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[Siquo]

Curupira

They also like wells and crawl out of televisions.

[Shoku]

I think instead the areas around them should be overgrown by plants as they remove herds of herbivores that otherwise thin out the vegetation. If they knock down trees for whatever reason then it would just be shrubs and wild grasses in any place wet enough to support them. (For plants the biggest thing that can live there takes up all the land from the other plants whenever animals aren't eating the new sprouts.)

You could also blame them for making that much worse though as they could spread around burs of some nasty prickly weed. Like little burs on the hides of some furry animal that never ventured far but has now been dragged back and forth all over the continent.

[Max White]

Just a small race today. I was planning on either bringing them out faster, or putting more detail into them like the other later races, but neither came to pass. Ah well, enjoy a light update!


Eppes
The eppes are a race of tiny humanoids, no taller then half a meter tall, very thin, and pale green skin. They have six fingers and seven toes on their hands and feet, and streching between their shoulder and wrist is a thin membrane of skin they sue for gliding. They have dark, beady eyes, and long ears they curl backwards, in an appearance that resembled antenna. In their tiny mouthes they have a single, large fang on the bottom of their jaw, useful for hanging onto trees, and many small teeth. They are an agile race, capable of gliding short distances with their psuto-wings.

The eppes, despite a primitive appearance, and tribalistic life styles, are a very intelligent race, and seek to gather, catalogue and understand knowledge to the state of an obsession. Despite this, they lack the most basic of understanding that other races take for granted. When an eppes desires a book or scroll currently for sale in a market or store, most often they will request it from the shop owner, and should the shop owner ask for payment, they will modestly reply that they are not interested in trade, just the book. There are those in the race, however, that understand trade and capitalism, but then their will be other basic concepts they fail to grasp, such as trespassing laws, or personal space. Despite what can sometimes be a childish view of the world, they are one of the most learned races known, with the most extensive knowledge of the history of the common plane and the gods to share. Because of the nature of the eppes, they have a fondness for dwarves, whos endless knowledge of the world is valuable to them, and many fail to understand that the smell short man might in fact be making fabrications. Eppes live in forests and on the side of cliffs, and anywhere else they can build large colonies with many gliding platforms, sometimes including castles populated by other races. While the eppes do not fully understand the concept of war as a whole, aggression is well within their emotional range, and provoked just a little they will oftern go into a primitive rage, and bring their friends at it. Because of this, there have been few isolated recounts of a man denying a eppes some scrap of paper they desired, and days later thousands of the creatures descended upon the town, destroying all that wasn't of value to them, killing most of the townsfolk. In the past their have been monarchs that keep eppes as highly trusted advisors, showing them their highest gratitude in exchange for a near infinite knowledge of the customs, ways and policies of neighbouring countries, ensuring strong diplomatic ties, while some men will keep eppes in cages as pets, often not to the objection of the eppes, as long as ample reading material is provided.

Eppes, through much study of magic, have become strong at many types of mystic arts, including manipulation of the primary, and arcane elements, biomancy, and photomancy. Because of this, winning the affection of an eppes can result in a powerful bodyguard, as they have a strong fondness for anyhting they perceive as a friend.

[Max White]

What? No new posts? Ah well, time for the daily. Only two more left, after this, and they are the big two! The final two that wage more war, build more buildings and hate each other more then any other. All eight have been leading up to these two, and are but supporting characters on the stage that they use to try and crush one another. Any guesses as to what they are like?

Shen
In the time when the gods were in turmoil over Daedalus' banishment, other entities, from far distant planes, saw this as a chance to try and claim this vast plane for themselves. A small group of the gods assembled themselves, led by Flint, god of battle, to stop these intruders from claiming their creation. Almost all of these outside entities were destroyed or banished, but several managed to scar the common planes with their presents. Of these, the most powerful was Thy'ku, commonly refereed to as Thy the corrupter (Not to be confused with Jos, god of corruption). Thy, being a cunning entity, slipped into influence of the common plane under the sight of Flint, and planted the Shen, a race of he's own creation, destined to destroy all life made by the gods. Thy, knowing that if he left he's creation to the mercy of the gods, instead went into hiding, so he may protect he's beings from holy wrath, and hopefully not be found by Flint. Assa, angered by this, assigned Hiroki, the god of earth, and he's daughter Harumi, goddess of the harvest, to hunt down Thy'ku so that the Shen could be destroyed in holy fire.  Hiroki and  Harumi then renounced their titles, and became  Hiroki, god of darkness, and  Harumi, goddess of hunting, in order to find and destroy Thy, as they were unwilling to disobey Assa.  Hiroki and  Harumi continue to hunt Thy'ku, hoping to destroy him and he's abominations, while the Shen continue to grow in their quiet depths.

The shen themselves are an almost formless race, made of a jelly like substance that is a dark, inky grey in colour. They have no solid skin, until they are exposed to the atmosphere. When in air, they react and form a thick, solid callus over their otherwise fluid body, giving them form and integrity. This outer crust turns white, and has a rouge texture similar to the outer shell of an oyster, although rippled with cracks and fractures, formed from movement while this shell is still forming. This shell makes them slow, and heavy, but is very hard to break, and so makes for good protection for their soft insides. Until they leave the water, fowever, the shen are liquid, and move and swim in a likewise fashion. They can fit through holes about the size of a human finger, and surround and consume living creatures. In the water, a swarm of shen are a deadly force that leaves patches of the ocean dead. Within a deep cavern, under the ocean floor, where light has not even thought to go, lies the mind of the shen. To look at it is to see a deep cave, the walls all covered in think slime, resembling nothing living, but this is the Shen'nar'ku (Translated from Thy's native tongue this is “Distorted one blessed by the corruptor”), a single living creature. It waits until living things enter it's cave, before collapsing itself on it's victim and consuming them. For many ages, it has lived like this, devouring passing fish, sharks and squid, and turning their bodies into new shen. The  Shen'nar'ku is the single controller of all shen, able to talk to them through means not fully understood by any but Thy'ku himself.

When the first shen were spotted swimming around fishing vessals, they were identified as a new species, and the divine work of the gods. They were tiny lumps, no bigger then the size of a human head, and swum harmlessly around in the shallows, sometimes playing with children. But as time continued, they grew larger, and more vast. It was discovered that they go hard when out of water, and their shells were sometimes cracked open and used for jewellery. But as time went on they grew larger, and would sometimes venture out of the water. The first sign of real intelligence was their first attack on a curupira town on the west coast. The attack was organised, and the town was crushed. The few survives told others of the might of the shen, and soon word spread that they were a dangerous creature.

A group of priests made the vote that it would be best to risk praying to Assa for guidance, and to best improve their chances of survival the high priest Kane was selected to preform the ceremony. During the ceremony, Kane was touched by Assa, and was driven to madness. The priests helping with the ceremony report that he could do nothing but shout out 'Destroy them! Destroy them all!', before grabbing a knife and running towards the ocean, and was never seen from then. This was taken as a sign that the shen were an enemy of the gods, and became a target for churches and cults.

The shen do not use weapons or armour. They do not talk, and they can not see through natural means. It is widely agreed that they are given supernatural vision by some divine power, and as such many believe that they are the creation of Daedalus, seeking to gain revenge against the gods from the sea, while Pon uses the veran as her vessal, and together they plot the destruciton of the common plane.

[GlyphGryph]

Well, I guess some of these are pretty cool. But why have you basically limited yourself to humanoids? Sure, it's easy and popular, but there are lots of other good and underused base plans!
I really like the Trog, I may have to steal some of the concepts.

Mostly, though, now I just want to see more pictures, and maybe convince you to do some for my "anti-cliche" races, heheh.

[Max White]

Humanoids because I have half a mind to make a game out of them, and it makes equpipting them a little easier. Still have to handle size, but still... Two left, and working on the second last one now.


I was rather happy with the trog. A reasonable back story to a race of zombies that corrupt the world around them and can include giant ones for boss fights is a diamond of a story.

[GlyphGryph]

And all the grey-scale moral dilemmas they could easily bring about, with their inherently destructive but not inherently evil nature!

[Max White]

I never liked 'inherently evil' in a race. I mean none of the races so far have been evil, although some of them do not get along very well at all. If a race is destructive for it's own survival, however, I think that just makes them more relatable, as don't we humans already do that?


Perigranius
When the veran crossed the rift between the realms, and bought the wrath of Assa, not all the gods agreed with her choice to destroy them. Although most were indifferent to this race, Daedalus, the god of intelligence, stool against Assa, claiming that it was wrong to punish the veran for seeking truth beyond the common plane. Daedalus depended on the majority of the gods railing to he's side, but the only god willing was the goddess of fire and flames, Pon. Daedalus was overwhelmed by the power of Assa, assisted by Flint, and banished to a far outer realm, while Pon was sealed in a small plane hidden away, where she was frozen to her waste in a lake of ice.

Daedalus, in he's isolation, thought to destroy the gods who betrayed him, and the creation they had made. He would not let their hard work come to harvest, and would destroy life on the common plane before they would open the rifts. On this far, outer realm, he made he's own race, the perigranius.

The perigranius are not a corporeal race, but rather exist as what could only be described as a shining, but dark green cloud of smoke. They sparkle as they move, and waft like whisps of smoke. As they are heavier then air, they can not fly, but seep and mass along the floor, forming figures for what ever reason, before fading away, and returning again. They have a distinct volume, and despite their ability to change shape, they can not change their size, often amassing themselves to slightly smaller then a gigas. Separating the mist that makes their bodies causes them harm, and a single arrow piercing through them will cause enough damage to kill them. They can not go through solids, and lack the strength to push themselves under the surface of a liquid, but can travel over it's surface.  Despite being almost a gas, they can hold items, and will utilise weapons in battle.

The perigranius were blessed with intelligence, and while the races of the common plane spent tens of thousands of years without ever thinking to advance themselves, the perigranius were building, planning and designing, all for the day when Daedalus would do to the gods what the gods first set out to do to those in far other realms. Over time they learnt to build machines able to preform advanced calculations that were powered by liquids of differing density. These machines became integral to their lives, and iron pipes were fit throughout their cities to provide the several chemicals required. Unable to maintain these pipes at the rate they were built, their cities turned red with rust, and soon it's shade became a symbol of enlightenment for them, flying banners in it's colour. They learnt to build walkers fitted with their machines that could be used as weapons of war, and fire arms that used high pressure liquids to project lead balls at high speed. A tecnological wonder, their race, although naturally weak, had been given the strength of iron over time, and were ready to serve their god in battle.

Daedalus, with all he's power, opened the rift between he's world and the common plane, and he''s soldiers of metal and acid and alkaline marched forth into the common plane. Although vastly powerful, they were well met by an army of hmans and gigas, who for the first time in the history of the common plane, had been granted magics by the power of the gods watching, in fear of the devastation Daedalus would bring to their world. Their magics were too powerful for them to use and survive, and as such few warriors lived from either side, but Daedalus had revealed he's hand, and the gods fully understood what thread he possessed.

Daedalus continues to bring raids upon the common plane, reaping death with all sorts of machina, that roll and walk and fly, and when the gods find he's assault they match it with the most of their power. End, the goddess of death, was given the role of overlooking the magic controlled by humans, and ensuring lives were not taken from it's use again, but she chooses to only grant this ability in times of the most dire need, when no other option is avaliable.



Tomorrow comes the finally, and if you haven't guessed what it is by now, I have spoken about them ones or twice. Gonna be fun!

[Max White]

And so, out final race.

Humans (and I pity the fool who did not see this coming from day five)
Long before the common plane was settled upon by the gods, they lived in far other realms, with other creatures of infinite variety. Of these, all had the divine powers of creation and destruction, and few chose to use them in peace. Knowing that another could kill them at any time, most beings of these planes became paranoid, and sought to do on to others, before other did on to them. Some grouped together into pantheons, while others fought for their own power. Of these, a group of powerful beings came together, with the intention of murdering all before them, in the name of ending the eternal chaos and war. They formed a crusade, lead by their leader Flint, and many were crushed before their power, but soon their rivals formed together, and pushed back. Calling the retreat, Flint lead the gods to a distant realm, where they were to rest. The goddess Assa, who was at the time their god of healing, blamed Flint for their failure, and started to take control of the pantheon. In her wisdom, she thought to make a race of followers to fight in these wars, so on their return, the sheer mass of their cannon fodder would be enough to blind the other beings to their power long enough to make another push.

The common plane was born. The gods worked to craft the lands into something pleasing for life, and make oceans, forests, fields, deserts and glaciers. After several years of work, a time span that is nothing for immortal beings, their realm was ready, and empty of civilised life. The first race that the gods places were the Dwarves, and filled them with a spirit for adventure, so that they may seek to explore their world, and share knowledge to any new race they made. The gods saw that the dwarves were fine workers and warriors, and chose to refine this work for their infant race that would one day serve them in greater wars. They made them slender and taller then their dwarven cousins, and filled them with zeal so that they would serve their masters. The human race was born.

The gods watched them settle, and found that although the humans would serve their gods unquestionably, they were peaceful. The gods wanted for their chosen few to be battle hardened warriors, and so over time crafted new races for the sole reason to do battle with humans, and make them tough. To weigh the odds against them, they granted these other races magic, or superhuman attributes, forcing the humans to fighter harder and become more adapt to battle then any other race. Over time, humans went from a small, peaceful race, to a thriving culture of war mongers. They became brutal, and their constant spilling of blood drove them to love and worship the gods more so. They are the gods chosen ones, and they know it, and they will use hard and sharp metal to show this to any other creature that dares stand tall.

Humans themselves are a monument to the gods. At a very young age, most often on their 5th birthday, they have holy symbols branded on their backs, most commonly of the god of faith Assa. Every year, at the ceremony of their gods, those old enough have more bandings places upon their back, until these scars spreads over their chest, arms, legs and neck. By the age of thirty most are thought to be devout, as proven by the lack of space to place more tattoos, and so are except from further torture.

Humans cluster together to build large cities, and in the centre of every city is a large cathedral to the gods. This building acts as their town hall, and most important decision making and finance is done under the eyes of the gods. Above most doorways leading onto streets, especially those owned by politics or others in the public view, runes are drawn on the door frame, as further sign that their house is devout. Humans will build their cities with flat roofs, with the lowest buildings on the outside of the city, and they grow taller as they go in. These buildings are often formed as tight ring walls, with large gates going further into the city, the function being to allow for many levels of protection for their mighty church in the middle of town, and for archers to always have a higher ground while defending. The streets themselves are lined with many back allies and side doors, as well as a complex of rooms and houses, that have been built without thought for future planning, but crammed together to fit as many in as possible. Vendors and merchants sell their products on the side of the road, while guards draped in robes wielding large swords jump from rooftop to rooftop, in order to have a birds eye view of their surroundings, and see clearly the path of trouble makers. Although they have many guards a city, they are mostly to keep an eye on any outsides of other races that choose to visit their city, as although they allow some entree, they do not trust them, and few humans ever break the law for fear of the gods.

White and blue are the colours of the god Assa, and as such most humans choose these colours to dress in. They tend to wear slightly revealing clothing, as to glorify the bodies that the gods cast for them, and men will rarely wear sleeves. Almost every human keeps a holy symbol on them, around their necks, or as a bracelet or anklet.

In war, humans fight with what they consider to be honer. They will line themselves up in long flanks, and march in unison, often to the beat of war chants. Their generals command these units will precision, and their ability to move carefully around the field in to be envied. Their lines of large shields do not often break, and their spears are always sharp.

[Shoku]

I'm kind of disappointed. It doesn't feel like this is even the olde age fantasy anymore but something closer to space-fantasy.

[jrmy]

I think my least favourite race here are the sentient cloud-beings. Why bother dressing them up as clearly magical gaseous vapour things and then just have them grasp weapons much like every other race does? That's kind of boring. Why don't they just try to smother people with their vapour or, you know, magic people to death? Also, you never explain how the calculators they built are in any way integral to their lives. Actually, another thing: the motif of these things having a de-centralised body seems like it should also lead to a decentralised intelligence. Except they're individualised, apparently. Kind of jarring?

And then there's stuff about these things using guns/mechs and my brain kind of turned off.

The best race you've made is clearly the Trog. The mining thing came as a bit of a surprise, but everything else just seemed to fit really well, and felt like a logical extrapolation from the way you introduced them. They also feel like they'd fit really well into any story you'd want to tell, mostly due to the fact that they're politically capable and they have a motivation that could easily be a threat to any of the races they deal with. They're probably the most compelling undead 'race' that I've seen.

[Knight of Fools]

Pretty interesting.  The Trog are definitely my favorite.