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Phosphate
2012-11-01, 04:58 PM
Intro

After literacy and the study of magic have become minespread in the world, society was seeing itself in an exponential growth, what with summons and perpetuum mobiles taking care of all the work and scarcity being a thing of the past. In the end, people turned away from religion, since they no longer needed the support of divinity, which left all deities with divine rank 1 and understandably pissed.

Seeing themselves powerless, the now small gods decided to team up for once in a great pantheon, and strike the world together. If they hit hard enough, people would fear them again, need them again, and there'd be less of them so they'd gather in smaller communities, one for each small god brought back to its former glory. And they'd hide or destroy all knowledge of arcane magic, for this never to happen again, to secure the dependency of their followers.

But of course, this didn't go as smoothly as expected. Feeling themselves imperiled, the numerous archmages of the world where quick to counterattack. It was a brutal battle of world crushing proportions, and many, both mortal and outsider, had perished. Of the various races of the world, most were brought to extinction, aside from the humans. Unwilling to let their people die out like the rest, the strongest of human wizards gathered, in a desperate attempt to find a way out of this mess. Many ideas were tossed around, from making a "truce of worship" with the gods and ending the conflict peacefully, to maintaining the status quo, enlisting the help of the archdevils, wording the perfect Wish, and so on.

Finally, it was young Morranor whose suggestion was to be followed. He proposed that everyone be relocated on a newly created hidden demiplane, where they would start the world anew, free from gods. It was to be a one way world, so no one could enter after the transfer, but it'd be also incapable of communicating with the exterior. They decided to call this new world Mora. So it was all decided. Every great wizard would travel to a different peoples and prepare them for departure. After everyone got the news, the wizards would collude once more to collectively design the new world, a process that would take little more than a year to finish.

Meanwhile, the battle with the gods waged on, Morranor happening to become a fatality, along with a couple more of the powerful wizards. But alas, the plan was advancing beautifully. The new world's design was brought to completion, one-way gates were primed in tens of thousands of spots to relocate their residents, and everyone hoped that tomorrow will finally be a day devoid of warfare.

But they were betrayed. Someone, somehow, informed the gods of this plan, and on the day of departure, the deities brought it all to a standstill. The situation was tense. While the gods could destroy the gates before everyone left, they'd be slow enough that most would be able to get away. But the gods were clever, and had a plan.

They decided to offer the following deal to the mortals: that they would leave the gates alone until every single human (since they were the most numerous) passed over, but all members of all other races would have to stay behind. By offering this deal, the gods hoped they could instill conflict in the hearts of the former allies, and end up themselves the winners eventually.

It worked. Humans graciously accepted the offer, which caused turmoil with the dwarves, gnomes, goblins, elves, halfling, orcs, goliaths, etcetera. They were attacked while trying to escape, and nearly half of them were massacred that day. But the other half wound up to be the first - and at that point, only - people to inhabit the artificial world of Mora.

The Ritual of Man's Nature



Living in a godless universe, all human, no other higher power or even sentience of different composure to relate to, can be jarring at times. Some even wondered how they should re-instill accountability, and by what means. What was to be the purpose of man, when was he to be regarded as righteous and when as wretched?

Some answered this with ethics. Some with conceptual, atheistic faiths. Others disregarded the matter completely. But one cult took it to the logical extreme.

They were the Church of Man's Nature - in essence, dedicated to exposing and "righting" every person's mentality and morality through extreme means - sometimes even torture. Much of their history, they were not a force to be reckoned with, instead growing at a steady pace, without much publicity.

That, however, changed, when the Grand Patriarch was replaced by the ambitious, diabolically intelligent and ruthless Rone.

Rone wanted to invoke a ritual that would swipe the whole world, affecting everyone according to their heart. The good and the bad would be separated by clear, physical or supernatural features. And then, morality would be again objective, would be again fact, as it was under the gods of the old, old times. That would surely put a stop to the current nihilism, fragmentation and confusion.

However, this idea proved too radical to swallow for several members of the Church, Rone's wife, Seve, included. She, and her followers, believed that bringing about such cataclysm without any consent or permission from its subjects is inherently immoral and in itself stains the nature of man, defeating the purpose of the ritual. Rone countered that, even if this proved to be the wrong thing to do in the end, and the natures of him and his followers would be forever stained by it, it'd be a small sacrifice when compared to the outcome - a world of nigh-ideal transparency of nature.

There was a vote, and the votes in favor of the ritual were more by a small margin. The face of the world was changed forever, and humanity split. Ironically, Rone ended up transforming into the form that would be taken by those of "evil nature" - while his wife would experience the transformation indicative of "good nature". These would eventually end up being the standardised denominations of the two new races - namely the Rones (evil) and the Seves (good).



Rones, Seves, Jaths, Baarians



The wicked, from the merely mischievous to the straight up diabolical all saw themselves turned into Rones. The righteous, from the merely kind to the straight up heroic saw themselves turned into Seves. It was an immediate divide, which would define society for millenia to come.

Not everyone was turned, however. A short while after she found about the ritual, Seve sent messengers to the neighboring kingdoms with instructions on how they can protect themselves from the shift, and keep their humanity pure. Unfortunately, on such a quick notice only one messenger was succesful in his journey: the one sent to Jath, the nearest community. A couple of decades later, humans would all be known as Jaths, since that is where they all originated.

A fourth raged emerged from the ritual indirectly aswell. During the shift, Seve was pregnant with Rone's kind. And when little Baari was born, he resembled neither of his parents. His name will go on to define the offspring of a Rone and a Seve, a hybrid of good and evil combined (of course, this isn't the only origin, two Baarians reproducing also results in a Baari).


The Status Quo



In the world of Mora, there's a pretty stiff and well known hierarchy. Baarians are ruling class, special, entitled, and look down upon most others. They are thought to encompass the essence of both interest and the sense of community, and frequently entrusted with positions of leadership.

While Rones and Seves are second-class, they're the most numerous, so no real discrimination affects them. Seves usually work jobs that require teamwork, aid the needy, or jobs related or tangent to law. Rones are usually antrepreneurs, writers, and scientists. They're not limited to or forced into these options, but personal preference generally leads them thusly.

Jaths stand at the bottom of the pyramid, not because of any legal walls blocking their social advancement, but because it's hard to grow in a world where most distrust you, and you can't meaningfully stay connected. You know, by and large, what to expect from a Rone, Seeve, or Baari. A Jath, however, is totally unpredictable, and most dislike that. They usually take up the work that nobody else wants - low end manufacturing, agriculture, mining, army duty, cleaning.



The Average Folk



Jaths look like ordinary humans. Nothing special. Mentally, though, they are quite different, due to the effect of medium, culture, and stigma dragging them to either rebellion or submission.

Seves are slightly taller than Jaths, averaging at 6'2" feet for males and 5'10" for females. They're also more muscular and wide-shouldered. Their skin is dark green in tone, their hair is abrasive and often spiky, and they tend to have wider noses and sharp, oversized teeth. They wear modest, single-coloured clothing most of the time, little to no jewellery, and don't spend an outstanding amount of time taking care of their look.

Rones are as tall as Jaths, except there's no difference between the height of males and females. They build lean muscle instead of the bulk of the Seves, and more proportional, agile frames. Their skin is of a pale yellow, and their eyes are often azure. They have fast growing, straight, soft hair of usually blonde hue. Their facial features are delicate, and while males can grow beards, they can't grow moustaches. They wear elegant, yet usually not very fancy clothes, and adorn their bodies with numerous tattoos representing perspectives they strongly hold to be true, ideas, and hooks for treasured memories.

Baarians are slightly shorter than Jaths, at 5'7" for males and 5'4" for females. They don't naturally develop muscle, and most appear to be rather frail. Their skin is grey, like their irises and, frequently, also their hair. They wear probably the most varied vestments, careful to always fit the activity they're involved in or the group they partake in. Although holding a moderate view on life and moderate care for both others and themselves, Baarians do not let a single ideology or archetype define them for long. Overall, they may be actually said to fit in the same place that the humans championed in the old, old days of the outside-Mora.



Non-Crunch Numbers



Jaths

Starting Ages
{table=head]Adulthood|Simple|Moderate|Complex
15 years|+1d4|+1d6|+2d6[/table]

Aging
{table=head]Middle Age|Old|Venerable|Maximum Age
35|53|70|+2d20[/table]

Alignment Spread
{table]|Lawful|Neutral|Chaotic
Good|5|5|5
Neutral|23|24|23
Evil|5|5|5[/table]

Seves

Starting Ages
{table=head]Adulthood|Simple|Moderate|Complex
12 years|+1d8|+1d8|+2d6[/table]

Aging
{table=head]Middle Age|Old|Venerable|Maximum Age
47|70|90|+1d12[/table]

Alignment Spread
{table]|Lawful|Neutral|Chaotic
Good|15|15|15
Neutral|17|16|17
Evil|2|1|2[/table]

Rones

Starting Ages
{table=head]Adulthood|Simple|Moderate|Complex
22 years|+1d8|+1d12|+2d10[/table]

Aging
{table=head]Middle Age|Old|Venerable|Maximum Age
65|100|130|+4d10[/table]

Alignment Spread
{table]|Lawful|Neutral|Chaotic
Good|2|1|2
Neutral|17|16|17
Evil|15|15|15[/table]

Baarians

Starting Ages
{table=head]Adulthood|Simple|Moderate|Complex
17 years|+1d8|+1d10|+2d8[/table]

Aging
{table=head]Middle Age|Old|Venerable|Maximum Age
50|79|100|+2d10[/table]

Alignment Spread
{table]|Lawful|Neutral|Chaotic
Good|1|1|1
Neutral|31|32|31
Evil|1|1|1[/table]



Features

Jaths


Type Humanoid [Human]
Medium Size, 30 feet land speed
+4 skill points at 1st level and at every other level
-2 penalty to Diplomacy checks, +2 bonus to Profession checks, starts with 1 rank in any 4 chosen Profession skills
+4 bonus for Disguise checks to emulate a Baari, Seve, or Rone
Optimist/Pessimist: May add +2 to a save three times a day. -1 to all saves while hit points are at half or below maximum
La 0, Favored class: choose any


Seves


Type Humanoid [Human]
Medium Size, 30 feet land speed
+2 Str, +2 Wis
Powerful Build
+2 more to Aid Another
+4 to saves against disease, curses, and poison
La 1, Favored class: Paladin


Rones


Type Humanoid [Human]
Medium Size, 30 feet land speed
+2 Dex, +2 Int
All Knowledge Skills as class skills
Can use Intimidate Int-based
Once per day, when failing a Fort save against death, can then immediately make a Will save against the same effect.
La 1, Favored class: Wizard, Archivist


Baarians


Type Humanoid [Human]
Medium Size, 30 feet land speed
+2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha
Gain a bonus racial feat. This feat can be any feat that you meet the prerequisites for. You may change what this feat is every time you level up.
La 1, Favored class: any

Phosphate
2012-11-02, 01:26 PM
Done, you may comment :)