Races of Eden: Setah

Setah are an offshoot of one of Adel’s native races that populated the land along with the Iomadi. Setah are short-tempered, fast and physically powerful creature well at home in Eden’s forests, plains, jungles and mountains. Their keen sense and athletic prowess make them excellent hunters and trackers, and the profession of a ranger was for the most part their domain for much of Adel’s history. However, their early history is fraught with bloody savagery that they are quite conscious of, and that to this day they cannot entirely control. Setah are prone to hurting others, and while some relish their power, others curse it.

Physiology

In Adel, Setah are the most physically similar creatures to the Iomadi, so much so that they feel very comfortable around each other and the two races pair almost as though they were a single one. Like the Iomadi, Setah are mostly human in appearance save for furry ears and a tail. Their tails are usually thinner, shorter and less furry than a Iomadi’s, and their ears resemble those of a dog or wolf more than the Iomadi’s fox ears. Setah also have sharp fangs that the Iomadi don’t tend to have, and the coloration of their fur and hair is less colorful, usually a dull brown or grey, very rarely a dull rusty red. Their eye colors are much the same.

Setah can grow much taller than Iomadi or even than Damakran, standing on average between 5’9″ and 6’5″ and sometimes (though rarely) even reaching seven feet. Their bodies tend toward a fit slenderness unlike the Damakran’s tone and muscle or the general wideness of a dwarf, so their body type is about the same as the Iomadi’s. Setah are generally remarked as being built of sturdier stuff, however. They can survive bone-breaking injuries that would cripple a Iomadi and retain their capabilities (however limited) with the wounded part, and can recover, where a Iomadi would break a bone horribly and be disabled.

Throughout their lives, Setah can be spotted as the “bigger kids.” Rather than entering a growth spurt, they just naturally grow taller throughout their lives, always standing out among children of other races. As far as sexual features are concerned, they grow at about the same rate and to about the same proportions as Iomadi do on average. They reach maturity at about the same age as well. Setah are capable of reproduction with most of the other races, but tend to either mate with their own or with Iomadi. As said before, the two races are very close – usually wherever you’d find one you can be sure you’ll find the other.

History

The Setah developed from a progenitor race of proto-lycanthropic nature spirits that populated Adel in the distant post-cataclysmic past, though they are said to have been survivors of the cataclysm and not true spirits at all. The progenitor race split into two. There were the True Lycanthropes, who valued their mutability over civilization and community and left for the jungles and the forests to lead lives in tight-knit immediate-family groupings.

Then there were the Setah, who’s natural ancestry, like the Iomadi’s became muted in hewing closer to humanity, and who established civilization along with the Iomadi. The Setah’s beastly talents made them excellent scouts, trackers and hunters. Until the Iomadi met with the Damakran, the Setah were the premier warlords of early clans. However, the Setah were vicious and ill tempered, and very hard to control. With the destructive blessings of the god Koyki, it is said that one of the early nations of Adel, Kusant, led a bloody war against a neighboring nation of Pierash. The Setah believed it was their divine mandate, with the blessings of the god of destruction and blood, to purge the land of the weakness of the Iomadi.

However, they did not consider the more peaceful Iomadi nation of Tishik. They believed that Tishik would not move, in fear of them. Pierash on the other hand was a more war-like Iomadi nation and made a suitable target. Instead, Tishik attacked, blindsided and conquered Kusant like a bolt of lightning, using Minotaur (though their role is largely forgotten now that they near extinction) and Damakran aid to defeat the more savage and powerful Setah and subdue them.

To this day, Setah from all kinds of ancestry revile this past. Those who believe themselves directly descended from the Kusant people feel that the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iomadi is on their hands and they atone by closely hewing to the fox-folk. Those who were born from the Pierash or the Tishik feel despair at the thought of their own kind falling to such depths of depravity, and they turn to worship of the spirits in order to sharpen their will and dull their vicious inner beast.

The Iomadi themselves don’t make this a conversational topic, much like they don’t typically enjoy remembering the violent exploits of their own empire, they also won’t dredge up those from an even farther past. This tension is mostly in the background – Iomadi and Setah are very close now and for the most part don’t hold anything against each other. If they did, they would not interbreed and mingle as though they were twin races. Though there are some groups of Setah who do believe in the cause of that destructive war, and some Iomadi who do want the Setah to pay for the sins of their ancient past.

But still to today, many Setah who fall prey to their short tempers and violent outbursts directly link them to their violent past and feel shame. This is in part why so many Setah are deeply religious.

Way of Life

The stereotypical Setah has a pathologically violent temperament and an overbearing and competitive attitude. Setah are jealous lovers and can be very possessive. They are highly competitive and don’t tend to take losing well. When insult, Setah are bound to lash out in far more intensity than is warranted. However, this is an exaggerated notion in the culture, to the point that many Setah feel uncomfortable with themselves whenever they show any signs of anger or inner fire. Many Setah are clearly gentle and friendly. There is some truth to the fiction, but it is more subtle. Setah do tend to get angry and be possessive and jealous, but not to such extremes. Some Setah even enter a palpably destructive state when they feel these emotions. But it has been gradually becoming much rarer for them to fly into berserker rages as is attributed to them.

The typical Setah rage is part of a predatory racial condition, a state that helped them to thrive in the harsh pre-civilized environments of Adel. In a fit of anger, during a hunt or as a result of fight-or-flight, Setah could ignore pain and push themselves to greater feats of strength, and their human inhibitions against violence are suppressed, allowing them to rip apart enemies without thinking or feeling. As they have adapted to civilized life, the Setah as a whole have lost this touch. If they even can fly into predatory rage, Setah feel the boost for a very limited amount of time. Without this ability, Setah just feel themselves get angry and lose touch with a situation, but it’s not an empowering state. It’s nothing more than bi-polar anger.

Aside from this source of discomfort, most Setah live pretty well-adjusted lives, excelling in physical areas and performing many of the same duties as Iomadi can. However, many more Setah take to religion to resolve their discomforts with themselves. Setah are more commonly found in militant orders of the churches, since they’re usually funneled there, but many are also healers and preachers, using their worship of the spirits to try to become better citizens, better lovers, better parents.

Social Standing

The Setah have no truly outstanding positions in life, and much like the Iomadi they are afforded a lot of flexibility and very few hardline expectations as to what they will do. Many join the armed forces, or local guard or militia. They feel at home performing strenuous exercise and training, and patrolling their homes and woods keeps them well occupied. Many others become local clerics and sometimes even spiritual leaders, or travel to far-off monasteries to train in the orders militant and sharpen their minds against assault from within themselves. Unlike Iomadi, however, few take interest in magic. It’s something they learn some of if they become religious servants, but few become arcanists, and few ever seek or exploit whatever power.

Setah In Play

Setah are defined by emotional attitudes, which blend with their work or role in society (and in the campaign). How emotional is your character, and is he or she comfortable or ashamed with his or her emotions? What would it take to change his or her view of his or her personality? Was there any event in particular that shaped these attitudes, such as attacking a childhood friend during rough play, or harming a lover out of jealousy, or striking a superior at work? Or perhaps your Setah is very adjusted, but fears for the stability of such emotions. What does your character do to remain comfortable with his or her self? All of these are good questions to ask and answer, shaping them around the character’s life.