Post by Harkovast on Sept 29, 2015 0:39:51 GMT
(The Naljat looked like deer, with both males and females having antlers. Their magics were mind and ice.)
The Naljat inhabited a harsh, bleak realm to the north east of Xalkara.
Life was a struggle for survival, the Naljat constantly trying to scrape a living from unfertile soil while suffering the endless predations of the Ferocious Karak raiders, the Vast armies of Ishmus (seeking slaves and treasure for the King of Kings) and the monstrous armoured warriors of the Vort. The Naljat lands were never permanently occupied, aside from a few Ishmus colonies mining precious minerals along the coast. Their unpleasant homeland, cold and lifeless, would be hard for an army to permanently conquer and worth little to anyone who could hold it.
The Naljat had no allies, and though it is said that they sort to appeal to Eldex to assist them. Unfortunately, the Wizards only act to save a race from extermination, not hardship or slavery, so Eldex did nothing.
Being a very devout, spiritual people, the Naljat always looked to their religion for comfort and an explanation for the hardships they suffered. Such a cruel existence lent itself to cruel gods; gods of punishment and revenge.
The Naljat worshiped two beings, Dac and Vek. These terrifying, monstrous dieties did not reward the righteous, they tormented the guilty. Though the Naljat did have a concept of a heaven, their focus was always on avoiding the horrors that awaited the wicked, and the satisfaction of knowing that their enemies would suffer in the next world.
The Naljat believed that the hardship of this life was the result of their inherently sinful nature. The world was a wicked, fallen place and they themselves, as a part of it, were also wicked. Their own good deeds could not hope to off set their own absolute corruption, only praise and worship of the brother gods, The Great Worm Dac and Vek the Unremitting Tormentor could earn them divine forgiveness.
The Naljat believed that their terrible gods would judge all races, so everyone but them would be tormented for eternity. To the Naljat this seemed like a just reversal of fortune.
The Naljat believed that eventually a final judgement would come at the end of the world when the gods would join together into a single, terrifying being who would come down to Harkovast and pass sentence on all people. He would be known as the Godhead, the ultimate culmination of the Naljat theology, who would destroy their enemies and deliver them their justice. The unholy would be made to pay for their sins and only the faithful would be spared.
The Naljat were largely nomadic, due to needing to move to find resources in their barren homeland, but had some permanent structures, mostly impressive stone temples to their gods, with grotesque statues of the gods torturing and tormenting the sinful. At their temples the Naljat gave sacrifices of animals, burnt offerings of crops, piles of treasure and in some cases even sacrifices of people in their desperation for divine favour.
Unfortunately, these temples proved rich targets for the Naljats' enemies and though they were heavily defended, they were often despoiled and looted.
The Naljat warriors wore masks that resembled skulls, sometimes made from actual skulls of fallen warriors, in order to frighten their enemies and show that they had accepted death and they would meet it gladly.
In battle, they possessed a strange psycomancy that allowed the warriors to enter a battle trance where their commander could direct them mentally, giving silent instructions, allowing them to ignore fear or driving them into a berserk frenzy. This gave them a surprising level of organisation on the battle field for a relatively primitive people, something that was vitally needed to even the score against their many enemies.
Their wars were not always on sided, the Naljat raided the Karak almost constantly, and launched attacks against the Ishmus and, on rare occasion, the fearsome Vort. But with limited resources and under pressure from many sides, ultimately they would come off worse and in the long run the result was always bleak for them.
The Naljat society was strict and harsh with often arbitrary rules. Life for the Naljat often seemed unfair and chaotic, so these laws were perhaps an attempt to bring structure and order to their surrounding.
The roles of women were heavily restricted, though some women ended up with important roles simply out of necessity. Homosexuality was not tolerated, and half castes were only accepted if they had a Naljat mother, otherwise they would be exiled and considered a sinful foriegner.
As time passed, the Naljat began to despair, the endless cycle of defeat and hardship continued unabated and satisfaction in the next world no longer seemed enough. Eventually, the kings and rulers of the Naljat were over thrown by the High Priests and religious leaders. Their rulers had failed to deliver the Naljat, proving they were unrighteous and unfit to rule. The priests claimed that if the Naljat could be more faithful, more righteous, closer to the gods than that would hasten the end of days and the Godhead's blessed arrival. Their enemies grew ever more wicked and the world ever darker, so only by becoming purer themselves could they hasten the day of days.
The zeal of the Naljat was a dangerous thing to toy with, as many of the priests found to their costs. Those that were seen as too moderate, too wavering or too weak were quickly stripped of their rank and sacrificed to the very gods they had served. In time, a strange, radical sect took power, eliminating or converting any priest who spoke of any alternate theology. Known as the Instigationists to outsiders, though amongst the Naljat they were simply the one true faith, these priests stated that it was not enough to try to hasten the Godheads arrival through faith. They said it would require action, and they had found the methods by which it could be done.
There were powers quite unlike the 14 magics of Harkovast, outside of even the Old Magic. There were forces from far away places unknown even to Eldex, things that the selfish, arrogant wizards had never even considered.
The Naljat would not await the Godhead, they would create it.
The Naljat inhabited a harsh, bleak realm to the north east of Xalkara.
Life was a struggle for survival, the Naljat constantly trying to scrape a living from unfertile soil while suffering the endless predations of the Ferocious Karak raiders, the Vast armies of Ishmus (seeking slaves and treasure for the King of Kings) and the monstrous armoured warriors of the Vort. The Naljat lands were never permanently occupied, aside from a few Ishmus colonies mining precious minerals along the coast. Their unpleasant homeland, cold and lifeless, would be hard for an army to permanently conquer and worth little to anyone who could hold it.
The Naljat had no allies, and though it is said that they sort to appeal to Eldex to assist them. Unfortunately, the Wizards only act to save a race from extermination, not hardship or slavery, so Eldex did nothing.
Being a very devout, spiritual people, the Naljat always looked to their religion for comfort and an explanation for the hardships they suffered. Such a cruel existence lent itself to cruel gods; gods of punishment and revenge.
The Naljat worshiped two beings, Dac and Vek. These terrifying, monstrous dieties did not reward the righteous, they tormented the guilty. Though the Naljat did have a concept of a heaven, their focus was always on avoiding the horrors that awaited the wicked, and the satisfaction of knowing that their enemies would suffer in the next world.
The Naljat believed that the hardship of this life was the result of their inherently sinful nature. The world was a wicked, fallen place and they themselves, as a part of it, were also wicked. Their own good deeds could not hope to off set their own absolute corruption, only praise and worship of the brother gods, The Great Worm Dac and Vek the Unremitting Tormentor could earn them divine forgiveness.
The Naljat believed that their terrible gods would judge all races, so everyone but them would be tormented for eternity. To the Naljat this seemed like a just reversal of fortune.
The Naljat believed that eventually a final judgement would come at the end of the world when the gods would join together into a single, terrifying being who would come down to Harkovast and pass sentence on all people. He would be known as the Godhead, the ultimate culmination of the Naljat theology, who would destroy their enemies and deliver them their justice. The unholy would be made to pay for their sins and only the faithful would be spared.
The Naljat were largely nomadic, due to needing to move to find resources in their barren homeland, but had some permanent structures, mostly impressive stone temples to their gods, with grotesque statues of the gods torturing and tormenting the sinful. At their temples the Naljat gave sacrifices of animals, burnt offerings of crops, piles of treasure and in some cases even sacrifices of people in their desperation for divine favour.
Unfortunately, these temples proved rich targets for the Naljats' enemies and though they were heavily defended, they were often despoiled and looted.
The Naljat warriors wore masks that resembled skulls, sometimes made from actual skulls of fallen warriors, in order to frighten their enemies and show that they had accepted death and they would meet it gladly.
In battle, they possessed a strange psycomancy that allowed the warriors to enter a battle trance where their commander could direct them mentally, giving silent instructions, allowing them to ignore fear or driving them into a berserk frenzy. This gave them a surprising level of organisation on the battle field for a relatively primitive people, something that was vitally needed to even the score against their many enemies.
Their wars were not always on sided, the Naljat raided the Karak almost constantly, and launched attacks against the Ishmus and, on rare occasion, the fearsome Vort. But with limited resources and under pressure from many sides, ultimately they would come off worse and in the long run the result was always bleak for them.
The Naljat society was strict and harsh with often arbitrary rules. Life for the Naljat often seemed unfair and chaotic, so these laws were perhaps an attempt to bring structure and order to their surrounding.
The roles of women were heavily restricted, though some women ended up with important roles simply out of necessity. Homosexuality was not tolerated, and half castes were only accepted if they had a Naljat mother, otherwise they would be exiled and considered a sinful foriegner.
As time passed, the Naljat began to despair, the endless cycle of defeat and hardship continued unabated and satisfaction in the next world no longer seemed enough. Eventually, the kings and rulers of the Naljat were over thrown by the High Priests and religious leaders. Their rulers had failed to deliver the Naljat, proving they were unrighteous and unfit to rule. The priests claimed that if the Naljat could be more faithful, more righteous, closer to the gods than that would hasten the end of days and the Godhead's blessed arrival. Their enemies grew ever more wicked and the world ever darker, so only by becoming purer themselves could they hasten the day of days.
The zeal of the Naljat was a dangerous thing to toy with, as many of the priests found to their costs. Those that were seen as too moderate, too wavering or too weak were quickly stripped of their rank and sacrificed to the very gods they had served. In time, a strange, radical sect took power, eliminating or converting any priest who spoke of any alternate theology. Known as the Instigationists to outsiders, though amongst the Naljat they were simply the one true faith, these priests stated that it was not enough to try to hasten the Godheads arrival through faith. They said it would require action, and they had found the methods by which it could be done.
There were powers quite unlike the 14 magics of Harkovast, outside of even the Old Magic. There were forces from far away places unknown even to Eldex, things that the selfish, arrogant wizards had never even considered.
The Naljat would not await the Godhead, they would create it.
