Nocturn:
Race Power: Magic
Nocturn are a race originating from bats. Still a bit short by human standards the Nocturn race does retain its ability to fly, however they do this sparingly as its a bit hard to carry stuff while flying. To make up for the limited use of their hands/wings as hands their feet became more handlike. Nocturn often still hang from ceilings and walls in sleep, and their homes usually have grated ceilings to allow them to hang from them to allow the use of their feet.
More specifically the Nocturn came from bat species that focused on echo-location and were more Nocturnal, giving them impressive hearing and a large range of hearing then humans, and the ability of echo location as well. Their eyesight is about the same as a human though.
The body is merely a vessel in life, and the honor of one's death derives from the quality of their body when they leave it. More so in how functional it is, not how it looks, like being really fat or skinny doesn't really matter, muscles may a little though, primarily bones and reusable parts.
Leaving no body in death is the ultimate dishonor and a stain on both their and their family's honor, whether they had control over the events or not.
Also as the soul leaves the body in death, it has been, for ages, against the Nocturn culture to use Necromancy to use a soul to power a body.
Race Power: Magic
Nocturn are a race originating from bats. Still a bit short by human standards the Nocturn race does retain its ability to fly, however they do this sparingly as its a bit hard to carry stuff while flying. To make up for the limited use of their hands/wings as hands their feet became more handlike. Nocturn often still hang from ceilings and walls in sleep, and their homes usually have grated ceilings to allow them to hang from them to allow the use of their feet.
More specifically the Nocturn came from bat species that focused on echo-location and were more Nocturnal, giving them impressive hearing and a large range of hearing then humans, and the ability of echo location as well. Their eyesight is about the same as a human though.
The body is merely a vessel in life, and the honor of one's death derives from the quality of their body when they leave it. More so in how functional it is, not how it looks, like being really fat or skinny doesn't really matter, muscles may a little though, primarily bones and reusable parts.
Leaving no body in death is the ultimate dishonor and a stain on both their and their family's honor, whether they had control over the events or not.
Also as the soul leaves the body in death, it has been, for ages, against the Nocturn culture to use Necromancy to use a soul to power a body.
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The Old Age
The Old Age
Early on their culture was primarily founded around the use of magic, though primarily in what would later become known as the dark arts. It influenced their learning and knowledge, as to how a person is a separate being from the body they are in, as well as in depth knowledge on how the body works itself.
Some however refrained from the practice due to the nature of the undead, powered by the souls of those who are passed on and forced in a type of enslavement that they are nearly helpless to resist. Not all refrained totally, there were many who practiced in search of another way of animating the dead without the use of souls, and so it was discovered. Still technically necromancy, the new way created the same lifeless servants but without the cost of forcing souls into them to be able to function.
No real changes in society happened until the reign of Lord Nocturnus the 5th, well known to despise the old ways. He began making movements in the laws punishing the use of souls for servants. The punishments were very severe and those who preferred the old ways grew to resent him. Outside of those laws he was seen as a fair and just ruler and set about the foundations for many great feats of Nocturn Architecture, such as the Bastion.
On the 5th day of the 2nd year of his reign Nocturnus the 5th was assassinated. A practitioner of the Old Ways took control of one of his animated servants and slew him.
What would have been the 7th day would later become known as the Night of Old Blood, Nocturn that still used souls or who were suspected of using souls of the dead to power their creations were all either slain or "for their protection" imprisoned without trial and kept in cells marked with runes to nullify their ability to use their necromantic abilities while they were inside them. It was the bloodiest night in Nocturn history, though many are quick to point out the many servants that had the souls powering them freed on to the afterlife. And so came the end of the First Age, now recognized as the Old Age.
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The New Age
The New Age
It took time for the Nocturn to truly recover, under the rule of Nocturnus the 5th's brother Vincern though things began anew. Advances were made, particularly in the art of preparing the bodies of the dead.
Years after the Night of Old Blood new practitioners began to experiment more, and began to make constructs outside of the forms of the original bodies, using skulls for torsos, altering the shapes of bones to create new functions. This process making not only more parts of the body useable but also led to the addition of glyphs carved into the surfaces of bone, glyphs that prevented souls from going in to the bodies, glyphs that would prevent events like the assassination of Nocturnus the 5th.
Other discoveries and innovations were made during this renaissance of Nocturn culture. Not only was the Bastion and other works finished but a new wave of architectural style came forth. Other discoveries were made in the realm of magic too, being not so involved with the dark arts, they learned mastery over other elements which both helped improve the lives of the Nocturn but lead to more discoveries as well.
It was during the reign of Nocturnus the 11th that the caves of the Nocturn were discovered and then made contact with, and the end of the New Age.
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The Surface Age
The Surface Age
The current age, named for what the other races call the land beneath their sun and above the darkness the Nocturn had dwelt in for so long. This age initially began difficultly. Both the difficult to get used to sun of the upper world proving an initial obstacle and the superstitions of some of the surfacers claiming the Nocturn to be demons, particularly due to their accompaniment of the moving dead, it took time for a solid peace to arise.
In time the original entrance between the two vastly different worlds was made larger and became the main trade route between the two, though other paths between the surface and the lands of the Nocturn were also created and discovered.
Initiatially most trade involved the foods, ingredients, and products that the Nocturn and the surface world did not have available to themselves. In time however it was discovered that humans too were able to learn magic, leading to a demand for Nocturn tutors among richer human families.
The unique craft of the Mortisans, however, took more time to reach out to surface communities. In general surface folk were uneasy around the non-living automatons. They continued to try however both to help further understanding between the cultures and to spread the craft out in order to reduce competition between them.
