Appearance
| A Kalnuur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Inhabits: | Galax (formerly High Serath) |
| Language: | Common |
| Lifespan: | 150 Venerian Years |
| Size: | 5 - 6 feet |
The Kalnuur are human-like people believed to be created by the god Kalin. The Kalnuur are a race of peoples who currently dominate all of the other races because of their ability to have more children through out their life. They are generally a tan colored medium sized people at most being 5'9"-6'. These people age every year from birth in a calendar they created before the fall that is know a sort of official Venera Calendar. Kalnuur age quite drastically and die early on in life due to diseases and the environments they live in. Most die around the age of one hundred. The oldest known Kalnuur was one hundred and fifty however. Their lifespan depends mainly on their well-being and safety. Many Kalnuur living in the safety of a large city can live to one-hundred but it is all too often that they die young upon the wastes.
Diet
The Kalnuur are omnivores, They tend to eat three well balanced meals a day, their bodies need both meats and grains. The Kalnuur expand territory and people at rapid rates leaving them with power over much of the food in Venera and they are known particularly for their livestock, bread, and aged mead.
Age Ranges
- Child: 0-12 Venerian Years
- Teen: 13-17 Venerian Years
- Young Adult: 18-25 Venerian Years
- Adult: 26-40 Venerian Years
- Elder: 40-80 Venerian Years
- Ancient: 81-150 Venerian Years
Language
Depending on a Kalnuurs social class their language can change drastically. Many farmers and lower class individuals speak with a rugged slang that to many races, most notably the Vasil see as almost vulgar. Well-educated Kalnuur are few and far between due to the mass amounts of Kalnuur just trying to get by, lacking the proper funds to be fully educated. For example a lower class individual a warrior or farmer would speak something like this "Dat farm ova dere be meh home wanna visit?”. They often shorten words and or combine them when speaking. A higher ranking official in Kalnuur society would often speak in a more educated or regal tone. For example "That exquisite farm over there belongs to me, Do you wish to visit it?".
Clothing
In the times before the Karkien Decimation, Kalnuur clothing depended heavily on region and social class. A high ranking official that lived in the winter city of High Serath would most likely wear extravagant furs to keep him warm while lower class farmers in Serath tend to have less to wear maybe a few leather boots and a cow hide or two leaving the lower class that lived in the city lucky to survive a night due to the harsh unrelenting environment of High Serath.
Post-Karkien Kalnuur clothing also varies, but more based on where one lives. The noble Kalnuur of Galax tend to wear more traditional or fine clothing such as suits, vests, trousers, cravats and ties, dresses, waistcoats, wide-brim hats, and the finest of silks and leathers. Some odd fashion trends have arisen with the industrial revolution. Many people accent their garb with goggles to protect from the high winds in the sky islands and pieces of brass or other shiny reflective metals that reflect their urbanized environment. Other trends include the recently invented "zipper," as well as straps, strings, and leggings. Some women are drawn to corsets, bodices and girdles that accentuate their figure. Colors tend to be deep and dark or even metallic in nature. Hairstyles have grown greatly in variety as well.
Kalnuur on the ground or the outer rim of Galax wear whatever they can find, mostly leather jerkins, homemade leggings, rags, scrap metal protection fashioned from garbage, goggles, straps, old hats, and things one might find lying around the wasteland or in a Galax garbage heap.
Religion
Before the advent of the third age, Kalnuur mainly praised the god Kalin and Lilyath their religious belief often spoke that worship of any Karkien god or Asurmen was heresy worthy of death. There were many hangings and burnings of "heretics" who either did not believe in any god or praised Asurmen or the Karkien. The Kalnuur were a very religious people and were known for their inter-racial conflicts.
When the gods were locked away after the sealing of the realms, all of the races felt a change in their hearts. The suffering during the years of wandering and the countless unanswered prayers led many to lose faith. They felt that the gods had abandoned them. When the Kalnuur invented the steam engine and lifted New Serath into the heavens, the church proclaimed that Kalin had returned to them. This created a resurgence within the chuch of Kalin that spread through the Kalnuur population of Galax like wildfire. The church remained prominent in Galax for a while, but when Kalin failed to manifest himself any more, the church slowly faded into the background noise again. Not many of the noble Kalnuur actively practice religion anymore.
Kalnuur that find themselves on the ground may belong to any of three faiths. In the past five centuries popularity had grown in the church of Aranji, a extremist crusaders and fervent followers of a mysterious entity that reared its head when the gods disappeared. Another group, The Order of the Blue Diamond followed yet another mysterious blue entity who appeared soon after the Karkien decimation known only as the Blue Sprite this group wanders the wastes combating evil and helping those in need. The third is the church of Galax, which worships Kalin but denounces the other two gods.
Ancient History
The Kalnuur were the last people to enter Venera. There was never an exact record kept on the first contact with the Kalnuur however in the rugged mountains of Serath there civilization bloomed, separate from the other races. They grew and grew becoming a large power in there mountains, eventually however they needed to expand so many Kalnuur migrated from the mountains into a small pass surrounded by three mountains. These mountains would later be called the sister mountains and as time went on a city was built in the area. When the Kalnuur reached this area the met both the Vasil and Saurians and immediately formed a bond with them. High Serath High Serath started as a small town and quickly progressed to becoming one of the largest cities in all of Venera. There were minor civil wars over forms of government and leaders during a time the Kalnuur refer to as the shaping. Many kings and queens rose and fell during this period. The final royal family that ruled Venera before the fall was lord Searhi and queen Nefinie. They lead the Kalnuur into a golden age eventually creating the Searhi Empire. This empire held control of much of Venera keeping it regulated and fair for all of the races. This peaceful age went on for quite a while, the Vasil civil war went on however the Kalnuur wished to be no part in it. Suddenly on a late night High Serath was raided by a massive armada of Zurgator. They butchered the Kalnuur killing almost half of the city in the fist wave, the Kalnuur were unaware and unprepared Serhi and Nefinie were both killed in the raid thus shattering the empire.
It took the city three years to get back on its feet and attack the first thing the Kalnuur did was assist Sashie Rah and the Saurians in there battles with the Zurgator. The Kalnuur fought bravely along side them forming a bond with the Saurians that lives on still today. One major battle took place at fort Karak which lays just between Sashie Rah and High Serath's borders. This battle was vicious and if it were not for the Kalnuur defending that fort the Zurgators would have spilt in and finished off the already meager portion left of High Serath. This battle lead to the destruction of fort Karak however, It was a neccisary cost if the warriors of Karak had not held there ground High Serath and eventually Sashie Rah would have been destroyed. After the destruction of the fort the remaining Kalnuur retreated to Quai Dain. They met with both the Saurians and the Vasil and decided to take part in the battle of mount Asur. The Kalnuurs new leader King Perais lead the attack along with his army of three thousand warriors. The battle began and it was a fight to the very last man, Many Kalnuur died King Perais was severely injured by a Zurgator however a few Saurian warriors saved Perais just before death. This caused many Kalnuur to have immense respect for the Saurians. As the battle raged in the heavens Lilyath was slain by Asurmen causing her to let out her final godly words and curse upon Asurmen. "You.. I created you, you Asurmen you were like a child to me. But I was blind you became to powerful and turned on us all. I may fade into nothingness but your time on my realm is spent! May your race wither away on this world and die...and you Asurmen you are no longer a god.. you are no longer my son! You are now a simple mortal...may you die well!". These finals words were spoken and the Zurgators began to die. The untied races relished in their glory as they took the upper hand in the battle below. Asurmen however had made a deal with Lord Kurdara of the Karkien and as the races advanced on the Zurgators final outpost a massive portal to Kurdara's realm opened and the Zurgator with Asurmen and a sapling from their life tree escaped their demise.
Modern History
With the war over the reaming Kalnuur returned to the ruins of High Serath. The Kalnuur spent many years after the fall repairing the damage done and there still remains much to do. Much of the city has been rebuilt and the population once again booms. The one odd thing the Kalnuur found was when they returned back to High Serath they noticed that there tree of life was dying. They found a simple solution to the problem however, they would simply harvest a sapling from the tree and re-plant it when needed. Suddenly many Kalnuur began to die young and age quicker. The Kalnuur may expand dramatically but they will no longer live eternally.
From the beginning of the war the Kalnuur had a great relationship with the Saurians and held a bond with the Vasil causing them to have no real disdain for either of the races. They continued to help with the Saurian reconstruction as well as working upon their own.
The End of the Second Era and the Dawn of the Third
When the walls of High Serath fell to the hordes of Karkien at the end of the second age, a small number of survivors fled to Vanteria across the sea upon boats and galleys. They arrived to find that the land was already sparsely inhabited with villages and hamlets and were taken in with open arms. Vanteria had already been settled by the races in ages gone by and it was home to the mostly Kalnuur grand Empire of Ku'pon in the south. They lived in peace for a short while until the taint of the Karkien Realm spread to Vanteria as well.
After the sealing of the realms by the gods at the dawn of the third age, the Kalnuur struggled for survival alongside the other races upon the wasteland of post-decimation Vanteria for nearly two centuries. The Kalnuur built the city of New Serath to reside in, but the conditions were squalid and maintenance was almost useless with the relentlessness of the elements. In an act of desperation and facing possible extinction, a group of Kalnuur engineers led by the Ku'ponese mad scientist Dao Vin'shi developed a technology that allowed the flotation of vast swathes of land above the surface of the wasteland. This technology consisted of using steam engines to create an electromagnetic field which allowed objects to hover in the air. The engineers assembled a number of these engines beneath New Serath and raised it into the air; the city was renamed Galax. Galax soared above the clouds, far from the anarchy and devastation on the ground. The young son of Lazerak Metorski, Sarulas, was one of the core founders of Galax. He turned out to be quite the engineer and worked side-by-side with Dao Vin'shi on his inventions, later becoming a distinguished inventor in his own right. Galax had its gates open to any and all refugees at the start, but tension slowly began rising between the once allied races. It took a long time to foster the growth of vegetation on the floating island, but away from the corruption of the ground, the soil soon returned to its normal state. Grass, plants, and crops flourished and fresh water was distilled from the moisture in the air and clouds; Galax flourished.
One hundred years of peace went by for Galax, but on the ground, criminal groups were growing powerful and influential. They formed an alliance known as the Dustman Pact, which vowed to capture Galax for their own nefarious purposes. The Dustmen infiltrated Galax and sewed the seeds of dissent in the city's poor population on the outer ring. They stole Kalnuur technology and began manufacturing their own airships to raid the trade barges of the city. Piracy and civil disobedience ran rampant in the skies above Vanteria. The Kalnuur government waged war upon these pirates in the First Dustman War which lasted ten years and came to a climax with the bombing of Galax by a group of Vasil extremists. This act of terrorism cause hundreds of deaths amongst the Kalnuur nobles and nearly led to the failure of the main steam engine keeping the city aloft. Galax responded by expelling a large number of refugees from the outer ring, banning the use of all magic within city limits, and launching a renewed offensive against the Dustmen. A ceasefire was called and the Dustmen were driven back to the surface to lick their wounds. They continued to frequently raid the trade barges and outlying cities with their airships, leeching off of the prospering city's resources.
Another hundred years of piracy and unrest passed, but not nearly as severe as it was during the war. The Kalnuur of the inner ring grew more and more insular. Strict immigration policies were put into place which deterred the poor on the ground from moving to the city. This was when the Second Dustman War broke out. With renewed strength and mysterious magical backing, the pirates returned to the skies in force flying under the banner of the god Aranji. The war lasted seven years, the forces of Galax were pushed all the way back to their island. In the midst of the war, Cantor was bombed by a ruthless extremist pirate group known as "The Black Sheep." This led to the momentary failure of Cantor's main steam engine, which caused Cantor to break away from the mainland of Galax and sink several hundred feet in altitude. On that same day, The Black Sheep raided many other towns along the outer rim, some of which floated away, and some of which crashed to the ground. Many innocent civilians died on that day, some of which were supporters of the Dustmen. Galax was crippled by this attack, which turned out to be one of the most decisive tactical strikes by the pirates in course of the war. If it were not for what happened next, Galax surely would have fallen to the pirates.
This screw-up created a schism within the hierarchy of the Dustmen, which ultimately led to their division and subsequent conflict amongst themselves. In the aftermath of the tragedy, favor of the pirates in outer Galax and the newly formed islands fell significantly. The Galaxian military was able to rout the remaining pirates from the city limits and begin their recovery efforts. These wars did not fail to leave their marks upon the Kalnuur citizens of Galax. They now hold resentment for ground-dwellers and the other two races, referring to them with the derogatory term "Duster."
Government
Prior to the decimation, the Kalnuur government was in constant change from a dictatorship all the way to six councils working against each other for power. At the time of the Karkien crisis, it was in a state of monarchy with a leading king and queen and a few minor councils that attempted to keep the power at bay.
Currently, the government of Galax consists of a Governor residing in the central city and the mayors of the towns surrounding the central city. They meet regularly in council to discuss the state of the union.