Realist Guide

I admit to an uncertainty in adding this section to my guide. At the time of writing, the Arcwhite Kingdoms span multiple worlds and kingdoms, currently maintain no less than five-hundred treaties and alliances, and are inhabited by at least eight billion souls. Add to that the fact that I am writing in the common language of Arcwhite, and that I live, write, and publish within its borders, and it is safe to say that this book’s audience is an answered question.

That is to say, the chances that you are not a member of the Arcwhite Kingdoms is, in a word, small.

Nevertheless, I refuse to buy into the oftentimes unsaid assumption that everyone is a citizen of the Arcwhite Kingdoms, or at the very least is aware of all its customs, mores, and landscapes. As such, I will provide a cross-section here of the culture and mores of this incredible nation.

Originating in the icy mountains of the Shadow-seas, the Yattrinti are perhaps the most aggressively bizarre people among the Myriad Worlds. Though many profess to know the subtle and intricate details of Yattrinti ettiquite, the most common experience among any of the races of the Myriad Worlds when dealing with Yattrinti is one of cold and callous disregard.

The biology of the Yattrinti is distinctly unique. Much of what we might consider integral to a species nature is belied by the differences between individual Yattrin. For immediate example, the number of tentacles posessed by any Yattrin varies between twelve to twenty. While most Yattrin have a singular row of tentacles around their body, almost twenty percent of Yattrinti possess multiple rows, up to three. Width and angle of tentacle tapering is also highly variable, while length is remarkably consistant.

Skin color ranges from pale green to deep purple, burnt red, or even effervescent blue. There appear to be no colors or patterns more common than any other. However, size and shape of a Yattrin’s central trunk is uniform across individuals. Beak length is likewise consistant, while curvature is not.

A singular breed of Gilbrim that lives on Ritear, known as the Ohgrim, have an origin tale that has chilled the hearts of thousands: in the beginning years of the land, the Trygim and Gyanim fought a war of ten thousand years.(There are many hundreds of translations for these two names, though most historians believe there is some cultural connection between this war and the legendary war between the Dragons and the Giants.) The greatest and most evil Gyanim was named Gromagorand, and its size was such that it could devour a whole world. When the Trygim King finally drove their claws into Gromagorand’s throat, the blood spilled over the world, and it is from this blood that the Ohgrim were born.

While the Ohgrim perform a kind of worship of Gromagorand, it is a fatalistic and hateful kind of worship. The Ohgrim believe that Gromagorand will return, and unless the Ohgrim are strong enough to fight the war the Trygim failed to finish, Gromagorand will devour Ritear whole. This has led the Ohgrim to live lives of constant warfare and violence as a kind of training, to strengthen their bloodlines and ensure when the Ohgrim are called upon to defend their world, they will not be found weak or wanting.

The Bloodaxe of Buriip, the Count of Spilled Blood, and the Quantiscain of Ironlock Monastery are monikers given to the quasi-deity of the Buriip faith. Arising from a cultural religion devoted to acts of blood sacrifice, the Buriip faith grew into a widespread organization devoted to conflict and violence.

An apocalyptic religion, the Buriip church engaged in near constant conflict with any and all surrounding cultures for generations. It was not until a resounding loss on the Red Fields of Ressin that the Buriip church was split into two sects; the Church of the Cuirass, and the Followers of Bloodaxe. These sects warred with each other for several centuries, until after a resolute victory by the Followers of Bloodaxe, the Buriip religion was reformed.

The Church of Almaythala is an ancient religion, older than most currently practiced faiths. The faith is a monotheistic religion devoted to Almaythala, the Goddess of Many Ears, Shield of the Bowl, and Beloved Mother/Father of All.

So says the Holy Book of Almaythala, the Myriad Worlds were created by Her wondrous hands when she found herself desiring of children. She plucked the ingredients from the ground and minced them together into a fine cake. She fried the cake in a pan of silver, and when it was finished, she squatted over the cake and gave birth to all the peoples of the Myriad Worlds upon it.

Almaythala watched over her children for many years, until they began to war against each other. Despairing of her children, Almaythala tore her cake apart and spread it out among the ice-crystaled Velvet, creating the Myriad Worlds.

On a far off mountain, distant from any of the known towns of the Myriad Worlds, there sits the giant monastery of Kahch. Scholars have, for many generations, debated how the monastery was built, for its massive size suggests an extensive endeavor, while the surrounding environs show no sign of cultivation or administration to support such a project. There are no roads to the monastery, no small towns nor abandoned ruins, and the tree-choked Savannah allows for no clear caravan paths to the nearest port.

This suggests that the monastery was made by materials from the surrounding land, but the giant stone blocks are not indigenous to the region, and the amount of food required for a team to build such a structure would require nearby farmland, which does not appear to exist.

The Moneyed Monks are a religious sect of mendicants who adhere to the Path of the Coin. There are two major sects of this religion; those of the Bent Back, and the path of Heavy Hands. Both sects claim to be the original faith that was broken away from by their heretical siblings, and each lays claim to the title Moneyed Monks. Both sects have authenticated ancient texts and historical artifacts that support their understanding of the schism. This leads most scholars of the era to believe that neither sect has the whole truth of it.

The Rumrunners have lived longer in the Velvet than most known societies. Of deep importance in their culture is the concept of the Shadow, the dark space left when the light is obscured. The wisest among them believe that the shadows themselves are covering things, and this place underneath is the domain of the Shadows Beneath The Shadows.

The parable of the Lake and the Fisherbird is used to explain the concept. A fish may swim along for its entire life, know every inch of the ponds and riverbeds, but it will know nothing of the sky before a fisherbird spears it with its beak and pulls it into the air. We are the fish in this parable, with the Shadows Beneath the Shadows being the birds.

Interestingly, Rimrunner folklore states that the Shadows aren’t beings of superior power than mortals, simply that they reside in a different kind of space than we do. Were one of us able to travel to this other-space, we too would have the near-divine powers that the Shadows possess.

There are simply too many religious and spiritual practices among the Myriad Worlds to describe with any level of accurate detail. That said, there are many religions that have either great political influence, cultural connections, or similar importance — greater than many other traditions. As such, a band of scholars created the book The Twenty-Seven Faiths, which is a suitable primer for understanding the religious and cultural underpinnings of the Myriad Worlds.

While The Twenty-Seven Faiths hides its section on the High on High in a sidebar, I feel — especially considering the High on High’s connection to the faith of the Tgahio — I will risk their irritation and place my section on the High on High first and foremost.

The Shadow-seas are not a location for casual travel, nor for relaxing vacations. Only the most dedicated explorers and scholars should consider journeying to its ink-tinted lands and sandy waters.

For those who are willing to take the risk, the Shadow-seas are a place of immense history and hidden secrets. Passage is allowed only on special dispensation; the travelers in question must each bear a Writ of Welcome, signed by one of the Netherthanes or their representatives, as well as one of the Netherthanes accepted foreign authorities or their representatives.

Finding a representative of the Netherthanes outside the Shadow-seas can be challenging in itself, never mind finding an authority that is acceptable to the Netherthanes. It is widely accepted that the High on High certainly applies, as does any noble of sufficient standing in the Belle Empire, but few other kingdoms are known to be regularly accepted.

It is difficult to describe the shear variety of insect-folk. It is thought that no less than seventy-nine separate species all fall under the heading of ‘insect-folk’, ranging from the tall and multi-limbed Aradonousi, to the short and carapaced Kkkki. The Xiaba, perhaps the most familiar people of insect-folk, have six subspecies, all distinct in minor ways, none of which are immediately recognizable to any but the most experienced observer of the Insect-Folk people.

As such, it will be incredibly difficult to explore the Insect-folk as a singular culture, though there are similarities and differences between the species that make a seperate section not only possible, but advised.