Nation
Name: The Great Spirit of Azera
Flag:
Capitol: Footfall
Capitol Population: 686,000
Population: 9,800,000
Major cities: Footfall (capitol and trading hub), Last Hope (Largest ship yard and a key military facility), Silversands, (Trading hub on the north west coast of their mainland holdings) Great Fields (Trading hub, major agricultural centre, logistical key stone located in the centre of their mainland holdings), Worlds Gate (Trading town and key military facility located on a bridgeable section of the river that marks their mainland border. The location is also at the opening of a key pass through the foot hills and mountains nearby)
Racial demographics: The Azera make up the vast majority of the population, with other races being present. But those races seem to be getting fewer and fewer, both proportionally and in terms of absolute figure. True, the Azera breeding programs are a part of this. But emigration is encouraged amongst the citizens of conquered races who refuses to be culturally assimilated.
Society: Azera are exceptionally community minded, their idea of greater spirits permeates huge portions of their lives and as a result the greater whole is almost never intentionally or carelessly neglected. Furthermore, as a society, they remember the time when it was just them against the world and though things may have improved since then it always lingers in the back of their mind. This draws them even closer together as a people, but also pulls them further away from the rest of the world. But despite this, they are not isolationists, far from it. They seek to be involved, though trade, diplomacy, marriage, war and any other means at their disposal. Just don’t be surprised if they never really care about your welfare or the welfare of your people, nor should you expect them to trust you without a great deal of work.
The Azera are almost blind to gender, with a woman as welcome in the armed forces as any man and with a man as welcome in a nursery or at the spinning wheel as any woman. All that matters is capability, so long as you can do the job, welcome aboard. However, whilst women in the armed forces are by no means a rarity and always welcome, males still make up the majority of troops. The reason why has never been closely examined by Azera society, it’s a simple non-issue to them. But it would appear that more males just seem to want to do it.
Law: The laws of the Azera are aimed at maintaining law and order, stable government and a smooth transition from leader to leader, basic social justice, welfare, equality and community, and encouraging industry and trade. Whether these laws are successful remain to be seen but that is the goal. It should be pointed out that there is an independent judiciary that can hold both the military and the government to account.
Education: Education is highly prized among the Azera but they also recognise that not all men are intellectuals. Every child has the right to education up to age 16. But after that schooling is reserved for those who can make the most out of it. The government, the military, the ATI and larger private companies all employ men who went through this further education in their top jobs. Such education is only given to those who pass rigorous testing but is then given for free. If they then work for the state then the money is never paid back. If they go on to work in private industry they have to pay the fees back slowly or their employer can settle the debt for them. However, a system of tax breaks and fee write offs for innovative industries exists to help limit the deterrent factor on private industry.
Technology: The Azera depend on technological innovation, it was this drive to invention that led them back from the brink of oblivion and it is this innovation that will keep them on top. Whilst they have been researching metals and guns and various other technologies of this new steam age their signature invention, and most closely guarded scientific secret, is so called super air.
Super air was a product of the ATI and developed for the military, though it has wider applications. It’s basic purpose is to create a gas which is far lighter and more buoyant then even helium, allowing greater weights to be lifted up. SA1 was too chemically unstable for practical use and never made it out of the labs. SA2 was stable but not up to the standards of the aviation industry, the navy however, has found great use for it. SA3 was the golden egg. It allowed previously unknown weights to be lifted into the sky, or older weights to be propelled more easily. Flying dreadnaughts suddenly became a reality.
Tax: A progressive income tax system, with no tax on the income of the poorest, scaling up to 40% for the richest. A standard corporate tax rate of 25% with some tax breaks for new companies and innovative projects, Inheritance tax at 40% for estates above average value. There are also tax breaks for larger families, to try and encourage breeding and population growth.
Imports: The Azera have made a conscious drive to self-sufficiency, so their imports of the necessities are very low. They do however, import luxuries. They also import necessities but only as part of so called “Noble Trade.” Noble Trade is trade for diplomacy’s sake rather than profits sake, they will often try to use what they import through Noble Trade, and will rarely sell it back on for a profit as that would appear insulting.
Exports: Food, particularly grain, corn and other arable crops as well as beef and dairy products. Industrial metals such as Iron, Copper and Bronze, wood, simple cloth, horses, oxen and other beasts of burden, non military ships and aircraft (though never with super air components), construction materials and infrastructure. Weapons are also exported though only under Noble Trade and strictly regulated, re sale is not appreciated.
Industries: Mining, agriculture, technology, metal industry, weapon manufacturing and related elements of a military industrial complex, ship building, aircraft, construction materials and infrastructure.
Renown Associations: Azera Technological Institute (ATI) and The Clipper Trading Company (CTC)
Government: Hereditary Lords elect a cabinet and leader, the First Lord, from amongst their own number. However, a public vote of all citizens can recall their selections or strike down individual laws. Furthermore, local votes of all citizens in an area can appoint new Hereditary Lords.
Relations: ( to other governments )
Important officials:
Currency: Plectars
Military: Slightly over 900,000 men total. The military is split into three important sections. The army, navy and air corps. However, each of the three main services is further subdivided.
Army: The Army is split between Homeland Armies and Assault Armies. Homeland Armies make up the majority of the Azera armed forces. A Homeland Army usually consists of three corps, each corps usually consist of an approximated 36000 infantry men, 12000 Dragoons and 1500 Artillerymen. This makes your average Homeland Army 129500 men strong. There are currently 4 home land armies. Meaning 518000 men serve in the Home Land Armies. Soldiers in the home land armies have little to no special gear, only standard gear such as rifles, a few machine guns and anti-armour guns and so on. They either walk or ride to the battlefield, the guns are drawn by horses, the supplies moved by oxen and other pack animals
An Assault Army is the pride of the ground forces. Made up of veterans from the Homeland Armies and supplied with some of the latest kit and training they are the cutting edge. Currently only 1 Assault Army exists but it is a force to be reckoned with and there are plans to convert one of the Homeland Armies into a second Assault Army. An Assault Army consists of an estimated 103500 men. An Assault army is made of two corps. Each Corps has an approximated 24000 infantry. However, there are also an average of 500 S.T.A.G. units, S.T.A.G. standing for self-propelled turreted assault gun. These mobile armoured boxes with menacing fire power are each crewed by 5 men, meaning 2500 crew and a further 6000 infantry and other staff supporting them directly on the field. Beyond that there are a further 240 S.A.G. units, much like S.T.A.G. units but with fixed guns instead of turrets, crewed by 1700 people, 100 S.A.A. units (self-propelled ant aircraft) with 500 crew and 300 S.S.G (self-propelled Support gun) units which are mobile artillery pieces with 1500 crew.
These various metal war machines, whilst sturdy and terrifying to behold are not as invulnerable as their crew would have you believe and a suitable magic spell or decent hit from a specialist weapon will still knock these lumbering machines out. And whilst a drive is being made to outfit these machines with greater weapons the technology simply is not there yet and so these vehicles are equipped with only slightly amended versions of the field guns, crude machine guns or artillery pieces that their Homeland Army counter parts have.
But the various S units, as the various mobile gun platforms have become known and which make up less than 1.4% of the total ground forces, are not the true strength of an Assault army. Even the toughest machine can be knocked out by a well-placed foe that’s ready for it. The true strength of an Assault Army is how fast it can move on campaign. Even the infantry ride around in mechanical transports, which are in no way tough enough to enter into battle and are entirely unarmed but mean that they can move from place to place and battle to battle far faster than most. This means an Assault Army can respond to a crisis faster, get to break through quicker, outrun pursuers, chase down those that flee, beat the foe to a battlefield to pick the best ground and generally run rings around slower armies.
Air Corps:
The Air Corps is divided into 3 main sections
The Air Landing Force, the Light Air Force and the Heavy Air Force.
The Air Landing Force is a recent innovation, inspired by the mobility and success of the Assault Army it is an effort to further it. The solution was a force of 16000 Air Landing Infantry and 1600 Air Landing Support troops. These men can be dropped by parachute from specially built fast moving air transports, with larger numbers of men and their heavier equipment inserted onto the field by glider. But even when inserted by glider S units and other motorised things are simply too heavy and do not feature in the Air Landing Force. Instead only Light Artillery and light or medium direct fire guns can be put in. Furthermore, getting the Air Landing Force back out is very problematic. Unless they can secure and area where transport aircraft can land they have no choice but to either fight their way to the main army or wait for the main army to come to them, both of which are risky prospects. The Air Landing Force is small, elite and whilst individual soldiers are well equipped they lack the heavy fire power of even Home Land Armies, they must be used carefully.
The Light Air Force (7000 combat air crew, 28000 ground crew, 1000 assorted other roles) was made possible through the invention of S.A.3. Small buoyancy balloons of S.A.3 are secreted in frames of these small aircraft. This, combined with light weight construction materials and a combination of high tension clockwork and compressed gas means that small air craft can hurtle around the sky at great speeds when compared to the giant airships that are more commonly seen in the sky.
1500 Strike Aircraft: Flown by just one man these are the smallest and fastest machines in the Light Air Force and are the only mono winged planes in the Light Air Force. They are primarily designed to shoot down other, similar aircraft should any other nation ever develop such things. But they can also be used as recon and close support planes, with perhaps a single bomb affixed to their underside. There even have 4 unguided direct fire rockets to be used on enemy ships, ground targets or slow moving aerial targets like zeppelins. These rockets are however, crude and occasionally inaccurate and are a long way from the iron fists the ATI would like, best used only at short range if the pilot wants to stand any chance of hitting anything.
1000 Multi Role Aircraft: With enough gears and pressurised gas to grant there flyers extended range they make excellent patrol craft but they are also the jack of all trades. These large bi planes have a pilot, a rear gunner and a navigator / bomber these three man aircraft are slower than the Strike Aircraft and less agile. Still, it can weave around in the sky well enough and has good straight line speed. It has roughly the same air to air fire power as the Strike Aircraft, all be it with the addition of a rear gun, but where it really improves is with its secondary armaments. It has sixteen rockets and is capable of carrying twenty bombs or four modified naval torpedoes. When dropped from an air craft there are still technical reliability problems with accurate dept gauging but the ATI is working on this issue. Multi Role Aircraft are most commonly seen once Strike Aircraft have cleared the skies, allowing the Multi Role Aircraft to use its superior explosive fire power to target hard ground positions, ships or slow moving air ships.
500 Bomber Aircraft: With a crew of 5, a pilot, nose gunner, tail gunner, navigator and bombardier, these are the largest combat aircraft in the Light Air Force. These great monsters have a tri wing at the front and a bi wing to the rear just to keep them aerodynamically stable. Slow moving but with great range these beasts lack agility. As a result they only tend to fly if they know they control the skies or have an escort. Furthermore, they never fly low over the target, unlike their counterparts, for fear of being picked out of the sky. Instead they carpet their foes from high above with their compliment of roughly 80 bombs, depending on load out for the day. However, they are generally only described as being fit to attack ground targets, such as armies, industry, docks, stationary ships. They are not considered suitable to attack air ships or moving naval vessels.
Heavy Air Force: (Approximately 100000 men) Again, this was only made possible through the invention of S.A.3. Without that miracle gas the behemoths of the Heavy Air Force could never have risen into the sky. Occasionally nicknamed the battle ships of the sky the Heavy Air force is unnerving to behold. They have an array of ships, some of the most common or notable are laid out below.
Invincible Class Armoured Cruiser: The backbone of the Heavy Air Force this iconic ship marks the presence of Azera Authority where ever it flies. Her S.A.3 flotation balloons are hidden entirely from view. They lie in the middle of a squared diamonded shape highly reinforced armored cylinder that makes up the main body of the ship, tapering at each end. In that hull, with its thick sloping armour, is everything the crew needs, all be it in rather cramped conditions. Her main armament is a single top mounted turret, sporting two twenty inch guns. A low rate of fire and few guns is made up for with range, accuracy and power. Five 14 inch guns are broadside mounted on each side of the vessel for some added fire power, but the ship has to carefully position to bring these weapons to bare. She also has a number of very small turrets littered about her surface with small, rapid fire, low powered guns inside. These are anti-aircraft guns in case the ships comes under attack from something like their own light aircraft.
The invincible class is propelled by four great propellers in armoured boxes to her rear, allowing her to move reliably but only at average speed in combat. Out of combat, to save fuel and extend operational range, eight masts are erected, two from each slopping side, and she is pushed along by the wind. However, at the first sign of trouble automated cables furl the sales and snap them tall masts down onto the armoured sides of the ship, safe from harm as the propellers kick in.
The Rapier Class Battle Cruiser: Built from the same basic frame and design as the Invincible Class the Rapier has slightly lighter armour, fewer crew and fewer guns. The broadside guns have been stripped out and replaced with another turret containing two 16 inch guns. This over all saving in weight means that, whilst lighter and less powerful, the Rapier is far faster and can be used for a different purpose.
The Lancer Class Frigate: Again, built on the same basic design as the Invincible, but far smaller, the Lancer Class Carries two ten inch guns in her turret and four eight inch guns mounted as broadside guns on either side of her. The frigate also as a forward mounted turret, capable of firing only in the front 180 degrees, containing a single eight inch gun.
Titan Class Battleship: The Titan class is a rare beast. Again, her core is a diamond shape, all be it slightly squashed, bulging in the middle and with a largely flat top, she is very nearly twice the length of an Invincible class, coming in at 250 meters long with a crew of 2150, and has the fire power to match. Unlike other Heavy Air force ships, which mount their bridge on top of their large, centrally mounted turret, the Titan class is forced to have a conventional tower bridge in her centre.
She has eight 24 inch guns, contained in four turrets, two in each turret. Two turrets to the front of the tower, two to the rear. She has five turrets, each containing two 18 inch guns, four equally around the tower and one at the front of the ship. She also has six ten inch guns mounted in broadside fire on each side of the ship as well as the standard array of lesser anti-aircraft guns. It is the slowest moving ship in the Heavy Air Fleet, but also the most heavily armed and armoured, with numerous different layers and types of armour rendering some cockshaw designers to label her unkillable. though that is likely an over statement. It might take a while to get to the field but when it gets there it brings hell with it.
Navy: The Navy of the Azera has never invested in large scale battleships or capitol ships. By the time the Azera people could afford such things those resources were being poured into reinvestment in industry or the Air Corps. As a result, whilst you may find plans for battleships, there is not a single functioning battle ship in the whole fleet.
The Navy is split between the logistical navy, the marines and the battle fleet.
The logistical navy have no combat power, they are merely transports and whilst vital they are not worth exploring in detail here.
The marines are the inheritors of the Azera’s previous habit of being costal raiders and whilst they no longer have to sack small towns and sell their women and children into slavery the Azera, as a people, still value the ability to launch lightning raids and invasions from the sea. Just as with the Air Landing troops, truly heavy equipment cannot be used by the marines, they can however, land slight heavier guns and artillery than their air borne counter parts. Otherwise, they function in much the same way as the air landing colleagues though it should be said, they aren’t quite as high quality. They are also roughly the same size as the Air Landing corps, with 18000 men.
The Battle Fleet, of roughly 80000 sailors, focuses on small, fast, lightly armoured vessels, torpedo boats are common as are frigates and light cruisers, with guns of roughly the same size as their air borne counterparts. Their biggest ships are the battle cruisers, armed with very few but very big guns, lightly armoured and fast they are designed to out range and out run most ships in the sea, picking people off from a safe distance and running safely away if ever a battleship shows up. In the event a ship appears that a battle cruiser cannot deal with, it is Azera doctrine to retreat and call in the air force. Indeed, the battle fleet has a few carriers, which would also run from any battle but have a few strike Air Craft and Multi Role Aircraft for this purpose.
There are however, vicious rumours of a new secret weapon, a small fragile boat, with no real guns but with torpedoes, that can go under water. However, these are only rumours and whilst it is true some people from the ATI are working on this project, it should be pointed out that they have not managed to even build test components yet.
Landscape: The landscape of the Azera people is varied now. The islands they were exiled to a grey, barren, rocky and blasted. The Azera were sent there to die and it was a good place for it. But, their landscape makes them excellent islands to defend.
The peninsular where their capitol is now based is temperate, with open grassland rolling hills and lush woods. This is true of all of their east coast holdings.
The majority of the mainland area they have conquered is fertile, open, rolling planes, through hills, woods and mountains are no unknown. This vast open expanse has been turned over to farming and, where appropriate, mining. Their border region is marked by imposing mountains and the north and west coasts a warm, lush and beautiful, with hints of swamp and jungle in the very north.
Wild life: There is a standard array of varied wildlife.
Important locations: Aside from the important cities mentioned above and the mountainous border region there are few places the Azera consider particularly important.
History: The History of the Great Spirit of the Azera began roughly a thousand years ago. The Azera people once lived in a mighty kingdom a little to the south of what is now Goblin lands. They were not as closely bound as a society as they are now, but they were even worse to their neighbours. The Azera were brutes and tyrants, extorting nearby kingdoms and cities, burning crops, taking slaves. Eventually they angered too many local kingdoms simultaneously and were forced into an unwinnable war. Fighting and night, dirty tricks, professional skill and sheer determination turned it into a long and brutal war but their fall was both inevitable and total. Huge portions of their people were wiped out and what remained were loaded onto boats and sailed off to the grey isles where they were dumped, abandoned, forbidden every to build ships (they had never had much of a navy) and left to rot. They called their first settlement on these islands Last Hope and they clung desperately to existence.
At first there was infighting, with the king dead and the royal line slaughtered to the last child, warlords began to vie for supremacy. What little remained of the nation threatened to fall apart and the story would have ended there. But salvation came in the nations spiritualists. The old gods were abandoned, replaced with the trickster god, and the notion of greater spirits was brought to the fore. It had always been there but now it was forced into the centre of their lives. This was a conscious decision on the part of the spiritualists who knew that with such resource poor islands and so few people they had to collaborate to survive. Ironically, this ended up ensuring the gradual downfall of the priesthood and spiritualists as organised religion faded away. But it was a necessary sacrifice for the nation to survive. The warring lords of the Azera came together and began to cooperate. Once urgent issues of mere survival, law and order had been addressed they turned their attention to regaining their place in the world.
It began through the formation of a navy, something the Azera had never successfully done before but necessity drove them to it. Their first efforts were feeble but they got the hang of it faster than you might think. Resource shortages prevented them from building anything other than small wooden raiding ships, full scale pitched battles were beyond them. But they could run away from the bigger ships and instead became effective commerce raiders, pirates and looters of poorly defended coastal towns.
Eventually, as their population grew again, they became more adventurous. Ultimately this culminated in the invasion of the southern half of the snake’s tooth peninsular, which was the home of the Raffan Kingdom whom had been trying to combat Azera Piracy for years. The Azera occupation was ultimately successful and many of the local inhabitants fled or were cultural absorbed into the occupiers culture. The Capitol city of Raffan, once known as Emerald’s Eye, was renamed Foot Fall, to mark the Azeran return to the mainland. This military success came at a price however, another war. The very kingdom that had banished them decided they had to act in force to contain the Azeran resurgence. Unfortunately, their military efforts floundered. At first they tried to invade the islands but the frequent savage storms in the region that the Azera had learned to navigate, caused severe problems. Furthermore, there were very few good landing spots and their armies were always confronted with strong resistance at the beaches, the most vulnerable time for an invading foe.
They then tried to isolate the Azera main force on the peninsular, land and return Foot Fall to it’s original owners. But the long supply lines were raided and broken by Azera ships and the army was broken by starvation and disease before they even entered into battle. However, the Azera lacked the means to strike back at their foes, they were always on the defence and could never hope to launch a counter invasion against their superior enemy. They would have lost in the end were it not for opportunistic kingdoms on the main land. Whilst the Azera bleed the enemy army and treasury dry through the war, other kingdoms waited before pouncing on their weakened neighbour and devouring the remains. As such, the oldest enemy of the Azera is now gone, though whilst the country has been erased the ethnicity and culture remains somewhat.
From their new base in the snake tooth peninsular they eventually subsumed the rest of the peninsular and began to push into the lands beyond. Some 150 years after Foot Fall was captured it was re designated as the Capitol as it was in a far better position than any of the island settlements. This gradual expansion continued until the Azera Technological Institute was founded. The ATI was one of the first major scientific research groups to be founded and has been a major engine of change and progress for the Azera ever since. Using ATI technologies there was an explosive advance into the more primitive northern lands, eventually resulting in the border as it stands today. It has been speculated that the Azera could have kept going militarily but for cultural and economic reasons they had to stop. The border was drawn along a supremely sturdy natural defence, a great river that ran almost coast to coast and which was in parallel to a nearby mountain range. There are holes in the defence, the river is occasionally shallow in places and even fordable when slightly dry and several passes cut through the mountains. Worse still neither the mountains nor the river reach the northen coast. Still, it is a defence to be reckoned with.
Since the advance stopped some long time ago the Azera have focused on developing their economy and industry, the Clipper Trading Company or CTC was established as new trading company promising the fastest deliveries on the East Coast and the conquered regions were gradually cultural absorbed and normalised, through some historians suggest there was a massive wave of forced emigration shortly after the advance halted. They have never stopped developing their military though and their modern and organised armed forces are a point of national pride.
Now they are attempting to play a role in a world that the Azera still secretly think would like to see them confined back on those barren islands.
Summary: A refugee people who were once known for cruelty, savagery, evil tricks, national belligerence and other unlikable things who were forced to emigrate after a lost war but who turned their new home into their own. They then re-established their country and conquered their way back into being a world power. They are not as vile as they once were by any stretch of the imagination but rumours and stereotypes persist and their aggressive conquests have not helped their image. They stopped their military expansion some time ago and have focused on trade, internal issues and attempting to establish diplomatic relations. But, they are tarnished by their reputation and slightly inhibited by a culturally ingrained bitter victim mentality that they are constantly trying to overcome.
Strengths: Militaristic, innovative and industrious with ambition to match.
Weaknesses: They are known for aggressive expansion and the world has not forgotten some past cruelties, meaning they suffer from the some foreign relations problems. Also their anti-religious stance makes many religious nations think poorly of them and questions keep being asked about the dwindling numbers of conquered people in their territory.
Fashion/style: The Azera have embraced their monochromatic nature, with black, white and grey often being worn and deep reds for contrast. Their fashion is also quite practical and minimalistic, with simple designs. When attending formal events simple, stunning elegance is the order of the day.
Art: The Azera are not known for making art on canvas as their default medium. Instead their art comes through statues and architecture. Their statues in particular can cover a wide array of artistic styles, from abstract and surrealist to almost life like detail.
Important dates: 0 New Age (NA) the day their exile began. 105 NA, the last old war lord is defeated and the new model Azera government takes hold. 115 NA, the Azera Navy is formed. 182 NA, the Conquest of Foot Fall.196 NA, the Raffan Kingdom falls. 221 NA, the conquest of the Snake Tooth Peninsular is completed. 332 NA Foot Fall becomes the Capitol. 341 NA, the expansion into the mainland begins, very slowly. 442 NA, the ATI is formed prompting fast expansion for an army of the time, with various small wars against lesser kingdoms or tribes taking the world one bit at a time. 845 NA, the mountains are reached and the military advance halts, marking a shift to internal policy, diplomacy and trade though always with a gradual military build-up. 978 NA The present day.
Weird laws/rules: Over 100 years ago there was a youth led counter culture movement which the government of the day decided was too incendiary to be tolerated. Part of this counter culture was an emphasis on bright and luminescent colours. To this day, though largely because no one remembered to repeal the law, having luminescent dye in your hair is punishable by ten years in jail.
Fun facts: The Azera language is carefully guarded and only official sanctioned words may be used to prevent foreign cultural contamination. For a new word to be approved it must go through a selection and vetting process led by the committee for linguistic cohesion. Thankfully, there is no real punishment for using unsanctioned words, merely social disapproval.
Species
Name: Azera
Race/species:Azera
Description: With an average height of six foot, though varying anywhere between 5ft 4 inches to 6ft 8, they have human like proportions. Their legs and arms are slightly longer and their torsos are slightly shorter than your standard human, with longer fingers and toes to match. Their skin is grey, ranging from near black to near white thought the majority are an odd stone grey. Indeed, most Azera skins have the same slight speckling and colour shifts common in rock. Their eyes are larger than most humans but share a similar structure, however, their iris is almost always grey. Furthermore, their hair is always jet black, which when combined with the rest of their features, gives the Azera a very monochromatic appearance.
Natural abilities: Due to their large, and differently structured, eyes the Azera have superb low light and night vision. They can see almost as well in the dark as they can in the day, even colours are clear to them. They are also a naturally fast and dexterous people.
Lifespan: 100 year average life expectancy.
Important members: First Lord Arasan, Lord Marshal Derius, Lord Artificer Palagius, Lady Visar the General Ambassador.
Relations to other species:
History
Primary Language: Azeran
Secondary Language: Common
Religion: The Azera do not worship gods or spirits as they may be traditionally understood. They do however, have a profound reverence for what they term “greater souls.” Greater souls are not men of great standing or importance. Instead they are the general identity of such things as ships, units, families and nations. It is as if the ship were a being in its own right, both one with the crew and above it. It is the common spirit existing in the members of the greater whole and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of that whole. They mark important moments in the histories of those wholes, they honour its spirit, they work for its good and men can often be found in what appears to be prayer, trying to communicate with that greater spirit.
There is one other element to Azera spirituality that is quite interesting. Whilst they do not worship any god they do believe one exists. They call him man things, the god of many faces, the trickster, he who laughs, the great deceiver and other similar phrases, though the god it self has no name. They do not believe this god to be all powerful, merely very powerful and they see him as an enemy, not a friend. The Azera’s unfortunate past has led them to become a hard and cynical people when it comes to the possibility of a benevolent god. Instead they have come to believe that all the gods of all the races are in fact the same person, whispering lies, deceit, misinformation and conflicting belief into peoples ears not to help the mortal races but to torment them and pit them against one another. In short, the religions of the world are, to the Azera, a massive practical joke from a cruel divine being.
Strengths: Night vision, slightly faster than your average human, dexterous
Weaknesses: Slightly less sturdy than your average human, their species also suffers from some inherent foreign relations problems. (See history)
