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All strings | Browse Translate Zen |
| 11 17,415 113,004 |
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Read-only strings | Browse Translate Zen |
| 5 17,407 112,944 |
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Strings with any failing checks | Browse Translate Zen |
| 5 17,407 112,944 |
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Failing check: Ellipsis | Browse Translate Zen |
| 11 17,415 113,004 |
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Strings without a label | Browse Translate Zen |
Overview
| Project website | weblate.ashfinder.com/settings/pf2 |
|---|---|
| Project maintainers |
 Kuroni
 losy
|
| Translation license | GNU General Public License v3.0 or later |
| Translation process |
|
| Source code repository |
https://github.com/AlphaStarguide/pf2e_compendium_chn
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| Repository branch | main |
| Last remote commit |
add LOIL to webalte
bd2b195
Kuroni authored 10 days ago |
| Last commit in Weblate |
Translated using Weblate (Chinese (Simplified))
479255d
Kuroni authored 4 months ago |
| Weblate repository |
http://weblate.ashfinder.com/git/pf2/pf2e_compendium_chn/
|
| File mask | */battlezoo-indigo-isles-character-guide-pf2e.indigo-isles-ancestries.json |
| Monolingual base language file | en-US/battlezoo-indigo-isles-character-guide-pf2e.indigo-isles-ancestries.json |
| Translation file |
Download
en-US/battlezoo-indigo-isles-character-guide-pf2e.indigo-isles-ancestries.json
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| Last change | Aug. 9, 2024, 8:17 a.m. |
| Last author | None |
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String statistics
| Strings percent | Hosted strings | Words percent | Hosted words | Characters percent | Hosted characters | |
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| Total | 11 | 17,415 | 113,004 | |||
| Translated | 100% | 11 | 100% | 17,415 | 100% | 113,004 |
| Needs editing | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Read-only | 100% | 11 | 100% | 17,415 | 100% | 113,004 |
| Failing checks | 45% | 5 | 99% | 17,407 | 99% | 112,944 |
| Strings with suggestions | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Untranslated strings | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
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<p><em>test1test2Chochori 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>test1test2Chochori 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> |
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<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> |
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<p><em>Orpoks are stout humanoids with porcine features. They have keen senses of smell and taste, making them peerless gourmands. Hardy and hardworking, many orpoks prefer well-earned lives of ease.</em></p>
<hr> <p>Orpoks are recent arrivals to the Indigo Isles, having appeared in a fleet of wide-bottomed sailing vessels about 200 years ago. The orpoks who worked the ships had been born on them, and their elders spoke only vaguely of some great tragedy that they had escaped many years before. The knowledge of the orpok homeland died with these elders, and orpoks today don’t have much to say about their lost ancestral homelands.</p> <p>Despite the distant tragedy, orpoks didn’t arrive as empty- handed refugees. Their vessels were filled with all manner of crafts, treatises, and treasures. Wherever orpoks came from, they had time to compile all that they needed to preserve their culture and settle someplace anew. In particular, the ships’ holds were bursting with cookbooks and cooking implements, herbs and spices unknown in the Indigo Isles and the potted plants to regrow them, treasures such as silver and gemstones, and beautiful works of art, mostly in the form of exceptional furniture. Cookbooks served as primers to teach young orpoks to read and write. The furniture provided excellent examples of how to construct useful, comfortable things. Books explaining how to hunt, kill, and cook a variety of beasts were used to teach young orpoks the arts of combat. These materials, though extensive, were noticeably lacking in maps, histories, or anything that would tell the new generation where they had come from or why they left.</p> <p>The orpok fleet arrived on Bluebell Island, in the deep bay where they would soon build the town of Seaview. The event is celebrated as "Landfall Day," although the actual arrival spanned several weeks, as some of the vessels had been delayed by a storm and had to catch up. On Bluebell Island, orpoks easily found space among the few small communities of g’mayuns, hardriggans, and others and began establishing settlements that respected these other communities—but, importantly, they discovered the bluebell plants that grew wild across the island. Their books said nothing of these flowers, but the industrious settlers soon realized that bluebell plants have an extraordinary number of uses: in dyes, cooking, textiles, ropemaking, insulation, paper, and more. Furthermore, the bluebell plants took easily to cultivation of the type described in their books. Many orpoks believed that their wandering days were coming to an end, and that the bluebell plants were a sign that they were to establish a new civilization here, expanding on the culture they had brought aboard their ships. Orpoks made homes in these settlements where they were welcome and built their own communities all across Bluebell Island. Although they’d arrived as mariners, most orpoks quickly adapted to a settled, landbound life. The settlement of Bluebell Island is now viewed as a peaceful time of collaboration and industry, but it doesn’t take a close look at orpok history to see that this wasn’t the case. Some of the fleet captains rebelled at settling down on land; the oceangoing life was all they’d ever known, after all. It was clear that something had compelled orpoks to take to the open sea, and some felt that turning to a landbound life was a betrayal of their directive. Only a decade after orpoks had arrived on Bluebell Island and settled in, these restless orpoks took one of the largest vessels in the fleet, the Wide Whale, and sailed away from Bluebell Island. They haven’t been seen again, but their bold decision has since inspired generations of orpok explorers who strive to know what’s over the horizon.</p> <p>As an orpok adventurer, you eschew the sedentary, community-focused life most orpoks lead (either by your nature or your circumstances). You recognize that exploration is as much a birthright of orpoks as easy living, and you will write your name among the annals of orpok heroes.</p> <p>If you want to play a porcine character with a keen nose, a sturdy body, and culinary sensibilities, you should play an orpok.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Enjoy eating often, both as an experience for the senses and as a way to bond with others.</li> <li>Be willing to shoulder a lot of work to make things easier for your friends.</li> <li>Take it easy when there’s not a pressing need for immediate effort.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Appreciate your keen senses and assume you can prepare tasty meals or recommend quality eating establishments.</li> <li>Underestimate the amount of hardship you can endure (and the work you can perform) when necessary.</li> <li>Assume that you prefer eating to any other endeavor.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Orpoks are humanoids with distinctly pig-like features, including a porcine nose, floppy ears, tusks, and cloven hooves at the ends of their feet. They are nearly as tall as a human but significantly more stout; they tend to be heavy but carry their excess weight well on sturdy bones. Their eyes are often small and sunk back into their heads, like a pig’s. Their hands end in three blunt fingers and a thumb. Orpoks have hair all over their bodies; this hair is usually fine, showing their skin color that ranges from light pink to brown so dark as to appear black. Some orpoks have thicker hair that gives them a bristly look, and others have a thin, clear layer of grease that makes them look oily all the time. Although their vision and hearing aren’t much keener than that of humans, orpoks have well-defined senses of taste and smell. They can detect subtle gradations of flavor in their food that most other creatures miss, and they find a complex flavor to be a very enjoyable sensation. They tend to snort when they eat, not out of greed or rudeness, but due to air escaping through their nose as they move a flavorful bite around in their mouths.</p> <p>Orpoks generally have large families; litters of six or eight orpoks aren’t uncommon, and most families consist of three or four litters. Although their birth rate is very high, orpoks have relatively short lifespans. Orpoks are physically mature by the end of their first decade of life, and few orpoks survive past 35 years of age. An older orpok shows their age with their hair becoming white (eventually manifesting as a soft white fuzz over the orpok’s entire body) and their eyesight becoming increasingly poor. Even many middle-aged orpoks prefer spectacles to correct their declining vision.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Orpoks society stresses civic unity and tradition. Orpoks are expected to support not only their families—particularly the elderly and young in their families—but the entire community in which they live. A simple, sedentary life is widely held as the orpok ideal, but orpoks are canny enough to realize that ease doesn’t come without hard work to pave the way. Orpoks thus engage in diligent, cooperative efforts to ensure a good life for themselves and those who come after them in their community. People of other ancestries sometimes remark that orpoks work quite hard just to take it easy, but orpoks don’t see this as a conflict.</p> <p>Most aspects of orpok life revolve around food. Cuisine is the chief subject in casual orpok conversation, and most orpoks can describe in detail the best meals they’ve ever eaten—and will do so with little prompting. Food-related metaphors are common, and their vaunted institutions, such as the government, courts, and institutions of higher learning, often incorporate food-related concepts or titles.</p> <p>Orpoks generally eat seven meals each day and never do so in a hurry if they can avoid it. Although orpoks often defer to the most skilled chef during the preparation of a meal, everyone pitches in to help cook in whatever way they’re best suited to provide— even a clumsy orpok youth who can barely boil water, chips in by fetching ingredients or cleaning up. Orpok celebrations, such as weddings, births, or funerals, always revolve around an elaborate meal. Specific foods carry traditional meanings for these cultural celebrations, such as a wedding’s multilayered cake to signify years of ascending love or a funeral’s traditional potato casserole to acknowledge a body’s return to the earth.</p> <p>Orpoks love to eat, but they are never sloppy or frantic about it. Orpoks have some of the most convoluted table manners throughout the Indigo Isles, and anyone who attends a fancy orpok meal without comprehending the dizzying array of cutlery and courses is seen as unsophisticated. However, even an egregious lack of proper manners can be overcome with excessive compliments to the chef for each dish. Orpoks love eating out at restaurants, both to sample a wide variety of flavors and as a chance to meet up with friends. In many orpok settlements, restaurants outnumber all other businesses combined. Any orpok proud of their cooking skills is likely to establish one, even if their other duties mean they can only operate their restaurant at sporadic hours. Far from discouraging business, a restaurant with irregular operating times is often viewed as an epicurean dare, where nabbing a table is a mark of prestige.</p> <p>Orpoks like to wear layers of clothing; in warm climates, they layer light or loose fabrics to avoid overheating. Rare or colorful fabrics are seen as a demarcation of status, so any orpok who can acquire velvet, silk, or similar luxurious fabrics likes to show them off. Many orpoks enjoy wearing hats, with a high toque with a billowing top being the most traditional, and thus most often replicated, style of headgear. Noteworthy groups within orpok society are as follows.</p> <h3>Forerunners</h3> <p>Some orpoks claim that there were a handful of orpoks in the Indigo Isles even before the arrival of the great orpok fleet. These legends are bolstered by some carvings and mosaics in ancient ruins across the isles, which display images of humanoid figures with porcine features like hooves, snouts, and tusks. Most orpoks dismiss these images as either coincidences or frauds, but a determined subset of orpoks speak of the "forerunners," or orpok explorers who found the Indigo Isles in the very distant past. Those who believe in these ancient orpoks, or consider themselves to be descended from them, call themselves the forerunners. The forerunners aren’t formally organized as they can’t agree on any history or origin for their ancestors—indeed, they can’t even agree on what traits indicate such ancestry. Some claim that orpoks with more pronounced tusks must be descended from the forerunners, while others claim that a sense of psychic, ancestral "oneness" with the island is sufficient.</p> <h3>Gourmediators</h3> <p>Food is a critical component of orpok society, and the greatest orpok chefs are renowned not only for making good food but also for bringing people together over their meals. Many orpok stories center around a feud between families or communities that’s solved when chefs from the opposing sides realize they must create a meal together and, in so doing, learn from each other, mending the rift. "And they came together for a wonderful meal" is the orpok equivalent of "and they all lived happily ever after." The greatest orpok chefs take their charge of bringing people together quite seriously and hone their diplomatic skills as much as their culinary ones. These gourmediators serve as peacekeepers, envoys, and magistrates in orpok society. The best of these have graduated from the most distinguished orpok learning institutions, such as the Academy of Tastes in Seaview.</p> <h3>Hamfisted</h3> <p>Orpok criminals are rare, as are orpok bullies, but a small group of orpoks are both. These outcasts and reprobates have decided that orpok society is a fruit ripe for the plucking, and that they’re the ones to pluck it. Collectively called the "hamfisted" both for their brutally straightforward crimes as well as their tendency to pick fistfights, these orpoks are considered something between a nuisance and a menace to orpok society. There isn’t any central organization of hamfisted; it’s a catch-all term that incorporates lone hoodlums, bandit gangs, or protection racketeers. The hamfisted tend to be leaner than other orpoks as a result of living in small, desperate, ill-mannered groups on the fringes of orderly orpok society. A hamfisted that doesn’t bear scarred knuckles from past fights is hardly worthy of the moniker.</p> <h3>Wide Whalers</h3> <p>The departure of the Wide Whale so soon after the orpok’s arrival on Bluebell Island was a cultural touchpoint and an overt rejection of the sedentary, landbound life that many orpoks chose shortly after their fleet’s arrival. The Wide Whale hasn’t been seen again, but some orpoks take its lesson as a guide for living; these "wide whalers" rarely stay in one place for long and always strive to see what’s just beyond the horizon. Though they seem to reject traditional orpok life, traveling wide whalers nevertheless serve an important role in orpok society, spreading news, messages, and inventions to multiple settlements. Most orpoks consider this life to be downright dangerous, but orpok heroes who have recovered opulent treasures, returned home with exciting new recipes, or vanquished great threats nevertheless hold positions of respect in orpok society, and their descendants tend to become orpok aristocracy. Most wide whalers strive to join the ranks of these legendary figures.</p> <h2>Orpok Adventurers</h2> <p>Orpok adventurers are relatively rare, as orpoks enjoy the comforts of home and like working to build their communities. Those orpoks who take to the roads or the seas usually don’t intend a totally itinerant life and typically plan regular trips home (although misfortune might delay or prevent these anticipated homecomings). Orpoks are tough and personable, so they make excellent bards, champions, and fighters. They also make good alchemists. They might lack the manual dexterity that other ancestries have, but they are quick thinkers and make good investigators and wizards. They only rarely pursue nature-bound classes such as barbarians, druids, and rangers, so orpoks with these skills can help their communities in unique ways that make them highly valued. Typical orpok backgrounds include artisan, barkeep, barrister, cook (Pathfinder Second Edition Advanced Player’s Guide), emissary, farmhand, herbalist, noble, and scholar.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Most orpoks enjoy working in a structured, predictable society and don’t mind putting in the work to make that society function. Most are lawful neutral, but many are lawful good. Orpoks who aren’t lawful are usually travelers, traders, or other people who enjoy a more ephemeral or peripatetic existence, and that usually includes adventurers. Evil orpoks aren’t generally wicked demon worshipers or despicable tyrants, but are instead bullies or misanthropes who engage in petty cruelties and evils. Most of these miscreants align themselves with the hamfisted, who see nothing wrong with taking what they want by force.</p> <p>Few orpoks are religious, but those who are often venerate lawful deities of civilization and community such as Tova and Wera, with respect, if not full adherence, for Ebrugeses the goddess of feasts. Organized religions are rare among orpoks, but a fervent faith can strike anyone, so orpok evangelists and fanatics are uncommon but not unknown.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Orpok names are generally rolling and are typically chosen so they are easy to pronounce, even for the very young. Orpoks have expressive lips beneath their snouts, and their names include a lot of consonants. Their first names rarely include more than one or two vowels, even if a vowel is repeated multiple times, but family names tend to be longer and more complex. The orpok language is tonally complex but tends to sound like burbling to those who aren’t familiar with its nuances.</p> <h3>Sample Names</h3> <p>Alshaba, Bippin, Gennel, Motollow, Munmun, Nonnino, Pumbus, Webben.</p> <h3>Sample Family Names</h3> <p>Harbendarben, Limbinnin, Lobronkew, Molliheel, Proonder, Ramblurin, Wonnihew.</p> <h2>Orpok Heritages</h2> <p>Orpoks are quick to manifest physiological differences based on the lives their ancestors led. As they have a relatively short lifespan, orpoks have manifested many heritages in only a short amount of time in the Indigo Isles.</p>
<p><em>Orpoks are stout humanoids with porcine features. They have keen senses of smell and taste, making them peerless gourmands. Hardy and hardworking, many orpoks prefer well-earned lives of ease.</em></p>
<hr> <p>Orpoks are recent arrivals to the Indigo Isles, having appeared in a fleet of wide-bottomed sailing vessels about 200 years ago. The orpoks who worked the ships had been born on them, and their elders spoke only vaguely of some great tragedy that they had escaped many years before. The knowledge of the orpok homeland died with these elders, and orpoks today don’t have much to say about their lost ancestral homelands.</p> <p>Despite the distant tragedy, orpoks didn’t arrive as empty- handed refugees. Their vessels were filled with all manner of crafts, treatises, and treasures. Wherever orpoks came from, they had time to compile all that they needed to preserve their culture and settle someplace anew. In particular, the ships’ holds were bursting with cookbooks and cooking implements, herbs and spices unknown in the Indigo Isles and the potted plants to regrow them, treasures such as silver and gemstones, and beautiful works of art, mostly in the form of exceptional furniture. Cookbooks served as primers to teach young orpoks to read and write. The furniture provided excellent examples of how to construct useful, comfortable things. Books explaining how to hunt, kill, and cook a variety of beasts were used to teach young orpoks the arts of combat. These materials, though extensive, were noticeably lacking in maps, histories, or anything that would tell the new generation where they had come from or why they left.</p> <p>The orpok fleet arrived on Bluebell Island, in the deep bay where they would soon build the town of Seaview. The event is celebrated as "Landfall Day," although the actual arrival spanned several weeks, as some of the vessels had been delayed by a storm and had to catch up. On Bluebell Island, orpoks easily found space among the few small communities of g’mayuns, hardriggans, and others and began establishing settlements that respected these other communities—but, importantly, they discovered the bluebell plants that grew wild across the island. Their books said nothing of these flowers, but the industrious settlers soon realized that bluebell plants have an extraordinary number of uses: in dyes, cooking, textiles, ropemaking, insulation, paper, and more. Furthermore, the bluebell plants took easily to cultivation of the type described in their books. Many orpoks believed that their wandering days were coming to an end, and that the bluebell plants were a sign that they were to establish a new civilization here, expanding on the culture they had brought aboard their ships. Orpoks made homes in these settlements where they were welcome and built their own communities all across Bluebell Island. Although they’d arrived as mariners, most orpoks quickly adapted to a settled, landbound life. The settlement of Bluebell Island is now viewed as a peaceful time of collaboration and industry, but it doesn’t take a close look at orpok history to see that this wasn’t the case. Some of the fleet captains rebelled at settling down on land; the oceangoing life was all they’d ever known, after all. It was clear that something had compelled orpoks to take to the open sea, and some felt that turning to a landbound life was a betrayal of their directive. Only a decade after orpoks had arrived on Bluebell Island and settled in, these restless orpoks took one of the largest vessels in the fleet, the Wide Whale, and sailed away from Bluebell Island. They haven’t been seen again, but their bold decision has since inspired generations of orpok explorers who strive to know what’s over the horizon.</p> <p>As an orpok adventurer, you eschew the sedentary, community-focused life most orpoks lead (either by your nature or your circumstances). You recognize that exploration is as much a birthright of orpoks as easy living, and you will write your name among the annals of orpok heroes.</p> <p>If you want to play a porcine character with a keen nose, a sturdy body, and culinary sensibilities, you should play an orpok.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Enjoy eating often, both as an experience for the senses and as a way to bond with others.</li> <li>Be willing to shoulder a lot of work to make things easier for your friends.</li> <li>Take it easy when there’s not a pressing need for immediate effort.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Appreciate your keen senses and assume you can prepare tasty meals or recommend quality eating establishments.</li> <li>Underestimate the amount of hardship you can endure (and the work you can perform) when necessary.</li> <li>Assume that you prefer eating to any other endeavor.</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Orpoks are humanoids with distinctly pig-like features, including a porcine nose, floppy ears, tusks, and cloven hooves at the ends of their feet. They are nearly as tall as a human but significantly more stout; they tend to be heavy but carry their excess weight well on sturdy bones. Their eyes are often small and sunk back into their heads, like a pig’s. Their hands end in three blunt fingers and a thumb. Orpoks have hair all over their bodies; this hair is usually fine, showing their skin color that ranges from light pink to brown so dark as to appear black. Some orpoks have thicker hair that gives them a bristly look, and others have a thin, clear layer of grease that makes them look oily all the time. Although their vision and hearing aren’t much keener than that of humans, orpoks have well-defined senses of taste and smell. They can detect subtle gradations of flavor in their food that most other creatures miss, and they find a complex flavor to be a very enjoyable sensation. They tend to snort when they eat, not out of greed or rudeness, but due to air escaping through their nose as they move a flavorful bite around in their mouths.</p> <p>Orpoks generally have large families; litters of six or eight orpoks aren’t uncommon, and most families consist of three or four litters. Although their birth rate is very high, orpoks have relatively short lifespans. Orpoks are physically mature by the end of their first decade of life, and few orpoks survive past 35 years of age. An older orpok shows their age with their hair becoming white (eventually manifesting as a soft white fuzz over the orpok’s entire body) and their eyesight becoming increasingly poor. Even many middle-aged orpoks prefer spectacles to correct their declining vision.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>Orpoks society stresses civic unity and tradition. Orpoks are expected to support not only their families—particularly the elderly and young in their families—but the entire community in which they live. A simple, sedentary life is widely held as the orpok ideal, but orpoks are canny enough to realize that ease doesn’t come without hard work to pave the way. Orpoks thus engage in diligent, cooperative efforts to ensure a good life for themselves and those who come after them in their community. People of other ancestries sometimes remark that orpoks work quite hard just to take it easy, but orpoks don’t see this as a conflict.</p> <p>Most aspects of orpok life revolve around food. Cuisine is the chief subject in casual orpok conversation, and most orpoks can describe in detail the best meals they’ve ever eaten—and will do so with little prompting. Food-related metaphors are common, and their vaunted institutions, such as the government, courts, and institutions of higher learning, often incorporate food-related concepts or titles.</p> <p>Orpoks generally eat seven meals each day and never do so in a hurry if they can avoid it. Although orpoks often defer to the most skilled chef during the preparation of a meal, everyone pitches in to help cook in whatever way they’re best suited to provide— even a clumsy orpok youth who can barely boil water, chips in by fetching ingredients or cleaning up. Orpok celebrations, such as weddings, births, or funerals, always revolve around an elaborate meal. Specific foods carry traditional meanings for these cultural celebrations, such as a wedding’s multilayered cake to signify years of ascending love or a funeral’s traditional potato casserole to acknowledge a body’s return to the earth.</p> <p>Orpoks love to eat, but they are never sloppy or frantic about it. Orpoks have some of the most convoluted table manners throughout the Indigo Isles, and anyone who attends a fancy orpok meal without comprehending the dizzying array of cutlery and courses is seen as unsophisticated. However, even an egregious lack of proper manners can be overcome with excessive compliments to the chef for each dish. Orpoks love eating out at restaurants, both to sample a wide variety of flavors and as a chance to meet up with friends. In many orpok settlements, restaurants outnumber all other businesses combined. Any orpok proud of their cooking skills is likely to establish one, even if their other duties mean they can only operate their restaurant at sporadic hours. Far from discouraging business, a restaurant with irregular operating times is often viewed as an epicurean dare, where nabbing a table is a mark of prestige.</p> <p>Orpoks like to wear layers of clothing; in warm climates, they layer light or loose fabrics to avoid overheating. Rare or colorful fabrics are seen as a demarcation of status, so any orpok who can acquire velvet, silk, or similar luxurious fabrics likes to show them off. Many orpoks enjoy wearing hats, with a high toque with a billowing top being the most traditional, and thus most often replicated, style of headgear. Noteworthy groups within orpok society are as follows.</p> <h3>Forerunners</h3> <p>Some orpoks claim that there were a handful of orpoks in the Indigo Isles even before the arrival of the great orpok fleet. These legends are bolstered by some carvings and mosaics in ancient ruins across the isles, which display images of humanoid figures with porcine features like hooves, snouts, and tusks. Most orpoks dismiss these images as either coincidences or frauds, but a determined subset of orpoks speak of the "forerunners," or orpok explorers who found the Indigo Isles in the very distant past. Those who believe in these ancient orpoks, or consider themselves to be descended from them, call themselves the forerunners. The forerunners aren’t formally organized as they can’t agree on any history or origin for their ancestors—indeed, they can’t even agree on what traits indicate such ancestry. Some claim that orpoks with more pronounced tusks must be descended from the forerunners, while others claim that a sense of psychic, ancestral "oneness" with the island is sufficient.</p> <h3>Gourmediators</h3> <p>Food is a critical component of orpok society, and the greatest orpok chefs are renowned not only for making good food but also for bringing people together over their meals. Many orpok stories center around a feud between families or communities that’s solved when chefs from the opposing sides realize they must create a meal together and, in so doing, learn from each other, mending the rift. "And they came together for a wonderful meal" is the orpok equivalent of "and they all lived happily ever after." The greatest orpok chefs take their charge of bringing people together quite seriously and hone their diplomatic skills as much as their culinary ones. These gourmediators serve as peacekeepers, envoys, and magistrates in orpok society. The best of these have graduated from the most distinguished orpok learning institutions, such as the Academy of Tastes in Seaview.</p> <h3>Hamfisted</h3> <p>Orpok criminals are rare, as are orpok bullies, but a small group of orpoks are both. These outcasts and reprobates have decided that orpok society is a fruit ripe for the plucking, and that they’re the ones to pluck it. Collectively called the "hamfisted" both for their brutally straightforward crimes as well as their tendency to pick fistfights, these orpoks are considered something between a nuisance and a menace to orpok society. There isn’t any central organization of hamfisted; it’s a catch-all term that incorporates lone hoodlums, bandit gangs, or protection racketeers. The hamfisted tend to be leaner than other orpoks as a result of living in small, desperate, ill-mannered groups on the fringes of orderly orpok society. A hamfisted that doesn’t bear scarred knuckles from past fights is hardly worthy of the moniker.</p> <h3>Wide Whalers</h3> <p>The departure of the Wide Whale so soon after the orpok’s arrival on Bluebell Island was a cultural touchpoint and an overt rejection of the sedentary, landbound life that many orpoks chose shortly after their fleet’s arrival. The Wide Whale hasn’t been seen again, but some orpoks take its lesson as a guide for living; these "wide whalers" rarely stay in one place for long and always strive to see what’s just beyond the horizon. Though they seem to reject traditional orpok life, traveling wide whalers nevertheless serve an important role in orpok society, spreading news, messages, and inventions to multiple settlements. Most orpoks consider this life to be downright dangerous, but orpok heroes who have recovered opulent treasures, returned home with exciting new recipes, or vanquished great threats nevertheless hold positions of respect in orpok society, and their descendants tend to become orpok aristocracy. Most wide whalers strive to join the ranks of these legendary figures.</p> <h2>Orpok Adventurers</h2> <p>Orpok adventurers are relatively rare, as orpoks enjoy the comforts of home and like working to build their communities. Those orpoks who take to the roads or the seas usually don’t intend a totally itinerant life and typically plan regular trips home (although misfortune might delay or prevent these anticipated homecomings). Orpoks are tough and personable, so they make excellent bards, champions, and fighters. They also make good alchemists. They might lack the manual dexterity that other ancestries have, but they are quick thinkers and make good investigators and wizards. They only rarely pursue nature-bound classes such as barbarians, druids, and rangers, so orpoks with these skills can help their communities in unique ways that make them highly valued. Typical orpok backgrounds include artisan, barkeep, barrister, cook (Pathfinder Second Edition Advanced Player’s Guide), emissary, farmhand, herbalist, noble, and scholar.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Most orpoks enjoy working in a structured, predictable society and don’t mind putting in the work to make that society function. Most are lawful neutral, but many are lawful good. Orpoks who aren’t lawful are usually travelers, traders, or other people who enjoy a more ephemeral or peripatetic existence, and that usually includes adventurers. Evil orpoks aren’t generally wicked demon worshipers or despicable tyrants, but are instead bullies or misanthropes who engage in petty cruelties and evils. Most of these miscreants align themselves with the hamfisted, who see nothing wrong with taking what they want by force.</p> <p>Few orpoks are religious, but those who are often venerate lawful deities of civilization and community such as Tova and Wera, with respect, if not full adherence, for Ebrugeses the goddess of feasts. Organized religions are rare among orpoks, but a fervent faith can strike anyone, so orpok evangelists and fanatics are uncommon but not unknown.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Orpok names are generally rolling and are typically chosen so they are easy to pronounce, even for the very young. Orpoks have expressive lips beneath their snouts, and their names include a lot of consonants. Their first names rarely include more than one or two vowels, even if a vowel is repeated multiple times, but family names tend to be longer and more complex. The orpok language is tonally complex but tends to sound like burbling to those who aren’t familiar with its nuances.</p> <h3>Sample Names</h3> <p>Alshaba, Bippin, Gennel, Motollow, Munmun, Nonnino, Pumbus, Webben.</p> <h3>Sample Family Names</h3> <p>Harbendarben, Limbinnin, Lobronkew, Molliheel, Proonder, Ramblurin, Wonnihew.</p> <h2>Orpok Heritages</h2> <p>Orpoks are quick to manifest physiological differences based on the lives their ancestors led. As they have a relatively short lifespan, orpoks have manifested many heritages in only a short amount of time in the Indigo Isles.</p> |
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<p><em>Kragraks are adaptable earth people who transform their earthen forms based on two coming of age rituals and often associate with a secondary element.</em></p>
<hr> <p>Kragraks are an ancient ancestry with a strong connection to the element of earth. A kragrak’s connection to the earth manifests in their physical forms, which echo the earthen features of the natural world. While kragraks with bulky gray forms inspired by a mountain range may look quite different from those whose skin evokes the ripples in green coastal sand, these variations in appearance are not based on lineage. It’s normal for kragrak families to include kragraks of various different heritages, and kragrak parents encourage each of their children to explore possible body forms as a natural part of their development.</p> <p>In addition to their shared connection to earth, many kragraks also feel a lesser connection to a secondary element that reflects their personality, typically chosen from the other elements associated with the Eld. Kragraks group these elements in various categories, and they believe that a kragrak’s secondary element and its category have a strong influence on the kragrak’s characteristics and capabilities.</p> <p>All kragraks are born as pale gray, bipedal humanoids with symmetrical bodies and ash-textured skin. These kragrak childhood forms are extremely resilient and adaptable, with tremendous regenerative ability. In addition, kragrak children are capable of briefly shapeshifting into smaller versions of various adult forms, which they use to try out which shapes feel most natural to them. Many children can even take on the appearance of inanimate rocks or crystals or other transformations dissimilar to the shape of a basic kragrak body. Whichever form they take, kragrak children’s appearance is always symmetrical, a feature that greatly assists kragrak families in locating mischievous children attempting to hide away from responsibilities by using their shapeshifting abilities. It’s for this reason that symmetrical features are seen as especially childish in kragrak society, while asymmetrical features are a sign of adulthood.</p> <p>Eventually, almost every kragrak undergoes two highly personal coming-of-age rituals, during which they physically manifest a variety of features, each of which is intrinsically tied to their identity. The first of these rituals, the Rite of Metamorphosis, is performed once the kragrak reaches roughly the age of 12. During the ritual, kragrak children channel all their transformative power into a stabler form with the help of members of their community, and, like metamorphic rocks, begin to solidify their identity. The features they gain include a heritage, based on how they choose to embody the element of earth, and a name mark, a permanent and unique symbol that appears somewhere on their bodies. The transformation also includes the changes that other ancestries would associate with puberty, with the rapid development of characteristics that are consistent with the kragrak’s gender and desired anatomy.</p> <p>Kragraks who have completed the Rite of Metamorphosis but who are not yet adults are known in kragrak society as metamorphs. The most obvious way to tell a metamorph apart from a temporarily transforming child is symmetry; metamorphs’ bodies develop asymmetrical features, such as rocky protrusions on one shoulder but not the other, or hands with different numbers of fingers.</p> <p>Around the age of 24, all kragraks undergo a second coming of age ritual, the Rite of Announcement, to formally transition into adulthood. This ritual amplifies the asymmetries in the kragrak’s body and causes them to grow to their full adult size. It also augments the kragrak’s name mark based on the kragrak’s experiences and self-discovery during their metamorph years. The Rite of Announcement is typically a lively occasion, attended by the kragrak’s family, friends, mentors, and other figures that have shaped their life’s journey.</p> <p>While metamorphs and adult kragraks may not be able to heal as quickly as children can, they retain the ability to recover from severe wounds over time, even regrowing lost limbs. When combined with the energy required to move their dense and heavy bodies, kragraks of all ages have voracious appetites.</p> <p>If you want to play a character with a personal connection to the element of earth and a unique worldview shaped by transformative rituals, you should play a kragrak.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Carry tangible memories of your most significant experiences with you everywhere you go, in the form of commemorative accessories or earthrunes.</li> <li>Seek diverse viewpoints before making important decisions, particularly the viewpoints of people with a different secondary elemental affinity than your own (literal or metaphorical).</li> <li>Find value and meaning in asymmetrical features in yourself and others, whether they be asymmetrical physical features, attire, or nuanced philosophies.</li> <li>Feel that your secondary elemental affinity helps shape your destiny, either leaning in to its advantages or else rejecting blame for deeds that are in keeping with its pitfalls.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Believe that you are related to earth elementals, eldamon, or other beings with strong elemental ties, and assume you follow the ways of the Eld.</li> <li>Expect you to have a deep interest in protecting the environment, especially the earth, and to be uninterested in modern developments in technology or magic.</li> <li>Assume that your body is as durable as rock.</li> <li>Assume that your choice of kragrak heritage reflects your personality (for example, that all boulder kragraks are slow to act, or that all ash kragraks are impulsive).</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Kragraks are bipedal, hairless humanoids with earthen features. In childhood, all kragraks have a pale gray ashen form, which is so light that it’s almost white in color. The forms that they take as they progress through their metamorph stage and into adulthood depend upon their chosen heritage. The most common heritages are ash, boulder, salt, and sand.</p> <p>Ash kragraks choose to maintain an adult form with a connection to volcanic ash. After their transformation, their skin turns a darker gray than their childhood form, and they develop other volcanic features like magma rivulets or obsidian shards in their skin.</p> <p>Boulder kragraks are the physically largest heritage and the most similar to what other ancestries expect when they think of kragraks. Their bodies are covered in thick, rocky plates of irregular size and shape. Salt kragraks are most often bright white, but they can also be pink, gray, yellow, or even blue, depending upon the mineral composition of their homeland. Their bodies are studded with asymmetrical patterns made of geometric salt crystals of a variety of shapes and sizes.</p> <p>Sand kragraks’ skin takes on the appearance of beaches, deserts, or other sandy areas. This sand’s color ranges from almost white through yellow, green, or black. It is more uniform in color than typical beach sand, as it does not contain fragments from marine life. While its color may be uniform, sand kragrak’s skin often features ridges reminiscent of the ripples formed by wind and waves, as well as grains of varying sizes.</p> <p>Regardless of their heritage, kragraks prize asymmetry as a mark of beauty, maturity, and adulthood. They find the idealized depictions of symmetrical beauty favored by other ancestries to be cute and endearing but ultimately childish. Many kragraks choose to dress to accentuate their own asymmetries, both those granted by the Rites and those they acquired later in life. Their choice of materials depends on the roughness of their skin, with rough and rocky boulder kragraks favoring sturdy materials like leather with copious buckles to allow for easy adjustment, while ash kragraks favor softer fabrics that can be draped and pinned in a variety of styles.</p> <p>In addition to clothing, kragraks enjoy ornamentations, such as jewelry, piercings, and the art of inscribing earthrunes. The nature of inscribing earthrunes falls somewhere between tattooing and engraving, depending upon the texture of the kragrak’s skin and the composition of their body. Earthrunes can be either colorful or monochromatic, based on the specifications of the kragrak receiving the earthrune as well as the kragrak inscribing it. For instance, kragraks with harder and rockier skin are much more likely to favor simple patterns decorated with inset veins of colorful ore, while kragraks with smooth, ashen skin are much more likely to favor earthrunes with complex patterns. Kragraks prize earthrunes for both their beauty and their expressive artistry.</p> <p>Some especially elaborate earthrunes have magical properties as well. Any magical effect that could be captured in a tattoo can also be captured in an earthrune. One of the most common roles of earthrunes is to signify belonging; most kragrak communities develop a unique earthrune pattern that they apply to all adults as a part of the Rite of Announcement, and it’s not uncommon for kragraks to receive earthrunes that represent organizations that are important to their identity. Kragraks tend to refer to earthrunes by a more specific name based on the geography of the land in which they grew up; for example, kragraks from an island often call them island runes.</p> <p>Kragraks also prize scars, as they view them as visual representations of a full life lived and the wisdom gained along the way. A kragrak who has asymmetries that present challenges typically seeks assistive devices that provide accessibility while drawing attention to the difference, such as vibrantly colored prosthetics. When these asymmetries are due to injury, these prosthetics need to be adaptable to account for kragraks’ ability to regenerate even lost limbs over time.</p> <p>Differences in heritage are typically more significant both visually and culturally than differences in gender. Still, there are categories of features that kragraks associate with gender. Kragrak women tend to be physically larger than men. Women’s features and adornments tend to be more rounded, while men’s features tend to be more angular and defined. Nonbinary kragraks might express their identity in a variety of ways, including by choosing a body form that plays up the contrast between roundness and angularity.</p> <h2>Kragrak Settlements</h2> <p>Kragraks typically grow up surrounded by others of their ancestry, either in villages that are populated primarily by kragraks or in predominantly kragrak communities in larger multi-ancestry settlements. They favor architecture drawn from rocky natural materials, such as buildings carved from rock or sculpted from hardened sand.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>In kragrak society, engaging in self-discovery in childhood is critical, and parents encourage their children to be willing to take risks and try out different forms, gender expressions, and ways of life in advance of their Rite of Metamorphosis. To promote this discovery, kragraks often take their children to nearby settlements and encourage them to interact with people from all sorts of different ancestries and ways of life that aren’t especially common in their home communities.</p> <p>After the Rite of Metamorphosis, kragrak metamorphs spend several years adjusting to their new bodies, taking on greater responsibilities, and finding roles for themselves within their community. During this time, they are expected to explore different careers, become self-sufficient, and create experiences and accomplishments worthy of their first earthrunes. With their metamorph name marks, they can begin to build their reputations, and they are allowed to enter into short-term contracts, such as renting property or securing temporary employment as apprentices. Kragraks do not shield metamorphs from the consequences of failure in the way that they protect children, but they generally still consider it reprehensible to take advantage of them for personal gain.</p> <p>The Rite of Announcement marks a kragrak metamorph’s final transition to adulthood. Their name mark becomes significantly more complex as part of this ritual. It gains patterns that echo the name marks of those who were most important to the kragrak’s upbringing and outlook, such as family members, teachers, and rivals; the same sorts of people who would often be invited to the celebration surrounding the rite. It also often contains patterns that represent the kragrak’s secondary element. A kragrak’s metamorph name remains a visually distinct component of their full name mark. Adult kragraks still use their metamorph name when writing to friends and relatives as a mark of closeness; referring to an adult kragrak by their metamorph name without permission is a surefire way to cause offense.</p> <p>While the exact timing of the Rites of Metamorphosis and Announcement can vary from kragrak to kragrak depending on the individual kragraks’ maturity and how much time they need to understand their identities, the rituals are a central expectation of life. No kragrak could remain a child forever, as a kragrak’s childhood form is ultimately unstable. Those who retain it for more than a few decades start to lose their resiliency and crumble into ash, eventually dying unless they possess the strength of body and will to perform an improvised version of the ritual before they perish.</p> <p>As adults, kragraks typically retain strong connections to the community that raised them. Many choose to remain a part of that community for their entire lives, though remaining a part of a community doesn’t necessarily mean the kragrak continues to live in the same place. Kragraks who travel far away from their homeland might stay connected by sending letters and souvenirs. Those who live closer to home are likely to participate actively in raising the next generation as they are able, passing on their skills and sharing stories and mementos of their way of life.</p> <p>Kragrak communities typically work hard to see past individual differences and find common ground. Occasionally, a community may choose to exile a member, usually one who has proven unrepentantly violent or malicious. This banishment is formally marked by the erasure of the community’s earthrune from the exiled person’s body. However, no political structure is immune to corruption, and kragraks have been exiled for false or petty reasons.</p> <h2>Secondary Element</h2> <p>Each kragrak is associated with the element of earth, but many choose a secondary element that reflects their personality. This secondary element could be any of the ones represented in the ancient teachings of the Eld, from the famous and prominent (such as fire) to the intangible (such as time). This elemental framework is a deeply-rooted part of most kragrak communities, whether their members follow the ways of the Eld or offer prayers to the deities of the balance. The origins of this framework are a matter of discussion and philosophy. Kragraks who follow the Eld are more likely to see these elemental affinities as intrinsic and directed by a connection between the kragrak’s soul and elemental forces. Meanwhile, kragraks who follow the Balance are more likely to see the choice of elemental affinity as a matter of self-expression. Most kragraks consider all secondary elements to be valuable, with benefits they bring to society alongside a personal challenge that each kragrak with their affinity must face (though few can escape the bias in favor of their own secondary element). Those who bring out their secondary element’s strengths without getting mired in its challenges earn the respect of their peers. The common wisdom in kragrak communities is that it is foolish to make major decisions without consulting with people of different secondary elemental affinities. This preference for varied perspectives is reflected in all aspects of society. On a personal level, kragraks seek such variety in their social circles, and settlements with predominantly kragrak residents favor governing councils.</p> <p>Kragraks traditionally group the core twenty elements into four categories, placing earth in a transcendent position that could be considered to belong to any of the other four categories. Nearly all kragraks are at least familiar with this framework, whether they believe in its organization or not. This earth-focused system is certainly not universal to followers of the Eld, and it’s rarely used by members of other ancestries. While scholars of other ancestries might note that earth would naturally fit into the static elements to create four even groups of five elements each, many kragraks find this idea fundamentally distasteful, as it diminishes the significance of earth in the service of greater symmetry.</p> <p><strong>Dynamic Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the dynamic elements are air, fire, force, light, and lightning. Kragraks with a secondary dynamic element tend to be bold and creative. Undaunted by failure, they seek to chart new paths. At their best, they are optimistic leaders whose revolutionary outlooks inspire innovation and brush aside stagnant ideas in favor of a brighter future. At their worst, dynamic kragraks are short-sighted and destructive. Esoteric Elements: Kragraks believe that the esoteric elements are mind, music, space, spirit, and time. Kragraks with a secondary esoteric element tend to be introspective and adept at considering situations from many different viewpoints. At their best, esoteric kragraks are empathetic, imaginative, and mentally resilient, with a rich inner world. At their worst, esoteric kragraks spend so much time contemplating varied perspectives that they lose their sense of purpose, or at the other extreme, become so dedicated to abstract ideals that they are willing to perform heinous deeds to bring their goals to fruition.</p> <p><strong>Static Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the static elements are darkness, death, ice, and metal. Kragraks with a secondary static element tend to be dependable. They seek lessons from what has come before, learning from their ancestors and mentors. They are patient and prefer slow, incremental change to dramatic revolution. At their best, they are knowledgeable, reliable, and trustworthy. At their worst, static kragraks are dogmatic, judgmental, and unwilling to compromise.</p> <p><strong>Vital Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the vital elements are body, life, poison, wood, and water. Kragraks with a vital secondary element tend to be well-aware of the cycles of life that surround them. They nurture life at whatever scale feels natural to them, be it in training for physical fitness (most common among those of the body element), cultivating gardens (most common among those of the wood or poison elements), or maintaining the health of broader ecosystems (most common among those of the life and water elements). At their best, vital kragraks are caretakers of their communities and ecosystems, taking on respected roles that nurture those around them. At their worst, vital kragraks bend their understanding of life toward harmful ends, such as terrorizing others with monsters or practicing unethical science.</p> <h2>Volcanic Rebirth</h2> <p>While many kragraks remain satisfied with the identities they embody during their coming-of-age rituals, not all of them continue to experience harmony between their minds and their physical forms. Those who experience a significant dissonance, whether it be with their heritage, secondary element, physical sex, or even their name mark, can undergo a ritual called the Rite of Volcanic Rebirth to change these features. The ritual momentarily restores the mutability of their childhood form, allowing them to change the parts of their body that do not align with their identity. The ritual is safer than most, but it requires several weeks of preparation. Kragraks often invite their most trusted friends and allies to participate and to celebrate the ritual’s aftermath.</p> <p>The Rite of Volcanic Rebirth is not to be undertaken lightly, or by those who embrace their current identities. A kragrak legend speaks of an exiled criminal who attempted to undergo the rite to change her name mark and appearance, so that she could secretly return to the land from which she had been banished. She attempted to trick the rite into giving her a new name and heritage, but try as she might, the ritual’s magic only allowed itself to be shaped back into her true identity. As she struggled to trick the ritual, her soul slipped away, and her body crumbled to lifeless ash.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Kragraks can be of any alignment. There is no direct association between heritage and alignment, but each category of secondary element comes with an alignment tendency. Kragraks of the dynamic elements are more likely to be chaotic, while kragraks of the static elements are more likely to be lawful. Meanwhile, kragraks of the vital elements and esoteric elements tend toward neutrality on the scale of law and chaos. None of the elements is particularly associated with good or evil.</p> <p>Thanks to their strong connection to the elements, kragraks are also more likely than members of most other ancestries to follow the teachings of the Eld. But while the Eld’s traditions remain a significant part of kragrak culture, more and more kragraks have sought other philosophies. In modern times, many kragraks follow deities of the Balance. Those who retain a more conventional outlook are likely to choose Gaia or a deity associated with their element, such as Aoz or Zoa for life and death, but kragraks can worship any deity.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Kragraks have two primary types of names they use in distinctive contexts. The first is the kragrak’s speech name, which can be verbal, signed, or both. A kragrak’s speech names typically include pieces of the speech name their parents gave them as children, as well as pieces of the speech names of others who have been influential to them throughout their lives. Speech names rarely include titles or accomplishments, as most kragraks believe such things are better captured in durable earthrunes than they are in impermanent speech. Names that may at first appear symmetrical but break from that symmetry in a clear way, like the word kragrak itself, are consistently popular. Since many kragrak names come from the Terran language, they favor hard consonants. The second type of name is a name mark, which kragraks use as their signature in written communication. The sample names provided below represent speech names.</p> <h3>Sample Names</h3> <p>Torgvat, Rupnur, Zovalov, Grotgran, Kolod.</p> <h2>Kragrak Heritages</h2> <p>Kragrak heritages demonstrate the way that each kragrak experiences their own personal connection to the element of earth. The four most common heritages are ash, boulder, salt, and sand. Each of these heritages is also associated with one of the categories of elements. Kragraks of that heritage are somewhat more likely to have secondary elements in that category, but those are only general tendencies. Ultimately all combinations of heritage and secondary element are possible. Since ash comes from fire and travels upon the wind, ash kragraks are associated with the dynamic elements. The heavy and solid bodies of boulder kragraks are associated with the static elements. Sand kragraks are associated with the vital elements, thanks to their connection with the sea as well as the endurance required to survive in harsh desert climates. Salt kragraks are associated with the esoteric elements and the occult, because of the protective properties that salt provides against supernatural forces as well as the harmonic potential of the geometric crystals on their bodies.</p>
<p><em>Kragraks are adaptable earth people who transform their earthen forms based on two coming of age rituals and often associate with a secondary element.</em></p>
<hr> <p>Kragraks are an ancient ancestry with a strong connection to the element of earth. A kragrak’s connection to the earth manifests in their physical forms, which echo the earthen features of the natural world. While kragraks with bulky gray forms inspired by a mountain range may look quite different from those whose skin evokes the ripples in green coastal sand, these variations in appearance are not based on lineage. It’s normal for kragrak families to include kragraks of various different heritages, and kragrak parents encourage each of their children to explore possible body forms as a natural part of their development.</p> <p>In addition to their shared connection to earth, many kragraks also feel a lesser connection to a secondary element that reflects their personality, typically chosen from the other elements associated with the Eld. Kragraks group these elements in various categories, and they believe that a kragrak’s secondary element and its category have a strong influence on the kragrak’s characteristics and capabilities.</p> <p>All kragraks are born as pale gray, bipedal humanoids with symmetrical bodies and ash-textured skin. These kragrak childhood forms are extremely resilient and adaptable, with tremendous regenerative ability. In addition, kragrak children are capable of briefly shapeshifting into smaller versions of various adult forms, which they use to try out which shapes feel most natural to them. Many children can even take on the appearance of inanimate rocks or crystals or other transformations dissimilar to the shape of a basic kragrak body. Whichever form they take, kragrak children’s appearance is always symmetrical, a feature that greatly assists kragrak families in locating mischievous children attempting to hide away from responsibilities by using their shapeshifting abilities. It’s for this reason that symmetrical features are seen as especially childish in kragrak society, while asymmetrical features are a sign of adulthood.</p> <p>Eventually, almost every kragrak undergoes two highly personal coming-of-age rituals, during which they physically manifest a variety of features, each of which is intrinsically tied to their identity. The first of these rituals, the Rite of Metamorphosis, is performed once the kragrak reaches roughly the age of 12. During the ritual, kragrak children channel all their transformative power into a stabler form with the help of members of their community, and, like metamorphic rocks, begin to solidify their identity. The features they gain include a heritage, based on how they choose to embody the element of earth, and a name mark, a permanent and unique symbol that appears somewhere on their bodies. The transformation also includes the changes that other ancestries would associate with puberty, with the rapid development of characteristics that are consistent with the kragrak’s gender and desired anatomy.</p> <p>Kragraks who have completed the Rite of Metamorphosis but who are not yet adults are known in kragrak society as metamorphs. The most obvious way to tell a metamorph apart from a temporarily transforming child is symmetry; metamorphs’ bodies develop asymmetrical features, such as rocky protrusions on one shoulder but not the other, or hands with different numbers of fingers.</p> <p>Around the age of 24, all kragraks undergo a second coming of age ritual, the Rite of Announcement, to formally transition into adulthood. This ritual amplifies the asymmetries in the kragrak’s body and causes them to grow to their full adult size. It also augments the kragrak’s name mark based on the kragrak’s experiences and self-discovery during their metamorph years. The Rite of Announcement is typically a lively occasion, attended by the kragrak’s family, friends, mentors, and other figures that have shaped their life’s journey.</p> <p>While metamorphs and adult kragraks may not be able to heal as quickly as children can, they retain the ability to recover from severe wounds over time, even regrowing lost limbs. When combined with the energy required to move their dense and heavy bodies, kragraks of all ages have voracious appetites.</p> <p>If you want to play a character with a personal connection to the element of earth and a unique worldview shaped by transformative rituals, you should play a kragrak.</p> <h2>You Might...</h2> <ul> <li>Carry tangible memories of your most significant experiences with you everywhere you go, in the form of commemorative accessories or earthrunes.</li> <li>Seek diverse viewpoints before making important decisions, particularly the viewpoints of people with a different secondary elemental affinity than your own (literal or metaphorical).</li> <li>Find value and meaning in asymmetrical features in yourself and others, whether they be asymmetrical physical features, attire, or nuanced philosophies.</li> <li>Feel that your secondary elemental affinity helps shape your destiny, either leaning in to its advantages or else rejecting blame for deeds that are in keeping with its pitfalls.</li> </ul> <h2>Others Probably...</h2> <ul> <li>Believe that you are related to earth elementals, eldamon, or other beings with strong elemental ties, and assume you follow the ways of the Eld.</li> <li>Expect you to have a deep interest in protecting the environment, especially the earth, and to be uninterested in modern developments in technology or magic.</li> <li>Assume that your body is as durable as rock.</li> <li>Assume that your choice of kragrak heritage reflects your personality (for example, that all boulder kragraks are slow to act, or that all ash kragraks are impulsive).</li> </ul> <h2>Physical Description</h2> <p>Kragraks are bipedal, hairless humanoids with earthen features. In childhood, all kragraks have a pale gray ashen form, which is so light that it’s almost white in color. The forms that they take as they progress through their metamorph stage and into adulthood depend upon their chosen heritage. The most common heritages are ash, boulder, salt, and sand.</p> <p>Ash kragraks choose to maintain an adult form with a connection to volcanic ash. After their transformation, their skin turns a darker gray than their childhood form, and they develop other volcanic features like magma rivulets or obsidian shards in their skin.</p> <p>Boulder kragraks are the physically largest heritage and the most similar to what other ancestries expect when they think of kragraks. Their bodies are covered in thick, rocky plates of irregular size and shape. Salt kragraks are most often bright white, but they can also be pink, gray, yellow, or even blue, depending upon the mineral composition of their homeland. Their bodies are studded with asymmetrical patterns made of geometric salt crystals of a variety of shapes and sizes.</p> <p>Sand kragraks’ skin takes on the appearance of beaches, deserts, or other sandy areas. This sand’s color ranges from almost white through yellow, green, or black. It is more uniform in color than typical beach sand, as it does not contain fragments from marine life. While its color may be uniform, sand kragrak’s skin often features ridges reminiscent of the ripples formed by wind and waves, as well as grains of varying sizes.</p> <p>Regardless of their heritage, kragraks prize asymmetry as a mark of beauty, maturity, and adulthood. They find the idealized depictions of symmetrical beauty favored by other ancestries to be cute and endearing but ultimately childish. Many kragraks choose to dress to accentuate their own asymmetries, both those granted by the Rites and those they acquired later in life. Their choice of materials depends on the roughness of their skin, with rough and rocky boulder kragraks favoring sturdy materials like leather with copious buckles to allow for easy adjustment, while ash kragraks favor softer fabrics that can be draped and pinned in a variety of styles.</p> <p>In addition to clothing, kragraks enjoy ornamentations, such as jewelry, piercings, and the art of inscribing earthrunes. The nature of inscribing earthrunes falls somewhere between tattooing and engraving, depending upon the texture of the kragrak’s skin and the composition of their body. Earthrunes can be either colorful or monochromatic, based on the specifications of the kragrak receiving the earthrune as well as the kragrak inscribing it. For instance, kragraks with harder and rockier skin are much more likely to favor simple patterns decorated with inset veins of colorful ore, while kragraks with smooth, ashen skin are much more likely to favor earthrunes with complex patterns. Kragraks prize earthrunes for both their beauty and their expressive artistry.</p> <p>Some especially elaborate earthrunes have magical properties as well. Any magical effect that could be captured in a tattoo can also be captured in an earthrune. One of the most common roles of earthrunes is to signify belonging; most kragrak communities develop a unique earthrune pattern that they apply to all adults as a part of the Rite of Announcement, and it’s not uncommon for kragraks to receive earthrunes that represent organizations that are important to their identity. Kragraks tend to refer to earthrunes by a more specific name based on the geography of the land in which they grew up; for example, kragraks from an island often call them island runes.</p> <p>Kragraks also prize scars, as they view them as visual representations of a full life lived and the wisdom gained along the way. A kragrak who has asymmetries that present challenges typically seeks assistive devices that provide accessibility while drawing attention to the difference, such as vibrantly colored prosthetics. When these asymmetries are due to injury, these prosthetics need to be adaptable to account for kragraks’ ability to regenerate even lost limbs over time.</p> <p>Differences in heritage are typically more significant both visually and culturally than differences in gender. Still, there are categories of features that kragraks associate with gender. Kragrak women tend to be physically larger than men. Women’s features and adornments tend to be more rounded, while men’s features tend to be more angular and defined. Nonbinary kragraks might express their identity in a variety of ways, including by choosing a body form that plays up the contrast between roundness and angularity.</p> <h2>Kragrak Settlements</h2> <p>Kragraks typically grow up surrounded by others of their ancestry, either in villages that are populated primarily by kragraks or in predominantly kragrak communities in larger multi-ancestry settlements. They favor architecture drawn from rocky natural materials, such as buildings carved from rock or sculpted from hardened sand.</p> <h2>Society</h2> <p>In kragrak society, engaging in self-discovery in childhood is critical, and parents encourage their children to be willing to take risks and try out different forms, gender expressions, and ways of life in advance of their Rite of Metamorphosis. To promote this discovery, kragraks often take their children to nearby settlements and encourage them to interact with people from all sorts of different ancestries and ways of life that aren’t especially common in their home communities.</p> <p>After the Rite of Metamorphosis, kragrak metamorphs spend several years adjusting to their new bodies, taking on greater responsibilities, and finding roles for themselves within their community. During this time, they are expected to explore different careers, become self-sufficient, and create experiences and accomplishments worthy of their first earthrunes. With their metamorph name marks, they can begin to build their reputations, and they are allowed to enter into short-term contracts, such as renting property or securing temporary employment as apprentices. Kragraks do not shield metamorphs from the consequences of failure in the way that they protect children, but they generally still consider it reprehensible to take advantage of them for personal gain.</p> <p>The Rite of Announcement marks a kragrak metamorph’s final transition to adulthood. Their name mark becomes significantly more complex as part of this ritual. It gains patterns that echo the name marks of those who were most important to the kragrak’s upbringing and outlook, such as family members, teachers, and rivals; the same sorts of people who would often be invited to the celebration surrounding the rite. It also often contains patterns that represent the kragrak’s secondary element. A kragrak’s metamorph name remains a visually distinct component of their full name mark. Adult kragraks still use their metamorph name when writing to friends and relatives as a mark of closeness; referring to an adult kragrak by their metamorph name without permission is a surefire way to cause offense.</p> <p>While the exact timing of the Rites of Metamorphosis and Announcement can vary from kragrak to kragrak depending on the individual kragraks’ maturity and how much time they need to understand their identities, the rituals are a central expectation of life. No kragrak could remain a child forever, as a kragrak’s childhood form is ultimately unstable. Those who retain it for more than a few decades start to lose their resiliency and crumble into ash, eventually dying unless they possess the strength of body and will to perform an improvised version of the ritual before they perish.</p> <p>As adults, kragraks typically retain strong connections to the community that raised them. Many choose to remain a part of that community for their entire lives, though remaining a part of a community doesn’t necessarily mean the kragrak continues to live in the same place. Kragraks who travel far away from their homeland might stay connected by sending letters and souvenirs. Those who live closer to home are likely to participate actively in raising the next generation as they are able, passing on their skills and sharing stories and mementos of their way of life.</p> <p>Kragrak communities typically work hard to see past individual differences and find common ground. Occasionally, a community may choose to exile a member, usually one who has proven unrepentantly violent or malicious. This banishment is formally marked by the erasure of the community’s earthrune from the exiled person’s body. However, no political structure is immune to corruption, and kragraks have been exiled for false or petty reasons.</p> <h2>Secondary Element</h2> <p>Each kragrak is associated with the element of earth, but many choose a secondary element that reflects their personality. This secondary element could be any of the ones represented in the ancient teachings of the Eld, from the famous and prominent (such as fire) to the intangible (such as time). This elemental framework is a deeply-rooted part of most kragrak communities, whether their members follow the ways of the Eld or offer prayers to the deities of the balance. The origins of this framework are a matter of discussion and philosophy. Kragraks who follow the Eld are more likely to see these elemental affinities as intrinsic and directed by a connection between the kragrak’s soul and elemental forces. Meanwhile, kragraks who follow the Balance are more likely to see the choice of elemental affinity as a matter of self-expression. Most kragraks consider all secondary elements to be valuable, with benefits they bring to society alongside a personal challenge that each kragrak with their affinity must face (though few can escape the bias in favor of their own secondary element). Those who bring out their secondary element’s strengths without getting mired in its challenges earn the respect of their peers. The common wisdom in kragrak communities is that it is foolish to make major decisions without consulting with people of different secondary elemental affinities. This preference for varied perspectives is reflected in all aspects of society. On a personal level, kragraks seek such variety in their social circles, and settlements with predominantly kragrak residents favor governing councils.</p> <p>Kragraks traditionally group the core twenty elements into four categories, placing earth in a transcendent position that could be considered to belong to any of the other four categories. Nearly all kragraks are at least familiar with this framework, whether they believe in its organization or not. This earth-focused system is certainly not universal to followers of the Eld, and it’s rarely used by members of other ancestries. While scholars of other ancestries might note that earth would naturally fit into the static elements to create four even groups of five elements each, many kragraks find this idea fundamentally distasteful, as it diminishes the significance of earth in the service of greater symmetry.</p> <p><strong>Dynamic Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the dynamic elements are air, fire, force, light, and lightning. Kragraks with a secondary dynamic element tend to be bold and creative. Undaunted by failure, they seek to chart new paths. At their best, they are optimistic leaders whose revolutionary outlooks inspire innovation and brush aside stagnant ideas in favor of a brighter future. At their worst, dynamic kragraks are short-sighted and destructive. Esoteric Elements: Kragraks believe that the esoteric elements are mind, music, space, spirit, and time. Kragraks with a secondary esoteric element tend to be introspective and adept at considering situations from many different viewpoints. At their best, esoteric kragraks are empathetic, imaginative, and mentally resilient, with a rich inner world. At their worst, esoteric kragraks spend so much time contemplating varied perspectives that they lose their sense of purpose, or at the other extreme, become so dedicated to abstract ideals that they are willing to perform heinous deeds to bring their goals to fruition.</p> <p><strong>Static Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the static elements are darkness, death, ice, and metal. Kragraks with a secondary static element tend to be dependable. They seek lessons from what has come before, learning from their ancestors and mentors. They are patient and prefer slow, incremental change to dramatic revolution. At their best, they are knowledgeable, reliable, and trustworthy. At their worst, static kragraks are dogmatic, judgmental, and unwilling to compromise.</p> <p><strong>Vital Elements</strong>: Kragraks believe that the vital elements are body, life, poison, wood, and water. Kragraks with a vital secondary element tend to be well-aware of the cycles of life that surround them. They nurture life at whatever scale feels natural to them, be it in training for physical fitness (most common among those of the body element), cultivating gardens (most common among those of the wood or poison elements), or maintaining the health of broader ecosystems (most common among those of the life and water elements). At their best, vital kragraks are caretakers of their communities and ecosystems, taking on respected roles that nurture those around them. At their worst, vital kragraks bend their understanding of life toward harmful ends, such as terrorizing others with monsters or practicing unethical science.</p> <h2>Volcanic Rebirth</h2> <p>While many kragraks remain satisfied with the identities they embody during their coming-of-age rituals, not all of them continue to experience harmony between their minds and their physical forms. Those who experience a significant dissonance, whether it be with their heritage, secondary element, physical sex, or even their name mark, can undergo a ritual called the Rite of Volcanic Rebirth to change these features. The ritual momentarily restores the mutability of their childhood form, allowing them to change the parts of their body that do not align with their identity. The ritual is safer than most, but it requires several weeks of preparation. Kragraks often invite their most trusted friends and allies to participate and to celebrate the ritual’s aftermath.</p> <p>The Rite of Volcanic Rebirth is not to be undertaken lightly, or by those who embrace their current identities. A kragrak legend speaks of an exiled criminal who attempted to undergo the rite to change her name mark and appearance, so that she could secretly return to the land from which she had been banished. She attempted to trick the rite into giving her a new name and heritage, but try as she might, the ritual’s magic only allowed itself to be shaped back into her true identity. As she struggled to trick the ritual, her soul slipped away, and her body crumbled to lifeless ash.</p> <h2>Alignment and Religion</h2> <p>Kragraks can be of any alignment. There is no direct association between heritage and alignment, but each category of secondary element comes with an alignment tendency. Kragraks of the dynamic elements are more likely to be chaotic, while kragraks of the static elements are more likely to be lawful. Meanwhile, kragraks of the vital elements and esoteric elements tend toward neutrality on the scale of law and chaos. None of the elements is particularly associated with good or evil.</p> <p>Thanks to their strong connection to the elements, kragraks are also more likely than members of most other ancestries to follow the teachings of the Eld. But while the Eld’s traditions remain a significant part of kragrak culture, more and more kragraks have sought other philosophies. In modern times, many kragraks follow deities of the Balance. Those who retain a more conventional outlook are likely to choose Gaia or a deity associated with their element, such as Aoz or Zoa for life and death, but kragraks can worship any deity.</p> <h2>Names</h2> <p>Kragraks have two primary types of names they use in distinctive contexts. The first is the kragrak’s speech name, which can be verbal, signed, or both. A kragrak’s speech names typically include pieces of the speech name their parents gave them as children, as well as pieces of the speech names of others who have been influential to them throughout their lives. Speech names rarely include titles or accomplishments, as most kragraks believe such things are better captured in durable earthrunes than they are in impermanent speech. Names that may at first appear symmetrical but break from that symmetry in a clear way, like the word kragrak itself, are consistently popular. Since many kragrak names come from the Terran language, they favor hard consonants. The second type of name is a name mark, which kragraks use as their signature in written communication. The sample names provided below represent speech names.</p> <h3>Sample Names</h3> <p>Torgvat, Rupnur, Zovalov, Grotgran, Kolod.</p> <h2>Kragrak Heritages</h2> <p>Kragrak heritages demonstrate the way that each kragrak experiences their own personal connection to the element of earth. The four most common heritages are ash, boulder, salt, and sand. Each of these heritages is also associated with one of the categories of elements. Kragraks of that heritage are somewhat more likely to have secondary elements in that category, but those are only general tendencies. Ultimately all combinations of heritage and secondary element are possible. Since ash comes from fire and travels upon the wind, ash kragraks are associated with the dynamic elements. The heavy and solid bodies of boulder kragraks are associated with the static elements. Sand kragraks are associated with the vital elements, thanks to their connection with the sea as well as the endurance required to survive in harsh desert climates. Salt kragraks are associated with the esoteric elements and the occult, because of the protective properties that salt provides against supernatural forces as well as the harmonic potential of the geometric crystals on their bodies.</p> |
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