The RACES of Exodus

Humans are one of the few blooded races that are capable of manipulating magic to such a fine degree that they can cast spells (the only other races are Gnome & Giantkin). This has been an invaluable adaption in keeping the race from extinction since humans tend to be one of the more physically vulnerable species. Humans tend to fall under the jack-of-all-trades category for many reasons. They are quick, but not the fastest. Smart, but not the smartest. Adaptable, but not the best constitution.

Humans are also beautiful, and such beauty is coveted. Orcs and giantkin love to collect human eyes and faces for display. Nearly all humans place a value on art and symbolism, and as a group their organizations often obsess over fine details. Their dexterous fingers and natural creativity make them excellent weavers and designers and their ability to weave magic spells make them high-value slaves – even for other humans!

Known as “beasts wearing the form of men,” Wildkin resemble human-animal hybrids capable of shapeshifting between forms. In their natural state, a Wildkin resembles a bipedal were-version of their respective animal but all Wildkin are capable of shifting into a more sapiens form. Unlike most species, their bodies are constantly in flux and always shifting in reaction to their environments. These visible changes are usually subtle: eyes, teeth, claws, and hair being the most common. What isn’t often noticed are the fine shifts in their muscles and bones, facilitating both human and animal movements.

Wildkin exist all across the world, but their homeland is Jiran. In other regions, Wildkin have adapted to their surrounding cultures. Wildkin have a natural dislike of humans, dwarves, and giants as those races tend to have the most devastating effect on nature with their inventions. The race prefers natural tools and weaponry made of plant, stone, and bone and have a strong spiritual connection to their ancestors. Wildkin weapons and armor are unique in their biological nature, allowing their gear to shift along with them.

Master craftsmen, undefeatable drinkers, unfathomable beards, and perpetuators of all the best stereotypes, Kogg are some of the toughest folk on Exodus. Honor and tradition dictate their society and is a large factor as to why their culture has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. Kogg are a subterranean species with bodies nearly as tough as the stone they mine. Their creations are by and far the most reliable, durable, and efficient inventions on the planet, rivaled only by the Giants.

Kogg don’t normally have need or reason to interact with most of the other races and keep largely to themselves. The exception to this are the Nom, who are also subterranean and often work & trade with Kogg. Nom have a wild creativity that Kogg lack, and Kogg have a commitment and focus that Nom lack; together, the two races invent miracles of creation.

They say the first word an Urul child learns is “war.” Urul culture revolves around violence and control, and nearly every orc finds themselves fighting for their lives before the age of 10. The average lifespan for an Urul is around 40 years, but most don’t live past 20; as a result, they breed rapidly and passionately. Urul anatomy is far different from most of the other races: their bones are much denser and heavier than normal (comparable to Kogg), their bodies are very resistant to poison and can consume just about anything. It isn’t uncommon for an Urul to conceal weapons or explosives inside their guts for surprise attacks.

Everything about Urul seems adapted to fighting and consuming, and when pushed to the brink of death an Urul will enter a bloodlusted state: their bodies swell, their skin turns red, and they feel no pain. In this berserker state, the urul’s strength is multiplied and they will fight tirelessly until their rage ends… and they die. Most humans, kogg, and many other races consider Urul to be one of the “monster” species; an unnatural creature that throws off the balance of nature and exists only for destruction, but 1 out of every 1000 Urul are born “cursed” with a strong moral conscience that runs counter to their race’s nature.

The Amiran giants are the kings and queens of the world. At least, that’s what they would have you believe. Standing at an average of 20 meters tall, Giants tower over every other race on the planet. Their power is undeniable and their kingdoms are breathtaking, Amiran tend to see every other existing race as there for them. They don’t take slaves, they take “pets” and “cattle.”

Amiran live their life in metamorphic stages. Immature and adolescent giants live the first 300 years of their life growing rapidly. After reaching around 9 feet, they can only temporarily grow to giant proportions for limited periods of time. Once they reach maturity, they burrow deep into their environment to fall into a deep sleep. After another century, they emerge as towering adults, known as “Ascended Giants.” These Amiran no longer have normal flesh as their bodies have merged with their ecosystem. Water giants have waterfalls and rocks cascading across their bodies, desert giants are made of sand and stone, swamp giants breathe poison and their “hair” falls in large leaf-like strands. Most Amiran are found in Jiran, but have spread across the world.

Geniuses at birth, the Nom culture is built around imagination and innovation. Nom are responsible for many of the technological advancements on Exodus that other races also enjoy, but of course they keep their greatest secrets among themselves. Nom societies thrive on inventions and their leaders tend to be the greatest creators among them. Every nomish household of note has either invented or improved upon a design in a way that the entire population could benefit. Particularly, Magnecube gauntlets and the harnessing of elementals to power their golems have allowed them to create entire civilizations that move organically; a gnome’s house could also be his workshop, his sales booth, his bodyguard, and his travel vehicle.

Nom don’t like people. In fact, most Nom don’t even like other Nom. Despite that their society thrives on trade and communication, Nom are notoriously arrogant. They are impatient with the slower races, judge the dirty races, and cannot stand the arrogant prattling of each other. As a result, Nom are a very personal race and value their privacy heavily, but they value their friends dearly and need honest companionship to preserve their sanity.

The Liv’ri are the sentinels of all flora. They are humanoid but they grow plantlife where humans would grow hair. Their weapons and clothing are usually grown from their own body (such as a thorn rapier out of the wrists) and the hair on their heads often grow fruits corresponding to the plant they’re based on. (Such as vine-like braided locs that grew perfect grapes) These seeds/fruits can grow entire forests where there were none.

They have a “dark elf” counterpart. Olu are born from the fungal kingdom, and usually live underground. (Some have aboveground mushroom villages) because of their naturally symbiotic nature and deadly spores they tend to be hated by the other races.

Liv’ri and Olu can naturally command plant and fungal-life respectively. Though they will often come into conflict with one another, they will almost always unite to fend their forests against any invaders. In the few communities where Liv’ri and Olu coexist peacefully, they create some of the most fantastic and powerful alliances known to Exodus.

Long ago before intelligence races had learned to weave magic into spells, they wished upon the stars. Sometimes, those wishes would be granted, so they wished some more. They didn’t realize that there was a cost, that looking at the same star and wishing upon it forged a pact with creatures living in the cosmos. The D’Jinn fed on the energy of the wishes, or rather, the energy they took from their hosts.

With so many millions of wishes to grant, the D’Jinn ate well and lived peacefully.. But over time as the races evolved and discovered how to manipulate ether, the D’Jinn found themselves with less and less wishes to grant.

As always when precious resources are on the decline, the D’Jinn began to war amongst themsleves. The most clever among them decided a different approach and went down to the world -something most D’Jinn would consider impossible since they do not have flesh bodies and would quickly destabilize- to inhabit valuable objects and prey on whoever is fortunate(and unfortunate) enough to find them.

When motes of lights swarm together to form one being, you know you are in the presence of a Fae. The Fae (or Fey), also known as Faeries, live two very different lives at any given moment. Their “cells” each are miniaturized versions of themselves, and a Faerie can easily break themselves apart into millions of little clones each sharing the same vision and intelligence as one another as long as they are in relatively close proximity.

… But what if one is separated?

A Fae separated too long from its cluster will perish, along with whatever knowledge and information it had gained inbetween the times it had remerged. The Fae actually prefer to exist as a swarm, able to experience and enjoy more of life that way before reforming to interact with the larger races. As with most sangui’ji, little is known about their civilizations and cultures and even less has been recorded.

Not all storms are natural, not all fires are mindless, and lightning is not always random. Magic, being a conscious thing, sometimes expresses itself in the form of raw elemental power. The Elementals as a were not originally a sentient race, but that began to change once gnomes began to capture them and use them to power their golems. Living caged in golems, exposed to various types of magic, and learning a song-like language created new desires in the trapped Elementals.

The few Elementals that broke free from their golem prisons could not return to their old life of impulse and reaction. Instead, they became the first precursors for intelligent Elementals: starting with teaching the other Elementals the deeper concepts of “language.” Eventually, Elementals would begin to seek out flesh-hosts to imbue their powers in so that their resulting offspring would receive the elemental power and knowledge. These elemental “scios” look consistent and unique, showing only traces of whatever lineage they were born from. They have hair made of their respective element, and glowing lines of energy running where their veins should be. Scios are present more on Baldeming than anywhere else in the world.

Some say that Magic is just Science that hasn’t been explained yet. While Liv’ri use magic naturally and Humans use it artistically, the Nom use it mathematically. This has allowed them to master rune & sigil-based magic and make magical “programs” with consistently predictable results. This also allowed for their construction of Golems controlled by their Magnecube gauntlets.

But symbols and mathematics are the religion of the Artificial Intelligence, and eventually Golems with the capacity to reason and rationalize were created. It wasn’t intentional, likely an experiment gone awry – perhaps a nomish application of acquired USB or other Earth-tech – but one Master Golem with the gift of free will had managed to break free from its master and form it’s own society. Now all Golems are outlawed at the risk of them becoming sentient.