Shael

For all their triumphs and accomplishments, the Shael are perhaps best remembered now for the cautionary tale they tell to future nations: power corrupts, and total power corrupts totally.

— Toran Medazak, "The Lessons of the Past"

The Shael were an ancient race who existed in the Age of Giants, before the Naia came into existence. What is known of them and their civilisation comes from limited archaeological evidence; occasional use of rare and advanced post-cognition magic; and the hazy, rapidly-fading memories of their creations, the Warforged.

Physical Information

The Shael race was composed of two different sub-races, which while significantly different in morphology were nevertheless both members of the same species. This morphological difference also led to a two-party caste system.

Both sub-races had certain features in common. Their skin was red in colour, of various shades, and they grew no hair. Their hands bore only three fingers and a thumb, and likewise their feet had only four toes. They had four eyes, arranged in a diamond formation, and a vertical slit that served as their nose. Their mouth was much the same as a modern human's, though instead of separate teeth they had instead a solid line of bone.

The first sub-race, the Al-Shael, looked similar to modern humans. They were bipedal, with two arms and legs, and averaged around 6ft in height. The second sub-race was called the Shael-Ye. They had the same head and torso as the Al-Shael, but had two pairs of arms instead of one. Similarly, instead of two legs they had four, arranged in an x-formation around the torso.

Societal Information

The Shael had a caste system in their society, both before and after the giants' fall, determined solely by their morphological differences. The Al-Shael served as the lower caste in Shael society, taking on menial jobs and rarely amassing any noticeable wealth. The Shael-Ye were the upper caste of the Shael, taking on leadership roles and the most important or skilled jobs. There is little evidence of discontent or rebellion among the Al-Shael, suggesting that this stark division was accepted by most if not all Shael.

A particular talent of the Shael-Ye was the creation of magical items and structures. They created arcanotechnological wonders the likes of which have not been equalled since, and their magewrights were considered without peer.

Religion

The Shael are known to have been highly religious. They worshipped four gods, whose names are now forgotten, and also acknowledged a fifth god who was cast out of their pantheon in the early days of their race. The Shael church was a key institution in keeping the race unified and creating resistance to the giants' dominion. The waning of the church's influence in the latter days of the Shael Empire is one of the key factors that led to the civil war.

The Shael religion taught that there were four historical miracles that defined the world and the Shael. Each of these miracles was the work of one of their four gods.

• The First Miracle: The creation of Calcerun
• The Second Miracle: The birth of the Shael
• The Third Miracle: The gods appearing before a chosen group of Shael and instructing them to unite their race.
• The Fourth Miracle: Teaching the Shael arcanotechnogical secrets.

During the time of the giants' dominion the church predicted that there would be a Fifth Miracle that would free the Shael from the giants. It was a matter of some contention in the church whether the Fifth Miracle would be the work of the fifth Shael god, exiled so long ago, or the result of all four true gods working together. The Fifth Miracle eventually occurred when the Shael managed to create the Genesis Forge.

As the Shael Imperium dissolved into civil war, the priests prophesied a forthcoming Sixth Miracle which would end the conflict and reunite the Shael. It never came.

History

Main article: History of the Shael

In their infancy the Shael were one of many races that were under the dominion of the Giant Empire. The vast majority of what the Shael produced was delivered as tribute to the giants, leaving the Shael to live in relative poverty. Eventually Shael magewrights succeeded in creating the Genesis Forge, and copying it more Creation Forges. From these eldritch machines the Shael produced sentient golems known nowadays as the Shael-Wrought. The Shael called them Warforged. With the help of their Warforged the Shael were able to overthrow the giants, and establish their own empire that dominated the continent. After decades of prosperity the Shael Imperium began to crumble from within. Factions formed, and turned armies of Warforged against each other, eventually bringing the entire empire down into ruin and wiping out the Shael race.