Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Center Cannot Hold: The Ursyklon

The Ursyklon
Call a proud Ursyklon a Halfling, if you undervalue your life.

10,000 years ago, the twin suns bore witness to invaders from another star.  The Ursyklon descended in their Great Ships.  They founded their Empires.  They took over the quabbling minor city-states throughout the known world.  Small invaders, they used powers and wonders that some today still struggle to replicate.

Prior to even coming to Orphos, Ursyklon were in a vicious centuries long war with the Aboleth.  Both races came to Orphos with their war, the Ursyklon relying on their druidic warfare while the Aboleth created horrors and shapeshifters to subvert the Ursyklon at every turn.  The Ursyklon eventually won, using their ancient Druidic magicks to imprison the Aboleth in the Deep Sea, leaving the Ursyklon to conquer the whole of Orphos.

The Ursyklon Empires lasted for over three thousand years, their clans bringing civilization and knowledge of magic, feats and classes.  But they were not a united people.  Their rival empires eventually turned against one another.  Their wars and rivalries would burn them out.  But in the process, the Ancient Ursyklon left wonders throughout the world, scars of their conquest, even though some of their wonders have not survived to the current age.

Although the Ursyklon now hold no empires, the diminutive race remains proud of the accomplishments of their ancestors.  They do not fear easily.  They keep up their proud traditions, and many times their own insular community has also let to various forms of discrimination and atrocities against them.  But despite their smaller size, the Ursyklon are proud and believe firmly in their own philosophies.  The natural faith known as Lupa has its origins with the Ursyklon.

Crux: Ursyklon have been a part of Crux since its beginning, originating the name for the Wolf Quarter.  Ursyklon merchants of all nations congregate in the Wolf Quarter and operate stalls in the Grand Bazaar.  Competitors are quick to use slurs like Halfling to describe them, often out of jealousy.

Many ancient buildings throughout Crux are built for the stature of the Ursyklon.  Tiny and small catacombs comprise the ancient city of Gruudl deep under the Wolf Quarter.  Once every year, the Ursyklon of the Wolf Quarter hold the Festival of Howls in the Grand Bazaar.  These celebrations escalate and end in the gathering of a select few descending into ancient Gruudl.  They gather at a site of various Mithril and Steel statues, at a ancient religious ceremony the Ursyklon have practiced since they first invaded.

Ursyklon have fingers throughout various factions in Crux, but they side against the People's Revolution or the World's Labor Union.  Survivors, the Ursyklon still prefer work that is outside factories: entertainment, trading, restaurants, and more than a good amount of various criminal activities.  They still see themselves as a proud warrior race, sometimes enough so to feel vindicated in their crimes.

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