Nationalities of Euriga

In the euriga campaign setting, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and the other familiar fantasy races are absent and cannot be selected by players to make their charatcers. While all inhabitants of Euriga consider themselves human, players have a selection of different cultures based on the nationalities of this continent and that of its neighbours.

The following section describes the different nationalities of Euriga, along with all in the niformation required to make a character of that culture.

Character Sizes in Euriga

In this campaign setting, the small and medium size of characters both represent the typicial height and built for adult men and women. In Euriga, a small-sized charcater may well be over 5'8" but relatively light-weight, while a medium-sized charatcer will be taller, more muscular, heavy-boned, or any combinations thereof.

If the propagonists of Fritz Leiber were set in Euriga, the Grey Mouser would be a small-sized charatcer, while Fafhrd would be of medium size.

Montanese

Montanesse is the westerly neighbour of Pryvalon, and last of the Eurigean countries before the Great Sea. While it doesn’t feature any of the tall mountains present in other part of Euriga, Montanesse is far from being a featureless land and it people are likewise diverse and culturally rich. It is said that the ancestors of the Montanese dealt with wild spirits long ago, and that the blood of the fey flows in their veins.

Bright Fields and Dark Forests

The heart of Montanesse is a pastoral country of golden fields, green meadows, dark forests, and eerie vestiges from a violent past. Terrain is a rougher in the northern provinces where the land plunges into the sea from high cliffs and countless islands. It is said that the veil between the Shadowlands and the mortal world is particularly thin there, and great fey lords and faerie queens inhabit this part of Montanesse.

The meridional provinces are considerably warmer and rarely see any snow, and the climate there is ideal for viticulture and cultivation of fruits. They are also more densely populated with numerous coastal towns and port-of-calls giving both into the Great Sea and the Sea of the Crescent, making southern Montanesse one of the most heavily trafficked and cosmopolitan regions of all Euriga.

Songs and Proverbs

Like their Pryvalonian neighbours, the Montanese vary in shape and height and it is hard to make generalisations about them. On the whole, the Montanese are a skillful and educated people, wise in their own ways, and often prove to be capable linguists. They are known for their rich oral tradition and cheerful music, and they seem to have a proverb or a saying for each occasion. The Montanese are known as a festive folk, always ready to invite strangers in their celebrations. Hospitality is indeed a prevailing virtue in Montanesse. After all, one can never be sure if a stranger isn’t in reality a fey spirit in disguise…

Taboos and Superstitions

Outsiders quickly notice how important traditions and superstitions are to the Montanese. They obey strange taboos and observe various rituals meant to attract the favours of the spirits, appease their wrath, and shield themselves against the tricks and charms of the fey. Most of these esoteric practices have little if no tangible effects according to the academicians of Argenville but the Montanese refuse to give them up, simply out of superstition and cultural habits.

Creating a Montanese Character

When making a Montanese character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Variant Human

Perhaps due to their superstitions and abundant rituals, fortune seems to favor the Montanese and the phrase “lucky as a Montanese” has become a common adage among all Eurigeans.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human race, you can select the Lucky feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Darkvision. Thanks to your distant fey blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Montanese Traits

Your Montanese character has some qualities in common with all Eurigeans and some that are unique to its nation.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1.

Age. The Montanese mature at the same rate as most Eurigeans and reach adulthood around the age of 20. Perhaps due to their daily rituals, the Montanese get to live a bit longer than most, often exceeding 100 years of age.

Alignment. The Montanese share the chaotic bent of their fey neighbours. They value both personal freedom and creative expression, demonstrating neither love of leaders nor desire for followers. They chafe at rules, resent others’ demands, and sometimes prove unreliable, or at least unpredictable.

Size. The Montanese are about the same size as central Eurigeans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Shielding Charms. Your daily rituals and superstitions give you protection against the fey spirits. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Montanese and one extra language of your choice. Th Montanese people only have a small literature heritage, but their oral tradition is rich, varied, and famous for its abundance of proverbs and colorful adages. Many enchanters learn their language to find hidden wisdom out of Montanese proverbs and legends.

Immigrants an Foreign Ancestry

The inhabitants of Euriga and of its neighbouring continents have been trading, travelling, and immigrating for centuries. While visitors of far-away countries can still appear strange or exotic, the sight of a newcomer or the visible signs of foreign ancestry is no longer a rare event.

It is entirely possible to play, for example, a Sakozovian living in the Pryvalon, or a Montanesse sharing the physical traits of the Okontu or Lings.

Pryvalonian

Nested between Montanesse, Norwald, Sakozovia, and the Crescent Sea, the Pryvalon proudly stand at the heart of Euriga. In addition to its mixed population hailing from all eurigean countries, the Pryvalonian sees many Otontu sailors, Ikishan merchants, and Ling traveller, making it the most cosmopolitan country of Euriga. Once ruled by cruel pyoreen monarchs, the Pryvalon is the cradle of the arcane magic that allowed the academicians to overthrow the pyoreen mages and form a parliament for the people, by the people.

A Dark Past

For most parts, the Pryvalon is a pleasant – if a little damp – land of rolling hills and rising cliffs against the Northern Sea and the Sakozov Mountains. Winters are rainy and cold except in the south where the warm Crescentician climate makes for much more comfortable weather. The Pryvalon saw many petty kingdoms rise and crumble, as suggested by the numerous ruins that dot the land. In many places, the vestiges of ancient towers and standing stones rise ominously from the ground, casting shadows that appear darker than they should be.

Modern Science and Ancient Magic

Before the reign of the pyoreen mages, the Pryvalon was composed of many small kingdoms, each with their own folk and culture, and often warring against one another. As the pyoreen mages invaded and united these small kingdoms, their subjects mingled and intermixed, growing into the diverse population of today’s Pryvalon. The cosmopolitan nature of the Pryvalon is well represented in the city of Argenville, capital of the Pryvalon but also of modern sciences, engineering, and arcane arts. In the rural areas, some claim to be the descendants of the original inhabitants of the defunct Kingdom of Pryvalon, showing their ability to speak to animals as a proof. Many of them still perform the ancient art of crafting glamours, but few truly master this ancient magic anymore.

Magic for the Mass

For a long time, the Pryvalon was ruled by pyoreen Kings and Queens. With no one possessing enough magic to oppose their power, they reigned with absolute authority for centuries. About a hundred years ago however, the man that would become known as master Goran developed a universal method of working magic that neither relied on spirits nor rare supernatural talents; a science known today as arcane magic. Armed with this knowledge and a growing number of acolytes, Goran allowed the people of the Pryvalon to overthrow their tyrants and set the foundations for a realm governed by its citizens. Today, arcane magic is taught in a number of academies across Euriga, but none are as prestigious as the First Academy of the Arcane in Argenville.

Creating a Pryvalonian Character

When making a Pryvalonian character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead. Pryvalonians are a diverse people but two main subcultures distinguish themselves as distinct: the Argenese of Argenville, and the initial inhabitants of the Pryvalon called Eldests. If you opted to use the variant cultural traits described below, choose one of these subcultures.

Variant Human

The geographical positioning of Pryvalon places Pryvalonians in contact with many cultures, and magic has always been part of their blood.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human race, you can select the Magical Initiate feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you gain the following trait in addition to those provided by the variant human.

Darkvision. Thanks to the primordial blood of your ancestors, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Pryvalonian Traits

Your Pryvalonian character has certain characteristics in common with most of its brethren.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.

Age. Pryvalonians mature at the same rate other humans do, and gain the right to vote in elections at the age of 40.

Alignment. Pryvalonians are most often good. Those who tend toward law are sages, engineers, researchers, scholars, investigators, or inventors. Those who tend toward chaos are minstrels, tricksters, wanderers, or fanciful jewelers. Pryvalonians are good-hearted, and even the tricksters among them are more playful than vicious.

Size. Pryvalonians average around 5 and half feet tall and weigh about 140 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Arcane Cunning. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Argenessen. The Argenessen language, which is little more than a local dialect of the common tongue, is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world.

Argenese

Argenville, formerly known as Caer Argnyr, was the seat of power of the pyoreen monarchs of old and is now the parliament city of the Pryvalon. The royal castle still stands in the middle of the city, its throne empty, as a reminder of a bloody an oppressive past. The First Academy of the Arcane was erected directly across the castle’s court in defiance of the old order, rivalling only with the parliament in splendor and lavishness. Argenville is known across world for its academic colleges, magical academies, musical conservatories, theatrical playhouses, and its citizen have become a healthy and educated people, open to the world and a new age of renaissance.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Higher Education. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to magic items, alchemical objects, or technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Clockworks Engineering. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time. When you create a device, choose one of the following options: Clockwork Toy. This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents. Fire Starter. The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action. Music Box. When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

Eldest

In some areas of Pryvalon, especially along the foothills of the Sakozov Mountains, live pockets of Pryvalonians claiming to descend directly from the first inhabitants of the Pryvalon. Calling themselves “eldest”, these Pryvalonians still practice the art of crafting glamours and conversing with small animals.

The Eldest subculture uses the racial traits of the forest gnome, as described in the Player's Handbook.

Kikwrithen

The Kikwirthen are the people living near or within the Kikwerth Forest in the Northern Mark of the Pryvalon. While the Kikwerth Mark is officially a province of the Pryvalon, the Kikwirthen possess such a strong and distinct cultural identity that it is often treated as an independent nation. After decades of weathering attacks both from within and from outside their country’s namesake forest, the Kikwirthen became a hardy people capable of defending themselves against pillagers and monsters alike.

Wooden logs and Iron Ingots

Kikwerth is a mountainous land emerging from the Sakozov Mountains, carved by deep valleys filled with rushing rivers and tall fir trees. The Kikwirthen living there dwell in fortified burgs of timber and stone and walled seashore villages, where they farm the fertile valleys and live off the bounty of the sea.

The southern region known as Myriidr is known across Euriga for its gold and iron mines and the wealth of its inhabitants, but Kikwerth is otherwise a country of modest towns of loggers and fishermen used to the harsh climate of the Northern Sea.

Tall and Grim

Like the land they call home, the Kikwirthen are a grim-looking folk with an iron stomach and a heart of gold. It is said that their gaze can pierce through the darkest shadows and that their flesh can withstand the most potent of venoms. The Kikwirthen are also tall by Pryvalonian standards, standing nearly as high as the Norweldians, but with generally darker hair and complexion. Despite their long stride, the Kikwirthen do not make the best runners. They are often described as a slow but deliberate people; never hasty but never slowed by burden or doubt.

Axe, Hammer, and Chisel

Most Kikwirthen live in stone burgs and their stonemasons are famous around the world for their exquisite craftsmanship. Prominent architects across Euriga prides themselves on hiring Kikwirthen engineers or master stonecutters, and even in the most remote Kikwerth villages, children are taught the properties of rocks and stone as a skill they call “stonecunning”. Every child is also taught the handling of an axe and a hammer, not only for logging and stonemasonery, but to defend themselves against the monstrous creatures that haunt the heart of the Kikwerth forest and surrounding hills.

Creating a Kikwirthen Character

When making a Kikwirthen character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Two main subcultures inhabit the Kikwerth Mark: the Myrans who live in the southern plateau of Myriidr, and the Foresters who live close to the Kikwerth Forest. If you elect to use the variant Kikwirthen cultural traits described below, choose one of these subcultures.

Variant Human

The Kikwirthen have a deserved reputation of being a hardy people and can withstand blows and punishment better than most Eurigeans.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human race, you can select the Tough feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Darkvision. Thanks to centuries of living in the shadows of tall mountains and within dark forests, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Kikwirthen Traits

Your Kikwirthen has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of Kikwirthen nature.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age. Kikwirthen mature at the same rate as other humans, but they consider themselves “young” until they reach the age of 50. Like other humans however, few get to live past a century.

Alignment. Most kikwirthen are lawful, believing firmly in the benefits of a well-ordered society. They tend toward good as well, with a strong sense of fair play and a belief that everyone deserves to share in the benefits of a just order.

Size. Kikwirthen vary in height and build, but many grow well over 6 feet tall with a broad physique. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Despite your size, your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Iron Stomach. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Kikwirthen Combat Training. You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: carpenter’s tools, mason’s tools, or smith’s tools.

Stonecunning. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Kik. Kik is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a Kikwirthen might speak.

Forester

The Kikwerth Mark cover a vast territory, but only the southern Myriidr region stands out as different from its otherwise barren hilltops, fir-covered valleys, and rocky seashores. While the miners of Myriidr proudly call themselves Myrans, the other inhabitants of the Kikwerth Forest are simply known as “foresters”. They are an insightful and doughty people, hardened by harsh winters and a treacherous landscape.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Kikwirthen Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Myran

The southern region known as Myriidr is a bit higher and flatter than the rest of the Kikwerth Mark. It is a land of ravines, gorges, and exposed rock cliffs; an ideal territory for mining exploitations. The Myrans living there extract various ores, mainly gold and iron, and have become prosperous smiths and merchants. Many openly wear armor in their everyday activities, both as a symbol of prosperity and as protection from the creatures of the woods.

The Myran subculture uses the racial traits of the mountain dwarf, as described in the Player’s Handbook.

Norweldian

The Norweldians live by the fjords of Norwald, the most northerly of Euriga’s nations. Long ago, Norweldian raiders terrorised Pryvalon and Montanesse until their kings were forced to set their quarrels aside and unite against the pillagers, in turn forcing the Norweldians to change their ways and trade more peacefully with their neighbours. Ironically, the lasting peace between the three northern kingdoms was initiated by the most savage and brutal people that Euriga has ever known.

Deep Fjords and High Meadows

Norwald is a land of tall mountains and winding glaciers. Most of the inland territories are practically uninhabitable, but the countless coastal fjords and isles of Norwald provide enough shelter from the northern wind to allow civilisation to prosper. The Norweldians living there farm the valleys and herd sheep and goats in the mountains, but most of their activities and provisions come from the sea. This connection to the sea runs deep within the Norweldians’ heart, and very few live a life away from the smell of the brine and the sound of the waves.

Giants Amongst Mortals

Norweldians are strong, tall, and imposing. It isn’t hard to imagine how terrifying they would have been as raging pillagers, or why they fare so well on the battlefields of Euriga. They are reputed to be fell-handed and nigh unkillable, surviving blows that would skew a wild boar through and through. And even though most Norweldians spend their lives as farmers, fishermen, or artisans, their size alone makes them formidable warriors. Many sell their skills as mercenaries in Eurigean armies or test their mettle against the trolls and ogres that live in the dark corners of Euriga.

A Land Frozen in Time

A Pryvalonian visiting Norwald may feel like travelling hundreds of years back in time. As a society, the Norweldians themselves aren’t backward or behind their fellow Eurigeans, but they tend to prefer old-fashion tools and practices over newer magics and technologies. They still adorn their houses with runes and pray to the Olden Gods while the rest of Euriga has converted to the newer Gods of Virtues. Their thanes still act both as political leaders and judges while the other countries of Euriga have separated the juridical authority from the executive power of their governments. The Nolweldians still sail aboard their longboat and still show their excellence as shipwrights and seafarers. Their ships may be smaller than Pryvalonian triple-deckers and not as heavily armed as Montanese frigates, but their line is sleek and much better equipped to withstand rough seas and high winds of the Boreal Sea.

Creating a Noweldian Character

When of making a Norweldian character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Variant Human

Norweldians are famous around the world for their fighting prowess. Their weapons are tall and their round shields are massive, just like the Norweldians themselves.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human traits, you can select the Great Weapon Master or Shield Master feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Darkvision. Perhaps due to ancient blessings, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Norweldian Traits

Your Norweldian character has certain traits deriving from your warrior ancestors.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age. Norweldians grow a little faster than most people of Euriga, reaching to their full height around the age of 14. After that, they grow wider and stronger until their death around the age of 75.

Alignment. Norweldians inherit a tendency toward chaos from their raider ancestors and are not strongly inclined toward good. Norweldians raised among the eastern raiders and willing to live out their lives among them are usually evil.

Size. Norweldians are somewhat larger and bulkier than their southern cousins, and they range from 5 and half to well over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Imposing Stature. You gain proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

Unrelenting. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Fell-Handed. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon’s damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Nor. Nor is a harsh, grating language with hard consonants. It has no script of its own and uses the common letterings, but ancient Nor writings used carved runes that are sometimes used even today.

Sakozovian

The Sakozovians are an ethno-linguistic group who speak variations of the Zovic language and inhabit a dozen of sovereign countries to the north and east of Euriga. They take their name from the tall Sakozov Mountains, a geographic feature shared by all Sakozovian nations.

The Great Wall of Euriga

The Sakozov Mountains form a wide barrier separating the inner lands of Euriga from the wide tablelands above the Crescent Sea. Taking roots in the frozen and inhospitable Jotunland in the Far North, The Sakozov run south along the eastern borders of the Pryvalon all the way to the Crescent Sea, forming the highest peaks of all Euriga. The Sakozovian winters are also the longest and the coldest, surpassing even those of Norwald, and thus light and fire spirits have always been revered as indispensable allies by the Sakozovians.

Light and Shadows

There are many dark places in Euriga, but few have a darker reputation than the Sakozov Mountains. There, gloom is omnipresent and shadows appear deeper than they should be, as if darkness lingered like fog over the forests and clang to the mountain vales.

The same darkness can be felt the heart of the Sakozovians. Some fully embrace it; some even learn to channel and manifest it and cast it out. Most Sakozovians however counter the shadows with brightly coloured clothes and paints, cheerful dances, and the construction elaborated lanterns.

Exile Spirits

Like the rest of Euriga, the Sakozov Mountains and the tablelands beyond are inhabited by spirits of all sorts, but many spirits seem to be of a different kind there. They seem to be trapped in their physical form and are shunned by other nature spirits who describe them as exiles, castaways, and pariahs, bound to the Sakozov Mountains and its plateaus, and unable to leave the mortals’ world. Some, like the Vampire Lord, rule over their own court of lesser spirits while others, like the Immortal, may even have been human at one point and now wield great magical powers. Some like the Night Hag prey on the mortals while others like the Firebird guide and protect them. Even more so than other regions of Euriga, the Sakozovian spirits are at the centre of local folklore and mythology.

Creating a Sakozovian Character

When of making a Sakozovian character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Variant Human

The Sakozovians are a conflicted people. They cohabited with the cold and darkness of the Sakozov Mountains for so long that they seem to have absorbed them, and yet at the same time fight them with cheers and bright fire.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human traits, you can select the Elemental Adept feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Darkvision. You have become accustomed to the dark nature of the Sakozov Mountains and you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Sakozovian Traits

Sakozovian share certain racial traits as a result of their proximity with the Sakozov Mountains.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age. Sakozovian mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years longer.

Alignment. Sakozovian might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but because of the malice of the Sakozov Mountains, many of them end up there. Evil or not, an independent nature inclines many Sakozovians toward a chaotic alignment.

Size. Sakozovians are of average size and build for humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Blessing of the Firebird. You have resistance to fire damage.

Magic of the Land. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the hellish rebuke spell as a 2nd-¬‐ level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Zovic. There are many Zovic dialects, but all are similar enough for inhabitants of different Sakozovian regions to converse.

Ikishan

The Ikishan Empire is a populous nation on the southern shores of the Crescent Sea. Thanks to renewed commerce between the Empire and the Northern Kingdoms, the Ikishans have become a common sight in port cities across Euriga. For the northern people, the Ikishan Empire represents the exoticism and lavishness of the south; its warm weather, its lush jungles, its golden sand dunes, and its strange spirits.

A Land of Extremes

The Ikishan Emperor rules a vast territory covering many different ecosystems ranging from the thirstiest deserts to the most lavish forests, each protected by wild and unforgiving spirits. The tall and bare mountains of the east collect all the rain from the Crescent Sea in wide watersheds, creating torrents and floods that fertilise the plains with rich sediments. Deprived of this water, the lands east and south of the mountains are forever dry and barren. There, the wind blows the sand into great dunes like waves in a vast waterless ocean.

The Exoticism of the South

Other than bringing heavy rainfalls, winter has no hold on Ikisha and its inhabitants enjoy warm weather all year long. This allows them to dress in fine clothes of bright colours that northerners find exotic and fascinating, but that is not the extent of their appeal. All sorts of wild rumours circulate about the Ikishans, how the poorest street boy can cast magic spells, how each peasant is a trained soldier, or how they dream with their eyes open. For all northerners, the exoticism of the Ikishans goes well beyond their silky vestments, their courteous speech, and their seductive dances.

The Worship of Spirits

Most of the Ikishan population live along the rivers where the fertile floodlands are cultivated and the watercourses used as commercial highways. Ikishan cities are large and densely populated by eurigean standards, but the Imperial Metropolis truly dwarves any of the most populous northern cities.

Magic is commonplace in the Empire, and many Ikishans can cast minor spells. Although it is not institutionalised like the arcane arts of the north, this magic resembles that of the academicians of the Pryvalon in nature. Pyoreen magic however, remains the foremost magical tradition, and spirit worshipping endures as the state religion.

Creating an Ikishan Character

When of making an Ikishan character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

The Ikishan family tree has three main subculture branches: the urban Dheeraj, the rural Mishri, and the forest-dwelling Ashians. If you elect to use the variant Ikishan cultural traits described below, choose one of these subcultures.

Variant Human

The Ikishan are known for their keen sense of observation.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human traits, you can select the Keen Mind or the Observant feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Trance. Ikishans do not sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that another human does from 8 hours of sleep.

Ikishan Traits

Your ikishan character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of hundreds of generations of interaction with the land’s spirits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. Although Ikishans live longer than most eurigeans in average, they grow old at about the same age as humans. Like most people in Euriga, ikishans are at their zenith between the age of 20 and 50, even if they often get to live over a century.

Alignment. Ikishan love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good than not.

Size. Ikishan range from under 5 to 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Thanks to your proximity with the spirits of your land, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Sharp-eyed. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Mental Fortitude. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Shanite. Shanite is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Shanite literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems entrances even those who do not understand their words.

Dheeraj

Historically, the Dheeraj lived in the south and along the coast of the Crescent Sea but today they can be found virtually everywhere in Ikisha, particularly within the seven cities of the Crescent. They honor an ancient imperial edict that every citizen must be able to take arms and use magic. When the northerners talk in wonder about magic-wielding Ikishan, they are referring to the Dheeraj.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Emperor’s Edict. You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the academician spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Extra Language. You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choice.

Mishri

The Mishri originated from the northern forests, but like the Dheeraj, they can now be found anywhere in Ikisha. They exhibit the closest proximity with the spirits and make-up for most Pyoreen mages. Because of this, the Mishri form the ruling class of the Ikishans. The Emperor himself proudly boasts to be of Mishran descent.

The Mishri subculture uses the racial traits of the wood elf, as described in the Player's Handbook.

Ashian

The Ashian share the same ancestor as the Mishri but unlike them, the Ashans remained in the northern jungles, living among the spirits that reside there and learning strange magic from them. Their eyes are accustomed to the dim light under the trees and they can see better than most at night. They find unfiltered sunlight to be very harsh however, and therefore are less likely to be encountered outside the Empire than their fellow Ikishans.

The Ashian subculture uses the racial traits of the dark elf, as described in the Player's Handbook.

Okontu

Okonta is the near-mythic continent south of the Crescent Sea that the sorcerer-king united into one colossal and glorious kingdom long ago. This kingdom can be quite bountiful but regardless of the location, Okonta is a land of eternal summer, scorching sun, and suffocating heat.

The Kingdom of the Sun

Okonta is a vast and diverse land, even larger than the northern kingdoms of Eurgia combined. It covers various types of environments, including rare and unique ones such as the sulfurous pools of Shounti or the basalt plains of Dhaka where the glow of magma can be seen through cracks in the ground. Coastal plains, savannahs, jungles and wetlands are abundant across the whole continent but wherever one stands in Okanta, the land is always unforgiving and oppressively hot.

Like Land, like People

Like Okanta herself, the Okontu are a diverse people. In reality, they are comprised of several distinct nations, as different as the Montaneses are from the Pryvalonians, all united under the rule of a single king. As a whole, the Okontu are strong and imposing, but their cultures differ from tribe to tribe and from region to region. Every Okontu cultures allocate a great importance to dance and music as the main mean of communication with the spirits however, and all vow a cult to their land and to the spirits that protect it.

Elemental Magic

If all Okontu have something in common, it is their ability to unleash elemental forces as a tool and a weapon. To be accepted as adults, Okontu children must undergo a rite a passage through which they must demonstrate their ability to evoke the magic of their tribe. The exact nature of this rite varies from tribe to tribe, but all involve a series of ritual dances, survival trials, and unarmed combats against wild spirits or animals.

Over millennia, each tribe has developed an affinity with a certain element that they associate with their environment. Thus the tribes living among the sulfurous pools of southern Okonta learned to harness to caustic and corrosive nature of their home to conjure an acid blast, and the tribes living in the marshes and wetlands of the East have adapted to withstand the poison of the venomous snakes and insects that plague these lands. Despite the absence of winter and snow, some tribes nevertheless learned to use frost magic; an uncommon but powerful tool in this land of everlasting summer.

Creating an Okontu Character

When making an Okontu character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Variant Human

The Okontu are known to be resilient and adaptable to their environment.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human traits, you can select the Resilient feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, your Strength or Charisma (your choice) score also increases by 1.

Okontu Traits

Your Okontu heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other Okontu.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Charisma score increases by 1.

Age. Although Okontu children do not grow quicker than other Eurigeans, they are considered to be adult at 15 years old, age at which they must pass their rite of passage to be accepted as an adult in their tribe.

Alignment. Okontu tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil. Most okontu are good, but those who side with evil can be terrible villains.

Size. Okontu are taller and heavier than most Eurigeans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Tribal Magic. You have been trained to manifest the magic of your ancestors. Choose one element from the Tribal Magic table. This element represents an important aspect of the geography of your native land. You can conjure this element to attack your opponents, or to aid you in your daily activities.

Tribal Magic Table

Element	Damage Type	Saving Throw
Earth	Acid	Dexterity
Frost	Cold	Constitution
Fire	Fire	Dexterity
Air	Lightning	Dexterity
Water	Poison	Constitution

Elemental Blast. You can use your action to conjure a blast of destructive energy, as determined by the damage type associated with your tribal magic. This blast has an area of effect from which you are the point of origin: either a 5 by 30 ft. line, or a 15 ft. cone. When you use your action to conjure an elemental blast, each creature in the area of effect must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your tribal magic. The DC for this saving throw equals 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 damage of the type associated with your tribal magic on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level. After you use elemental blast, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Damage Resistance. You have resistance to the damage type associated with your tribal magic.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Okan. Okan is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of elemental magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.

Ling

Far to the East, past the tablelands beyond the Sakozov Mountains, lies the fabled Empire of Ling-Shi; the land of the Lings. There, it is said that the Grand Emperor rules over a court of a thousand kings, each commanding a thousand captains, every one leading a thousand swords. Very few Eurigeans have visited these faraway lands, and those who did tell tales of an empire so grand that few are willing to believe their accounts.

A Land of Rich Diversity

The most credible testimonies tell of a vast territory stretching over what would be several Eurigean countries. Like the Okuntu, the Lings are united under one great empire comprised of several distinct regions. From the accounts of Lings travellers, Ling-Shi enjoys virtually every climate and topography but its citizens rarely travel outside their home region. The Lings thus tend to form numerous subcultures, trading with one another as they are with Ikisha and the eastern islands of Okonta.

A Pledge to the Emperor

The Lings take after the name of their ruler’s lineage – the Ling dynasty – and introduce themselves as such as a mark of fealty to their Empire. As a diverse people, it would be inaccurate to make many generalisations about them but overall, the Lings are lithe and nimble, and a bit shorter than their Eurigean cousins. They seem to express a preference for lighter weapons and shorter horses, but otherwise use tools and habitations that are similar to those of their westerly cousins.

Attention to Details and Precision

The Lings live by the adage that things worth doing deserve being done right, and they show great care and application in everything they undertake. They are capable of great patience and dedication to achieve their goal of balance and perfection. They also believe in mental resilience and self-control, and train from young age to face fear and anguish with composure.

Creating a Ling Character

When making a Ling character, you can opt to use the human race, as described in the Player’s Handbook, or choose the following cultural traits instead.

Lings are a diverse people but two main subcultures emerge from their society: the citizen of the inner kingdom and the riders of the northern steppes. If you elect to use the variant Ling cultural traits described below, choose one of these subcultures.

Variant Human

The Lings tend to prefer light and agile weapons, but a few train in the use of heavy swords and tall polearms.

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook and your DM allows the variant human traits, you can select the Defensive Duelist or the Great Weapon Master feat as your human feat during character creation. If you do so, you also gain the following trait:

Discipline. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Ling Traits

Your Ling character has a number of traits in common with all other Lings.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. A Ling reaches adulthood at the age of 20 and live up to a venerable age, outliving most other human ethnicities.

Alignment. Most Lings are lawful good. As a rule, they are good-¬hearted and kind, hate to see others in pain, and have no tolerance for oppression. They are also very orderly and traditional, leaning heavily on the support of their community and the comfort of their old ways.

Size. Lings are a slightly shorter and less muscular than their northern Eurigean cousins. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Precision in Action. When you roll a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Discipline. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Ling Nimbleness. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Shi. The Shi language isn’t secret, but Ling are loath to share it with others. They write very little, so they don’t have a rich body of literature. Their oral tradition, however, is very strong. Almost all Lings that reach Euriga speak Common to converse with the people in whose lands they trade or through which they are traveling.

Inner Kingdoms

The Lings that are native to the central imperial lands are known as the inhabitants of the inner kingdoms. They are agile even by Ling standards and can easily hide from notice. Of all the Ling peoples, you are the most inclined to travel and trade with other regions, even faraway ones like Ikisha, Okontu or even the mysterious kingdoms of Euriga.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

Steppe

Many Lings live in nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes in the outer reaches of the Empire. They are known to be superb riders, journeying on short and sturdy horses. Some tribes have adopted more exotic mounts as well, such as large wolves, panthers, and even great eagles.

The Steppe subculture uses the racial traits of the stout halfling, as described in the Player's Handbook