Aeternae

The Aeternae are a hardy, weathered folk from the far northeastern land of Aeternus. They live in isolation of the rest of the world, and are remembered by races of older ages as part of the fiendish uprising that occurred many, many years ago. They resent this label, having nothing to do with that prior invasion, and try their best to get along with the lands from south of the Menaris River. Living closest to the evil empires of Kodas to the west, they have frequently engaged with their armies most often, and know more about their ferocity than any of the other peoples of Edifas.

Appearance

The Aeternae take upon themselves the features of the other Fiendish Keres of Ixos, but less pronounced. They come in fiery shades of red, orange, yellow or a deep obsidian magenta. They have large, curved horns in a variety of styles on their brows, pointed ears, sharp facial features, and long, spaded tails. They bare no wings, but the vestigial architecture is still somewhat visible on their backs, and on some lighter shades of Aeternae a slight discoloration can be seen. The Aeternae live and work in light clothing in the harsh tundral landscapes. Where other races need heavy jackets and coats, the Aeternae's fiendish ancestry gives them hot blood, which is perfect for their maneuverability in the cold wastes of the mountains and snow drifts they live among. They are able to resist the hot temperatures of the deserts to the far south as well, but many Aeternae prefer the crisp air of their homeland.

History & Geography

The Ages of Silver and Bronze were a time of tumultuous change in Edifas, a great many battles were fought and landscapes changed over the course of these two eras. A cosmic game of King of the Hill left the lands battered and beaten as the Drakonae gave rise to the Fiends of Ixos, who gave rise to the Astorae, who–after there was nothing left to fight, slowly dwindled into obscurity. Ixos and his legions of devils were tasked by Mavrokyka to kill the magically suffused lich-Drakonae, who had starved the Goddess of Death by refusing to die. Ixos seeded the mountain ranges of Edifas with incubators, and when his Devil Legions were fully grown, they would spring forth from the tops of the mountains and lay waste to the plane in a volcanic destruction. When the cull of lich-Drakonae was done with, the bloodshed did not stop there. Edifas was turning into Ixos’ own playground, where he and his Devils could torture any living thing the Atrasians commanded on this plane. Vias did not like this outcome, and crafted an army of warriors to seal the devils back underground. These warriors are known as the Astorae, the Bronze Race in the Age of Bronze. The Astorae took great delight in ridding the world of this unholy menace. They fought and protected and aided in the cultivation of this world for millennia. Unlike the Drakonae they had no qualms with death because they believed death had a place in life, and that it was a place of honor. They fought, died, and thrived until the fiendish menace had been eradicated from Edifas. They rose to the challenge for valor and glory and it was earned, but after peace had befallen Edifas once more, the Astorae felt hollow. Their civilization was left without purpose and without a purpose they declined with much sorrow. Many centuries had passed, and a large mountain in the far northeast began to bubble and smoke, it suddenly erupted in a cataclysmic explosion that could be heard for miles and miles around. One of the devil-incubators of the Age of Silver Apocolypse had detonated far later than it was supposed to, the fiends inside were "overcooked", and as a result lacked any of the ferocity of their long dead brethren. the Aeternae emerged from a large volcano, Aeternatrix, just fifty-two years after the Clay folk walked Edifas. Confused of their purpose, since it had long left this world, the Aeternae soon settled down to found the ancient city of Abomnos on the deepest point of Obsidian Bay, a couple hundred miles from where they’d been born.

Civilization & Culture

The far north is an inhospitable landscape for most who try and brave its climes. The Aeternae have thrived in this environment for the last three thousand years, and their culture of hard work and collectivism shines through in their societies. They are always ready to assist one another with any task a single individual many struggle with on their own, and their humble nature betrays their frightening appearance. Through centuries of blizzards, volcanic eruptions, and the increasing skirmishes with the west-folk honing them to a sharp edge, they will still take time to huddle by a fire, tell stories of the Gods that abandoned them, or of the great heroes of old, and deeply love one another.

Art

Visual mediums do not persevere very well for the Aeternae. Something like a fresco or a painting does not last very long before a blizzard or an eruption wipes it away, so the Aeternae have taken quite well to sculpture, relief, and some pottery. Where other cultures tell stories in a visual manner on their pottery, the Aeternae like to write in script around the circumference of the object, making pottery with many little intricate symbols from their language commonplace in Abomnos and elsewhere in Aeternus. These stories will be family histories, legends of heroes long passed, or stories of terrifying monsters that that assaulted the Aeternae in one way or another. Similarly, Aeternae are quite fond of building monuments and steles to commemorate past events in prominent places in their cities and villages.

Literature

Aeternae storytelling is deeply important to their society, and nearly all Aeternae show a respect to storytellers, historians, and even statisticians. To them, cataloguing the past is the only way to be sure that mistakes will not be repeated in the future. The bonding one shares by telling a personal story, or an ancestral story, or a legend is greatly respected and appreciated by the Aternae. That is why they surround themselves with stories in all places. It's on their pottery, it's on the walls of their homes, its on the monuments in their streets. It's even in the earliest prehistoric caves near Aeternatrix. This love of literacy comes from the defeat of a rogue Centimane named V'ylthin, reaching far back into their past. When V'ylthin was defeated, his lair contained books and manuscripts that told of Godly exploits in Atras, as well as revealed a psionic magic to the Aeternae. There is a well-respected family line of Aeternae that trace back to the heroes who took this knowledge from the Centimane after defeating him and learned his powers, which innately pervades their bloodline.

Economics

In more recent years, the Aeternae have opened up to trading more frequently than they had in the past. They mostly export fish, mammoth meat, lard, and furs, but what really brings them good trade is the precious gemstones mined from the nearby mountain valleys. For this, they import goods that they aren't often able to grow in the north, such as wine or grains.

Cuisine

The Aeternae enjoy a carnivorous diet of many varieties of small and large game from the tundras. Mammoth and venison are popular staples of their diet, as well as hardy root vegetables like parsnips or potatoes. The best harvests come from volcanic soil tilled after a recent eruption by one of the volcanoes in the area, and can produce a yield that is frozen and can last the Aeternae for a generation. It is during this time the Aeternae can also make spirits from their harvest. Potatoes can be distilled into vodka, which is enjoyed by the Aeternae, even if it is not to the taste of many others in the world.

Religion

The Atrasians do not typically concern themselves with the lands of the north, and the Aeternae can feel this shunning with their very being. There is no amount of sacrifice or ritual that allow the Gods of Edifas to aid the Aeternae, so in a large way, the Aeternae are secular, relying instead on their own ingenuity and collective spirit to accomplish what they can. They realize that the Gods exist, and they will help the mortal races in the South quite often, but the Aeternae have made peace with the fact that they do not need the aid of the Gods to thrive in their own land. There is some light worship of their birth mountain, Aeternatrix, and there are small cults to Ixos among the Aeternae, and there are Aeternae who travel south to find that the Gods do listen, and become devout as a result, but by and large, religious practice is not part of the daily life of the Aeternae.

Military

In the first millennium of the Age of Clay, the Aeternae would defend their city with contingents of Gesatae warriors. Imposing and confident, a Gesatus, of any gender presentation, would fight scantily clad or often nude, to dismay and confuse their opponents. The higher-ranking Gesatae that managed the movements of the foot soldiers was known as a Gesato or Gesatia. The Aeternae fought in cold, harsh environments but the natural resistances they’d built to stay warm in such places came from their heritage as lava-folk. They fought best when using hit-and-run tactics and were not very good in prolonged engagements. In more recent years, while the Gesatae are still a popular formation, the Aeternae have more or less adopted southern practices, arming themselves in heavier armors, wielding glaives or gladiuses, and marching in formation.