Birthplace

Your birthplace determines where the player's character is from. It also determines what races you have available to you and what other languages you might speak. When you finish reading the birthplaces below, you can see which race interests you by visiting the Overview of Races guide.

Types of Birthplaces

Each birthplace is categorized to help organize each kind of living space and the environment your character would have grown up in.

Factioner

Your birth was not an accident. It was allowed and your parents cared for you and helped make way for you. You grew up in either a band of mercenaries, a small commune, a religious order, or even simply a group that has otherwise bound together in ideology. From a young age, you steeped in the beliefs of your people; perhaps you have left to call others to your side, or in disgust as though you have finally escaped.
As a Factioner you gain the following benefits:

• Choose PC Race: As a Factioner you are allowed to pick from the following races: Taran, The Gol, Simmias, and Myrrdin.
• Score Bonus: +1 to Mind Attribute
• Language: Pick language of your choice.

• United Assembly of Conduits- A religious order that centers around Conduits, chosen people of gods who can channel divine powers and presence. Each order is centered around protecting (though sometimes sealing away) a single Conduit. A Conduit may serves in a forum to discuss private, divine matters.
• Shaper's Protectorate- The "Shaperate" is an organization of individuals committed to keeping Ars Materia (their world) at the center of the universe. Surrounding these efforts are those who seeks cures against a the Charagma of Faust and other corruptions, as well as creating and protecting summoning circles which draw from other planar magics to ensure the world no longer moves. Often sends Knight Errants to protect communities from extraplanar beings.
• Carrion Crown- A well known cabal of information brokers and, coincidentally, assassins sworn to protect and oversee the spread of information. Using magics that control the dead, and blamed for the creation of revenants, this group is unwelcome in civilized society.

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Tribesmen

You are born into a tribe because the survival and success of your ancestors made it so. The lands are wild and still untamed, and what has kept your people alive before keeps them thriving today. You grew up abiding by the codes of your people, a people who can trace their ancestry to one person or family, a tribe that binds together with others in times of need and war. You were taught that cooperation and community define who we are as people, and meeting the outside world challenged this.

• Choose PC Race: As a Tribesman you are allowed to pick from the following races: Taran, Rook, Dracovian.
• Score Bonus: Add a +1 to Body Attribute
• Language: Pick one language of your choice related to your birthplace

• Ykalu Tribelands- Take Firespeech for Language. Most Ykalu spend their entire lives on the water, a deep relationship with the sea. Few who leave the tribe ever part from the sea, and even fewer leave of their own volition. Above all, the Ykalu are known for their ferocity in all things, overcoming all odds like the tide as it eats away at the shore
• Queqiao Provinces- Take Haseic for Language. The largest of all tribes, the Queqiao live in large dynastic villages that dot the Emerald Spires. Each tribe is said to be derived from "the first people", Taran leaders who survived the cataclysm by flying through the void on thunderbirds. These birds are sacred to them, and though each person earns their thunderbird at puberty, they have never left the emerald spires.
• The Dracovian Tribes- Take Tradesman's Knots for Language. With no empire as their own in the new world, the Draconian tribes travel the world in search of their long lost relics to cultivate anew.

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Settler

You were born on the fringes of society, and your birth alone is a beacon of hope to those around you; the world can be tamed, and we can conquer these lands. Your parents settled the edges of the known world with not just families, but strangers too, all tough folk who wanted to strike out elsewhere. Whether to build, to create, to find purpose or riches, your company and the vow to tame those wilds made you who you are today.

• Choose PC Race: As a Settler you are allowed to pick from the following races: Taran, Myrrdin, The Gol, Rook, Dracovian, and Lesidhe.
• Score Bonus: Add a +1 to Spirit Attribute
• Language: Pick one language of your choice related to your birthplace

• Monstrocities of Biringan- Take Oghama for Language. The only city of the Rook that has stood the test of time, and protected by a large population of Moragol from those who would otherwise exploit the small folk. All other races as well as accepting Myrrdin live here under the creed that all are welcome and to be protected. As a laize-faire community, it also happens to be the poorest.
• Kingdom of Owtla- Take Low Kulnic for Language. A major city for the Myrrdin and Taran people where their High Council of Seren sit. Both known for its opulence and glowing streets, it is a diamond in the highlands. It values commerce and magical prowess above all else.
• Brievanan Alliance- Take Haseic for Language. When Ievlen banned magic, the mages within the capital began to rebel, but they were forced from the capital and across the sea. Those that survived, developed small kingdoms to their name, now seeking the demise of the Ievlen Empire and all it stands for.
• Kel Xis'Karyn- Take Firespeech for Language. The reclaimed capital of the Dracovian people, where races of the alliance and otherwise, including monsters, are accepted. Build on the idea of redemption and perseverance, the Dracovians encourage guilds and the growth of alliances. Though still small, it is a fairly popular city among the general public.
• Plexupalities of Schol- Take Logematrian for Language. The hub of the Simmias people, predominantly the Assimiant. The Archive lives here and oversees a near perfect society. A great many people, even organics, have come here to die if only to pour their consciousnesses into the growing omnipotence of the Archive.

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Metropolitan

In the bustle of the city, the heartbeat of civilization, only your close family celebrated your birth. Life outside drummed on to the beat of the the blood, sweat, and tears of strangers who gave their strength to neighbors too numerous they didn't know any of their names. You know what it is to live with the droning masses, whether with them or under them. For you, the strength of numbers is too massive to ignore, and that is a beast you reckon with day-in and day-out.

• Choose PC Race: As a Metropolitan you are allowed to pick from the following races: Taran, Myrrdin, The Gol, Simmias, and Vespid
• Score Bonus: Add a +1 to Heart Attribute
• Language: Pick one language of your choice related to your birthplace

• The Crown- Take any one language for Language. The Moving City--an aristocracy, capitalistic, and cut-throat. The Crown is a machine, a city that sits its spidery legs into the land, only to rise when farmlands grow infertile and war grows near. It conquers by planting itself atop the previous capital, asserting rule by obliterating the past. Many try their luck here, as when a seat of power is secured, what more is it to murder those who think themselves worthy to take your seat?
• Ievlen Empire- Take Haseic for Language. The Patriarch is a mantle given from one elected official to the next, a life sentence of leadership. The present Patriarch, Lord Thyreon Irivel, moves to expand his influence and purify and tainted world of evil--the influence of the other planes of existence. Bent on becoming a Godking for Ars Materia, he moves now with formidable force across the land, banning magic.