Loading…
 None
String updated in the repository |
|
|
None
String updated in the repository |
<p><em>test1Chochori are amphibious coral people who have a complex culture with their own unique social groupings, life cycle, and way of looking at the world, distinct from other ancestries.</em></p>
<hr> <p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p> <p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p> <p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p> <p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li> <li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li> <li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li> <li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li> <li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p> <p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p> <h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2> <p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p> <p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p> <p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p> <h3>Aikrys</h3> <p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p> <h3>Carbor</h3> <p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p> <h3>Farose</h3> <p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p> <h3>Hypisk</h3> <p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p> <h3>Jamambri</h3> <p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p> <h3>Terath</h3> <p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p> <h3>Vergiss</h3> <p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p> <h2>Chochori Settlements</h2> <p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p> <p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p> <h2>The Eld</h2> <p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p> <p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p> <p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p> <h3>Sample Personal Names</h3> <p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p> <h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3> <p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p> <h2>Chochori Heritages</h2> <p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p>
<p><em>test1Chochori are amphibious coral people who have a complex culture with their own unique social groupings, life cycle, and way of looking at the world, distinct from other ancestries.</em></p>
<hr> <p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p> <p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p> <p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p> <p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li> <li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li> <li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li> <li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li> <li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p> <p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p> <h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2> <p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p> <p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p> <p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p> <h3>Aikrys</h3> <p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p> <h3>Carbor</h3> <p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p> <h3>Farose</h3> <p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p> <h3>Hypisk</h3> <p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p> <h3>Jamambri</h3> <p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p> <h3>Terath</h3> <p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p> <h3>Vergiss</h3> <p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p> <h2>Chochori Settlements</h2> <p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p> <p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p> <h2>The Eld</h2> <p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p> <p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p> <p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p> <h3>Sample Personal Names</h3> <p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p> <h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3> <p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p> <h2>Chochori Heritages</h2> <p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p> |
|
None
String added in the repository |
<p><em>Chochori are amphibious coral people who have a complex culture with their own unique social groupings, life cycle, and way of looking at the world, distinct from other ancestries.</em></p>
<hr> <p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p> <p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p> <p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p> <p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li> <li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li> <li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li> <li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li> <li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p> <p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p> <h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2> <p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p> <p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p> <p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p> <h3>Aikrys</h3> <p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p> <h3>Carbor</h3> <p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p> <h3>Farose</h3> <p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p> <h3>Hypisk</h3> <p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p> <h3>Jamambri</h3> <p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p> <h3>Terath</h3> <p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p> <h3>Vergiss</h3> <p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p> <h2>Chochori Settlements</h2> <p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p> <p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p> <h2>The Eld</h2> <p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p> <p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p> <p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p> <h3>Sample Personal Names</h3> <p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p> <h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3> <p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p> <h2>Chochori Heritages</h2> <p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p>
<p><em>Chochori are amphibious coral people who have a complex culture with their own unique social groupings, life cycle, and way of looking at the world, distinct from other ancestries.</em></p>
<hr> <p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p> <p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p> <p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p> <p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li> <li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li> <li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li> <li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li> <li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p> <p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p> <h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2> <p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p> <p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p> <p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p> <h3>Aikrys</h3> <p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p> <h3>Carbor</h3> <p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p> <h3>Farose</h3> <p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p> <h3>Hypisk</h3> <p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p> <h3>Jamambri</h3> <p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p> <h3>Terath</h3> <p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p> <h3>Vergiss</h3> <p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p> <h2>Chochori Settlements</h2> <p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p> <p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p> <h2>The Eld</h2> <p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p> <p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p> <p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p> <h3>Sample Personal Names</h3> <p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p> <h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3> <p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p> <h2>Chochori Heritages</h2> <p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p> |
Things to check
Key
entries.Chochori.descriptionFlags
read-only
<hr>
<p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p>
<p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p>
<p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p>
<p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p>
<h2>You Might...</h2>
<ul>
<li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li>
<li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li>
<li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Others Probably...</h2>
<ul>
<li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li>
<li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li>
<li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Physical Description</h2>
<p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p>
<p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p>
<h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2>
<p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p>
<h2>Society</h2>
<p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p>
<p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p>
<p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p>
<h3>Aikrys</h3>
<p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p>
<h3>Carbor</h3>
<p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p>
<h3>Farose</h3>
<p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p>
<h3>Hypisk</h3>
<p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p>
<h3>Jamambri</h3>
<p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p>
<h3>Terath</h3>
<p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p>
<h3>Vergiss</h3>
<p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p>
<h2>Chochori Settlements</h2>
<p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p>
<h2>Alignment and Religion</h2>
<p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p>
<p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p>
<h2>The Eld</h2>
<p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p>
<p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p>
<h2>Names</h2>
<p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p>
<p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p>
<h3>Sample Personal Names</h3>
<p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p>
<h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3>
<p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p>
<h2>Chochori Heritages</h2>
<p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p>
<hr>
<p>In chochori society, there are as many myths, legends, and tales of the ancestry’s birth as there are storytellers with willing audiences, with few common themes. Were chochori created by the balance’s deity of water? Or perhaps they are older than the Balance itself, the children of a powerful and ancient water eldamon. While their earliest history is shrouded in mystery, chochori keep excellent records of what has come after, making their undersea libraries inscribed into shell or other durable materials the envy of other aquatic civilizations. The name chochori comes from the chochori word "cho," meaning all, and "chori." "Chori" is the plural of the singular "chora," indicating a subdivision of chochori with a nuanced meaning that is difficult to translate into a single word.</p>
<p>While each chochori is an individual, a chochori’s body is made up of a network of nearly identical polyps, with subtle differences that allow them to perform specialized tasks. Because of this plural nature, as a being composed of multiple interconnected selves working in harmony, chochori are more likely than most ancestries to be plural, a system of individuals sharing the same body. That’s not to say that all chochori are plural; it’s quite common to see chochori who aren’t plural, as well as those of all points on the plurality spectrum, including medians, multiples, and more.</p>
<p>However, chochori don’t have a concept of sex or gender, and they have extreme trouble understanding what either of these mean for other ancestries or why they are significant. Especially difficult for chochori are two tasks: they are supposed to tell beings of various genders apart (g’mayuns or orpoks look the same to chochori; other than being able to distinguish individuals, they don’t really notice any broader trends) and the use of gendered language, especially in languages that use gender excessively and assign them even to inanimate objects and articles. This is because chochori don’t have a gender or sex (some members of other ancestries claim that they do, but that they have a single sex, but most chochori themselves disagree, and thus most people take them at their word). Instead, chochori reproduce in one of two ways: via budding, which creates a child with many similarities to their single parent, or by spawning, where multiple chochori release polyps into the water and some combination of them mix and form infant chochori. Children after a spawning ceremony are raised communally by the chochori community and, unlike chochori born from budding, they are considered to be children of all, rather than any specific parent or parents. In most cases, it would take significant divination magic to even figure out which polyps combined to form the young chochori, and chochori would find such an intrusion offensive, especially if it came with an attempt to claim parentage or some special connection.</p>
<p>If you want to play a character made of coral with an amphibious lifestyle and a distinctive way of looking at the world, you should play a chochori.</p>
<h2>You Might...</h2>
<ul>
<li>Express a deep curiosity about the stories and mysteries of the world around you.</li>
<li>Find it difficult to understand certain things that other ancestries take for granted.</li>
<li>Look at everything and everyone around you through the lens of what their chora might be.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Others Probably...</h2>
<ul>
<li>Ascribe values or characteristics to you that fit their own conception of what other ancestries are like.</li>
<li>Assume that you are focused only on the world beneath the waves.</li>
<li>Consider you knowledgeable about the oceans and all of their legends.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Physical Description</h2>
<p>Chochori are beings of living coral formed into roughly humanoid shapes. Every polyp making up a chochori’s body is a separate but extremely similar component, with different physical features as necessary to serve as part of the chochori’s collective body. In this way, they are a single living being made up of a colony of individual components. Those who study chochori biology in a cursory fashion and learn this fact sometimes try to stare at chochori to see if they can find some kind of "seams" or "divisions" between the chochori’s different polyps, but they are all connected so seamlessly that it is incredibly difficult to detect with the naked eye.</p>
<p>Chochori adorn and offer to do the same to others for whom they hold affection with all sorts of colorful marine objects (and sometimes even tiny creatures), in a style that makes them look almost like a living coral reef. Chochori tend to add to their adornments as they accomplish deeds, and others who care for them gift them adornments in similar circumstances. This can cause a truly accomplished chochori to have an extremely colorful and eclectic look. Furthermore, some members of other ancestries don’t understand where the coral body of a chochori ends and the ornamentation begins, leading them to misunderstand the chochori’s true appearance or even causing them to be unable to recognize an extremely familiar chochori with their ornamentation removed or significantly increased. Chochori with a parent, those born from budding rather than spawning, have a deep physical similarity to their parent, but due to the ornamentation, they often have a visual appearance so distinctive that no chochori would confuse them. However, a chochori who intentionally created or pilfered adornments with the explicit purpose of impersonating their parent would have a particularly easy time fooling an onlooker’s eyes.</p>
<h2>Chochori Adventurers</h2>
<p>A chochori’s chora has a major influence on whether a chochori is likely to become an adventurer, and what kind of adventurer they might become. For instance, aikrys gravitate towards being alchemists or inventors in order to make use of their ingenuity, while farose are more likely to become champions, barbarians, warrior bards, or other characters who demonstrate courage, passion, or leadership. Chochori of any chora might become clerics, druids, or other religious figures, especially among the Eld where worship is led by a council with one member from each chora. However, even in those classes, hypisks are more common than the other chori. Among chochori, typical backgrounds vary by chora as well. Some popular backgrounds include acolyte, animal whisperer, artist, emissary, entertainer, hunter, scholar, scout, tinker, and warrior.</p>
<h2>Society</h2>
<p>Chochori society is built around many different dichotomies and tends toward a societal structure they call a choriste, which surface ancestries consider somewhat similar to a "chiefdom," in that it’s a mostly collective culture that also includes a small number of hereditary leaders, or a "clan," in that most or all members bear a relationship with each other by lineage. Chochori leaders are the descendants of chochori heroes. Any kind of hero can become a chochori leader, but often those who have hereditary magical or physical gifts, such as sorcerers, have the longest-lived line of leaders. This is because chochori leaders typically reproduce via budding, asexual reproduction with a single parent, passing the mantle of hero-leader on from parent to child. Sometimes old heroic lines die off, and new heroes are born to take their place. Most other chochori reproduce nearly exclusively via spawning, releasing tiny polyps into a common area where they recombine together and form new young chochori. These young chochori born from spawning are raised communally by the chochori settlement or group as a whole, and they don’t consider any particular chochori to be more their "parents" than any others. Chochori other than leaders sometimes also reproduce via budding for various reasons, but chochori society considers such a thing unusual and potentially self-absorbed.</p>
<p>Chochori divide themselves into seven chori, subdivisions that most other ancestries find as mystifying as chochori themselves find the alien idea of "gender." Chochori find chori to be perfectly natural and effortlessly subdivide animals, plants, objects, and even members of other ancestries into chori as well. Learning their language (also called Chochori) is incredibly difficult for creatures who can’t either instinctively classify things based on chori or carefully memorize predetermined lists of classifications, since adjectives are conjugated based on the chori of the noun they modify, and verbs are conjugated based on the chori of both the subject and the object (for reflexive verbs, the conjugation is the same as when the subject and the object both come from the same chora).</p>
<p>Chori defy easy classification with a single word in Common. A chora is clearly not a social "class" within chochori society, as chochori of every chora can hold any status and occupation. Members of any chora can become a hero and thus a leader. They bear no resemblance to other ancestries’ concepts of subdivisions such as ethnicity, and indeed, while a budded chochori child often has the same chora as their sole parent, that isn’t necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s possible for a chochori’s chora to change during their lifetime, potentially multiple times. This experience is more likely in a chochori who is a gateway system than in a closed system, since gateway systems can have new members enter the system, and the new members might influence the chochori’s chora. Chochori don’t seem to care that other ancestries can’t find a way to classify chori, to them chori are just chori. However, sociologists from other ancestries, desperate to come up with some explanation, have tried to describe them as being more similar to genders than they are to either social classes or ethnicities, in that they are a part of one’s identity that is internal rather than being based on heritage or occupation. Even those sociologists realize how much of a stretch this is, and admit that chori are still utterly different from genders and share virtually no similarities, they are the closest concept that they could envision to associate them with. Chochori sociologists, for their part, just see this as another in the endless examples of other ancestries’ obsession with gender and sex. The following are the seven chori.</p>
<h3>Aikrys</h3>
<p>Chochori of the aikrys chora tend to be especially independent, ingenious, and innovative. This makes them likelier than chochori of other chori to be lone pioneers in various fields, especially when it comes to inventing new things or discovering new places. They can be somewhat temperamental and are not always in control of their emotions. The aikrys chora is associated with the element of air, and it is said that a great aikrys hero long ago first discovered that the world of air up above the water’s surface was safe for chochori, back in ancient times when it was believed that the surface was the edge of the known world, leading to the underworld or a dangerous otherworld. Aikrys chochori are respected for their ingenuity, but they sometimes innovate and iterate even when the old way of doing things was perfectly serviceable, and sometimes their experiments end in utter failure. That’s not to say aikrys chochori act like reckless scientists, with laboratories of exploding prototypes. It’s simply the case that it usually takes learning from multiple failed attempts to successfully innovate. Aikrys chochori are among the most common to become adventurers, inventors, and scientists, due to their independent streak and sense of exploration.</p>
<h3>Carbor</h3>
<p>Chochori of the carbor chora tend to grow in a way that’s deeply intertwined with others. Their interconnectedness can make them sympathetic to others’ feelings, and their way of considering others’ feelings and motivations can also make them talented at persuasion. Carbor chochori can be extremely loyal to those close to them, though they are suspicious and slow to trust when it comes to strangers. However, once they accept someone, they quickly grow closer. The carbor chora is associated with the element of wood, and it is said that a great carbor hero long ago helped set up the structures of the first choristes. Carbor chochori are well-regarded for their ability to understand and get along with others, though other chochori make sure to be open and upfront with carbor chochori in order to prove their honesty and allay the carbor chochori’s suspicion. In groups where cohesion and teamwork is crucial, such as hunting parties, diplomatic envoys, or adventuring groups, carbor chochori excel as members, so long as they have time to warm up to the group before a high-stakes mission.</p>
<h3>Farose</h3>
<p>Chochori of the farose chora tend to be courageous and confident. That’s not to say they never feel any sort of doubt or fear, or that they act recklessly. It simply means they are able to continue onward in the face of such fears and doubts with exceptional resolve. They can be enthusiastic in the pursuit of their passions and goals, which is generally a good thing, but can make them impatient when a goal is delayed, especially by delays they feel are unnecessary or pointless. Their brave and decisive attitude can also be seen as aggressive. The farose chora is associated with the element of fire, and it is said that a great farose hero long ago fought back terrifying ancient evils that arose from deep under the sea, ensuring the safety of their homeland. Farose chochori are lauded for their bravery and leadership, but sometimes viewed with anxiety for their tendency towards impatient, aggressive, and occasionally rash solutions to obstacles in their path. No one wants to be seen as an obstacle to a farose chochori. Farose chochori have a tendency to volunteer for fast-paced and dangerous tasks that other chochori would balk at facing. This also includes violent professions such as soldiers or adventurers. They often find roles allowing for leadership or decision-making easier to handle than those where they might have to wait and stew for a decision to be made.</p>
<h3>Hypisk</h3>
<p>Chochori of the hypisk chora tend to be gentle and artistic, with a calm eye towards the bigger picture and the inner beauty hidden within everyday things. They often have a rich inner world, with deep and expressive dreams. The hypisk chora is associated with the element of water, and it is said that a great hypisk hero long ago had prophetic dreams that led the people of that time to discover rich lands of plenty in which to live and build their settlements. Hypisk chochori are seen as wise for their ability to understand the larger context of things and look past the surface level. However, due to their inner contemplations, they are sometimes seen as reserved or distant, almost as if they’re looking past you or through you. Still, they tend to be as sociable as most other chori, so they don’t have a reputation for being shy, as vergiss chochori do. Hypisk chochori excel at artistic and creative tasks or those that require deeper reflection and wisdom. They are less likely than chochori of most other chori to become adventurers or other violent occupations.</p>
<h3>Jamambri</h3>
<p>Chochori of the jamambri chora tend to be quick- thinking and adaptable, able to react extremely quickly and effectively to all sorts of unusual situations. They are often extremely curious, which, when combined with their quick thinking, means that they flit about from curiosity to curiosity, enjoying each one until their inquisitive nature inspires their interest in something else. The jamambri chora is associated with the element of electricity (chochori see electricity as an element, as it is one of the elements in the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great jamambri hero long ago was the first to react when chochori of that era met other ancestries, adapting to their strange ways and obsession with incomprehensible concepts like sex and gender. Jamambri chochori are seen as particularly cunning and able to land on their feet in any situation. However, they can also be seen as fickle, mercurial, and flighty due to their ever-changing interests. Jamambri chochori often change their occupation many times throughout their lives, and they try a little bit of everything at least once, except for jobs that require mindless repetition or labor. Jobs with a large number of disparate, quickly-changing tasks or challenges, such as adventuring, are especially popular among jamambri chochori.</p>
<h3>Terath</h3>
<p>Chochori of the terath chora tend to be patient and equanimous, willing to bide their time and take things slowly if necessary. They are more likely to place extreme value on a promise and oath and to always keep their word. Terath chochori’s patience contrasts with both farose chochori’s impatience and jamambri chochori’s short attention spans. This doesn’t lead to any antagonism between terath chochori and those of the other two chori, however. Instead, it allows them to work together well, with each lending their strengths to cover the other’s weaknesses. For instance, most terath chochori appreciate the quick thinking of jamambri chochori, while for their part, the majority of jamambri chochori are all too happy to have someone else who is not just willing but eager to perform slow-paced and repetitive work. The terath chora is associated with the element of earth, and it is said that a great terath hero long ago discovered aquaculture, allowing chochori to have a steady, consistent food source through low, careful planning, rather than being subject to the whims of a poor hunting season. Terath chochori are seen as exceptionally reliable due to their tendency to remain calm and patient, and to always keep their promises, even if it requires great persistence to do so. However, their stalwart refusal to back down can sometimes give them a reputation for being stubborn. Once a terath chochori has made a decision, their tendency to stick to it no matter what can be either a virtue or a vice, depending on the situation. Terath chochori often prefer jobs where they can take their time and get everything perfect, rather than those where they have to make split-second decisions or otherwise act extremely quickly.</p>
<h3>Vergiss</h3>
<p>Chochori of the vergiss chora tend to be analytical and practical, looking at problems from various different perspectives and logically breaking them down into smaller problems in order to solve them. They tend to take things seriously and to keep to themselves, able to relate more easily to logic, mathematics, and other things that follow expected patterns than they are to other people, with their unpredictable moods and whims. The vergiss chora is associated with the element of ice (chochori see ice as an element, as it is one of the elements associated with the ancient religion known as the Eld), and it is said that a great vergiss hero long ago developed the complex mathematics that chochori have used across the ages to research physics and other advanced topics. Vergiss chochori are seen as serious and intellectual and are respected for their logical way of thinking. However, they are often also viewed as shy or introverted. Chochori of other chori might approach a vergiss chochori cautiously and politely when starting a conversation without a predetermined structure for the socialization, out of respect for what they guess to be the vergiss chochori’s preferences. Vergiss chochori aren’t usually quick to blame others either way. However, while they tend to judge others with exceptional grace and consideration, when it comes to themselves they often hold impossibly high standards, leading them to be extremely self-critical at times. Vergiss chochori’s tendency to be introverted doesn’t mean that they prefer to work alone, though that’s true for some vergiss chochori. Most, however, enjoy working with others nearby as long as the other people are also quietly working and leave them alone with their thoughts so they can concentrate on their own work. They prefer tasks involving intellect, logic, and rationality. This sometimes leads to occupations that are similar to those preferred by aikrys chochori, but while an aikrys scientist is more likely to pioneer a novel research field, a vergiss scientist will usually be the one methodically and logically filling in the conceptual holes left behind during the aikrys chochori’s rush to innovate something new.</p>
<h2>Chochori Settlements</h2>
<p>Chochori settlements tend to be relatively small by the standards of ancestries that build giant metropolises, though chochori see those other ancestries as building settlements that are pointlessly large. Typically, new settlements are formed after the advent of a new chochori hero or heroes, and their lines become the settlement’s new leaders. Chochori settlements are places of great learning under the sea, and they are often sought out by other aquatic or amphibious ancestries seeking old tales or new ideas alike.</p>
<h2>Alignment and Religion</h2>
<p>Chochori tend to have a complicated relationship with alignment that leads to them tending more towards neutral, or alignments at most one step from neutral. This is especially true for chochori who are systems, as the varying perspectives of the differing members of the system make it less likely for the chochori to settle on one of the more extreme alignments. Some of the different chori have mild tendencies towards law or chaos. Aikrys, farose, and jamambri are slightly more likely to be chaotic, and carbor, terath, and vergiss are slightly more likely to be lawful. Hypisk don’t tend either way.</p>
<p>While many chochori worship any of the various deities of the balance, much like the other ancestries of the Indigo Isles, a significant number of chochori still worship the ancient elemental religion known as the Eld, which predates the coming of the gods of the Balance to Alacar. Chochori adherents of the Eld consider the seven chori to be manifestations of the Eld and its various different elements, and they tend towards religious structures involving councils of seven high priests, one from each chora.</p>
<h2>The Eld</h2>
<p>Chochori are hardly the only people on Alacar who worship the ancient pre-balance religion called the Eld, but they’re among the more prominent followers in the area around the Indigo Isles, alongside kragraks and some of the various heritages of dragons.</p>
<p>The Eld holds that the world was created from far more inherent elements than the classical few elements on which other elemental traditions focus, with as many as twenty interconnected elements. Rather than anthropomorphic deities, adherents of the Eld venerate the elements themselves, as well as the elemental monsters born of the Eld (sometimes known as eldamon) as their representatives, akin to the role of saints or angels in other religions.</p>
<h2>Names</h2>
<p>Chochori names tend to be simple and to the point. They almost always contain one letter from their chora in the Chochori alphabet, which is added when they determine their chora during an early coming of age ceremony. It’s important to note that some sounds that use two letters in other alphabets, like the "th" in Terath or the "ch" in cho and chora, are a single letter in the Chochori alphabet. When a chochori changes their chora, they also change the letter they added to one from the new chora, unless the letter was present in both chori.</p>
<p>However, chochori generally don’t share their personal name except with those they deeply trust, and it’s a sign of deep intimacy in chochori culture to do so. Instead, they give acquaintances or new people they’ve just met an accomplishment name based on their profession or lifestyle, generally based on the most difficult challenge they have ever overcome. For example, a hunter who hunted the seaworm Ripplefang as their mightiest prey might gain the hunter-name Ripplefang, or Seaworm, while a mathematician whose greatest accomplishment was writing a proof that solved the Paradox of Arrows might take the mathematician-name Arrows, Paradox, or Paradox of Arrows. On the other hand, a diplomat whose most impressive achievement was to negotiate the Treaty of Oyster’s Rest could have the diplomat- name Treaty of Oyster’s Rest.</p>
<h3>Sample Personal Names</h3>
<p>Avar, Belkri, Erpo, Intha, Lofa, Osmo, Pivo</p>
<h3>Sample Accomplishment Names</h3>
<p>Banquet of Kings, Concert of the Flowing Tides, Law of Viscosity, Longjaw, Paradox of Arrows, Ripplefang, Treaty of Oyster’s Rest</p>
<h2>Chochori Heritages</h2>
<p>Chochori have distinctive features based on the polyp or polyps from which they are born, completely distinct from the chora they will identify as their own later in life.</p>