Druskai
Contents
Fast Facts
Height: 5'10-6'4" Males, 5'6"-5'11" Females
Weight: 150-250(lbs) Males, 120-180(lbs) Females
Lifespan: Adult (18 years), Elder (100 years), Deathly (150 years)
Notable Features: Navy, Aquamarine, Midnight Blue or Teal Skin, White or Misty Eyes, Fin-Like Ears, Colorful Hair and Selectively Webbed Hands and Feet
Player Restrictions: None
Racial Ability: Paddlefoot: Druskai can hold their breath for a period of up to two hours at a time, and can swim much more quickly and elegantly than the other humanoid races while they've elected to web their hands and feet.
Population: 32,000,000 (22,000,000 Korkann, 10,000,000 Vethcairn)
Distribution: Lukhan, Adena, Daravin, Sil-Elaine, Teos, Vividim, Tyrclaid
History
It is undeniable to the Druskai, though denied by the Hyr'Norai who refuse to taint their myths with Her name, that the race was initially created by the old Elven God Veravend, stricken down from the Elven pantheon for her deceit, cruelty and unwelcome aspirations. The God of the Unknown, she lived among the unforeseen beasts at the bottom of the ocean floor, where she met a welcome suitor: the Outsider.
Veravend was an interesting creature; though an Adac, many of her desires mirrored the mortals she so seemed to scorn. She was ambitious and unpredictable, seeming to have escaped the programming the Adac normally fall victim to. But her nature as a being of the Unknown was simply the catalyst for these uncanny behaviors, and she fascinated the Outsider in the way she thought and acted. She was also - even to a God - a beautiful, powerful being. She had golden glowing eyes and glassy, fair skin, sharp ears, with flowing dark hair that complimented her fair shade. She was a God who held a disturbingly sculpted facsimile of mortal beauty, seeming to admire the Elves.
The Lord of the Outlands, in many ways a greater model of what she wished to be, took her under his wing and offered her a place at his side. If she could only destroy the Ald'norai, sacrifice their Gods to him and render him their souls, she would be elevated to the status of a true God - rather than the illusion of might she and her brethren portrayed. In order to fulfill these tasks, Veravend created the Druskai, designed as weapons of war to assail the Elves and challenge their dominance over the seas. Her goal was to weaken Lotheric and destroy him first, a binding force for his kin and a threat to her as they both resided in Mornoth's neighboring oceans.
Unsurprisingly, she failed. The Outsider's guidance was limited back then, and Its interference in the affairs of mortal realms was not feasible; the planes were built to keep It away. Isolated, and flailing against powers far greater than her own, Veravend was defeated at the battle of Vilandrek, on the border between modern Daravin and Sil-Elaine. With the Elven Gods prepared to execute her before the masses that had come to their aide, the Goddess was absconded by the Outsider, taken into the Outlands to serve It; or perhaps to be punished, or perhaps to be absorbed.
In the aftermath, the Druskai - made only to war with the Elves - were left without guidance, and so to their race, Lotheric extended a hand. He offered them patronage and guidance, the knowledge necessary to exist in the world as it was, and land in eastern Mornoth to reside in under his protection.
Most accepted his offer. Many, resentful of the Elves they had fought for their whole lives and still loyal to their vanished Queen, fled south to the Isle of Lukhan where - some say - Veravend led them, to fulfill a faraway purpose long into the future. This is where the divide between Korkann and Vethcairn first took place, though they weren't given such overarching names at the time.
Eventually, as the Bleeding came and changed Lotheric into a bitter and hateful God, and allowed the Outsider and his tendrils to seep deeper into the cracks of Atharen, these divides became only more clear and the history of the Druskai forever diverged into two.
Physiology/Biology
Druskai tend to be bulky and muscular for their size, seemingly innately as well as being conditioned due to their strenuous lives both on land and at sea. Along with this, they carry a number of variable traits that appear to reflect the ocean and its biodiversity. Their skin and hair color varies greatly between them, especially their hair - some have simple shades of brunet, some even blond, some silver and a darker jet black, and others have more unique colors... blue, green, red, amber. The universal among them is that their hair tends towards the darker end of the spectrum, regardless of their color. Platinum blond is exceptionally rare, whereas dirty blond is not.
Some have been known to grow coral in their hair or even other oddities; seaweed, shells, a seahorse's horns. Their teeth vary from human-like to razor sharp, and their eyes vary from misty variants of regular hues to an opaque white.
Overall, Druskai biology reflects where they most often live: the land. Despite being a race of sailors and swimmers, they are by all means still land mammals like most of the other races, but with a fortune born proclivity for the oceans and a few unique tools to help them at sea. For one, they can hold their breath for hours, usually two though some skilled swimmers have expanded on this. Additionally, they can willingly shift their hands and feet to become webbed, drastically improving their mobility when swimming. They still do need to learn how to swim, however, not more inherently skilled at the practice than anyone else.
Some features of the Druskai are not considerably different from that of a human. Their skin is of a similar texture, and they are even known to tan to darker shades of their inherent color, some inland Druskai being known for their pale and delicate shades of blue. They are known to have long, coarse hair generally, though exceptions are often as common as the rule within their diverse tribes.
Psychology
Druskai psychology is dynamic and variable, but there are a few common trends throughout their different cultures and societies. The Druskai tend to be very driven by community and family, making them excellent members of any crew or military. They are seemingly predisposed towards loyalty to their 'tribe', and while they do not always act in the greater good of this group, they do seem to have a propensity towards actions that would benefit their group.
An unfortunate drawback of this is that Druskai tend to be highly tribalistic. This is certainly a strongly motivating factor in why they are divided into hundreds of tribes across Atharen, and why even their larger cities - such as Korizant - fail to confederate with other realms, usually standing as lone city-states. Druskai often battle with each other as much as they do the races they seem privy to raid, and it is a common sight to witness their ships battling for hours or days at a time while sailing along Atharen's coasts.
Druskai are also natural extroverts, it would seem, jovial members of any party with an instinctive joy in gatherings and events. Their festivities along the shore are often never-ending, and they tend to be fairly comfortable approaching and engaging with total strangers. Aside from this, Druskai psychology depends largely on culture and environment, with much of their identity formed by the overall culture of their tribe.
Culture
The culture of the Druskai can only be defined through two separate paradigms: Old, and New. In modern terms, these paradigms are roughly split down Atharen's middle, with the Western Druskan (often called Korkann) practicing the more modern of the two, and the Eastern Druskan (called Vethcairn, pronounced 'Vett-Kair-nn') largely following the old ways.
The old ways were practiced amidst nightmarish times, where the Druskai were constantly at war with themselves and their neighbors, and tribal cities of theirs would be rend through and reanimated in the span of a night. These were times before the settling of the Isle of Lukhan, which ironically - despite their dangers - offered many of the Druskai a semblance of peace, through separation from one another and the rivalries which grew from their old claims to land.
Roughly, this culture can be defined through a few almost ideological precepts:
Sacrifice: The Vethcairn sacrifices their own life and wellbeing, as well as the life and wellbeing of others. Cowardice is rewarded with death; any craven within a Vethcairn tribe will be flung onto the vanguard, reanimated in death and turned against the enemy with utter ferocity. Even if their death accomplishes nothing, it is seen as necessary to perpetuate the Vethcairn culture of ruthless loyalty.
Obligation: Vethcairn tend to be obligated towards a specific goal or task, creating a ladder of accountability. If one is dedicated to building a tribe's vessels and their ships prove inadequate at sea, they will often be hung and reanimated. They may be given enough intelligence and free will in death to continue to perform their task, but with layers of manipulative 'programming' that will force them in undeath to act with greater dedication. This often also applies to warriors who fail in battle, and to many this reanimation is seen as a second chance to recover lost honor.
Creed: Typically, Vethcairn tribes have smaller groups within them, brotherhoods or sisterhoods that hold their own precepts. These are generally simple, such as 'honor the brotherhood', but tend to form a tight weave around the actions of each individual Druskai. If the brotherhood is dishonored, the group will gather in solidarity to penalize and demean the dishonorable, forcing them to perform a task to reassert their loyalty. These dynamics can often be as crass as they are familial, and can often be cult-like as well. Some of these brotherhoods and sisterhoods exploit these dynamics for wealth, or sexual desires, or simply for the thrill of power and control.
The Vethcairn are far more brutal than their southern peers, reaving through settlements and creating masses of blighted watery undead. They assail the coasts of Mornoth and the bay of Teos and Khadai with their mutant, deathly husks, only to abscond from any form of retribution by sailing back to the treacherous reaches of the Bay of Magma, or Mornoth's sundered sea.
The culture of the Korkann has largely been forged by the ease of their life, at least in comparison to their kin who reside in corrosive depths. While many Korkann reside in Lukhan and thus must face onslaught by monsters and other mysteries, they tend to find ways to manage these threats usually by evasion, forging their enclaves within well-fortified coves or even simply living within their ship, and foraging as necessary.
Still, they are a hardy people who endure fairly constant threat and rely on raiding to live, largely unable to develop permanent agriculture. Korkann still require loyalty to the tribe and considerable bravery, but their mindset is different and they tend to focus on the celebration of life rather than maintaining their honor. Korkann are more jovial, they are less restrained by creed and therefore tend to develop more individualistic personalities. Many of them are thrill seekers, hunting for pleasures and gambling with fate.
The sea, rather than a deathly veil to surround oneself with in retreat, is seen as a gift and while its depths are shrouded in mystery, they can only be seen as gentle and benign. The ocean is a very important aspect of Korkann culture, with many of them growing up spending whole sections of their childhood laying on the shore, swimming and playing, sculpting the sand and learning to fish. The Korkann erect wooden boards, like rafts, that they surf across the shallow tides while they're young. Some adults build more sophisticated versions of these boards, used for entertainment and sport.
While Vethcairn diet can be described as 'anything they can pillage from the shore', the oceans available to the Korkann are plentiful with fish and other edible sea foods. As a result, they have a great variety of dishes largely unique to them, often constructed artfully from the corpses of the many large fish that dwell in Atharen's southern waters. Their plates, generally wood or gourd, tend to be covered immaculately by flowers and seaweed, with fish and clam as their centerpiece. Korkann are known for their 'kinousa', or plates of varying fish proteins, raw or cooked. Kinousa is typically accompanied by rice, kept in storage on ships, as well as dried seaweed, salts and spices.
Clothing, Grooming and Art
There is a wide gulf between Druskan of the Korkann and Vethcairn when it comes to clothing, largely due to climate reasons as well as culture. The Korkann, mostly situated along the coastline of Lukhan and Atharen's southernmost region, tend to wear ancient-style open tunics with caligae, bands on the arms, minimalist jewelry and generally attire that is warm and complimentary to their physique. They are often immodest and in the season of Searing will often openly bear their chests, particularly along the shoreline as swimming and boating are a fundamental aspect of their culture. More wealthy Druskai may wear more embroidered clothing of a higher quality and make, and perhaps more ornate jewelry with valuable stones, but generally the overall appearance of an aristocrat does not vary greatly from their common brethren.
This style is vastly different for the Vethcairn, who tend to deal with harsher climates and cooler temperatures. They tend to wear furs and heavy cloth garbs, often with leather underclothing and armored mail skirts. Considering they tend to be ocean nomads, they are generally dressed ready for battle if they are awake, as they may encounter enemy vessels or happen upon a settlement that must be raided before given a chance to prepare. Druskai of the north tend to be adorned in warpaint and jewelry acquired by conquest, such as whale's teeth necklaces or rings carved from the bones of enemy Lords.
Vethcairn, when swimming in colder waters, tend to wear external outfits made with thick fish skin as an upper layer, with wool bound to the underside (touching the skin) as a padded addendum. This keeps them warm and insulated in the colder seasons, and can easily be worn on land as well. The more skilled of swimmers sometimes attach crustacean shell armor to these outfits, so long as they have the strength to swim while wearing these armored suits.
Grooming is similar for both Druskai; they do not grow much body hair, and instead tend to acquire aquatic-like growth upon their bodies through time. For example, they may grow a collection of small scales at a random section of their chest, or a discolored path of fish-like skin, or even algae, small pieces of coral or other such things. These must be removed, often with a smooth knife, before they grow too much or they can cause a risk of infection in the Druskai. As a result, they are fervent and active groomers, always maintaining a fairly clean and smooth appearance. Men may grow out facial and body hair even up to the level of a human, but to do so requires time.
Artistically, the Druskai are known for their totems and effigies. While the southern tend towards immaculate, well-carved totems, the northern of them prefer more druidic effigies focused on themes of life and death. Regardless, these religious symbols are often extremely ornate and require true mastery in carpentry to perfect, with their skill in said trade proving to be a cornerstone of their culture.
Technology and Intellectual Pursuits
As one might expect, the Druskai possess the best naval technology in Atharen, outpacing the Arkanai, Lorien and the Grisith Empire. They tend to build massive ships capable of hosting over a thousand crew, and a small city's worth of passengers. These ships, generally frigates, are armed with an assortment of cannons most often of some magical quality. One common example is a Necromancer's cannon that propels powerful undead at its target, reaving through enemy ships with biological weapons designed to shatter through hulls. Many other cannons carry with them the poisons or properties of Alchemy, or bulbous organic matter that spreads airborne disease as it erupts against the enemy ship; either as a biological weapon, or magically enhanced through Bane.
Ruthless and resourceful as a people, their ships are designed much the same, and Druskai have a variety of different models dependent upon which enemy they seek to face. As Druskai tend to raid and pillage coastal settlements all across Atharen, they have fleets equipped to handle the challenges of each race and nation. If they are to raid the Grisith Empire they will bring heavy siege weapons capable of smashing through metal, if against Khadai they will send out hefty bulwarks capable of enduring many smaller and more agile vessels, and the list continues. One notable invention of Druskai shipbuilders is a heavy, ship-mounted artillery cannon of several heads, capable of puncturing even through Grisith airships as well as Lorien and Ganeron's supposedly unbreakable walls. The cannon can turn and fire with regular frequency, allowing Druskai ships to utterly demolish enemy navies.
These cannons are almost solely mounted on the enormous Druskan Warbarges, the greatest warships in Atharen’s history, capable of destroying even Imperial Skyships from afar - and contending with whole fleets.
Religion and Worship
Druskai tend to worship one of two Gods primarily, unsurprisingly divided based on their overall cultural group of either Vethcairn or Korkann. The Korkann worship the Outsider who they believe offered them the gift of their race, separated from the other mortals of Atharen. Their totemic sacrifices and effigies are dedicated to him, as well as each of their successful journeys across the deep sea. These Druskai tend not to be immensely religious, and given that this is the norm of their race, they vary in their affinities and many embrace other Gods of other Pantheons as well.
The Vethcairn - fewer in number - tend to sail inland from eastern Sil-Elaine and the Straits of Adena to perform their raids, using the obscurity of fog and arcane dangers as an advantage to avoid retribution. They dedicate these raids to Lotheric, Elven God of the Brine, who acts as their direct and living patron. Many of these Druskai have embraced the Necromantic roots of their ancestors and become partial or full undead, allowing them to resist the magical bile of the Straits of Adena and reside with Lotheric near the ruins of Mithira.
Reproduction, Aging, and Death
Druskai men are fairly similar to human or Elven men in reproduction, and there is very little to note in regard to them. Druskai women, oddly enough, lay eggs in a cluster around two months after insemination. These look similar to fish eggs, though much larger in size, and they will typically lay around four to six of these. In the vast majority of cases, most of the children fail to survive their development period and around sixty percent of these eggs will be considered invalid. This often results in two to three children per each cycle, though the Druskai woman will often require up to a year to produce another 'batch' internally.
As a result of this, women in Druskai society are not limited whatsoever by reproduction, and they tend to recover very quickly from producing each cluster. This has resulted in near equal involvement in military life as well as other avenues, producing a fairly egalitarian society.
Eggs will typically be placed in protected areas, usually areas kept warm or hot, such as around a hearth. There are dedicated members of Druskai society who watch over these young and once they are fully developed - generally around six months after being laid - they will inform the parents and gather them to witness the birth of these new Druskai, breaking through the exterior of the egg and forcing the newborn to awaken. Druskai begin life confused, but generally passive, and remain passive and docile for the first few years of their being. For this reason they are seen as a true joy to create, carrying few of the difficulties of children belonging to other races.
Druskai tend to develop in a similar way to humans, maturing at around eighteen years of age and going through puberty and other hormonal changes at around thirteen. They tend to be fairly small until around then, and are known for their very dramatic and transformative growth spurts, usually around the age of fourteen. Once reaching adulthood they remain fairly static until around a hundred years of life, at which time their skin notably becomes thicker and more leathery, and their face begins to sprout the majestic bearings of Druskai age.
Their elderly have very unique and adorned faces; they may grow fins along their cheeks, or a singular horn at their chin, or small tentacle-like protrusions from their cheeks. These grow in time and become very intricate and bizarre near the end of a Druskai's life, though as they don't tend to wrinkle with age many people with little experience of their kind tend to think this is a feature randomly distributed throughout their adults. Men tend to remain fertile for their whole lives, while women generally stop being able to reproduce at around the age of seventy.
Druskai, generally fairly healthy in their old age, tend to die suddenly and unexpectedly. The sicknesses of age often set in late and rapidly consume them, a Druskai elder often going from healthy to terminal in a matter of weeks or even days.
Language
The Druskan of the south speak Korkos, though they do so with multiple different dialects depending upon their location in the world. Korkos is a surprisingly smooth and eloquent language, comparable with Greek (in earthen terms).
Druskai names also tend towards such inspiration. Common male names are Damianos, Andreas, Lykaos, Kleon and Eskander. Common female names are Aidora, Irene, Alathea, Chara and Lethe.
The Vethcairn speak a version of Kyriac (the old Elven tongue) that has become so bastardized and morphed through time that it is considered its own language, Valgoth. Valgoth is comparable to Old Norse in earthen terms, as impassioned and brutal as its wielders.
Druskai of the North tend to still carry Korkos-inspired names, though their names are far more fluid and tend to vary based on their region.
