Nafrin have insane public works that utilize concrete to move and store immense amounts of fresh water, massive cities with a strikingly modern distribution system for fresh, potable water; and these huge, ornate temples to the 4 cardinal deities. I mean, like, imagine if the freemasons had concrete during the medieval era, and four distinct gods to stylize.

Ijosai build cities using fast-growing mangrove trees, and volcanic rock that survive in salt-water, even making a few (beautiful and frankly scary) floating gardens that can float/be sailed/rowed from one island to another. That doesn’t even touch their giant catamaran battleships with teams of rowers and huge, tall sails.

Davien build these amazing sandstone temples and structures, and have amazing agricultural techniques that are literally de-desertifying the desert. I’m talking complex irrigation systems that include movement of river sediment and the importation of peat, clay, and fertilizers through these engineered locks and canals and clay pipes. 

Cranid build whole CITIES suspended between the walls of canyons, just, like networks of bridges and beautifully carved blocks of limestone that almost seem to “float” on reinforced cabling, and “garden walls” that are literally gardens that are dead-ass vertical facing the south.

Avur have these massive “houses” that are more like keeps/walled cities that just rise out of the firmament made of wood and stone, where you can go the entire day shopping and never touch the actual ground. Like, multi-level roads and 5-7 storey tall buildings, all surrounded by stone and coated in fire-resistant stucco, so they’re these giant, brightly colored condensed cosmopoli.

The Mortei build less extravagantly, but that belies their beauty; I mean who else but a Mortei could build an unassailable city with no great stone walls? Yet, ask the Avur if they’d like to try to lay siege to it, and watch them shrink in memory of their defeats. I’m talking a city that, if you don’t know exactly where to look, you can’t bloody find, and is surrounded by earthworks, moats, and man-made swamps which are cultivated to purposely host the nastiest nasties imaginable, and be essentially fireproof. 

The Elemeis can make and break “camp” in a few hours, where “camp” is a literal mobile garrison. Just, you look away and then -bam- Elemeis have a fortress that seems to rise directly out of the ground.

The Terran have these astoundingly efficient caravans (so efficient that other races have done all they can to copy them) that can cross more ground in less time than even soldiers on forced march, despite including women and children in their composition. 

Reminder, this is a very rough overview of each race; not an in-depth or serious look into them.

Consider this as a sort of a appetizer to pique your interest; this is normally how I describe them to new players, to help them along picking one to play as.

(In this, they are listed from “most humanlike” to “least humanlike”)

Terran

Terran are the most “human” of all the races, and would likely pass a squint test for most people. They have tan, earthy-toned skin, often with freckles, dark hair, and often brown or sometimes green eyes. 

Most Terran make their living as nomadic tribesfolk and shepherds, in traditional tribal and family groups that can sometimes trace their lineages back over a thousand years. Some Terran have recently started establishing walled cities at the edge of their territory, imitating their former neighbors, the Nafrin. 

Nafrin

The Nafrin are a race of slightly short, blue-skinned humanoids, with metallic-colored hair and often gold-colored eyes. In those eyes sits a glint, a shimmer of a military mind, as every Nafrin who desires any political power, or even the right to vote, serves in their massive legion for 2 years, at the least. 

They hold claim to one of the greatest empires in recent memory, though that empire has been gradually collapsing inward due to overexpansion of borders, political infighting, a lack of strong leadership, and a series of failed wars against the Terran and Cranid. Most Nafrin are very proud of their families and their empire, and want to see the glory days restored, though many are also very keen to do whatever it takes to push their family to the front of political power, even at the expense of the empire as a whole. 

Davien

The Davien are a race of roan-skinned peoples, with digitigrade feet, dark curly hair, and bald, prehensile tails that end in a small tuft of black hair. Quick with a smile and a witty word, they are famous as the group that brokered a peace between the Nafrin and Cranid, ending a 8-year-long war that was devastating to all sides.

Davien occupy a land if mostly desert, with a few fertile rivers turning long strips of land into fertile oasis's. They have a government of loosely affiliated tribes and kingdoms, all of which view for power among themselves. This can be seen as a weakness, until some other force attacks them, in which time it becomes clear they do this to keep their blades and military minds both sharp and steeled. They control the land trade routes between the northern continent and southern continent; making them both an invaluable ally, and often a very wealthy one.

Ijosai

The Ijosai are a race of semi-amphibious humanoids, with rough, almost sandpapery skin, streamlined features, webbed fingers, and rows and sharp, serrated front teeth.  Despite their wild, almost bestial features, many are very easy-going, if incredibly sarcastic. Famous pirates and seafaring explorers, they control their territory incredibly tightly.

Ijosai control a series of islands and coastal cities, with a navy which has essentially no equal among the races. Their government, a confederation island states which each choose a representative to sit on a central council, allow each isl;and state (sometimes groups of islands) to maintain a level of autonomy, while still being capable of handling greater issues. Most Ijosai have wild, bright blue tattoos on their bodies and faces; often these tattoos and scars are marks of an ancestral rite of passage for young Ijosai, where they seek out a variety of giant cephalapod and wrestle it to death, underwater, often with their bare hands and sometimes a simple flint knife or stick. The fight riddles them with small injuries from the barbed suckers of the creature and it’s razor-sharp beak, and after they succeed, they tear the creature open and pour the ink sac of the creature over their heads, giving them their tattoos.

Mortei

The Mortei, at first glance, look to be walking trees, more foliage than flesh; this is a clever camoflage, with their bark-like skin doubling as toughened, natural armor. Skilled infiltrators, survivalists, and woodsmen, they tend to be reclusive, or at least introverted, though that isn’t always the rule.

Mortei control a relatively small amount fo land, on the southern continent, and are separated from their main neighbors, the Avur, by a impressive mountain range. In that series of valleys and gulches, thick, sometimes tropical forests are rife, filled with both the Mortei, and the beasts which would try to make them food. Living here has instilled a sort of subtle paranoia in the Mortei, who are always careful to pass with as little notice, if at a ll possible. Yet, this desire to be unnoticed should not be mistaken for weakness; as the Avur have found many times, to their own pain and embarrassment. Mortei export mostly timber, rare spices, and some medicinal plants; but there are very few cosmopolitan harbor cities in their land, as foreigners are often driven out, either with force, or through seclusion. 

Elemeis

The Elemeis, in a word, were bred for war. Literally. Crafted by the Nafrin over 100 years, they are the culmination of experiments in grafting life itself through magic. They have an imposing build, covered in short, coarse fur, with feline heads that hold a glint of cold, military intellect behind them. 

The Elemeis are, in no small part, a people searching both for a home, and for a culture. After a bloody and violent rebellion against their forebears, the Nafrin, they’ve essentially been filling the gaps, living nomadic lives of diaspora wherevery they can. Some have banded together to make small towns, even some small cities, but most have been scattered along the front lines of the Nafrin’s old borders. It’s not uncommon to see some still in owenrship of the Nafrin; as they never officially stopped fielding Elemeis troops, or keeping them as property, but it’s far less common now, both because of the social stigma, and the mortality rates of Elemeis under Nafrinan command. 

Avur

The Avur appear in one of two flavors; the somewhat shorter, and often brilliantly colored males, whose fine silks and finer manners are the truest marks of a gentlemen in Avur culture, and the more muted, more severe appearance of the females, who hold the real political and military power in their culture.

Avur hold  a great amount of land, and have theoretically the largest standing army; but they’re hamstrung by the divided noble houses which vie for power and influence. Generations-long quarrels, grudges, alliances, and intrigue are almost baked into the very fabric of the culture. Young males vie to be seen as good suitors, both through gentlemanly acts as well as more conniving ones, but it’s the matriarch of each noble house, the mistress of each lineage, that has the final say on all arranged marriages of the men under her purview.

Cranid

Cranid are, out of all the races, likely the most alien and least human-looking. While bipedal and roughly humanoid in shape, they have compact, short torsos and long, lanky limbs, with thick necks and heads with 6 iridescent, compound eyes that seem to shimmer in the light. 

It came to pass, on my travels, that I was to be conveyed along the great expanse of the sea, as the course by land was beset by all manner of banditry, including the seasonal acts of the Terran which are well known to stymie our trade westward. It was suggested to me by another, a merchant tradesman, to seek out an Ijosai; the wild and unkempt kin of the sea. I had dealt with them before, in limited capacities, and they seemed a punctual and earnest sort, if lacking in good graces. So convinced, I made contact after a time with a vessel which would accept charter and had berth for me and my party. My misgivings were immediate; the vessel seemed hardly more than two thin hulls lashed together, it sat in port a dismal sight, reminiscent to me of a cat which is doing it’s best attempt to stretch itself from the water. 

Equally, it’s hull was skinned in a peculiar manner, appearing to my eyes roughshod, with apparent and stark seams running it’s length. Contrasted against the smooth, firm appearance of a Nafrin vessel, it proffered no small disbelief in me. 

Undeterred, due in no small part to my desire to depart quickly, and with the repeated assurance of the merchant aforementioned, I boarded the vessel. Despite it’s delicate appearance, it was suitably armed and manned, with 10 guns and a crew of 15 of the shark-kin. The captain greeted me, though it was what passed for a first mate who spoke the most fluent Acadae Sermonis. To my relief, the creature spoke it passably, though the thickness of his accent required my attention to decipher. 

In passing, I expressed my concerns of the delicacy of the vessel tot he first mate, his response was surprise and then a kindhearted laugh, and to assure me that his kin built stout and sturdy vessels, the equal to any one could find. 

As all cargo was loaded into the hold, or holds as it were, for there were two, and the final papers of charter and fees of docking paid, the ship set off. 

To my great amusement and surprise, the sailors set the sails against the wind in such a way as to push the ship in direct reverse! At first I cursed the merchant for giving me the name of a incompetent or mad sailor, but instead I found myself transfixed by the sudden speed of our movement. Backwards, with no great or favorable wind, the ship was gliding at a clip that would have shamed many. 

I was told to keep a firm hold of the rail, for what I knew not at the time. I complied, if only to keep appearances, as did the rest of my party, each of whom were nervous of the shark-kin. With what appeared to be a visage of either pure stoicism or boredom, the helmsman brought the ship around smartly, as the deckhands did the opposite with the sail, bringing it into the wind. The result was the ship nearly spun about it’s center, turning to face the right direction before correcting slightly and losing hardly any velocity. To my embarrassment, the maneuver nearly send me face first into the deck, as it did many of my party who were caught unawares. Curses rose from at least one pair of lips, which trailed from their invective to silent awe. 

Such speed!

I hardly can make a word to describe it, as if a javelin loosed across the sky by Xandros himself, the vessel seemed to barely touch the sea, and it made no great concern over the waves it cut across. 

It was then I noted again, grimly, this time, the 10 cannons. 

If a vessel such as this could fly with it’s overwhelming and uncanny swiftness, and even turn to bare either broadside at speed, and in such short times; it was no wonder to me then how the Ijosai are known by the world to be fearsome. 

No small flush of clear bile passed my spine at the thought, only multiplied as I looked upon the deckhands, each sporting the usual wild scars and marks of their kin. 

Like, take the Ijosai, for example. As far as I’ve worked out, they once were a sort of tribal servant-class/second-class people under the dominion of the greater Avur Empire (loose term for the conglomeration of Avur houses). They were effectively controlled by a priestly class; their gods (the ocean, the sun, the moonos) were bloodthirsty and the Ijosai sacrificed their own people on a regular basis to satiate their gods.

Until a series of natural disasters, combined with a ramp up in oppressive regulation pushed many of them to piracy. They were apostates in the purest sense, they hated the Gods, and sought to fight against them instead of appeasing them. This did not go over well with the preistly class, but as economic and natural pressures (famine, disease, death) seemed to be getting worse and worse, and the Avur did nothing to step in to change things, the pirates grew in power and notoriety. Eventually there was a violent overthrow of the ruling class (who were in bed with the Avur to some extent) and an age of iconoclasm and God-hatred began. 

The Avur finally stepped in to quell rebellions where it could, and for a while it seemed to have worked; until more issues with famine caused by a combination of factors resulting in basically the entire remaining population (or a majority of the population) of the Ijosai to go full-blown pirate. 

These pirates operated in an unusually controlled and businesslike manner (thanks in great part, to their leaders realizing that if they were divided and fought among themselves the Avur would swoop in and kill them or enslave them again), and these pirate groups eventually evolved into the regional powers/tribes which make up the Ijosai Confederacy. 

Pardon the very sketchy nature, but I think I just figure out how to do Ijosai noses, and I’m happy.

So, I’ve detrmined that Ijosai language has at least two “click” consonants (consistent with their history as semiaquatic, clicks would be easier to transmit underwater than voiced consonants) and now I’m considering adding uvular and voiceless consonants so that most of their language can be vocalized without opening their mouth. 

Anyone have suggestions on this, ro how I can work this out?

Obviously, since Ijosai have shark-like serrated teeth (the middle 6 upper teeth and middle 4 lower teeth), that will not only effect their language (no labiodental consonants) but how they speak other languages. I’m trying to keep that in mind as well as keep in mind their environment and culture as a whole.

With that in mind the two “clicks” are a “k” type click (mid/back of tongue to roof of mouth) and a “t” type click (tip of tongue to roof of mouth).

This means that their naming system “<name> kit <tribe> <surname>” is pronounced with two clicks, somewhat like “kh-t” or “k’t”