The Mulnwahr Species in The Worlds of Gilnares | World Anvil
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The Mulnwahr

These squat, black skinned humanoids live in elaborate mechanical leviathans that crawl through ancient tunnels deep beneath the surface of Helraad.   A militant society, they live in strict family hierarchies who uphold the city, the Ragha, as the ultimate authority in their lives.    Wanderers and Travellers from among the Mulnwahr bring with them a stoic martial prowess and a hardiness that is hard to match. 

The Ragha

The city state serves as the highest unit of Mulnwahr society. It serves as a gathering of clans, the bastion of the inhabitants against the ever-present danger of Helraad and a mighty military fortress that can exert the cities power through the tunnels around it.    Mulnwahr live in sprawling tunnel cities that move along rails and crawler treads, often made up of hundreds of unique neighborhoods built around specific clans that are all united under the Ragha. How often a Ragha moves is totally unique to the Ragha and the tunnels they use are often dictated by millenia old treaties forged between the other Ragha that might use tunnels nearby.    The Tunnels that the Ragha travel through have been carved over thousands of years, starting out as the tunnels that the Mulnwahr initially followed and cleared to ensure they stayed as far ahead of The Shade as possible. They cross and layer under the surface of Helraad and turn it into an unfathomable labyrinth that even the Mulnwahr could not map properly. There are complex treaties in place to dictate what happens whenever Ragha cross paths through the tunnels, though there is often tension between Ragha that tension rarely breaks out into outright war.   

The Moot

A huge gathering of Ragha that is arranged as far out as ten years in advance. They meet at a unique nexus of several major tunnel networks that form around an enormous crater which, during moots, serves as the only major spaceport on the planet and is often and excuse for huge trade convoys to make the journey for the rare chance to trade directly with the Mulnwahr for their sturdy technology and to offer them items the Mulnwahr do not often have access to.    The Moot will usually last for a whole year that the crater stands on The Bloom, Ragha leaving and entering in a complex dance that just as often leads to skirmishes and arguments as schedules stretch and time in the Moot becomes more of a premium.    The last Ragha to leave often ensure they are leaving at least three weeks ahead of The Shade, running hard for weeks after without stopping to stay ahead of The Shade and to get back to their desired position on their travels.     

Travel

Travel between Ragha can be relatively routine, especially if the Ragha happen to be on the same tunnel or near junction sites. Whenever travelling to a Ragha further away than 100 miles, moving through the tunnels can become incredibly dangerous. In those cases, they often travel to the surface and move overland, sometimes eliciting the help of local Jissiman as guides across the alien terrain of Helraads surface.    Space travel is more rare though not impossible. Most Ragha do not have a spaceport though they can often use their surface access to allow for limited landings. Those that do have spaceports will often put up a transmitter beacon on the surface to guide any visiting ships into the prepared surface hangers and sometimes even down to landing pads in the city itself.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A squat race of humanoid with powerful, muscular frames topped with thick hair and beards and plentiful body hair without being overtly animalistic. Male and Females have very little visible sexual dimorphism when clothed, though they are clearly definable when unclothed as they have different genitalia that are similar to Drynn.

Genetics and Reproduction

Mulnwahr have few children, they physiologically are incapable of having children very often and it tends to be difficult for them to get pregnant.    They have a 12 month gestation period followed by ten years where the females are incapable of getting pregnant and it is rare for them to do so for at least ten years further.    The difficulty here seems to stem from some genetic mutations that are hard to discern the root cause of.

Growth Rate & Stages

The Mulnwahr age slowly and live long.

Dietary Needs and Habits

They cultivate underground livestock and various funguses that can be eaten or processed in other ways. Many Ragha maintain surface farms along their route, though what manner of crop grows by the time their cycle finds it again can be a surprise.   The Mulnwahr will go onto the surface to forage and hunt during rest points on their cities travels to gather different foods to shore up their Ragha's supplies.   Food off of Helraad generally agrees with them well without much in the way of considerations.

Behaviour

A solid, lawful and focused people. The law of the Ragha is final and unchanging.    Mulnwahr tend to think in very logical terms, though they have the capacity to cut loose and enjoy themselves they generally will only do so in their neighborhood spaces where sprawling extended families can shield them from shame or discomfort of being seen acting inappropriately in front of outsiders.    They are very slow to make friends and often will not have what could be considered friends from those outside of their families, however if they have made a friend that person would be considered family not only to them but to their actual family and would be welcomed as such if the circumstances found that person in the family Ragha.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The Mulnwahr are a strictly hierarchical species though this is not delineated on gender grounds.    Respect and Fealty is given first to ones Parents, than to ones Family and finally to ones Ragha. There is no concept of unification among the Mulnwahr and those three aspects provide the three pillars that many Mulnwahr live their lives by.    Mulnwahr usually group into large, sprawling clans that all manage their own neighborhood that is usually on its own rails or crawler wheels all hooked up to the rest of the Ragha as it moves. They are insular from the other clans but consider themselves under the purview and the laws of the Ragha.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Mulnwahr live in large, ancient underground tunnels beneath the surface of Helraad under normal circumstances.    There are significant populations on the Worldships, humungous stations that float above the world as the surest sign of the old Union of Gilnares dedication to helping the denizens of the death world.    In general, they are found all over old Union space in close knit family groups and they tend to thrive anywhere that is not Helraad.   If Helraad couldnt kill them, most other places are going to be paradise.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

These folk see exceedingly well in the dark as almost their entire lives are spent underground.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

There is no real deafferenting between genders among the Mulnwahr. They emphasize the same things for each gender.    Motherhood is idealized among them due to the difficult nature of pregnancy for Mulnwahr females.

Courtship Ideals

Courtship between Mulnwahr individuals is almost unheard of, everything is handled by the higher echelons of a Mulnwahr clan.    Negotiations can last years of which the couple may not even meet until the last year, though if the couple truly does not have any chemistry the negotiations are often called off, the family ultimately holds all the power in making that decision.    Individuals can reject a marriage proposal but this runs the danger of disownment, which is illegal in most Ragha's and requires the individual to either find a family to accept them, register with the Ragha Military as an orphan or accept exile.

Average Technological Level

The Mulnwahr are a high tech society though they have rapidly reached that state within the last 200 years.    Prior to the Union of Gilnares incorporating the planet into the union 200 years previously, the Mulnwahr were stuck in at an early industrial technology level and utilized coal and steam power as their mainstay.    They were unable to progress past this stage due to the lack of safety and access to resources that was forced on them because of the enforced nomadic nature of their lives.    Their current state is that of highly durable tech that is often several years behind the rest of the Union as they prioritize durability and redundancy. They have the capacity to have higher levels of technology but have no interest in things that cannot take an errant Shadestorm and come out the other side intact.

Common Taboos

Nothing is considered more taboo than betraying ones family, the second most taboo thing is to break the laws of the Ragha.    There are certainly underground elements to every Ragha, criminals and the like but even they have strict, though often contradictory codes of honor that they hold to.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Mulnwahr get along well with other species though they often hold them at an arms reach even as the others consider them fast friends.    They respect hard work and lawful behavior, dedication to ones Ragha, whatever that might be, and family are easy touchstones to gain Mulnwahr trust.

Mulnwahr Traits

  The Mulnwahr are roughly synonymous with Dwarves in D&D.
  Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2, Strength by 1   Age. Mulnwahr mature at the same rate as Drynn, but they're considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.   Size. Mulnwahr stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.   Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.   Superior Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 120 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.   Helraad Born You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.   Ragha Defense Training. All Mulnwahr are expected to be able to defend the Ragha. You have proficiency with the Poweraxe, Blaster rifle, Electro mace, and Shotgun. Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan's tools of your choice: smith's tools, brewer's supplies, or mason'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 Raghlin.
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Telpidaes Pyghominus
Geographic Distribution

Mulnwahr off Helraad

  Mulnwahr find life off of Helraad very physically agreeable, where they find the most discomfort is the social fabric of the places they live that are not filled with other Mulnwahr. They will usually stick to their own kind when possible.   Generations away from Helraad and other Mulnwahr might find these family groups assimilating more into the groups around them, loosening their bonds and incorporating different social structures. These changes are usually rife with drama and interpersonal conflict however as old meets knew in painful clashes.        

Mulnwahr on the World-Ragha

  The giant stations that float above Helraad that are the half finished promise from the Union of Gilnares to help the Mulnwahr reach their full potential unmoored from the hazards of their homeworld are arguably safer than many places on Helraad. The Mulnwahr are the primary workers on the stations as they attempt to finish them, a potentially centuries long project.   The stations are a mixture of all the races of Helraad as well as many from beyond, the Mulnwahr form into family groups on the stations that look to the station authorities as they would a Ragha planetside.  

Mulnwahr in the Union of Gilnares

Mulnwahr were devotely loyal to the Union of Gilnares and once the Union had made good on their promises, were as unified as they ever are in their support of the Union. They served in high numbers in the Union Military before the dissolution and many still serve to this day in the Unions much reduced state.   They are often found around the system captaining old Union ships left over from the Dissolution, still trying to heel close to the ideals of the Union.   Mulnwahr have a tendency to dislike the species who they see as major players in the Dissolution, this includes the Erowa, Androids, Kamaki, Forgolba as well as Meldlings of all types.

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