Cythreulig

Descended from infernal powers, they are a privileged nation from Ansulym who are said to be related to demons. The plural of “cythreulig” is “cythreuliaid”.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: The Folk

• Alignment: Infernal

• Energy: Razdavit’

• Lifespan: 300 years

• Diet: Meat-heavy mortal fare

• Habitat: Cities and towns in formerly forested areas

Origins

As demons came to live in the Spirit Realm, they began to adjust and adapt over millennia to the energies and influences of Shem, becoming less long-lived but more able to dwell amongst mortals for longer periods of time. Some of these evolved into the cythreuliaid because of their affinity for razdavit’, the energy of ambition.

Description

Cythreulig appear to be 6' tall on average. They have yellow, red, or orange skin. They tend to be hirsute, with hair that is usually straight and shimmering in various colors, from blue to green, yellow to white. They have three eyes. Their mouths have teeth like that of a snake, and their bite is venomous.

Attunement

Each cythreulig nation is attuned to a different domesticated animal that their family, community, or nation has dominated for Ages. This attunement allows them to control, influence, and command that animal, and if they eat it, they grow temporarily stronger and briefly have horns or antlers. These are always a kind of domesticated ungulate; their horns or antlers will reflect the horns or antlers of that which they devour. If the animal has none, they will simply have stubs or bumps.

Procreation

Cythreuliaid reproduce sexually with one another. Gestation takes six months and babies are born without functioning eyes. They gain sight about three months later after being fed the meat that they will attune to as adults. Reproduction outside their species is impossible without supernatural intervention.

Powers

Cythreuliaid have sharp senses of smell. They are innately skilled at reading peoples' reactions. Powerful cythreuliaid can steal souls with their gaze if they have devoured enough of their attuned animal.

Touch

The touch of a cythreulig will cause a target to lose control of their muscles temporarily if the cythreulig has eaten enough of their attuned animal. They will need to replenish soon after.

Weaknesses

Ujjval aatma hurts them.

Nations

Nine Nations:

• Arweinydd/Arweinwyr ("Leader/Leaders") of central Ansulym

• Gutegeka Rubanda ("Ruling People") of southern Taggarus

• Tíre Ceannais ("Ruling People") of eastern Lyrilla

• Nambára ("Monarchs") of northeastern Ansulym

• Pravitel'/Praviteli' ("Ruler/Rulers") of northern Ranu

• Walda ("Ruling People") of Jesenya

• Moderamen ("Governors") of Gyrah

• Hukmron Xalq ("Ruling People") of western Dabusen

• Slithen ("Cruel People") of southeastern Ansulym

National Cultures

Cythreuliaid began as a nation in Deseria where they were a ruling, oppressive nation. They dominated other nations, cultures, species, and forged an empire. They were called the Arweinwyr, or rulers, and they were ruthless.

At times, their nation spread around the world, ruling a vast empire that had colonies in other lands. Eventually, civil wars led to the reduction of their empire and the forming of new cythreuliaid nations: the Gutegeka Rubanda in Taggarus, a colonizer nation known for stealing land and enslaving people through massive campaigns of deception; Tíre Ceannais in Lyrilla, known for campaigns of terror and control that aligned them with the Unseelie Courts and goblins that ruled there; the Nambára in Srisia, known for their manipulative dominance and alliance with the more powerful kashirum nations; the Praviteli' in Vesturia, the rulers of that powerful and dangerous empire and perhaps more well known in the contemporary era; the Walda in western Jesenya who were known for being the powerful merchant class amongst the monarchies there; the Moderamen of Urayme who were a major player in the slave trade; the Hukmron Xalq of western Dabusen who were known for their business acumen; and the Slithen of Mal'sk in southeastern Ansulym, known for their cruel tyranny.

The Arweinwyr continue the original national culture of Deseria, where they keep a strict, hierarchical system of society. At the top of their system are the ruling family, the Ymffrostgar dynasty, with a powerful ruling noble class around them. Below the nobility are the warrior caste and the esoteric caste. Everyone else is a slave. The noble caste owns all the slaves. They live in relative luxury and maintain their power via the warriors and esotericists. Warriors enjoy special privileges and have more attuned animals than other castes, while esotericists have special privileges and are allowed more comforts. Slaves can and often do elevate themselves to warrior or esotericist caste, but never to nobility. Warriors and esotericists can marry into the nobility, but only if they were born warriors or esotericists - if their parents were elevated slaves, that is fine, but if they were once slaves themselves, they can never be noble.

In order for a warrior to prove themself (or for a slave to elevate to warrior caste), they must survive a combat that requires that they kill six trained slaves. Esotericists keep their own tests based on the different esoteric energies they wield (usually, they are rhai gwych, the Deserian term for velikiy).

Art, crafts, music, and food are all prepared by slaves to the pleasure of the ruling class, and the ruling class only supports those who create things that glorify them. Their cities are littered with statues to past rulers, mosaics of famous victories, and murals celebrating the history of the empire. The most important task for all slaves is the keeping of the attuned animals, usually red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, muntjacs, sika deer, and goats. Sheep and cattle are not uncommon, but they are considered weaker attuned animals. If an attuned animal dies before it is slaughtered ritually for consumption by nobles, warriors, or esotericists, the slaves responsible for it are eaten instead.

Families amongst the Arweinwyr are reflective of their attitudes in general - ruthless, cruel, and designed to crush the spirits of the weak. Children of nobles, warriors, or esotericists are raised by slaves. If they come to the attention of the adults, they are tested, beaten, and sent away. Until they are 10 years old, they are to be neither seen nor heard unless commanded to. Once they are 10, they are tested, beaten, and then tasked with a specific education based on their caste. If they are a noble and they fail to live up the standards of culture, athleticism, and cunning required by their parents, they are sent to be a warrior or esotericist when they are 14. If they are a warrior or esotericist who fails, they are sent to be a slave.

Above all, the Arweinwyr culture is about dominance and advancement over others. This culture is almost identical to that of the Praviteli' in Vesturia, whose culture is blended with that of other nations and can be found in more detail on the document for Vesturia. The other cythreulig nations, however, have assimilated into the dominant cultures of their regions with only a few cultural habits from their homeland in Deseria. The common feature for all cythreulig nations is that they are a ruling class nation with a tendency toward enslaving the poorer among them, enslaving other nations, and draining power from anyone they can dominate socially, politically, militarily, economically, or physically.

Esoterica

Cythreuliaid are beings of razdavit’, the infernal energy of ambition. In Vesturia, they developed the power to wield it directly as velikiy, an art that spread back to Deseria and around the world, showing all species how to use it. They are the masters of it.

They also commonly use quaestus, infernum, hollow energy, imperium, blood energy, soul energy, drenante, thorn energy, arnum, msawhat, vile energy, d'qiarsea, b'qar, blasphemy, peccatum, uafas, feirua, Raesian energy, mana, mashoaab, menab'e, gebvel, oalkhaylaoataa, complexity, and corrogatio.

Religion

The national religion of both Arweinwyr and Praviteli' is worship of Dostizheniye, the Serpent Goddess, though in Deseria she is called Cyflawniad. The philosophy of their religion is that personal, individual achievement is the ultimate goal of all living beings, no matter the cost, and that anyone who gets in your way is expendable. Dostizheniye is a goddess who demands blood sacrifice and uses serpents as her primary symbol, and the motif of serpents is common throughout all cythreulig nations, even those who have left her behind.

The highest ranking members of the Vesturian church are the sluzhitel', the attendants to the Serpent Goddess who care for the sacred vipers in the high temple. The common religious leaders there are the priestesses known as zhritsa. These priestesses lead sacrifices and terrorize the commoners on behalf of the nobility. Men in the church have a lower position and are called vicars. The church is a powerful political force in society and responsible for indoctrinating the public.

In both Deseria and Vesturia, there are druids who bond to snakes in boreal forests and wield razdavit’ in order to dominate the landscape instead of commune with it. They honor Dostizheniye with blood rites.

• In southern Taggarus, the Gutegeka Rubanda have adapted to worship Victoris (whom they call Umutsinzi) to justify their conquering and enslavement of the local populations, though they still honor Dostizheniye (called Ibyagezweho).

• The Tíre Ceannais have adapted to the local Unseelie-led faith in Giobog, though some still honor Dostizheniye as Gaisce, whom they see as a mother goddess.

• In Srisia, they are entirely assimilated into worship of Ettuttu and arrogantly consider Dostizheniye as an inferior deity.

• Among the Walda, their faith is focused on profit and wealth, and they worship Yatana (though they use the name Fyoh-Gernes). They call Dostizheniye by the name Fremednes, and they view her as a sister goddess to their own deity.

• The Moderamen worship Catena Factorem along with the other Uraymeans and call Dostizheniye by the name Iustum Factum and use her as justification for their strength.

• The Hukmron Xalq worship Yuvilgan (commonly known as Mal'och) and use her to justify their business dealings and wealth, but honor her sister goddess Muvaffaqiyat (Dostizheniye).

• The Slithen worship Hollow Jack entirely and have forgotten Dostizheniye.

Gender

Cythreuliaid are female-supremacist, but keep a rigid binary view of gender. It is a reverse patriarchal society, where women take the dominant role but keep the gender oppression otherwise.

Economy

Deseria and Vesturia are early capitalist empires. The Gutegeka Rubanda are colonial capitalists. The Tire Ceannais are feudal imperials. Srisians are hyper-imperialists. The Walda and Hukmron Xalq are capitalists. The Slithen are feudalists. The Moderamen are slave-based autocratic empires.

Military

The Deserian and Vesturian militaries are imperial forces with a rigid hierarchy in which only nobles may be officers. Most of the foot-soldiers are conscripted.

Elite warriors include the vityaz (Vesturia) or marchog (Deseria) knights who are empowered by cruelty and dominance, with variations being the strelec/taflwr archers and the pushka/gynnwr siege engineers. These make up the core of their respective militaries.

Language

Deserian is Welsh, Vesturian is Russian. Gutegeka Rubanda is based on Kinyarwanda, though it is corrupted due to it being mixed with Welsh. Tire Ceannais speak Tromluian language, which is Irish. The Walda and Slithen are Anglo-Saxon. Srisian is Sumerian. Uraymean is Latin. Hukmron Xalq speak Uzbek.

Trade

Deseria and Vesturia are dominant trading partners with much of the world. Vesturia primarily exports cloth, lumber, gold, and in some eras, oil, along with finance capital. Deseria exports finance capital, precious metals, lumber, infernal materials, and esoteric resources. Both are engaged in imperialist ventures and drain the resources of other countries.

Occupations

Cythreulig-originating occupations include:

• Velikiy: mages who drain power from others for personal ambition, or transfer it to their masters.

• Vityaz: warriors who are empowered by velikiy magic to gain power as they cruelly dominate others.

• Pushka: siege warrior vityaz.

• Strelec: vityaz archers.

• Sluzhitel': the attendants of the Serpent Mother.

• Zhritsa: priestesses of the Serpent Mother.

• Vicar: priests of the Serpent Mother.

• Druid: false druids who dominate boreal forests.

• Obrabotchik: women who handle and control snakes with velikiy magic.

• Shestigrannik: a female velikiy who engages in witchcraft to steal power from other women.

• Pozh'matros: a pilot of a slave-empowered flying dragonship.

• Pallanquin Bearer: slaves who are empowered by a velikiy to carry their masters.

• Istorik: an historian who studies the past of Vesturia.

• Strannik: rangers who dominate the boreal forests and take power from them

• Nachal'ny: business executives who use the powers of a velikiy to control their companies.

• Pevchy Dyak: singers empowered by a velikiy to sing beautifully for the czarina.

• Torgovets: merchants who use velikiy magic to make ruthless deals.

• Czarina: the empress of Vesturia who is empowered by a million slaves. Her Deserian counterpart is called the Ymerodres.

• Sledovatel': the czarina’s secret police, many of them are vityaz.

• Glupyy: jesters empowered by slaves who perform for the czarina. If they displease her, they are enslaved for the next glupyy.

• Zloy Sadovnik: velikiy who draw power from dominated plants and become plant-like.

• Dushokradets': the artisans who produce the special materials to drain slaves.

• Celfuffern: Deserian painters whose art is made more beautiful by stealing beauty from other artists.

• Skald: Deserian performers who tell stories for the ruling class and are empowered by velikoy magic.

• Rabochiy: those enslaved and drained by velikiy.

• Kon'kobezhets: players of various brutal ice-based sports who fight like vityaz.

• Znamenitost': a celebrity made beautiful and famous by velikiy magic.

• Ispolnitel': actors made more skilled by velikiy magic.

• Ubiytsa: the personal assassins of the czarina. In Deseria they are called lladdwr.

• Uchastnik Naleta: vityaz bandits.

• Zagovorshchik: velikiy involved in conspiracies in Vesturia.

• Ruthless: extortionists who use velikiy magic to become strong enough to intimidate victims.

• Ubiytsa: hitmen in the Silin crime family

• Ledorub: icecutter pirates.

• Rabotogovets: Vesturian slavers.

• White Warder: network of international spies founded by cythreuliaid.

Outside View

While subject to resentment by the many nations they have colonized or enslaved over the years, they are by and large beings of vast privilege around the world.

Notables

• Croth Neidr, the Cythreulig Manifest, Aeonian, Womb of the Snake, first empress of Deseria, now resting until she is called to conquer the world

• Klykrog, legendary Vesturian czarina, known for her massive antlers and fangs, said to still ride the night hunting escaped slaves

• Lutatsiy Krasnyy, Lord-General of the Vityaz, legendarily powerful warrior with 10,000 slaves

• Llywarch the Viper, Deserian vityaz, with 10,000 slaves, genocidal lord

Estimated Populations

• Arweinwyr: 10 million

• Gutegeka Rubanda: 1 million

• Tíre Ceannais: 1 million

• Nambára: 200,000

• Praviteli': 50 million

• Walda: 100,000

• Moderamen: 100,000

• Hukmron Xalq: 100,000

• Slithen: 100,000

• Other: 1 million

Sample Stats

PRO 11
ATH 10
STR 10
AWA 11
WIL 10
PRS 11
STH 10