Stonemen
The Zaedulan are an agricultural / farming race, making most of their money from mining the precious metals in their mountain homes and using the super fertile soil to grow lush produce that cannot be found anywhere else in Revin. The Zaedulan maintain good relations with visiting races, and especially with the Kreth whose forest is at the bottom of the Whitefang moutains. The Zaedulan fish the bay adjacent to their mountain range in competition with nearby races, and are contrarily territorial about their fish. They force the other races off what they assert is their land.
The Zaedulan live inside the mountains, having carved tunnels throughout. They do not use tools, because eons of generations have adapted to live in the rock. Each Zaedulan is almost living rock, as their skin has been hardened by the feyalis to be impervious to even more extreme temperatures to withstand the high temperatures in the volcanic mountains to the winter mountain snow caps. Their skins is made up of small scales that cannot be seen with the naked eye, which gives them an odd skin and flesh texture when being viewed up close. It is this feature of their anatomy that makes them so resilient. The scales are like wearing microscopic armor plates and make it very hard for even sword blades to cut them while remaining flexible enough to move freely.
Rumor has it that long ago the Zaedulan were once actually nothing more than a primordial ooze. This ooze being altered by extensive exposure to feyalis fused with the stone around it. Over thousands of years the stone achieved a level of sentience that has now become the Zaedulan. It is also rumored that their hunger for feyalis crystal is largely because this need to retain this dangerous exposure to feyalis is what keeps them alive. Some even say they may revert back to stone if they are fed enough of the crystal. Because of this innate drive to find more crystal they have become tireless workers who value productivity and simplicity.
They are muscled beasts that have grown up in the mountains to value hard work and close relations. Their families are all the people they have grown up with such as their village, not necessarily their blood relatives. Because they are all clones of each other they share a bond that can be hard to understand. They are hospitable to other races who visit but do not encourage their clones to consort with other races until they have grown much older. The Zaedulan do not propagate as the other races do and consist of what appears to be all males. The Zaedulan can occasionally appear feminine in nature but as far as anybody can tell they do not have males or females. The Zaedulan when it is time to reproduce they go through a stage of growth that allows a piece of themselves to split away from the original, creating a smaller yet similar copy of the original. This new Zaedulan will exhibit behaviors akin to the original, but will grow and evolve its own personality as any other child would.
The Zaedulan stand about 6 feet tall, fully muscled with very angular features. They have no hair, but each has a unique crown of protective scales on the top of their head which may be a different color than their skin. Their legs resemble satyr legs, bending first normally at the knee and then backwards before reaching the foot the foot is claw-like, with three long toes forward and one long toe back. The nails are hardened stone and almost unbreakable, used to grip and even pierce rock. On the underside of the foot, the Zaedulan have gecko-like pads designed to provide additional traction.
The Zaedulan are unlike any other race in attire as well. Many races would wear cloth or wool garments, but this is deemed for the softer races of Revin by the Zaedulan. With the density of their scales the Zaedulan prefer to wear garments made from chainmail and scalemail. The Shapers Weave the links together to create shirts and trousers like other races would mill cotton for thread and bolts of cloth. It is not uncommon for people who have never seen a Zaedulan to assume he was going to war. Brooches and rings are replaced by studded gauntlets and armored plates. While they rarely carry weapons inside their cities it is not uncommon for a Zaedulan to have many weapons, and their weapon of choice is the glyphting hammer. These hammers are typically crafted from Zaerite, a metal that is clear like crystal but has properties similar to titanium. A single Zaedulan may carry as many as 4 of these double sided hammers for stamping glyphting patterns in the ground. By rapidly switching, twirling, and striking hammers into the ground runes are placed in intricate patterns that may be unlocked by powerful Glyphting Masters. When the powers of these runes are unlocked, you would be lucky to be far away. Fire will spout from the ground, Zaerite Warstructs emerge, and terrain shifts all around. Those unprepared live short lives when faced against a Master Glyphter.
This Zaerite is used in only the most powerful of weapons and armor and will typically only be worn by the elite and wealthy. Armor crafted from Zaerite is among the most sought after armaments a warrior can have. Traditionally the armor and weapons are passed down through generations or are given to pupils that are to take the place of a current master. It is also not uncommon for an up and coming Glyphter to receive a small piece of Zaerite armor as a medal or badge of honor. It is hard to tell who is the most powerful or most highly decorated of the Zaedulan when it comes to negotiations as they all look very similar. During times of war it becomes all too clear who is the leader as the Warlord with the most Zaerite is the most highly decorated on the battlefield. Generally it would be considered a death wish to willingly assault a Zaedulan Warlord who is covered head to toe in Zaerite armor, as he may be hundreds of years old and seen countless battles to earn that much Zaerite.
Gameplay:
The Zaedulan will be a largely defensive race that focuses on mitigating the loss of the game resource called "Nerve". Using single powerful strikes and having increased resilience allow them to stand toe to toe against most units while remaining balanced.
Glyphters:
In feyalis there are Affinity users that can use feyalis to enact powerful abilities. Each race has their own type and the Glyphters are the primary Affinity user for the Zaedulan. The glyphters utilize a system of using parried attacks as a resource for inflicting damage and creating terrain effects. These will be tough like their bretheren with the potential to really turn the table while mitigating further damage.
Michael R Schneider strikes again with another excellent concept for us. A link to his portfolio page can be found on the "Team" page, so make sure to check it out.
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