(Note: The name "Elf," with the plural "elves" borrowed from Tolkien basically just because "elfs" doesn't have a very good ring to it, is used as a convenience to refer to the race (of /Homo sapiens/) in the Black Steel world that most closely resembles creatures of that name from typical medieval fantasy. Assumptions made about elves on the basis of fantasy stories however, especially in regard to specific sub-races to which parallels are attempted to be drawn, are as likely to be mistaken as correct however; the elves of the Black Steel world are a far cry from the near-demigods of the Silmarillion or -- in spite of their genetic heritage -- the funny-eared-humans of modern fantasy. The impacts of multi-century lifespans and native sorcerous power are difficult to overstate.)
Apart from a few superficial differences common to most elven people, the elves known to Black Steel fall well within the range of human appearance; most of the elves Black Steel personnel have met could pass for humans simply by adapting fashions that conceal their few clearly distinguishing features (exceptions are usually because of eye colors that fall outside the normal human range). Their appearance can be deceiving however; unlike humans, all known members of the elven race are bound up with sorcerous forces from birth, one impact of which is in an aging process that is typically very different from humankind's and at all events slowed enormously. Elves (or at least people with elven blood, like Nimlo) raised in human society seem for years to behave more or less as might be expected of other human beings with manifest sorcerous potential, if anything can really be said to be expected behavior for such rare and unpredictable individuals, but as humans age around them and their appearance and health remain similar to that of human teens, such elves inevitably begin to diverge from their human neighbors socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Elves actually raised in the society of their blood relatives, surrounded by family and friends who have lived for centuries and expect to live for centuries more, wilding sorcerous power as naturally as they use their hands and feet, can appear almost alien in their sensibilities to human beings.
Elven people appear to interact with sorcerous forces much more naturally than human beings; even elven children seem capable of harnessing such forces to some degree, whereas even humans with enormous sorcerous potential normally require a great deal of training before they can work even the simplest magical feats. Given this, and the enormous lifespans to which elves can devote the study of sorcery, it might be expected that elven wizards would achieve skill and power beyond the scope of any member of humanity. It is possible that this has proven true on rare occasion, but in fact most elves encountered by Black Steel personnel have proven far less skilled in sorcerous arts than a typical trained human wizard; the cause appears to be essentially cultural: Most elven societies seem to take their sorcerous power for granted. With the capacity for its use so prevalent -- indeed universal -- it is apparently extremely rare for elves to concentrate their efforts on the art of sorcery as human wizards do (indeed, thanks to the relatively small population of elves in the world, it might be more fair to say such elves are not just extremely rare but nearly -- or in fact -- nonexistant). It is rumored that this does not always hold true in shadow elven societies, and so that shadow elves exist who are capable of mind-boggling feats of sorcery, but rumors of power or terror regarding the shadow elves, often contradictory, are numerous and improbable in the extreme.
Like humans, elvenkind is divided by some into a handful of "subraces" defined by superficial differences such as skin color, and usually separated geographically and culturally; also like humans, most people appear to ascribe more importance to these differences than they deserve. Certain myths about the distinctions between the elven peoples are almost universally believed among humankind -- especially among those who have actually met few or no elves in their lifetimes -- for instance that dark-skinned shadow elves are universally evil and monstrously powerful, and that the rarely-seen starlight and moonlight elves are universally noble, wise, and good, but it has been the experience of Black Steel personnel that such myths are so much stuff and nonsense. The shadow elves they have encountered, for instance, from Thualah in Shalaton to the enclaves in Night Harbor, appear to run the full range from altruistic and selfless to self-serving and merciless to frankly insane. While there are no doubt cultural considerations that affect shadow elves' relationships with humankind, every indication Black Steel has witnessed suggests that there exists wide variation among individual shadow elves and their various cultural groups. Likewise, though Black Steel personnel have encountered too few starlight elves as yet to form any special opinion of them, the moonlight elf they know better than any other elf at all sets rather a poor standard for honest, wise, or altruistic nobility. Woodland elves, in the meantime -- the race best known to Black Steel and to most human beings -- have regional reputations no less diverse than those of human nations.
Elves and humans are known to breed true, and people in human societies with recent elven ancestry are said to have "elven blood." While such people are typically longer-lived than other humans (sometimes much longer-lived) and are much more likely to be born with sorcerous potential (indeed, this accounts for the only real possibility of inheritable sorcerous potential among human beings) they are often also physically frail (more so than most elves or humans) and all of these distinctions, along with any other elven characteristics they may inherit, tend to peter out over the course of a few generations of "dilution" with human bloodlines. Nevertheless, some human families claim elven blood as a point of distinction and pride even after centuries of "dilution" (to say nothing of opportunities for infidelity to break the chain of inheritance ... or the chance that such bloodlines are complete fabrications) and children with elven blood -- by adoption or conception -- are much sought after in certain circles of human society.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Humankind
(Note: This discussion will cover the race generally known to Black Steel personnel as humans; other races of the same species -- i.e. who can bear fertile children with humans -- will be described in more detail in another post.)
Perhaps the most adaptible and versatile creatures in the world, humans are more adept than any other known sentient race -- with the possible exception of shadow elves -- at forming large and coherent societies with highly specialized individual roles. Though some insect colonies demonstrate an even greater level of specialization, humankind's exceptional intelligence allows individuals to change roles effectively to fulfill important and unexpected needs, and allows the society at large to develop advanced tools that permit a single human to perform a wide range of specialized tasks more effectively than the most naturally-specialized animal or insect. Some races and species may have developed tools of magical or physical nature more advanced and specialized than humans', but none appear to do so with such a wide range of purposes, and in such a wide range of habitats. Extreme enviornments such as underground caves, steep mountains, dense forests, and frozen tundra may harbor races or species better adapted to their singular needs, but none can adapt as well as humans to them all -- and even without overspecialization, humankind rules undisputed over the world's most fertile hills and plains. Dragons can challenge any race and species in any single battle, anywhere in the world, but they are few in number, and have not been tested in true war against the bulk of humanity.
A physical description of human beings is on the whole so well known to Black Steel personnel that any description would be superfluous; over ninety percent of Black Steel's membership, and over ninety percent of the population of The Scabbard and The Edge, after all, is strictly human. Moreover, Black Steel is among the most welcoming of essentially-human nations to other sentient populations, and in most countries with which Black Steel has dealings, the human population comprises well over ninety-nine percent of all legal citizens. Notable exceptions include the nation of Korv and the city of Kolmarch; Tornbring Vale has almost no human population, and is the only sizable non-human nation of which Black Steel leadership is definitely aware. Indeed, the only nation known to Black Steel personnel to incorporate so many different races as Black Steel itself, in nearly such great numbers relative to the dominant population, is the city of Illenia in the far northwest. This might be due in part to the quiet influence of Night Harbor, Illenia's sister-city or nemesis (depending on who you ask) across its bay, whose population is so diverse and mixed as to defy any attempt to name a dominant species.
Human populations do vary considerably in appearance from region to region, but in spite of ill-informed stories to the contrary, such hereditary differences appear to be virtually confined to superficial appearance. The stories in question, when based on anything more than sheer invention and prejudice, find their kernels of truth in cultural and environmental differences between the humans of different regions. It was long claimed, for instance, that the dark-skinned people of Grat'ha were physically stronger and hardier, but less intelligent and less capable of wielding magic, than the lighter-skinned people who live further north, and even that the people who live in the Grat'han interior were more physically powerful than the Grat'hans of the coastal plains. Increased exploration of Grat'ha however, and especially commerce with the tribes of that region, has exploded these myths. The "superhuman strength" of Grat'han natives, for instance, is in fact an invention of storytellers to explain those peoples' ability to survive in the dangerous and hostile jungles without discovering -- or perhaps without admitting -- the skill, experience, traditions, and training that give Grat'han humans their real advantages in their native environment. The rarity of sorcerous power among humans in Grat'ha is almost certainly attributable to their relatively isolated, tribal existence, as the rarity and non-hereditary nature of sorcerous potential among human beings, together with the necessity of extensive education to bring such potential to reality, renders it virtually impossible for a sorcerous tradition to develop without extensive, tolerant, and thorough means of communication across a large human population.
By the nearest estimates Black Steel personnel have been able to discover, roughly one percent of humans are born with the potential to consciously interact with the sorcerous world, and thus to weave sorcery. Of these, perhaps one in ten in the civilized world will eventually learn to control and use this ability in a meaningful way, as most lack the extraordinary mental discipline and capacity for learning and intuition required to weave magic effectively, and it is not unusual for a potential wizard to go undiscovered, or simply to refrain from the intensive course of study necessary to apply sorcerous gifts. It is interesting to note that the potential for a human being to become a wizard does not appear to be influenced by any yet-discovered environmental factors, nor does it follow lines of heredity, apart from the rare cases of humans with recent elven ancestry. Indeed, very rare cases have been reported of humans who lacked the potential to weave sorcery developing that potential later in life, under circumstances difficult to characterize due to the uncertainty of the records and their extreme rarity. For now, whether at birth or otherwise, the cause of sorcerous potential among humans remains a mystery.
In spite -- or perhaps because -- of their rarity, human wizards often grow more skilled in their art than those of races or species more naturally steeped in the world of sorcery. While it may be that great wizards among elven peoples do exist, merely avoiding interaction with the outside world (or never interacting to this point with Black Steel personnel at least) this appears to be another case of humanity's predilection for opportunistic specialization giving them a foothold and even a position of strength in a realm to which others are better adapted naturally.
Perhaps the most adaptible and versatile creatures in the world, humans are more adept than any other known sentient race -- with the possible exception of shadow elves -- at forming large and coherent societies with highly specialized individual roles. Though some insect colonies demonstrate an even greater level of specialization, humankind's exceptional intelligence allows individuals to change roles effectively to fulfill important and unexpected needs, and allows the society at large to develop advanced tools that permit a single human to perform a wide range of specialized tasks more effectively than the most naturally-specialized animal or insect. Some races and species may have developed tools of magical or physical nature more advanced and specialized than humans', but none appear to do so with such a wide range of purposes, and in such a wide range of habitats. Extreme enviornments such as underground caves, steep mountains, dense forests, and frozen tundra may harbor races or species better adapted to their singular needs, but none can adapt as well as humans to them all -- and even without overspecialization, humankind rules undisputed over the world's most fertile hills and plains. Dragons can challenge any race and species in any single battle, anywhere in the world, but they are few in number, and have not been tested in true war against the bulk of humanity.
A physical description of human beings is on the whole so well known to Black Steel personnel that any description would be superfluous; over ninety percent of Black Steel's membership, and over ninety percent of the population of The Scabbard and The Edge, after all, is strictly human. Moreover, Black Steel is among the most welcoming of essentially-human nations to other sentient populations, and in most countries with which Black Steel has dealings, the human population comprises well over ninety-nine percent of all legal citizens. Notable exceptions include the nation of Korv and the city of Kolmarch; Tornbring Vale has almost no human population, and is the only sizable non-human nation of which Black Steel leadership is definitely aware. Indeed, the only nation known to Black Steel personnel to incorporate so many different races as Black Steel itself, in nearly such great numbers relative to the dominant population, is the city of Illenia in the far northwest. This might be due in part to the quiet influence of Night Harbor, Illenia's sister-city or nemesis (depending on who you ask) across its bay, whose population is so diverse and mixed as to defy any attempt to name a dominant species.
Human populations do vary considerably in appearance from region to region, but in spite of ill-informed stories to the contrary, such hereditary differences appear to be virtually confined to superficial appearance. The stories in question, when based on anything more than sheer invention and prejudice, find their kernels of truth in cultural and environmental differences between the humans of different regions. It was long claimed, for instance, that the dark-skinned people of Grat'ha were physically stronger and hardier, but less intelligent and less capable of wielding magic, than the lighter-skinned people who live further north, and even that the people who live in the Grat'han interior were more physically powerful than the Grat'hans of the coastal plains. Increased exploration of Grat'ha however, and especially commerce with the tribes of that region, has exploded these myths. The "superhuman strength" of Grat'han natives, for instance, is in fact an invention of storytellers to explain those peoples' ability to survive in the dangerous and hostile jungles without discovering -- or perhaps without admitting -- the skill, experience, traditions, and training that give Grat'han humans their real advantages in their native environment. The rarity of sorcerous power among humans in Grat'ha is almost certainly attributable to their relatively isolated, tribal existence, as the rarity and non-hereditary nature of sorcerous potential among human beings, together with the necessity of extensive education to bring such potential to reality, renders it virtually impossible for a sorcerous tradition to develop without extensive, tolerant, and thorough means of communication across a large human population.
By the nearest estimates Black Steel personnel have been able to discover, roughly one percent of humans are born with the potential to consciously interact with the sorcerous world, and thus to weave sorcery. Of these, perhaps one in ten in the civilized world will eventually learn to control and use this ability in a meaningful way, as most lack the extraordinary mental discipline and capacity for learning and intuition required to weave magic effectively, and it is not unusual for a potential wizard to go undiscovered, or simply to refrain from the intensive course of study necessary to apply sorcerous gifts. It is interesting to note that the potential for a human being to become a wizard does not appear to be influenced by any yet-discovered environmental factors, nor does it follow lines of heredity, apart from the rare cases of humans with recent elven ancestry. Indeed, very rare cases have been reported of humans who lacked the potential to weave sorcery developing that potential later in life, under circumstances difficult to characterize due to the uncertainty of the records and their extreme rarity. For now, whether at birth or otherwise, the cause of sorcerous potential among humans remains a mystery.
In spite -- or perhaps because -- of their rarity, human wizards often grow more skilled in their art than those of races or species more naturally steeped in the world of sorcery. While it may be that great wizards among elven peoples do exist, merely avoiding interaction with the outside world (or never interacting to this point with Black Steel personnel at least) this appears to be another case of humanity's predilection for opportunistic specialization giving them a foothold and even a position of strength in a realm to which others are better adapted naturally.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Science and Technology
Scientific development in the Black Steel world is complicated by the interactions of the natural and magical worlds. Since direct observation of the magical world is not possible for most people, discovering the nature of physical law can be exceedingly difficult for humans. It is fortunate for would-be scientists that magical effects rarely have a direct impact on most humans' lives, as this admits of the possibility of discovering "normal" laws with the understanding that sorcerous power can create exceptions, but long-term scientific development nonetheless suffers, as exceptions that should be recognized as proofs of an imperfect theory may be written off as magical interference -- or a theory that is perfectly accurate in the natural world might be discarded or re-fashioned in response to actual but unrecognized sorcerous effects. Eventually, with sufficient observation, effort, and care, it should be possible to accurately describe the laws of the natural world, including those that in fact result from interaction with the magical world ... but unless and until better tools are designed for the purpose, the process is likely to be a slow one. It may be that some inhuman creatures have an advantage in this respect, as it has been said that elves and dragons, for instance, may be natively capable of directly observing the sorcerous world. If they have progressed beyond human scientific and technological discoveries however, it is likely to be in ways that human beings would not anticipate, as -- being more closely connected with the sorcerous world in the first place -- it is unlikely that they would confine themselves to studies of events in the natural world only, using their knowledge of the magical world only to ensure that their experiments function within a truly closed system; on the contrary, such discoveries as they make are likely to involve the laws of both worlds and the interaction between them more than anything else.
In spite of these obstacles, discoveries have progressed, however slowly and in whatever strange directions. For most purposes, the nations with which Black Steel is familiar are operating at technological levels reminiscent of a late middle ages or early renaissance society -- within the natural world, at least. The rarity of human wizards is such that these societies' "magical technology" is highly variable, difficult to define, and at all events too limited in scale or power to meaningfully replace or very significantly supplement natural technologies.
It is important to note that, to the extent they are not themselves driven by physical science and technology, the social sciences and sociological development of human nations in the Black Steel world suffer fewer limitations than their natural analogs; on the contrary, though the rarity and presence of sorcerors does exert a certain amount of pressure toward certain highly primitive social structures for magic-dependent or magic-awed societies, the fact that the capacity for sorcerous power among human beings does not appear to be hereditary, together with the structures of learning necessary for sorcerous knowledge to survive through the centuries, have probably aided the progress of the world's larger nations and societies. To take a single important example, the fact that women are as likely as men to have sorcerous potential has helped to break down barriers to female rule or importance in many cultures. Historically, there have been cultural groups that oppressed women to the extent possible, and cut off women's access to sources of magical knowledge at every turn, but such societies inevitably collapsed, sometimes at the hands of women within them who despite the best efforts of the ruling citizens managed to develop their sorcerous gifts, but more often at the hands of rival cultures that accepted and celebrated sorceresses and so could raise twice as many wizards per capita as those who kept would-be sorceresses away from the tools of learning.
In spite of these obstacles, discoveries have progressed, however slowly and in whatever strange directions. For most purposes, the nations with which Black Steel is familiar are operating at technological levels reminiscent of a late middle ages or early renaissance society -- within the natural world, at least. The rarity of human wizards is such that these societies' "magical technology" is highly variable, difficult to define, and at all events too limited in scale or power to meaningfully replace or very significantly supplement natural technologies.
It is important to note that, to the extent they are not themselves driven by physical science and technology, the social sciences and sociological development of human nations in the Black Steel world suffer fewer limitations than their natural analogs; on the contrary, though the rarity and presence of sorcerors does exert a certain amount of pressure toward certain highly primitive social structures for magic-dependent or magic-awed societies, the fact that the capacity for sorcerous power among human beings does not appear to be hereditary, together with the structures of learning necessary for sorcerous knowledge to survive through the centuries, have probably aided the progress of the world's larger nations and societies. To take a single important example, the fact that women are as likely as men to have sorcerous potential has helped to break down barriers to female rule or importance in many cultures. Historically, there have been cultural groups that oppressed women to the extent possible, and cut off women's access to sources of magical knowledge at every turn, but such societies inevitably collapsed, sometimes at the hands of women within them who despite the best efforts of the ruling citizens managed to develop their sorcerous gifts, but more often at the hands of rival cultures that accepted and celebrated sorceresses and so could raise twice as many wizards per capita as those who kept would-be sorceresses away from the tools of learning.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Religions and Faith
Most religions known to Black Steel personnel revolve around the worship and propitiation of members of an ancient pantheon. Mythologies differ from one church to another, but most assert a kinship between the various powers of the pantheon, and that the sentient beings of the world are descended from certain of its members (usually Thesmos and Woen in the role of mother and father). There are significant exceptions to all of this however; Black Steel personnel know of no myths that deal with the creation of dragons or of dwarves, and there exist known religions with their own theologies, mythologies, or both, that have little or nothing to do with the world's dominant pantheon.
The very existence of a "dominant pantheon" is a matter of some debate, and based mainly on the similarities between certain world faiths. For instance, the worship of Great Mother on the Grat'han coastal plains is so similar to that of Thesmos (so named the Eastport trade language is dominant) that some Grat'han tribes have come to call their Great Spirits by pantheonic names. Nevertheless, the overlap in mythology and ceremony from place to place is by no means complete. Many of the rituals used to call upon "miraculous" sorcerous intervention bear striking similarities to one another between worshipers of pantheon members with similar realms of influence but different names, but these similarities might be the result of the method by which the sorcerous effects in question propogate between the sorcerous and natural worlds rather than because the entities being worshiped are the same; some believe that, far from being the same set of entities worshiped differently across numerous cultures, the members of the pantheon do not exist at all, but are rather inventions of the human imagination to make as-yet little-understood forces in the sorcerous world seem comprehensible and familiar to the human mind. This theory, and a numbr of others that assume a separate object of worship exists for each of the many seeming-similar religions across the world, may be supported by the many mythological differences between similar religions in different regions, the varying names of the members of the pantheon, and their differing roles; for instance, many Grat'han religions feature aspects of animism or ancestor worship not normally associated with the pantheonic religions, and one of the major figures in the most common Grat'han pantheon is War Spirit, a figure who appears to combine aspects of the roles of Darzien, Matorath, Vamakhel, Varekh, and perhaps Sylthos, none of whom have a separate analog in these Grat'han spirit faiths.
Responses among those who believe in a literal, extant pantheon vary; some believe that members of the pantheon accept worship under any name, so long as it is done properly and with true heart, and therefore that (for instance) Darzien might accept prayers offered to War Spirit so long as they are of a kind appropriate to him. Others argue that the battle within the pantheon for ever-greater realms is being played out among their worshipers, such that (for instance) Matorath, under the name of War Spirit, might through some of his Grat'han worshipers be seeking to extend his realm deeper into what is presently Darzien's. Still other scholars are of the opinon that the members of the pantheon, though real, are not able to attend to every mortal prayer or even every congregation of mortal worshipers, and as such have worked upon the landsape of the sorcerous world so as to cause it to create "spells" in response to proper mental and ritual action closely associated with their worship. At all events, whether because of the similarities between their rituals and codes of behavior, because they are in fact worshiping the same literal being, or for some other reason entirely, most worshipers of the pantheon best known along the Fire Coast accept other, similar figures from the Broken Sea region, Grat'ha, and elsewhere, including goblinoid and elven pantheons, essentially as different aspects of or approaches to their own, a feeling that appears to be reciprocated, though it rarely does much to ease strife between the worshipers of the various "aspects" when it exists; disagreements over the "right way" to worship can grow as heated and as dangerous as those over who or what most deserves worship in the first place.
It is important to note that the mythology of the pantheon is ongoing; hatred or alliance between two powers (naturally reflected in their churches -- or resulting from changes in their churches' relationships, depending on what you believe about the pantheon as a whole) changes in the course of their present and continuing struggle for importance and strength, and myths of the acts of various members of the pantheon continue to be made in the present day, often with wide-reaching consequences (or causes, as the case may be). The most recent major example is the Fall of Isiyes, when Isiyes, through her church, demanded the worship of all the wizards of the world, and was virtually destroyed in consequence (as reflected in the collapse of her church hierarchy, the dispersal of her followers, and the deaths or broken faiths of her most influential priests). The battle waged over the fate of sorcery in the world, little known to most humans, changed the landscape of the sorcerous world drastically, with effects that are still propogating through that world, only now calming and settling, with significant consequences for both wizardry and ritual magic. Whether the Fall of Isiyes was a battle between immortal beings aided by mortals on every side (Aveyn and Athoth are said to have thwarted Isiyes according to some myths, with Athoth finally accepting the service of Isiyes in exchange for preserving her existence) or whether it was in effect a power play by an entirely mortal church that overestimated its own capabilities and collapsed in consequence, it was a battle involving enormous sorcerous power, and in spite of its recent occurence, it is already growing difficult to separate its literal history from the tricks and deceptions of the various sides and its growing halo of myth.
Other Religions
Apart from primitive animism, ancestor worship, and personality cults, any of which can sometimes associate themselves with pantheonic worship in any case, few religions are known to Black Steel personnel that do not fit in one fashion or another into the pantheon with which most of them grew up, but this may be a reflection on the amorphous nature of that pantheon and its apparent willingness to accept "variations" on its own faiths rather than any lack of religious diversity. Moreover, there are important exceptions to the general rule.
The Serpent Cult of Grat'ha
Though little is presently known about it, Black Steel personnel have recently encountered a religion deep in Grat'ha that appears (or is claimed) to predate the worship of the Great Spirits, built around the worship of gods who visit or live within the natural world in corporeal form, usually as some variety of serpent or part-serpent-part-human entity. Different classes of serpent gods apparently have specialized roles within their unique pantheon and in the lives of their followers totally unlike the pantheon described above, and theirs appears to have a much more definite hierarchy, with all the gods answerable to the one "great god Kenalthryn.".
The Faith of Nahl
Though pantheonists attempt to incorporate this faith's existence into their own worldview, sometimes even going so far as to say that Nahl is a part of the pantheon itself, attempts to do so are misguided to the point of hopelessness. The faithful of Nahl in fact do not worship, and do not regard Nahl as an entity -- certainly not as a being within a world, and least of all as a member of a pantheon of like beings. To the faithful, Nahl is that which is beyond all knowing; it is from Nahl that all things arise, and to Nahl that all shall return in the end. The name Nahl itself is to them only a name for that which in truth can be neither named nor comprehended. Much of the ritual and ceremony associated with the faith is drawn from those who "Walk with the Night," a term for those who turn for inspiration and example to the Dark Lady of Night, who in some sense represents Nahl in the same fashion as does the name. The Dark Lady is not herself called Nahl, and does not have a separate name, as she and the rituals associated with her, like the name "Nahl" itself, serve primarily as reminders of Nahl, being neither Nahl themselves nor the objects of worship, service, or attainment. They are in some sense merely symbols through which the faithful may attempt to conceive of that which is beyond conception and beyond any knowable reality.
Atheism
Several of Black Steel's most prominent, powerful, and capable members are avowed atheists, following no religion and believing in no partiular god. They do not necessarily insist that the entities worshipped by the world's various religions do not exist -- the corporeal "serpent gods" of the jungles, for instance, manifestly do -- but believe that none of them are all-powerful, nor deserving of worship, either singularly or in the collective as a pantheon. Upon meeting an entity (such as one of the corporeal serpent gods) who claims divinity, atheists tend to behave as they would toward any other sentient being, albeit a potentially dangerous one -- dangerous because of their power, if only the power of influence over those who worship them, and dangerous because claiming to be a god means to the atheist that the entity in question is one or both of ruthless enough to manipulate other people's heartfelt beliefs, or dangerously insane.
Many religious people in the Black Steel world find it hard to believe that atheists can exist or especially thrive in the face of the miraculous benefits provided to the faithful by their gods. (The faith of Nahl is an exception, as Nahl is not imagined to interfere with the world in any way except to continue to permit its existence and to welcome that which leaves it again; those who "walk with the night" appear to gain advantages having to do with the Dark Lady, but do not regard such advantages as primary to their faith. A tolerant faith in general, the faith of Nahl on the whole is very tolerant of atheists.) In light of this, it is curious to note and perhaps difficult to explain that atheists known to Black Steel seem to thrive, and to have developed capabilities well beyond the usual range of their peers, in spite of lacking the miraculous aid lent to the holy. A religious person would say, "Imagine what Theril could have achieved were she only to have found faith!" but Theril herself might say, upon considering the evidence, that she then might well have achieved less than she has on her own.
The very existence of a "dominant pantheon" is a matter of some debate, and based mainly on the similarities between certain world faiths. For instance, the worship of Great Mother on the Grat'han coastal plains is so similar to that of Thesmos (so named the Eastport trade language is dominant) that some Grat'han tribes have come to call their Great Spirits by pantheonic names. Nevertheless, the overlap in mythology and ceremony from place to place is by no means complete. Many of the rituals used to call upon "miraculous" sorcerous intervention bear striking similarities to one another between worshipers of pantheon members with similar realms of influence but different names, but these similarities might be the result of the method by which the sorcerous effects in question propogate between the sorcerous and natural worlds rather than because the entities being worshiped are the same; some believe that, far from being the same set of entities worshiped differently across numerous cultures, the members of the pantheon do not exist at all, but are rather inventions of the human imagination to make as-yet little-understood forces in the sorcerous world seem comprehensible and familiar to the human mind. This theory, and a numbr of others that assume a separate object of worship exists for each of the many seeming-similar religions across the world, may be supported by the many mythological differences between similar religions in different regions, the varying names of the members of the pantheon, and their differing roles; for instance, many Grat'han religions feature aspects of animism or ancestor worship not normally associated with the pantheonic religions, and one of the major figures in the most common Grat'han pantheon is War Spirit, a figure who appears to combine aspects of the roles of Darzien, Matorath, Vamakhel, Varekh, and perhaps Sylthos, none of whom have a separate analog in these Grat'han spirit faiths.
Responses among those who believe in a literal, extant pantheon vary; some believe that members of the pantheon accept worship under any name, so long as it is done properly and with true heart, and therefore that (for instance) Darzien might accept prayers offered to War Spirit so long as they are of a kind appropriate to him. Others argue that the battle within the pantheon for ever-greater realms is being played out among their worshipers, such that (for instance) Matorath, under the name of War Spirit, might through some of his Grat'han worshipers be seeking to extend his realm deeper into what is presently Darzien's. Still other scholars are of the opinon that the members of the pantheon, though real, are not able to attend to every mortal prayer or even every congregation of mortal worshipers, and as such have worked upon the landsape of the sorcerous world so as to cause it to create "spells" in response to proper mental and ritual action closely associated with their worship. At all events, whether because of the similarities between their rituals and codes of behavior, because they are in fact worshiping the same literal being, or for some other reason entirely, most worshipers of the pantheon best known along the Fire Coast accept other, similar figures from the Broken Sea region, Grat'ha, and elsewhere, including goblinoid and elven pantheons, essentially as different aspects of or approaches to their own, a feeling that appears to be reciprocated, though it rarely does much to ease strife between the worshipers of the various "aspects" when it exists; disagreements over the "right way" to worship can grow as heated and as dangerous as those over who or what most deserves worship in the first place.
It is important to note that the mythology of the pantheon is ongoing; hatred or alliance between two powers (naturally reflected in their churches -- or resulting from changes in their churches' relationships, depending on what you believe about the pantheon as a whole) changes in the course of their present and continuing struggle for importance and strength, and myths of the acts of various members of the pantheon continue to be made in the present day, often with wide-reaching consequences (or causes, as the case may be). The most recent major example is the Fall of Isiyes, when Isiyes, through her church, demanded the worship of all the wizards of the world, and was virtually destroyed in consequence (as reflected in the collapse of her church hierarchy, the dispersal of her followers, and the deaths or broken faiths of her most influential priests). The battle waged over the fate of sorcery in the world, little known to most humans, changed the landscape of the sorcerous world drastically, with effects that are still propogating through that world, only now calming and settling, with significant consequences for both wizardry and ritual magic. Whether the Fall of Isiyes was a battle between immortal beings aided by mortals on every side (Aveyn and Athoth are said to have thwarted Isiyes according to some myths, with Athoth finally accepting the service of Isiyes in exchange for preserving her existence) or whether it was in effect a power play by an entirely mortal church that overestimated its own capabilities and collapsed in consequence, it was a battle involving enormous sorcerous power, and in spite of its recent occurence, it is already growing difficult to separate its literal history from the tricks and deceptions of the various sides and its growing halo of myth.
Other Religions
Apart from primitive animism, ancestor worship, and personality cults, any of which can sometimes associate themselves with pantheonic worship in any case, few religions are known to Black Steel personnel that do not fit in one fashion or another into the pantheon with which most of them grew up, but this may be a reflection on the amorphous nature of that pantheon and its apparent willingness to accept "variations" on its own faiths rather than any lack of religious diversity. Moreover, there are important exceptions to the general rule.
The Serpent Cult of Grat'ha
Though little is presently known about it, Black Steel personnel have recently encountered a religion deep in Grat'ha that appears (or is claimed) to predate the worship of the Great Spirits, built around the worship of gods who visit or live within the natural world in corporeal form, usually as some variety of serpent or part-serpent-part-human entity. Different classes of serpent gods apparently have specialized roles within their unique pantheon and in the lives of their followers totally unlike the pantheon described above, and theirs appears to have a much more definite hierarchy, with all the gods answerable to the one "great god Kenalthryn.".
The Faith of Nahl
Though pantheonists attempt to incorporate this faith's existence into their own worldview, sometimes even going so far as to say that Nahl is a part of the pantheon itself, attempts to do so are misguided to the point of hopelessness. The faithful of Nahl in fact do not worship, and do not regard Nahl as an entity -- certainly not as a being within a world, and least of all as a member of a pantheon of like beings. To the faithful, Nahl is that which is beyond all knowing; it is from Nahl that all things arise, and to Nahl that all shall return in the end. The name Nahl itself is to them only a name for that which in truth can be neither named nor comprehended. Much of the ritual and ceremony associated with the faith is drawn from those who "Walk with the Night," a term for those who turn for inspiration and example to the Dark Lady of Night, who in some sense represents Nahl in the same fashion as does the name. The Dark Lady is not herself called Nahl, and does not have a separate name, as she and the rituals associated with her, like the name "Nahl" itself, serve primarily as reminders of Nahl, being neither Nahl themselves nor the objects of worship, service, or attainment. They are in some sense merely symbols through which the faithful may attempt to conceive of that which is beyond conception and beyond any knowable reality.
Atheism
Several of Black Steel's most prominent, powerful, and capable members are avowed atheists, following no religion and believing in no partiular god. They do not necessarily insist that the entities worshipped by the world's various religions do not exist -- the corporeal "serpent gods" of the jungles, for instance, manifestly do -- but believe that none of them are all-powerful, nor deserving of worship, either singularly or in the collective as a pantheon. Upon meeting an entity (such as one of the corporeal serpent gods) who claims divinity, atheists tend to behave as they would toward any other sentient being, albeit a potentially dangerous one -- dangerous because of their power, if only the power of influence over those who worship them, and dangerous because claiming to be a god means to the atheist that the entity in question is one or both of ruthless enough to manipulate other people's heartfelt beliefs, or dangerously insane.
Many religious people in the Black Steel world find it hard to believe that atheists can exist or especially thrive in the face of the miraculous benefits provided to the faithful by their gods. (The faith of Nahl is an exception, as Nahl is not imagined to interfere with the world in any way except to continue to permit its existence and to welcome that which leaves it again; those who "walk with the night" appear to gain advantages having to do with the Dark Lady, but do not regard such advantages as primary to their faith. A tolerant faith in general, the faith of Nahl on the whole is very tolerant of atheists.) In light of this, it is curious to note and perhaps difficult to explain that atheists known to Black Steel seem to thrive, and to have developed capabilities well beyond the usual range of their peers, in spite of lacking the miraculous aid lent to the holy. A religious person would say, "Imagine what Theril could have achieved were she only to have found faith!" but Theril herself might say, upon considering the evidence, that she then might well have achieved less than she has on her own.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Language
Eastport Trade Language
The language with which most Black Steel personnel grew up, represented within the game by English, is regarded and used among the trade empires of the Broken Sea region as a trade pidgin, relating to and sharing words with many other languages in the region and abroad. Almost all humans in civilized countries known to Black Steel personnel speak this language to at least a minimal extent, especially to the extent they deal with trade and other matters of foreign exchange, and most sentient beings who deal in any way with humans do so in this tongue as well. Proficiency with the language varies widely from place to place and from person to person, and differing dialects can sometimes make communication challenging, but most people are able to convey and understand simple and especially commercially relevant ideas in this tongue, from the high walls of Illenia in the north to the palaces of Havandia in the south, from the university of Athelenia in the distant west to wild desert plains of the Teigarant Freelands in the east, and perhaps beyond.
Though little regarded as a "high language" by some in the more distant reaches of the world known to Black Steel, this "trade pidgin" is in fact a rich and complex language, sufficient in breadth of expression not only for commercial purposes, but to serve as the default language of international diplomacy. It is the first language of most coastal towns and provinces up and down the Fire Coast, where most Black Steel personnel were born, and also of Eastport itself, perhaps the single most important trade city in the known world. Moreover, in the course of their research, Theril, Dargon, and Quix have found documents supposed to be many hundreds of years old, in countries separated by thousands of miles, written in a language that appears to be an archaic form of the very "trade pidgin" they speak. The origins and history of this language have not been explored in any depth by Black Steel personnel, but if Dargon's theories are correct, it could shed light on the cultural history of the entire known world.
Grat'han
Another surprisingly widespread language is shared by the many tribes of Grat'ha; though dialects have diverged significantly in some cases, virtually all human inhabitants of the known jungles speak variations of the same basic language. The similarities are strong enough that members of different tribes separated by hundreds of miles of dense jungle can usually make themselves understood to one another if members are introduced. Grat'han tribes tend to be heavily steeped in ancient traditions, and this likely affects their language as well as the rest of their culture, but Theril would nonetheless estimate that the languages of distant tribes have only been diverging for a few hundred years at most. Another possibility is that widespread language vectors are keeping distant tribes in relatively close communication and therefore limiting language drift, but no candidates for this role have as yet been found. Llaesira's Grat'han trade network might qualify, depending on its extent, but according to observations by Herring, Theril, and Telaeri, as well as Llaesira's testimony, the network arrived in the northern reaches of the jungle best known to Black Steel too recently to have been a factor there. Recent discussions with Llaesira and especially Dotrum however have suggested to Theril that there really might have been a universal Grat'han language and culture just a few centuries in the past, based perhaps upon worship of (and intervention by) the serpent-like jungle gods whom Dotrum worships.
Other Human Language Groups
In addition to the language with which Daryan and Osiavia were raised, purportedly spoken in the extreme east, far across the northern sea, any number of local languages and dialects are known to various Black Steel personnel, including various traditional languages used by people who dwell inland from the Fire Coast, and several western language groups encountered by Dargon and Quix in their recent travels. Various dialects of Sheradi language spoken along the peninsula are also known, some of which are eccentric enough to be incomprehensible even to those who grew up with the language in less isolated regions such as the Itheshian Confederacy (these languages also bear some resemblance to that which is grudgingly shared by Ephinos and Rhedas). Naturally, the native languages of the most powerful trade nations in the region have impacted local dialects of the trade language considerably, so that people who have traded long in the area are usually able to communicate with bits and pieces of Espaish in rural Espava; Shalasian inland across the Shalasa desert, especially among its nomads and bandits, and even Old Havandian in the high courts of Virhas and on the wide plains between jungle and sea. More opaque to the average merchant are the deep, guttural language of Korv, in which Thorm Casati alone of Black Steel personnel is fluent, and the various dialects of Teigaric spoken in the eastern deserts and arid plains. Korvan in particular appears to share less in common with local dialects of the trade language than with the language of the nation's non-human sentient population.
Other Races' and Non-Human Language
With the magic inherent in their genetic make-up, which can allow for relatively convenient long-distance communication, and their long generations, which tends to slow linguistic drift, it should come as no surprise that the elven peoples known to Black Steel have far less diversity of languages than their more numerous human counterparts. The various dialects spoken by woodland elves encountered in the Grat'han jungles, the tropical forests of Scabbard Isle, and throughout Tornbring Vale, are closely related to each other, to those of the elves among whom Theril lived some of the earliest years of her life near the Fire Coast, and even to the native language of Black Steel's single resident moonlight elf, from somewhere in the distant northwest. The shadow elves of course have been (according to most histories) separated from the rest of their race for many thousands of years, but even their language, at least as spoken in Night Harbor, is reminiscent enough of their distant cousins' tongues to invite inevitable comparisons (though typically not comprehension). Goblinoid languages, by contrast, are wildly divergent, to the point where two tribes living within a dozen miles of each other might not be able to understand each other's tongue at all. The various types of beastmen known to members of Black Steel, with their differing vocal apparatuses, have if possible even greater difficulty in understanding one another. To the extent that goblinoids and beastmen interact with humans at all, the prevailing human language in the region, or a dialect of the Eastport trade language, is almost always used for the purpose. Very often, these are even the languages used for negotiations between tribes of goblinoids or beastmen, when such negotiations are held at all.
Other sentient species' languages are little known to Black Steel, as few have heard them spoken except on rare occasion. Those dwarves, dragons, nethygi, and the like who have spoken with Black Steel members at all have almost always done so in human languages, speaking too few words in their own tongues for any assessment to be made about those languages -- certainly not about their distribution among those creatures' societies. The same might be said as well of the serpent language of Grat'ha, only recently encountered, mostly in rituals associated with the jungle gods.
The language with which most Black Steel personnel grew up, represented within the game by English, is regarded and used among the trade empires of the Broken Sea region as a trade pidgin, relating to and sharing words with many other languages in the region and abroad. Almost all humans in civilized countries known to Black Steel personnel speak this language to at least a minimal extent, especially to the extent they deal with trade and other matters of foreign exchange, and most sentient beings who deal in any way with humans do so in this tongue as well. Proficiency with the language varies widely from place to place and from person to person, and differing dialects can sometimes make communication challenging, but most people are able to convey and understand simple and especially commercially relevant ideas in this tongue, from the high walls of Illenia in the north to the palaces of Havandia in the south, from the university of Athelenia in the distant west to wild desert plains of the Teigarant Freelands in the east, and perhaps beyond.
Though little regarded as a "high language" by some in the more distant reaches of the world known to Black Steel, this "trade pidgin" is in fact a rich and complex language, sufficient in breadth of expression not only for commercial purposes, but to serve as the default language of international diplomacy. It is the first language of most coastal towns and provinces up and down the Fire Coast, where most Black Steel personnel were born, and also of Eastport itself, perhaps the single most important trade city in the known world. Moreover, in the course of their research, Theril, Dargon, and Quix have found documents supposed to be many hundreds of years old, in countries separated by thousands of miles, written in a language that appears to be an archaic form of the very "trade pidgin" they speak. The origins and history of this language have not been explored in any depth by Black Steel personnel, but if Dargon's theories are correct, it could shed light on the cultural history of the entire known world.
Grat'han
Another surprisingly widespread language is shared by the many tribes of Grat'ha; though dialects have diverged significantly in some cases, virtually all human inhabitants of the known jungles speak variations of the same basic language. The similarities are strong enough that members of different tribes separated by hundreds of miles of dense jungle can usually make themselves understood to one another if members are introduced. Grat'han tribes tend to be heavily steeped in ancient traditions, and this likely affects their language as well as the rest of their culture, but Theril would nonetheless estimate that the languages of distant tribes have only been diverging for a few hundred years at most. Another possibility is that widespread language vectors are keeping distant tribes in relatively close communication and therefore limiting language drift, but no candidates for this role have as yet been found. Llaesira's Grat'han trade network might qualify, depending on its extent, but according to observations by Herring, Theril, and Telaeri, as well as Llaesira's testimony, the network arrived in the northern reaches of the jungle best known to Black Steel too recently to have been a factor there. Recent discussions with Llaesira and especially Dotrum however have suggested to Theril that there really might have been a universal Grat'han language and culture just a few centuries in the past, based perhaps upon worship of (and intervention by) the serpent-like jungle gods whom Dotrum worships.
Other Human Language Groups
In addition to the language with which Daryan and Osiavia were raised, purportedly spoken in the extreme east, far across the northern sea, any number of local languages and dialects are known to various Black Steel personnel, including various traditional languages used by people who dwell inland from the Fire Coast, and several western language groups encountered by Dargon and Quix in their recent travels. Various dialects of Sheradi language spoken along the peninsula are also known, some of which are eccentric enough to be incomprehensible even to those who grew up with the language in less isolated regions such as the Itheshian Confederacy (these languages also bear some resemblance to that which is grudgingly shared by Ephinos and Rhedas). Naturally, the native languages of the most powerful trade nations in the region have impacted local dialects of the trade language considerably, so that people who have traded long in the area are usually able to communicate with bits and pieces of Espaish in rural Espava; Shalasian inland across the Shalasa desert, especially among its nomads and bandits, and even Old Havandian in the high courts of Virhas and on the wide plains between jungle and sea. More opaque to the average merchant are the deep, guttural language of Korv, in which Thorm Casati alone of Black Steel personnel is fluent, and the various dialects of Teigaric spoken in the eastern deserts and arid plains. Korvan in particular appears to share less in common with local dialects of the trade language than with the language of the nation's non-human sentient population.
Other Races' and Non-Human Language
With the magic inherent in their genetic make-up, which can allow for relatively convenient long-distance communication, and their long generations, which tends to slow linguistic drift, it should come as no surprise that the elven peoples known to Black Steel have far less diversity of languages than their more numerous human counterparts. The various dialects spoken by woodland elves encountered in the Grat'han jungles, the tropical forests of Scabbard Isle, and throughout Tornbring Vale, are closely related to each other, to those of the elves among whom Theril lived some of the earliest years of her life near the Fire Coast, and even to the native language of Black Steel's single resident moonlight elf, from somewhere in the distant northwest. The shadow elves of course have been (according to most histories) separated from the rest of their race for many thousands of years, but even their language, at least as spoken in Night Harbor, is reminiscent enough of their distant cousins' tongues to invite inevitable comparisons (though typically not comprehension). Goblinoid languages, by contrast, are wildly divergent, to the point where two tribes living within a dozen miles of each other might not be able to understand each other's tongue at all. The various types of beastmen known to members of Black Steel, with their differing vocal apparatuses, have if possible even greater difficulty in understanding one another. To the extent that goblinoids and beastmen interact with humans at all, the prevailing human language in the region, or a dialect of the Eastport trade language, is almost always used for the purpose. Very often, these are even the languages used for negotiations between tribes of goblinoids or beastmen, when such negotiations are held at all.
Other sentient species' languages are little known to Black Steel, as few have heard them spoken except on rare occasion. Those dwarves, dragons, nethygi, and the like who have spoken with Black Steel members at all have almost always done so in human languages, speaking too few words in their own tongues for any assessment to be made about those languages -- certainly not about their distribution among those creatures' societies. The same might be said as well of the serpent language of Grat'ha, only recently encountered, mostly in rituals associated with the jungle gods.