time being; with lands that far west the influence it has on the eastern lands is almost nonexistent, and the probability of the characters ever going there would not be very high (it could happen, though... in case of which you may have to explain in more detail later on, when it becomes relevant). If the alternative is that the Éireannach would raid the Xuhrl-njok repeatedly, eventually leading to their destruction, then inserting Thessaleia between the two would probably be a good solution (then it would the Thessaleia being raided by Xuhrl-njok, too, instead of the Éireannach).

Legion X51 said As for interbreeding, though the Eireannach are similar in appearance to humans, I think humanity would be the only race with whom they could successfully breed, with maaaaybe Nightwalkers being a very rare and 'barren' partnership. Most other races are a no-go.

That's fine; humans and Nightwalkers are only compatible with one another, too, and no other races, so it would make sense for the Éireannach to have a similar relationship with them. How do these crossbreeds turn out, though? As Shien just pointed out there is a backlash when crossing Nightwalker and human blood that cause them to lose their eyesight, but how does Éireannach blood mix with human? Nightwalker?

Shienvien said Also, as I pointed out - long lifespan doesn't necessarily mean long period till maturity. There are Earthern beings which can hit hundred and twenty, but are full adults at three or so. And yeah ... wars, illness, predators, underabundancy of food, low conception rate, the factors which bar exponential population growth rate are many. Here I will also note that fertility period may not last for the entire adulthood - human women past forty-five or so very rarely conceive naturally despite the life expectancy being at about eighty (and lifespan cap at over hundred), for instance.

I know that, which is why I changed my approach as I wrote my thoughts on that bit (I should have deleted and rewritten that entire paragraph rather than leaving in my confusing train of thought as I went from one thought to another). My concern wasn't that it was unrealistic for them to maintain their population while being constantly at war - well it was at first, until I realized I was presuming too much just based on their lifespan - but that the growth of their population would be even more unsurstainable than that of humans. I know that there are numerous factors that limit population growth, but the fact that the Éireannach could sustain their population with continuous replacements for numbers lost in constant war would suggest that there aren't many of such natural limitations for them, and with individuals living as long as they do... well, if they did not take losses from war, I imagine they would very quickly find themselves fighting among themselves, stricken with pandemic illnesses and/or suffering from widespread famine. I'm not saying that it's unrealistic or that I object to it, I merely noted the fact that as I saw it, the Éireannach would not be able to sustain themselves as a people if there were no one for them to fight.

[Shienvien]

Dark Jack said The part of them being arctic is news to me, though... did I miss that somewhere? Was it mentioned?

A bit of metagaming on my part, I guess... But yeah, whenever they have been placed on a map they have been up in the north, and while not all of them are the arctic type (those not quite so far up are a bit smaller and much darker in color), they certainly aren't tropical...

Dark Jack said (most notably having to deal with Melenian ships and pirates)

Why would the Melenians take interest in a people who can crush bones with ease and take their time in being stopped by wounds, but don't particularly care for riches of any kind... I would imagine the pirates would learn to leave them alone quite quickly, never mind that del-korm probably do not seafare all that much besides occasionally to the nearest coast. (Don't take my word on it, I just haven't seen them described as taking much interest in the sea, and I don't imagine they would myself.)

(It is unsustainable, that word there, no 'r'.)

Hrm... And I believe it is you in the collab, Ashgan with Jillian, and Merc on the Zerul-side (and Yoshua being undetermined for the time being)?