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Spells

In the world of Cynn, magick involves taking surrounding mana, and channeling it. All of the greater races use some mana when doing everything, normally unconsciously. As such, much magick is unconscious. Orcs increase their own body strength, a feat that Men can learn as well.

But, Men are uniquely good at outer magick. They draw mana from the surrounding area, and give it colour and direction. This creates especially showy effects. Other races are less conspicuous with their magicks. Dwarves are masters of channeling mana into their creations, while Elves use it to give them eternal youth.

For Men, in order to create magick you need to draw energy from a source, gives it colour and direction. You have to have an idea of what the mana is going to do, and how it is going to do this.

Unless you use a spell. Spells are ways of shaping your thoughts. By giving a spell a name, you turn it into a Platonic form. You manipulate mana as you move your body. You use words as a sort of trance or mantra. All of these combine together to make a spell. Spells are completely unnecessary to create magick, but allows the spells to be made without the deeper understanding.

Someone who uses spells can use magick stronger than they otherwise would, but has less variability with it. Most mages only learn a handful of spells, and twice this in supportive cantrips.

The most useful thing a sorcerer can do in combat is... creating a barrier to block missiles. Yes, they can do other things, but blocking missiles is such a force multiplier that few other spells could compete, and most of them require more mana than most Men are able to channel. Sorcery is the most orderly of magicks, and as such for the most mathematical of magick users.

Pyromancy follows passion. It is easy to use in combat, but easy to cause unintended damage.

Holy magicks draw power from the sun, or the sun inside you. The simplest thing they can do is also the most useful, healing. Few divine abilities provide anything comparable in combat.

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What’s Lion of Cynn?

Series of fantasy books I've written.

Looked into getting them published, but mainstream publishing is a hellish place.

It has a lot of interpretations of fantasy worlds, races, magick, etc., that I've been wanting to talk about.

I created the blog, and it's found here.

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What happened to the dragons? Or they just are t present in your fantasy?

In my fantasy, the Lion of Cynn, Dragons are bound by Dragonpacts with mortals. They aren't allowed to affect the world outside of Dragonpacts. While they can used for nearly any purpose, and Dragons as both wise and old, but geopolitically, they are treated like nuclear weapons.

Wyrms are actually fallen Seraphim, whom are too proud to give up their power. They then suffer at their own lack of utility.

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Metallurgy

Iron

One of the most common metals, and is soft enough to work, but strong enough to resist. This said, it takes extremely high temperatures to melt. It is also the bane of mana. This makes them extremely poor choices for spellcasting, as it saps their mana, but also makes them affective against magical enemies. Nets made with Iron Weights are the main way of capturing Elves, while that and being nice to them.

Steel

Iron combined with coal, and often other metals. It is a lot harder than Iron, while sharing most of the same benefits, and most of the same drawbacks. It allows the creation of things like rapiers, but the hardness makes it more brittle.

Marble Steel

Marble Steel is created by using layers of Iron and Steel, which are heated and twisted together. This creates a unique marble finish, with the benefits of Iron and Steel. This is one of the most difficult base metals to make into swords, typically done by Dwarves.

Bronze

Made of Copper and Tin. Copper is relatively common, and Tin used in far lower levels. When combined into Bronze, you get a weapon that can hold a fantastic edge, and one that does not rust, (though it does tarnish). But, the hardness makes it more prone to chipping and breaking, compared with Iron. But, the biggest benefit it has compared to Iron is that is has good magickal conductivity, especially for holy magics.

Mythril

One of the rarest metals, and one of extraordinary light weight and resilience, making it the perfect for armour or small swords, but it's rarity means that it's rare to ever an item solely, or even primarily made from Mythril.

Most of the existent Mythril armour appears more like filigree, and is worn by people who would otherwise not wear armour. Often reserved for the wealthy and effete, and their concubines.

Sunsteel

Not true steel, but a combination of Bronze, with small amounts of Gold and Mythril. This is the preferred metal of Cynnish Templars, as it channels the holy glory of God and the sun.

Moonsteel

Made from Steel, Silver, and Mythril. This channels the rare, more arcane energies used by mages, scholars, and magick knights.

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Orcs

Neither demons, nor noble savages. They instead have a moral system completely different from our understanding of good of evil.

Orcs have never formed and empire, and the reason they state is because there would be no one to challenge you to keep you strong. If you have no one to challenge you, you become weak, and to Orcs, that is the greatest sin. Orcs don't just allow treachery, they don't ust expect treachery, they demand it. If they are weak enough to be defeated, they deserved to be. But, this said, when making a challenge, they will typically do so with equal numbers.

That said, it's extremely easy to speak with Orcs, (assuming you can speak their tongue). All you have to do is light a great beacon fire. The most powerful Orc princes in the area will come for parley. During which time you won't face any violence from the prince. Anyone wishing to challenge the prince might make a move, however. Once you meet the Orc prince, there is a good chance negotiations will only achieve anything other than a momentarily peace, is highly dependant on how it helps the prince.

In sexuality, Orcs consider marriage to be a form of slavery. Females will join with a male when he proves his worth, and cease to do so when he ceases as well. Because of this, because consider a female choosing a male as a sign of his worth, they believe that females must not just consent, but preferably actively choose their males. This means that females of other races, if they can join an Orc warband, will be fully protected.

Of course, this leaves many males without females, and Orcs believe this is good. The chaff will be given meager fare, and allowed to live. In truth, because they are chaff, they are often simply ignored by the machinations of weak. Though, they are not allowed to carry spears nor waraxes.

The Summer King was able to negotiate a treaty between the Orcs of the Orclands, and the Holy Gothic Empire. The Empire would be able to build cities in the Orclands, while the Orcs themselves would control the plains. This allows the Orcs to benefit from trade with the Empire, and the Mannish cities effective have the entirety of the Orcish race as an army to protect them.

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Artifact Creatures

Artifact Creature is an extremely broad category, and follows the general belief that Artificers can do anything, if given enough time and resources.

And, this is technically true, but more complex designs require exotic materials, and an incalculable immaterial spirit.

Everything you do, channels mana, whether you realize it or not. Sorcerers, Scholars, Pyromancers, etc. simply are conscious of this. Other races, like Orcs, do not have magic users, because they do not need do. Orcs channel mana through their bodies to strengthen and quicken them.

When crafting, you channel mana through it. Sorcerer/Pyromancers can do something showy, like adding a fire enchantment. But other, more subtle enchantments can increase accuracy, or make a bow easier or harder to draw. If we extend this further, we could say have a flying scimitar, a weapon that has to be controlled, but does not need to be maintained in hand.

When an Artifact becomes an Artifact Creature is when it can truly move on it's own. The problem with this is that the Artificer does not know HOW the object will move on it's own. They might have a general idea, but these Artifact Creatures will have to Mature on their own. With experience making similar Artifacts, and Artificer can learn to produce Artifact Creatures with this Maturity born into them.

All Artifacts have the material body and immaterial spirit. When repaired, they need to be physically repaired from a skilled craftsman, and spiritually repaired by an Artificer.

Artifact creatures have personalities roughly equivalent to that of lesser beasts. They can be frightened easily, and communicate through noises of their type and material. Those who know learn that these noises are akin to those of animals, such as a horse or hound, and primarily express emotion.

Sedan

The most common Artifact Creature, and, in fact, the only one that is universally recognizable. They are essentially horseless carriages. While in theory, they could take on the form of any carriage, their time, expense, and rarity mean that only the wealthiest can afford them, and even then a coach pulled by a couple of horses would likely be cheaper. Despite the fact it in theory could be of nearly any shape, there are so few Sedan makers that most Sedans are not only copied from existing carriage designs, they are often built with the cartwrights that build ordinary carriages.

Wood is the primary material, and this is because the primary metal that could be used, iron, doesn't just have poor magickal conductivity, but negative magickal conductivity, while wood of all varieties is naturally conductive.

Airship

A lost technology in Cynn, that is until the Summer King's glory. Even then, he created his fabled, (in his opinion overfabled), Lionwight to carry his Myrmidons into battle. The Holy Gothic Empire had Alchemical Cohorts that used them at the time.

Airships are exactly as it would seem, and like Sedans, were often patterned off of real ships, with a cabin and poop deck in the rear. They typically lack the castles of ships of the line, as there are few if any other ships to actually fight. Combat is instead typically done with boarding actions.

Being patterned after ships means that most airships can land in the water, and in truth, most cannot land. Instead, they simply moor while floating in the air.

For the record, the Summer King views the airship Pearlescence, (former Imperial Alchemical Airship), as his flagship, while the Lionwhite is more for military deployment.

Myrmidons

A truly lost technology, until revive by the Summer King. Myrmidons are mechanical men. Iron is anti-magickal, and needs to be alloyed with things like silver, gold, and mythril. Other components needed to be made from bronze alloys. Even Thorium and Odinium were required. This was well and truly something that only the Summer King could create. He had the support of the entirety of the Kingdom of Cynn's nobility, nad the Dwarven Hold of Southwall, (who's thane that he was oath-sworn and brother-in-law to), along with various other friendly Dwarven Tribes, up to an including the Dwarven Rebellions. This also required the expertise of Gnomes.

While Gnomes had been enslaved by the Empire, and were often used as functionaries, they rarely showed any creativity, and would not volunteer any of their services not harshly forced out of them. Under the Summer King, the Kingdom of Cynn had made incredible forays into recruiting Gnomes.

The results were the Lionknights, mechanical men 12 feet tall, with swords and polearms to match. Their great Lionshields could deploy spikes and placed as pavises to draw their great Lionbows, capable of damaging a Seated Dragon.

Note: The Summer King is honestly annoyed at how everyone insists on naming everything he makes after Lions. At one point, he barely enchanted a stone before giving it to the Dwarves that can headed his call and come to aid him. It's not treated as a sacred relic, though the first Man to ask Dwarves to form a hold, (usually it is formed, extremely difficult to remove, and too economically valuable to do anything about), handing them a stone from the mountain he asked them to protect, could be treated no other way, at least with hindsight. This said, he did not object to his portal being named The Lion's Reach.

Flying Carpets

Considered the quintessential Artifact Creature, though at least only in myths and legends from long lost cultures.

The Summer King recruited a Dwarven weaver to help him craft one, (so his Dwarven wife could experience the joys of flight), and they discovered why:

It makes you vulnerable to wyverns.

The Empire's did use cohorts of carpeters, but never in an unsupported capacity, and never in the untamed mountains that typically contain wyverns.

Iron Ponies

A creation wholly of the Summer King, and in truth, partially to test the technology to produce Myrmidons. The other reason they were crafted was because he has a pair of Dwarven wives, and Dwarves are not fond of riding horses, (too tall for them to be comfortable).

One of the major creations, other than integrated Vaults of Holding, were spinning metal armatures that allow the Iron Ponies to harness far more mana than their bodies should allow.

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Fauns

When creating races, I wanted to make sure they were distinct. Physically, socially, magickally, and sexually. Otherwise, they might as well just be another tribe/kingdom of a race I already have.

Fauns live to about 20 years, and have Elven-upper bodies and deer lower bodies. The females are extremely busty, (because they have to feed their babies twice as much), and they despise clothes. Clothes are something the Holy Gothic Empire forces upon it's slaves. They instead paint their bodies. Their body paints use colours and patterns that have deep meaning to other Fauns. If Fauns spend enough time with a Mannish family, they might, (reluctantly), begin to wear shirts. These shirts will typically be painted in patterns to tell other Fauns that they are not slaves.

They are considered adolescents at 2, and adults at 3, at which point they will leave their birth herd in search other another. Fauns are born 12:1 female, with only one male per herd. The male is the Warleader, in charge of the herd's defence, while the primary movements are controlled by the herd's Princess. A princess is typically the daughter of another princess who found a free buck to form her own herd.

When they see a group of Men, they consider it to be a herd, despite it's actual social structure. In a herd, the primary male is the warleader, whom has the responsibility of covering the females. They assume this is how all herds work, and so can lead to misunderstandings if a doe joins a Mannish herd. But, because they live such short lives, a doe of 10 is considered middle age, passed her prime, and therefore maybe beyond child rearing. As such, non-princess does will often simply wander by themselves if they feel it safe, maybe even engender themselves to a Mannish family.

Their magic is the verdancy of the forest, which can apparently meld the physical damage done to wooden Artifact Creatures.

They typically carry a quiver of javelins on their back as their primary weapons, and for hunting.

The Sin of Cynn and the Faun Saviour

For a millennia, there have been no Fauns in Cynn. Many thought this was strange, others thought it was natural, and others simply thought it Was.

As it turns out, the Men of Cynn had killed them off in ages passed. This is what triggered the Elves to get directly involved with Men, and gift them their divinity as a religion. The religion was then corrupted by the Holy Gothic Empire into Mannish supremacy, to the point that all non-Men, of the Greater Races, were considered to be defacto slaves. Other than Dwarves, as they are difficult to remove once they've dug into an area, and their economic benefits cannot be replaced.

Many Fauns disliked their, and openly attacked any representatives of the Holy Gothic Empire they encountered. They would normally lose, but take many of the soldiers down with them.

This was when they encountered the nascent Summer King. He had a colleague open a portal to send a herd back to Cynn, and every year on the same day since, until a treaty was forged with the Empire to end slavery.

One of the points made was that holding Fauns as slaves was not just unproductive, but counter-productive. They could patrol the forests FOR the Empire. Or flee to Cynn, where they had no obligations whatsoever. Taxes in Cynn are paid by landowners, and rent is payed by tenants. Vagrants, and those from undeveloped lands pay no taxes or rent.

Because of this, the Fauns hail him as the Faun Saviour, and to this day will do anything he asks of them. Many of the 10 year does came to his call, to patrol his new Kingdom of the Summerlands, far to the south, below the Orclands and Europa.

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Elf

(p): Elves

Elves are the J. J. Abrams mystery box of the setting. Everyone thinks there is some great Elven civilization, that harkens back to the most ancient times. And, in truth, many Elves like to play at this, while others despise the deception.

Elves gain most of their energy from the magicks of the world. They are skilled at hunting and foraging. So, the question is, why would they?

Alright, if they don't build a civilization, what do they do? The simple answer is wander, the better answer is Men. They love Men. They are adorable and soulful, capable of being both angels and demons; the Elves believe it's their duty to try and gently nudge Mankind towards the former.

Gnomes, they get along quite well with, but they respect their desire for isolation. Often visiting shortly, before departing.

Dwarves, they love, with all their heart, as every - single - thing they do annoys Dwarves, and violates their precepts of what it means to be a Greater Race.

While Dwarves have strict rules for social order, Elves have no social order. While Dwarves focus on building themselves, their family, their society. Elves can spend centuries not seeing their family without noticing, they focus on everything but themselves. Dwarves care about the future, Elves try to avoid the past.

Elves will sleep with anyone that is willing, and social precepts will abide. To the point that the Kingdom of Cynn used to have a law titled Sodomy Not With an Elf, because and Elf would probably be willing. Notably, Elves are exception among the Greater Races in that they do not have facial hair. If asked, the response is usually so they can seduce men, though usually asked as a question.

And this is what makes the Empire's efforts to enslave their Elves, with command collars, and iron shackles, so harsh, because the Elves would probably help if they just asked.

Since ancient times, Mannish kingdoms have learned that Elves will often simply show up to a young warrior, follow him, and this young warrior will ALWAYS go onto greatness. This is because Elves can see all of the good a man will do, in the future and his past.

The peace treaty that the Summer King negotiated with the Holy Gothic Emperor had the Kingdom of Cynn train their Elves. How are the Elves recruited? There is a town that the Empire will send their promising young warriors to. Elves know about this place, and will often pass through, looking into their pasts and futures. If they pick one, he is promoted to Elf Knight, a position that has court precedence of a Herzog (Duke), as those of the Knights-Palatine, and Knights of the Order of the Black Sun.

Asking questions of Elves can be exacerbating. Elves are not trying to be obstructive, but have lived so long and seen so much that questions need to be extraordinarily specific to be of any relevance to them.

The magick of Elves is the magic of the body. They do not age passed their prime, they can shift into the form of animals, they are far stronger than their lanky frames should allow. They can heal others, but will not bring it up if there is a designated healer. Sleeping with an Elf cures people of STD's, and improves their overall health. Elves only get pregnant when they want to, and can pass this blessing onto other species.

The child is always of the mother's race, but can carry traits from their father. So, a tall man might produce an especially tall Elf.

The Summer King's iconic red hair has passed on to many species. Elves that were freed from the Holy Gothic Empire often became his slaves in the Dwarven bathhouses he proliferated. He was initially opposed to this, but it seems working as a prostitute in a Dwarven-built Mannish bathhouse, while wearing the finest silks is best way for many Elves to live. So long as they can choose their master.

Sayings:

Elf-thin.

All Elf and bones.

Nude as an Elf.

Elves are well and truly Angels. Of the lowest choir, of the lowest sphere. Their job is to mingle among mortal Men, and attempt to sway their to righteousness. They passed their divinity onto Men as a religion.

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Gnome

(p): Gnomes

Until the Summer King's discovery of the ancient city of Araddwmer, there had never been a single incidence on a Gnomish city, town, village, or even tribe.

Gnomes do not even have marriage. A couple stays together only until a child is old enough to follow one of the parents around, at which point they will simply separate. Not out of any animosity, but simply a desire for separation.

Many would think that they hate each other, they hate Men, that they are confrontation and aloof. The latter two are true. But, their confrontational nature belies a caring nature that goes beyond what most of the Greater Races are capable of. While they deeply care about others, they do not care about being liked. The tales of the Summer King include a time he was invited into the hollow of a Gnome he had just quarrelled with. The Gnome intent to provide hospitality, despite the fact his hollow was barely large enough for the Summer King to crawl inside, (before he had even reached his full height).

The Summer King, his love for Gnomes known far and wide, his court speculates that the deep love of Gnomes is what drives their separation, and closeness means they feel loss far greater than the other Greater Races.

The nature of Gnomes is Connection. Connection between people allows them to learn languages far faster than other, to the point that the Summer King is said to always keep them on hand as translators. Their Connection makes them as good with earth as they are with gardens and Artifact Creatures. They have a tremendous affinity for learning, and work well with any organization, so long as their sardonic nature can be tolerated. This said, they can be focused to a fault, and often need more social races to pull them back into reality.

Before the Holy Gothic Empire freed the slaves, Gnomes were considered almost perfect slaves. Now that they are free, (after learning how to, indeed, be free), Mannish organizations go to extreme lengths to attract their interest. Despite the low pay, Gnomes care more about the man they serve, than the pay they are to receive.

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Races: Dwarf

(p): Dwarves

Short and stout, of about four feet tall. Dwarven society predominantly exists in extensive, exogamous clans. If a new hold is formed, a new clan is as well. Dwarves ken single-step relations, father/mother, brother/sister, son/daughter, but consider all other Dwarves in their clan to be two steps away, the uncle/aunt/grandparent/niece/nephew/cousin level. As such, they do not have their own words for these, though acknowledge that others do have them. As they exist in clans, what Men consider to be professions for Dwarves is more considered to be chores performed around the hold.

Dwarves are expert miners and artisans. As such they do not value currency, per se. Sure, it is incredibly useful and necessary for survival, but to them money is simply a product of work and time, both things Dwarves have in abudance. They instead value favours. Many Men have gone deep into debt with Dwarves only to be significantly better off because of it, up to and including the Summer King. Dwarves will always ask for favours that one can provide, and always, to them at least, equal to what they provided. Demanding ruinous favours stops you from asking for favours in the future, and Dwarves view this as self-defeating, (though they will if they consider their own costs worth the trouble they cause you).

Dwarven holds will normally start as mines, and they dig up the side of a cliff, opening up windows for air and light. Their windows are normally left open, because they do not need to worry about warmth as Men do. Dwarves will ornately carve everything in their lives, including their holds, (though this will often take centuries to come to fruition).

Dwarves love their baths. Young holds will normally have two baths, one for each sex, but mature holds will normally have baths in each chambre. The bath is heated with a stone, that Dwarven Pyrans will force heat into. When traveling, Dwarves will bath in whatever river and stream presents itself, as they do not have to worry about the chill that Men would. Most races come to love Dwarven baths as Dwarves do. In truth, much of the Summer King's wealth and influence came from his seating of Dwarves baths across the Empire, and later back to Cynn, where they often became the core of a nacent city.

For magick, Dwarves apply external mana into objects imbuing them with powers. This can be seemingly eternal enchantments, or enchanting the explosion in their firearms as it is firing to change it's effects.

Dwarves are far stronger than Men and can live for over three centuries. Because of this they rarely work to make their own lives easier. This means that Dwarves often have tremendous knowledge and ability to make the lives of others easier, if you become friendly enough with them to help you.

Because of their long life, and their belief that more dangerous professions provides more social credit, male Dwarves die as often as Men, while female Dwarves rarely die of anything other than natural causes. This lead to tremendous amounts of spare females that Dwarves consider a standard and proper marriage to be one male to several females. When the husband dies, the wives grieve, often for decades, and then move on. Widows rarely have to worry for their survival, as the remainder of the clan will take care of them. In truth, any clan they are friendly with will take care of them, at the most this will be considered a favour. At the least this will be considered hospitality.

Dwarves view a friend staying with them as an invitation to stay with them. The reverse is also true, and if you are in an area and do NOT stay in a friendly hold, that can and often is viewed as telling them they are not welcome. The females take care of their males. Males offer hospitality to visitors. If a female offers hospitality to a male from another clan, this is viewed as flirting. Despite it's banal apperance, Dwarves take this with extreme severity, to the point that a male might have to keep his cup covered for nearly an entire meal, as letting an, (often persistent), female fill his cup, is considered flirting in return.

Dwarven females believe that if they aren't getting enough attention from their husband. It's their fault. They just need to put more effort into it. The nacent Summer King, (the fabled Lion of Cynn; once nothing more than a simple knight), had a maid who proved that you simply have to work harder if you want to get a husband. The Lion called her Dragon, for her force, (and her voice). Dwarves, by contrast, call her a Demon. It encouraged female Dwarves to try even harder than they had before when trying to marry a husband.

The traditional form of marriage for Dwarves has a male relative introduce the female to her prospective husband. She does what she can to act as his wife. If he already has wives, they often will not make this easy, unless they especially approve of her. At a certain point, the marriage becomes a betrothal. And once betrothed, the male takes the female to bed, and upon the first seeding, they are married. This can be troublesome for those of other races, (or clanless Dwarves), who do not know the rules, and might have trouble telling exactly what part of the courtship they are. Dwarves react the same way a man would act if a female has her betrothral broken off. Before this line, however, at any time, the male can send the female away, and the relationship is broken off. Sometimes this might happen at what other races would consider an inappropriate time, but the usual response is that Dwarves are as robust as they seem. The females won't take it as an insult, but it will normally prevent a relationship from forming between them in the future.

Partially from wanderlust, and partially from the intensity of their own marriages, males Dwarves will often spend a year or more away from his clan and family. Trading, exploring, learning, etc.

Dwarves are considered adults at 50, at which point it is common for an older male relative to take them on a journey into the lands of another races. One of the older males, (it's impossible to recruit one Dwarf), will take personal responbility for their safety, always watching over them.

Dwarves have classes, which is not a social class, but a unique set of skills and affinities for certain jobs. It does not matter what they are currently doing, they are always considered to have their class. All male Dwarves are considered to be warriors. Females can if they choose, (which they rarely do). Classes are treated like professions. While professions might not be for everyone, they are prestigious, and those who do not find one often find themselves adrift. Not all Dwarves are fit to be a thane, of course. The class is only applied to those that fervently pursue it. Those of casual interest, (by Dwarven standards), are not considered of the class.

Artisan: As economically essential as mining is to not just the hold, but entire kingdoms. Dwarves take artisanry seriously. Males take up the more physical crafts, while females take up the more dextrous ones. Though, this has to be taken from a Dwarven perspective, as beating dough into submission is typically done by their females.

Bee Keeper: This might seem strange, but Dwarves have natural allergies to bees. Bees are essential to agriculture, and honey also one of the greatest foods. Bees, (and other jacketed things), can cause a Dwarven force to rout.

Dragoon: They are experts at firearms, able to enchant the explosion in-progress, allowing them to turn a firearm into something that can launch them into the air, creates plumes of flame, or even explosions.

Mining (m): One of the most essential jobs for Dwarf-kind, especially as most Dwarven holds start as naught but mines. 

Nurse (f): One of the most essential classes, the keeping of the young, and old, and infirm. They wield healing magics, while being skilled at soothing, of saying just what is needed to say to, of aiding those injured to not just heal, but recover.

Pyran (m): Dwarves love their baths. Their baths usually have a bath stone that is manually heated by a Pyran, whom channels a lot of heat into the stone. Other pyromancers can heat it, but it still a ridiculous amount of exercision to force heat into cold stone.

Shepherd: Shepherds are essential, as sheep and goats are one of the best resource any race can have. It requires a combintion of leadership and pacivity that Dwarves find most difficult. It also requires them to spend much time away from their hold, which most Dwarves find most queer.

Skald: The keepers of their words. Dwarves speak many languages, and never speak their language in front of other races. Even Men who marry into Dwarven holds, although this is as much because it takes 50 years to get decent at it. The tongues of men take far less. They maintain the libraries, act as advisers, and wield Word Magick. These words are all Dwarven, leading to few if anything that can possibly ken their existence.

Viking (m) / Valkyrie (f): They ride the wind and channel the storm. Dwarves do not channel magick through their body, but directly from the environment into objects. Because of this, they can channel lightning into objects. Channeling lightning through the body risks striking the heart, (for despite it's power, lightning is such a fickle thing), which will instantly kill most of the Greater Races. While they cannot fly, they can shunt wind against their bodies, cloaks, and shields. They can use lightning to quicken their limbs, (as the lightning will not seek it's way into their hearts).

Fantasy Counterpart: Scottish / Nordic

Dwarves and Men

Dwarves view Men as a young race that won't have the chance to get old. But, unlike the long-lived Elves, the Gnomes that live slightly longer than Men, and Fauns that live shorter lives, Men do interesting things. They build, they explore, they fight over petty grudges, (the best kind). They can marry into a Dwarven clan, (and several, in fact), though are given only small concessions, such as understanding why they have trouble remembering every fact of every hold they are friends with. Dwarves understand that only the first wife is considered wife among Men, legally, but and that all others are considered concubines, legally. They still expect men to treat them all as wives. Dwarven females who marry men were normally viewed as Mannish ahead of time. It's only a scandal as everyone claims to have seen it coming.

Dwarves use Mannish, and related terms, to mean feminine. They consider swords to be feminine. This means they will lightly insult men they come across by calling them Mannish. When they've earned their respect, the Dwarves will often simply avoid calling them Mannish, and stop making reference to their sword. Men will often take this as as insult instead of the compliment it is meant as.

Dwarves have tremendous physical and intellectual abilities, with fields of scholarship not even imagined by Men, but Dwarves rarely find any need to use this. If a Man can get a Dwarf to aid them, it will be to death. A team of Dwarven bombadiers can change the fate of a siege. Their understanding of economics is so powerful that one of the reasons the Empire never enslaved, as they did with all other non-Mannish races. The other, of course, being that Dwarves often control mountain passes, and once they dig themselves into a hold, they are extremely difficult to remove.

Note: As of this point, only the Summer King has ever invited Dwarves to form a hold in Mannish. They normally form on their own, and once they are established, are too useful and difficult to remove to do anything about. Empire is the Mannish trait, and as such, most lands occupied by most species, are under the auspices of the local Mannigh kingdom. This includes Dwarves.

[cynnvein]

Races: Man

(g): Mannish, (m): man, (f): woman, (p): men, (p/f): women

The most populous race of Europa. The nature of Man is Empire, having the largest, most prominent, and most long-lasting civilizations. Men are like gas, and spread over all available space. Even regions that seem to offer no logical reason for inhabitation will often be inhabited by Men. As such, in most places, the other races live in territory claimed by men. The levels of integration depend on the tribe and the kingdom, but Man has the largest kingdoms, along with the occational continent-spanning empires.

The sexuality of Men is semi-monogamous. Most men will take a single wife, but the simple fact that men live more dangerous lives, there is always an excess of women. These women have to be taken up by the upper-class men. In Europa, the Aenean Empire created a president where men can only have one wife, but this was strickly for dynastic stability. Only one wife means only one source of potential heirs. The other women take titles dependant upon the existent culture, such as concubine, hand maiden, mistress, etc. Long ago, Men discovered that they can compare the colour of magick people a parent and child, and this even applies to a foetus in the womb. This means that modern cultures can be 100% certain of who the father is. As such, the mater semper certa est has been replaced with the immediate induction of a pregnant woman into the family of the father, whom then has responsibility for the children. If a woman commits adultery, (cheating on her husband, et al.), then she is normally punished to a varying degree, and the man is given the choice of taking responsibility for the child.

For magick, Men use outer magick. The primary, elucidated schools of magick for men are Sorcery, Pyromancy, and Holy. All of these draw in surrounding mana and apply "colour" (indescribable qualia), to create external spells. Because Men use magick in a much more obvious fashion than the other races, this often leads Men into believing the other races are not magickal. All races are magickal, in at least one way or another.

Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Pre-Norman Britain