Valleians
Description
The native valleians were a mixed people of human, goliaths and even some dwarves who lived in the land of Valleia, now the Broken Plains. It was one of the most powerful nations of its time, one that explored much of the world and played a role in early globalization. They were expert sailors and navigators who had much in the way of trade, piracy and raiding, but they had grown weak. Their travels introduced a variety of foreign religious and political views to the people, and on top of the corruption present in the upper rank's this lead to national instability and inter-city conflict. So when the Catastrophe struck, the Empire crumbled overnight. Many of them died, others fled south to Middenland, while others held on to a few of their ruined cities. Their descendants can still be found all over the world, and some still hold on to their ancestral homeland, or what little of it is left.Culture
The valleians have lost much of their cultural heritage in the Catastrophe, but the people remembered their ways, their traditions and have passed them on to this day. As prolific raiders and explorers, theirs was a warrior culture centered on personal honor and integrity. This represented both honor in battle, but also in daily life. This code for honor called for total loyalty to the tribe or nation, in order to uphold the survival of the group. Crimes were frequently resolved between people themselves, under the oversight of the local leader. It did not just affect the relation to the group in general either, but also personal bonds. As they viewed honor as a combination of courage and personal integrity, you had to show that were a person of integrity, a person of honor to retain bonds of friendship and family. If others can depend on you, you can depend on them after all. That is what honor is all about to the valleians.Courage and Death
Another important aspect of honor, was courage. Courage is about facing whatever may come without fear. If life is like a river, then the end of that river is inevitable. Everyone has the freedom to affect their lives, and they should do so, but the end is inevitable. When the time comes, there is no use avoiding it, you should simply face it with courage. That is what shapes someone's honor and character. This is also why they employed resurrection magic only in a few rare cases. Having faced one's death honorably is the most satisfying end one could have, and reversing that would be nothing but a denial of fate and a blemish upon their honor. Curiously enough, this (fatalism as some call it) aligns them more with Hrimrur than most other cultures.Warrior Ideal and the Soul
As mentioned before, they had a strong warrior culture. Their ideal was a peculiar one, and one that few were able to attain. They believed that a warrior's ideal was to "be like fire" as they put it. To be an instrument that acts on the world around it, but doesn't think on it. Instead they would let their leaders do the thinking, those who were chosen to make the decisions and had the aptitude for it. This ideal supposedly gave them a sense of peace and calm, and it was said that the Dragon-Axes of old as they were sometimes called were nigh unstoppable warriors who were never caught off-guard and expertly cut through battle-lines with no wasted movement at all.Let your heart roar like a fire,
Fight and live as much as you desire.
Scream defiance with every last breath,
Until you earn your honorable death.
Religion
The valleians worshiped a variety of the Fragment-Gods, from war Gods like Cinarus and Alessar to a fertility Goddess like Sicere or a God of death like Rimorbus or Hrimrur. In their current situation, with their lands barren and constantly beset by undead, they naturally tend more towards Gods of war and survival such as Cinarus and Argor. But the God who has gained the most in support, is Hrimrur actually. Their beliefs always aligned well with him to begin with, but his opposition to necromancy and undead falls well with them in particular now as they are both afraid of the undead, but also enraged by their ancestors being forced to rise over and over when they had fought for and deserved their honorable deaths. If there is one thing that all of the remnants of the Valleian Empire have in common then it is this: they hate and detest what was done to their ancestors, and they wish to put them to rest again, both for the honor of the ancestors and their own good.Statistics
Rather than the normal statistics used for Human characters, those of Valleian descent can use the following subrace (speed, size and languages remains the same): Ability Score Increase.Valleians are hardy and strong people, with a focus on martial prowess. Your Strength, Dexterity and Constitution ability scores each increase by 1. Courageous Fatalism.
You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened. Valleian Combat Training.
You gain proficiency in the Acrobatics and Athletics skills. You also have proficiency with handaxes, battleaxes, greataxes and shields. Glory Chaser.
As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.
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