Realm: The People of Oumaoro
Race: The Oracles, Humans
Location:


Backstory-History



The pale, beautiful, serpentine creatures known as the Oracles have dwelt far beneath the earth since times immemorial. Legend says that when the dwarves, the Vishput, first found them, they believed them to be nothing more than strange cave animals. So, the dwarves captured these gentle beings and butchered them, savoring their soft, sweet flesh. When the first Oracle spoke to them in the words of their own language, the gluttonous people were themselves speechless. That Oracle had learned to speak the language of the Empire of Visha in the span of a fortnight.

There were many more Oracles in that bygone era. The Vishput, however, did not appreciate the cleverness of their species. They saw the Oracles as a threat, as an infestation that had to be burned away before it could bring total destruction to their world. And so that is what they did: the Vishput found where the peaceful Oracles made their homes and set about murdering a great many of them. Yet the Oracles did not fight back: they let the dwarves have their way, and when the petty destroyers finally saw the passivity of the creatures, they had already slain so many that the caverns were flowing with blood that went up to their knees, so the legend goes.

The Oracles did not hate the Vishput for this.

The blind creatures were enslaved by the Vishput, but not as mere laborers or soldiers. Some were kept as pets in zoos or in the courts of Visha princes. The species was recognized for its keen intellect, however, a shrewd nature that equaled or perhaps even surpassed that of the ancient dwarven peoples. So, in an odd twist of fate, the same creatures that were often seen as pets to those very princes would be offering their sagely advice to their owners, and a great many still were kept in the Stone Library of Samra Raj as lorekeepers and scribes. Those Oracles were tasked with recording history, teaching it (under Vishput supervision) to others, and maintaining the purity of the records. They were punished terribly for any damage done to the archives, for allowing any falsehoods - falsehoods in the eyes of the Empire's rulers - to enter the Stone Books, and for any measure of disobedience. Execution or dismemberment was often the means by which justice was dispensed, and the remains of the guilty would find themselves in the guts of wealthy families of the Empire.

And still the Oracles did not hate the Vishput.

It is here that the memories of the past become murky waters. As the Empire of Visha fell, some say the Oracles stood by their masters to the last hour, still bound by their gentle nature and unwillingness to harm. A greater number say the Oracles rose up violently like others did, devouring the foul Visha for their wicked ways in an ironic sort of revenge. A few say the Oracles did nothing of import in this time. Most Oracles, however, say the story is quite different: they saw the dark times that would befall the Vishput and sought to bring that end about more hastily. They say that seeds of discord were planted by their kind, that whispers in the ears of princes were used to light the fires of jealousy and paranoia, which helped bring the final days of the Empire to fruition.

That is, at least, what the stories say. The stories say more: the Vishput blamed the Oracles for some great tragedy, and so the gentle creatures were slain by the hundreds wherever they could be found by those vile builders of empires. Those in the Stone Library managed to survive, but only a sparse few outside of Samra Raj were able to escape death. Those Oracles have long since withered in their old age and passed away in distant lands.

The fall of the Empire was absolute. The gentle Oracles kept the doors to their great libraries sealed until the violence stopped. When they opened the door, they saw a city in ruin, a place full of ghosts and terrible memories. So, they gathered as many of the countless Stone Books as they could and left the city, traveling south into the wet marshlands of what is now called Oumaoro ("The Watery Place" in the Oracles' ancient language).

The city the Oracles found was in terrible disrepair. It was not as large as most other cities, was of very little significance, and was one of the first places to be abandoned in the wake of the troubles. Much of its surface half had been devoured by the swamp - including its great dam - and many parts of the underground were flooded or collapsed. This, however, was exactly what made it so attractive to the Oracles. The amphibious beings turned the watery ruins into their new home and filled its underground pools with their eggs.

For a time, there was peace there. The earth soon spawned a new threat to their existence, however: the Shishkarat. The little creatures would come and try to kill them from time to time, but centuries of being punished by the Vishput had taken away the utter passivity in the Oracles. The young ones fought back, using their massive jaws and their whip-like tails to drive back the vicious Shishkarat. It was a terrible thing to them still: they had no desire to fight, and even despite their efforts their numbers slowly dwindled. They needed help.

Humans came, having heard hearing stories from adventurers of great, pale dragons that lived beneath the swamps. They met the Oracles in their subterranean home, marveling at their size, their beauty, and their kindness. The Oracles let them take whatever they wished from the city and the surrounding land and allowed them to settle wherever they wished. It quickly became clear to both parties that they could help one another: the humans had trouble fending off creatures in the wetlands while the Oracles could maneuver through the waters with ease. Conversely, the Oracles were hard pressed to fend of the seemingly endless Shishkarat attacks whereas the humans, while not well adapted to tunnels, could wield weapons and wear armor that allowed them to defend the Oracles from the endless waves of monsters. A symbiotic relationship was quickly formed.

Years went on. The humans of the territory and the Oracles shared much with each other. The humans came to respect the Oracles and revere them as great seers and teachers. The humans managed to make the decaying city, now called Oumal, inhabitable. They lived above the ground while the Oracles lived below, and soon they did not need the Oracles to help them protect themselves from the threats in the marsh.

From this city and the settlements that sprouted around it was the nation of Oumaoro born. They did not call it a kingdom, nor a republic, nor any of those other terms; it remains simply the Watery Place, as the place where they have built their city, as their home. At the heart of this storm-ridden land is the Flooded Temple in Oumal, the place where the Oracles still record history in the Stone Books. It is the Oracles that are appealed to for counsel by those that lead the people of the marsh, and it is the humans that march the shadowed halls beneath the earth, seeking out those threats to their benefactors.

That is, at least, what the stories say.

Government

There is no unifying central government for the people of Oumaoro. There is, however, a pact of non-aggression and general cooperation that is shared between the people of this wet region. They govern themselves as they will. Most have a plutocratic form of governance, though a couple are in truth independent fiefdoms ruled by men claiming noble birthright.

All the townships look to the Oracles for guidance. The Oracles, while not rulers of this land, hold great sway over the people and provide sagely advice to help them expand and protect themselves. If the Oracles were to say the time for war had come, then war would likely be waged; if they were to say they had a vision of a great hero coming from the east, then chances are someone would be sent to find this great hero.

In times of great danger, however, Oumaoro's people will choose someone to lead them, often approaching the Oracles for guidance. The Oracles have chosen different sorts of people in the past: nobles, adventurers, peasants, beggars, and thieves have all led a confederacy of Oumaoro people before thanks to such insight. Those the Oracles choose are often either well prepared to do their job or quickly grow into the position.

In the end, however, the various townships are independent of each other and of the Oracles, choosing to work together rather than being forced to by ancient laws.

The Oracles themselves have a strange connection to one another. They hold councils over different matters, both the young and the old being allowed to participate, and make most decisions as a group. Humans are allowed to participate in these councils, and they have sometimes swayed the Oracles to take courses of action they would not have considered. Oracles who disagree with the group often acquiesce to the group's will, but sometimes choose to follow a different course of action on their own... which is one of the reasons some Oracles become travelers. The Oracles, like their human allies, will often choose one among them to lead them in times of trouble, and they also choose someone to be the chief adviser to the humans of Oumaoro.

There is no political treachery between the Oracles themselves. They do not plot the downfall of their kin, nor do they try to gain power over the others. While there are a rare few wicked Oracles that have existed, these beings often become travelers and try to exert power over lesser beings around the world.

The Oracles

There are few Oracles now, and though their numbers no longer shrink, they do not seem to be growing. There cannot be more than a hundred of them left in existence, and the people of Oumaoro bemoan the day when the species disappears from the world entirely.

Summarizing the Oracles is not an easy task. They are often known to be great, magnificent white creatures, like pale, eyeless dragons that dwell in the water and move with serpentine grace. They are eyeless, and yet somehow are able to move throughout the world around them. The Oracles say this is because they make sounds with their throats that let them listen to the vibrations of their surroundings, but legends claim that it must be magic. But perhaps what makes Oracles unique are these two qualities: they do not eat past their egg-laying age and they shrink as they grow older.

Oracles begin as eggs in the bottom of the sacred birthing pools in the subterranean half of Oumal. These eggs absorb whatever drifts down to them, and the more they absorb the larger they'll grow, but they can survive without such sustenance.

An Oracle is largest on the day it hatches, usually between thirty-five and forty feet long - gargantuan compared to most creatures in the world to say the least. These young Oracles are like great, swimming lizards in this form with tiny limbs that are dwarfed by the rest of their body. It is also during this time of youth that Oracles lay their eggs in the sacred pools; after that, they will never eat again.

Oracles shrink. Over their long lives - three hundred years long, to be exact - they slowly become smaller and smaller until they are the size of a man. When they are man-sized, they begin standing upright on their legs and can carry things in their hands, but they are at this point so old and frail that warfare is an impossibility for them. Finally, as they near death, Oracles will submerge themselves into their sacred birthing pools where they will feed their unborn children with their own bodies.

Interestingly, there are no males or females among the Oracles. They are genderless: every member of the species is capable of laying eggs and may fertilize the eggs of any other member of its species. This is confusing to other races.

Oracles are highly intelligent creatures. They are highly curious and inquisitive and are always happy to tell or listen to a story. Oracles of different ages set out into the world to discover new things, and this is a cause for their inability to grow as a species. Being so peaceful, many of these would-be adventurers are slain in the open world either by the harshness of the wild or the cruelty of man.

Some Oracles are taken into the courts of distant rulers where they become sages and teachers. This sort of position is amiable to them, but they often return home before they die so they may join their children in the sacred pools.

The species is dedicated to the preservation of the Stone Books, an ever-expanding volume of stone tablets on which the history of the world is etched. They are also willing to write almost anything into stone so long as someone is willing to tell a story. To them, a simple wives' tale has as much historical merit as the recording of a great war. This, too, has been a source of much confusion and anger; many a noble has come to the Oracles to have his legend carved into stone only to be forced to wait for a simple fishmonger to finish telling the Oracles his own story.

The humans of the land do not worship the Oracles as gods, but they do revere them as higher-than-human beings. They often come to the sacred pools to pray alongside the Oracles for guidance and wisdom, to meditate, and to watch the birth of their young. The Oracles often tell their visitors stories of the past, some of them tales of ancient kings, others of the common adventures of children in the woods. These qualities, along with their inherent kindness, their abhorrence for bloodshed, and their largely non-judgmental perspective makes them well-loved by the people of Oumaoro.

Characters

The Oracles
To be introduced.

People of Oumaoro
To be introduced.

Adventurers
To be introduced.

http://aaronmk.deviantart.com/art/Poertia-538013186