Kulthea
The
Shadow World
-Description
of races and fecundity-
At the beginning, there is only one
humanoid race blessed with a conscience on Kulthea: the Althan. They develop
very fast on the entire planet, and reach a peak of magic and technology that
allows them to conquer other stellar systems. Then, a scission appears between
two groups: Althan similar to their ancestors, and the K’ta’viiri[1],
a minority blessed with higher psychic and magic capabilities. They quickly
become the ruling class of the empire that spreads across the galaxy.
During this period, the K’ta’viiri
perform a lot of experiments, using their vast knowledge of genetics and thanks
to their technological and magical achievements, create a lot of new races. It
is believed in fact that a great number of species part of the fauna and flora
of Kulthea were created by K’ta’viiri through genetic experiments. However it
is a bit difficult to precisely define which race was created by the
K’ta’viiri, which one is an offspring of the K’ta’viiri, or which one is both.
One thing is certain: since the end of the first Era and their great civil war,
the K’ta’viiri are but one small handful survivors, and their powers and
knowledge is only a shadow of what they once were.
1. The elves.
Let’s begin with the elves.
According to the Loremasters, this race was the most gifted by their creators.
It is even possible the elves are an offspring of the mighty K’ta’viiri,
because they possess a lot in common with these beings: they are immortal, they
have great inner strength and psychic and magic capabilities. No other race on
Kulthea possesses such a mix of amazing abilities.
There are three distinct branches
among the elves:
-
Iylari
-
Erlini
-
Shuluri
Iylari are subdivided in three
groups, Dyari, Loari and Linæri. These three subgroups are in fact of the same
stock with only minor genetic differences. They are able to reproduce and it
only rarely leads to bad pregnancy or unviable children. All Iylari are indeed
of the same species. On the contrary, unions between Erlini and Shuluri only
rarely lead to viable children and pregnancies are rare and often very
difficult. They are clearly two distinct species. They are also quite different
from a cultural point of view. As far as unions between Iylari and
Shuluri/Erlini, they are extremely rare (essentially for cultural reasons) and
almost always a failure.
The Erlin stock is almost as far
from the Iylar one genetically speaking that it is from the most of the mortal
one. As far as Shuluri are concerned, Loremasters believe their ancestors were
Erlini and sea spirits, and that would explain their incompatibility with
Erlini.
The elves all share one common
characteristic: a low birth rate. The more gifted the race, the lower its birth
race. Is it a coincidence or was it a deliberate choice by the creators? There
is none who actually knows…
An Iylar woman usually gives birth
to a maximum of one or two children despite her immortal life and eternal
youth. Loremasters have a few hypothesis to try to explain this, like a genetic
restriction made by the K’ta’viiri, or a strange evolution pattern. The Iylari
women usually give birth before the end of their first century of existence.
Erlini
and Shuluri have more children, but rarely more than 3 or 4 before the first
century, and rarely after this age. However it sometimes happens: it is not
unheard of an elf giving birth to her first child at the age of a few hundreds
centuries.
Elves cannot reproduce with other
mortal races such as humans or dwarves, because they are too far apart
genetically speaking. However the Essænce (or gods) sometimes work in
mysterious ways, and may have important influence on fecundity and pregnancies.
Sometimes, a divinity may grant one of its followers to bear a child even if
genetics should normally prevent it. However the child is almost always
sterile.
So where do the half-elves come
from?
Ta-Lairi[2].
There are two kinds of half-elves.
The rarest are those who come from an elven parent (Iylar, Shulur or Erlin) and
a mortal one (Laan, Shay…). The probability that such a union bear a child is
low, and each child is very specific with respect to the parents. Usually such
a child comes from the will of a god or a strange manifestation of the Essænce.
They are almost always sterile.
Most of the half-elves on Kulthea
actually are an entire race of their own. These races may come from distant
interbreeding between elves and mortals, supervised by the K’ta’viiri. That is
why the offspring of such unions was fertile and was able to have children on
their own, creating a new race. Their lifespan is usually between 1 and 3
hundreds years.
There are a few groups of Ta-Lairi:
-
Eritari
-
Ky’taari
-
Punkari
-
Sulini
-
Vorloi
According to the Loremasters, Eritari
have elves and thesian (an extinct species)
ancestors. Hence their brown skin, large lips, and pointy ears.
Ky’taari bear more resemblance to
the Iylari than most other Ta-Lairi groups. They often have blond hair.
Punkari possess the strongest build
among the Ta-Lairi. The Loremasters believe they may have Loari (or Erlini) and
Laan ancestors.
Sulini have pale blond hair, blue or
green eyes, and a fair skin. They may have Talath or
Lydian mortal ancestors.
Finally, Vorloi is the rarest and
strangest group among the Ta-Lairi. They are found only on one island, and may
be the offspring of Erlini and wood spirits.
The birth rate of Ta-Lairi is low,
like the one of their elven ancestors, but they still have more children, and
can bear a child quite late in their life. The birth rate of the Vorloi is
unknown, however for the other groups it is about three to six children between
16 and 150 to 200 years (age of the mother).
2.
Nomari[3]
The Loremasters think the Nomari
were a very different race once. In order to survive the interregnum[4], they lived underground for a very
long time, in the deepest caves under the mountains, evolving to the race we
can observe now. Their origin is quite unknown and the loremasters have no
precise idea where they come from originally. There are a few races that
obviously have some nomar ancestry: Hui, Haidi, Umli, Syrkakari and
Fustir-gosts.
3. Other mortals.
A large number of groups that can be
related to terran ethnics can be found on Kulthea. They are very compatible and
share most of their genetic stock. They remain separate ethnic groups
essentially for cultural, social and geographical reasons. There are also a few
rarer and stranger species that cannot easily reproduce with those “normal”
human groups.
|
Anzeti |
Duranaki |
Jaaderi |
|
Jameri |
Jineri |
Muadani (a.k.a.Vajaari) |
|
Myri (a.k.a. Talath) |
Ochu |
Shay |
|
Talath |
Y’kin |
Y’nar |
All these mortals can have children,
a woman can usually bear up to a dozen children before she reaches 40 to 60
(their lifespan is about 70 to 100 years).
You can find below the other races
that are not easily able to reproduce with the ones before. For more details
you can have a look at the excel spreadsheet.
|
Centaures |
Droloi |
Hirazi |
|
Jhordi |
Kinsai |
Kuluku |
|
Laan (a.k.a. Zori) |
Lydians |
Mermen & Mermaids |
|
Quaidu |
Rasha-ai |
Rhiani |
|
Synshari |
Zjedrahir |
|