Rhuidim

The Rhuidim are an independent and cautious people, mistrustful of outsiders. Exiled from their home in southeastern Arad and having lost their old gods, they are set on achieving prosperity and greatness on their own. Their small nation of Tol Rhun has been built up in the stretch of land between the sea to the west and south, the border of Khaldea to the north, and the mountains to the east which line the border of neighboring Ivial from which they were banished. Despite their close proximity and conflicting philosophies, Tol Rhun and Ivial maintain an uneasy truce that was made upon the initial exile of Rhun and his Disciples.

Tol Rhun is known for its cultural embracement of sorcery. When the last of the fading old gods appeared to Rhun and gave over the book detailing the secrets of the old gods' power, Rhun eagerly delved into the ways of sorcery and after his failed rebellion and exile, he based his new exile nation on the idea that the people themselves would learn this power and eventually come to replace the old gods that had passed it on to them.

Their unique appearance - pale white skin, icy-blue eyes, and hair only in hues of black, gray, or white - is generally attributed to the people's strong association with and influence by sorcery. Some believe it was a deliberate alteration by Rhun and his disciples after their exile in order to differentiate themselves, others believe it was a natural alteration over time due to frequent exposure to sorcery and the nether.

Cultural Personality

The Rhuidim tend to harbor a bitterness toward the outside world and believe they are best left to themselves. The outside world tends to agree, as many view the sorcerous practices of the Rhuidim to be controversial at best. Those few Rhuidim that do leave their homeland often do so in order to further scholarly pursuits - rarely do they work with others for longer than they deem absolutely necessary. While they can be civil to outsiders, they do tend to often be caustic or judgmental, treating the world as the world tends to treat them.

Even amongst themselves, trust is a rare commodity - there are constant political machinations and intrigue among the Rhuidim as the various Great Houses vie for power and influence over their peers, and for the favor of Amon-Rhun and his Disciples who still have much to teach about the ways of sorcery - the power of the old gods and the secret to immortality and ascension.

Society

The vast majority of the Rhuidim live in the City of Lodhanakh, built in concentric high-walled circles surrounding the Tower of Beshel-Ranakh which is built atop the hill Kadesh. Ruling the city are the Talhmi-Likh (roughly translating to Eternal Disciples) of Amon-Rhun, who speak for the Shackled One and who may bestow or rescind power and status at will. The Talhmi-Likh are quite secretive and rarely seen in person, often sending lesser Disciples to speak and act on their behalf.

Vying for the favor and blessing of the Talhmi-Likh are the Great Houses of Lodhanakh, all with claims to the more direct bloodlines tracing back to Rhun himself, which is equated not only to social status, but worthiness to be taught the secrets of sorcery by the Disciples of Amon-Rhun. Generally speaking, the greater the status of the House, the closer to the center of Lodhanakh they reside. Houses falling from grace have a history of being driven from their territory into further circles of the city in what has become a cultural tradition. (Some will opt to move out to fallback country estates outside Lodhanakh rather than suffer the indignity of moving to an outer circle of the city.)

Because of all this, the Houses are willing to do whatever it takes to seek greater status and to defend said status once they have achieved it, up to and including assassination. While of course illegal, it's an open secret that these assassinations occur relatively frequently and there are many loopholes and the like exploited to avoid detection or consequence. It is in fact not uncommon for individuals of lower status to be handsomely paid for taking the credit for these assassinations and fleeing Lodhanakh to live comfortably in exile, most often in neighboring Khaldea. Of course, any member of a House being successfully convicted for involvement in such schemes would result in their entire House being disgraced, which discourages recklessness in attempts and keeps things from devolving into complete chaos and violence. Overall, however, this all has the effect of Lodhanakh being in a constant state of intrigue and change. The Talhmi-Likh seem to quietly endorse this "survival of the fittest" approach and are happy to reward those who succeed with status and access to secret knowledge and learning.

Citizens outside the Great Houses and the Talhmi-Likh are the backbone of Tol Rhun society, providing the mundane but essential functions required for society to prosper: labor, trade, education, agriculture, etc. They are not allowed to practice or learn sorcery without special permission by a disciple or House noble.

The roles of the citizenry are largely caste-based, meaning that professions and trades are typically passed down through families. However, if someone shows a particular talent for something outside their family trade and is lucky enough to be noticed by a disciple or local noble, they may be sponsored and allowed to take that up as their new official trade, and pass it on to their children. Doing so is risky, however: if one doesn't spend enough time and effort fulfilling their family responsibility they could be punished for it. There are also some cases where a disciple or noble will simply reallocate individuals or even entire families in order to meet the current needs of Tol Rhun society.

The Great Houses

The Great Houses of Tol Rhun are families who can trace their lineage to Rhun himself, which grants significant status in Rhuidic society as well as eligibility to be taught the secrets of sorcery. They are fiercely competitive with one another, and engage in all manner of plotting, scheming, and trickery to try and elevate themselves while sabotaging the other Houses.

(Info on specific Houses to be added.)

Fashion

Higher fashion among the Rhuidim often reflects the dark and gloomy feel of the nation itself. They make extensive use of dark colors, with black being the most popular, and varying dark shades of other colors. They will often contrast these dark colors with accents of silver, gold, or lighter shades of gray, and silver or gold accessories. Metallic jewelry and accessories are very rarely made from iron or steel, as such materials interfere with sorcery. Their style of clothing is heavy but fine, with high-collared shirts and greatcoats, embroidered large-buttoned vests, ornate buttons and cuff-links, sweeping voluminous cloaks with elegant clasps, fitted trousers, and high-topped boots. There is little difference between the traditional garments of males and females, which is often a point of amusement to the Rhuidim as they observe foreigners having difficulty with the lack of distinct gender differentiation via garb.

Those of lower station and social status will usually dress in simple and utilitarian clothes befitting their work or role in society, though still tend to avoid lighter colors - grays are the most common.

Sorcery

The primary occult practice of the Rhuidim is sorcery - their nation is in fact founded on it, based on the teachings of the sorcerer Rhun and his Disciples. Sorcery is used for common utility in Tol Rhun in ways that many other cultures find to be controversial or deplorable. For instance, it is not uncommon for well-to-do households to employ nether-animated constructs or even animated dead as servants and laborers. Important figures may be reanimated after their death in an attempt to wring a bit more usefulness from them. The deconstructive and temperature-reducing properties of nether also have various mundane applications: shaping of materials, artistic etching, waste disposal, and refrigeration are but a few of the utilitarian applications of sorcery in Tol Rhun.

It should be noted that while sorcery use is prominent in Tol Rhun, its practices are largely reserved for those of higher status and station. The greatest secrets are kept by the Disciples of Amon-Rhun, passing them on only to those they deem worthy. Lesser practices (relatively speaking) are taught in exclusive schools to the nobility of the Great Houses who show an aptitude for it, and sometimes their most trusted aides. Lesser sorcery is also taught to all members of the House of Bakhet, a disgraced House whose members are now tasked with forever tending to the more mundane workings of Tol Rhun's sorcerous infrastructure.

Religion

The primary religious belief among the Rhuidim is that the Old Gods have faded from this world, leaving the secrets of their power to Rhun and his people. Having discovered the secret to immortality from the book given him by the Old Gods, Rhun's spirit began its ascension to a higher state of being even after his mortal body failed. He is now known as Amon-Rhun the Shackled One, chained to this world by his greatest Disciples before he could ascend beyond mortal reach in order to further teach his Disciples and help them pass on the secrets of sorcery to the rest of the Rhuidim.

The Rhuidim do acknowledge the contemporary Immortals of various other cultures as beings of significant power, but they are considered lesser immortal entities that pale in comparison to the now-departed Old Gods. These beings are sometimes dealt with in mutually beneficial relationships, the Rhuidim learning from them or gaining power in exchange for Immortal-sustaining respect and services, but true worship is quite rare. The Rhuidim reserve their greatest reverence only for Amon-Rhun and the Rhuidim themselves as they seek to achieve a greater state of existence through mastery of sorcery.

Beyond Amon-Rhun, some of the more popular Immortals in Tol Rhun include:

• Aranas, often called upon for assistance in the political machinations of the Great Houses.
• Balastrossa, primarily for being opposed to Iarel and occasionally called upon to lay curses upon Iarel's children, the Viali.
• Jonathon Crowhaven, who some believe to be a mysterious particularly favored disciple of Amon-Rhun who traveled abroad for undisclosed reasons.
• Malfant, controversially sought out for secrets that Amon-Rhun and his Disciples have not yet seen fit to bestow upon an individual. Particularly popular among certain sects who suspect Amon-Rhun has been shackled by his Disciples against his will.
• Undm, sought out for knowledge of souls and life beyond the mortal world.
• Yru, sought out for knowledge of necromancy, nether-souls, and nether in general.

On the other hand, there are some Immortals who are decidedly unpopular in Tol Rhun, including:

• Bogvaskr, due to Viali interpretation of the overzealous Fallen Aengel often hunting and slaying the sorcerers of Tol Rhun. Assassinations of prominent sorcerers or their masters are sometimes pinned on Bogvaskr.
• Iarel, the mother goddess of the Constantians, and therefore mother to the Viali immigrants who would arrive to displace and exile the Rhuidim from their homeland.
• Serafina, the patron of the Viali and of the Knights Templar who were among the greatest enemies of Rhun and his Disciples during Rhun's rebellion.
• Verungnr, who has a voracious appetite for sorcerers and is considered an increasingly significant threat the closer a sorcerer comes to achieving ascension through sorcery. Some even claim Verungnr to be a jealous and wrathful remnant of the Old Gods who refuses to let any sorcerer usurp the old power.
• Vandin, some believing that his penetrating gaze seeks the book given to Rhun and wishes to take it and its knowledge away from the Rhuidim.

(There is relatively little interest in primal entities in Tol Rhun.)

History

In the distant past, when the Kingdom of Ivial was established in Southeastern Arad by immigrants from the continent of Constantia, there was among the native local tribes a priest of the Old Gods named Rhun. Rhun saw the immigrants first arrive, and observed their philosophy of the Inner Light spread among his native people, overshadowing and replacing their old traditions and causing them to abandon their old gods. Such were the wonders of this "Inner Light" that one of the immigrant thaumaturges united many of the scattered tribes of southeastern Arad with the Viali, and in time the old gods were all but forgotten.

Rhun, however, was ever faithful to the old gods. It was true, they had never shown themselves to him or granted him powers like those of the Inner Light, but he had served them faithfully for decades, and he enjoyed a certain status due to his priesthood. So he resisted the transition to this new philosophy, though his office and status meant increasingly less to the people over time.

Rhun gathered the few believers in the old gods left, and they clung to their old traditions. They could not compare to these marvelous new powers of thaumaturgy, however, and while those who truly adhered to the philosophy of the Inner Light harbored no ill will toward Rhun and the remaining disciples of the old gods, the diminishing belief in the old gods nonetheless resulted in Rhun and his disciples being ridiculed and treated as outcasts by many others.

Becoming ever more spiteful and angry, Rhun and his people prayed fervently to the old gods to help them, to give the others a sign that they were real. During one of these prayer sessions, one of the old gods appeared to them, a shadowy figure in deeply-hooded robes of jet-black. He informed them that he was the last of the old gods, and that the others had vanished, no longer having enough believers to sustain them, and that Rhun and his people were to be the old gods' replacements. He gave Rhun a book in which was written the secrets to the old gods' powers - the powers of sorcery. As the book left his fingertips, the last of the old gods vanished.

Rhun and his people diligently studied the teachings of this book and came to great power, secretly recruiting many into their fold. When they become confident enough, they challenged the leaders of Ivial, in the name of vengeance for the old gods. A brief civil war ensued, and eventually Rhun and his disciples were defeated and captured. The leaders of Ivial insisted on showing mercy, however - rather than being executed, Rhun and his remaining disciples were exiled across the mountains to the west, to live in the wild lands between the mountains and the sea. The Treaty of Merciful Exile was established by the Viali: as long as Rhun's people did not attempt to return to Ivial, they would be left alone.

Rhun and his remaining disciples went to the wild lands allotted to them and began their new nation, Rhun decreeing that they would realize greatness on their own with the incredible powers of sorcery that the Old Gods had revealed to them. After some time wandering and exploring their new home, they came across the great hill Kadesh and the tower of Beshel-Ranakh reaching skyward from the hill's summit. The tower resonated with a power that Rhun and his disciples recognized as the power of the Old Gods, and thus they began settling around it with the intent to study it and gain further knowledge of the Old Gods' power.

Relations with other peoples of Arad

• Faewyr clans: Negligible; infrequent trade hampered by hesitance to venture near or into the realm of Verungnr.
• Fasa tribes: Negligible interaction. General acknowledgment of the Fasa as the "true" ancestral people of the Rhuidim (refusing to acknowledge any intermixing with the Viali), though disapproving of the Fasa's generally friendly relationship with the Viali.
• Ivial: Hostile, but the Treaty of Merciful Exile has thus far held and prevented any (official) attempts at (significant) incursion into Viali lands.
• Karnath: Negligible.
• Khaldea: Peaceful and generally respectful, occasional trade. The Khaldeans are the only outsiders any Rhuidim have come to have any measure of trust or respect for.
• Lost Lands: Some interest in potential learning opportunities presented by the significant nether-presence there and in seeking knowledge in the ruins of Aetgard.
• Nuum: Negligible; generally resentful of Nuum's role in the fading of the Old Gods and thus playing a part in causing Rhun's initial trials when the Viali arrived. There are rumors that the Rhuidim have occasionally helped the Khaldeans resist Nuumic incursions.
• Parr: Negligible; infrequent trade hampered by hesitance to venture near or into the realm of Verungnr.
• Sirak Drauth: Negligible.
• Tatlhuecatn Empires: Negligible.