Helstat- The Helstats of southern Marathon are a very well known and influential people. They are a very tall, light skinned, light eyed people with light brown to red hair. The Helstat culture is, and for all remembered time, has been very warrior centric, with boys and girls at the age of 9 begining training as soldiers or town guards. Cowardice and Adversion to war are considered crimes and are punishable by death. The Helstats are the founders of an Empire that occupies all of Southern Marathon, and has subjugated a large portion of the Jute population that lives in the region as well. This has been the trigger for a massive civil war between the Helstats and Jutes, with the Theives guild of the former capital of Gwyndun leading a rebellion that formed the Jute Free State.
Jute- Jutes are another indigenous people of the Southern Coast of Marathon, living closer to the east than the Helstats. The Jutes are also a tall people, with very pale skin and blond or red hair and blue eyes. The Jutes are a warrior people, but unlike the Helstats, only men are warriors, women mostly work to run cities and tribes functioning. The Jutes have an unique religion, it is very animistic and tomtemistic. The native religion of the Jutes states that each person has a spiritual bond to their home, to their totem animal, and for warrors their swords. This indigenous cult was the target of an extermination attempt by the Helstats after their conquest. As of now, the Jutes have successfully rebelled against the Heltstat-Jutii dominion and are at war with them from their new state, the Jute Free State.
Dwarves- Dwarves are a rather unique race on Marathon, as they are the remnants of the orginal Elves who split from the Elders before their exodus to Wu. As such, the Dwarves have a culture that is distinctively Elven with considerable human influence. Dwarves have also developed the first writing system of Marathon, modfiying Proto-Elvish Code so that it could write their langauge, and later Helstat (the lingua franca of Marathon). The Dwarves are a short, grey-skinned elves with dark black hair and Green eyes. Dwarves are record keepers and very respected authors, having produced some of the most significant literature in all of the world. The Dwarves have a strong sense of Honor, especially members of the warrior houses, and may get very offended if they feel that that honor is being insulted or mocked. The Dwarves are well known for their reverance for their ancestors, living and dead. Dwarves make regular offerings and sacrifices to the ancestor spirits.
Sanna- The Sanna are a people who live along the east coast and along the Ak'r river that snakes through the Daka desert. The Sanna are a mix of city dwellers and nomadic tribes and solitary nomads. Daka is a place of very little food, so most nomadic Sanna live near the coast or by the river as well. The appearance of the Sanna varies, as those who live near the coast are tan skinned, with straight black to dark brown hair, heavy facial hair in men and grey or hazel eyes. Those who live along the river in the desert have very dark skin, very dark black hair that grows in tight curls with very little facial hair. They have been traders fror years, living off sustinance farming and hunting. The Sanna also have the only monotheistic religion of Marathon, which has stayed isolated due to their location.
Parsagii- The Parsagii are the sea faring natives of the northeast coast of Marathon. They are a short, tan skinned people with curly black hair and brown eyes. The Parsagii are the greatest shipbuilders and explorers in the world, having sailed around the south of Marathon and Wu, charting the entire Shimmering Isles even claiming to have reached Elisia. The Parsagii do not live in a central state, rather they inhabit a multitue of city states along the northeast coast and in colonies they have founded all around the world. The Parsagii have resisted conquest for years, even by the impierialistic Helstats.
Snow Elves- The Snow Elves are the Native Elves of the Shimmering Isles. Snow Elves have developed quite differantly than their Wu and Dwarvan cousins, having traided their golden skin for a pure white, and their blond hair becoming white as well. The snow elves retained the original Hieroglyhic script of the Proto-Elves, and their language has retained many features of the proto-language. Snow Elves have lost the ethnocentric and knowlage obsessed features of the other elves, rather, they are more concered with their survival in the Shimmering Isles than wether they are the master race. While less technologically advanced than most races, they have proved to be fearsome in war, driving the dwarves out of Iseake with little challenge.
High Elves- The High elves are the inhabitants of the the western portion of South Wu. High Elves have a very distincitve culture that focuses on the importance of social order and obediance to the emperor so long as the gods will it. They are tall, golden skinned, with light blond hair and light brown or green eyes. The High Elvish Cuture is very Androcentric, women being viewed as inferior. The High Elves believe in maintaing order though a rigid system of relationships among people and the gods. High Elves retained a cultural trait of the Proto-Elves, they are very xenophobic, racist, and Ethnocentric. The High Elves view themselves as the pinical of civilization and of evolution. The name High Elf was given to them due to their habit of living on mountains and plateaus.
Low Elves- Low Elves are the inhabitants of the eastern half of southern Wu. They, like the High Elves, desended from the Proto-Elves who migrated to Wu. They too are a tall, golden skinned and light hair elves. They never have unified, 3 kingdoms of Low Elves exist that are in constant conflict with each other and with the High Elf Dynasty. Low Elves have rejected the rigid system of relationships that the High Elves have adopted, rather they live by a tribal and totemistic system of organization. They have lost the orginal gods of the Elves, who have become the abstract forces of the natural world and nature spirits. The low elves also have shamans who communicate with these spirits. The Low elves are Ethnocentric and Xenophobic like most elves, but to a much lesser extent then the High Elves.
Orcs- The orcs are an indigenous race from the northeastern coast of Wu. The orcs are a tribal society, with their being a small coatlition of tribes that work together for survival. These tribes have representatives who then elect a head called an Ong ka-Getwon. Orcs are very tall and have a naturally large frame. They have long and thick black hair that they wear tied back and have a lightly tanned skin. They also have the distincitve trait of large canine teath that are pointed and grow to be very long and stick out of their mouths. Orc men may carve designs into their teeth. Despite attempts, no link can be found between the Orcs and the Elders of Marathon, who were once thought to be the origin of all humanoids. Orcs have developed their own unique Runic writing system.
Nekos- No one is quite sure of the origin of the cat and human like Nekos. The legend of the Hillmen is that of them being decedents of the Orcs and a race of feline like humanoids also descended from the proto-orcs called the Ongbar. After centuries of mixing between the two races, orcish traits began to push though the more feline traits. Eventually all that was left of the Ongbar were cat like Ears, Tails, enlarged canine teeth and claws and some patches of fur, although most of the body fur had been lost in the genetic selection. The Nekos have long been considered pests and barbarians. The hillmen tribes are particularly brutal, known to hunt down rivals and invaders and collect their heads as trophies. Due to their desert environment, the Nekos have adopted a dress not unlike that of the Sanaa, with long flowing robes and the distinctive headscarves. Both sexes were them, both as a statement of adulthood and as protection from the harsh sandstorms and burning sun. Nekos continue to live as pastoral herders even into this day and age, and adhere to their old customs and old gods even as most of Wu becomes highly Marathonized. Some oases do exist, but they are mostly founded by travelers and have very few Nekos living at them.
Ataxii- The Ataxii are the most significant faction of the Ungezep race. They are a highly intelligent insectoid race, and the faction/tribe of Atax was the group who conquered and unified the entire Ungzep race. The Ataxii can best be described as wasp like, with some traits of beetles, such as hard winds and mandibals that are both good for eating and hunting, but also for fighting. They also can sting, but the Ungzep culture considers stinging to be a cowardly action. Ataxii have a tradition of Ritual Gladiator fighting, usually fair fights between equals, but sometimes one sided fights or fights against animals. Ataxii live in two social classes, one composed of commoners and one with the ruiling class and rich folk. Ungzep value honor, integrity and seriousness as the most important traits of a person, Ungzep or not. Their Swampy, jungle home has no doubt inspired this sentiment.
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