Humanity and Other Races

 

There is a myth that this is not the first world, but the second. The gods created the first world from living flame, and created with it four races of fire: the Aglum, the Billum, the Giralum, and the Izilum. These beings became too powerful, however, and challenged the gods in their power, so the world was unmade and they were cast into the outer dark. The more faithful and pious became the angels, and the corrupt and power-hungry became demons. They are very dangerous, and those who commerce with them, such as witches and summoners, are feared and shunned.

There are many races on the earth, the most important being: Lillum, Kilum, Aelum, and Lum. Each of the first three races is considered an offshoot of the Lum or the race of man. Outside of the purview of society are the Sinulum, or 'crooked ones'. The smartest and best of the Sinulum are a match for humanity, others are mere twisted monstrosities. Even lower than the Sinulum are the Namkulum, literally 'cursed people', like the red caps. These small humanoid monsters live beneath the streets of the city and emerge to steal children and kill the unwary. The caps they wear are of human skin dipped in the blood of their victims.

Lillum - taller, finer-featured, and longer-lived than the Lum, they are a people of sorcery, learning, and intellect. Originally the most powerful race, they are still proud and insular. They live mostly in the ghetto of Gilead, and are subject to the God-King through contract, not divine right.

Kilum - slightly shorter than the Lum, and paler-skinned, they are longer-lived, but not as long-lived as the Lillum. They are a people of craftsmanship, and have an especial love of earths and metals. They are clannish and suspicious, and live mostly in the hill ghetto north of the city. Very few of them venture out into the wider society.

Aelum - able to change their appearance at will, their natural state is open to speculation. They are the most feared of the old races, and have no homeland to call their own. Aelum often take on the semblance of other races to pass in society. If discovered, they are likely to be killed. If free about their origins, they would be destroyed. They have a gift for mind-magics and emotional manipulations, and are said to change personality with a change in shape.

 

At the beginning of the second world, there were only the four races of man. The Lillum and the Aelum held dominion over man, and used them as slaves and domesticated animals. The Kilum kept to themselves, much as they do now. After a time the two powerful races waged a great war with each other, and as a punishment for this war, the gods created the Sinulum and sent them against the Lillum and Aelum. It was the strength and courage of the Lum, however, which drove them back, the two great races being so diminished by their fight with one another. This marked the end of these races' power over the Lum, and the beginning of the time of many kings.

The Lum, long used to magical aid in their basic endeavors, had much adjusting and rebuilding to do after the war. The Gods gave the Tablets of Law to Gamesh, and he became the first God-King, and his line has ruled over all the Lum by divine right ever since. Their kingdom is called the Land of Anutulum, or the Dominion of Man, and the other three races have contracted with the God-Kings for some rights and protections.

 

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