Be Fruitful and Multiply, Fill the Earth

Races of Men

In Tøtenwäld most characters are humans living between the Fellmoors to the west and the Icy Waste to the south, having settled from various far-off lands and eking out a living in squalid little hamlets. Those humans are of various creeds and ethnicities, some of which are outlined below.

All of the Mannish folk living in Tøtenwäld speak the common Trade Tongue as a second language, a pidgin version of the High Imperial tongue mixed with the ancestral languages of the peoples that have migrated to the New World. It is the language spoken by the most of the people of the Tøtenwäld.

Anubians

A desert people steeped in mysticism and folklore, with traditions and mysteries as old as the sand they walk. They have nearly black skin, like polished ebony or obsidian, and their deathly-white eyes lack visible pupils. Anubian religions usually involve a great number of desert-dwelling djinn and devas, warning the faithful to beware these spiritual tempters.

Anubian men and women typically dress in silk robes and loose tunics and breeches, usually gold or crimson or royal purple in color and dripping with jewelry and precious stones.

Anubians receive a +2 bonus on saves to avoid the effects of extreme heat, starvation, and dehydration, and can move unhindered by loose sand.

Anubians speak the Eldritch Tongue as their native language and any Anubian will have a 20% of also being fluent in High Imperial, the language of the Old Empire and the Temple. This is in addition to any other languages they are allowed to know due to high Intelligence.

Male Names: Ur-Abba, Abaris, Ikram, Maradook, Khamisi, Harthamah, Baako, Belqzabat, Astaroth, Giramis, Baal, Abu-Bakr

Female Names: Nasiriya, Nammah, Li-Lit, Alala, Delphyne, Mahnoosh, Baba-Mon, Hakate, Anusheh, Sabah, Bellona, Scylla

Surnames: Nammahani, Muttalib, Olgchak, Mephistos, Belilai, Burkan, Abiodun, Mahmoud, Moloch, Abbadus, Barrabus, Hipparchus

Gaelish

The pale-skinned mongrel children of the Old World, with hair ranging from black to red to blond. The Gaelish are organized into large familial clans, often with only a single extended clan or two in a whole town. The Gaelish have a deep respect for nature and the flow of life and death, with most of their faiths revolving around the minor gods of woods and rivers.

The Gaelish typically wear traditional wool shirts and hose with dark cloaks, and sometimes a knee-length unisex skirt. Jewelry and other adornments are often of a natural motif (leaves, birds, trees).

Gaelish adventurers gain a skill point in Nature at 4th, 7th, and 10th levels.

Gaelish speak Low Imperial as their native language (another mutated version of the High Imperial tongue).

Male Names: Cuthbert, Harold, Baldur, Wine, Ethed, Todd, Teowy, Waldo, Eddard, George, Geoffrey, Edmund

Female Names: Burga, Bricha, Jane, Eleanor, Witha, Tanhe, Brea, Brynda, Elsa, Drusilla, Wynna, Hilda

Surnames: Balwic, Bastow, Caford, Marsh, Dalham, Badün, Hafeld, Mayhurst, Haig, Bruegehel, Dunnmohr, Blackhert

Etruscan

The more “civilized” olive-skinned cousins of the Gaelish, the Etruscans are renowned horse-lords of the Old World. Etruscans typically represent affluence, old money, and conservatism in an age of enlightenment and progress. Etruscan faiths typically revolve around ancestor worship and small household gods, with many adventurers taking a totem of their ancestors or hearth-spirits with them for luck. Above these small deities however, Etrucans revere the triune godhead of Teresh-Menva-Maris, brought with them from the Old Empire.

Etruscans are typically seen in whatever fashions dominate the region, not wanting to appear out of touch with the current modes. When among their own kind they will most often be seen in loose pants and blouses of pastel shades, with vests and hats of crushed velvet and high boots of lamb or calf leather.

The Etruscans cosmopolitan nature gives them a natural 2-in-6 in Lore. Their renown with horses also gives them a 3-in-6 on Nature rolls to calm, break, control, or otherwise handle horses, and a 2-in-6 for a more exotic mount.

Having been the original founders of the Empire, Etruscans speak High Imperial as their native language.

Male Names: Darius, Florian, Cornelius, Remus, Solivius, Magnus; Nicodemus, Horatio, Lazzaro, Arnestus, Adelard, Fabian

Female Names: Margot, Evangeline, Contessa, Salome, Morgan, Tatiana, Petra, Mariella, Cordelia, Violetta, Aspeth, Bethany

Surnames: Quartermaine, du Masque, Fontaine, del Castillo, du Mond, de Cruix, Lacroix, du Caddis, Sanguine, Devereux, Baachen, Voldaris

Nördish

A severe folk hailing from a land of frozen pine forests hiding dark secrets and icy fjords that look out over waters too deep for any healthy mind to fathom. The Nördish are a hardy people, given to distrusting outsiders and keeping long secrets. The Nördish religion centers on worship of the Frost Shepard, known variously as the Ice Father, Culler-of-Herds, and He Who Precedes the Final Day. It is an apocalyptic faith that looks grimly toward the ending of this evil world and the coming of the next.

Nördish travelers commonly wear simple woolen garb with fine leather boots and a fur cloak, weather permitting. They are gifted sailors and craftsmen, and are often selling fish and handcrafts in all the major port cities.

Nördish adventurers receive a +2 bonus on saves to avoid the effects of extreme cold, and starvation, and can move unhindered by snow.

Nördish speak the Old Tongue as their native language, an ancestor of High Imperial and the language spoken by Greatkin, barbarians, and witches. Any Nörd will have a 20% of also being fluent in Tongue of the Dead, the secret language of gravediggers, death cultists, and the restless dead. This is in addition to any other languages they are allowed to know due to high Intelligence.

Male Names: Heinrich, Rolff, Corfus, Claus, Amundsen, Sigmundsen, Manfred, Hans, Einrich, Brockhaus, Moldof, Engelbert

Female Names: Nastia, Gretel, Blodwyn, Agatha, Friga, Olga, Lenore, Winifred, Ingrid, Caerwyn, Moira, Morrigan

Surnames: Haaren, Riksch, Vorschom, Geothe, Gunderhelm, Vermeersch, Mölden, Juergen, Reichalt, Albrecht, Stanislaus, Mohrghast

Faeryfolk, Fair-Skinn'd, & Elves

Known variously as the Fairy-Folk, the Gilded People, or simply Elves, these alien beings are the children of the Faerie, and share every bit of their ancestor’s cruel indifference within the world of Men. Though they appear as men, Elves typically are fairer skinned, thinner, and with white-blonde to silver hair. They appear much like ghosts from a distance.

These creatures of ethereal nature live by and with the sea. Their appearance is ghostly; slender, fair of hair and skin, with piercing grey eyes, yet their disposition can be unthinkingly inhumane, if not brutal. When they are not in their secluded communities, they pillage indiscriminately along the coasts of other lands, their victims by and large the Menfolk who make their living there.

The Elves’ natural affinity for the Fae and Wyrd give them an enhanced sense for magic, giving them a 2-in-6 Arcana skill at first level, with an extra point at 4th, 7th, and 10th levels.

Elves speak the Faery Language as their native tongue, the language of Elves, Dwarves, Littlekin, and Faeries. Any Elf will have a 20% of also being fluent in Language of the Trees, the secret language of trees, druids, and other denizens of the Wildwood and Deadwood. This is in addition to any other languages they are allowed to know due to high Intelligence.

Delving Folk, Dwimmerkin, & Dwarves

Known to the Mannish races as Dwarves (due to their short stature), the Delving Folk are a stunted and ugly people, a shadow of their former glory. Once the most powerful people in the world, consorting with gods and kings of old, their decline has left them a spiritually shattered people.

Once known for their powerful magics and dweomercraft, the few Dwarves left now scrounge a living through banditry and plundering the picked-over hoards they once held in ages past. To a Dwarves, nearly all gold and jewels are theirs – and they are nearly right.

With their exceedingly long lives and ancient knowledge, Dwimmerkin are filled with the lore of the former and current world, and have a greater Lore score than most other characters, and one additional point in Arcana (2-in-6). Dwarves start with 2-in-6 in Lore, gaining an extra point at 4th, 7th, and 10th levels.

Dwarves are able to bear incredible burdens; they take no Armor Class penalty from carrying Dead Weight, and only a -2 AC penalty for being Overweight, though they still cannot do anything more than stagger under weights greater than this. Dwarves receive a +1 bonus to their Constitution modifier (so a Dwarves with a 12 Constitution has a +1 modifier instead of the usual 0 modifier, for example).

Dwarves speak the Faery Language as their native tongue, the language of Elves, Dwarves, Littlekin, and Faeries.