The Hunters & The Magi

[Lord Erion]

I. The Hunters

The corn is happy
The Hunter's in the forest
The leaves rattle in joy
The Hunter's in battle
His foes know they face death
But he tells them to face death happily
For it will reunite them with the earth"
- A Vembrian nursery rhyme

Called "Hunters" by humans who met them in Vembria, these mysterious people's own name for themselves is "Poblanateer" or, the Folk of the Earth. They have lightning fast reflexes, putting the fastest of cats to shame.

Men have often told incredulous stories at the fireside of Hunters catching crossbow bolts and hurling them back, and of their eerie ability to know when an ambush or night-time attack is coming.

The Hunters say that this is an ability all true children of Tirlar possess, the ability to attune oneself to the earth, and use its capabilites, and sense its use by other beings. The destruction of trees causes the Hunters great agony, and so they urged the men of Vembria to always let the Hunters build their dwelling-places for them.

This has puzzled men, for all the buildings they are supplied with are of wood. Only one man has witnessed the construction of this dwelling places. Roots grow from the earth, and join together. The building grows from a mass of interlocking twigs and branches. This way, granting the earth with another child, say the Hunters, is much preferable.

The Hunters are a tall people, often a half-foot taller than the tallest man. Their eyes are odd, with the iris swirling, always changing colour. Their hair is normal, except with the added colour of silver, and is most often worn in narrow braids. They prefer to use the bow, or javelin, since these can be grown from the earth. They dislike using metal weapons, which give them an uneasy feeling, the reason for which is unknown even to them.

They can interbreed with humans, producing tall humans, without the swirling eyes, but most often with the odd hair colours. These Hunterchildren often become great leaders in battle or politics among their human peers, and are treated with kindness and respect by the Hunters.

The Hunters have no real governing system, preferring to operate in a system where everyone helps everyone else without any trouble. With the arrival of the humans, however, they decided to set up the Hunter Council, where they could decide the humans' fate. Eventually, the other races were allowed on this council, though it still retains the name.

[Lord Erion]

II. The Magi

"We come from across the planes, on our great ships of metal, and find this world full of races to conquer, or to serve. We chose servitude, count yourselves fortunate" -Elder Veruss

Centuries ago, the Magi arrived on Tirlar, through dimensional rifts, piloting their great plane-travelling ships. They had, according to Magi-written sources, been fleeing from a great war on their home-plane, where their kind were hated and feared by both sides. The same source said that ten ships set off from their plane, from a world called Rodheros.

These ten ships were constructed of odd materials: Marble, silver, gold, iron, basalt, emerald, ruby, sapphire and pure white diamond. Apparently wood is unviable as a plane-travelling material. Of these ten ships, only two arrived in Tirlar, the silver, piloted by the Zufarn sect, or tribe, and the gold, piloted by the Êrwyn sect. The other ships, according to the same source, must have either been ripped apart in the dimensional instability, or made it to other planes.

When the two sects, later to be called tribes, of Magi arrived on Tirlar, they found a world full of magic, with many races, where before they had had to generate magic from their own selves, and the only races were the Magi and normal men. Some wished only to find a small part of this new place to live in, in peace. But most wished to carve a swathe from this land, and be lords.

The Races were saved by two beings, born of the chaos in the dimensional rift, where thoughts become real and reality is non-existent. These were Dagwyn and Angdar, the Lady and the Lord of the Magi. Dagwyn appeared to Gwenhwyar-Liidd of the Êrwyn sect, and Angdar appeared to Joachim-Sele, of the Zufarn sect. Neither of these Magi were especially important, but they were among those who wished only to be left alone, and to leave others alone. This message they gave them, that if they served the Races, and did not horde for themselves, that two lands would be theirs, and that their value would be great.

Thus Joachim-Sele and Gwenhwyar-Liidd spoke to their respective sects, urging them to reconsider their plan of action. They repeated the message of the Lord and Lady, and, in divinely-inspired visions, told their fellows the location of the new lands. The Magi were swayed. From this point on, they decided, they would serve all. At first, they concentrated on expanding their race. Thus, what had been sects before, of different schools of magic, became tribes, or clans, with the ability to practice the schools of magic ingrained on their consciousness.

The full-blooded Magi still left now live almost exclusively in Hundland and Llacheu. They have become teachers of magic, and are a great aid to the Barony in times of war, famine or plague. They have interbred with humans, and other races, so much that it seems half the world bears their mark. Magi of different appearances, in the days of sects, seemed to bind to the different schools more easily.

The Zufarn tribe males, for instance, are almost all broad and stocky and have dark brown or black hair. Their women are not as stocky or as broad as the men, but are solidly built nonetheless.

The Êrwyn tribe, however, are tall and pale, with blond or light brown hair. The tales of Magi with blue or purple or other wildly coloured hair come from accounts of the Homefinding, a celebration of the Magi commune with Dagwyn and Angdar, when Magi dye their hair and engage in all sorts of wild behaviour. The original Magi used to dye their hair as a sign of rank. Now, however, it is a contest to see who can have the most lurid hair colour.

There is a definite different between Magi and ordinary members of the Races who practice magic. Magi have the ability in their blood, scribed on their bones. Every Magi has the capability to become a great wizard, while some mightn't choose to. The other races, however, have a lower percentage of mages.

The singular of Magi is Mage, while the plural of the lower-case mage is mages. Any Magi who hears his races called the Mages will set about to correct their offendor immediately.

Source/Wil Nider/The Great Library/23 March 2002