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{{Info races
{{Info Lineage
|image = Ailorsplash3.png
|name = Ailor
|pronunciation = Ay-lor
|test = Ailor (in Common)
|classification = [[Human]]
|test2 = [[File:Qolorth.png|80px]]  
|subraces = None, but they are classified by Lineages instead
|test3 = '''Motto:''' "March, march to the glory of progress"
|nicknames =
|image = GKdc6 UXIAAOUe4.jpg
*Humies (derogatory)
|state = Many
*Humans (scientific)
|ruler = Varied
*Barbarians (Elven)
|languages = Primarily Common
|languages = Too many to count; see [[Ailor Cultures]]
|religion = [[Unionism]], [[Fornoss]], [[Draconism]]
|naming = Varied based on cultures; see [[Ailor Cultures]]
|first_recorded = Unclear
 
|demonym = Ailor
|distinction = A culturally diverse people conquering both each other and the world.
|maxage = 110 years (rarely over 100 though).
|eye = Brown, green, grey, blue.
|hair = blond, ginger, brown, black, grey.
|skin =  
[[File:Skin1.png]]
 
[[File:Skin2.png]]
 
[[File:Skin4.png]]
 
[[File:Skin3.png]]
|}}
|}}
From the warm coastlines of [[Daendroc]] to the icy ranges of [[Ellador]], the Ailor [[Human|Humans]] are the most numerous on Aloria. Known for developing a large variety of government forms and sprawling bureaucracies Ailor are masters of statecraft and intrigue, building many kingdoms and nations, and having just as many conflicts with one another as they have with others. Ailor once began as the fiercely barbarian and tribal people of [[Ceardia]], seen as nothing but slave cattle to the Altalar, though eventually rose up against their former masters in a moment of weakness. This gave rise to many smaller kingdoms and nations that would eventually give rise to the Regalian Empire, which is commonly seen as the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, at least since antiquity. Proving to be both resourceful and aggressive, Ailor have conquered much of the known world under the banner of their various realms and continue to subject foreign entities through direct warfare and indirect scheming. While also being incredibly numerous, the Ailor are perhaps also the most divided people on Aloria, more so than the Altalar, because of their extreme cultural diversity and opposition to each other. Ailor continue to both be the guardians and protectors of the continued existence of the world as it is known, but also the largest imperialists who ravage non-Ailor societies for resources and technological advancements to fuel their own quest for world domination.
Ailor is a term that describes a vast range of people with no clear single heritage origin, but who all developed around the same time. Aloria's analog for Humans, the Ailor are Aloria's most numerous people by sheer virtue of populating the majority of the world's landmasses, and their comparatively shorter lives to those of other heritage, causing their population numbers to explode in short periods. To many other societies, the Ailor were barely on the radar for thousands of years. Despite their huge numbers, for most of history, they were the uncounted footnote, often an entity to be acted upon, rather than setting the stage for the global empires of old. The world-altering event that was the Cataclysm changed the global foodchain, propelling the Ailor to the top with the newly established Regalian Empire, which would grow to become the world's greatest superpower. The majority of the Roleplay occurs in the capital of the Ailor people, Regalia.  
 
==Physical & Mental Characteristics==
[[File:Leutzicoiz.png|260px|thumb|right|Ailor are strongly aristocratic]]
Ailor are seen as the average middle ground between all races, having some visual aesthetics and traits seen more uniquely or in an exaggerated manner among other races, thus providing the perfect middle ground from which to describe all other Races. Ailor are so common around the world that every person of every race will be guaranteed to have met at least one Ailor, if not lived in Ailor society for some time, as Ailor minorities are viritually present in every single society, even the far flung Sihai in the staple port of Dexai. Ailor have a wide range of heritage-coded features. When the Ailor people first appeared roughly 1000 years prior to the modern age, referred to as the Ceardian tribes, racial appearance was still fairly stratified. In the northern regions of Ceardia lived mostly the warmland tribes, with dark skin tones and features mostly reminiscing of people of African descent in the real world. In the western regions of Ceardia lived mostly the wetland tribes, with dark hair colors and epicanthic eye-folds, with features mostly reminiscing of people of East-Asian or South-East Asian descent in the real world. In the southern mountain regions of Ceardia lived mostly the highland tribes, with pale skin and bright and fair hair colors, with features mostly reminiscing of people of European or Caucasian descent in the real world. In the eastern regions of Ceardia lived mostly the savannah tribes, with warm and tanned skin tones, dark hair and eyes, with features mostly reminiscing of people of North-African, Middle-Eastern or Central Asian descent in the real world. And finally, in the tall woodlands of the west islands, lived the pine tribes with features reminiscing of Pacific Islander, Aboriginal, First Nations and other indigenous peoples of the Americas descent. While these tribes remained somewhat superficially divided early on before Altalar slave-raids, the rise of Altalar Slavery and notably the departure of the proto-Velheimers from the Ceardian mainland to Zemlith saw a great mixing of tribes. The Altalar did not care for what skin-tone their slaves had, and the flight from Ceardia to Zemlith saw many tribes come together and work together for a better future, thus causing a truly diverse and mixed society.
 
As the Ailor continued to colonize beyond Zemlith, diverse tribal waves of Velheim ships carried the descendants of these early explorers far and wide, settling far away lands like Silbrae, Carmoor, Nordskag, Hedryll and the Folkar lands. Eventual movements into the Regalian Archipelago also gave rise to entirely new tribes, or just mixed societies where the identity of tribes simply melted away. It is commonly understood that the concept of tribe-membership was effectively gone by 300 BC, and that the Ailor race had achieved a high degree of internal diversity in terms of skin-colors and facial features, with many of them even mixing, and creating new ones. In the modern day, skin-color is never a consideration of bigotry towards other races. Ailor racism takes its form more in exceptions to the norm that they create. For example, Cielothar look dreamy and detached from this world with their long ears and wild hair, so Ailor refer to them as Day-Dreamers or Fleeting Elves, both ideological forms of racism detached from skin-tone, as it would make little sense for brown and black-skinned Ailor to insult another race on having equally brown skin. In modern times, it is even not entirely unusual for families that do have primarily Caucasian-coded members to suddenly have a East-Asian-coded child being born, and even within families, skin-tones can be 100% the same, but they don't have to be. Regalian society is internally diverse enough for the Duchess Cadieux of Vixhall's brother to be appearing of African descent even if both parents are of Caucasian descent, and this would not raise an eye-brows to anyone, only if he was born with pointed ears or a lizard tail.
 
Other feature wise, Ailor have a wide range of visual traits. Eye-colors are the wildest among Ailor, ranging from blues to greens to brown (even intensely dark brown) to gray to hazel and all ranges in between. Hair colors are equally free, ranging from blondes to browns to blacks and gingers and everything in between. These colors do not even need to be consistent with what tribe they might have originally belonged to. It is quite possible for the Duke Marion Jonckheer of Zuiderpoort to have a skin reminiscing of Central-Asian descent, with epicanthic eye-folds, blue eye colors and ginger hair. There are ultimately no hard and fast rules for what an Ailor should look like. Tribe descent is all but gone, and Culture and Lineage also have no bearing on the appearance of an Ailor. There are just as many Pacific-islander looking Bolven Ailor as there are Archan Ailor, and Leutz-Vixe or Dunbrae cultured Ailor or African-coded Velheim and Zvorun or Vladno. Even to put a common personality on Ailor is practically impossible. Ailor are so diverse personally, that Ailors are capable of having any personality or mentality. The only real thing that causes aggressive divides among Ailor are their political ideologies and their religious tendencies. Ailor are the only race that aggressively splinter internally compared to other societies depending on their loyalties to different world and life beliefs, and Ailor are also capable of immense violence and conflict on their own race, to prove the righteousness of their beliefs over the others. That being said, most of these ideologies and beliefs largely remain harmonized in the Regalian Empire, where the common goal of loyalty to the Empire brings about some civility to their interactions.
 
Half-Ailor's features follow all of the varied possibilities for Full Ailor, with some notable differences. The most common feature amongst Half Ailor, due to the large variety of Half-Nelfin, are smaller pointed ears. Half-Ailor tend to inherit most of the visual features of their Ailor parent, with one to two small physical features of their non-Ailor Parent. This can manifest as small patches of fur on their face for a Half-Ailor with an Asha parent, or slightly greyish skin-tone and pointed ears for a Half-Ailor with a Kathar parent. Acceptance, or lack thereof, of Half-Ailor varies wildly between Cultures, but [[Regalian Law]] allows for the full integration of Half-Ailor with First Civil Status Non-Ailor parents. Half-Ailor follow the Lineage of their Ailor Parent.
 
==Ailor Lineages==
Ailor don’t have subraces like the Altalar or Kathar, rather, their race is subdivided by so called Lineages. These Lineages are long running bloodlines that date back several hundreds of years, perhaps even more than a thousand years to when the Ailor first emerged as petty kingdoms and tribes in Ceardia, before any of them ventured forth into the world and colonized the other lands. The belief is held by Scholars that smaller distinct tribes of Ailor formed in various geographical areas that gave rise to these unique bloodlines, even if later developments through population growth and spread resulted in more visually diversification of the race. Lineages don’t impart many visual features anymore (only some of them do), but they do grant a host of so called “Innate Abilities”. These are by classification Abilities, but because the line between Ability and innate or cultural upbringing are immensely blurred, the Ailor don’t view them as special powers or Abilities, just something they have always been able to do, and something that is innately natural to them. It is important to note however that the Ailor Lineages are not a substitute for culture. Infact, many Lineages can be divided by different cultures, because cultures act as an additional layer on top of the Lineages setting them apart. A Bolven might for example be Velheim, but they might just as well be Ithanian or Daendroque, and have no familial connections with the Bolven of the other cultures. Time has passed to such a degree that all Lineages exist in all cultures more or less to the same degree, and to a point where Lineage does not affect cultural upbringing. Most of the Ailor don’t know their Lineage, and don’t acknowledge it at all, since their Innate Abilities are all very mundane appearing, and one would need Historical Knowledge Proficiency to even be able to identify a Lineage. Cultural appearance still applies (with regards to height, hair, eyes, etc.), except for Lineages which have overriding height limits.
Nobles in the same family / Adopted members may have different Ailor Lineages. There are some limitations still in effect however:
*Children must always obey Lineages of their parents.
*Parents must always obey Lineages of their children.
*Siblings must always obey Lineages of their siblings.
*First Cousins must always obey Lineages of their cousins.
*Second removed Cousins and further may have whatever Lineage, subservient to the rules above for their "sector" of the family.
*Adopted family members may have whatever Lineage.
*Married in people may have whatever Lineage was reasonable where they came from
Non-Noble houses are encouraged to be of the same Lineage, but not enforced. Children from 2 parents of different Lineages have random Lineages at birth.
 
====Bolven====
The Bolven are the Half-Giants of the Ailor, descending from an ancient lineage of Half-Giants back in Ceardia, the rough central swamp and mountainous regions. Those of Bolven blood have always been relatively rare and been a curiosity in the more subtle Lineage dominated Ailor societies. Bolven can be much taller than all other Bloodlines, ranging up to the 7 foot and five inches, however still appearing like any other Ailor.
 
====Fennh====
The Fennh are the Halflings of the Ailor, descending from an ancient lineage of small-people back in Ceardia. Their homeland was in the Vennen areas, large lush greenlands with vibrant flowers and plants in the north of the Bolven mountains. The Fennh (much like the Bolven) are a very un-subtle Lineage of Ailor in that they are noticeably small, shorter than Dwarves even at around 4 feet tall. Unlike the Bolven however, the Fennh do not hide this, and in fact take pride in their stature, and having everything around them designed in a way to accommodate this shortness.
 
====Drahl====
The Drahl are an ancient lineage of people originally living near the western clifflands of Ceardia, however this lineage developed more strongly in the Regalian Archipelago following colonization. The Drahl don’t appear different from other Lineages on the surface, however something very distinct about them is their intensely strong connection they have with a pet animal, usually a bird of prey. Inexplicably, somewhere between birth and the age of 5, a child of the Drahl Lineage is visited by an animal, and usually through some event in which they help the creature in trouble. The animal and Drahl then create a strong connection which lasts them a lifetime, with one quickly dying after the other in severe grief should one expire before their time.  These companions live an unnaturally long (or short) life, with many of them living side-by-side to their Drahl master for upwards to 90 years, something that has always stupefied animal experts.
 
====Nautilaan====
The Nautilaan are a Lineage of Ailor who are particularly attuned to the winds as travelers. The Nautilaan descend from the first explorers and colonizers of the Ailor, they were the first Lineage to leave the Ceardian homeland, and also the only Lineage entirely formed on the oceans outside of Ceardia. The Nautilaan are historically trained to become the most expert navigators and nomads.
 
====Lexxons====
The Lexxons, sometimes called Empaths, are a Lineage of Ailor who are particularly attuned to the skill of diplomacy and politics, a Lineage that originally started in the first Ceardian city called Manvonth, but developed more in the Regalian Kingdom after its colonization (prior to becoming the Regalian Empire after the Five Family Rebellion).
 
====Woaden====
The Woaden are a Lineage of Ailor finely attuned to the forests and darkwalds of the world, capable of thriving in dangerous deep woodlands that many others would be fearful of entering. Their Lineage hails from the great pine forests of the northwest, where the ground was infertile and the predators dangerous during the night. The Woaden are attuned to anything dark, having reflective shine in their eyes similar to a cat when seen in the dark, as well as being innately skilled in traversing and climbing the most difficult of trees and terrain with relative ease.
 
====Archan====
The Archan are a Lineage of Ailor finely attuned to faith and religion and all that is holy, driving back demons and darkness, and proselytizing their faith to the masses. The Archan hail from the Old Gods holy sites of Olmanth in Ceardia, but later spread out to other faiths within Aloria, such as the Regalian Archipelago with the foundations of Unionism. Archan make exceptional paladins and guardians against the unholy, calling upon the gifts of their god(s) in battle, but also soothing the hearts and bodies of those around them with virtuous words and deeds.
 
====Olean====
The Olean are a Lineage of Ailor finely attuned to thievery, smuggling, underhanded activities and other criminal occupations. The Oleans hail from the southwestern flatlands of Ceardia where life was always tough and the locals had to resort to unpleasant activities to stay alive during the frequent droughts and invasions by other tribes. Oleans are not distinguishable from the other Lineages, however the word “Olean” exists in many modern vocabularies as something that describes a thief, though the reality is that Oleans will likely be the last ones standing during a calamity or famine starving a city.
 
====Carnvaal====
The Carnvaal are a Lineage of Ailor who excel and love the revelry of a party, social happening, or general celebration. The Carnvaal hail from the Carnvaal valley deep in the interior of Old Ceardia that was frequently raided by other Lineages due to the excellent river access. To deal with the stresses of harsh living, the locals adopted a near-constant life of partying and seeking thrills, eventually attuning themselves to being able to charm their invaders with jovial gregariousness and hospitality. Carnvaal cannot be distinguished from other Lineages, however their name, Carnvaal, has since been adopted into many celebration and festivities, namely the Carnivals of the Regalian Empire that bring homage to their party-going ways.
 
====Medavinti====
The Medavinti are a somewhat mysterious Lineage that doesn't have an explicit origin on Old Ceardia, or indeed anywhere. They just appeared at an undetermined point in time, and continue be relatively rare among the Ailor due to their small numbers. A popular theory is that Medavinti developed somewhere in the Altalar slave circles as art copyists, eventually escaping or being released, and establishing artistic villages hidden in inspirational valleys and far away groves where they could continue to make art together without outside interference.
 
====Brannon====
The Brannon Lineage descends from the old Brannon Warbands that roved the Ceardian countryside, never truly calling any one place their home, and going wherever the coin or the plunder was. Brannon are brawny, even in comparison to the Bolven who tend to be considered their taller cousins. Through a long and hard life of fighting and enduring more combat and hardship than any other Lineage, the Brannon eventually became the hardiest of them all. The Brannon can usually be told apart from other Lineages by the fact that they are far brawnier than other Lineages, but this is not a guaranteed way of telling, as their appearance can also be achieved by other Lineages.
 
====Akkadian====
The Akkadian Lineage descends from the Caravans of Akkad, a group of caravan nomads that roamed the Old Ceardian lands and traveled from town to town, attempting to record their local legends and tales into an early form of Ailor script, a written language of stripes and dots that has long since died out and been replaced by the Altalar alphabet. The Akkadians are scholars without equal among the other Ailor Lineages, and spend most of their life pursuing more knowledge. Today, the Akkadians have spread out over the world, perhaps no longer traveling in the Caravans of Akkad, but settling down and establishing schools of learning of their own.
 
==Summary of Racial Abilities==
All Abilities are listed in detail on the [[Ability List]] Page. Additional rules applied to those Abilities are recorded in the table below. Aesthetics for Abilities may be dictated by the players, as long as the Ability Name is mentioned in the Emote, which is mandatory for Ability use. The following Abilities are what is considered a Racial Ability Set. Meaning, that none of these Abilities attribute Aberrant status to any individual, even if they are classified like they would. Only additional Abilities gained from outside of this Racial Ability Set can attribute Aberrant Status. Of the list below, regardless of what [[Cultures]] a Character belongs to, one Ailor Lineage must be chosen. It is not possible to mix Lineages.
===Bolven===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Body Morph 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Body Morph 1 | The Character can activate internal body processes to rapidly grow or reduce muscle-mass over the span of several seconds. This allows the Character to change their Body Shape at will, while also granting access to the “Musclegod” Body Shape, a Body Shape that can only be used through this Ability and is not innately available in the Proficiency System. Musclegod is classified as above Strongman, but with such muscle-size that is so large, one would think the person has trouble moving around in an efficient manner. This Ability has no Cooldown and can be used mid-combat.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Super Self 1
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Super Self 1 | Upon being physically harmed by any Mundane Attack or Ability, or upon hitting another person with any of these, the Character triggers a battle-state. When battle-state is activated, anyone within 2 blocks of the person is knocked over, while the person’s appearance may change with a wide variety of non-identity altering aesthetics including but not limited to: steaming skin, flaming eyes, electrified hair, increased vascularity, darkening of the eyes and sockets, shredding skin, colored glow, and other visuals of rage and battle. While Super Self is active, the Character gains +5 Physical Stat.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Super Self 3
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Super Self 3 | The user can use Super Self 3 to instantly filter (or prevent themselves from breathing/ingesting) and nullify any Gas, Toxin, or ingested Alchemical Substance, making them immune to it. This Ability only affects Ability-Created Gases that have a tangible visual effect. This process is automatic, meaning they cannot pick and choose, except in the case of drinking Alcohol.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Fennh===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Omniaware 1
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Omniaware 1  | The user cannot be taken by surprise from behind, below, the sides, above or from far away. If any (Mundane) attack or harming Ability is used on them, a sixth sense will trigger making them aware of an attack that would otherwise take them by surprise. This does not grant additional dodging or avoiding mechanisms or guarantees, so standard Combat Roleplay Logic must still apply to dictate whether or not the user would be able to fairly block or avoid an incoming attack. This Ability purely gives the knowledge of such an incoming attack.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" |  Flux Shift 1
| Body Alter
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip:  Flux Shift 1 | This Ability allows the user to seamlessly mimic the features of any Race, changing their own appearance to exactly match any Race, or even combine various visual aspects of races in a combination. This Ability cannot be used to create a copy of another person visually, they will always look off or distinguishably different from the original. This Ability has no Cooldown.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Super Self 5
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Super Self 5  | The Character is immune to any Ranged Combat Proficiency Mundane Techniques, with the exception of the Techniques gained at the full 20 Proficiency Point investment. The aesthetics for how these projectiles miss is up to the player, but it is recommended to simply pass through them as if they were a shadow.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Drahl===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Battle Sense 1
| Control Power
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Battle Sense 1 | The user may activate this Control Power on anyone in range, attaching to them like a Mobile Channel. While it is maintained, the user may choose one of the target’s Melee Combat Proficiencies and increase it by +5 Proficiency Points that may break the Cap for Proficiency. The user may only move at walking speed, must have the target within viewing distance, and the user may also not be attacked themselves. Knocking over or otherwise removing the focus from the user on the target cancels the effect. Additionally, the user gains the Constant Passive Omniaware 1 while this Ability remains active. While Battle Sense 1 is active, the user may not use other Abilities. A character can only benefit from one iteration of this Ability, regardless of source.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Spirit Familiar 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Spirit Familiar 1 | The user must choose an animal from the Animals Page (barring Magus or Dragon) species. This choice is permanent, and must be mentioned on the Character Application. Once chosen, the user may choose to manifest and remove smaller visual and aesthetic changes to their body from the animal chosen, but never so thoroughly that it mimics a Cahal, Allar, or Asha. Secondly, they may summon a magical looking familiar of the animal chosen that may never be larger than a domestic cat regardless of original size of the animal, but may also be smaller depending on the preference of the user. This familiar can carry a single object on them, but may never enter combat, and is disabled for 1 hour if hit by any Ability or Attack. If a Magical aesthetic is not desired, a Mundane creature can also appear to the Character in their childhood and stay with them, with this Ability applying to them, with all other rules. The Mundane creature gains a lifespan as long as the user.
}}
 
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Honed Skill 3
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Honed Skill 3 | If the Character has at least 1 Pack from Schooling either Admiral Pack or Command Pack in the Point-Buy Proficiency Section, 3 points are refunded to the Character to be re-used in any other Proficiency Category as Skill Points. This refund can only trigger for one pack, and if this Ability is somehow removed from the owner, the Point refund is undone.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Nautilaan===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Super Self 2
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Super Self 2 | The user can use Super Self 2 to instantly shift or move their feet or legs or ankles by either contorting, phasing, ghosting or re-shaping in such a way that any Rooting, Trapping or Snaring that is applied on them is instantly cancelled the moment it hits (all other effects of those Abilities or Mundane Techniques still apply). This Ability does not affect Abilities that apply Disabling effects to specific limbs or Paralysis.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Mind Wall 2
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Mind Wall 2 | The Character has Control Power immunity (except Exorcism 1 & 2, and Peace Reign 1), and can perceive that a Control Power is being used on them. They may turn on or off this Control Power at will from their mind.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Honed Skill 3
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Honed Skill 3 | If the Character has at least 1 Pack from Schooling either Admiral Pack or Command Pack in the Point-Buy Proficiency Section, 3 points are refunded to the Character to be re-used in any other Proficiency Category as Skill Points. This refund can only trigger for one pack, and if this Ability is somehow removed from the owner, the Point refund is undone.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Lexxons===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Shrewd Insight 1
| Control Power
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Shrewd Insight 1 | When conversing with a person, the user can, once a day, detect the true disposition of a person towards them. This may be done either by detecting how much the target likes or dislikes the user, or by more specifically detecting how they perceive the user. This may need to be updated from time to time, as people change their minds about others all the time. A character with at least 10 Proficiency Points in Theatre Arts is immune to this Ability. They simply send back blank results.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Keen Mind 1
| Trigger Passive
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Keen Mind 1 | Whenever any Control Power is used on the user that has some sort of Emotion, Feelings, Opinion or Perception reading element, the user immediately becomes aware that their mind is being prodded, and can send back whatever signal they want, thus effectively faking any attempt to read them and manipulate the person trying to read them on top.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Mind Wall 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Mind Wall 1 | The Character has Target Illusion immunity, and can perceive that a Target Illusion is being used on them. They may turn on or off this Illusion at will from their perception.
}}
|-
|}


===Woaden===
==Design==
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
Ailor, being the closest analog to a "Human" as seen in other lore universes, are considered the jack-of-all-trades. They do nothing quite as exceptional as the other peoples of Aloria. While they can learn Magic, rarely does an Ailor become as good a Mage as a Lanlath Elf. While Ailor use technology often, rarely do they have the unique technological gift of the Skyborn. While Ailor fleets command the high seas with military power, an Ailor could not compete with a Fin'ullen Elf while fighting submerged in water. They are the average middle ground between all people, capable of all things but having no specific gift for anything but court politics and intrigue, and an uncanny ability to create further divisions among themselves. It should be noted that Ailor can have any visual appearance real-world people can have independent of their parentage or ethnicity. Genetics work differently in Aloria, with inherited traits often being more about demeanor, rather than skin/hair/eye color or ethnic grouping.
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
==Cultures==
! Ability Name
Ailor are some of the most fractured people on Alogia, always creating "us versus them" mentalities and othering based on societal divisions. As a result, there are dozens of cultures, but a selection of the ten most prominent is displayed below for ease of character creation. Note, that while some have implicit Religions attached, Religion is a separate matter from Culture, and so it is possible to choose a different Religion. There exists a lot more optional Expanded Lore (linked below) on the cultures, but this is not necessary reading material for character creation.  
! Ability Type
{|
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Hunt Sense 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Hunt Sense 1 | The Character has permanent Night-Vision in dark or night-time locations, thus being able to see through Mundane Darkness, but not Ability based Darkness. Additionally, if the Character has tasted or smelled freshly drawn blood of an individual within the last 30 minutes, are able to track their location wherever they are in Regalia proper. If the target leaves to a Clandestine Base or Noble Estate however, the tracking ends. While tracking, it's not allowed to use fast travel or sprint, the distance must be walked.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Wall Climb 4
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Wall Climb 4 | The user can climb up, down, or sideways (but not diagonally) on any vertical surface with walking speed, and hold onto the wall with one hand stopping and resuming at any spot. This Ability does not grant any lethal falling damage mitigation, though it is possible for climbers to jump from a suspended position halfway up the wall. Channel Abilities cannot be utilized while Climbing with Wall Climb 4.
}}
|-
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Nature Gift 1
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|  
| Constant Passive
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
| Self
[[File:Ceardenicon.png]]
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Nature Gift 1 | While outside the City, thus nowhere near conventional rental housing, the Character moves “as fast as an Asha” (thus giving the Character Asha Agility). This Ability ceases the moment the Character returns to the urban landscape.
</div>
}}
'''Cearden Ailor''' are the largest culture group, spanning several continents and making up the bulk of the population of the Regalian Empire. The Cearden are renowned traders and craftsmen, but are also generally seen as jack-of-all-trades, meaning they are a good default option for those trying out Ailor. Cearden are based on a wide range of English-speaking renaissance to regency-era culture speaking Common (English).
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|  
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
[[File:Frewnchiconm.png]]
</div>
'''Ithanian Ailor''' are the most powerful political cultures among the Ailor, hailing from the Ithanian Kingdom and being most dominant in the wealthy upper classes of the Regalian Empire. The Ithanians are sophisticated trendsetters, creating fashion styles and protocols while they dictate court culture. Ithanians are based on a wide range of French-speaking renaissance to Napoleonic cultures speaking d'Ithanie (French).
|-
|-
|}
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|
 
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
===Archan===
[[File:Germanicon.png]]
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
</div>
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
'''Wirtem Ailor''' make up the majority of the military in the Regalian Empire, from the low foot soldier to the gold-medalled generals and tacticians. The Wirtem culture has a long history of conservatism in the Regalian Empire, and leaning towards martial and pious customs. The Wirtem are based on a wide range of German-speaking late medieval to early Prussian cultures speaking Wirtem (German).
! Ability Name
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|
! Ability Type
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
! Ability Range
[[File:Angliaicon.png]]
! Ability Description
</div>
'''Anglian Ailor''' hail from Anglia, the grain basket of the Regalian Empire. Anglians are peasants through and through, serving their lords as loyal serfs, or as archers. The Anglians are honest folk, food and drink loving, and with an air of mysticism due to their adherence to Draconism as a Religion. Anglians are based on a wide range of low-land (Dutch, Belgian) early medieval cultures speaking Anglian (Dutch).
|-
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Pure Body 1
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"| 
| Constant Passive
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
| Self
[[File:Breizhicon.png]]
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Pure Body 1 | The Character is immune to Afflictions. Any type of Affliction simply fails to infect them, even if it would come at the end of an Ability. Some Event Characters like Arken may have the Ability to negate this effect. Additionally, the Character is unable to learn or use Sorcery, if a Character gains Pure Body I at a later point in time, they lose their Sorcery or Magic and do not get Proficiency refunds.
</div>
}}
'''Breizh Ailor''' hail from the fabled kingdoms of Kintyr, an eclectic mix of petty kingdoms in a near constant state of war with one another, contrasting the tranquility of the monasteries and nunneries that dot the landscape. The Breizh are famed builders of bastion forts, knights, and people of faith. The Breizh are based on a wide range of Welsh/Breton Celtic early medieval cultures speaking Laithgar (Welsh).
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
[[File:Italianicon.png]]
</div>
'''Cantaluna Ailor''' hail from the powerful provinces of Vultaro and Montania, an center of power in the Regalian Empire under the Iron Duke. The Cantaluna are a culturally rich people with expressive statues, evocative music, and masterwork paintings. Their Engineers are also famed across the world in the fields of science. The Cantaluna are based on late renaissance Italian cultures speaking Cantaluna (Italian).
|-
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Casting Light 1
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|  
| Magic Spell
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
| Emote Distance
[[File:Norseicon.png]]
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Casting Light 1 | This Ability only affects Vampires, Void Mages, Void Sorcerers, Void Silven, and Crimson Witches. The user is able to hold up one hand with the palm facing a person, causing a blinding light and orchestral song to erupt on the Target. This has two effects. Firstly, the Target can only Slow-walk towards the user. They can still run back, or sideways, but moving towards the user becomes a struggle. Secondly, they cannot physically see the user because of the light, thus any Ability that requires line of sight of the Target cannot be used on them. The user also cannot run, but can use their other arm and the rest of their body to do any action, as only the single hand must be upheld. This Ability has no Cooldown, though if knocked out of it by being knocked over, gains a 10 second Cooldown.
</div>
}}
'''Velheim Ailor''' are the most widespread culture, present on nearly every continent. With an ancient history in the Pagan faith of Fornoss, the Velheim spread across the world long before the Regalian Empire existed, becoming famed warriors, hunters, sailors, and navigators in the maritime tradition. The Velheim are based on early medieval to late renaissance Norse cultures speaking Skodje (Norwegian).  
|-
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|  
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Holy Manifestation 1
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
| Faith Power
[[File:Spanishicon.png]]
| Self
</div>
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Holy Manifestation 1 | The user may have any number of glowing or non-glowing religious symbols appear anywhere on their body passively. These symbols are not physical and cannot ever emit enough light to light up Darkness, and can be of any color.
'''Tierravera Ailor''' have built a passionate culture out of the ruined eastern provinces of the Allorn Empire, creating a freedom-loving and fiercely libertarian culture that while being part of the Regalian Empire, resists its autocracy at every turn. From the plantations to the guerillas, the Tierravera call of freedom can be heard far. They are based on colonial-era Spanish cultures speaking Tierravera (Spanish).  
}}
|-
|-
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
[[File:Ukricon.png]]
</div>
'''Krainivaya Ailor''' have sailed from lands afar many years ago to seek shelter in the Regalian Empire, founding some of the most pious heartlands of faith within it. The Krainivaya live simple lives, but when called to faith answer the call like no other in the war against Demons and Vampires, serving as priests and holy warriors. Krainivaya are based on early-medieval to late Ukrainian cultures speaking Krai (Ukrainian).
| style="width: 50%; padding: 5px"|
<div class="res-img" style='text-align: left;float: left;width: 20%; padding-right: 5px;'>
[[File:Regalicon.png]]
</div>
'''Regal Ailor''' are the fuel of the Regalian Empire, bureaucrat and diplomat classes that keep it running. The Regal culture is artificially adopted later in life, a patriotic idea that dismisses cultural division in favor of state obedience and respect and equity for all. As such, it is not based on any particular culture but to serve the Regalian Empire as efficiently as possible. They mostly speak Common (English).
|}
|}
For a more in-depth analysis of the Ailor Cultures, as well as some additional cultures not mentioned here like the Aetosians (Byzantine Greek), or various pre-Empire pagan Cultures, see the [[Ailor Cultures]] Page. This page is still heavily under development. Reading this page is not necessary in character creation, it may offer some additional insights and cultural niches used by various cultures however.


===Olean===
==Heritage Traits==
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
[[File:Earlytribe.jpg|268px|thumb|right|Because of their historical newcomer status to geopolitics, some other peoples of Aloria still look down on Ailor as crude tribals.]]
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
[[File:Kniththood.jpg|268px|thumb|right|Knighthood is a concept developed by Ailor, mostly to legitimize and uphold their power structures.]]
! Ability Name
[[File:Historyoberser.jpg|268px|thumb|right|Most of the world's history is recorded through the eyes of the Ailor, who show a more erudite work-ethic to chronicling than others.]]
! Ability Type
[[File:Religionpiety.jpg|268px|thumb|right|The Ailor are exceptionally pious, capable of great acts of self-sacrifice or evil in the name of faith.]]
! Ability Range
[[File:Strongmages.jpg|268px|thumb|right|While most of Ailor society is anti-Magic, some of the world's most powerful Mages can be found among them.]]
! Ability Description
[[File:Autocracy.jpg|268px|thumb|right|Autocracy, hierarchy, and feudalism are some of the cornerstone pillars of Ailor society.]]
|-
[[File:Fassshion.jpg|268px|thumb|right|While most other people have consistent fashion styles, the Ailor are at the foreground of fashionable advancements.]]
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" |Rogue Gift 1
[[File:Courtplottin.jpg|268px|thumb|right|The amount of plotting and scheming at Ailor courts would sometimes put Elven intrigue to shame, given it moves much faster and much more deadly.]]
| Constant Passive
In Character Design, [[Proficiency]] allows for the buying of Packs, which give Combat Abilities. Heritage Traits add free Packs and Mechanics to a Character, fit around cultural themes. Mechanics are flair and roleplay opportunities Characters have outside of Combat, while Packs are Combat Power. Free [[Magic]] Packs can always be defined as any Alignment. Mixed Heritage Characters (characters of two different culture parents) choose one set of Free Packs, and can mix and match Mechanics from both parents up to a maximum of 5 Mechanics.
| Self
===Free Packs===
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Rogue Gift 1 |
* Ailor can choose 1 Pack from any Category for free. If any magic is chosen, the player may choose Alignment between God Magic, Exist, Ordial, Void, and Dragon Magic.
Should the character fail a dice roll for pickpocketing another character, they may roll a second time. This effect may only apply once per person being pickpocketed per day, but if a different person is targeted each time, it has no upper limit. The failed attempt is simply retconned.
* Ailor can choose 1 Pack from [[Mounted Point Buy]] or [[Training Point Buy]] Categories for free.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Rogue Gift 2
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Rogue Gift 2 | The Character can, once a day, if attempting an Proficiency or Ability action that requires a roll, dictate in OOC chat with the use of this Ability what the roll outcome would be without rolling. This is in essence a once-a-day luck-of-the-draw where the character has an instant-success on their /dice roll.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Skin Purge 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Skin Purge 1 | The user can toggle this Passive to remove choice or any and all scars, Mutations, tattoos or other blemishes that affect only their skin. Skin mutations may include pigments, scriptures, textures, but for example not horns, despite them being covered in skin and sticking out of the skull. Mutations stay gone forever, but scars may be caused to re-appear at will, and may also be removed again at will.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Carnvaal===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Glitter Control 1
| Magic Spell
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Glitter Control 1 | The user is able to eject streams, puffs or balls of non-harmful colored and/or glowing glitter up to Emote Distance. Once shot out, they can also steer this glitter through the air like a cloud anywhere in Emote Distance. The aesthetic effects of this Spell have no limitations in terms of quantity of glitter or Cooldowns. It can also get into people’s clothing, hair, or dust onto them like snowflakes. Additionally, users of this Ability may Object Curse an object to act like a glitter bomb, expelling forth a plume of glitter, though it will only remain functional while the user is within Emote Distance. Finally, the user may congest all their Glitter Magic between their hands and push it violently into the ground, causing an Emote wide massive explosion of glitter and colored chalk dust that not only colors everything in the area, but also makes visibility impossible for 10 seconds while all the glitter drifts to the ground. If this glitter bomb is used, the ability goes on a 24 hour cooldown.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Inth Gift 1
| Control Power
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Inth Gift 1 | The user may target any person within Emote Distance to mark them with this Control Power, and any number of individuals may be marked. For those marked, if the user or the target leaves Emote Distance, the target(s) will forget the appearance, name and the sound of the voice of the user. They will still remember the conversation and what was said, but they will only remember a blur of a figure for the user, a warped voice, or their name.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Peace Reign 1
| Control Power
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Peace Reign 1 | The user may choose to, at any Event Venue either from a hosted event as found on the Calendar, or for a social gathering in their own home, apply a Control Power to diffuse anger in a character and soothe their frustration or anger if they experience it during the social gathering or event, while still on the venue. The effect is indefinite, causing the target to be more calmed, and will endure even if they leave, but will not prevent it from triggering again in the future. This has no cooldown, and may be applied to as many targets as desired, but only during the event/gathering and on venue/in home.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Medavinti===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Honed Skill 2
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Honed Skill 2 | Choose any Hobby Group Proficiency. As long as 5 Proficiency points are invested in this Proficiency, gain another +5 for free. If this Ability were somehow removed from the Character, the Proficiency Point bonus is also removed. This Boost does not break the Proficiency Cap. If the chosen Proficiency is already boosted from any other source, it cannot be boosted by this Ability.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Rogue Gift 3
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Rogue Gift 3 | The Character can, if they have seen any writing from a specific person, perfectly imitate that person’s writing and signature on any piece of writing.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Honed Skill 4
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Honed Skill 4 | The user can hide messages inside anything they physically produce from the Hobby Group Proficiencies, hiding a message that can only show up under certain conditions (through the technique the information was hidden). If anyone is told these conditions, they can read the message from all the user’s crafts, for the ones this specific technique for hiding messages was applied. Once created, messages cannot be edited or removed.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Brannon===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Great Force 1
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Great Force 1 | If at any point within 7 blocks of the user heavy objects are falling (for example, a collapsing roof or beam, or a large boulder) the character can brace the falling objects and hold them up long enough for nearby others to escape or not be harmed, and also create an escape for themselves. This Ability cannot be used for any Combat advantage.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Gate Smash 1
| Trigger Passive
| Direct Touch
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Gate Smash 1 | The Character can muster all their strength and smash through a metal or wooden gate or door that is locked or barred. This Ability does also work on cell gates in the Regalian Prison. This Ability can be used once per day. And produces a lot of noise, thus requiring the actual Ability usage to be done in announce emote (+h). Because of the size and bulkiness of the Character however, they are also permanently incapable of dodging or side-stepping any Mundane or Ability based Projectile attacks.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Bunker Down 1
| Toggle Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Bunker Down 1 | If wielding a shield, the Character can choose to “Bunker down”, requiring them in a kneeling position with a shield down in front of them (using a shield if mundane, if not mundane, a shield is not be required). While this stance is upheld, they become immune to any Mundane or Ability based harm effects from a 180 degree angle in front of them (Ability based effects besides damage still apply). There is enough room behind the user for 1 additional person to gain the benefit, with the user counting as an Obstacle. The user of this Ability cannot do anything but talk while bunkering down (they cannot even see past their shield), but the person behind them (if there is one) can move and use Abilities, Weapons, or Items.
}}
|-
|}
 
===Akkadian===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 670px;"
|- style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center; background-color:#c0c0c0;"
! Ability Name
! Ability Type
! Ability Range
! Ability Description
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff; width: 21%;" | Honed Skill 1
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Honed Skill 1 | Choose Metallurgy, Arcanology, or Linguistics. If at least 3 points are invested in the chosen Proficiency, choose a single 3 Proficiency costing “Pack” for free additionally. This Pack does not contribute to the maximum Packs possible for this Proficiency at max Point investment. If none of these are chosen, nothing is gained.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Inth Gift 3
| Constant Passive
| Self
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Inth Gift 3 | The user has a perfect recall memory through a Memory Phylactery. This is not a physical object, but more a metaphysical abstract concept that causes the user to be immune to any memory alteration, or any Ability that would otherwise make them forget memories, or have them stored elsewhere, altered, added, or diminished. If any memory is forgotten, the user needs simply call upon the Memory Phylactery to restore the memory in full detail. Any Memory Sense I used on the user will result in more clear and perfect imagery than for anyone else.
}}
|-
| style="background-color:#e6eaff;" | Empath Sense 5
| Constant Passive
| Emote Distance
| Grants the user {{#simple-tooltip: Empath Sense 5 | While in any area that major events took place in the past or repeated emotions were felt, for example battle-fields, graveyards, burial sites, hospitals, celebration halls, throne rooms, etc, the Character is able to detect the lingering emotions that were felt in these areas. They are not strong enough to affect the Character’s own psyche, they are just able to feel the lingering emotions of centuries past. This is only felt in areas where lots of people come together to do a similar thing, or hundreds of people felt a similar thing at the same time.
}}
|-
|}


==History & Society==
===Mechanics===
History and Society is extremely diverse among the Ailor, and indeed, it would be impossible to add the entire wide berth of Ailor History on a single page. Furthermore, their society is so incredibly splintered and diverse that it would take many hours to even read through the basic gift of some of the major cultures, let alone all 34 Cultures. As such, this page will link to the individual cultures, and give them a very basic reference point from which to learn about them. It is generally recommended that when someone has difficulty choosing between cultures, that they simply go with Heartland Ceardian, which is commonly seen as the root-source of all Ailor, and the easiest to comprehend because of its English base inspiration.  
* Ailor are masters of languages, which is expected given their habit to culturally divides. Because so many of their languages are inter-connected, various words become more obviously related, and they also take more effort to learn other languages. If someone insults an Ailor, even in a language they do not speak, the Ailor would know, as they know most curse words or words by which to speak ill of others in all languages.
* Ailor are the masters of the Regalian Empire, and while it has equality between all peoples and heritages, Ailor are just by virtue of being Ailor considered preferential for most government positions and judicial situations. Where possible to do with the Nobility, with Government, or with Palace decisions, Ailor will be treated preferentially over other peoples, even if their qualifications might be lesser than the other options. 
* Ailor when using [[Syncretism]] can worship up to 3 Gods of their sub-dominant Religion, instead of just 1 or 2. Additionally, when Syncretizing, they gain the Mechanic of the sub-dominant Religion (except for Evolism, where only one of the Mechanics can be chosen). If your Character does not Syncretize, they gain +1 Attack Stat (Breaking Cap up to 11) against Characters that have Syncretized their mono-faith.
==Religions==
* '''[[Unionism]]:''' Unionism is the most common Religion followed by the Ailor, and it is also the most recent one, only being 300 years or so old. Unionism is a Religion that proposes that global paradise will arrive when the Regalian Empire dominates the whole world, and because most Ailor live in the borders of the Regalian Empire, the two connect well.
* '''[[Draconism]]:''' Draconism is one of the smallest minority Religions among the Ailor, but still one that is going strong. Draconism is exceptionally hard to root out among the Ailor, because the Dragons always seem to have treated them more preferentially than other peoples of Aloria, guiding and helping the development of many of their cultures over the centuries.
* '''[[Estelley]]:''' Following Estelley as a Religion is a bit strange for an Ailor because it is mostly an Elf ethno-Religion, and because the Elves spent millennia terrorizing Ailor countries with repeat raids for wealth and power. Still, Estelley brings a strong message about inner perfection that some Ailor who live among a lot of Elves may find appealing.
* '''[[Fornoss]]:''' Fornoss is the second (and once largest) Religion of the Ailor. The Fornoss Religion continues to be strong especially in the north, as the original Fornoss believers were the first Ailor to truly venture far beyond their native homelands and colonized many corners of the world. It continues to have a strong presence even in the mostly Unionist Regalian Empire.
* '''[[Evolism]]:''' Evolism is an unusually popular minority Religion among the Ailor. As the Regalian Empire grows and expands, the individual becomes more of a faceless nameless gray entity in a crowd, indistinguishable from the other averages. The Dark Gods answer, allowing an Ailor to become exceptional, powerful, famous and feared, at the expense of their obedience.  
* '''[[Khama]]:''' While Khama was largely an ethno-Religion for most of its existence, it has recently become more open to outsiders, and so some non-Asha are converting to it. The numbers are still minuscule, but with a more articulated central message, Khama is capable of competing for converts with the other minority Religions.
* '''[[Minor Faiths]]:''' Due to the cultural and historical variance among the Ailor, Pagan Cultism is alive and well especially in the more isolated corners of the Empire. Ailor make up the bulk of most of the smaller Pagan Faiths and Cults that exist around the world, just because of difficulty other major world Religions have at inspiring the hinterlands to follow their dogma.


====Empire Ruling Cultures====
==History==
The Empire Ruling Cultures are cultures focused around the rule of the Regalian Empire. Their history is steeped in politics, refinement, class and style. They usually center around nobility, or at least the upper class with wealth to spend and traditions to uphold with rigorousness. They have the following cultures:
===The Homeland Era===
* [[Imperial]], a culture inspired by Imperial cohesion and self-sacrifice.
The Homeland Era is a period that refers to when the Ailor largely lived on Ceardia and other immediately adjacent land masses. This period was likely either shortly after the fall of the Meraic Empire or some millennia before the rise of the Allorn Empire. Ailor have likely been around for some time longer than most people of Aloria in the present era, however their initial progress was extremely slow due to their short (comparative) life spans, and their extremely violent culture. The Homeland Era is sometimes also referred to as the Warlord Era, as this was a period in which most of Ailor society was perpetually stuck in never-ending border conflicts with regional warlords and petty despots. There are an uncountable amount of cultures that rose and perished in this period, until the sudden arrival of the Proto-Velheim who would later form the core of the Fornoss worshiping people. At around the same time, the ancestors of the Skyborn diversified from their common Ailor ancestor, and became the first founders on Ard-al-Nur, thus no longer being Ailor.  
* [[New Regalian]], a culture inspired by Military dogma and warfare.
===The Pearl Wars===
* [[Calderliga]], a culture inspired by the thrift for trade and coin.
After the Proto-Velheim started mass-colonizing the world, a long period that coincides with Elven and Asha history referred to as the Pearl Wars or the Elven Terror. This was a period spanning some millennia after the Dewamenet-Allorn War, and the subsequent defeat of the Asha. As the Pearl Wars accelerated against the Asha, fleeing Asha populations moved into Ailor territories, which in turn put the Ailor in contact with the Elves. There is a shared tragedy between the Ailor and the Asha, in that many of the same areas where Asha were repeatedly attacked with vile Oblation Magics, the Ailor who lived close by and sometimes even intermingled also became a target. While Oblation Magic required specific conditions to be met to work on the souls of the Asha, it was easier to apply to the Ailor, who had such varied Religions that they sometimes just did not have afterlives, or were some version of early agnostic, thus not having any faith at all. It should be expressed that the Asha by far suffered greater under this historical event than the Ailor, as the campaign by the Elves was designed to exterminate their people and culture, but Ailor often were caught up in the crossfire, and faced raids just as well. For every three raids on Asha population centers, Ailor also faced a raid on theirs, with Elven fleets ranging as far as Ceardia, Ard-al-Nur, and the landmass that would later become the Regalian Archipelago. During this period, large migratory movements of people also occurred, which is why the Ailor are so genetically diverse in the modern era. While originally skintone and hair color and eye color defined where someone came from, over time the mixing of these people made visual traits effectively universal. There remain legends of "the arrival of the black-haired people from the south", millennia ago, a point after which those populations mixed, and henceforth any Ailor could have black hair. The Pearl Wars did not invoke a historical trauma for the Ailor like it did for the Asha, notably because their average life span in this period was four times as short as an average Asha who could survive the Pearl Wars, so the events were quickly forgotten, though a communal distrust of Elves remained. When the Pearl Wars ended, Ailor population counts recovered fairly quickly, and exploded after the Cataclysm.
* [[Ithanian]], a culture inspired by decadence and party-going.
===The Regalian Era===
* [[Dressolini]], a culture inspired by artistic refinement and class.
The Cataclysm defines the 0 year dating event during which much of the world's geography was changed due a series of natural calamities. These earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis were the consequence of a massive Magical event at the end of a failed Void Invasion elsewhere in the world, and it utterly wrecked most of the western world's surface (sparing the Sihai lands). The Allorn Empire was destroyed, and with their most prominent obstacle to glory being eliminated, the Ailor were free to expand and form larger contiguous states. In the year 5 AC the Regalian Empire was founded after the Five Family Rebellion against a local Elven state, during which Solvaan Elves. Eronidas, Ailor, and Narim came together to defeat the local tyrants and found the Regalian Empire under the leadership of the Ailor. Regalia continued to grow for the coming 3 centuries into the world's largest but often at times unstable Empire and the central focus point of world politics. This era is largely defined for each state by whether or not they are part of the Empire, subject to it, or fight against it.  
* [[Leutz-Vixe]], a culture inspired by honor and glory in heritage.
==Expanded Lore==
* [[Burdigala]], a culture inspired by enjoying the fruits and wines of life.
Expanded Lore exists to apply more content and deep-lore exploration. This section is optional reading that is not needed for a good experience, though if you play a Scholar of a kind, reading this is encouraged.
* [[Genevaud]]. a culture inspired by cultural cohesion and strong Unionist values.
===Regalia the City===
Regalia is the capital of the Regalian Empire. Why the city and the Empire are named the way they are is unknown, though it was likely a happenstance, as most of the Regalian Empire at the time of its founding was either trival or in early stages of developing a feudal agrarian society. Regalia, or the capital more specifically, was the place where everyone traveled to "the Regal place" as it were. The capital is what defined much of the early rise of the Empire, and is the central focal point in a way that no other capital of any other people could be. As a result, it is speculated that the locals just eventually called Regalia the Regal City, and that the Empire was defined by what this capital was called. Regalia is a metropolitan the likes of which only the most cosmopolitan melting pot cities in the real world could compare. Even though it only has 4 million inhabitants (which is small compared to real-world metropolises), it is the most densely inhabited city in Aloria, with every culture, every belief, every cult, every heritage and every ethnicity represented. For all the major religions there are vast temples, for all the foreign kingdoms there are embassies, and each people effectively has a district or neighborhood to call their own. Every taste, every sensation, every thought and everything that is present in the world is sampled in this city, which is why inevitably all roads lead back to Regalia, and every person longs to visit this city one day. The city however also has a dark side. While much of it is covered in wealth and splendor, crime is high in the poor areas and state saboteurs and terrorists actively blend into the vast population that the state apparatus is often unable to control. For all the gilded roofs and poetic prose about the beauty of the Palace, it only masks the misery of the homeless in the alley ways, falling victim to Vampires and other dark forces alike. Regalia is a city of extremes, and thus the focus point of the Roleplay universe.


====Common People Cultures====
===Thoughts on Magic===
The Common People Cultures are cultures focused around the more common people of the Regalian Empire, and perhaps the more unseedy groups as well. They are generally seen as the older cultures, with lots of focus on the commoner’s lifestyle, although still having a ruling class element as well.
The Ailor are a people with a complicated relationship with Magic. Some cultures absolutely adore and encourage Magical exploration, while many other Ailor cultures absolutely despise it, and would eagerly kill Mages if given the chance. As a result, Ailor leaders and rulers constantly walk a fine balancing act between purism and mage emancipation that often tends to swing back and forth depending on the personal preferences of the person in charge. In Regalian Roleplay, this expresses itself through the "pendulum of rights". Every year or so, a new person comes to power in Regalia who has a different opinion on Magic, and radically alters the laws to fit their preferences. This can sometimes result in extreme emancipation and Magic publicly used in the street, only to be repressed a year later as a new ruler comes to power. It often results in situations where Mages play crucial roles in solving the calamities and chaos that strike Regalia, but end up being punished after the fact as scapegoats, having to be content with the invisibility of their achievement as propaganda wipes their contributions away. The constant struggle between Tech versus Magic is an ongoing topic in Ailor society, and Regalia in particular, that Players are constantly on switching sides of.  
* [[Caeren]], a culture inspired by the mountain clans and warriors.
* [[Dunbrae]], a culture inspired by restrained warrior ways and connections overseas.
* [[Heartland Ceardian]], a culture inspired by the common average man.
* [[Colonial]], a culture inspired by the new world, and purity and piousness.
* [[Anglian]], a culture inspired by the wide farmlands and cattle that feed the people.
* [[Breizh]], a culture inspired by knights of old, and legendary tales of mystical weapons.
* [[Ériunin]], a culture inspired by folklore and racial diversity, as well as laid-back living.
* [[Daendroque]], a culture inspired by cut-throat living, gambling and debauching.
* [[Bragacao]], a culture inspired by the ever present itch for exploration and maritime life.
* [[Tolonne]], a culture inspired by the high political stakes of the realm and the warm south.
* [[Jendaskea]], a culture inspired by plantations and island living, from the colonies.
* [[Azzizzari]], a culture inspired by extravagance and showmanship at its finest.
* [[Etosian]], a culture inspired by religious devotion and ascetic living for faith.


====Northern People Cultures====
===Aristocracy & Hierarchy===
The Northern People Cultures are cultures focused around the wilder Ailor which are generally found further north, which are closer to how the Ailor used to be in the old days before cultural diversification and civilization.
One very important aspect of Ailor society as a whole is aristocracy, autocracy and the concept of hierarchy. For better or worse, the Ailor always gravitate towards leadership structures and seek strong persons to lead them and to organize them. The Ailor are not exceptional at anything individually, but even the most untrained peasant mob under the right leader can turn the Ailor from disorganized rabble into efficient fighting machine. Each Ailor society eventually structures itself around centralized leaders followed by devolved leadership or authority passed down to subordinates. This usually expresses itself through feudalism and serfdom, and so most of the millions of Ailor who live in the world are tenant farmers or workers subject to some lord or count. Even among the nominally more democratic nations that call themselves republics, only the wealthy vote, or votes are only cast between centralizing families that rule from mighty castles and palaces. Hierarchy is exceptionally important in Ailor society, and the concept of a social class climber is seen as uncouth. Class distinction is important, and while the Ailor do not have a caste system, marrying outside of one's means is considered an offensive vanity for the pauper, and a weak gesture for the wealth-born.  
* [[Velheim]], a culture inspired by viking raiders and honor bound warriors.
* [[Fridurfolk]], a culture inspired by pastoral pacifists, shepherds and poets.
* [[Tarkkin]], a culture inspired by wildland raiders and forest dwelling tribes.
* [[Höglander]], a culture inspired by the rise of civilization in the wild lands.
* [[Zvorun]], a culture inspired by ancient paganism, folklore and mythical beasts.


====Niche People Cultures====
===States & Regionalism===
The Niche People Cultures are rarely seen, but still exist, offering a unique take on the Ailor race that is not often found among the other Cultures.
An enduring conflict that often plagues Ailor progress, is their habit to further fragment their society into smaller groups to create more exclusionary in-groups and othering those not part of it. This often expresses itself in the conflict between patriotism and regionalism. It is a natural desire of all states and autocratic leaders to seek more centralized power. To break away the legal rights of the smaller regions and to meld everything together into one homogenous loyal state that works towards a common goal. Because Ailor have become very efficient at doing just that, large regional-autonomy movements have risen up to preserve cultural uniqueness, but also to counteract the loss of regional agency. After all, many cultural niches exist in small regional polities, with a history of having fought for their identity's continued survival against for example a common enemy like the Elves. But often, when these enemies would disappear, suddenly the predominant Ailor power would become the new oppressor, or attempt to centralize power even more aggressively than the previous tyrant would. In Regalia, this often expresses itself in subtly disobedient and regionally autonomous politicians. These politicians aren't necessarily disloyal to the Empire, and do not wish to see it do well, but would rather than all taxes and cultural homogeneity is applied anywhere but here. In essence, many of Regalia's politicians are NIMBYs, and the Empire's instability is largely caused by its own politicians engaging in self-sabotaging plots against the crown and the central state to cling to any regional autonomy they can, even if it puts them at severe risk of invasion from outside forces or ouster from their own people.  
* [[Vladno]], a culture inspired by the polarization of gender norms and societal pressure.
* [[Ânia]], a culture inspired by the superstitions and dangers of vampires on every corner.
* [[Byala]], a culture inspired by the beauty of gold and an ancient past.
* [[Dvala]], a culture inspired by the three groups who have lost much to the outside world.
* [[Ohrneti]], a culture inspired by religious crusade and fervor on heresies and sin.
* [[Szabadok]], a culture inspired by horse lords and the power of the warlords.
* [[Qússrakón]], a culture built around Avanthar mixing their culture with Ailor.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*It is generally believed that the metaphysical concept of the “Crown of the World”, a term used to define the most powerful entity in the world, is currently carried by the Ailor, since the Altalar lost it (both the metaphysical concept and the actual crown which was taken by the Ailor).  
* The name Ailor is a somewhat bold claim made by these people that they should be the inheritors of the world (the world being called Aloria, considering themselves the pre-eminent people of it). Other peoples of Aloria sometimes call the Ailor "Nuvalon", which is Elven for "New People" to put them more in their historical context.  
* The name Ailor comes from the term Aloria used to define the world itself. Both these terms are Ailor in nature however, but have become common enough to the point that other races also use them since most research in modern times exists in Ailor context.
* The one thing Ailor are deeply skilled at, is adaptation and usurpation. Ailor can take any kind of technology, design, or idea from other people, and further it into one of their own, and then continue to iterate onto it to make it even better. Most Ailor inventions like the musket and the three-decked battleship are based on Dwarven inventions, but now fuel the rise of the Regalian Empire.
* Ailor are generally bigoted, but actually also capable of using other races to their maximum extent. While Ailor are generally seen as racist, they actually are far more accepting of other races than any race in existence, because they will even accept the undesirable races, as long as they fill the right box and niche in society defined for them and do not complain.  
* Ailor are confirmed to be a common ancestor of the Skyborn people (at least the Founders and the Reclaimers). It is also speculated that the Ailor may be a distant common ancestor of the Dwarves. This would explain why Dwarven traits essentially disappear in half or quarter Dwarves.  


{{Races}}
{{Peoples}}
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[[category:races]] [[category:Humans]] [[category:Human Races]]
[[category:Heritages]]

Latest revision as of 00:21, 22 November 2024

Ailor
Ailor (in Common)
Motto: "March, march to the glory of progress"
Nation StateMany
RulerVaried
LanguagesPrimarily Common
ReligionUnionism, Fornoss, Draconism
First RecordedUnclear
Demonym(s)Ailor

Ailor is a term that describes a vast range of people with no clear single heritage origin, but who all developed around the same time. Aloria's analog for Humans, the Ailor are Aloria's most numerous people by sheer virtue of populating the majority of the world's landmasses, and their comparatively shorter lives to those of other heritage, causing their population numbers to explode in short periods. To many other societies, the Ailor were barely on the radar for thousands of years. Despite their huge numbers, for most of history, they were the uncounted footnote, often an entity to be acted upon, rather than setting the stage for the global empires of old. The world-altering event that was the Cataclysm changed the global foodchain, propelling the Ailor to the top with the newly established Regalian Empire, which would grow to become the world's greatest superpower. The majority of the Roleplay occurs in the capital of the Ailor people, Regalia.

Design

Ailor, being the closest analog to a "Human" as seen in other lore universes, are considered the jack-of-all-trades. They do nothing quite as exceptional as the other peoples of Aloria. While they can learn Magic, rarely does an Ailor become as good a Mage as a Lanlath Elf. While Ailor use technology often, rarely do they have the unique technological gift of the Skyborn. While Ailor fleets command the high seas with military power, an Ailor could not compete with a Fin'ullen Elf while fighting submerged in water. They are the average middle ground between all people, capable of all things but having no specific gift for anything but court politics and intrigue, and an uncanny ability to create further divisions among themselves. It should be noted that Ailor can have any visual appearance real-world people can have independent of their parentage or ethnicity. Genetics work differently in Aloria, with inherited traits often being more about demeanor, rather than skin/hair/eye color or ethnic grouping.

Cultures

Ailor are some of the most fractured people on Alogia, always creating "us versus them" mentalities and othering based on societal divisions. As a result, there are dozens of cultures, but a selection of the ten most prominent is displayed below for ease of character creation. Note, that while some have implicit Religions attached, Religion is a separate matter from Culture, and so it is possible to choose a different Religion. There exists a lot more optional Expanded Lore (linked below) on the cultures, but this is not necessary reading material for character creation.

Cearden Ailor are the largest culture group, spanning several continents and making up the bulk of the population of the Regalian Empire. The Cearden are renowned traders and craftsmen, but are also generally seen as jack-of-all-trades, meaning they are a good default option for those trying out Ailor. Cearden are based on a wide range of English-speaking renaissance to regency-era culture speaking Common (English).

Ithanian Ailor are the most powerful political cultures among the Ailor, hailing from the Ithanian Kingdom and being most dominant in the wealthy upper classes of the Regalian Empire. The Ithanians are sophisticated trendsetters, creating fashion styles and protocols while they dictate court culture. Ithanians are based on a wide range of French-speaking renaissance to Napoleonic cultures speaking d'Ithanie (French).

Wirtem Ailor make up the majority of the military in the Regalian Empire, from the low foot soldier to the gold-medalled generals and tacticians. The Wirtem culture has a long history of conservatism in the Regalian Empire, and leaning towards martial and pious customs. The Wirtem are based on a wide range of German-speaking late medieval to early Prussian cultures speaking Wirtem (German).

Anglian Ailor hail from Anglia, the grain basket of the Regalian Empire. Anglians are peasants through and through, serving their lords as loyal serfs, or as archers. The Anglians are honest folk, food and drink loving, and with an air of mysticism due to their adherence to Draconism as a Religion. Anglians are based on a wide range of low-land (Dutch, Belgian) early medieval cultures speaking Anglian (Dutch).

Breizh Ailor hail from the fabled kingdoms of Kintyr, an eclectic mix of petty kingdoms in a near constant state of war with one another, contrasting the tranquility of the monasteries and nunneries that dot the landscape. The Breizh are famed builders of bastion forts, knights, and people of faith. The Breizh are based on a wide range of Welsh/Breton Celtic early medieval cultures speaking Laithgar (Welsh).

Cantaluna Ailor hail from the powerful provinces of Vultaro and Montania, an center of power in the Regalian Empire under the Iron Duke. The Cantaluna are a culturally rich people with expressive statues, evocative music, and masterwork paintings. Their Engineers are also famed across the world in the fields of science. The Cantaluna are based on late renaissance Italian cultures speaking Cantaluna (Italian).

Velheim Ailor are the most widespread culture, present on nearly every continent. With an ancient history in the Pagan faith of Fornoss, the Velheim spread across the world long before the Regalian Empire existed, becoming famed warriors, hunters, sailors, and navigators in the maritime tradition. The Velheim are based on early medieval to late renaissance Norse cultures speaking Skodje (Norwegian).

Tierravera Ailor have built a passionate culture out of the ruined eastern provinces of the Allorn Empire, creating a freedom-loving and fiercely libertarian culture that while being part of the Regalian Empire, resists its autocracy at every turn. From the plantations to the guerillas, the Tierravera call of freedom can be heard far. They are based on colonial-era Spanish cultures speaking Tierravera (Spanish).

Krainivaya Ailor have sailed from lands afar many years ago to seek shelter in the Regalian Empire, founding some of the most pious heartlands of faith within it. The Krainivaya live simple lives, but when called to faith answer the call like no other in the war against Demons and Vampires, serving as priests and holy warriors. Krainivaya are based on early-medieval to late Ukrainian cultures speaking Krai (Ukrainian).

Regal Ailor are the fuel of the Regalian Empire, bureaucrat and diplomat classes that keep it running. The Regal culture is artificially adopted later in life, a patriotic idea that dismisses cultural division in favor of state obedience and respect and equity for all. As such, it is not based on any particular culture but to serve the Regalian Empire as efficiently as possible. They mostly speak Common (English).

For a more in-depth analysis of the Ailor Cultures, as well as some additional cultures not mentioned here like the Aetosians (Byzantine Greek), or various pre-Empire pagan Cultures, see the Ailor Cultures Page. This page is still heavily under development. Reading this page is not necessary in character creation, it may offer some additional insights and cultural niches used by various cultures however.

Heritage Traits

Because of their historical newcomer status to geopolitics, some other peoples of Aloria still look down on Ailor as crude tribals.
Knighthood is a concept developed by Ailor, mostly to legitimize and uphold their power structures.
Most of the world's history is recorded through the eyes of the Ailor, who show a more erudite work-ethic to chronicling than others.
The Ailor are exceptionally pious, capable of great acts of self-sacrifice or evil in the name of faith.
While most of Ailor society is anti-Magic, some of the world's most powerful Mages can be found among them.
Autocracy, hierarchy, and feudalism are some of the cornerstone pillars of Ailor society.
While most other people have consistent fashion styles, the Ailor are at the foreground of fashionable advancements.
The amount of plotting and scheming at Ailor courts would sometimes put Elven intrigue to shame, given it moves much faster and much more deadly.

In Character Design, Proficiency allows for the buying of Packs, which give Combat Abilities. Heritage Traits add free Packs and Mechanics to a Character, fit around cultural themes. Mechanics are flair and roleplay opportunities Characters have outside of Combat, while Packs are Combat Power. Free Magic Packs can always be defined as any Alignment. Mixed Heritage Characters (characters of two different culture parents) choose one set of Free Packs, and can mix and match Mechanics from both parents up to a maximum of 5 Mechanics.

Free Packs

  • Ailor can choose 1 Pack from any Category for free. If any magic is chosen, the player may choose Alignment between God Magic, Exist, Ordial, Void, and Dragon Magic.
  • Ailor can choose 1 Pack from Mounted Point Buy or Training Point Buy Categories for free.

Mechanics

  • Ailor are masters of languages, which is expected given their habit to culturally divides. Because so many of their languages are inter-connected, various words become more obviously related, and they also take more effort to learn other languages. If someone insults an Ailor, even in a language they do not speak, the Ailor would know, as they know most curse words or words by which to speak ill of others in all languages.
  • Ailor are the masters of the Regalian Empire, and while it has equality between all peoples and heritages, Ailor are just by virtue of being Ailor considered preferential for most government positions and judicial situations. Where possible to do with the Nobility, with Government, or with Palace decisions, Ailor will be treated preferentially over other peoples, even if their qualifications might be lesser than the other options.
  • Ailor when using Syncretism can worship up to 3 Gods of their sub-dominant Religion, instead of just 1 or 2. Additionally, when Syncretizing, they gain the Mechanic of the sub-dominant Religion (except for Evolism, where only one of the Mechanics can be chosen). If your Character does not Syncretize, they gain +1 Attack Stat (Breaking Cap up to 11) against Characters that have Syncretized their mono-faith.

Religions

  • Unionism: Unionism is the most common Religion followed by the Ailor, and it is also the most recent one, only being 300 years or so old. Unionism is a Religion that proposes that global paradise will arrive when the Regalian Empire dominates the whole world, and because most Ailor live in the borders of the Regalian Empire, the two connect well.
  • Draconism: Draconism is one of the smallest minority Religions among the Ailor, but still one that is going strong. Draconism is exceptionally hard to root out among the Ailor, because the Dragons always seem to have treated them more preferentially than other peoples of Aloria, guiding and helping the development of many of their cultures over the centuries.
  • Estelley: Following Estelley as a Religion is a bit strange for an Ailor because it is mostly an Elf ethno-Religion, and because the Elves spent millennia terrorizing Ailor countries with repeat raids for wealth and power. Still, Estelley brings a strong message about inner perfection that some Ailor who live among a lot of Elves may find appealing.
  • Fornoss: Fornoss is the second (and once largest) Religion of the Ailor. The Fornoss Religion continues to be strong especially in the north, as the original Fornoss believers were the first Ailor to truly venture far beyond their native homelands and colonized many corners of the world. It continues to have a strong presence even in the mostly Unionist Regalian Empire.
  • Evolism: Evolism is an unusually popular minority Religion among the Ailor. As the Regalian Empire grows and expands, the individual becomes more of a faceless nameless gray entity in a crowd, indistinguishable from the other averages. The Dark Gods answer, allowing an Ailor to become exceptional, powerful, famous and feared, at the expense of their obedience.
  • Khama: While Khama was largely an ethno-Religion for most of its existence, it has recently become more open to outsiders, and so some non-Asha are converting to it. The numbers are still minuscule, but with a more articulated central message, Khama is capable of competing for converts with the other minority Religions.
  • Minor Faiths: Due to the cultural and historical variance among the Ailor, Pagan Cultism is alive and well especially in the more isolated corners of the Empire. Ailor make up the bulk of most of the smaller Pagan Faiths and Cults that exist around the world, just because of difficulty other major world Religions have at inspiring the hinterlands to follow their dogma.

History

The Homeland Era

The Homeland Era is a period that refers to when the Ailor largely lived on Ceardia and other immediately adjacent land masses. This period was likely either shortly after the fall of the Meraic Empire or some millennia before the rise of the Allorn Empire. Ailor have likely been around for some time longer than most people of Aloria in the present era, however their initial progress was extremely slow due to their short (comparative) life spans, and their extremely violent culture. The Homeland Era is sometimes also referred to as the Warlord Era, as this was a period in which most of Ailor society was perpetually stuck in never-ending border conflicts with regional warlords and petty despots. There are an uncountable amount of cultures that rose and perished in this period, until the sudden arrival of the Proto-Velheim who would later form the core of the Fornoss worshiping people. At around the same time, the ancestors of the Skyborn diversified from their common Ailor ancestor, and became the first founders on Ard-al-Nur, thus no longer being Ailor.

The Pearl Wars

After the Proto-Velheim started mass-colonizing the world, a long period that coincides with Elven and Asha history referred to as the Pearl Wars or the Elven Terror. This was a period spanning some millennia after the Dewamenet-Allorn War, and the subsequent defeat of the Asha. As the Pearl Wars accelerated against the Asha, fleeing Asha populations moved into Ailor territories, which in turn put the Ailor in contact with the Elves. There is a shared tragedy between the Ailor and the Asha, in that many of the same areas where Asha were repeatedly attacked with vile Oblation Magics, the Ailor who lived close by and sometimes even intermingled also became a target. While Oblation Magic required specific conditions to be met to work on the souls of the Asha, it was easier to apply to the Ailor, who had such varied Religions that they sometimes just did not have afterlives, or were some version of early agnostic, thus not having any faith at all. It should be expressed that the Asha by far suffered greater under this historical event than the Ailor, as the campaign by the Elves was designed to exterminate their people and culture, but Ailor often were caught up in the crossfire, and faced raids just as well. For every three raids on Asha population centers, Ailor also faced a raid on theirs, with Elven fleets ranging as far as Ceardia, Ard-al-Nur, and the landmass that would later become the Regalian Archipelago. During this period, large migratory movements of people also occurred, which is why the Ailor are so genetically diverse in the modern era. While originally skintone and hair color and eye color defined where someone came from, over time the mixing of these people made visual traits effectively universal. There remain legends of "the arrival of the black-haired people from the south", millennia ago, a point after which those populations mixed, and henceforth any Ailor could have black hair. The Pearl Wars did not invoke a historical trauma for the Ailor like it did for the Asha, notably because their average life span in this period was four times as short as an average Asha who could survive the Pearl Wars, so the events were quickly forgotten, though a communal distrust of Elves remained. When the Pearl Wars ended, Ailor population counts recovered fairly quickly, and exploded after the Cataclysm.

The Regalian Era

The Cataclysm defines the 0 year dating event during which much of the world's geography was changed due a series of natural calamities. These earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis were the consequence of a massive Magical event at the end of a failed Void Invasion elsewhere in the world, and it utterly wrecked most of the western world's surface (sparing the Sihai lands). The Allorn Empire was destroyed, and with their most prominent obstacle to glory being eliminated, the Ailor were free to expand and form larger contiguous states. In the year 5 AC the Regalian Empire was founded after the Five Family Rebellion against a local Elven state, during which Solvaan Elves. Eronidas, Ailor, and Narim came together to defeat the local tyrants and found the Regalian Empire under the leadership of the Ailor. Regalia continued to grow for the coming 3 centuries into the world's largest but often at times unstable Empire and the central focus point of world politics. This era is largely defined for each state by whether or not they are part of the Empire, subject to it, or fight against it.

Expanded Lore

Expanded Lore exists to apply more content and deep-lore exploration. This section is optional reading that is not needed for a good experience, though if you play a Scholar of a kind, reading this is encouraged.

Regalia the City

Regalia is the capital of the Regalian Empire. Why the city and the Empire are named the way they are is unknown, though it was likely a happenstance, as most of the Regalian Empire at the time of its founding was either trival or in early stages of developing a feudal agrarian society. Regalia, or the capital more specifically, was the place where everyone traveled to "the Regal place" as it were. The capital is what defined much of the early rise of the Empire, and is the central focal point in a way that no other capital of any other people could be. As a result, it is speculated that the locals just eventually called Regalia the Regal City, and that the Empire was defined by what this capital was called. Regalia is a metropolitan the likes of which only the most cosmopolitan melting pot cities in the real world could compare. Even though it only has 4 million inhabitants (which is small compared to real-world metropolises), it is the most densely inhabited city in Aloria, with every culture, every belief, every cult, every heritage and every ethnicity represented. For all the major religions there are vast temples, for all the foreign kingdoms there are embassies, and each people effectively has a district or neighborhood to call their own. Every taste, every sensation, every thought and everything that is present in the world is sampled in this city, which is why inevitably all roads lead back to Regalia, and every person longs to visit this city one day. The city however also has a dark side. While much of it is covered in wealth and splendor, crime is high in the poor areas and state saboteurs and terrorists actively blend into the vast population that the state apparatus is often unable to control. For all the gilded roofs and poetic prose about the beauty of the Palace, it only masks the misery of the homeless in the alley ways, falling victim to Vampires and other dark forces alike. Regalia is a city of extremes, and thus the focus point of the Roleplay universe.

Thoughts on Magic

The Ailor are a people with a complicated relationship with Magic. Some cultures absolutely adore and encourage Magical exploration, while many other Ailor cultures absolutely despise it, and would eagerly kill Mages if given the chance. As a result, Ailor leaders and rulers constantly walk a fine balancing act between purism and mage emancipation that often tends to swing back and forth depending on the personal preferences of the person in charge. In Regalian Roleplay, this expresses itself through the "pendulum of rights". Every year or so, a new person comes to power in Regalia who has a different opinion on Magic, and radically alters the laws to fit their preferences. This can sometimes result in extreme emancipation and Magic publicly used in the street, only to be repressed a year later as a new ruler comes to power. It often results in situations where Mages play crucial roles in solving the calamities and chaos that strike Regalia, but end up being punished after the fact as scapegoats, having to be content with the invisibility of their achievement as propaganda wipes their contributions away. The constant struggle between Tech versus Magic is an ongoing topic in Ailor society, and Regalia in particular, that Players are constantly on switching sides of.

Aristocracy & Hierarchy

One very important aspect of Ailor society as a whole is aristocracy, autocracy and the concept of hierarchy. For better or worse, the Ailor always gravitate towards leadership structures and seek strong persons to lead them and to organize them. The Ailor are not exceptional at anything individually, but even the most untrained peasant mob under the right leader can turn the Ailor from disorganized rabble into efficient fighting machine. Each Ailor society eventually structures itself around centralized leaders followed by devolved leadership or authority passed down to subordinates. This usually expresses itself through feudalism and serfdom, and so most of the millions of Ailor who live in the world are tenant farmers or workers subject to some lord or count. Even among the nominally more democratic nations that call themselves republics, only the wealthy vote, or votes are only cast between centralizing families that rule from mighty castles and palaces. Hierarchy is exceptionally important in Ailor society, and the concept of a social class climber is seen as uncouth. Class distinction is important, and while the Ailor do not have a caste system, marrying outside of one's means is considered an offensive vanity for the pauper, and a weak gesture for the wealth-born.

States & Regionalism

An enduring conflict that often plagues Ailor progress, is their habit to further fragment their society into smaller groups to create more exclusionary in-groups and othering those not part of it. This often expresses itself in the conflict between patriotism and regionalism. It is a natural desire of all states and autocratic leaders to seek more centralized power. To break away the legal rights of the smaller regions and to meld everything together into one homogenous loyal state that works towards a common goal. Because Ailor have become very efficient at doing just that, large regional-autonomy movements have risen up to preserve cultural uniqueness, but also to counteract the loss of regional agency. After all, many cultural niches exist in small regional polities, with a history of having fought for their identity's continued survival against for example a common enemy like the Elves. But often, when these enemies would disappear, suddenly the predominant Ailor power would become the new oppressor, or attempt to centralize power even more aggressively than the previous tyrant would. In Regalia, this often expresses itself in subtly disobedient and regionally autonomous politicians. These politicians aren't necessarily disloyal to the Empire, and do not wish to see it do well, but would rather than all taxes and cultural homogeneity is applied anywhere but here. In essence, many of Regalia's politicians are NIMBYs, and the Empire's instability is largely caused by its own politicians engaging in self-sabotaging plots against the crown and the central state to cling to any regional autonomy they can, even if it puts them at severe risk of invasion from outside forces or ouster from their own people.

Trivia

  • The name Ailor is a somewhat bold claim made by these people that they should be the inheritors of the world (the world being called Aloria, considering themselves the pre-eminent people of it). Other peoples of Aloria sometimes call the Ailor "Nuvalon", which is Elven for "New People" to put them more in their historical context.
  • The one thing Ailor are deeply skilled at, is adaptation and usurpation. Ailor can take any kind of technology, design, or idea from other people, and further it into one of their own, and then continue to iterate onto it to make it even better. Most Ailor inventions like the musket and the three-decked battleship are based on Dwarven inventions, but now fuel the rise of the Regalian Empire.
  • Ailor are confirmed to be a common ancestor of the Skyborn people (at least the Founders and the Reclaimers). It is also speculated that the Ailor may be a distant common ancestor of the Dwarves. This would explain why Dwarven traits essentially disappear in half or quarter Dwarves.
Peoples of Aloria
Central Peoples
• Ailor • Narim • Solvaan •
Northern Peoples
• Dwarves • Isldar • Sihndar • Urlan •
Eastern Peoples
• Skyborn • Sihai • Dragonkin •
Southern Peoples
• Allar • Bralona • Maraya • Slizzar •
Western Peoples
• Asha • Eronidas • Fin'ullen • Kathar • Lanlath • Maquixtl • Suvial • Yanar •
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Last EditorFirefan96 on 11/22/2024.
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