Rac Cona Daimh
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| * heartrune - small wood or stone disc kept on a shelf or mantle. A family customarily has one for each member of the family. They are normally kept even after the bonded person dies. | * heartrune - small wood or stone disc kept on a shelf or mantle. A family customarily has one for each member of the family. They are normally kept even after the bonded person dies. | ||
| * glimmer rope - versatile rope | * glimmer rope - versatile rope | ||
| - | * deep runic scanner - gyroscopic rune examining device at the wizards' college | ||
| * [[Fae rath]] - wizards think the rath lets people hear things from other worlds | * [[Fae rath]] - wizards think the rath lets people hear things from other worlds | ||
| - | * [[College of Thaumaturgy#Main Deep Scanning Room|Deep Runic Scanner]] - a device for examining the runes on an artifact | + | * [[College of Thaumaturgy#Main Deep Scanning Room|Deep Runic Scanner]] - a gyroscopic device at the wizards' college for examining the runes on an artifact |
| * fog lantern - old invention. Once lit, they form a blob of fog some distance below the lantern. Good for hiding airships from ground observation. | * fog lantern - old invention. Once lit, they form a blob of fog some distance below the lantern. Good for hiding airships from ground observation. | ||
| * Lux Well - pillar of stone topped by a carved racconan head, buried in the ground | * Lux Well - pillar of stone topped by a carved racconan head, buried in the ground | ||
Revision as of 20:00, 7 April 2012
Rac Cona Daimh (also called "Rac Conan", "Racconan", or "Ring-Tailed Folk"; "Witchrat" is a derisive epithet used by humans), are a diminutive race on Aerith who resemble nothing so much as bipedal raccoons.
Contents |
History
For centuries they were wanderers, often finding themselves at the mercy of people fearful or envious of their ability to manipulate lux. During these Wandering Times, they developed the practice of hiding and evading pursuit into essentially a martial art; Dan-kelga, "the art of cunning".
Eventually they located an uninhabited area and decided to settle down and defend their chosen home. Thus they founded the city of Sanctuary, the first of the Seven Villages. To defend their new land, which they named Antillia, they erected the Mistwall and developed the Dire Swamp.
Lux Use
Almost every Rac Conan can manipulate lux, which is used extensively in Antillia. Only a very few, called Mageblind, are unable to perform even the most rudimentary lux manipulations.
Lux Devices
- lux popper - small explosive powered by lux and triggered by lux, water, time, or other method.
- heartrune - small wood or stone disc kept on a shelf or mantle. A family customarily has one for each member of the family. They are normally kept even after the bonded person dies.
- glimmer rope - versatile rope
- Fae rath - wizards think the rath lets people hear things from other worlds
- Deep Runic Scanner - a gyroscopic device at the wizards' college for examining the runes on an artifact
- fog lantern - old invention. Once lit, they form a blob of fog some distance below the lantern. Good for hiding airships from ground observation.
- Lux Well - pillar of stone topped by a carved racconan head, buried in the ground
- Golem - an automaton used to carry out laborious or repetitive tasks
Transport
- levcarriage - a floating cart often pulled by goat
- luftships - dirigibles
Utility
- pump - for moving liquids. Used in Sanctuary City to aid sewer flow where the landscape doesn't allow gravity flow.
- ward - a device that can scramble minor spells and can be made to give off noise if overpowered. These are commonly made from some silver wire and a crystal.
- wall sandals - used by construction workers to work on high structures.
Weapons
The Rac Cona Daimh have a number of clever weapons, some magical.
- bonepopper - delivers a magical shock that feels akin to striking one's 'funny bone'-- in every joint of one's body.
- boomslang - a firearm
- stun staff - a weapon favored by higher classes of citizenry
- whakadu - a shaft with a force-multiplying magic applied, usually by carving lux runes into it; use is detrimental to the weapon
Life Cycle
Infancy
...
Night Terrors
As a racconan kit grows, and their burgeoning power outgrows their body's ability to hold the lux in, the kit often undergoes a period of severe night terrors-- illusions cast while in the throes of a nightmare. Though the illusions are harmless, it can be a traumatic time for the kit. With their worst fears coming to life every night, it can reach a point where they can no longer tell what is real and what is dream.
The usual remedy is for a trusted adult to sit up with the kit and let the kit see them dispelling the illusion. After that, the kit, presumably convinced that the night terrors can't hurt them, is able to dispel them him or herself.
It is a powerful bonding experience, and it works most swiftly when the kit has faith in the person who "scared away the monsters" for them.
Maturity
Racconans reach puberty around their fourteenth year. At this age, they participate in that year's Choosing Day.
Old Age
Racconans can live for 250-300 years, sometimes more, if not killed by accident, violence, disease, or one of the many ferocious beasts that live in Antillia.
Culture
Their most famous deep thinkers include Wildsage the Elder and his son Wildsage the Younger.
No matter how broken-down the neighborhood, there's a public washing-fountain somewhere nearby.
Racconan families usually eat breakfast together, even among the prominent classes.
There has been a recent rise among the racconan of experts who think the traditional ways of doing things is unsophisticated and lacking. One example of this was the advice given to Colin's mother about how to raise her kits.
Food
Bread varieties - wheat, corn, rye, hemp, acorn, cattail, foxtail, pigweed, scrumble
Religion
Rac Cona Daimh predominantly follow the church of the Sojourner, which appears very similar to a form of Christianity.
The Rac Cona Daimh prize their religious freedom and value individualism and critical thinking.
Games
Racconans of all ages enjoy games. Here are a few of the most popular:
- Spinball - A game in which two balls hover at varying heights, with one orbiting the other. Players attempt to pass a hoop around both orbs before the one completes a revolution around the other, impeded by the interference of the other player, who can knock the balls awry with a hoop or stick.
- Foursquare Chess - A game of strategy involving four sets of 16 pieces arranged on a board of 96 squares forming a stunted + sign. The object is similar to standard Chess but much more complicated.
- Hide and Seek - a game that has traces of the martial art Dan-kelga. In it, one person tries to find one or all of the other players, who have hidden themselves using available cover, with or without the aid of luxcraft.
- Toys - Racconans are also known to make toys, such as 'firefly bottles', small jars treated with lux runes that emit a glowing illusion that disappears when touched, only to be emitted again. These objects keep very young kits occupied for hours.
Laws and Traditions
Lux weapons must be drained and silk-wrapped before they can be taken on public transit such as luftships.
An assembly may be called by any three of the council, or by the village questor at any time he deems the situation warrants it.
Racconan law has some notable differences from those of most human societies. Many of these differences can be traced back to their fierce love of individual liberty. Racconan laws focus on penalization, not incarceration. Once an individual has paid the fine for a crime, he or she is free to go.
- Citizens can imbibe whatever substances they choose, but they are responsible for paying the consequences of their actions with no regard to their state of intoxication.
- Anyone who sets up shop on unclaimed land owns it and gets the deed
- Racconan high law does not give the high council the authority to forbid anyone to engage in trade, either in Antillia or outside it. However, dozens of laws regulating trade make it very difficult.
- All land has to be accepted as collateral. No property owner must reveal its exact location except to the final purchaser.
Concerning Questors
Questors are required by law to at least listen to anyone who has gold to pay with.
Stripping a questor of his title requires a serious criminal grievance.
Filling the position of village questor: "If a vacancy exists for the honorable title of village questor, all those who issue a challenge shall be considered a candidate for the opening, which shall be filled by the elders within a fortnight of the first challenge."
Guilds
Practitioners of almost every profitable industry organize themselve into guilds. Here are some of the most prominent:
- Guild of Archivists
- Guild of Warriors
- Guild of Innovators
- Guild of Merchants
- Fellowship of Truth (guild of soothscribes)
Calendar
The Racconan calendar is composed of 13 months of 28 days. The days of the week are Sun day, Moon day, Sooth day, Wedding day, Thirst day, Fires day, and Sabbat day. The year begins on the winter solstice. The spring equinox is on the 8th of Alder. The summer solstice is on the 15th of Oak. The autumnal equinox is on the 22nd of Vine.
| Racconan name | Human name |
| Birch | |
| Rowan | |
| Ash | |
| Alder | |
| Willow | |
| Hawthorn | |
| Oak | |
| Holley | |
| Hazel | |
| Vine | |
| Ivy | |
| Reed | |
| Elder | Herne |
Holidays
Racconans celebrate several holidays throughout the year:
- Nativity - Celebrated on the 1st of Ash. Analogous to Christmas
- Blessed Sunday - Celebrated on the 15th of Alder.
- First Harvest - Celebrated on the 25th of Hawthorn.
- Choosing Day - Celebrated on the 15th of Oak. a time when kits coming of age choose their careers
- King's Day or Liberation Day - Celebrated on the 5th of Holley. a day celebrating the driving out of the human kings and the establishment of Antillia as a separate nation
- Last Harvest - Celebrated on the 28th of Vine. celebrating the filling of the larders for the fallow season
- Freedom Day - a day for celebrating the society's freedoms
- Risen Day - Analogous to Easter
Eldest
The eldest is a highly respected member of the community.
Place in a village
The eldest represents the village in the High Council.
