MSB: An-Ying, Mantisai, Cult of Shadows, Path of Smoke & Shadows...

Chinese (Mandarin) - 暗影 (Ànyǐng) — “dark shadow”

An-Ying is a Mantisai from the Cult of Shadows, a reclusive cult in the Mantisai homelands under Mahakala (The Great Darkness, lord Protector), who is a god dedicated to protection from the shadows. As a servant of Mahakala, An-Ying watches and observes the world around him, with an eye to prevent or judge injustices. 

Many misunderstand the cult of shadows, due to their reclusive nature. Rumors abound that world leaders have been assassinated and nations turned over by the secret machinations of the Cult of Shadows. Due to these (not entirely untrue) rumors, any dark robed Mantisai seen within a rural city may be blamed for all sorts of calamities that fall on their community. Ironically, it is the work of the Cult of Shadows that usually prevents or mitigates these same disasters, but that does not stop rural superstitions.

An-Ying is a full member of the cult but has struggled with developing his path due to blockages in his use of shadow essence. Tertius was asked by the elders of the cult to take over An-Ying’s training in the Manna Arts, as a favor to them. They’ve had many working arrangements for as long as the cult has existed. Tertius agrees to help An-Ying get unstuck and progress on his path. Why is An-Ying stuck?

An-Ying is quiet, growing bitter at his failure to follow his father’s path. An-Ying’s father was executed by a foreign government for a misunderstanding over his involvement in their political upheaval. Members of the cult knew the real story, that Hiro, An-Ying’s father, was the scalpel behind the scenes removing the gang leaders who were attempting to overthrow the governmental structures of the town. When the cult learned of Hiro’s treatment, they quietly removed the king every leader involved in it, and planted a king who would follow the way of justice in their place; all without the people of the kingdom being aware of anything more than in-fighting and factionalism. The pressure to live up to Hiro’s legacy has given An-Ying a father wound and identity crisis. He cannot find his own path because he’s too distracted by failing to live up to his father’s.

An-Ying is trained to be quiet, observe from the shadows, and have patience of a stone. But he does not find quietness or patience to be virtues he can hold for long. His impatience with his own lack of progress leads him to bitterness and resentment; a feeling that he is fundamentally broken and has no value in his role. This bitterness leads to outbursts of anger, sometimes shouting, and sometimes violent reactions. Rather than still rock in the shadows, An-Ying finds himself the burning embers that lead to a smoke filled room. The Shadow essence path requires stillness and patience; but when An-Ying attempts to build these virtues to manipulate shadow he always falls short, because body wants to burn instead. This burning is recognized by Tertius as a misaligned path, and he encourages him to embrace the burning and see where it leads.

Working with Tertius, An-Ying learns to embrace his fire affinity and blend it with his shadow training to develop a smoke affinity. Where there is smoke, there is fire. In this way, he re-purposes his training rather than letting it go to waste. He forges it in the fires of his true affinity, and creates a new path no other Mantisai in memory has followed. 

An-Ying, as a Mantisai, retained the basic shape and form of his Preying Mantis ancestors; walking on four legs and using his front two arms for more humanoid tasks. All six limbs have retractile blades for attack and defense. At core, though evolved and sentient, the Mantisai are hunters. They require a prey and a hunt to keep them motivated and in motion.

An-Ying is usually found wearing black-leather-like armor, with dark red cracks glowing throughout like the embers of a smoldering fireplace or volcano. He wears a belt upon which are thousands of thin ceramic leafs, which he imbues with his smoke manna and throws at his enemies. He also wears two long daggers which mirror his razor edge arm braces.

While most with the fire affinity are known for their bright fire and flames and sun manna; An-Ying develops an entirely unseen path  of Smoke & Shadows; where “Flame is truth. Shadow is secrecy. Smoke is the verdict.”

He can burn objects by touching them, and throw intense balls of manna that are smoky-shadows on the outside by burning infernos on the inside. In low visibility darkness, you will feel the attack before you see it. 

Through Smoke & Shadows, An-Ying is able to blend with most shadows becoming nearly invisible even feet away in bright daylight. When no natural shadow is available, for an extra manna cost, An-Ying can use smoke to blur the eye and create an absence of light which mimics shadow in most respects. But its heat can still be felt from up close. On a hot day, this could be overlooked as a passive heat absorbed by the building or object which obscures him. But on a cold night this heat creates suspicions for guards. To overcome this, An-Ying, at times, has to create a building fire to hide within. 

The insidious nature of his Smoke & Shadows technique allows him to create area of effect attacks where his smoke takes on substance and clings to the oils in skin or clothing, and it dries out and burns natural resources (such as those made of wood). 

Given that smoke, via heat, are his primary tools; wind and cold are his antidotes. When the wind or cross breeze is too strong, it can either dispel his hiding or reveal it in some way. It can lead to ineffective area attacks. And a strong enough wind can threaten to put his fire out entirely if his manna reserves are too low to resist. Like wind, cold can be a problem. The cold evening won’t hinder his ability to burn but it will make his heat more obvious and suspicious, ruining his ability to hide using smoke. In extreme cold, as when attacked by ice or cold water, his fire can be snuffed out. This still leaves an advanced martial artist with blades for weapons, but without his fire his throwing leafs are useless, and his options are far more limited. In addition, his body growing cold could cause him to freeze up or in extreme cases die.

An-Ying only answers to An-Ying, and his verdict is slow in coming, for he was trained to observe before acting. Yet, when he does act, his judgment is final and the smoke he leaves in his wake is the sign of his judgment.

At higher grades of the Manna Arts, An-Ying learns to manipulate smoke to such a degree that he can create long-distance avatars to speak through fire-pits and fire-places; communicating with allies and terrifying foes.

At the highest grades, he learns to make his shadows tangible to the point that he can manipulate objects as though he had extra hands. The number of additional arms and hands is only dependent upon his ability to hold them in his mind’s eye. 

An-Ying can also take advantage of the fact that heat rises, and change his own body to adapt to this feature of smoke. But since the heat for the reaction is coming from him, he can direct his smoke levitation in the directions he wants to go. This may allow him to float up to or down from a tall roof, or even fly, albeit more slowly than a bird, to far off destinations limited by his manna capacity, which can be drained harder in unfavorable conditions.

While not the silent stone his father’s legacy would have predicted, his more aggressive approach still allows him to operate within the shadows, while taking far more aggressive action against injustice, as he sees fit.

In later years, he finds followers who want to join him on his path, and he is forced to decide if he must start a new cult or school dedicated to this path. He does not know if it still falls within Mahakala’s domain. But he is assured that this is the will of Mahakala, to become a new cult under his brand and divine protection. So he accepts his somewhat unwelcome status as leader of a new cult. Blah. 

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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MSB: Lehavah, Threxan niece of Ko'Akh

לֶהָבָה — Lehavah — “Flame” (also used as a modern given name)

The Reclusive Artist

A creative individual who lives in seclusion, often possessing a unique perspective or talent.

Lehavah is the niece of Ko’Akh the Mighty and has served as Ko’Akh’s shadow and apprentice within Threxan territory until her hundredth year—barely old enough to be taken seriously among the Threxan herds, but old enough to be tested in the wider world. 

Lehavah is a full head taller than even her uncle, with green-gray scales, and she has braided Copper rings on each of her prominent horns. She wears a toga like wrap loosely draped around her body, but in a way that says fashion and attention to detail. Her pale blue eyes provide a sharp contrast to her green-gray dark scales. She wears braided copper rings around her horns: apprentice marks that glint with quiet pride and a little too much eagerness. 

Where Ko’Akh is judgment and patience, Lehavah is craft and curiosity and driven passion.—more forge than courtroom—carrying a rune-carved siege hammer of her own making. Her magic doesn’t bloom as effortless force the way Ko’Akh’s appears; it lives in preparation: wards hammered into copper, sigils etched into steel, and oaths bound into braided metal. Lehavah is detached but driven focus by nature, but her inner fire hits like an explosive supernova when her emotions boil over. She must often be reminded to recenter, reembody, and engage in sensory therapy to regulate her dysregulated nervous system.

Lehavah is the niece of Ko’Akh and her uncle’s apprentice. She turned 100-years-old last year and was finally called from the herd to be at Ko’Akh’s side to begin her formal training in the wider world. She is often hyper-focused on her own interests without noticing the world around her. She often ignores or doesn’t bother with interpersonal interactions unless they are interesting to her. Sometimes her focus can make it hard to switch to interruptions to her work or even to her expectations, which can take her from a calm focus to outbursts of emotion. 

Lehavah comes from a culture that does not recognize gender as relevant to tasks, capabilities, roles, or professions. Due to the fact gender norms don’t exist in Threxia, Threxans who are new to the wider world are often confused when they meet the gender norm expectations that often exist within human cultures.

As a trade, Lehavah is a blacksmith, craftsman, and metal worker. She creates decorative, utility, and weapon crafts. At her side or in her hand, she carries a massive siege hammer, covered in runes which glow bright blues, reds, and yellows while she works. When working, which she nearly always is, she wears thick hide from a wild beast, which has been expertly crafted to prevent the flames of her forge from singing her other clothes. 

In contrast to Ko’Akh’s warm and congenial manner towards friends and strangers alike, Lehavah is often oblivious to the people around her unless they are directly relevant. Relevance may be the result of their assisting her with a project, being on a team together, or if they are either telling Lehavah something interesting or they are an attentive audience while she tells them something interesting. Otherwise, the world could be crashing around her and she would be lost in her thoughts, forge plans, or crafting her metals. 

Because other races seem so irrational to her, she often probes for more clarity and understanding, asking people to explain their perspectives. But this can come across as a challenge or offense to more subtext driven cultures, leading her to be at a total loss as to why the other party is suddenly aggressive towards her.

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB) - Wolf-Folk

Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB)

Wolf-Folk (Werewolves, Wolves) are a humanoid evolutionary branch from their Great Wolf ancestor. This divergence predates the divergence into the common dogfolk by millions of years, but sentience hit the many of Creator’s Offspring around the same demarcation 100,000 years ago, scholar say. 

Important History

Wolf-Folk have a unique development within Ha’Aretz as they are considered to have extra-normal developmental anomalies in their history of origin. The trouble is, for scholars, separating fact from mythology. 

According to widespread mythology, the Wolf-Folk began as a simple evolutionary branch of the Great Wolf that developed sentience around the time of the Creator’s Offspring gifting explosion. At some point, Creator decided to gift them with the ability to better bond with their closest geographical neighbor, the humans. As such, they could morph their form into the approximate shape of humans, but always with traits of their wolf heritage visible. 

Still other more localized colloquial mythologies speak of a secret pact between the rebel elohim (The Anunnaki) and a smaller subset of the Wolf-Folk, giving them an edge over their competition in exchange for an eternity of service for them and their descendants. Sometimes this mythology is tied to the Anunnaki named NasuApu. 

However, some scholars believe that this ability to trans-mutate came from exposure to a particular strain of manna vein known to have been in abundance in their territory of origin at the time of the Creator’s Offspring explosion. This is an educated guess at this time, the evidence may lean to supporting this hypothesis but it is circumstantial at this time.

Note: In truth, unbeknown to most in Ha’Aretz, but known to the reader of this secret chronicle, the accounts above are all true in part. Creator did give this gift to the Wolf-Folk as a gift to make stronger ties with the humans and he used the manna vein in their region as a mechanism for this gift evolution. However, NasuApu did make pacts with some Wolf-Folk giving them even more and stranger abilities. He has also made pacts with human-born agents to turn them into his Wolf-Folk agents. It was such a pact like this, with a disillusioned human male named Dallu (whose name meant weakness) where The White Wolf Clan originated, giving Dallu the new title Bel-Dallu (Lord of Weakness). This made him a werewolf, and gave him supernatural control of the Manna Arts empowered not only from Bel-Dallu’s new evolved manna channels but drawing from NasuApu itself. 

Wolf-Folk did originally have peaceful and harmonious pacts with the human-born. However, various infightings, wars, and even natural disasters drove them apart. For a time, they became myths and legends to the human world until they reappeared out of the mountains after the great frost melted. In the thousands of years between, mythologies (such as those above) developed, and human-born distrusted the Wolf-Folk. For their part, the Wolf-Folk lost all sense of story or mythology about a human world and were surprised to find groups of people that looked similar to their upright form but without the ability to take their wolf form. They thought them broken or dysfunctional. Thus, the groups remained apart for centuries after coming back into contact. 

Today, regions of the world experience different outcomes. In some regions, Wolf-Folk have formed lasting bonds with both the human world and others of Creator’s Offspring. They are welcome members of societies, even holding prominent authority and government roles. In other regions, there is peace but still distrust, and so while they pass each other in the markets, even doing business between each other, the humans and Wolf-Folk do not intermingle personally. Still in other regions, they are outright hostile to each other, keeping to their own territories in tenuous peace treaties, with occasional outbreaks of war. 

In Kaldea, the Wolf-Folk were largely run off into other lands until a decade ago when a new White Wolf Clan moved into the mountains east of the capital of Kaldea. While efforts were made to either create peace treaties or if not, run them off, all efforts failed. The King, already busy with other matters, is content to leave the region to them until such time as they create a nuisance worth the investment of his entire army. Meanwhile, Bel-Dallu wins converts by the day and brings them into his fold, turning human-born into Wolf-Folk through dark arts and darker pacts of gods. 

***

About the Wolf-Folk, General Overview: 

Wolf-Folk are hunters by nature and operate from Den sites. These Den sites are usually territorial and continue for generations within any given clan until circumstance drive them onto other geographies. The Wolf-Folk are shape shifters; any given clan may have a culture of staying in wolf form or human form more often, as their needs and risks and cultures dictate. 

When in wolf form, they look like any natural wolf, but 2-3 times larger, sometimes as large as cattle in extreme cases. Due to this form similarity, all wolves, even the non-sentient wolves, are treated as potentially dangerous or signs of Wolf-Folk activity, even if no Wolf-Folk are present. In this form and size, they are powerful runners, have jaws of brutal bite force, and can often overpower an untrained manna artist or non-manna trained human one-to-one.

When in human form, they still retain their pointed wolf ears, and wild hair and thick side burns, and pointed teeth. Their transformation can either take minutes or fractions of a second, depending on the age and experience of the individual. In this human form, they are stronger than the average human, faster runners, and retain their enhanced sense of smell, sight, and hearing. They do not have the power of their wolf form, but their human form is still formidable. 

In either form, they can see farther than most humans. Their sense of smell is still their primary cognitive framework for the world, as with their cousins the dog-folk. They can follow scent trails that are days old when hunting. Their hearing can pick up voices from up to 5 miles away, if the wind and terrain conditions are right. 

As fighters, in either form, they tend to rely on their sheer strength and sharp teeth and claws to slash at opponents. They are also capable of wielding the Manna Arts, but this varies by individual. Wolf-Folk are not known to be patient by nature, and patience is required to wield the Manna Arts. 

Youth culture prizes aggression; elder culture prizes restraint. Among them, patience is not natural—it is earned, and therefore revered. Younger individuals will usually rely on the size and strength of their wolf form to surprise and overwhelm an enemy, and operate in packs to isolate them. However, as individuals age they grow in their patience and many become wielders of the great arts. When they do, they can become powerful mages, as their will can be hard to near unbreakable. These individuals may single-handedly overwhelm whole groups of enemy combatants with their deft handling of brutal manna attacks and defenses. They also use the defenses to shield their more impatient younger brethren. 

In our local case, The White Wolf Clan is a particular clan of werewolf zealots whose stated aim is to break Kaldea and tear it down. They spread their message of how Kaldea has failed the lower classes, and some disgruntled residents have developed sympathies for the clan if not outright joined them. 

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB) - Mantisai

Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB)

Mantisai are an evolution of an earlier mantid branch of insect. As they developed sentience and grew in prowess, they also grew in height and weight. That being said, they did not become massive by the standards of other sentients. Mantisai grow to an average of 4.5 feet tall, and may weigh up to 100 pounds. Rarely is one found larger, but individuals do vary. They are usually found in shades of green, grey, or tan. Though one unique lineage has been rumored to have a teal tint which may or may not be natural. They have existed in most climates and zones throughout Ha’Aretz as a sentient but largely non-humanoid group of Creator’s Offspring. 

They have six limbs: four stride-legs (used for walking/climbing) and two grasp-limbs (used as arms). Their  pointed spiked feet leave very little mark on even the softest terrain. It might be easy to mistake their marks for a group of walking sticks, staves, and canes if there are also footsteps of other groups present. Their front two limbs are long and cut at sharp angles. Their forearms are wide and bladed with sharp spikes which were originally helpful for climbing varied surfaces and holding prey. As they grew and began interacting with other sentients, these bladed arms became their easiest and most readily available weapon for self-defense or attack. As they evolved into sentience, the end of their forearms developed finger-like tendrils. They are able to use them with great poise and dexterity, and due to their thinness, reach into spaces, even inside equipment, that no non-Mantisai could hope to accomplish. Their grip strength is weaker with their quasi-hands, but if caught between their arm sections, it is hard to escape. 

Mantisai have arrow shaped heads, with large green eyes and tiny pupils. They have two antennae which seem to move about of their own accord constantly. They have two grips on their mouths and act as a type of mouth claw. Their heads swivel to a far greater degree than any other creature save for the Great Owls. With larger eyes, they have advanced motion detection and near 365 degree peripheral awareness. They see very well within 100 feet; however, tend to see less well into the distance. They are able to detect scents on the air, but with less acuity than the dog-folk or cat-folk. 

One of their most useful traits in terms of inter-sapient societal interactions is their stealth and dexterity. They can walk up nearly any surface, even straight verticals or inverted ceilings, with nearly the same ease as walking the ground. The spine-like grips on their feel retract and extend punching into surfaces just enough to get an iron grip on them. While this works well with porous materials (rock, stone) it does not work on glass or polished metals Even when using this feature, they are nearly silent in their movements. They can grow so perfectly still for extended periods, that someone might mistake them for a tree or a statue. 

Mantisai are ultimately non-humanoid species and do not always think like the two-legs. They understand community and friendship, but they do not hold the same moral misgivings. They are often hired as thieves, spies, and assassins and they usually lose no sleep over their duties as long as they deem the job or target to have earned their just dues. But for most Mantisai, this is less an emotional justice and more of a calculated justice. Things are right or wrong because they simply are, and this can lead them to calculated decisions, like considering it no choice at all to sacrifice the few for the many. Nevertheless, they are not fundamentalists in their sense of justice. They simply tend toward a logical calculation over an emotional appeal. If you want them to change their mind, you must appeal to the logic. 

For advanced Manna Artist Mantisai; there is a talent available for complete camouflage. Their outer skin, and sometimes even eye color, can change to match their environment. This functions as a skill of both body manipulation of their chromatic colors and manna manipulation to augment this physical capacity. It requires extensive training and deep meditation to develop the skill. Only the most proficient can perform the task instinctively. For most who do develop the skill, at least a few moments of concentration are required to completely blend with their surroundings. This only impacts visible light spectra. Which means infrared (heat-vision) will still uncover them unless they do something externally to mask their heat signature. Ultraviolet may also expose them as the very nature of their pigments that allow for the camouflage react strongly to UV Lamps, practically causing them to glow white in the dark. This is much harder to disguise. 

It is quite likely that if you get to know a Mantisai, they will tell you that “Rumors of eating our spouse are racist and greatly exaggerated from our ancestral past. Only when a pair wanted to separate but there were disputes in the process would that ever happen today, and even then it is exceedingly rare. It’s almost always symbolic these days… except for Aunt Zizzarat. Don’t get me started on Aunt Zizzarat.” — Scholar Clinock Satrine 

When not busy with life’s many activities, you may find a Mantisai meditating in complete stillness or people watching and observing the strange habits of the two-legs. They do not make great party hosts, but find intellectual pursuits and logical puzzles highly entertaining. If you are wanting small talk and entertainment, you are unlikely to find it with the Mantisai unless by accident of their misunderstanding something. But if you are wanting to puzzle out the mysteries of the universe, you are hard pressed to find a better conversation partner. For this reason, you will also find the Mantisai among the scholars of the world. Wherever great libraries are found, Mantisai will be in attendance. By extension, they make wonderful professors, tutors, file system keepers, programmers, and other high-logic professions. They also make wonderful alchemists and inventors. 

While these all portray Mantisai as quite formidable, they are fairly weak to physical attacks. Their bodies are light and their shells while hard are thin. A direct attack with sufficient strength will cause massive damage and potentially death. To counter this, they develop a martial art that involves moving with the opponent using their momentum against them. That being said, sheer blunt force can be a deadly and quick end to a Mantisai. Also, due to their large eyes and visual awareness sudden blasts of bright light or strobe lights can disorient the Mantisai. It takes special goggles to attempt to overcome this limitation, but those in turn limit their visual awareness which is one of their primary talents. So the solution becomes another harm. 

When in battle, they focus on grappling if unarmed. But due to their physical weakness to blunt force, they prefer to be range fighters, using their enhanced field of awareness to call out battlefield tactics to their teams, and fire longer range weapons. They will fire off magical attacks of energy bursts, and magically enhanced projectiles of any kind (arrows, throwing knives, and even manna charges rocks if needed). If forced into close-range combat, they are in danger, so they will usually carry manna-charged whips and chain weapons to fling at enemies who approach in closer range, and at least one spear and one long sword as the final defense. These are all back-up choices, as they will avoid close-range combat if at all possible. 

One might wonder how this weakness to close-range combat may interact with their work when hired as a close range assassin. The short answer is that they take all the above precautions, but generally try to avoid close-range combat. They sneak into places and hide in plain sight, typically using poisoned in food, laced darts, or attack their target while sleeping. More often, they are hired as thieves. They can enter someplace with near perfect silence, hide when needed, retrieve items with expert dexterity, and be gone without much of a trace they were ever there. But if something goes wrong, they have their back-up options available either on their person or in dimensional storage. 

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB) - Dragonborn

Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB)

The Dragonborn are a Humanoid evolution an ancient serpent species. In mythology they consider themselves to be born of their own mythological ancestor The Great Dragon. 

Natives of Zora (Lava/Fire/Rock World) one of the three orbs around the three suns.

Scholars are unable to confirm or verify is the ancestral species existed. It is clear that they were born of a serpent-like race that grew out of the primordial past on Zora. At one time in the eons of yesteryear, the orb that is now called Zora was a green orb with much water and plant life, and it evolved in ways similar to Markus’s home world Earth 1. What scholars know today is that when the great convergence occurred (the three suns and three orbs became intertwined with each other), it pushes Zora closer to its home star, and the orb grew hot and violent. It eventually found its rhythm and balance. While some water and greenery still exists, it is mostly in underground cave systems, and the light used for photosynthesis is produced by manna veins in the rock. As a result, this serpent species evolved to not only tolerate but embrace the heat. 

In light of this assumed lineage, Scholars on Ha’Aretz named their taxonomy for the residents of Zora after their own mythological serpent, Leviathanidae Hominidius. 

Dragonborn swim in the lava as if in water. Their homeland has greenery and water regions, full of animal life. But the Dragonborn are the only sentient of Creator’s Offspring on Zora. Large swaths of the Orb are covered in volcanoes and lava lakes; with ash clouds periodically blanketing the skies. The entire orb is covered in an immense heat, which creates a natural greenhouse where the green lands thrive. The animal life and bird life are hardy creatures. Dragonborn were the apex predator long before they developed sentients. 

Zora now has a rich economy of exports in obsidian, sulfur salts, rare crystals, and ash used for saponification. 

Dragonborn are no larger than the average human, with similar appendages. Obsidian scales cover their bodies in heat-shedding capabilities. Their scales are black with iridescent reflections of blues and reds which give off purple hues. These scales are overlapping and harder than steel, leaving them basically immune to any physical damage unless it has sufficient force to break through. Their fingers boast long sharp claws. On their backs, two fin-like wings of leather and a strong tail mark them as uniquely identifiable.

The Dragonborn have no external ears to speak of, while their hearing is decent to a degree, it is less than a human’s hearing. Instead they sense vibrations and they can pick up chemicals from the air with their tongues. They are also near legendary in their capability to see heat sources even through thick walls or determining their location deep underground. Their entire body, especially their manna channels, are tuned to pull heat and therefore sense it. Their eye-sight is sufficient for most activities, but these other sense are their primary cognitive framework. They may taste you on the air before you are near enough to see clearly; especially if you are pungent from perfumes, food, or other activities. They develop a taste profile of their frequent contacts. 

Since the Dragonborn are used to hot humid greenhouse climates, they get sluggish in the cold. Their joints stiffen and scales become brittle. While water poses no problem to the Dragonborn in and of itself, the closer the water gets to freezing the more painful or even damaging it will be to the Dragonborn. Their bodies were evolved to live in and off-put heat, they are cold-blooded serpent-kind and require a regular external heat to retain their normative body temperature. In the atmosphere of Ha’Aretz, Dragonborn are not immediately in danger but may and often do require external heat sources to maintain their comfort if not their life. As such, they carry heat sources with them. The most common heat source is a manna infused heat cords of iron woven into a belt which is buckled across the chest. 

When forced into battle scenarios, Dragonborn are powerful in both close-range melee attacks and longer distance area denial. They are able to interact with any heat source, including drawing power from the sun directly. So they are less potent at night unless ample fires are present, which they will usually start themselves at the beginning of a night fight, growing more dangerous as the fire grows. They can glass the ground turning it into either slippery obsidian-like surfaces with little traction or even into molten material that both traps and burns their enemies. They can pull heat, fire, and flame from the sun, nearby fires, or other heat sources causing a fire-storm in the air around them, aimed at their targets. These attacks can be broad or pin-point accurate, depending on their needs. When up close, they may grab you and hold you to their chest, burning you skin to skin. They may also wield weapons (swords, axes, staves, maces, nunchucks, throwing knives, etc.) that are doused in flame or supercharged with explosive heat. Since they can pull heat from external sources, this means they may be able to draw heat directly from their enemy’s bodies as well, though this kind of attack is difficult as it becomes a matter of will against will. It is also dangerous for the Dragonborn as the same attack in reverse, heat drawn from the body, is a particular weakness for them. It is not an attack they like to use except for in extreme circumstances, for fear that their enemy may realize it can be reversed to extreme effect. 

While modern Dragonborn are sophisticated scientists, alchemists, forgers, and miners, in addition to being warriors of renown, they also tend to hold their religious ideals with an amount of reverence that surprises outsiders meeting them for the first time. They are usually not fundamentalists, but rather reverently spiritual. Most Dragonborn believe Leviathan is a myth of the ancient past, and instead hold to one of two ideals. Either Ra-Ah the sun god as their patron deity (less common), or a direct reverence for the nature of hot and cold itself (more common). Thus you are more likely than not to find some version of the Yin-Yang in blue and red upon their person, either in an emblem or a tattoo mark or metal sash or belt of some kind. 

On Zora, their home orb, Dragonborn have nests where they congregate together at times while at other times they sojourn solo. While on Ha’Aretz, they tend to stay near populated areas, due to the fact that groups mean heat sources. Both the body heat of crowds and more importantly the many ways in which others of Creators Offspring need heat for cooking and forging and even heating living spaces when colder months arrive. If a Dragonborn is traveling alone, they will make sure they are equipped with multiple rechargeable heat sources to bring with them. They also plan routes that would allow them to build fires, so they might avoid a tree-less prairie or the desert at night. 

Due to many unfair stereotypes, the Dragonborn go out of their way to be cordial to strangers which allows them to avoid unnecessary attention or complications. With their friends, they may let more of their wit show allowing their smile crack through the facade. With enemies, their cold emotionless stare creates its own kind of fear, as fire billows around and from them hungry to devour and consume.

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB) - Brineborn

Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB)

The Brineborn, humanoid evolution of a cetacean-adjacent branch (other similar species include whales, dolphins, porpoises, and manatees). Specifically, they were an offshoot from an ancestor that later also branched into dolphins and manatees.

They are residents of Oceana (Water World), one of the three orbs of the three suns.

They are sometimes colloquially known as the Thrumfolk and the Aqualithae in some languages.

Scholars list them as the Manadelphids species. “Manadelphids are a sapient cetacean-adjacent lineage that split from the shared ancestor before the dolphin/manatee divergence.” — Scholar Atticus Finch

Brineborn are heavy-set folk with webbed feet and hands, thick fingers, and they move well on land, but slowly. Often they use transport equipment to keep up with other Offspring of Creator on missions. The most common equipment one might find a Brineborn using is the Aqua-Sled, a manna-enforced floating transport with a water pod inside and a cover with misters. Expensive Aqua-Sleds may even be fully submerged pods that can travel over land. Most are open-air but covered. Mist-Cloaks are also common: manna-enforced cloaks that draw moisture from the air (and/or from dimensional storage) and mist the Brineborn periodically to keep them from drying out.

They have hues of grey skin, sometimes with blue hues and undertones. As a result of their need to keep water content high—and their use of water-enhanced equipment—the Brineborn’s skin is usually wet, moist, or tacky to the touch. Trying to grab hold of a Brineborn is difficult, as fingers slip off easily. A determined grappler may resort to hooks or barbs to gain purchase, though such tactics are widely regarded as cruel.

They have large black eyes with no differentiation between pupil and iris like land mammals (non-aquatics). The skin and muscles around their eye close around it when blinking like a camera lens. Their first membrane is translucent and closes sideways; it allows them to see while protecting the eye from both water and sand. A larger cover allows them to fully close their eyes for meditation or sleep.

In the water, they are not the fastest of the aquatic folk, but they will beat any non-aquatic Offspring in a water race.

Brineborn are immune to most diseases and have a high regeneration capability; therefore, affliction specialists will find this a hard foe to beat. They require water often to keep healthy. When on extended land trips, they may drink more in a day than most non-aquatics do in a month. As often as possible, they seek bodies of water to soak in—and even sleep in. Any large city will have inns that cater to aquatics, with pools instead of beds in the room. When this is not possible, seasoned Brineborn Manna Artists will keep water in dimensional storage to be used as needed.

Brineborn have sonar echolocation that operates at shorter distances than their dolphin cousins, but it runs deeper and provides more information. They are capable of reading density, voids in spaces (like hidden caves), and determining the composition of hidden materials (rocks, walls, buildings, even devices). This makes it very hard to hide anything—or anyone—from a Brineborn. A potential issue with their deep sonar capabilities is that vibrations sent into land or buildings may be felt by those with sufficient perception, revealing the Brineborn’s location to those they have revealed.

Mind-attacks are a component of resonating frequencies on the electromagnetic range. Both sonar and mind-attacks are more effective and can be brought to bear over greater distances underwater, but can operate within a short range on land.

Their excess fat and thick skin serve as a barrier to heat and cold, and also a natural armor in war. While they may don armor, they are resilient even without it.

Expect a Brineborn to have heavy attacks, both physical and resonant in nature. They are capable of sending waves of sound—or even mental assaults—with vicious efficiency.

That being said, if a Brineborn has their water content reduced (physically or magically), they become weak and may even die. They are slow on land, and therefore speed attacks may whittle their defenses down over time, as they may be too slow to defend against a dedicated speedster. However, if a speedster falls prey to their sonic blasts, the Brineborn can quickly reclaim the offensive.

The Brineborn’s water dependence means their regeneration wanes in low-water conditions. In that state, afflictions and toxins may have a stronger effect. While tissues are quick to regenerate, major organs—especially those related to nerves, hearing, or sonar—may take much longer to recover, if at all. This also means that attacks which drain water from the body (dehydration attacks) can be lethal to a Brineborn.

While generally kind and amenable, Brineborn are not to be trifled with. If they feel the need to defend themselves or others, they will only leave the fight when one side or the other is incapable of proceeding. It is rare for a bar fight involving a Brineborn to end well for the offender.

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Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB) - Mastiffarians

Worldbuilding: Manna, Sarcasm, and Burritos (MSB)

Mastiffarians (dogfolk), Humanoid divergent evolution of the dog-breed similar to that which became Mastiffs on Earth 1 (Markus’ home world in this LitRPG Portal Fantasy). 

Mastiffarians are most easily identified by their massive heads, with long loose jowls and thick triangular black noses. 

Mastiffarians are barrel chested, thick-necked, muscular humanoids. They are the natural bouncers of choice at the local clubs due to their desire to protect while remaining largely non-violent, inspired by a livity-like tradition. They may also be seen in other roles that protect or provide; priests, healers, chefs, body guards, law enforcement, stewards and butlers. One prominent position a well-known and seasoned Mastiffarian may find themselves in is that of a Mediator or dispute settler. They do not enjoy conflict, so are not attracted to professions like ‘lawyer’. But when two parties have even a fainting hope of settling disputes before the courts are involved, they may hire a seasoned Mastiffarian to host a round-table in their camp. 

They are wide and muscular, but only slightly taller than the average human, ranging 6’ to 6.5’ on average. While they are tall, it is their sheer musculature that differentiates them. They are often able to lift weights that few other Offspring of Creator their size could manage. Even the mighty Leonid cannot out-lift a Mastiffarian. 

They have short bristled fur, with a chocolate brown fur and erratic black strip patterns throughout. The strip patterns are inheritable and genetic, so often family lines can be seen in the patterns, though they still vary from individual to individual. 

The Mastiffarian Offspring folk are loyal and playful, despite their gruff first impression. Once they know you are a friend, they will be kind and gentle, despite their massive size. 

Mastiffarians have low visual acuity. They see just fine in low to average light conditions, especially within the close ranges. However, they are functionally near-sighted, so they may not be able to see details like faces from more than 20 feet away. This makes them perfect in low light or dusk conditions, and for operating as bouncers or patrol officers. 

Where they lack in sight, they make up for in Hearing and Scent. They have a scent-first cognition, and will smell you long before they can see you, given the conditions are right to carry your scent to them. They associate scent with emotions, so if they scent a friend, they will let their guard down. If they scent a foe, they will be ready for the fight long before they see it. Due to this scent-first cognition, they make excellent trackers, perceiving signs left behind in the air and on surfaces that a human would never pick up. Their hearing will also notice thumps, footsteps, and may differentiate from another room the exact size and weight of an object being dropped or moved. 

Being both massive and strong, the Mastiffarian is hard to rile up. They remain calm in the oddest of frays. In a bar fight, a Mastiffarian may pick up two drunken fighters, one in each hand, and then carry them to the front door, then set them outside like a crate of spoiled fruit, all while yawning in boredom or distracted by what they want for dinner. 

Being deeply loyal to chosen-family, the Mastiffarian has a high anxiety when separated from that chosen family. If they are apart too long, you may see them needless creating needless messes or even tearing apart things just to get the anxiety out. It’s very difficult to really antagonize a Mastiffarian. But if you want to get their ire, pick on their friends and chosen-family. A Mastiffarian that has chosen loyalties will conquer nations to see their chosen-family saved; and if not, then avenged. 

Because they are built like a brick house, they require near constant feeding. Their muscle mass alone means a high calorie requirement. They are also prone to long bouts of sleep and naps. When on duty, they may look bored but they are hyper-aware of their environment. But if they are off-duty, you will usually find them sleeping or eating; often with some form of entertainment or distraction running 24-7. 

Mastiffarians are massive and legitimately dangerous when needed. As a culture, they tend toward non-violence. For the Mastiffarian, violence is a last resort, and strictly defensive. They will use violence when needed, but they prefer the minimum viable product approach. This is why a Mastiffarian may simply pick up and remove a drunken fighter, rather than physically harm them. 

They believe in Creator and that all Offspring are worthy of dignity, freedom, and love. 

They resist systems of oppression and call those systems Babblers, because they drown truth in noise—status, power, conquest, and the sacred lie that people exist to be used. That is an ethos that Creator did not give Ha’Aretz (the land). 

Mastiffarians believe in sharing their personal resources that Creator gave them with those in their field of influence, and that hoarding is a sin against Creator (therefore extreme wealth that isn’t used for the benefit of all is evil). “It is a great sin when neighbors go cold or hungry while we are fed in our warm homes.” - Mastiffarian Priest, Basil the Benevolent

The Mastiffarians are well known for their drum circles around the fire pits and are often found playing instruments. Likewise, they may be seen embracing the reality of grief, lamenting turmoil, and drawing hard boundaries around poor behavior. 

Even when they must enter battle, they might be found telling the enemies that “This is not the way Creator would have you be!” They are always balancing the edge of goodness of kindness and the goodness of protection. 

They might be found binding as prisoners rather than killing enemies, when possible. Though, if it is clear that an enemy released will do more harm to Creator’s Offspring than an enemy killed, they may make that call reluctantly. 

The constant cognitive dissonance between the world as they would have it and the world as it is, makes the choices of the Mastiffarians sometimes appear erratic to the outside observer, but knowing their culture and basic ethos will make sense of most choices. 

As with all cultures, individuals may vary on how well they hold to the cultural expectations. An assassin Mastiffarian is a seriously hard thing to conceive, but it is not impossible an individual may have chosen to abandon their upbringing and gone this way. 

While most Mastiffarians live in communal pack groups of chosen-family. When among their own nation, the pack groups will be all Mastiffarians. When young, this will be their blood-line pack, parents, siblings. Eventually, they form chosen-family groups as adults. When out among the wider mix of Creator’s Offspring, their pack groups will be chosen-family from among the variety of Offspring. 

They keep individual cabins/homes, but always set up a communal campsite to host their chosen family for gatherings, discussions, meals, and more. They are dispute settlers, and often great mediators. These campsites may be as simple as the front or back yard of a town home, or as grand as a mansion ballroom. Likewise, they may be as rural yet grand as an entire campground on several acres. 

Mastiffarians are not against the acquisition of wealth, only the hoarding of wealth. If wealth is attained in ways that honor all involved, including the poor, and that wealth is used to increase their ability to give to those around them, then wealth can be a moral good. 

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Shalom: Live Long and Prosper!

Darrell Wolfe (DG Wolfe)

Storyteller | Writer | Thinker | Consultant @ DarrellWolfe.com

Clifton StrengthsFinder: Intellection, Learner, Ideation, Achiever, Input
16Personalities (Myers-Briggs Type): INFJ

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