Tarans

What records we had left of the Cataclysm are safely stowed within the Sophia. Most records were on paper--singed, muddied, bloodied, and torn. They had been kept with their family lines, passed on like spells. They were eye-witness accounts of the horror of a concrete and wire world breaking apart. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe. But, I shudder to think, with how little we have been able to recover, what has been lost to the earth--and worse, what might wait therein.

— Archmage Erexander Coliver

Appearance

Tarans have a rounded ears, have an average height of 5"3, widely varying eye and hair colors, with skin tones that range from pale beige, to olive, to copper, to dark brown. All this simplicity, and yet Tarans are the most widely varied of the humanoid races; surely others can be more stunning colors and patterns or even have fearsome features, but Tarans vary wildly from region to region, changing appearance as if to suit the climate in which they inhabit.

Personality

Adaptable and Cunning--these are words the other races have used to describe their Taran allies. With how inventive the Taran is, they do not require fur or magics to keep them safe, and instead adorn themselves with capable armor and weapons and tools to make short work of whatever situation they find themselves in. While other races might think this is a point of pride for the Tarans, it isn't; this is how they have lived and gotten by; their circumstances do not define them. Instead, what defines Tarans are their dreams and ambitions. Such lofty goals are usually laughable, but the Tarans possess a keen ability to work together; "No Taran is an island" is an old phrase among the people, who in times of trouble, in times of building and rebuilding the Taran people can reach out and work together to cultivate a path forward for their children.
It is often that a single Taran will not be able to see the fruit of their ambitions and dreams, that they will die before they can truly possess their desire and treasure; however, their children, whether or not they inherit the ambitions of their forefathers, will be one step closer to achieving it. As such, Taran society can seem hectic and hurried, with all sorts of people going in everywhich direction toward what they desire, but each has their minds in the future, and come a time where they must bind together, they shall link together as a raft across time and space toward the next dawn.

Civilization & Geography

Tarans will make use of and will eat just about anything given a long enough period of time. However, Tarans are most notable for their usage of Stone, Iron, Coal, Lumber, and Hydropower (despite not being a predominantly seafaring race). Floods, Monsoons, and Landslides are often the most pressing disasters and are often charted as to build away from them or easily affected areas (but close enough to obtain a resource). Bolder Tarans will still live amidst the disaster areas but develop means of coexistance (walls around an area that floods, shelters to hide from monsoons, etc.)
Taran civilizations often follow a river or coastline, or the source-water or run-off of a mountain, or even will be in wet and rainy areas. Most Taran civilization has angled roofs, fairly insulated homes, and water-resistant building materials. Prestige in architecture is typically dictated by the costliness of the building materials and how showy it can be externally, and how the temperature can be regulated internally. Tarans often come into contact with coastal, forest, and mountain dwelling creatures, most common of these being Quilldogs, Boarhounds, Horseclaws, Bushcrows, and other such beasts.
Tarans have a raven's brain for the shines. Be it gold, gems, or like precious gems and metals, expect it to be greatly valued as a way to distinguish an individual from poor or working class. With that being said, Tarans do not have an agreed upon currency, racially speaking, due to the variability of their races nationalities. As such, depending on ones means (they have access to currency or bartering systems), they will make due. Tarans boast some of the wealthiest empires across the world, the Ievlen Empire and Crown City often competing for this title. However, this wealth tends to accumulate among the higher ring of society. Tarans are, more often than not, Capitalists.
Stereotypically, Taran leadership has been chosen based more on popularity than qualifications. The more powerful people a Taran knows, the more influence they have, typically. Tarans often engage in democracy, but can quickly become more authoritarian in leadership style. It depends on how easily a group can be controlled, influenced, or even intimidated into obedience. The laws Tarans have now are fairly based in traditional practices carried over from the Cataclysm. New laws, however, are created by the ruler themselves, or sometimes by a group of representatives of districts, provinces, individual villages, or households (the latter must still be approved by the ruler, and may even be voted on by the people). Laws are enforced by officers of the political system and socially by those who citizens of the political system; officers may punish wrongdoers by seperating them from society for punishment to return later, and as a result, most social punishments reflect this similarly by using ridicule, gossip, and ostracize. Very few who commit crimes are treated peaceably thereafter and often waste away.
Tarans are imperialists and conquerors at heart and engage in war as almost a social activity of dominance and ideological superiority. More peaceful Tarans exist, often in the majority, but feel an inherit need to physically defend what they intangibly believe in. As such, there is no set way Taran view outsiders. Some are more hostile to others and others much more peaceable. Expect a neutral reaction with a base amount of courtesy and hospitality, but nothing generous. As well, Tarans often treat individuals equivalently based on perceived social class.

Common Names

As is typical of Tarans, most have regionally specific naming conventions which makes it difficult to pin down common naming conventions of the race. However, all Tarans have a first name and a surname; A Taran's first name is their given name and is used between friends and family, while their surname is representative of the family line they hail from.
A Taran's surname often defines their social class and is thusly treated as a socioeconomic badge among the race. As such, a Taran child takes the surname from a parent with the highest social standing; what defines this is 1) the wealth the surname-family possesses, 2) the number of known crimes associated with the surname-family, and 3) the number of known deeds (and their current cultural reception and relevance) associated with the surname-family. The best surnames are wealthy, are not associated with any crime, and are known by their great deeds. As is evident, the value of a surname can shift throughout time.
Due to the value of a surname, there are several cultural practices associated with them: 1) a family can sell their surname to prevent it from being disgraced, and in doing so, often take on a variant of the surname; 2) A child often carries a hyphenated version of their parents surnames until they are legally recognized as an adult (13-18) when they can choose their surname.

Heroic Calling

Upon meeting the new races, far older and advanced than they, Tarans were the first to go out and seek to cultivate bonds with their new neighbors. From what they learned from others, they improved; from what they improved, they shared. Tarans are similarly driven by this same goal to connect to others, which is what often puts them in the adventuring groups, with the Taran's ambitions and goals thus aligning to what the group hopes to accomplish over time.

Magic & Technology

Tarans, as they would say, were discovered by magic and not vice versa, and it's value has therefore fluctuated in tandem with the prevalence of corruption at a given time. From the Taran's perspective, magic comes from the world around them and is sourced in moonstone--crystals that fell from the moon during the Cataclysm. With no Taran exhibiting innate magical abilities, their view of it is influenced thus.
Any Taran with sufficient enough education and practice can use magic. Some may require a supplement, such as moonstone, to better control magic as they have no innate affinity for the craft. As well, many Tarans become Quillwrights for this very reason as a way to embed moonstone in their body for better and ease of casting.
Magic easily integrates into technology by utilizing various Quillwright spells to perpetuate a particular logic. This can be amplified using Moonstone. Tarans however, aren't often inclined to use amplifiers, and instead just the logics inherit in magic. This is due to one of their greatest empires, The Crown City, overusing or draining the moonstone used to amplify magic to the the point where it creates magical deadzones--called moonwrests. As such, when magic is employed, it is often not done by a governing force but by individual people who are thusly responsible for upkeep and, most importantly, repairs for damages. Technology has advanced far enough to reflect this, with safe and regulated technologies held by a state or governing force, and more irregular and hectic technologies being created and used by individuals.
Clocks, Cameras, and Arcane Light bulbs are current cutting edge technologies made by the Tarans available to only the elitemost families.

Religion

Anam Cara is as much of a philosophy as it is a deity. Represented by a braided circle with stands extended outward as though it were the sun, Anam Cara is representative of the connection between each Taran, each community, to all else and the world together. The tenets of the religion, thus, are as follows:

1. The First Circle. What good and evil we put into the world, we receive back. What is good is generosity, responsibility, and compassion. What is evil is excess not shared, duty left unfulfilled, and a hardened heart.
2. The Second Circle. What is evil is not wrong, but a call for help. As we are as strong as our weakest heart, we must keep an open palm and softened heart to help those who falter on the path.
3. The Third Circle. What is now shall not always be, but what binds us together remains. What is now is temporary and changing, but our ties are eternal and links us together.