|
|
Post by frohtastic on Feb 15, 2016 18:46:55 GMT
Hmm, the Minwei will be skilled in alchemy, and thus are able to create stuff like alchemist fire and bombs etc. Maybe this alchemist trait is kinda a competition between the two races since the Kurivaim are also alchemists? I think this race would be overly protective of their grounds. Attacking not only the Kurivaim, but almost any other race that tries to enter their realm? Just thinking since they are a race that sees their leader as god-like. Maybe to step foot on his sanctuary is forbidden. Perhaps the leader is seen / is an avatar of the main god they follow? divine bloodline etc. Were the kuravim alchemists as well or was that just the splinter group? Maybe the coastal kuravims has made peace with the coastal Minwe |
|
|
|
Post by DM Windhover on Feb 15, 2016 19:18:28 GMT
Are we going with there being coastal Minwei as well? That seems a bit too symmetrical to feel believable, in my book.
I like the idea of the leader of the Minwei being/being considered to be of divine lineage. He should have a massive list of titles. Something like "His Divine Eminence, Soul of the Sun, the Enlightened One, Scourge of the Scaled Savages, the Winged Celestial, the Fire of the East, the Phoenix Emperor."
|
|
|
|
Post by galakan on Feb 15, 2016 19:33:21 GMT
Have you guys ever heard of the Pueblo cliff dwellings at places like Mesa Verde? I'm picturing something like that--cities built into desert cliff faces, high above the ground. And with an avian race, it makes perfect sense. I don't think we were going for another coastal race. I think this race was tied to the dessert and maybe some of the mountains surrounding the dessert. I kinda like this better since these would have been the original adversaries to the Kurivaim perhaps even before they split into factions. frohtastic , I think we were going with the alchemist route on the Kurivaim, but it makes sense that the two beings would compete over it. Maybe they use the same ingredients, but for VERY different things. |
|
|
|
Post by DM Windhover on Feb 15, 2016 20:12:44 GMT
Cliffs don't have to mean coastal. Hence the references to Mesa Verde and the Petra. I'm definitely envisioning them as a purely desert race, but living in high cliffs and mountainsides in the desert regions. Deserts don't have to be just sand!    Also, if they're created by a god, we could maybe have them be created by Artaxes from the Pantheon DMnastics? |
|
|
|
Post by frohtastic on Feb 15, 2016 22:04:41 GMT
frohtastic , I think we were going with the alchemist route on the Kurivaim, but it makes sense that the two beings would compete over it. Maybe they use the same ingredients, but for VERY different things. Mostly said alchemy because of raining down bombs on your enemies  Perhaps this substance that makes the bombs go boom is used by the kuravim as a hallucionegenic ? |
|
|
|
Post by joatmoniac on Feb 17, 2016 8:49:18 GMT
Updated main post by merging the ideas as we have them thus far. If there are changes that you think should be made, or if something was left out let me know. I put a few of the topics in bold that still need a little attention, but I think that the others are still wide open if you want to add more. I think these guys are awesome!
|
|
|
|
Post by DM Windhover on Feb 17, 2016 16:00:02 GMT
I'd be interested in expanding and clarifying the "psychological characteristics," in case just describing them as similar to the Han Chinese isn't terribly clear. This will also naturally verge into social characteristics a bit.
1. The Minwei, if defined by traditional alignment, are generally Lawful Neutral like their creator Ardaxes. They have extremely rigid social structures and codes of conduct, which when combined with their general isolation from other races would make them difficult or nearly impossible to fully understand from an outsider's perspective. When interacting with the Minwei it is extremely easy to offend them without meaning to, by breaking some unknown and obscure code or social taboo.
They have distinct social classes, including the nobility, the scholars, the laborers, the soldiers, and the commoners. The emperor himself is in a class of his own, and is worshiped as an avatar of Artaxes.
2. The Minwei practice astronomy to a more significant and precise degree than almost any other race, and see the mapping out and understanding of the rational and mechanical nature of reality as a form of worship. They have invented remarkable magical technologies to allow them to see deep into the heavens. This is one of the reasons they settled in desert cliffs and mountains, where the clarity of the air during the cold nights allows some of the best stargazing in all of Dayeimbe. Some Minwei believe that the movement and alignment of stars and planets are the primary ways in which Artaxes speaks to his children, and thus practice what we might think of as astrology. Science and religion are, in fact, one and the same thing in the Minwei mind.
When the emperor dies, according to Minwei belief, his mortal soul ascends to the heavens and becomes a new constellation in the night sky while his divine soul is passed into his heir. The Minwei therefore recognize not a few dozen but literally hundreds of constellations, with more added each generation.
3. Minwei law is generally considered harsh in comparison with that of other races. They have no resources or desire to imprison those who break their codes of law, so minor crimes are dealt with through fines while major crimes, such as rape, murder, or speaking ill of the emperor, are punishable by death. Execution among the Minwei takes a simple form--the convicted criminals' limbs and wings are bound, mouths gagged, and they are pushed from the cliffs to fall down into the midden heaps of trash and waste hundreds of feet below. Those who miraculously survive the fall are usually consumed by the scavenging animals who live among the refuse.
|
|
|
|
Post by frohtastic on Feb 18, 2016 19:43:11 GMT
8. Senses: blindsight, darkvision, tremorsense, truesight?
Maybe have there be sub-species based on different dessert birds that have different senses?
This will also help with facilitating a caste system.
|
|
|
|
Post by DM Windhover on Feb 18, 2016 20:22:08 GMT
I like it. Maybe the emperor and the royal family have truesight, which is part of the divine gift of Artaxes which is granted to their Celestial Bloodline.
|
|
|
|
Post by DM Windhover on Feb 18, 2016 20:47:44 GMT
3. The Minwei have somewhat humanoid torsos, but their legs are distinctly avian and they have the talons of a massive bird of prey. Their wings remain folded along their sides except when in flight, and they have no hands, but can use their taloned feet with extraordinary dexterity. Watching a Minwei alchemist balance on one foot while stirring an alembic with the other is a unique and somewhat disconcerting experience. It is these razor-sharp talons, too, which the Kurivaim have learned to fear. Their faces are dominated by a wickedly curving beak, similar to that of an eagle, and by their large bright eyes. The nature of their beak makes it extremely difficult for them to speak the common tongue, and their own language incorporates a variety of different noises created by clacking the beak, making it almost impossible for other races to learn their tongue.
The size of a Minwei is partly dependent on its role within society; the soldier caste are bred to be massive, approaching 7 feet tall with a wingspan of 10 feet or more, while the scholarly castes tend to be significantly smaller.
The color of Minwei plumage also varies based on caste, ranging from a dull ochre brown to bronze to gleaming gold. The purer the blood, the brighter the feathers shine; not for nothing is the emperor himself called the Soul of the Sun, and his feathers indeed seem almost to glow with their own light.
|
|
|
|
Post by dmsam on Feb 20, 2016 7:34:50 GMT
Senses: The Minwei have excellent eyesight. To reflect it, we should refer to a particular item in the DMG p.168.
The Minwei have advantage on wisdom (perception) checks that rely on sight. On conditions of clear visibility, they can make out details of extremely distant creatures and objects as small as 2 feet across.
|
|
