Civ symbol: S
Army symbol: s
Deity:
RRishhukk ("Ancestors")
RRishhukk is a deity that has been worshipped by the Susotu, in representation, for thousands of years. The deity is a conglomeration of the spirits and experience the race has had in its lifetime. On the whole, RRishhukk has held itself close to the Susotu in its support, as the Susotu build monuments to honor their ancestors. The deity returns their devotion with gifts of knowledge.
Spheres: (3)Crafts (3)Trade (2)Wisdom
Physiology:
Height: 3’ 6”- 6’ 6”
Weight: 100-250
Eye Colors: Violet, Iridescent, Turquoise, Sky Blue (Mixes)
Hair Colors: N/A
Scale Colors: Black, Dull Orange-Red, Dull Gold, Shades of Brown, Shades of Blue. (Mottled/Pure)
Description: Humanoid: Reptilian. Very slender and agile; not suited to brutish Hand to Hand combat styles. Good hand-eye coordination causes Susotu to be quite proficient at ranged combat. Susotu are possessed of a pair of strong, well-muscled legs, of a similar structure to that of a bird, only with a longer lower-leg and tougher muscles and bones. All Susotu have a pair of slender arms with strong bones that can easily be master any productive activity. Their hands have soft gripping pads at the ends of the fingers, which have short, retractable, fine, and sharp claws best used for minute manipulation. Each hand has two opposable thumbs, each on the opposite side of the hand, and four fingers forming a symmetrical pattern. The torso is relatively thin and extends into an equally thin tail, both carrying just enough weight to keep balance. The head of a Susotu is boxy with a rounded snout; two ridges one beginning at each eye taper back into the spine.
They have only one gender, and breed by a melding of any number of Susotu’s DNA within a compact sand shell that bakes under sunlight until it matures. This means even one Susotu may breed, but this is considered inappropriate except under the most desperate of circumstances. Recent magical developments allow the breeding to occur in soils outside the desert sands.
Societal Structure: Susotu civilization operates on a rigid honor system, similar to chivalry, in which preservation of life, hospitality, and kindness to those in need is emphasized. Combat schools are maintained to help with the basic survival of citizens. They maintain an extensive trade network to distribute their high quality “normal” goods. Their religion however focuses on ancestor veneration and achieving transcendence via meditation and life experience.
Assets (Tech, Domesticateds, Magic):
Desert Wyrms: The desert wyrms are great beasts of the desert that the Susotu have used for generations. They can only travel through the desert, and are not strictly under the control of the Susotu that ride upon them. A desert worm only requires one driver to keep it above the sand, however, this will make it difficult to control. They must have at least eight Susotu drivers to move as willed, but are usually manned by twenty or more, so that supplies and cargo can be carried. The wyrms vary in length and size, growing larger with age. The average early-adult wyrm will have a maw a meter in diameter, and will measure twenty meters in length. For each year after the first of adulthood, a wyrm will grow a meter in length, and its maw will grow by five centimeters in diameter. They are usually allowed to roam free when not in use, to allow a healthier diet of sand, and optimal growth.
Old Ones: These are ancient Desert Wyrms that have grown to immense size. They are virtually uncontrollable, but follow to a small degree the will of Rrishhukk, rising to the aid of the favored people at times, but also lashing out in other times, swallowing small settlements whole. It is rumored that there are techniques known to the Adepts that can control even these great ones given enough Adepts to employ the techniques, but the knowledge was lost with the handlers of the Old One in the tragedy that occurred upon landing on the new world.
Airships: The airship is a grand achievement of the Susotu that has allowed them to expand the habitat of the wyrm, and also allows them to move across all terrain without problems. The hulls vary in construction from ship to ship, based on resources available at the site. Many smaller ships are made of strong reinforced glass, due to ease of construction. Medium sized ships, which are often used for simple cargo transit, are usually made of strong woods or rock. The largest of the Susotu airships, which are necessary for the transport of the great wyrms, are made of steel or have thick rock hulls. The levistones are affixed in rotating spheres that are linked up to a steering section of the ship. They will usually be on the inside of the ship.
Levistones: The levistones used for the flight and movement of the airships, are generally made of glass, and are enchanted over the course of several weeks. The size of the airship determines how many levistones are used in the airship. An unmounted levistone must be tied down to prevent its escape. The enchantment on a levistone involves a speed-based movement enchantment attached to the axis of the glass cylinders. More complicated, but less powerful, enchantments can be used to make similar glass objects move at the will of a magical adept with variable speed.
Technology: The Susotu have garnered a substantial knowledge of alchemy in their endeavors to determine how best to fully domesticate the wyrms. They have the knowledge necessary to create many types of explosives, acids and otherwise, but it has never occurred to them, throughout their history, that a gun-like form might work nicely for non-adepts. Their dwellings are things of graceful beauty, glass made from the desert that they dwell in, and, unlike the cheaply made human window glass, are very difficult to break, the structures being made with large quantities of glass. They are sculpted all at once by Adepts as one piece of glass, and are planned beforehand by crafters and architects, every aspect of the glass recorded before it is made.
Magic: Most of the Susotu race are imbued with some proficiency in magic, and with a little training can do simple cantrips that can do minor things to enhance their trade. Some are stronger in their magical talents, and are trained to become Adepts.
An Adept is necessary for the enchanting of a levistone. An airship’s levistone, generally a cylinder of glass two meters in length and with a diameter of sixty centimeters, must be enchanted for three weeks by a circle of eight adepts, but can be completed faster with more adepts. Smaller levistones can be enchanted faster, but it depends upon the complexity of the enchantment and the power the Adept wishes to imbue it with. A small to centimeter sphere of glass enchanted with minor direction-capable movement on the order of five kilometers per hour is usually done by a novice in the course of a couple of days. An Adept would be able to make one relatively quickly, perhaps one or two every couple hours. Larger and faster objects may take more time to enchant. More useful shapes do not complicate the enchantment too much, though.
Adepts are capable of many other things, among them are evocation-class spells of a number of varieties, but the highest proficiencies are with heat and movement magic. (Heat and combustion are different things!) Many adepts are also taught to make sure they are precise as possible with their application of magic. Most adepts will carry staves and forms of jewelry of all kinds, engraved with aids to their casting, either inside or outside the object. Glass jewelry, regardless of whether it was made as a magical aid or for cosmetic reasons, will often be very fascinating, even beautiful.
Champion: Adept Thasai Khell
Thasai is an old Susotu blessed by the ancestors with immortality. In his long years, he has honed his arts greatly, and gained several areas of expertise. First and foremost, Thasai is an Adept, and heads the school of Adepts, granting each adept a rank when they graduate, based on their innate power level. Thasai gives them a second rank based on their trained power level. Thasai has trained in the arts of architecture and glassworking in addition to his Adept abilities, and is considered the head of the expedition by many of the settlers. Thasai would wish to have less of an impact on society than he does, but knows there is no helping it. Thasai generally tries to and does not use his power unless absolutely necessary.
(Feats of magic will be discussed per caster, per occurrence. IE: Certain casters (champion-class?) will be capable of things the average caster won’t (except in groups
))
^ This line will not be included in main post. ^
Airship Specifications (Average):
Small Airship:
Build Time: 8 weeks
Role: Scout/Raider
Height: 3-4 meters
Width: 5-6 meters
Length: 10-15 meters
Small Levistones: 4-8 (Smaller, Equates to 1-2 Normal)
Crew: 16-50
Passenger Load: 20-30
Medium Airship:
Build Time: 18 weeks
Role: Escort/Small Cargo
Height: 6-8 meters
Width: 10-12 meters
Length: 40-50 meters
Small Levistones: 8-12
Levistones: 3-4
Crew: 30-80
Passenger Load: 40-60
Large Airship:
Build Time: 44 weeks
Role: Freighter/Warship
Height: 16-20 meters
Width: 20-24 meters
Length: 70-90 meters
Levistones: 6-10
Crew: 50-120
Passenger Load: 70-90
Huge Airship: (Must disassemble to allow wyrms out. Colonies may retain ship for posterity.)
Build Time: 104 weeks
Role: Colonization/Wyrm Transport
Height: 30-50 meters
Width: 100-120 meters
Length: 200-240 meters
Levistones: 20-30
Crew: 40-60
Passenger Load: 100-120
Population Support, Growth and Movement
22% growth
Susotu
Mountain: 22/1 (unfavored/unfavored)
Hill: 220/2 (favored/normal)
Plain: 220/3 (favored/favored)
Desert: 220/3 (favored/favored)
Forest: 88/2 (normal/normal)
Rainforest: 88/2 (normal/normal)
River: +100/3 (xxx/favored)
Water: 88/3 (normal/favored)
Glacier: 0/0 (impassable/impassable)
Swamp: 88/2 (normal/normal)
Tundra: 22/1 (unfavoured/unfavored)
Desert Wyrm
3% Growth
Desert: 30/4
All Other: 0/0
Special Movement:
Small Airship: 3
Medium Airship: 2
Large Airship: 2
Huge Airship: 1