Canopy Men

"They are a people of great conjecture. One can hardly identify them, even when they rarely emerge from their fetid jungles. It is highly likely people have seen them abroad or even traveling our lands in secret. They are somewhat known to the Uribans, who possess the courage and curiosity to seek out their lands. Too few of their kind ever return though lending mystery and menace in equal measure."
"They are a dark people. Surely if they seek the darkness and foreboding of their lands then they are no creation of the God Kings. They must be exterminated wherever their tendrils are found."
Amaraxes Para, Zarmudan Monk and Scholar, "The Darkness of Zolacwa"

Civilization and Culture

History

There is no definitive history of the Canopy Men. Only educated guesses. There is no agreement on what a Canopy Man even looks like. Theirs is a race shrouded in mystery and, perhaps, known only to the very wisest and learned scholars or the most curious and foolish of explorers.
The Canopy Men are inhabitants of the mysterious jungle land of Zolacwa. They are both feared and intriguing for the races of Kiimati and Zenosha. They are a race of great conjecture, rumored to be a combination of plant, animal, and man. It is unknown if they were created by the God Kings, if they existed before the God Kings arrived, or if they were a product of the War of Zealots and Martyrs.

The Shade Jungles of Zolacwa

"Okay this is going to be a little... unorthodox. But I feel I must provide this introduction, this scholarly introduction, to one of the most fascinating peoples in the world. There is no other way I can describe it. So we're just going to dive in."
"We all know about Zolacwa. It is this massive jungle past the Grey Princes Mountains, way down in the south east. It earns the title of Shade Jungle because there are few forests or jungles capable of blotting out the sun so completely like Zolacwa. Its trees are thick with leaves as large as a man. Beneath those dark boughs lie leagues of swamp and marshland. There is little life there save the bioluminescent kind (which I can appreciate as an Uriban). The trees desire nourishment, and drain it from whatever plant or animal finds itself trapped in its roots. I was lucky to not be turned into fertilizer during my time there."
"Zolacwa is an unpleasant place. Nowhere in my home mountains is it as hostile or deadly as the Jungles of Zolacwa."
Cadmus Tallow, an introduction from "A Guest in Zolacwa"

The Canopy Men

"There is a lot of guess work surrounding what the Canopy Men are. Zarmudans are terrified of them, Darcassians hardly know (or care) about them, humans and Dwarfs have strange ideas about what they could be. As an Uriban, I feel that my people know the most about them. Personally I have a close tie to them. This is because I have met one, not in Zolacwa, but in one of the many market squares common to an Uriban Trade City."
"They don't like to be seen for one. Perhaps spending so much time beneath the shade of their home means that the sun burns their skin. Or perhaps it is because they have an unsettling appearance. They would cause no small amount of a ruckus if they were seen in full view of everyone. They are men only in the sense that we can think of few ways to describe their appearance. They appear in many forms, each more alien than the last."
"Despite this, it is certain to me that the Zolacwans know a lot more about all of us than we know of them. I can only assume only a few ever leave home at a time, going abroad to trade or to explore the world. It's not too different from my own kin in some ways."
"Anyway the Canopy Man I spoke with before we parted handed me... something... in a jar. It glows and has a little tinking sound. Like something inside wants to get out. He or maybe she, warned me sternly to not open it unless in an emergency."
"What kind of emergency I asked?"
When you are threatened... let the forest feed he or she whispered in a scratchy, serpentine voice.
"I can't imagine they grasp other languages well."
Cadmus Tallow, "A Guest in Zolacwa"

Darkness made Manifest

"The God Kings, in their divine foresight, have forsaken the heretical and blasphemous Canopy Men as they are known. They are surely the spawn of the False God, the same one that pillaged and rampaged through Zarmuda and nearly tore down the gates of unapproachable Heaven itself. They are a threat to the world's sanctity in every regard."
"The Uribans, through perhaps vestiges of the sacrilege of their Goblin ancestors, find some kinship with these abominations. This will be rectified soon, I am sure, through the wrath of the God Kings for their lack of control and restraint. Let plague blight their race and rightly so."
"The Canopy Men are a wicked parody of the perfection of the God Kings's creations. They are unholy fusions of plant, animal, and man, mingled and mutated to the point that they are neither. They craft false idols, practice unholy magics, and worship abominable Gods who demand blood sacrifices."
"Would that the Vennacti, our most worthy warriors, could cleanse that land entirely, bathe it in fire, and exterminate its people totally. This, the Darkness made Manifest, must be destroyed."
Catharius Vex, Zarmudan Priest and Scholar, "Unbelievers Vol. Three"

A Definitive Idea of Zolacwa

"All of my contemporaries, certain travelogue writers, religious zealots, and so called scholars are all wrong. The Canopy Men are just a strange offshoot of humanity that just likes to wear plants and animals. There is nothing mysterious or unseemly about them. Who really trusts Uribans anyway? Uribans like to exaggerate and fantasize all the time. I should know, I bought this weird thing, an Orrery. I was told it would tell me the positions of the stars. It does none of that, just moving strange spheres around in weird positions. A total waste of time."
"Zarmudans consider everyone that is not a Zarmudan to be a heretic and in need of destruction by the God Kings. This is nothing new. Certain priests and missionaries come by all the time complaining about the lack of morality and faith in our current generation."
"All this leads to superstition and Athelians having fuel for scary stories to frighten their unruly children to sleep."
"There is nothing special about the so called Canopy Men. There I said it. Now get out of my office before I smack you in the face with this Darcassian Propaganda Book and Real Facts for Kids. It is a heavy volume and in hardcover!"
Hrog Iron-Eye, Dwarf Historian and Scholar, conclusion from "The Definitive Book on Zolacwa"

Lifespan

Unknown

Geographic Distribution

• Kiimati