Dreorcwenn

Daughters of blood, parasitic sisters. Plural is dreordomne.

Basics

• Taxonomic Order: Akhoata

• Taxonomic Family: Veyetheans

• Alignment: Infernal

• Energy: Quaestus

• Lifespan: 300 years

• Diet: Fresh meat

• Habitat: Near rivers in hill-lands

Origins

From the blood of Veyethe herself.

Description

Dreordomne appear to be human women with blood-red hair and eyes (with no pupils or irises). They have claws for hands with long, very sharp nails. Their skin is always stained dark red or brown from blood. Culturally, they are often covered in tattoos.

Procreation

Dreordomne reproduce with the male-assigned members of any sexual species that has male-assgned members, always producing dreorcwenn children, except when reproducing with enders.

Powers

The eyes of a dreorcwenn can freeze another mortal in place via mesmerization or fear. Their voices can put mortals to sleep. They have sharp claws which are poisonous, and they have supernatural strength.

Draining Blood

Dreorcwenn gain strength from bathing in blood. They can bathe in any kind of blood, but mortal blood is best, followed by mammal, then bird, then reptile, then fish, then amphibian, then arthropod, then any other animal. Any other being is not considered to have blood (this includes green folk, myconians, golems, mechanoids, crystal folk, etc.). They must bathe in blood at least once a year or they will begin to lose strength, but ideally, they will bathe at least once a month to grow in strength. This is also how they maintain supernatural bonds.

A dreorcwenn gathers blood by draining it from victims via wounds created by their poisonous claws. They can gather blood in other ways, but it is less effective. If they gather the blood via these wounds, the blood is primed with the poison and made more potent for them. They usually suspend the victim by ropes or chains, keep them alive and awake, but disoriented, then cut slits into them and let the blood drain down. They gather blood into special glass or ceramic containers, which they store in cold rooms until they are ready to bathe. Then they pour it into great tubs and warm it, and soak for several hours. Those who do not have the money or time resort to cruder methods. Even a quick swabbing with blood suffices, but culturally they prefer something more extravagant.

Note that they do not have to bathe in blood, nor does it need to be the blood of other mortals. They could and do survive by simply swabbing themselves in animal blood, or just by eating rare meat. They choose the greater power granted them by bathing in mortal blood. Biologically, they need to complement their own blood, which is converted within them to esoteric energy very quickly, so they are capable of absorbing blood through their own skin, which developed because of their meat-heavy diets (prehistoric dreordomne would kill with their claws and eat large animals immediately). Poor or oppressed dreordomne get by on animal blood.

Bonding

Every dreorcwenn can bind another mortal to themself with via their innate quaestus energies. To do this, they must get the mortal to give them their Name and then tattoo it on their own skin. Then they must maintain the bond by bathing in the mortal's blood regularly. Anything they have agreed to do with this mortal will then be bound in blood and Name, and if either side fails to live up to the agreement, the other will drain the Name from the one who failed. If both fail, both die. If both succeed, both grow stronger. But the goal will always be for the dreorcwenn to succeed and drain the target mortal, thus taking in their characteristics, powers, and skills. If the bonded mortal is powerful enough or clever enough, they may reverse this bond and consume the dreorcwenn, but this is rare.

Specific Bloods

Blood from some kinds of mortals gives dreorcwenn specific powers:

• Animal Folk: animal features

• Chthonians: toughened skin

• Ka'ar: resistance to heat

• Undines: sensing currents

• Nightgaunts: nightvision

• Shemir: artisan skills bonus +1

• Watchers: slowed aging

• Kokebi: +1 physical stats in sunlight

• Ysians: water-breathing

• Aeonians: varies by individual

• Angels: a dreorcwenn who has engaged in murder or other terrible things will be burned by angelic blood; a dreorcwenn who is not pure evil will gain protection from infernal energies

• Coeligians: strength from colored light, +1

• Eximi: sense fortune

• Jark’aqirinaka: resistance to infernal powers +1

• Nanmai: nanmai blood will harm even the best dreorcwenn

• Mafi Girma: see angelic blood

• Humans: no special bonus

• Bikiak: twins get +2 all stats; others get +1 will power

• Taala: quick healing

• Aerligians: read people bonus +1

• Abominations: pain resistance

• The Baleful: baleblood infusion

• Froemmlers: +1 to all stats when experiencing hatred

• Hollow Children: will power bonus +1

• Cythreuliaid: resistance to celestial powers and horns

• Demons: resistance to celestial powers and a demonic power varying by demon

• Fuliginites: resistance to ambrosial powers

• Griles: painful touch

• Tantum: random bonuses and penalties determined by rolling a d100

• The Eldritch: driven to madness

• Athaks: resistance to all esoteric energies

• Speculari: walk on clouds

• Enders: wounding touch

• Mammonites: white sludge curse

• Doppelgangers: facelessness

• Mangeur: negative psionic powers

• Undead: undeath, assuming the undead has blood

• Homunculi: +1 to physical stats, but this would also be very weird

• Uruvakankal: varies by individual

• Emeti: read people +3

• Empaths: empathy

• Psionists: psionics

• Divinities: varies by Divine, but obviously this doesn’t happen very often

• Cephalans: +1 awareness

• Lemniscates: +1 awareness, +1 mathematics

• Mutumwa: +1 athleticism

• Shapeshifters: minor facial shapechanging

• The Ancients: varies by indivdiual

• Zile: resistance to inebriants

• Thaumari: +1 awareness, symbolic awareness

• Pesperians: good luck until they roll a 6

• Wild Talents: varies by wild talent

• Dragons: the same as the power granted by the dragon’s scale

• Ejderhalar: varies by individual, but +6 at least

• Gondals: move through stone

• Brannishes: quick learner edge

• Dongxue: sensing minerals

• Wathites: +3 strength

• Myrreans: all adelfoi under this heading give dreordomne powers over aether

• Phryscarans: all adelfoi under this heading give dreordomne resistance to infernal powers

• Shefereans: all adelfoi under this heading give dreordomne physical bonuses

• Veyetheans: all adelfoi under this heading give dreordomne bonuses to their infernal powers

• Yrothreans: all adelfoi under this heading give the ability to sense stories

• Aliens: consult GM

• Spirit Folk: consult GM

Weaknesses

Lhair will destroy any bonds the dreorcwenn has and possibly kill them.

Nations

There are three dreorcwenn nations:

• Domne: the original dreorcwenn nation in Endruin in Ansulym.

• Szívó: Idangarian dreorcwenn nation in Ranu. Much-hated and historically an oppressor, but they have been cast down and become oppressed now.

• Ventosa: Talunese dreorcwenn nation in central Jesenya.

Culture

The Domne culture is one of a powerful oppressor nation. The dreordomne rule a vast empire known as Endruin in Ansulym. They are an oppressor nation who keep many slaves and own the bulk of property in their territory. They are ruled by a trio of empresses, each one claiming supremacy while subtly plotting against the others. The empire is highly fractured, but maintains power because of their incredibly wealthy ruling elites among the dreordomne.

Endruin is a multinational empire, but its culture is dominated by that of the dreordomne. At the heart of their culture is their supremacist belief that they deserve to bathe in and be empowered by the blood of other nations. They make sure others believe this as well, controlling all media, education, and religion in Endruin with this message in mind. They claim (not wrongly) to be descended of Veyethe and (wrongly) of Mal’och, the “Angel” who brought their first empress word of their greatness.

Almost all domne are members of the Endruinian ruling class. They are part of a complex imperial nobility who own thousands upon thousands of slaves and control all property. If not for the three factions among the nobility, loyal to different empresses, they might be united enough to be a threat to the whole world. Instead, they fight amongst themselves and keep their focus on preventing slave rebellions.

Dreorcwenn children are raised by slaves and educated by religious leaders. They are taught individualism and supremacist ideologies, encouraged to take advantage of others, and fed on the blood of “lesser” nations. They are encouraged, too, to take life, and most of them personally kill their first servant by the age of 10, by age 16 at the latest. Any who seem averse to killing are usually killed themselves before they turn 20. No love is shown to dreorcwenn children by order of the adults, but some servants and slaves do try to anyway. If they are caught, they are drained of all blood and killed.

Dreordomne never acknowledge their relationships with their children until they are adults. They come of age at 22 during a blood rite where they are bathed by servants and given gifts by their blood family, whom they meet for the first time. If their non-dreorcwenn parents are around, they are allowed to participate if they are in the good graces of the dreordomne. After the ceremony, the dreorcwenn who has come of age is essentially thrown into a convoluted mess of politics, violence, magic, and business that is one of the most ruthless in the world. Most have been trained for it, but few are truly prepared. If they are lucky, their parents or someone will mentor them, usually with the intent of using them, and they will survive long enough to establish themselves and their own network of power.

In Endruin, they live in luxury and power, spending time only in political and economic maneuvering and enjoying themselves. They enjoy watching their slaves engage in certain kinds of sports (but never bloodsports, as that is seen as a waste), engaging in complex and cruel games, and watching various entertainments devised by those they patron. They make little art themselves, but they enjoy using and exploiting the art of others.

Politically, there are three main factions among the ruling class, each aligned to one of the empresses, each of whom is a powerful wielder of blood magic (Contessa, of which they are the most powerful variant): the Reód (red), Hwít (white), and Gylden (gold). Each empress belongs to a family with the last name of one of these factions, and these families are the center of imperial power.

The Reód control the slave trade, and they have powerful alliances with Urayme, Krevzuk, and Furich Amol. They are known for their love of watching sports, theatre, and dance, all of which are performed by slaves. They are considered the most dangerous of the three families.

The Hwít control the banks and mines, and they have powerful alliances with Lann Kurat and Srisia. They are considered the friendliest of the families, though this is an undeserved reputation and a very relative one. They are known for their love of buying extravagant luxuries and displaying complex arts made by their slaves. Their mines are run by slaves.

The Gylden control agriculture and manufacturing industries, and they have powerful alliances with Lyfane, Vendale, and Mal’sk. They are considered the most mysterious of the families, and they are known for their love of war and hunting. They keep massive factory farms and huge herds of massive livestock (aurochs and elasmotherium being the most common) run by slaves.

The three factions expend most of their energy fighting each other, and “lesser” nations do most of the work. Those few dreorcwenn who are not part of the ruling class adapt to life as the oppressed, usually trying to use their nationality as a means to exact dominance and privilege while still being desperately exploited.

The most elite members of dreorcwenn society are the blood mages, the most elite of whom are the aristocratic rulers - often generically called contessas, but they exist at every rank. The blood mages use the affinity and power over blood to wield magicks and empower themselves and their superiors, which make them power-brokers. They have many, many organizations, all with complicated names like the Esteemed Order of the Blood Rose or the Clandestine Society of the White Flame or the Esoteric Majesty of the Midnight Coil. Even they make fun of their own names, but they use them to obscure the genuinely vile things they do.

Non-dreorcwenn men (or those they deem to be men, i.e., those who can impregnate them) are often kept by dreordomne as consorts. There is a cultural preference for strong, capable men, but too much independence is considered dangerous. Some do gain power within the political or economic structure of Endruin, but all of them are outmatched by the dreordomne eventually. They sometimes even let men gain power just so they can have fun taking them down. Some few do manage to balance power and powerlessness in order to be safe within dreorcwenn society, but these are rare and never truly have much influence.

Because blood from different kinds of mortals causes different kinds of changes or grants different bonuses or powers to dreordomne, there are cultural norms around which bloods are acceptable, and some families have different traditional preferences. In Endruin, it is illegal to use angelic blood, for example (because anyone capable of using it would be behaving counter to the cultural norms of Endruin).

National Cultures

The other two dreorcwenn nations are distinct from the original in many ways:

• Szívó: the Idangarian dreorcwenn nation in Ranu are much-hated and historically an oppressor, but they have been cast down and become oppressed now. They live as outcasts, using only animal blood to empower themselves, and they are often part of cocidian tribes or living as vagrants and street people in major cities. They reject their past culture and the violence that came with it, instead focusing on creating things for themselves and keeping networks of support. Many of them are healers and bloodcasters.

• Ventosa: Talunese dreorcwenn nation in central Jesenya. They are elite members of the ruling class, along with the other major, privileged nations who are part of the aristocracy there. They are embedded in the ruling class culture of Talune’s city-states.

Esoterica

Dreordomne are beings of quaestus or blood energy. Blood mages are common among the ruling class, and bloodcasters are common amongst the others. They often also use drenante, imperium, corrogatio, gossamer light, razdavit’, and thorn energy most often, but all infernal energies are common except tandh. They also use all nommic energies except ancestral memory, and all shebvic energies are frequently used. Flux and vonzot are rarer but still known, and poioumenonic energies are also uncommon but sometimes in use, especially fate, kor, and ethereal essence. Celestial energies are never used by ruling class dreordomne, but the oppressed sometimes turn to it for survival or in defiance. Aether is very rarely used, but the oppressed use it if they live outside major urban areas.

Religion

The religion of dreordomne is the worship of Veyethe, their ancestor, and Mal’och, the angel sent to bring them power. Mal’och is said to have taught them blood magic, giving them the power to enslave and drain others. Their religion is led by the eald-wita, the blood priestesses, who lead the education of all children and the rituals of blood that are sacred to the dreordomne. The ge-bénlíc are nuns who live in cloistered communities and grow powerful with blood worship, performing profane rituals to honor the empresses. Among them are the wód-wihta who are overcome with bloodlust. Rarest and most powerful among them are the blódængels, or blood-angels, who deform their own bodies to be “angelic” (horrific) and engage in acts of gratuitous violence. Their faith is mostly a cover for indoctrinating their people in their violent ideology.

Gender

Dreorcwenn are all assigned female at birth. Gender variance is discouraged, violently, and men are viewed as only necessary for reproduction, unless a specific dreorcwenn takes a liking to them.

Economy

Endruin is a massive slave-based economy.

Military

The dreorcwenn military is run by the aristocracy. There are three factions, each answering to a different empress, and each one structured slightly differently.

The Reód run the navy and airforce (and in advanced technological times, the spaceforce) and, as those with control of the slave trade, their military units all have læccans, blood-magic-empowered slavers.

The Hwít run the army and subterranean forces. Blood knights, earh-a-torfian (blood archers), and bebdors (blood rangers) are the bulk of their forces.

The Gylden run the local police, the esoteric corps, and their own secret police, the nalezca.

Language

Their language is based on Anglo-Saxon.

Trade

Endruin trades with all other major countries in the world, engaging in trade of slaves, minerals and precious metals, oil, agricultural products, and magic.

Occupations

The most elite members of dreorcwenn society are the Siphoners, the most elite of whom are the aristocratic rulers - often generically called contessas, but they exist at every rank. The empresses are called Écnecwens. The blood mages use the affinity and power over blood to wield magicks and empower themselves and their superiors, which make them power-brokers. Some blood mages, called haimasefs, prepare blood concoctions to eat or drink, and those who make blood mixes for stranger powers are called mengednys. Some who focus on the mystic Puzzle of Bloods, called frigenes, are considered dangerously powerful and mysterious.

Their counterparts, the maegth, are witches who use blood magic to connect to natural cycles of blood, allowing them power over others. These witches are outside of the power structures of society and live in remote places, where they and their slaves create their own power-fiefdoms.

Any and all slaves are called níd-þeówen.

Dreordomne involved in business are called gerelas. They use blood magic to draw power from their workers and slaves even as they enrich themselves. Those who engage in trade and commerce more directly as merchants are ciépe-mons. Those who use their positions to embezzle or engage in fraud are called cymrydaur.

Wystelans are Endruinian scops, singers and poets whose voices are strengthened by blood magic. They are often patroned by the ruling class for the works they make to entertain them, but they are also seen as inferior for having to work for a living.

In modern eras, some members of the aristocracy live as celebrities called and-sýn. They use blood magic to make themselves beautiful and popular.

Others include

• Bebedor - rangers who are bonded to the bloodscapes that appear in Endruin.

• Earh-a-Torfian - archers who are empowered by drawing blood from another.

• Blood Knight - warriors who are empowered by drawing blood from another.

• Nalezca - secret police who answer to the contessas and receive power from them.

• Læccan - slavers who blood-bond for strength and capture slaves to be used for blood-draining.

• Eald-Wita - the blood priestesses.

• Ge-Bénlíc - bloody nuns.

• Wód-wihta - those overwhelmed by blood lust.

Outside View

The oppressed of the world view dreordomne as monsters, often confusing them with vampires or doppelgangers, and hate and fear them. Other ruling classes promote the idea that they are benevolent and protectors of their people, deserving rulers who are granted strength by angels, and blessed in the eyes of Mother Shem.

Notables

• Cynnestre, Dreorcwenn Manifest, Mother of the Blood Contessas

Estimated Populations

• Domne: 1.8 million

• Szívó: 30,000

• Ventosa: 12,000

• Other: 250,000

Sample Stats

PRO 10
ATH 9
STR 8
AWA 10
WIL 9
PRS 9
STH 9