Ondolon
A race of bipedal elephants, they lacked thumbs but became inherently adept at alteration magic
Has a very black and white view of morality that has led to a really large number of people being banished to a bottomless hole over the centuries
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The Ondolons are a race of magic-infused elephant-like people. In the past, as their land had gone from savannah to desert they had developed an innate use of magic that could produce food and water from materials in the surrounding area. Further developing along this path they devised even more ways to manipulate the world through use of magic, allowing them to progress technologically and socially in their newly-found free time. The method of magic was through force of will, willing things to be the way you wanted them rather than how they had been and breaking the molecular bonds had been very dangerous at times before things were perfected. Many things had exploded and wiped out whole settlements of Ondolons before they hit upon the safest ways of using magic. Scarred by the loss of so many of their brethren Ondolon society became very rigid and resistant to change fearing that any deviation could result in catastrophe, with the fears from misuse of magic carrying over into fears of the disruption of their finely tuned society. They have a criminal justice system that allows them to feel dignified and civilized and the death penalty was only used against outsiders who killed Ondolons. Everyone else, for crimes major and minor alike, was sentenced to “exile.” This exile was into a “bottomless” pit. By not killing others themselves they viewed themselves as just. Four times a year the condemned are lowered into the pit far, far beneath the surface.
Ondolon hestiate to personally injure any other creature. They may create situations that inevitably lead to the injury or even death of other creatures but as long as they are not personally inflicting the damage they believe that their hands are clean.
Ondolons who dare to deviate from the traditional ways, even by a small amount, are treated in ways other societies would say is harsh. In one instance in 1355, an Ondolon by the name of Tyrex had been advocating for change and evolution in Onlodon society and had been for a few years. He was frustrated that they were confined to narrow roles and narrow lines of thought and urged experimentation. The changes he sought, such as manipulating objects physically from time to time, would seem insignificant to most but in the strict Onlodon society was viewed as a radical departure from the accepted standards. After Tyrex had gained the support of a handful of his fellows, mostly disaffected youths, he was seen not as an annoyance to be tolerated but a real threat to the people. He was given a beautiful lantern and luxurious bedroll, allowed to make one last speech, then sent down into the pit.
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