Part 13 – Elder Races of Jrustela & the East Isles

ANDIN

Innate Abilities: [Negative emotion] 2W, Know Human Culture 17, Large 15, Strong 18, Tough 18, Ugly 18

Magic: Initiate of [Adpara deity]
Typical weapons & armour: Axe +3, naginata +4, dart +1, shield, bezainted or scale armour +3

Distribution: East Isles

Habitat: Any

The Andins are a demonic race native to the East Isles. Their appearance is highly variable; some are dwarves, others giants, some are hairy, others warty or glabrous, some have grey or dull brown skin, others are bright red or blue, and so on. All appear able to mate with each other, and the appearance of the offspring seems to have no connection with either of the parents. Andins often take particular negative emotions to extremes; those most often encountered by humans tend to express anger or hatred, but those expressing great gluttony, lust or even sloth are just as common in their own lands. Andins worship the Adpara anti-gods of Vithelan myth. As a more or less civilised race, they can belong to a range of different professions (even if humans are most likely to meet warriors) and generally use the same keywords as Vithelan humans.

Although they are (usually) not chaotic, Andins are highly variable in form, and the Narrator may modify the basic abilities above by giving one or more of the following additional innate abilities to an individual andin:

• Agile 12 to 18
• Large 18 to 5W or Small 10 to 15
• Run Fast 12 to 18
• Tough 15 to 18
• Normal appearance (remove Ugly ability)
• Armoured Skin +1 to +4

Andin Lords

Innate Abilities: Intelligent 5W, Large 5W, React Swiftly 18, Strong 10W, Tough 5W

Magic: Devotee of [Adpara Deity] Typical weapons & armour: Greataxe +5, greatsword +5, javelin +3, full metal armour +5 (often magically enchanted)

The leaders of the andins are tall humanoid beings with coarse features, multiple horns and eyes and a great grasp of magic. Whether these are distinct sub-race or just those who rise to the top through some means of infighting are unknown. Andin lords are often of heroic stature, far more powerful than their innate abilities would suggest, and appear to be immortal, so that they can gather great magics and powerful items throughout their long life. Despite the name, around a quarter of Andin lords are actually female, although as many can use magic to shapeshift into different forms, it is difficult to know for certain.

KEETS

Innate Abilities: Nimble 17, Small 10, Swim 10W

Distribution: East Isles

Habitat: Coastal

The Keets are an ancient people blessed by the Emperor of the World for their help during the Storm Age. Their ancient homeland was destroyed by evil sea gods, and now they live among the islands of the east. The keets are bird people, and include many different species. The most common type of keets are ducks, similar to those that inhabit Maniria, but terns, herons, puffins, guillemots, loons and gulls are also known. All have arms instead of wings, and live in villages called Nests to which they show great loyalty. They are a well mannered and friendly people, in stark contrast to their Manirian fellows. Although most are fishermen, they may take up any profession found in the East Isles, and they worship the same gods, although sorcery use and ancestor worship are also known. Unlike their human neighbours, keets generally do not practice mysticism.

In addition to the abilities common to all of their kind, particular species of keet have additional innate abilities of their own. Some of these are summarised below.

• Duck – Honourable 13
• Gannet – Dive from Height 17
• Guillemot – Kind 13
• Gull – Gregarious 13
• Pelican – (do not have Small)
• Puffin – Loyal 13
  

TIMINITS

The timinit insect folk first appeared in Second Age Jrustela, but as they lack any discernable mythology or history of their own, their precise origin is unknown. The God Learners brought many of them to western Pamaltela, where their descendants still live. Unlike the human inhabitants of that land, the timinits survived the destruction of most of Jrustela, and inhabit some of the shattered islands that remain above the water there. There are many different types of timinit, many of which are mutually hostile. Most have short life spans by comparison with other races; ten years is typical, while some timinits, collectively known as Ephemerae, live for only a single year. Some of the more common species are listed below.

Most timinit species have a particular ability at which they excel, and which is typically much higher than the other abilities in their keyword, typically starting at at least 10W, even for a character with other keyword abilities at 17. These abilities are listed immediately below the Innate abilities for each species. Most timinits use Common Magic, although some (especially the Blattenites), use Animism, albeit of a kind unfamiliar to most humans.

BLATTENITE

(Magniplaneta fimiphagus)

Chitin +2, Hear Noise 2W, Large 2W, Remorseless 10W, Resist Ingested Poison 12W, Strong 2W, Tough 10W

Distribution: Umathela, Jrustela

Habitat: Any

These bulky timinits have dark brown to black chitin and rounded heads with large eyes and long antennae. They are over seven feet in height and significantly heavier than a human. They are among the most feared of timinit species, for they often attack human settlements and do so without any remorse or signs of conscience.

Blattenites are nocturnal creatures, able to see as well at night as during the day. They are scavengers, and subsist primarily on carrion, but are not averse to killing animals and then leaving them to rot for a few days until they are edible. If necessary they can subsist on plants or on fresh meat, but they find that these lack the ideal favour of a partially decomposed corpse. They readily consume their own dead.

As a result of their unsavoury habits, about a third of blattenites carry some form of disease, to which they themselves are completely immune. Anyone wounded by a disease-carrying blattenite may be exposed to that disease.

They are gregarious creatures, although they do not build their own dwellings. They live in nomadic clans, and occasionally settle for a few weeks in the remains of a raided settlement before moving on elsewhere. However, they have relatively little in the way of social organisation, and have no visible leaders and no particular regard for their shamans.

After being laid, the eggs are attached to the females’ abdomens, and carried about until they hatch. The young are smaller versions of the adults, and are cared for communally, although they are expected to find their own food from a very early age. Blattenites live for up to twenty years; unusually long for timinits.

BROWN-BANDED ARACHAN

Distribution: Jrustela

Habitat: Forests

There are many species of timinit commonly referred to as ‘arachans’, some of which are actually insectoid, rather than spider-like. All species of arachan are obligatory carnivores, and cannot gain any nutrition from vegetable matter. They will eat almost any kind of fresh animal matter, and have no taboo against the consumption of sentient creatures. They have even been known to eat each other if sufficiently hungry, which may explain their generally solitary nature. In most arachan societies complex rituals have been developed which must be undertaken whenever two individuals meet, and which ensure that one will not attempt to eat the other. Commonly, the visitor presents the resident with a gift of food, but many subtle and even artistic variations exist; for example the Red-patch Arachans pluck the strands of small, special, webs like a musical instrument. These rituals vary from species to species, and so arachans of different species will avoid each other as far as possible, unless they have somehow been able to learn the correct greeting ritual.

Brown-banded Arachans are a particularly common eight-limbed species, using their rear four limbs for walking, and the front four as arms. They have no necks, so that they are unable to turn their heads independently of the rest of their upper torso. Their name comes from the mottled pattern of brown stripes on their black, hairy, bodies. Brown-banded Arachans also have two large, dimly glowing, red eyes above their mouthparts, with many smaller eyes to either side.

This is one of the most sophisticated and intelligent of timinit species, although too alien to be readily comprehensible to humans. They weave complex and beautiful silken webs both as dwelling places and to entrap animals in, but they also hunt for prey. The silk they spin is so thin that the individual threads are almost invisible, yet so strong that a knife will not cut it and most humans cannot break it (Resist Damage 10W). Of course, being flexible, it can be easily moved aside, but the webs used to catch prey are coated with glue, making this a risky proposition. Many brown-banded arachans know magic to augment the glue on their webs, or make the webs even more effective as traps.

Brown-banded Arachans lay a dozen or so eggs, which the female guards fiercely. These hatch into miniature versions of the adult, which will be cared for by the mother for about a year before they grow large enough to venture out on their own. From that point, they will no longer be welcome at their mother’s home unless they perform the proper ritual. They live for around 10 years.

DERMAPTON

(Labidellum servus)

Chitin +1, Acute Hearing 5W, Move Silently 2W, Sniff Out Food 12W, Tough 2W

Know Local Area 10W
Other common keyword abilities: Hide in Cover, Know Foreign Timinits, Scavenge Goods
Magic: Common Magic

Distribution: Umathela, Jrustela

Habitat: Any

These small timinits are one of the very few to cooperate (albeit passively) with other species. Somewhat shorter than the typical human, they have slim bodies with plain brown chitin and short, leathery, vestigial wings. They have long antennae, and a pair of pincers at the end of their abdomen.

Dermaptons will eat nearly anything organic, but they prefer foods that will not fight back. For the most part, they are found in the dwellings of larger, communal timinits such as Myrmidons, where they clean out debris and consume the bodies of the dead. They even perform this service for their own dead, although they gain no magical benefits from this in the way that Scorpion Folk do. Even the most hostile species seem to ignore them, as if unaware of their presence (a rare exception are the blattenites which will readily attack them if it is profitable to do so). In turn, the dermaptons are generally peaceful, and have not been observed to attack other insect-folk.

They are nocturnal, and only wander through the hive in the dead of night. They spend the day sleeping in earth-lined holes, natural caves or abandoned store-rooms of the host species. The eggs hatch into miniature versions of the adults, which are cared for by the parents until they attain adulthood at around a year of age. If there are sufficient dermaptons already in a nest, as is quite often the case, the young adults will leave in search of another. As a result, it is not unusual to encounter them in the wild, where they eat plants and scavenge the bodies of dead animals to survive until they find a better home. Dermaptons live for around six years.

LUCAN

(Lucanoides scutifer)

Mandibles 5W +3, Tough Chitin +5, Hear Intruder 5W, Large 18, Strong 10W, Tough 5W

BLUE-POINT MYRMIDON

Distribution: Jrustela

Habitat: Open terrain

These warlike timinits are typically seven and a half feet tall, but have thin, attenuated bodies. Like most other timinits, they have two legs and four arms, and immobile faces with twitching mandibles and faceted eyes. Myrmidons live in large hives of up to a thousand individuals, which extend both above and below ground. There are several different types, all of which war constantly with each other.

Blue Point myrmidons are the most common type, and have an eggshell white colour with spots of bright blue at their joints and at the tips of their limbs. Each subtype uses different weapons and magic.
Although they are among the most technologically advanced and sophisticated of the timinit species, it is still difficult for humans to trade with myrmidons because of their alien nature. Their desires are inscrutable to humans, and while they will sometimes allow humans to leave their lands with great treasure, at others they will kill them out of hand. None the less, it is possible for a determined or clever human to come to understand the race, and to deal safely with them; they are not capricious as the dragonewts are, and always act according to their own codes.

Blue-point myrmidons fight with a spear in each pair of hands, and may also throw up to four spears at a time at their foes. They prefer to fight in large bands and they act with perfect military precision, despite their lack of leaders.

ODONATITE

(Anaxoides aetas)

Chitin +1, Fly Fast 12W, Large 2W, Racial Memory 5W, See All Around 15W

Common keyword abilities: Aerobatics, Unarmed Combat, Spot Prey
Magic: Common Magic, especially including Rapid Movement talent

Distribution: Jrustela

Habitat: Near freshwater

This is the largest of the many species of Ephemerae, or short-lived Timinits. They are born in the spring, but die in the winter after they lay their eggs for the following year. Odonatites resemble humanoid dragonflies, with tall, very slender bodies and a metallic sheen. They have brightly coloured chitin, differing from individual to individual and becoming darker as they age. They are generally friendly with most other species, most of whom they regard as immortal, unchanging deities. However, they themselves are solitary, and gather together only in mid-summer to mate.

The young, aquatic, nymphs resemble stingworms, and are non-sentient. Adults lay their eggs in fresh-water lakes. These hatch in Sacred Time, and then remain as water-breathing larvae for 10 weeks. The Odonatite only becomes self-aware when it sheds its nymphal skin in early Fireseason and emerges as an adult. It then has a mere 14-18 weeks to mate and to live out its entire sentient life before it dies of old age.

Like most Ephemera, Odonatites have an ability to ‘remember’ things learnt or observed by their ancestors. This ability is not perfect, and extends back a limited number of generations (apply a -3 circumstance modifier per generation). Events witnessed only as a larva are vague and often difficult for the adult to interpret. Despite the imperfection of this ability, it does at least allow Ephemerae to retain their languages and culture down the years when none will ever see their parents or offspring.

Odonatites are carnivorous, eating small fish, frogs and mammals, but they are harmless to other creatures unless provoked. Even then, their preferred tactic is to fly away as quickly and as nimbly as possible. Because of their huge, wrap-around eyes, they have a very wide angle of vision, and they are also able to turn their heads through 180 degrees, so that they can see behind their backs if necessary. This can make it difficult to chase them successfully.