Didn't see a thread like this when I used the search feature, so I apologize ahead of time if this is already a thread somewhere. Also, I wasn't 100% sure where to put this, so again, apologies of it's in the wrong place. But anyways; While I currently have no plans to write any (original) fantasy in the way of novels and the like, I am currently apart of a project to develop a video game as the lead writer and co-story concept, which does in fact happen to be a fantasy game. However, I've noticed quite a few people here are fantasy writers, so I thought it'd be ~*fun*~ to start a thread where people could share their concepts/ideas/plans/essentials for original races they've created for their fantasy worlds. Maybe all you have right now is some general, unfleshed out ideas that you wouldn't mind talking about; maybe you have a completed concept you just want to share. I'll start by sharing one of the races from our project, feel free to use the format for your own post, if you want. Name: Boj'zan The pitch: The boj'zan are, to sort of sum it all up, fantasy orcs meet vikings, kind of. We wanted an orc-like race for our story but we didn't want to just default onto "orc". At the same time, we didn't want to default onto just "orcs but vikings", so we've sort of made up an entirely new kind of race that borrows some conventions from your typical fantasy orc while combining it with conventions of viking raiders, with a lot of original stuff thrown in. Their history: Like many of the races that populate our world, the boj'zan were created thousands of years ago by the colossi, giant beings that used the world they lived on to create sentient life (lol so original am I right). The boj'zan were given the 'gift' to literally read stars, using them to navigate to pretty much extraordinary ability, akin to an animal's natural navigational instincts. The colossi wanted to explore their own world, and intended for the boj'zan to navigate and map it out for them. While the boj'zan started at this task, as hundreds of years went by, the boj'zan realized they could basically navigate anywhere they wanted and even had most of the planet charted out, while developing skills at sailing and long distance land travel. Then all they did was build ships and start aggressively raiding anyone and anywhere they felt like going LOL! The boj'zan are one of the most widely spread of the all the races, if not the most abundant. For thousands of years they have been sailing or traveling to essentially all known corners of the globe. Relics and signs of the boj'zan are nearly everywhere, from the deepest forests to the most rugged mountain regions. As a people, they reflect this back, living all across the planet. Most boj'zan are sea-faring raiders even to this day, and it isn't uncommon to see boj'zan wielding weapons and armor that once belonged to one of the other races, they have little preference in where their steel comes from. Their culture: Boj'zan culture can sometimes be as varied as the boj'zan themselves, depending on where you look. Though the boj'zan are native to the cooler climates of the north and live primarily along the rocky shores, some boj'zan have lived in deserts, on mountains or across grasslands for dozens of generations. Individual cultures in some of these extreme communities can be quite different, but for the large part the boj'zan culture is one primarily based on merit. Not strictly based on gender, birth nobility or even physical strength. Boj'zan value usefulness and typically appreciate it in any form. A strong warrior will be highly valued for their prowess, but an especially gifted navigator or artist will be equally valued for their ability to navigate and map. Boj'zan are also excellent craftsmen, gathering tools, materials, designs and inspiration from their conquests against other races, resulting in a literal melting pot of techniques and skills. Craftsmanship is also highly regarded by the boj'zan, for building warships to sail and for building homes to live and raise families in. Major populations of boj'zan tend to live in loosely organized clans. Many clans are lead by a single Thane, or leader, few Thanes hold the position through blood, somewhat like kings, but most Thanes are elected or chosen through different clan-specific means. Thanes are highly respected and their rule is civilized, one boj'zan can not become Thane just for "beating the old one". Some clans have governing councils who split and share power and operate by votes from their population, much to the curious interest of a race that lives by the rule of absolute monarchies; the humans. Some boj'zan have much more intimate and useful relationships with the other races of the world, especially humans. There are many that serve as merchants, navigators, bodyguards or even mercenaries. Though the age of wide-spread boj'zan pillage is largely at a close, it is not over yet and many live lives of complete piracy, attacking other vessels at sea for their booty. Boj'zan mate for life and if one mate outlives the other, females will rarely recouple. Males, however, will often find a new partner. While some boj'zan across the world irrigate and farm crops, it is a rarity among the race. Most, living along or near coasts and waters, fish or hunt inland for food. Typical boj'zan diets are incredibly rich in protein, even the poorest boj'zan consumes primarily meat. Boj'zan have become masters at deep sea net fishing and most will catch more fish in a single year than members of other races will catch in a lifetime. Crabs, lobsters and clams are delicacies both to the boj'zan and many other races. Above all, however, most boj'zan are defined by their warlike tendencies and fixation with concepts of glory and battle. The overwhelming majority of boj'zan are warriors and reavers at heart, and most of the prominent boj'zan legends concern great warriors and battles. Boj'zan have an insatiable curiosity for exploring, re-exploring and conquering whatever and whoever they find. It is a great honor to sail and return, but an even greater honor to sail and never come back. The boj'zan do not fear death and they fear death far from home even less. Their traits: Physically, the boj'zan tend to be rather large. Average height is over six and a half feet for males, with exceptionally large individuals sometimes growing to as large as nine feet tall. Females are slightly shorter, with an average height of six feet. Boj'zan are naturally thick and muscular, but a lot of this is through their lifestyle. Some are fat, some are thin, some are weak. Most have pronounced jaws with one or more enlarged fangs anywhere on their jawline. They lack prominent noses, instead only having slit nostrils that they can completely close by contracting muscles in their face. Though their swimming ability isn't incredibly notable, most boj'zan are strong swimmers. A lot of their self-produced armor that isn't pillaged from other races normally has 'quick release' buckles, for easy removal when going overboard on a ship. Skin colors range from deep blues to light greens. Most boj'zan, if they survive into older ages, develop slightly gray skin from long exposure and burning to sunlight. Boj'zan have five fingers and five toes, but a common rite of passage for males is to cleave off the smallest toe on either foot and throw them into the ocean, a kind of blood rite that says "the ocean has part of you, now make it pay for it". The other races find this tradition ridiculous. Boj'zan are proficient with every manner of weapon, with at least one individual practiced in the art of any weapon from anywhere in the world. Skill with a weapon is highly prized in boj'zan culture, and many boj'zan will compete in human tournaments to show off or simply appreciate the art of war. Their purpose: As I'm sure you can gather, the boj'zan mainly serve as minor enemies. Some are friends to the main characters and others are peaceful, or at least neutral, npcs. In a possible sequel, however, it's talked about that- a hundred years after the end of the first game- that boj'zan have more or less taken over and invaded the known world. Boj'zan are, at the end of the day, the orcs of the story, but with a lot of (I hope) original twists on them to combine several different ideas into one, without them coming out as just "orcs but vikings". We had a lot of fun coming with (and still coming up) with this race and it's probably my favorite of the bunch, which is what got me to attempt sharing it here. One of the major draws and themes of the boj'zan is the way they're "well traveled" and have picked up on stuff from all the other races (in a world where the races don't really live very close together). This has allowed the boj'zan to hone techniques using 'the best of all worlds', practically completing their original purpose of 'bringing the world together', in a completely perverted and self-designed manner. So this turned out to be a massive freaking infodump, so if you're still reading, I apologize for that. I might add some more to this post if anyone is interested, and it'd be neat to look at some of the stuff other people have made up, too. So, if you're feeling gutsy enough, why not give it a shot, eh?
I'm a sci-fi nut, but this looks fun regardless. Name: Acirians The Pitch: What if you were so good at regenerating that your species lost the ability to procreate sexually hundreds of thousands of years ago and now you reproduce by being so obnoxious someone chops you up and puts you though a blender, and dumps your paste down the loo because it still counts as murder. Even if you were just a little annoying frog-thing. Except, as your paste is drained through the pipes with the sewage, you know that it's not the end, rather the beginning, as your goo slowly beings to coagulate and absorb nutrients from the surrounding gray water until hundreds of smaller versions of you are crawling out the sewer grates and storm drains across the city, looking around with new-to-you-eyes, eating everything in sight and growing larger and larger until they tap out at four feet tall and go on their merry trollish way, insulting and tempting others to homicide and the fractal of life goes on... fractal-ing? Their History: They're trollish time travelers who act like they're immortal and all-knowing deities come to save the lesser species from their own quagmire of stupidity and inbred sexually transmitted incompetence. Most of them don't view other species as any more than short lived, easily killed pets that they, rather patronizingly, must take care of and provide for in the same way you do a cat, a goldfish or a dog. For all the other species know, they have always existed and always will exist and an individual acirian will never die. As far as the Acirians know, other life forms spontaneously pop into existence for a short time and then disappear suddenly, whereas they slowly fade in and out of existence as they are perpetually divided and their memories divided up in increasingly smaller and smaller portions. Acirians have a vague form of ancestral memory and can recall significant events it's progenitors had experienced or sometimes random details about donuts. Because of the way they reproduce, each individual acirian is usually quite young, 4 or 5 at most as it's rare for one to make it very long before they're chopped in half, in which case the head keeps the original name and the feet have to fend for themselves. Due to their regeneration and general biology, they grow, learn and mature extremely quickly and if they're more than 4 or 5, they tend to become extremely intelligent and perceptive as their programmed to take in a lot of information quickly and store it in as unadulterated a state as can be managed, permanently, as each iterations knowledge adds to the next iterations, within the constraints of neural density of course. Extremely intelligent acirians tend to be extremely annoying trollish trouble makers to everyone else, which makes the probability of them making it past 20 exceedingly unlikely. If they make it to a couple hundred, usually through the use to time travel, they usually mellow out and become less horrendous to be around, resulting in the oldest acirians being several thousand years old or more and having generally passive, 'oh this shit again' type demeanors. Because of their ancestral memory, nobody bothers to record their species's history, which means after a thousand years or so they forget what happened and don't bother trying to find out because time travel makes keeping track of history a bigger pain in the tuckas than it's worth. This has led to racial feuds that the acirans forgot they had, much to the offense of those with the grudge. Their Culture: Basically, Acirians hate each other. It's part of the reproductive cycle hard wired into their species, if they see another acrian, they go from mildly annoying jerk at the office to an ax wielding maniac in zero seconds flat. And then back to normal again once a sufficient number of limbs have been severed. As a result, with the advent of space technology and the discovery of other species and cultures, Acirians dispersed themselves like an oil spill in the ocean. Everyone's seen one and nobody liked it. Anyway, each acirain holds a large section of space as it's 'territory.' Everyone knows where each acirian territory lies, and if they're not an acirain they ignore it because it's right in the middle of a city and crosses four international borders and the acirian is just one person, not a state or a country so it can't legally own any of that territory. There's just the mutual understanding among acirians that if you cross into that territory, it's time to say 'buh bye.' Or if anyone causes trouble the acirian doesn't like, you will be exterminated and there's not a thing anyone can do about it. Their Traits: Imagine a bipedal, lanky, green, snub-nosed, six gilled, stub-tailed result of a treefrog-axolotl-kangaroo three-way in a deadpool costume. That's basically it. Their Purpose: One of the main narrators in my series is one.
I came up with these fellows five years ago. I've barely used them since, but I'd love to come back to them someday. Name: Brutes The pitch: Brutes are a twist on the "minion races" that often serve evil wizards in fiction. They existed long before the wizard came along and have a culture apart from him, but their unique traits and unfortunate situation made them prime targets for a tyrant to control. Through brutes, I tried to explore what makes people into "minions," both individually and as a society. Their history: The brutes' distant ancestors were humans, isolated tribes of hunters and fur-trappers in the northwestern forest. Each was born with the magic to manipulate thoughts and memories, but in most, this power was weak and easily brushed aside. Apart from a few traders, the world paid them little mind, and they were content to return the favor. One among them was born with far stronger magic than the others, power he kept hidden while he quietly experimented. He influenced the rest of his tribe to name him as chief, then pushed the traders into happily making uneven deals. Over generations, his bloodline took greater and greater control of both the forest and the surrounding world, fielding diplomats, assassins, and eventually mind-controlled armies. The last and greatest of them ruled from a marble palace, sending out orders across the globe to crush rebellions and force contentment, his humble ancestry all but forgotten. Even the final emperor could not control every mind in the world. He knew there would always be those who resented his rule, if not in his own tightly controlled land, then in faraway regions that suffered under his yoke. So he brought together the world's greatest researchers in all areas of magic, ordering them to conduct all manner of strange experiments underneath the palace in search of a new, greater power for him to wield. Whatever he found destroyed his empire. A creeping shadow swallowed up the forest, twisting and inverting the magic of all who entered. Those whose magic influenced the soul vanished from existence, while those who worked with flesh and bone collapsed into formless puddles. Only the tribe survived, transformed into brutes, their memories fractured and their former lives lost. Decades passed before the shadow finally vanished, and even then, few outsiders dared to enter the forest. The brutes dwelled on their own for generations, living among magnificent ruins without any memory of how to read the old writings and understand what had happened. They convinced themselves that there was no larger world, that the rare outsider who stumbled in was a demon sent to trick them. Thirty years ago, another shadow appeared in the desert far to the south, devouring many of the nomads who dwelled there. The survivors fled ever northward until they found a forest full of lakes and rivers, a place where the water they worshiped flowed in abundance. But they also found the brutes, a mysterious tribe who carried out strange rituals and were immune to all their magic. Each side feared the other as demons, and war seemed inevitable. Twenty years ago, a mysterious stranger washed up on the beach, fleeing a failed revolution in the lands far to the west. He had the power to reshape the brutes as he pleased, making them stronger and faster or warping them into hideous shapes. They feared him, but they also feared the metal weaponry of the nomads, and he offered the power to easily defeat any foe in combat. Out of options, the brutes agreed to make him their leader. The Tyrant's reign was vicious, arbitrary, and hedonistic. Brutes who obeyed him were granted power and luxury, while those who showed even the slightest rebellion were subject to horrific punishments. The nomads were little more than slaves, kept alive only to be of use to the ruling brutes. Brutish culture was lost, old rituals and observances forgotten in favor of blind worship of the Tyrant. They even left the forest, waging conquest against the tribes to the east to bring back more slaves and valuables. Now the Tyrant is dead, and the purge has begun. Nomads, eastern tribesmen, and assorted slaves and captives have joined together to slaughter their tormentors and everyone associated with them. And worse still, in the far northern reaches of the forest, the shadow has been sighted again . . . Their culture: The brutes are something of a cargo cult, believing that the ruins they dwell in must have belonged to an angelic race that bestowed them with gifts. They believe that this race abandoned them due to their sins, although different tribes have different ideas as to what the sins were. Some believe that they failed to show appropriate reverence for the gifts they were given, while others believe that they became too materialistic and lost sight of spiritual values. Either way, they have an extensive calendar of rituals to try to draw the angels back, the greatest being a day of prayer and contemplation during the winter solstice. Without outside trade, brute society is entirely self-supporting. They favor hunting, fishing, and gathering due to a lack of available farmland, though they have a basic understanding of how to grow vegetables. They have few sources of metal beyond raiding their own religious artifacts, so they've grown adept at stoneworking to build both tools and homes. Brute society is close-knit and largely meritocratic. Each village elects its chief upon the death or incapacity of the previous chief, and both men and women can vote or be chosen. However, brutes often hold bigotry against the physically disabled, seeing them as weaklings who can't provide for themselves. Brutes have the most advanced understanding of psychology in the known world, a necessity given their unique minds. Psychologists are rarely village chiefs in their own right, but they're respected as wise (wo)men and advisors. As the Tyrant dominates brute culture, their traditions and rituals are fading in importance. Tribal leaders are loyalists appointed by the Tyrant himself, and psychologists and other wise elders are increasingly overshadowed. An influx of metal goods from the eastern tribes is pushing out stoneworking in favor of metalworking, while hunting and gathering lessen as farmland comes under brute control. Their traits: Brutes are among the taller races in the world, though their limited diet can stunt their natural height. They have stringy hair, usually dark in color, and nearly white skin that tends to burn instead of tan. They're known for their deep-set eyes and pronounced cheekbones. All brutes suffer from alexithymia, although the severity varies widely. In addition, their ancestral ability to control the minds and feelings of others has inverted, allowing them to rewrite their own memories and consciously choose which emotions to feel. These combine into a host of potential neuroses that keep brute psychologists in constant business. The mind influences the soul, and because brutes have perfect control of their minds, they're completely immune to all spells that change, influence, or even detect their souls. (This falsely convinces some outsiders that they're soulless.) Conversely, they lack any innate resistance to magic that reshapes their bodies, which can permanently empower them or utterly devastate them. Fortunately for them, magic that changes bodies is rare in their part of the world. Their purpose: While other characters show what it's like to be part of a subjugated class, my brute protagonist represents what it's like to be an outcast within the persecutor class. Other brutes can be anything from vicious bandits to fleeing refugees, all tying back to the destruction of the corrupt order and the devastation of those who were caught up in it. (As strange as this may sound for a fantasy story, one of my biggest influences was Germany, Year Zero.)
@TheRealStegblob: Also, is it just me, or does your race sound a lot like something out of Pillars of Eternity? I just get the feeling they'd fit in really well with how that game creates and characterizes different types of humanoids.
Now this thread is interesting! I have a few original races that I've thought of, but they come from different creative pieces, so I think I'll just go with the one that's present in the piece that I'm currently working on. I'll try to keep this short to avoid boring you to death. Name: The Animus The pitch: Every sentient being consists of a chain and a prisoner. The instinct of the soul is suppressed by the rational process of the mind. But the stronger the shackle, the greater the recoil when it eventually breaks. The Animus are the primal aspects of the human soul, shadows of their base personality that have escaped the living body. They are an exploration of a darker, more violent, yet natural side of humanity, and how suppressing such facets of sentience can have consequences. Their history: 2032. An asteroid is detected approaching Earth at dangerous speeds. Scientific figures point it out, but it remains mostly ignored. 2034. The asteroid is drawing closer - it is large enough to cause massive damage to society as a whole. The world is forced to respond. 2035. A hastily-built weapon is utilised to destroy the meteoroid, draining many global resources in the process. But the fragments still fall, impacting into the ocean and causing tidal destruction on nearby continental coastlines. When the initial shock has passed, companies begin to mine the fragments for their resources. Mining rigs become large scaffolds. Scaffold join together. An island is born. People flock to the newly-established city to embrace a new chance at freedom. The population rises. And as they arrive, the first of the Animus begin to emerge... Their culture: The Animus act purely on instinct - an instinct to become whole. They reside in an unseen realm, and seek out individuals to prey on. Their victims are dragged into a pseudo-dimension, a crossover between their world and this one. And in that reality, they are tortured, mentally, in an attempt to draw out their unconscious mind. If the Animus succeed, they will devour it, and attain sentience of their own. If they fail, they tear out the victim's own soul, birthing a new Animus, or absorbing it to grow in strength. The victim is returned to the material world, a soulless, mindless, hollow shell. All this is perceived to have happened in a blink of an eye. The Animus are invisible assassins that lobotomise their prey, and that is the only thing they know. Their traits: The Animus cannot be seen by humans unless in the crossover dimension. They appear as amorphous black masses that can shapeshift into vaguely-humanoid forms. In their solid shapes, a white shell-like layer covers their bodies - a facsimile of the pure mind they seek to obtain. Each Animus is different, and they all initially bear similarities to the original human from which they emerged from. As they grow in strength, their appearances change too. Their purpose: The Animus serve as the primary threat against the main protagonists, or at least the primary physical threat. They are the reason why the protagonists are doing what they do, as their very existence poses a danger to all of humanity. Of course, each of the protagonists have their own reasons for participating in the battle, all of which involve the Animus on a more personal level. And that's the Animus in a nutshell. Not overly creative, but they act as a very large template or scaffold from which more sinister events can build up from.
I've never played Pillars of Eternity, but the world building we were going for was basically a lot like some kind of Final Fantasy-esque type of thing, where sequels or prequels will happen but won't be direct sequels/prequels, instead taking place in the same universe/world, just hundreds or even thousands of years apart from one another. So we thought a lot about how we'd set up races with their history and how that history changed/influenced them in a way that would work for eons to come, sort of. Maybe Pillars of Eternity had a similar design reason/philosophy.
Can we play in the sandbox if we have an archetypal race with a theoretically slightly different twist?
Name: Skilth, called Jungle Walkers in the common tongue. The Pitch: A race of reptile humanoids, the Skilth are honorable barbarians looking in on two kingdoms tearing each other apart. Serving to represent a departure from imperialism and war, the Skilth can be best viewed as a large family, a race led by relationships, all willing to unite against a common threat. Their History: The Skilth were born from the sun, when the orb set the first mother amoung the cool trees and warm stones. She thanked the sun, offering it praise, hunting and feasting in its name. The sun tested her, setting a small, wounded creature in her path. Although the creature was ripe, and the aroma of blood and sweet meat intoxicating, the first mother took pity on the maimed creature, choosing instead to name it and nurse it back to health. This became the first husband. The sun empowered the mother, and she became the mightiest of predators. Not even the great jungle cats were her equal. The sun empowered the husband, and he became more than a hundred in number to the one mother, assuring her that she would never roam alone again. Their Culture: The Skilth serve the sun and the first family, seeking their warmth and praising their role in creating them and preserving them. They are an honor based hunter society, with every member's primary goal the acquisition of food to feed the tribe, and the preservation and care of eggs and then the young. They prefer to settle in hidden, fortified villages, but will roam nomadically if food becomes scarce. Tribes are very aware of adjacent tribe hunting boundaries, and will resolve most conflicts peacefully. There is no known record of open conflict between two Skilth tribes, the closest being ceremonial demonstrations of strength, all of which are highly ritualized. To an outsider, the Skilth appear be organized into a tribal bands, but the truth is a secret the Skilth guard carefully. Each family is comprised of several hundred males and one to three females. Skilth language makes no distinction between husband or son, for they are both the same to the Skilth. The females treat all males, even their own children, as a combination of all traditional family roles, and the males never address a female as less than a 'queen' or 'matriarch'. These 'matriarchs' govern over all aspects of Skilth life, and believe that cultivating and protecting their family is a duty placed upon them by their god. The males seek to please the females in all things, hunting, fighting, and mating in the name of their god and the first mother. Skilth enjoy distant, but friendly working relationships with neighbors of other races. Outsiders are particularly keen to aquire first rights at Skilth forage and fur exports, exotic pelts and rare fruits traded for metals, medicine, and the occasional pack animal. On rare occasions, and for unknown reasons, large numbers of Skilth males will parodoxically emerge from their jungles, abandoning their families to seek enlistment in the standing armies of human kingdoms. These Skilth serve as scouts, skirmishers, irregular troops, and can even be trusted as assassins and spies in any army that will pay them, with Skilth from the same tribe willing to butcher each other on the battlefield in the name of a king they have only just sworn loyalty to. Their Traits: The Skilth are reptilian humanoids, cold-blooded and carnivorous. The males are hatched in clutches of a few dozen, hatching a few months after being laid, with an infancy and adolescence not unlike a human child. On average five feet tall, adult males look like upright jungle skinks with longer arms and longer, crouching legs. They are various shades of green in color, their skin a coat of smooth scales. They have jagged teeth, dull, but strong claws, and a unique mane on the back and top of their heads that can only be described as stalks of long, colorful feathers, ranging from red, blue, green, yellow, and many other colors. Their eyes are many shades of brown, which face forward above a short maw. Males hunt by stealth, and are masters of irregular tactics in a fight. They wrap their colorful bodies and manes in carefully designed camoflauge clothes, and stalk beast and man for days on end before attacking. Their weapons range from blowguns and bows, to short swords and wires. The weapon does not matter thought; Their prey never sees the lunge before the strike. The are secretive and crafty, always looking for an advantage, and always hiding. Skilth females are hatched in a clutch of a single egg, emerging after a full twenty years of ritualized and secretive care. They hatch as fully developed, monsterous alpha predators, growing to full size rapidly if fed constantly. Ten feet tall, smooth scales shining like emeralds, beautiful crowns of feathers on their heads and necks, standing upright and fearless as a knight. As adolescents they are capable of wrestling the largest jungle beast to the ground. But sharp claws, jagged teeth, and wirey muscle distract from the true danger of these deadly creatures. Skilth family hunting grounds are determined by the eldest female's sense of smell and the range of the strange, heat sensing pits beneath their eyes. Any game or enemy is known to them, day or night, and they determine quickly what is a boon or a threat to their family weeks before it is close to the hearth. Far from being savage beasts, and living as long as five hundred years, females are the heart of a family, siring dozens of generations of males in their lifetimes. General in battle, priest beneath the sun, cunning administrator, kind mother, wise sister, generous lover, they serve the family in all things, seeking every boon for their many sons and precious heir daughters. No female Skilth has ever been witnessed in what can be called an honorable battle, while rumors of their hunting methods are shrouded in mystery and clouded by hearsay. The remains of hostile incursions into Skilth territory are many, and always take the same form. It is as if a demon of old awakens on the earth. Armored men, strong horses, and war machines, all torn apart, crushed, and partially eaten, a hate and rage evident in the slaughter unlike anything on the earth. Wild animals will not approach the butchery, fearing the return of the alpha predator. The bodies are picked over and stripped by watchful males in plain sight, almost daring more fools to taunt their matriarch. Traders and emissaries speak of trying to make contact with females after much coaxing and polite negotiation with Skilth males, with the largest obstacle being the males seemingly random response to such requeats. Suggesting to meet with a female has destroyed many a lucrative trade agreement and alliance, while some tribes have sent diplomats and their entourages home laden with gifts and favors, but still denying access their matriarch. One account exists, from the religious expedition of Thomas the Younger into the heart of Skilth jungle territory, of a human speaking to a Skilth female. Even the golden-hearted witness, with his timeless words and gentle spirit, was only allowed one afternoon in the presence of an adolescent female, not even a proper matriarch, all while a hundred males glared at the humble priest from behind ready bows and poised blades. In his account Thomas describes a massive humanoid, standing as upright and proud as champion warrior, her bearing conveying more authority than a king, but somehow still all beast and terror. Clad in an indescribable artwork of exotic foliage, imported silk, and animal bone, and speaking in perfect, unhalting High Imperial, she asked him what his god could offer her family. Awestruck, and immobilized by fear, he could not find within his wellspring of wisdom a meaningful answer. In the end he only bowed, thanking her for letting him witness her form. He left laden with ivory and spices, never preaching again. Their Purpose: The Skilth, despite the fancy description I gave them, represent a family, sending their children off to fend for themselves, but always poised to tear down the world to save them. When our protagonist meets one, she is lost and betrayed, her kingdom failing, her battle almost lost. The Jungle Walker tells her about his family, his brave brothers, and his awesome mother. He lives to make them proud, and hopes she can learn to make her family proud.
Am I allowed to share a bit of world-building that I only have a few characters and some setting for, not any actual stories yet?
I'm really digging some of these. I especially love those Skilth. Very fleshed out. Makes me wanna learn more about the secrets they're keeping from outsides! And I think you succeeded in making your orcs original and fresh. They actually seem like a viable race rather than just an enemy to get past like most orcs I can think of This is technically a race in progress, but I have enough to share. Feedback on them is welcome Name – Scimono (Shee – MowNo) The pitch – For all intents and purposes, this race is just monkeys, really. Sentient monkeys, but monkeys nonetheless. If you can imagine a race of small monkey-like creatures who have mostly evolved and developed their society and technology around hiding from and fighting larger races, then you've pretty much got these little guys pegged. There are a few exceptions, though. Their history – Not much is know of their past, not even by the Scimono themselves. Their history is shared through oral tradition and has been highly subjected to change over the centuries. One of the few things taught to all Scimono is of the great Mono himself; A deity of fortune and misfortune that created the first of the Scimono out of wood and leaves. By some great fortune, Mono found the creation brought to life and was glad to have a friend at long last. As time passed, however, Mono noticed that the first Scimono was a bit sad. Mono asked why and learned that the Scimono wished it had others like himself to have fun with. Knowing all to well the loneliness the Scimono was feeling, he built more and found them coming to life as well. Pleased with having made more, he created a large enough population so that they could handle themselves and went into hiding for an unknown reason. After that, the Scimono continued on in a playful fashion until they came into contact with other, larger races that viewed the Scimono as unintelligent and useless. After the first contact, Scimono were often chased down and captured to be pets or hunted for their fur by larger races. Ripped apart by these encounters, Scimono split into several groups that further splintered into even smaller groups. Each of these tribes of Scimono settled in different places in the world. Some left the preconceived safety of the forest, angry that the home of Mono was unable to protect them. Some fled to the mountains overlooking the forest. And the rest remained in their sacred homeland, refusing to run away. Each tribe developed differently, but all remember Mono and his kindness. Their culture – (The Two mostly developed tribes) Sceen – (Sheen) The largest of the tribes. They remain in their original home of the forest, living in deeply dug tunnels that come out above ground at the roots of trees. They send foraging parties out for fruits and different types of leaves for food and for medicines. These parties often come back short a member or two, being easy targets for the predator cats that share their forest home. Underground, any burrowing creature unfortunate enough to dig it's way into the tunnels of the Sceen are taken and placed in holding pins for future meals, be they worms or mole rates or rabbits. Several underground streams run through the tunnels. They use separate streams for bathing and for drinking water. They pride themselves in their cleanliness and have a strong, if you work you earn your keep society where those who refuse to work are banished to the forest. If the banished return alive and accept work, they are allowed back in. If not, they are most likely dead, though several individuals have made due with living apart from the tribe. Monoians – (MowNo – ee – ins) One of the tribes who left the forest. They named themselves after Mono in a gesture of thanks and a plea for forgiveness upon leaving the forest. This tribe migrated far south and found a fertile savanna where they chose to settle. From their, they became primarily meat-eaters, hunting and gathering what game and what foliage they could for food and shelter, using the long grass to their advantage. Over time they came into conflict with nomadic groups of humans and started developing weapons for fighting them. Flexible sticks with sharpened edges became their preferred method of driving them back, working in teams. One to hold the thick base and another to pull back the sharp end and let go, sending it right up to Human faces or necks. When that stopped working, luckily they were starting to tame wild boars and hogs. Using them as mounts and smaller weapons scavenged from humans, they made a name for themselves in the plains. Several trade routes have included their territory in their runs, making sure to fly white flags when entering their land Their traits – Despite being divided into a dozen tribes, all Scimono share the same characteristics that make them notable; Thin, agile bodies covered in fur of varying colors and patterns. The only ones who wear clothing are the two tribes living in the mountains and they wear cloaks made of wolf fur from sickly wolves they've hunted down in large groups. Most Scimono have tails the same length as their bodies, which stand at an average of two feet tall when fully grown. The only discerning feature between male and female is that female's eyes are bigger than males. As their reproductive organs are hidden by fur, they are not visible. Some fur examples include: Solid dark brown light brown with patches of blonde or white Solid white and Solid red are extremely rare but possible two color stripe patterns of all combination are the most common Irregular patterns such as irregular blobs or half and half are uncommon Depending on the tribe, the temperament of Scimono can vary. Those in the forest are reclusive and closed off to outside contact. Those in the mountains are confident and have worked out solid trade deals with other races and the other tribes of the mountains. Those living in he plains are more likely to attack without provocation if given the opportunity. Their purpose – Currently they have no real purpose other than just existing for a future story. Most likely I'm going to put them into a story that involves races from different universe being forced into a single universe's world and they'll be one of the races where they become allies with sentient jungle cats and aid the main character in their quest to recover the destroyed universes. I sort of want to do a story with just them, though, so that might happen as well.
Uldivarions Silicon based life form. Height Avg. : 2.43 meters (8Ft) Slender, dark blue skin, No hair. 1,000 Years more advanced than Humans. Disposition:Overly Polite and Cordial (though low ranking Military do have much cruder demeanor, as well as hardened Veterans.) They reproduce like mammals. Have Four long arms, and four hands ending in four slender digits. Not much is really known about this particular species. They are highly distinct from the Greys, in height and intellect. Having an inverted tear drop shaped head, and large ovoid eyes that are deep black (rumored to be blacker than space itself). Taught angular facial features. Centuria find their appearance a tad unsettling to look at, especially when they smile with their tight thin lips. They are ruled by the Empress, and are primarily a peaceful and science driven species. They have the Empyreal Armada, and a standing Military. The standard infantry unit carries a standard issue 12mm fusion assault rifle, and 20mm fusion pistol. The hulls, armor plating on war-frames, and body armor is made of an unknown soft white material that acts similar to both ceramic and metal. The tensile strength of the material is highly durable, and can withstand an immense amount of abuse. As well as being lighter than titanium. They are highly efficient soldiers, and tacticians. Utilizing their high intellect, can place missiles on target to within a few microns with proper assessment. They deploy on vast classes of ships, the largest being a Galaxy. Galaxy Class is a long range battleship manned by 300,000 men (and women), capable of engaging in space as well as ground assault. Housing a massive hangar of space/air combat vehicles, and all four classes of armor war-frames. Despite the size of a galaxy class, the Centuria have a single battle/transport ship much larger. This formidable ship houses 800,000 on top of war-frames and troop transport. It is easily 2/3 larger than the Uldivarion Galaxy Class battleship. The distinct shape of the soft white warship is that of a trident, with the middle tine setting higher than the other two as well as being shorter significantly in length. The two outer prongs arc around in a circular formation, and they have a liberal array of large caliber fusion auto cannons and missile bays. To make it a much more formidable vessel stalking space. It has a Sub-space drive and can jump to any point in space (the further away the longer it takes). Point of reference from the Corona of Sol to Pluto in 48hrs, give or take a few hours. They have been known to make much tighter jumps with the drive in combat situations to out maneuver and appear out of nowhere. Prone to being drawn to Spirits and Liquors, they will often blush lighter hues of blue. This will also bring out their lighter side, evoking comical stories and events. They are considered to be exclusively happy drunks, and cry light milky green tears accompanying a roar of laughter. Senior officials refrain from fermented beverages, preferring to keep their reputation in strict order (with few exceptions). Diet consists of plant and fungi, and is consumed raw or cooked depending on the plant or fungi. Sometimes large insects are also eaten for higher protein and carbohydrates. Word of caution! Uldivarions have poor taste-buds, and prepare bland dishes (MREs sound more appetizing). Water and Juice are often served at meals. Occasionally a fungi based tea will be prepared for certain occasions. Despite the overall demeanor of the Uldivarions, they are quite social. Though it takes a bit of getting used to their flat speaking pattern with little emotion in the tone. They do not appear to have a religion, or existential belief system. But rumors that some of the less waspish Uldivarions have adopted philosophical perspectives. Mating rituals and pornography are unknown, though Uldivarions have all the bits to flaunt. Oh crap, that is an awkward image. A naked, smooth, four armed babe with perky tits. Get me some bleach, my brain needs to be thoroughly cleansed of such things. [Analysis Concluded] [Thank you for reading the Encyclopedic entry: Uldivarions]
Never mind I just came up with my first story last night for the fantasy world that I've been working on, so without further ado: Psoglavi - Slavic species of wolf-man: Spoiler: My favorite Psoglav pictures that I've found online (technically, the preferred plural in the real world seems to be "Psoglavs," but I personally think that "-i" sounds better) Pitch - a much more laid-back species than Humanity, most Psoglavi are far less authoritarian and tribalistic than most Humans are (though neither are most of them particularly anti-authoritarian) and most are far more spontaneous and abstracting than we are. History - No one knows exactly how the species originated Spoiler: Info-dump not specific to this one species on it's own ;) In my world, humans are the only sentient species that evolved naturally, all other sentient species (merfolk, harpies, gorgons, vampires) were created by mages experimenting with shape-shifting potions, rituals, and whatnot. Some shape-shifting magic is temporary, in which case a person's original form remains their true form and the person will return to that form when the magic wears off, but some shape-shifting is permanent, in which case the person's new form becomes their true form (they can still use other shape-shifting magic later, but they're being shape-shifted from their newest form in that case instead of from their original.) At first, all members of a new species would be shape-shifted mages who were born into other species. Truly natural members of each species would be born if A) a mage permanently shape-shifts while already pregnant, or 2) two mages conceive while both are already permanently shape-shifted. Spoiler: Natural shape-shifting A child can be born with the ability to naturally go back and forth between two specific species if A) the mother temporarily shape-shifts while she is giving birth or B) if one or both parents were temporarily shape-shifted while conceiving. Technically a 3-formed shape-shifter can exist here and there (two parents of two different species temporarily shape-shift into a 3rd species when they conceive, the mother of what will be a 2-form shape-shifter temporarily shape-shifts into a 3rd species while giving birth), but at that point the genetic code becomes so fragile that the experiment ends in miscarriage/stillbirth 99% of the time without the best medical treatment available, and even the best medical advancements available have only brought that down to 95% Even then, the vast majority (far north of 99%) of the survivors need extensive medical treatment for at least the first few years of their lives, about 50% need treatment well into their adult lives, and even the shape-shifting that their parents were so clearly committed to giving them has to be restricted because a 3-form shifter's body becomes more and more fragile the more times s/he changes form. 2-form shifters only have this risk in ridiculously rare cases (≈1/100,000), and even then the treatments that make shifting safer for them are far simpler and more reliable than are the equivalent treatments for 3-shifting. And now for my favorite part: many of these species are technically fictional even in this story's "real" world. All throughout history, there has been a huge back and forth where sometimes a shape-shifting mage would create a new species, a storyteller would hear about this species and be inspired to create fictional characters of the same species, and then the species would capture the public's imagination through the storyteller's characters, yet other times a storyteller would create a species first, capture the public's imagination with the fictional characters of that species, and then mages would be inspired to replicate the species in the real world. Orcs, for example, are such a new species in this world (the first shape-shifting experiments started in around 1960, the first successful formulae were developed around 1965, and the first natural Orc child was born around 1970) that everybody still remembers that it was the storyteller who came up with the species which then inspired the mages. You can still go to most of the original mages who created the original Orc potions and ask them personally whether they inspired Tolkien or if Tolkien inspired them, and every one of them (except the show-offs ) will insist that they are the world's biggest nerds and that Tolkien's work inspired them. Psoglavi, on the other hand, are such a well-established species - going back so many generations - that there's nobody left who remembers if it was the mages who inspired the legends or if it was the legends that inspired the mages. but at first, a lot of them spent a lot of time trying to live in the Human world because they wanted to see what could come of Humans and Psoglavi living together. What happened was that Humans fear death more strongly than almost any other species, Humans fear that the existence of any person different from themselves is a death threat, and the general public rapidly decided that the Psoglavi were monsters. Most Psoglavi don't see a problem with eating people's corpses for food (the person doesn't need their body anymore, so why not share one last experience with them to celebrate their previous life), but Humans quickly blew this out of proportion into rumors about Psoglavi killing humans for food (even though the vast majority of Psoglavi would never do this because don't fear death strongly enough to see something that destroys relationships (murder) as being an acceptable cost to avoid starving to death. Even if one specific Psoglav fears starving more than most of his/her kindred do, s/he would still probably kill another Psoglav instead of a human because s/he would know that a human's relationships would be more destroyed by being murdered than another Psoglav's would be: Psoglavi tend to celebrate what a person did whereas Humans tend to mourn what a person can't do anymore) and quickly hunted the Psoglavi to what the Humans thought was extinction, leaving only those Psoglavi left that fled to the supernatural realms created by the most powerful mages for the world's diversity to live free of human tribalism (although, again not fearing death as strongly as Humans do, most Psoglavi who fled the exterminations tended to be more afraid of the hatred itself than they were of the torture and murder that would've come as a result). In the time that the mortal world have forgotten that Psoglavi ever existed, the Psoglavi in the supernatural realms have made names for themselves as some of the most creative dreamers and philosophers, coming up with a wide variety of new ideas for new realms to create that people could live in, new hypotheses for how magic might be understood as a comprehensible field of science, new spells for mages to experiment with, new languages for people to communicate with, and even new species to create and to share the world with. Culture - There are several common elements to Psoglavi mindsets, but for the most part they don't care enough about Group vs Group competitions to bother saying "They do that because they are Y, but we do this because we are X!" in the way that Humans do. The vast majority of Psoglavi prefer to collect as many ideas as possible from as many different people as possible, any single cohesive community theme will generally happen by accident (and these communities are almost never Psoglav-exclusive, rarely even Psoglav-dominant), and even then the community theme will be treated by most of the Psoglavi as being descriptive rather than prescriptive. Sometimes a community is formed by Psoglavi (and others) who share a love of athletic sports and exercises, sometimes a community is formed by Psoglavi (and others) who share a love of a certain form of magic (healing, fortune-telling, shape-shifting...), sometimes a community is formed by Psoglavi (and others) who share a love of a certain form of science (physics, astronomy, mathematics...), while the vast majority of Psoglav "communities" are far more varied than this because the connections are based on the people themselves instead of on the things that the people do together... but the one thing that almost every Psoglav in almost every world shares with almost every other Psoglav in almost every other world: An obsession with improvised, collaborative story-telling *Most Psoglavi love inventing fiction even more than many Humans do (most Humans enjoy experiencing fiction, but most do not devote their lives to creating it the way we specifically do) *They lean very strongly towards wanting other people involved in whatever they do (whereas Humans on average tend to have a more even balance between group-activity and solo-activity) *And most Psoglavi don't tend to bother recording their stories for posterity because they tend to see the experience of collaborative creation itself (in this case, the telling of a story) to be more valuable than the end result (in this case, the story that is told). Story prompts are frequently passed from one generation to the next, as well as the stories about the telling of other stories, but not normally the stories themselves.
I got one!!!! Name: Onkyuo Their History: They actually were the only intelligent life on a distant world, but for their history I am only going to reference their own history. Well, not much to say I guess. I mean how they act sounds like culture. Oh, their world. I am not sure the exact conditions but a friend said it is likely extremely over grown with dense forests and minimal light actually reaches the ground. Onkyuo are pretty crappy at technology too, beyond stuff like forging items out of metal they got nothing. Though given the extreme area they live in they are extremely agile, and have exelcent hearing. Their Culture: They live in tribes, Onkyuo refers to the species and not any one tribe. Tribes tend to be anywhere from 500-1,000 people. They live simplistically. Hunt, gather and farm. Most worrisome attacks are from other tribes. They have this belief that a person is born perfect and is meant to find where they belong instead of conforming to a need. They are very independent as well. Having a expression that most tribes believe in. "A reinforced blade is worthless." Which refers to how they believe only something that is bad needed help, otherwise it wouldn't have needed help. Most tribes vary to some degree, but the standard set up is a small army of warriors that are taught martial arts from previous warriors. Warriors could make up as much as 1/5 of the populations. They are more likely to die together than leave someone behind. A strong villiage will also have a priestest which has strong magic. A lucky villiage will have maybe at most 5 of them. A villiage with five mages and 100 warriors is considered damn near invincible. Even Earth Military would find that a tricky position. As going with the idealism of finding your place Onkyuo's have very strong teamwork skills and support each other well. That is part of the idealism behind a military. A weak fighter is not viewed as in-perfect. They have a different job and everyone is happy with that idealism. Or for the most par they are. Attributes: Onkyuo look like normal humans actually, for the most part. They tend to be short, very small frames. Their legs are much stronger than a human, and there actual body is different but on a subtle level. There sweat contains ingredriants to reduce friction, their feets have barbs on the bottom they can move(or cut away, some cut them away.) the barbs can help with turns. Onkyuo's are more agile than fast, but this is mainly because there home doesn't have much in open stretches. On Earth in a wide open field an Onkyuo could probably reach speeds upward to 200MPH ish. Their legs are the most durable, their entire body is not, so they tend not to go super fast, but are capable of it. Placement of organs would give them away in the event of a medical exam. Maybe the barbs on their feet too, but beyond that on the outside they look like humans. Life expectency is lower too, toping out at about 60, 45 for warriors. Onkyuo also have super ears! They can modify the frequency in which they can hear, enabling them to hear their own heart beat but also making them able to hide from frequencies too. The process is controllable and a talented Onkyuo can change it within a minute. Making them nearly immune to most sound based forms of attack. There hearing is considered shapr enough that most Onkyuo's are more comfortable in the dark as they naturally have poor eyesight compared to a human. Any questions? Tagging two people I think were asking me about my Onkyuo @dedebird @Seraph751
Ok I am at the start of this species, actually Cherry started out as a dragon-gargoyle hybrid and well... She didn't like it so here is an incredibly rough overview of a species per the individual. Cherry Bane Nickname: “Black” Cherry Gender: Female Position: Daughter of Clan Leaders, Nox & Amara Bane, of the Bane Clan, also known as the Poison Clan. Species: Layethnador Called the Nadors for short “We are Layethnador!” Pronunciation: Lay-ith-na-door Na-doors Race: Ala Noctis Description: Height & Build: 5’ tall, slender build, almost waif-like in appearance; bone structure is strong, but hollow, allowing for flight Eye Color: Slanted almond-shaped Crimson eyes, Hair Color: Pitch black hair with subtle wine-colored streaks to the middle of her back. Species Traits: Cherry’s incisors are slightly longer and sharper than a human’s and her lips are black on outer part of the upper and lower lips & dark green on inner part of the upper and lower lips. She has porcelain skin except for on the back and sides of her neck, across the top of her shoulders, and from there, down her back in a v pattern which goes just outside of where her wings are to the lower part of her back to right above the tail. Here Cherry’s pale skin is covered with a slightly effervescent smattering of black-green freckles. This is a defense mechanism, if willed, due to this species having wings they developed a the smattering of ‘freckles’ to help protect themselves from being held down as they can secrete their own individual toxin through the skin here. At the end of Cherry’s 3’ skin-colored tail there is a 2" black-green blade-like porous bone that she can use to cause devastating gashes with and can simultaneously deliver her poison through. She has black-green claws that taper 1/4” of deep rub, and are as hard as the talons on her wings. Black wings with a deep ruby streaking across them, creating a vein-like or tree-branch pattern. In terms of height they are about 2” taller than she when she holds her wings behind her and have a wingspan of 6’ that are bat-like in structure. Upon the highest arch on each rest a hooked talon (hallow and almost unbreakable they are prized in trade) allowing Cherry to hook them talon to talon in the front creating a cloak-like appearance. Family: Nox Bane (Father; copper eyes & black purple hair; name is based off of S. Nigrum or Black Nightshade), Amara Bane (Mother; modeled after Woody Nightshade; bright red hair and amethyst eyes Ability: Her poison, atropine, which she is able to use at will. Effective in liquid, vapor, or solid form, while it is quite deadly as it attacks the nervous system it is also used to heal in small doses. When she exhales atropine in vapor form she can light a match causing the vapor to ignite, creating a fire-breathing effect. Weapons: Matches (lol), 2 Poison dipped (made by it all by herself too) swords as they will not interfere with her wings, and poison dipped throwing knives for long range.
I haven't really invented any real races as such, I do have some monsters/creatures for my Dark Fantasy novel though. It's not really races as such, but I hope it's okay I share it anyway. The first one is a mutated human (I have several concepts, but this one is the most fleshed out), which has several names: "Starvers", "Husks", "Hollows" and several others. They are basically feral humans who have either been deformed and mutated over time, or were babies who were born deformed and then left to die in the woods etc. They look like thing, starved humans with pale sickly, almost translucent skin, taut against their muscles and ribs. Their eyes are gone and instead they have deep, dark sockets that when looked at, still seem to be staring back at people and their nose and ears seem to have been torn off as well, and are just holes now. They have an unnatural, dark, almost black, discolouration around their mouth and their teeth are usually rotten and their fingers are bony and elongated with long, dirty nails. The are scavangers and corpse eaters, feasting on both humans and animals and rarely attack anything living unless they are attacked first or on the brink of starvation. The second one is a bit hard to explain, they're the closest thing I have to a "race", although they are more like "living" embodiments of the collective fears and sick thoughts of humanity, which manifest within the living world. As such they're all different, every single one has a different concept so to speak. One example is "The Gluttonous Pig" which resemples a tall, fat and strong human with a disgusting pigs head instead of a human head, with it's eyes sown shut. It's skin is a yellow/greyish colour, filled with pusfilled sores and boils and maggots crawling in and out of it. It's got a large, bloated belly and a thick leather belt and apron from which hangs crude knives and meat hooks. It drags behind it a massive, elongated rusted cleaver and it's lair is a former stable with dosens of corpses hanging from the ceiling by meathooks and lots of maggots can usually be found at the places it's been, with or without corpses present. It's supposed to represent a concept of the fear of "role reversal"...sort of "the pig butchering humans". I've got other such creature concepts, but won't bother you with any more long descriptions ^^ Some of the names of these creatures are things like "the Stillborn Son" and "the Charred Mass"...let your imagination run wild ^^ As they are living concepts and not really living "creatures", they can't be permenantly killed, because the fear of them is constant, so even though they are "killed", they'll pop up somewhere else in the world. They also, usually, doesn't seem to have an actual purpose (like the Gluttonous Pig just kidnaps people, hangs them in his "butcher shop", chops them up, eats them and then kidnaps more) other than to exist.
