People’s of Talav, Fasak, and beyond
The Ancients
A vast technologically advanced civilization that once dominated the entire world. Their civilization collapsed and disappeared uncounted thousands of years ago, and very little is known about them.
The ruins they left behind are considered cursed, and are often deliberately destroyed or looted throughout Wesfalle in the few places they had survived. The Sealgairean of the Wastes also explore them for salvage.
Humans
Humans are the most numerous species in Wesfalle, much to the frustration of others. While a small population of Humans, the Duhass, have lived in Talav as long as anyone can remember, the overwhelming majority of Humans are much more recent and trace their ancestry to the western Isles.
Statues in the ruins of the Ancients look Human, and that forms the basis of the Human claim that they have the right to “reclaim” Talav.
Sealgairean
Humanoid, but much more powerfully built, they are obligate carnivores and apex predators with long-sharp teeth, clawed hands, and skin as tough as thick leather. They are highly adapted to their desert environment and can withstand extremes of heat that would kill a Human.
There are less obvious differences as well – Sealgairean cannot cry for one thing. Some Human scholars believe this is because any Sealgair who cried would be killed for showing weakness, others maintain that it just one of their many water-saving adaptations that help them survive in the deep desert. Instead of crying, they mourn by keening or howling, and then only in extremes of emotion.
Glic
Shorter than Humans with long arms, four-jointed fingers, fine soft fur, large black eyes, and multiple rows of small conical teeth. Glic are primarily insectivores and appear grotesque to Humans – and vice versa. They live in tunnels and caves, preferring stone hills for their structural stability and avoiding clay and silt.
Traditional clans have a matriarchal society. Their clans are led by a council of four elders who each represent a critical aspect of their society and have an essential perspective.
Meticulous and careful to a fault, Glic are fantastic mechanists – despite their short lives which average only fifty years. They are a deeply empathetic people who love music and dance, and a few trade with Human and Sihean.
Dragons
Dragons stand apart from the other species and many Humans don’t believe they exist any more – if they ever did at all. The Dragons aren’t eager to enlighten them.
Solitary, incredibly long-lived, and wrapped in magic; legend holds that the most ancient among them could change their shapes to blend in when they desired. It was Dragons who first taught soul-crafting to the Sihean long ago.
Others
The world is wide and there are many lands where no Human has set foot since the fall of the Ancients.
Who knows what may wait in such places?
Sihean
The androgynous and long-lived sihean have no gender as Humans understand it. They mate in triads and reproduce slowly. They are unmatched crafters, imbuing fragments of Soul into the things they create – a sihean soul-crafted item is alive and will grow and change over time as its bond with its user deepens.
Sihean societies are based on consensus – debate and deep discussion are the hallmarks of their communities, with participants often trading sides mid-argument to try and better understand each other’s viewpoints. To the Sihean, Humans seem to move dangerously fast. The history of interactions between the two species has often been unfriendly.
Craoves
The forest folk of Talav are poorly understood by Humans. Early Human settlers believed they were manifestations of the spirits of trees or the forests and rivers themselves, but early conflicts revealed flesh and blood underneath their bark-like skin.
They eat by ‘planting’ themselves on decomposing plant and animal matter and absorbing it through their feet. They have no mouths and nothing Humans recognize as language. Their voices are said to be like the wind whispering in trees or water running in a stream, too subtle for the Human ear to comprehend.
Often hostile to Human settlement, since settlement typically means logging, conflicts are common.
Avi
While they are roughly Human in size, the Avi resemble anthropomorphic flightless ravens. Their homeland in the Southern Isles is a mystery and the Avi are relentless in their desire to keep it that way. Ships that sail into their waters are attacked and sunk on sight without warning. In any case, the Avi homeland shares no land-border with the Human-dominated lands of Talav.
Avi traders rarely venture outside their own waters, but occasionally appear in Talav to trade..