The Nephrear, the children of spring arise from the element of wood.
The Sadath, the children of summer, born from fire.
The Uhraid, the children of the late summer, made from the earth.
The Ok'un, the children of the harvest, built of metal.
The Vrilqul, the children of winter, dwell at the waters edge.
These five claim to be the balance of the world, but they are only the ones who decided they were all important and that the world revolved around them.— Simon the Dragonheart
In the fantastical realm of Nalea, there exist countless beings, each possessing their own distinct abilities and gifts. Even the most majestic of dragons could not enumerate the various species that populate this world, yet five among them consider themselves the unequivocal rulers of all. They did not arrive at this conclusion through consensus, but rather, their influence has extended to every corner of the world, establishing their dominion beyond all question.
The World Tree arose from the grace of Cyohr who gave the gift of life. Her seeds gave rise to all the mother trees of the world so that we might light and perform her great world in Nalea.— Rhoneth
Nephrear are the living fruit of their mother tree. Diminutive, commonly bipedal, people from all over the world. They have divergent explanations for the variety of species of trees from which they grow. With an average height of 45 cm, they tend to resemble twigs and leaves. Some Nephrear earn enchanted wings that are grafted onto them by the elders allowing them to glide and have limited flight.
Devotion to the mother tree inspires a religious fervor in them, with each grove able to recount its lineage back to the the World Tree. Since all the members of a grove are the descendants of the same mother tree, they often have difficulty understanding the familial relations of other species, believing as they do in the superiority of their style of life.
This sense of superiority ends when it comes to seeing others in need. Most stories of the founding of a new grove begins with the parent desiring to help someone in achieve some task and flowing them away from their home. In their devotion to Cyohr, they believe that all may shelter under the boughs of the mother tree.
A Nephrear may chose to set down roots at which point they will become a new mother tree and loose their ability to travel. If a Nephrear dies, the seed at their heart will grow into a new mother tree as well.
The Irnah created us to preserve their save them from the Ender of Days tormented their lands. We failed them. We cannot fail again. This world is ours to save.— Vanguard Invictus
Ok'un are a constructed raced granted the knowledge of their own design long ago by the Irnah as a last stand against the kaijin Diamorashi, the Ender of Days, a terror unleashed by the summoners of the Rinah. The colossal horror was deadly to all flesh so the nethermancers of Rinah created a phalanx of clockwork soldiers to fight off Diamorashi, entombing it, but not before the damage had been done and the population of Rinah were no more. The Ok'un used the energy of the desolate land to fuel their empire and construct more of their kind.
They do not seek to conquer, but instead send out detachments of envoys where they are welcome to act as preservers of the life of Nalea.
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Sadath
The heart's fire is our life. Its light our clarity. Its preservation our purpose.— Eiju
Saddath are incarnate spirits born from the Endless flames of
Sembris forge. At the moment of their incarnation they see the face of their spirit animal who will join them as a familiar in their life. Their heart fire then creates a body fro them that is the anthropomorphic form of their spirit animal.
The height of their body correlates with that of their spirit animals, so a mouse spirit is smaller than a rat which is smaller than a fox or a wolf or an elephant. The larger spirit animals are rare.
Sadath culture is quite diverse because the thegn is dependent on the Familiar and the Familiar draws its existence from the thegn.
Uhraid
We arose from the dust of the earth to touch the sky, and with our airships, we are free from all that held us down.— Silas Osgood Dickinson
Uhraid believe they were born from the soil itself. The Crown Circle discovered the secret of the Sagan Trimmer which allowed the first airships to take flight. Even though the technology didn't remain exclusive to them, the advantage of taking to the skies early has allowed the Uhraid to dominate the skies.
Averaging between 1.5 and 2 meters in height, the Uhraid lack many of the distinguishing characteristics. The one thing that separates them from the others is their innate curiosity and capacity for innovation.
Vrilqul
As the moon waxes and wanes, so too the the empires built on the shifting sands. No rock lasts forever. Empire fall, but the tide remains forever.— Tham
Vrilqul are a crablike race with six legs and four arms. They are amphibious capable of living on land and in the sea. They embrace the nature of the tides and commit to no fixed leadership allowing for authority to rest only in a few and never for any extended period of time. The nature of power is to dry and turn to stone. It is a prison from which its captives must be set free.
Vrilqul culture is centered on the ebb and flow of the tides. All relationships follow this pattern and the acceptance of the inevitability of endings and the potential for rebirth.
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