- Pronouns
- He/Him, They/Them
The Ux Martivir is a multispecies empire led by a race of powerful wizards, though they have not been seen for many decades. After absorbing the Dwarfrealm after the end of a devastating war, the wizards retired to contemplation and haven’t emerged since. In public, the subject is mostly avoided and the status quo maintained. In the private, especially darker parts of the Ux, their fate is sometimes hotly debated.
In the absence of these wizards, administration of the Ux has largely fallen to the Genasi. Split between Air, Earth, Fire and Water subraces, these partial element beings were thought to have celestial origins or be created through exposure to one of the elemental planes. Whatever the truth of their origins, the Genasi are a race in their own right, though interbreeding between different elementals is considered taboo enough that it might be more accurate to say they are instead four races.
The Genasi carry out administrative and governance duties across most of the Ux, acting as officers of the various courts and bodies that make up the Ux. The wizards never bothered to institute a single legal system across the combined Ux, and thus the Genasi are needed to navigate the myriad local traditions and pass judgement when those systems come into conflict.
Helping the Genasi with resolving these conflicts are two races. The first of these are the Loxodon. Hulking, bulky but able to move with a surprising grace, this race largely concerns itself with the spiritual well-being of the Ux. The Temple of the Trunk is not so much a church as it is a religious consulting and ceremony service. They have no beliefs of their own, aside from the members who adopt a belief from one of the peoples of the Ux, but they are experts in all forms of faith and worship and uniquely amongst the Ux are beyond the scope of both the Genasi and the Khenra in matters of religion.
Interactions with the Loxodon always come with a little bit of danger, because to seek to impede the Loxodon in their work is a crime that carries the potential of a death sentence. Those who would carry out that death sentence, and indeed the enforcement of all the judgements of the Loxodon and the Genasi, are the Khenra.
Twin feline-looking humanoids, tall and taut and almost permanently on edge, the Khenra are the deliverers of justice after the judgement is given. They enforce the penalties meted out and a look from a Khenra is enough to quiet even the most aggrieved person. That look says much. Remember your station, and beware the Khenra. Especially a singular Khenra, as their twin is likely sneaking up behind you, khopesh ready to sever head from body. The Khenra protect the great temple complex that the wizards retired to in their contemplation, and some say they are the true power in the Ux.
One group that knows the wrath of the Khenra very well are the Kenku. These flightless avians form much of the underclass of the Ux, effectively excluded from much of ‘polite society’ and forced to the edges and poorer areas of most settlements. Many centuries before the Ux formed, before the Genasi even became a race, an ancient crime was committed, and as a result, the wings of all Kenku were lost. To this day, no one knows what that crime was, nor who committed it, though conventional wisdom holds that the Kenku were the ones who committed the crime.
This deeply traumatic event has stigmatised the Kenku in the eyes of most of the other races - the Khenra hold them in outright disdain, the Dwarfs consider them little better than pests. Many Loxodon have a quiet disdain for the Kenku, but would never admit it and the Genasi resent the Kenku as they come up in their reports more than any other race. It is only the Satyrs, Leonin and Tortles that accept the Kenku, and that acceptance varies from the watchfulness of the Leonin to the full welcoming of the Satyrs.
The Leonin are the most warlike of all the races. Many of them fill the ranks of the Ux’s military forces, or work as guards in settlements or for trade caravans. Operating as mercenaries and adventurers, the Leonin have been responsible for forging new paths between the various cities and towns of the Ux and ensuring the roads are clear of monsters or other threats. Strong and pure, the Leonin welcome the Kenku out of necessity, as providers of information and people to do some of the less than pure acts of adventuring, because sometimes you just a rogue.
As the Leonin are on land, so too are the Tortles on sea. Providing the bulk of the Ux’s sailors and marines, the Tortles ensure that the sea trade routes are protected from all threats, be that from sea monster or sea elf or sea pirate or sea monkey. Slow in word - and according to some unkind observers, in thought - but not in deed, Tortles can move incredibly fast across the short distances of the decks and docks of the Ux. Attuned to both the weather and the waves, many Tortles also have an aquatic familiar, with animals like the crogall a particularly valued companion.
The largest ships of the Ux's navy usually come complete with a Satyr, with only occasionally negative results. Satyrs are the lives of the party, carefree and exuberant. Satyrs really only care about keeping the fun times rolling and most cities of the Ux barely go a day without some kind of Satyr-inspired revelry. Highly valued for their storytelling and musical performances, Satyrs are welcomed in most parts of the Ux, except for one place.
That place is the Dwarfrealm. The last addition to the Ux before the Long Contemplation began, the Dwarfs joined the Ux not as a result of a conquest, but as a result of needing allies and support after a great calamity devastated what was one of the most advanced races on the continent at the time. The dwarfs are a declining race, and the calamity was only the beginning. Joining the Ux steadied the ship for some time, but after the Battle of Dar-Shabad, or the Disaster at Dar-Shabad, where so many dwarven heroes and leaders were cast down, the Dwarfs have begun to isolate themselves further from the rest of the Ux.
With only the Dwarfen capital and major coastal cities remaining open to the rest of the Ux, the rest of Dwarfrealm is closed off to all but adventuring parties and Ux officials. The Loxodon may walk where they please, and the Khenra also, though they are watched at all times. Satyrs though are banned from most Dwarfholds, except the capital and the largest port. The dwarfs are going through an extremely traumatic time, both on a national and individual level. So many Dwarfs died at Dar-Shabad, even though the battle was won, that the aftermath is still being felt a dozen years later.
The Dwarfolk diminish, however there are opportunities for an ambitious Dwarven hero to raise their race back up, even if as others seek to enhance their own standing, for the time is coming close that the highest mountain passes open and the Celestial Harvest can begin…
In the absence of these wizards, administration of the Ux has largely fallen to the Genasi. Split between Air, Earth, Fire and Water subraces, these partial element beings were thought to have celestial origins or be created through exposure to one of the elemental planes. Whatever the truth of their origins, the Genasi are a race in their own right, though interbreeding between different elementals is considered taboo enough that it might be more accurate to say they are instead four races.
The Genasi carry out administrative and governance duties across most of the Ux, acting as officers of the various courts and bodies that make up the Ux. The wizards never bothered to institute a single legal system across the combined Ux, and thus the Genasi are needed to navigate the myriad local traditions and pass judgement when those systems come into conflict.
Helping the Genasi with resolving these conflicts are two races. The first of these are the Loxodon. Hulking, bulky but able to move with a surprising grace, this race largely concerns itself with the spiritual well-being of the Ux. The Temple of the Trunk is not so much a church as it is a religious consulting and ceremony service. They have no beliefs of their own, aside from the members who adopt a belief from one of the peoples of the Ux, but they are experts in all forms of faith and worship and uniquely amongst the Ux are beyond the scope of both the Genasi and the Khenra in matters of religion.
Interactions with the Loxodon always come with a little bit of danger, because to seek to impede the Loxodon in their work is a crime that carries the potential of a death sentence. Those who would carry out that death sentence, and indeed the enforcement of all the judgements of the Loxodon and the Genasi, are the Khenra.
Twin feline-looking humanoids, tall and taut and almost permanently on edge, the Khenra are the deliverers of justice after the judgement is given. They enforce the penalties meted out and a look from a Khenra is enough to quiet even the most aggrieved person. That look says much. Remember your station, and beware the Khenra. Especially a singular Khenra, as their twin is likely sneaking up behind you, khopesh ready to sever head from body. The Khenra protect the great temple complex that the wizards retired to in their contemplation, and some say they are the true power in the Ux.
One group that knows the wrath of the Khenra very well are the Kenku. These flightless avians form much of the underclass of the Ux, effectively excluded from much of ‘polite society’ and forced to the edges and poorer areas of most settlements. Many centuries before the Ux formed, before the Genasi even became a race, an ancient crime was committed, and as a result, the wings of all Kenku were lost. To this day, no one knows what that crime was, nor who committed it, though conventional wisdom holds that the Kenku were the ones who committed the crime.
This deeply traumatic event has stigmatised the Kenku in the eyes of most of the other races - the Khenra hold them in outright disdain, the Dwarfs consider them little better than pests. Many Loxodon have a quiet disdain for the Kenku, but would never admit it and the Genasi resent the Kenku as they come up in their reports more than any other race. It is only the Satyrs, Leonin and Tortles that accept the Kenku, and that acceptance varies from the watchfulness of the Leonin to the full welcoming of the Satyrs.
The Leonin are the most warlike of all the races. Many of them fill the ranks of the Ux’s military forces, or work as guards in settlements or for trade caravans. Operating as mercenaries and adventurers, the Leonin have been responsible for forging new paths between the various cities and towns of the Ux and ensuring the roads are clear of monsters or other threats. Strong and pure, the Leonin welcome the Kenku out of necessity, as providers of information and people to do some of the less than pure acts of adventuring, because sometimes you just a rogue.
As the Leonin are on land, so too are the Tortles on sea. Providing the bulk of the Ux’s sailors and marines, the Tortles ensure that the sea trade routes are protected from all threats, be that from sea monster or sea elf or sea pirate or sea monkey. Slow in word - and according to some unkind observers, in thought - but not in deed, Tortles can move incredibly fast across the short distances of the decks and docks of the Ux. Attuned to both the weather and the waves, many Tortles also have an aquatic familiar, with animals like the crogall a particularly valued companion.
The largest ships of the Ux's navy usually come complete with a Satyr, with only occasionally negative results. Satyrs are the lives of the party, carefree and exuberant. Satyrs really only care about keeping the fun times rolling and most cities of the Ux barely go a day without some kind of Satyr-inspired revelry. Highly valued for their storytelling and musical performances, Satyrs are welcomed in most parts of the Ux, except for one place.
That place is the Dwarfrealm. The last addition to the Ux before the Long Contemplation began, the Dwarfs joined the Ux not as a result of a conquest, but as a result of needing allies and support after a great calamity devastated what was one of the most advanced races on the continent at the time. The dwarfs are a declining race, and the calamity was only the beginning. Joining the Ux steadied the ship for some time, but after the Battle of Dar-Shabad, or the Disaster at Dar-Shabad, where so many dwarven heroes and leaders were cast down, the Dwarfs have begun to isolate themselves further from the rest of the Ux.
With only the Dwarfen capital and major coastal cities remaining open to the rest of the Ux, the rest of Dwarfrealm is closed off to all but adventuring parties and Ux officials. The Loxodon may walk where they please, and the Khenra also, though they are watched at all times. Satyrs though are banned from most Dwarfholds, except the capital and the largest port. The dwarfs are going through an extremely traumatic time, both on a national and individual level. So many Dwarfs died at Dar-Shabad, even though the battle was won, that the aftermath is still being felt a dozen years later.
The Dwarfolk diminish, however there are opportunities for an ambitious Dwarven hero to raise their race back up, even if as others seek to enhance their own standing, for the time is coming close that the highest mountain passes open and the Celestial Harvest can begin…