Cleffen Humans
Cleffen Humans are a subspecies of Human, native to Cleffen. The Cleffen Humans are a people with a legacy soaked in divine contradiction. Born of The Most-Favoured, the primal race chosen by the The Beacon of Life, The Vida Quda, and, as such, they carry within them the seeds of terrible potential and radiant possibility. The Most-Favoured were creatures of immense vitality but lacked empathy; predatory, cunning, and psychopathic. When their violence threatened the balance of the world, the gods intervened. The Vida Quda, heartbroken by her creation’s bloodthirst, led the effort to confine them to the forsaken continent of Kthombru. Millennia passed, and within the confines of Kthombru, the Most-Favoured began to evolve. Time, divine influence, and internal strife birthed self-awareness and eventually, true civilization. From this long exile emerged the Humans; social, adaptable, creative. The Vida Quda, ever merciful, allowed them to return to the world. Many spread across the seas, but a determined branch sailed west and settled the rugged continent of Cleffen.
Many years later, the first human ships landed on the coastlines of Cleffen. The continent was already divided: vast mountain ranges tunneled through by Mountain Dwarves, and dense, sun-drenched jungles ruled by Lizardfolk. Humanity found no welcome. The Mountain Dwarves, proud and isolationist, saw them as abominations, or lesser beings descended from chaos. The Lizardfolk, especially The Skinscale Tribe, viewed them as prey and playthings for cruel rites of pain and transformation. Despite these threats, the Cleffen Humans endured. Their first settlements were destroyed repeatedly, but they learned. They built fast, fought smart, and exploited what their enemies ignored: the surface ruins of ancient Dwarven outposts, abandoned after brutal jungle campaigns. From the rubble of one such ruin rose the stone bastion of Skinnan.
Culture
Average technological level
Despite limited resources, Cleffen Humans have innovated to survive. They have become adept at Glyph-Forging, a fusion of dwarven rune-magic and human spellweaving, Aetheric Alchemy, a field of potion-making that adapts Cleffen’s magical flora to create potent healing draughts, berserker tonics, and mind-clarifying elixirs, Adaptive Architecture, buildings in Skinnan shift over time with seasonal adjustments—walls are reinforced during wet seasons, roofs sprout moss for camouflage, and vents reroute jungle mists into cooling systems, Soul-Stone Transcription, a rare magical practice developed by human scholars, transcribing the final thoughts of the dead into enchanted crystals, used in espionage and historic record-keeping.
Humans, adaptable as ever, have begun mastering the art of diplomacy as well as war. A few dwarven scholars have quietly begun collaborating with human glyphwrights, fascinated by their “living runes.” Yet, xenophobia remains deeply entrenched.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Despite everything, Cleffen human children are seen as sacred; a divine chance at bettering their race’s cursed past. Teachers are all volunteers, often retired warriors or spellbinders. Curriculum blends defense, jungle survival, mathematics, ethics, and divine theory. At 16, adolescents undertake a pilgrimage into the inner ruins of Skinnan, guided by a Reclaimed Faith priest. There, they commune with memory-crystals of past generations and must swear an oath: vengeance, guardianship, or forgiveness. This oath marks their passage into adulthood.
Common Taboos
The Skinscale Tribe remain the great horror; feral sadists who see humans not as enemies, but as resources for their obscene rituals. They practice "flesh-weaving", a shamanistic magic involving skin flaying and sympathetic magic. Skins of the dead are worn as disguises, tools, and talismans.
Historical figures
There are several notable historical Cleffen Human figures in Apa Axas, such as:
- Matron Jule Kaest. Founder of The Stonebinders and inventor of the magical wards that defend Skinnan.
- Saran Vahl. Founder of The Verdance and creator of some of the most potent poisons of Apa Axas.
- Father Elion Marek. Founder of The Reclaimed Faith and a world famous healer.
- Captain Anra Vos. Founder of The Blades of Mercy and defender of Skinnan's shieldwall.
Major organizations
Over centuries, the Cleffen Humans have fractured into loose but distinct factions, each born from necessity and ideologies, such as The Stonebinders, The Verdance, The Reclaimed Faith and The Blades of Mercy.
Parent ethnicities
Encompassed species
Related Organizations
Related Locations
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