Aragonian
The Aragonians are a practical and logical race. Having shunned magic in almost every capacity, they have built a culture of strict adherence to mechanical logic and scientific endeavor. They are notoriously unemotional, not due to some philosophical or cultural tradition, rather they just simply do not feel the strong or passionate emotions that others races are blessed (or cursed) with. Their quiet, almost sullen demeanor's, black hair, iron-grey skin and exotically yellow, triangular eyes easily differentiate them from the Humans of Terra Main.
Personality
Aragonians are introspective, calm and generally unflappable. They are the masters of technology in NewGen to be sure, but their down-to-earth thinking comes with a price: an almost complete lack of imagination. Generations of Aragonians will work to perfect a single device to operate in the manner that it was intended, without ever considering that there might be an even better way for the technology to be utilized in a new way. For instance, the quad-iron pistol was first invented hundreds of years ago and it is still one of the most advanced blackpowder pistol used today. Its design has been refined, some would say perfected, yet its core mechanic has not changed. Although not easily moved by emotional pleas, no one confuses Aragonian stoicism with lethargy or sloth. Aragonians are among the most prodigious workers in NewGen.Adventurers
Although lacking strong imaginations, Aragonians have a relentless curiosity and a desire to understand the world. This alone can pull an Aragonian from his home and into a dungeon. Ancient treasures and forgotten lore are often what Aragonians seek. In addition, there are many Aragonian mercenaries who sell their formidable skills with pistols and rifles to the highest bidder.Basic Information
Anatomy
Basically similar to Humans in height, weight and dietary requirements, Aragonians are most distinguished by their raven black hair, grey skin and softly glowing, yellow, triangular eyes. Other, often over-looked physical traits include: squared-off ears, lack of belly buttons, and a lack of nipples on males. Once every generation or so, an Aragonian is born without any sort of pigmentation. These rare albinos tend to have a slight bluish tinge to their features and hair.
Biological Traits
The handful of outsider scholars and sages that have had an opportunity to examine a deceased Aragonian's body describe a physiology not entirely human-like... or even animal-like. Aragonian individuals seem to consist of complex conglomorates of specialized fungi, each taking the role of organs, structures, hormones and bodily fluids. Their bodies contain fungal-based analogs of every normal Human anatomical structure, with the glowing exception of their eyes. Most Aragonians, for their part, dont seem terribly concerned with this revelation, as they still eat, sleep, breathe and bleed, like all of the other Races. This anatomical mystery may explain their innate hardiness and resiliance, however.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Aragonians are easily distinguished from Humans by their triangular, yellow, softly glowing eyes and square-shaped ears. Aragonian hair (or their fungal hair analog) is as diverse as Humans, from thin, straight, wavy, curly, coarse, wiry, or thick. Facial hair follows suite, as well, with facial hair being a predominantly male feature, appearing in all forms described above.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The land of Aragon itself is dark and strangely beautiful. Copses of immense, fibrous mushrooms fill the niche of forests and strange (yet seldom deadly) diseases teem in the humid air. Great basalt and obsidian mountains claw at the sky, usually back-lit in reds and oranges by the numerous volcanoes just beyond them. The climate is generally humid and uncomfortably warm in the summer and misty, foggy and chilly during the winter. The sky is normally dark and overcast due to both volcanic action and the Aragonian cities that constantly belch soot and coal smoke.
First time visitors to Aragos (the capital city of Aragon) are often given blood-red handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and noses which darken over time. These darkened handkerchiefs are sometimes considered symbols of prestige among ambassadors from other nations, as they hint at the amount of time spent in Aragonian lands. In addition to the cloying smog of the cities, the exotic diseases that inhabit this land almost assuredly lay-up the first-time visitor for up to a week. However, once acclimated, the visitor will never again ail from an infection from that particular bug. Reptiles, amphibians and insects can to grow to enormous size in Aragonian lands and are sometimes best avoided.
In the modern age, Aragonians can be found all across the Known World, in almost every role. From Zamber to Southton, from the frozen north to Aragon, these grey-skinned people bring calm and clear thinking wherever they go.
Average Intelligence
Aragonians are naturally intelligent and educated. They receive a +2 to their Intelligence score. However, they are unemotional and unsympathetic and so receive a -2 to their Charisma score.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Aragonians have the same general sensory capabilities as Humans.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Aragonian names often come from the sounds or objects that surround them on a daily basis. Most have a mechanical or technological meaning behind them. It is notoriously difficult to ascertain an Aragonian's gender from just their name.
Male Names: Cog, Caliber, Clip, Edge, Bind, Gauge, Bolt, Union, Span, Brass, Riv, Gear, Cable, Fulcrum, Switch.
Female Names: Lydia, Beam, Thread, Garna, Pan, Kath, Trin, Molta, Cait, Shan, Kenna, Click, Anna, Illyana, Mia, Verona, Arial.
Female Names: Lydia, Beam, Thread, Garna, Pan, Kath, Trin, Molta, Cait, Shan, Kenna, Click, Anna, Illyana, Mia, Verona, Arial.
Major Organizations
The Technocracy
Average Technological Level
Having no magic to rely on in a magical world, the Aragonians have mastered a number of purely scientific inventions such as the creation of blackpowder, the use of steam power to provide motive force, the routing and burning of naturally occurring gas to provide light and heat and the creation of various gearworks. For the last 500 years, since the time of the great inventor and statesman Moebius, the Aragonians have been augmenting their mechanikal creations with traces of Onyx. With this magical power source harnessed as if it were just another fuel, the Aragonians have been experiencing something of a renaissance of application in the last few centuries.
The use of Onyx in mechaniks was not met without resistance. The Technocracy fought long and hard against the inclusion of any sort of non-mundane materials into the culture of Aragon. It was only after a life-time of diligent (and some would say under-handed) work did Moebius see his goals of Onyx being integrated into mechaniks become realized. Although it was several hundred years after his death when the Technocracy finally acquiesced and adapted the laws to encompass the use of Onyx, it was Moebius who paved the way.
Just because the Aragonian culture had finally accepted magic, does not mean that they indulged into flights of fancy or had a revolution to remake their society to resemble that of the Elves... No, they approached magic as just another natural force to be understood, codified, and exploited for mechanical or practical means. Onyx, as solidified magical power, became just another power source that accentuated and complimented their infrastructure of hydropower, geothermal, coal-powered steam, natural gas, and gearworks.
Pulverized and specially treated Onyx dust was turned into fine, thin glowing 'traces' that could be embedded into objects, powering and 'programming' them to perform certain actions, with a modicum of magical understanding of given commands. This further made Aragonian society a model of efficiency, freeing up even more time for them to experiment, refine, and expand their technological knowledge. Despite the Technocracy's reassurances, the concerns of relying on something as ineffable and unpredictable as magic have risen in Aragonian culture. Some alarmist groups even warn of this magi-tek eventually turning on its creators, or other equally dire consequences.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Aragonians speak their own language, Aragot, and Common. Aragot is a clipped, literal and sparse language that has few words for esoteric concepts. Any philosophical debate or expression of emotion is better conveyed in another language. Aragot is one of the easiest languages to learn and is often learned by Humans who fancy mechaniks.
Common Dress Code
Aragonians favor dark, rugged clothing, often accessorizing with riveted plates of light-weight darksteel around the joints and shoulders. Aragonian hairstyles are often indicative of the individuals profession. Smiths tend to shave their heads, while those in the military shave and shape their hair into multiple vertical or horizontal bands. Aragonian women usually wear their hair long and straight unless that is impractical for whatever reason. Tattoos and decorative metal piercings are becoming more popular, especially among young Aragonians and travelers abroad.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Aragonians have a strong streak of neutrality about them. An individual with a chaotic alignment, besides being quite rare, is generally considered mad and is usually ostracized by her brethren.
Common Taboos
Chaotic Alignments, magic use
History
Aragonians have always been; ancient records make it clear they were part of the Old World (??? - 0 BG), long before the New Genesis. From what has been discovered by sages, they were more militant and expansionist in those pre-historic times.
It is assumed that the Aragonians are native to the continent of Downspin, as it is the seat of their civilization and they seem to be well adapted to that humid, dark, and teeming environment, with it's fungal-based forests. The first Aragonian-Human contact in the New Genesis is assumed to have occurred in the First Epoch. No direct records of this meeting exist, but Humans and Aragonians have long enjoyed an overall peaceful coexistence, with most conflicts occurring between individuals, not nations.
Somewhere around 500 NG, an albino Aragonian was born, gifted with an active and unlimited imagination. This individual set the Aragonian people on their cultural path of technology, away from their culture of martial prowess. The very first simple machines, including crude steamworks, were created in this era, and set the foundation of the entire Aragonian civilization. Gunpowder, darksteel metallurgy, and gearworks were also discovered in this time; tools which allowed the Aragonians to tame their savage homeland and forge an empire amidst the copses of tree-like mushrooms. Around this time, the Technocracy was established, its tenets set by the albino, to guide the Aragonian people into the future on the path of rationality and technology. The belief structure of 'Providence' was codified in this era and become almost immediately ubiquitous throughout Aragonian culture. It is around this time that the Roamers branched off from mainline Aragonian society and began their wanderings.
Around 1000 NG, the quad-iron, revolver-style firearm was invented, which began to replace the simple, slow, and cumbersome muzzle-loaded firearms that Aragonians had used to to tame their wildlands. Now, four shots could be made in quick succession and reloading took only a few seconds. Natural gas began to be extracted and used for industrial purposes, including lighting and heating. The first discoveries of electricity were being made, but it was more of a curiosity than practically useful at this point.
During this period, far to the north of Aragos, The Warlock Lord was defeated and the Shards of the Empire were hidden across the known world. The Shard of Disease was entrusted to a group of Araginonian monks who had a small settlement and temple on South Drak Isle. The Shard was hidden deep within the temple complex and it's secret closely guarded by the monks with their lives.
During the 1200's and 1300's NG, several waves of devout monks and their families, followers, and pilgrims began to colonize South Drak Isle. These Aragonian's rejected the strict teachings of Providence and the dichotomy of the Rationalists and Empiricists, choosing instead to look outside the mundane world for answers to the ultimate questions. They built a massive City-Temple in the jungles of South Drak Isle, living lives of devotion to the Deities of Order, Law, and Knowledge. Unfortunately for them, their existence had not gone unnoticed by Ash Mo'Dan, the Zamberian lich that resided in his desert temple hidden deep within the Sand Ocean, far to the north. When the Darkness awoke the long lost Shard of Disease in 1426 NG, Ash Mo'Dan used it to eradicate every living thing on South Drak Isle with a plague of unprecedented proportion. The Monk's connection to the divine created an unforeseeable complication, however... the undead that Ash Mo'Dan had intended to raise as a mindless army under his control instead retained their souls, their minds, and their individuality. These unique undead creatures would eventually become The Defiled.
During the Darkness/Mind Flyer Invasion (1426-1434 NG) Aragon was only lightly affected by the strife found on Terra Main. The corruptive, mutagenic properties of the Darkness spilled over into Downspin continent, but not in the same utterly devastating way. People, plants, and creatures were changed by the seeping dark magic, but the effects were strongest on the coast of the Flowing Sea. This caused the already insular Aragonians to retreat further into their homeland, sending less and less aid as time went on and their people failed to return. That said, a few hardy and brave individuals roamed that cursed land, attempted to help where they could. The H.M.S. Lockhart was retrofitted with Aragonian darksteel armor when it was upgraded to one of the first Onyx-powered airships.
In 1449 NG, only 15 years after the Battle of Terra to reclaim the world from the Mind Flayers, the albino known as Moebius was born. Lauded by his people and given every privilege and opportunity, he eventually used his station to disrupt the very society that had so elevated him. Moebius remains one of the most controversial figures of not only Aragon, but the entire known world, because he dared challenge the Aragonian's most sacred taboo: the use of Magic. Moebius did not turn the Aragonians into mages or wizards, nor did he want to... he merely introduced the use of Onyx into his society. This magical substance could be utilized in a practical, mechanical, and mundane-seeming way as source of almost free power.
Through decades of invention, demonstration, protest, and even 'cultural guerrilla warfare', he eventually turned the political and societal tide against the traditionalist Technocracy. Aragonians started to incorporate this magical substance into their inventions and technology, vastly increasing its scope and capabilities. The Aragonian nation had always lagged slightly behind that of the other Races of the known world due its complete lack of magic, but now the tide had turned: from now on they could enjoy the boon that was arcane magical power (albeit in a techno-magical form)!
The Technocracy was forced to change its by-laws and customs to adapt to this new reality... better to still rule in this new world, than be left behind completely.
During the Sovereign War (1748-1749 NG), rumors abounded that the Aragonians were selling arms to both the Terrans and the Southies, but little came of the accusations. It IS known that several competing weapons manufacturers became quite wealthy during this time and grew to dominate the sector, creating several family dynasties in the process.
Currently, in 1901 NG, the Aragonian nation is the leading source of firearms, steamworks, magi-tek, and Onyx-enhanced gear in the known world. Their armada of darksteel clad airships is a 'well-known secret', as is their experimentation into advanced magi-tek automata. Rumors swirl that they have found a way to create golem-like entities, that behave like subservient thinking creatures, but do not rely on bound Elemental souls to power and control them.
Historical Figures
Moebius
Common Myths and Legends
Naturally a literally minded people, the vast majority of Aragonians hold no reverence for a deity; their science and technology provide them with the greater meaning and comfort that most other races gain through their religion. Although not truly a religion, all Aragonians believe in the concept of "Providence", which is a mix of luck, timing, destiny, and karma that they believe shapes their lives. Although they acknowledge the effects of Deities on the other Races, they see the Gods as simply being creatures of immense power... not entities that deserve praise or worship. That time could be better spent doing something to improve the immediate world, they feel.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Unobtrusive and generally quiet, Aragonians are welcome in all of the nations on NewGen. Only the Golden Gnomes have a instinctual distrust of Aragonians, seeing them as being wasteful, disrespectful of the natural world and having no reverence for the spiritual. Humans tend to see them as equals, if only a little lacking in the humor department. Zamberians greatly enjoy Aragonian technology and wish that it could be put to more grand uses. Of all the Races, it is the Aragonians that the Elves pity the most. What is even the point of existing if there is no magic to enjoy? Dwarves enjoy working alongside Aragonians; they're like Humans, but without all the chaos and constantly changing culture.
Scientific Name
Homo Intelligentes
Lifespan
80 years
Average Height
5'5"-6'3"
Average Weight
100-200 lbs
Average Physique
Aragonians are naturally hardy and have a unique physiology. They receive a +2 to their Constitution score.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Aragonians range in shades of grey, from so pale as to appear ghostly, to as dark as charcoal. Their hair is almost always jet-black, but some bleach and dye it in more vibrant colors. Tattoos and piercings are popular amongst the more fringe members of Aragonian society.
Related Ethnicities
Aragonian Race Study by Snook-8
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