Character Creation - Heritages

The SIlent Lands have many different cultures living within them. Each of these cultures has their own traditions. These traditions are represented by classes available only to those of a certain heritage. This heritage is not connected to any specific race. All of the cultures below have many different races living in them.
For example, Artificers only appear in the city known as The Great Work, This is were they are trained. Their kind of magic is unknown to most of the other parts of the SIlent Lands. In order to play an Artificer, this means that your character will have to hail from The Great Work.
Even though these heritages are mostly an aspect of character background, each heritage has a small benefit attached to it, such as an additional class skill or a specific feat

Heritages

Akek, city of scales

Akek was built amidst an old dragon graveyard. Many of its buildings use dragon bones and scales as materials. Most of its inhabitants worship dragons as divine beings and many have some form of magical connection to these powerful creatures. Although the ruler of the city holds the title Dragon Empress, and she is rumored to be an old red wyrm, no dragon is confirmed to live in Akek. Akek is also known for its vast wealth. The city is rumored to have massive vaults filled with riches and magical items below its palaces built from dragon carcasses.
Benefit: You gain the Draconic Heritage Feat, even if you don't meet its prerequisits. You also learn the language Draconic.

Amon, city of fiends

Amon is built on the slopes of the Ogun volcano. It is a city of black obsidian and dark grey granite. The worship of fiends is commonplace in Amon with pyramids and temples hosting daily sacrifices to dark entities. Slave pits and markets are always busy as cultists are constantly in need of more blood and souls. Many of the inhabitant's blood is tainted by fiendish powers.
Benefit: You gain the Fiendsih Heritage Feat, even if you don't meet its prerequisits. You also learn either the language Infernal or Abyssal.

Azul, city of Lies

While it has been millenia since the Silent Lands were part of the Umber Reach, the plane of shadow, its influence has not yet completely disappeared. Azul is a beautiful city full of magic of the illusion and enchantment schools. Sinister magic schools and guilds of thieves and criminals control large parts of the city. Some worship the Umber Lords, but most pray to Chandra, the immortal being that rules Azul and maintains and controls the Shadow Weave.
Benefit:Bluff becomes a class skill for you. You also gain 2 ranks in this skill. If Bluff is already a class skill, you still gain the skill points but also gain the Skill focus (bluff) feat.

Baikal Nomads

The Baikal Nomads are a nomadic tribe of cavalry warriors. They don't build cities or permanent settlements, but constantly travel the Emerald Steppes. They are famed archers and riders and their horses are sought after by many other mounted warriors. The tribes' only permanent settlement is Baikal, an ancient ruined city built by giants millenia ago. The Baikal people worship their ancestors and the spirits of the land.
Benefit: Ride and Animal Handling become class skills and you gain 4 bonus skill points to distribute among these two skills. You also gain the feat Skill Focus in one of both skills.

Cityborn

While most of the cities of the Silent Lands have a distinct culture and traditions, not all inhabitants conform to these. Others are born in smaller urban settlements.
Benefit: Knowledge (local) becomes a class skill for you. You also gain 2 ranks in this skill. If Knowledge (local) is already a class skill, you still gain the skill points but also gain the Skill focus (knowledge local) feat.

Intai, city of order

Intai was founded millennia ago by beings from the Crescent Isle, a utopian city located deep within the plane of Shadow. They followed the teachings of Urzae, a monk who taught them psionics. After the silent lands were ripped from the Umber Reach Urzai sent out a group of missionaries to bring his teachings to those in these lost lands. These colonists found themselves trapped in the Silent Lands, cut off from their home. They created the city of order, a massive metropolis of crystal and glass in which no magic, only psionics is allowed. As their message of peace and tranquillity was rejected by the peoples of the Silent Lands, their approach to conversion changed. They are now much more militant and have been known to use force to pacify gangs of bandits and fiendish cults. They capture them, take them back to Intai and use psionics to convert them to peaceful members of society.
Benefit:Any character with psionic abilities recieves 1 additional power point per level. Those without psionic abilities receive the supernatural ability to cast calm emotions once per day on a single target. The save DC is 10 + 1/2 character level + the character's Constitution bonus.

Sa Owu, City of the Dead

Sa Owu is located right next to Tenebrous and the Glass Forest. It is a city of necromancers and undead. The living share the city with many undead creatures bound to service, As with Amon, there are slave markets, but these pale in size to the corpse markets where necromancers go to buy the "components" needed in their practices. There is no worship of any kind in Sa Owu, and very little hope. Most of those that live here are either necromancers themselves or bound in service to one, preventing them from leaving. Life here is harsh as many of the city ammenities necessary for the living, such as food markets, are scarce in Sa Owu.
Benefit:You gain the following supernatural ability: You may use a death touch once per day. Your death touch is a supernatural ability that produces a death effect. You must succeed on a melee touch attack against a living creature (using the rules for touch spells). When you touch, roll 1d6 per 2 character levels you possess (rounded down) If the total at least equals the creature’s current hit points, it dies (no save). Undead, elementals and constructs are immune to this effect.

The Great Work

The city known as the Great Work was constructed over the course of several decades under the guidance of the immortal lord Tyran. It was built into a giant mesa above the Cradle Hills. It was finished about a century ago when its piece de la resistance was completed, a massive magical cannon with a barrel hundreds of feet long. The cannon was fired only once, at an unknown target to the far north. After its completion Lord Tyran disappeared.
The city is known for its master crafters and artificers. Constructs are common and large trade caravans visit the city's many markets to buy the best weapons and armor to be found in the Silent Lands. Most people still worship lord Tyran and although other spiritual practices are now allowed (they were forbidden when Lord Tyran still ruled), there hasn't been much deviation from tradition.
Benefit: Use Magic Device becomes a class skill for you. You also gain 2 ranks in this skill. If Use Magic Device is already a class skill, you still gain the skill points but also gain the Skill focus (Use Magic Device) feat.

Wave's End

About a century ago, a small fleet of ships set out from the Arcane Jewels in the north. These city states, run by mages, had decided to colonize the lands to the south. The fleet did not make it past Widow's Passage however and sank in the permanent storms that plague the strait. The survivors washed ashore on the northern beaches of the Soulcleft Marches. As magic does not function as they expected they were almost powerless. With no way home they built a settlement, which has grown into a true city over the past 100 years. Wave's End still clings to the culture of the northern kingdoms. Knights in heavy armor, well-dressed nobles, temples to the (silent) gods and trade and artisan guilds are all common. While magic isn't as dominant in Wave's End as it was in the Arcane Jewels, the tradition of attending academies and universities still is.
Benefit: You can choose 2 Knowledge skills that become class skills for you and you gain 4 bonus skill points to distribute among these two skills. If you already have all knowledge skills as class skills you still receive the bonus skill points as well as the feat Skill focus in one knowledge skill.

Wyldborn

Many in the Silent Lands are born and raised in tribes deep within the jungles, plains and other wild places. They learn to hunt and track from their elders before setting out for themselves.
Benefit: Survival becomes a class skill for you. You also gain 2 ranks in this skill. If Survival is already a class skill, you still gain the skill points but also gain the Skill focus (Survival) feat.

Yosh-Oni Shogunate

The proud peoples of the Yosh-Oni shogunate on the eastern edge of the continent have a long tradition of producing strong warriors and powerful shamans. They worship the spirits of the land and often have strong bond with them. They are the only true nation that has grown beyond a city state as they have conquered all the lands east of the Longstalk River. They have even created a thousand mile long trade route to the west, the Kapok Route, named after a much desired type of wood sought in the jungles of the continent's interior. This trade route ends in the city of Dejma, a true Yosh-Oni trade hub. An internal dispute saw their Emperor dethroned by the Shogun over a century ago. The Emperor survived the coup and escaped north, but no-one dares question the Shogun's authority.
Benefit: You gain proficiency with 1 exotic weapon of your choice. Additionally, you learn the language Celestial and one of the elemental languages (Aquan, Auran, Ignan or Terran)