New Races (draft synopsis)

The aten are an elegant race with silver-hued skin, violet hair, and golden eyes. Links between them and the jouri seem possible but nothing is certain. The aten were once the rules of the Aten Empire, but were overthrown and now live in isolated towns or ghettos, surrounded by fading remnants of their greatness. They worship a single deity, who they call The Singer. Should his song stop, the Earth would end, so the aten sing to accompany him.

The avia are humanoids with feathers in place of hair. They were once slaves of the aten, but overthrew their masters and established their own domain instead, the Feathered Realm. There are four avia lineages: the aristocratic aurad, the cunning craw, the gregarious magdel, and the high-flying syrin.

The ipotane are a bipedal humanoid race with horse-like legs. The travelling ipotane live in the high northern steppes and make their living as raiders and marauders, while sedentary ipotane live a more pastoral and agricultural life in the river valleys. The ipotane are industrious workers but somewhat dull conversationalists, and have a weakness for alcohol.

The jouri are a pale skinned race, with red hair and yellow, cat-like eyes. They are tall and lean, with grim expressions and an indomitable nature. They claim to have been the aristocracy of an great kingdom, but no trace of this land remains. They are rare in this age, and live only in the ancient city of Imre, in the desolate northern mountains.

The ordali are a delicate, almost waifish race of engineers and scientists. They are related to the nekali, and have pale skin and light hair, and slender tentacles where facial hair would normally grow. The ordali have come to worship the aten’s Singer, and the two races are natural allies.

The verex are a large, ogre-like race with spines in their scalp and arms. They are violent raiders that inhabit the western plains beyond the mountains. The most direct route to the rich fat lands of the east is through the north, but that way also leads beneath Imre of the Jouri, the only city and the only people to have repeatedly defeated the verex. The verex usually veer south through the Denjim Hills instead.Although verex raiding is frequent, the various tribes are scattered and disunified, so they rarely form hordes large enough to pose a serious threat. They worship an eclectic and bloodthirsty pantheon headed by a thunder god.

The tumae are a tall, slender race of people with golden skin, dark hair, and pale blue eyes. They are travelers and have an almost perfect sense of direction. Rather than towns or cities of their own, the tumae establish hostels, inns, and waystations that double as places of sanctuary and information to other tumae.