Enderal:Races
Vyn is inhabited by a number of sentient races, all of whom are human- or elf-like in appearance.
Contents
Playable Races
Player is always mixed-race, with their father being Nehrimese, and their mother's race being selectable from four options at character creation. Each playable race has its own passive "Cultural bonus" viewable in the magic menu.
Aeterna
Aeterna are an ancient elf-like race. Unlike humans who have only a very small chance to have the inborn talent for magic, all Aeterna are magically gifted. The first Aeterna, Asâtoron, emerged from a magical anomaly some time before the Starfall. He created Ash People, a few of whom shared Asâtoron's appearance and had a long life span. Those Ash People were called "Aeterna".
Aeterna spread all across Pangora, but many of them were destroyed in a civil war among Asâtoron's subjects and in the following Starfall. After Starfall, the continent of Myar-Aranath was considered Aeterna's homeland, but it was devastated during the Zoras rebellion of year 4523 a. St. This prompted another wave of Aeterna migration across Vyn.
In-game description: Native to the swampy continent Myar-Aranath, the destruction of the land caused by decades of war forced many Aeterna to escape to other countries – where various destinies awaited them. Some pursued or disregarded them because of their innate magic talent, some revered them for it. Many Aeterna earn their life as traveling minstrels.
Cultural bonus: Blood of the First Ones
Mana +10
Entropy +2
Elementarism +2
Enchanting +4
Arazealean
Arazealeans are large, light-skinned people reknowned for their physical strength, that makes them good mercenaries.
Some Arazealeans, called Free, live in nomadic tribes, while others, who mostly inhabit coastal settlements, want to be recognised as a part of the civilized world. Despite their efforts, the whole race is often looked down upon as savages.
In-game description: Originating in the barren and steppe-like continent Arazeal, the Arazealean are a divided people. While the nomadic natives in the steppes maintain their pantheistic traditions, the coastal inhabitants regard them as primitive and struggle for recognition as a fully-fledged part of the civilized world.
Cultural bonus: Call of the Steppe
Health +10
Heavy armor +2
Two-handed +2
Handicraft +4
Kiléan
In-game description: As a secluded people, the human inhabitants of the "Belt of Kilé" are said to have a reclusive mind. Kiléans are deemed as blessed businessmen, a rumour that can be ascribed to the "Blue Island Coalition", which is Vyn's biggest trading company and is located in Kilé, among other things.
Cultural bonus: Song of the Blue Isles
Carrying Capacity +10
Rhetorics +4
Sleight of hand +4
Marksman +2
Qyranian
Qyranians are distinguished by their dark skin. They don't have traditional families, but instead live in so-called "circles" – polyamorous communities that raise children together and can include any number of men and women.
In-game description: Qyranians originate form the namesake desert continent, which is said to be both barren and inhospitable. At the same time it is also known as cradle of science, mysticism and culture. While many foreign countries admire Qyra for its advanced culture, they are often deemed as heretical and immoral – especially on religious continents like Enderal.
Cultural bonus: Breath of the Desert
Stamina +10
One handed +2
Light Armor +2
Alchemy +4
Other Races
Starlings
The Yalam-Rashâi were a race in one of the previous iterations of the Cycle that managed to avoid the Cleansing by building a floating city and escaping there. The limited space of their Star City forced them to implement strict population control laws. People who violated those, as well as other criminals, were stripped of their memories and exiled back to Vyn, where they became known as Starlings.
All Starlings share subconscious longing to find their way "back to the stars", which prompts them to develop advanced technologies.
However, during the course of the game it is discovered that Yalam-Rashâi disappeared for unknown causes some time after the Starfall, leaving the Star City abandoned. Some characters theoretized that they might have moved somewhere else.
Skaragg
The Skaragg people live on a barren and inhospitable archipelago of the same name. They are small, slim and have almond-shaped eyes.
The Skaragg society is based on matriarchy and shamanistic beliefs and consists of several disorganised tribes. Their reputation of savages and fierce pirates is so strong that Lishari, whose mother was a Skaragg captive, was feared by her peers for looking like a Skaragg.
Nehrimese
The Nehrimese significantly vary in appearance from pale and light-skinned people in the North to dark-skinned people in the South (although the latter are still not as dark as Qyranians).
Enderalean
Enderaleans are light-skinned, visually indistinguishable from northern Nehrimese.
Enderalean society is theocratic, ruled directly by The Holy Order. Unlike Nehrim, Enderal has no slavery, but a rigid caste system is in place, allowing only limited social mobility.
Sunborn
In 6136 a. St. Keeper Dal'Marak conducted a risky experiment in an attempt to make the land around the city of Thalgard more fertile. The experiment failed catastrophically, destroying most life in the area and permanently contaminating it. However, some people survived, losing their ability of speech. Over the centuries their descendants formed an agressive community only posessing rudimentary form of language.
These people became known as the Sunborn. According to Yuslan, nobody cares about them enough to study their culture or try and restore their speaking capability.