The Brannish

Metahumans from an ancient civilization who are focused on learning new skills.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Aliens / Metahumans

• Alignment: Shebvic

• Energy: Kakraohy

• Lifespan: 150 years

• Diet: Common mortal fare

• Habitat: Temperate mountain valleys

Origins

From the long-lost worlds of Bran.

Description

Brannish folk stand about 7' tall on average, though they can be as tall as 9' without suffering consequences to their health. They have four arms. Otherwise, they appear to be human and have the same range of appearance as humans.

Procreation

Brannish folk reproduce sexually with each other, with humans, and with other metahumans. When reproducing outside their species, the species of the offspring follows that of the mother. Outside of humans and metahumans, reproduction is not possible without supernatural intervention.

Powers

Brannish folk have supernatural toughness and higher perception than average.

Learning

Brannish folk learn skills slightly faster than average, and their skills deteriorate much, much slower, to the point that it is a stereotype that brannishes never forget. For every new skill a brannish learns, they can transfer some of it to another brannish via touch, enough to cover basics and get someone started. This is how they teach children and each other. However, as they transfer, they lose some of their own knowledge. As such, they do this cautiously.

Weaknesses

Stravomenos can drain their skills, which can kill them.

Nations

There are four surviving nations of the brannish: the Adal, who are the dominant nation; the Gual, who are known for their warriors; the Jise, whose culture is focused more on science and knowledge; and the Vala, who have a cultural fascination with esoterica.

Culture

On the worlds of Bran, the brannish folk were members of a thousand nations, replacing humans as the dominant mortals on the seven worlds they ruled. It was a vast empire that was eventually eradicated by destroyers and Eldritch horrors. The brannish fled, along with their Divine Zirehli Zeng, the Bell-Armored God, and a handful of other beings, none of which brought enough people for their nations to survive. Upon reaching Shem, they found themselves in the midst of the Manifestation Wars. They survived, barely, and found a place on Shem for themselves. On Third Shem, they settled on the continent Wymmera, amidst the war-torn nations of the baleful, Wathites, and dragons.

The four surviving nations of the brannish dwell near to each other on Shem. While there are rivalries among the nations, there is little true division and no oppression between them on the basis of nation. They tend to keep to their own nations in terms of marriages and reproduction and sometimes have separate neighborhoods, institutions, and so on. But there is no distinct ruling class nation. Instead, the ruling class is based on historical noble families and a powerful merchant class.

Their country, Baldunstel, is a constitutional monarchy, with the rulers being an Emperor and Empress from one of the noble families. Families belong to one of the four nations, with the rulers usually being of the Adal (but not always - in fact, several major dynasties have been Vala or Gual). The ruling families trace their lineage to Bran have the most prestige because of their long-time connections and the fact that they brought massive amounts of quickgold and precious gems over that let them start out rich. Most made the switch from feudal to merchant class families long ago, though the three royal bloodlines still maintain their power through heritage and ancient fortunes as much as any modern commercial outings. The newer merchants, those without noble bloodlines, are often at a disadvantage in trade because of special laws that support the nobles, but still they have built a powerful class through their guilds.

The lower classes are made up of workers, servants, and warriors, all of which are part of the exploited. The warriors enjoy more privileges and often have deep connections to the noble families, with long-term, generational service. Servants, similarly, have ties to the noble families and generational service, but they have fewer privileges. However, they often live in luxurious estates with them, though in less fancy quarters. Workers make up the bulk of the brannish nations.

All brannish of any class or nation spend much of their time learning new skills and practicing them. Even workers and servants spend part of their weeks in study, though they are limited to what they are given access to learn (usually skills related to their work). Warriors are constantly being taught new forms of martial arts and combat. And nobles and merchants learn at their leisure, other than the few skills they need for what little they do.

Children among the ruling class are raised by servants, sent to private schools or tutors, and given every luxury. They are taught to expect to be obeyed and respected. Servants and workers' children go to schools funded by the rulers, schools designed to teach basic skills for the workforce and service. Children of servants learn to be servants and learn the etiquette of the ruling class. Children of workers learn the crafts of their parents, or the basics of general labor. Children of warriors are sent to military schools.

National Cultures

The distinctions between the four nations of brannish have to do with which skills they prefer:

• the Adal prefer the seven perfect skills (according to themselves): warcraft, juggling, history, engineering, drawing, oratory, and organization.

• the Gual, who are known for their warriors, master all of the arts of war and combat.

• the Jise, whose culture is focused more on science and knowledge, have special schools for every branch of science they can find.

• the Vala, who have a cultural fascination with esoterica, dabble in almost every esoteric art there is.

Esoterica

While the brannish are beings of and masters of kakraohy, they are able to and engage in learning nearly every skill possible other than the use of stravomenos, which they find dangerous and distasteful. They focus primarily on shebvic arts, however, in most nations. Among the Vala, they practice various other esoteric arts, but because they learn esoteric arts for the sake of learning them and not to actively use them, they tend to focus on ones that do not require ethical, moral, or class-oriented action (i.e., not infernal or celestial). Though they do engage in use of aetherial arts, they do so sparingly, as greater usage requires alignment to Mother Shem, and with poioumenonic arts, they stop short of embracing the traditions and lores fully. Thus, their focus is on shebvic (of course), paradoxical, nommic, and ambrosial arts.

Religion

The brannish worship Zirehli Zeng, the Bell-Armored God, who led them to Shem Ages ago. The faith is led by mghvdelis, priests who perform rituals that require they display great skill, usually a variety of complex movements and wordplay. Women who enter the faith are only allowed to be rahibə (nuns), who live in isolated communes where they learn for the sake of learning. Those of third genders are called to be qulluqçu who directly attend the needs and desires of the Bell-Armored God.

Their faith promotes the idea that those who are masters of the most skills are the most sacred and favored in the eyes of their god, and thus, they encourage the learning of new skills. This obsession within the faith is taken to extremes, even for the brannish.

Gender

The brannish nations are all patriarchal, but they each observe a third gender that is different for each nation and assigned at birth based on biological features:

• Adal: a third gender that creates a triad of genders, the third is called kutsanmış. This third gender is often considered sacred and those who are assigned it at birth (based on special birthmarks) are usually trained to be involved in religion in some way.

• Gual: the third gender is an intersex gender called belirsiz. These are assigned when the child has ambiguous genitalia. These children are encouraged to become strategists or tacticians.

• Jise: the third gender is very similar to the belirsiz and have the same name, but they are assigned because of ambiguous genitalia or internal factors that are analyzed by Jise scientists.

• Vala: the third gender is called meraketmek. These children are assigned by analyzing their souls after birth, and this is only slightly more accurate than biological analysis. They are almost always sorcerers.

Because these are all assigned at birth, many assigned to these genders (or to male or female), many brannish find themselves not fitting their assigned gender and wishing to transition or otherwise been seen as a different gender. This is frowned upon in each nation. The Gual are the most repressive of trans genders, the Adal and Vala the least, and the Jise view it as something to study. However, none of them are encouraged or allowed legally.

Economy

The brannish live in an economy in transition between feudalism and capitalism.

Military

The brannish military is a hierarchical, quasi-meritocratic organization. Those who show promise in strategy and tactics become officers. Those who show skill in different kinds of combat are recruited to those specific roles. The fact that training is gatekept by wealth and privilege is a fact that is ignored by those who praise the meritocracy of the brannish. The Gual are the most common nation in the military, for obvious reasons, but all brannish serve in some way.

Language

Their language is a mixture of many central Asian languages, with Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Turkmen being the most common.

Trade

The brannish folk of all nations are skilled artisans and create many goods that are often traded.

Occupations

The seven special occupations among the Adal are based on the seven perfect skills:

• Wabeno, the jugglers

• Bell-armored warrior, the warriors

• Taryhçy, the historians

• Inerener, the engineers

• Seido, the sketchers and drawing artists

• Voyle, the actors and speakers

• Tahlilchi, the administrators

Among the Gual, the elite warriors are their special occupations:

• Bell-armored warrior (see above)

• Dörtýumruk, martial artists who use the “four fist” combat artist

• Galstuk, elite fencers

• Gylyçlyadam, mounted warriors who fight with sabres

• Atyjy, elite snipers

Among the Jise, the Inereners are their special occupation, but they have many different focuses, with chemistry, physics, and meteorology.

Among the Vala, they practice various other esoteric arts, but because they learn esoteric arts for the sake of learning them and not to actively use them, they tend to focus on ones that do not require ethical, moral, or class-oriented action (i.e., not infernal or celestial). Though they do engage in use of aetherial arts, they do so sparingly, as greater usage requires alignment to Mother Shem, and with poioumenonic arts, they stop short of embracing the traditions and lores fully. Thus, their focus is on shebvic (of course), paradoxical, nommic, and ambrosial arts.

Thus, the primary esotericists among the Vala are as follows:

• Wabeno (see above)

• Uruşussady: the study of war magic is tangential to military service.

• Buyuku: the study of dragon magic is considered dangerous and much respected.

• Gurluşykçy: the magical builders create great wonders.

• Gazuwçy: the magical miners do more work than other esotericists and therefore are less respected by those who view esoteric arts as something to study rather than do.

• Söwdagär: they master the art of writing contracts, but they don’t actually make many deals.

• Ogry: they view theft as a fun test of their skills and often return what they take after proving they could.

• Göçüriji: an unpopular art, as they dislike the idea of staying as they are.

• Göteriji: their proof of mastering the art is to create an extra set of arms.

• Akyldar: a very popular artform amongst them. They use it to complement their fast-learning abilities.

• Setirler: a rarely practiced art that is considered strange among the Vala and others, those who use it are distrusted.

• Suratlandyryň: extremely rare. Almost no one masters it, but many try.

• Lukman: very common, the most common form of esoteric doctor among the Vala.

• Okyjy: a skill set dabbled in by many but rarely pursued in depth due to the… messy nature of it.

• Rolik: commonly used skillset used to gamble with.

• Iňňe: commonly used skillset used to complement other esoteric powers.

• Jadygöý: rarely mastered, often attempted, and greatly respected.

• Gatnaşyk: a popular religious skillset.

• Retetmek: a very popular philosophical skillset.

• Awçy: extremely common skillset used by hunters and other survivalists.

For safety reasons, they study the existence of The Law, but they don’t practice its use.

Outside View

The brannish are viewed as a respected species amongst both the oppressors and oppressed of the world. Many fetishize them because of their size and extra arms. They are seen as inherently better by many supremacists, though this is a “positive stereotype” that causes much harm.

Notables

• Adal Ciric, Brannish Manifest, Aeonian

• Arinya, Undome, Nedui, Vala'bran Leaders, Aeonians

Estimated Populations

• the Adal: 320,000

• the Gual: 100,000

• the Jise: 80,000

• the Vala: 60,000

• Other: 100,000

Sample Stats

PRO 11
ATH 11
STR 14
AWA 11
WIL 9
PRS 8
STH 9