Children of Horun A fantasy setting with guidelines for D&D 5e Children of Horun can be used and shared for personal use, provided it or its derivatives are not used for commercial purposes and that Children of Horun is cited as the source of said derivatives. Introduction Horun is a vast world, inhabited by people of many creeds and cultures from a number of different intelligent species. It is a world where the past has been buried, time and time again, where reality can be manipulated though study and force of will. It is, in a phrase, a fantastic world. Children of Horun is a fantasy role-playing setting suited for many playstyles, with emphasis on political intrigue. It is a medium-magic, low-divine setting; magic is common but magic items are not, learning anything but the most cursory spells is quite difficult, and there are no true gods to derive power from or to influence the world. In terms of atmosphere, Horun varies widely. Campaigns with an emphasis on overcoming adversity or playing one's part in a greater societal structure will work well. On the other hand, standard “great adventurers rising to become demigods” campaigns may not fit the world's theme very well at all. What you use this document for is ultimately up to you. This document is a comprehensive guide of the people, animals, and places of Horun, meant for players and game masters alike. Feel free to share and use this document as you like for non-commercial use, so long as you give credit where credit is due! Chapter 1: The Children of Horun “And so, we split among ourselves, spreading across the world and establishing ourselves among the lifeforms that piqued our interests. Elder Rorak has decided we shall call this new world Horun, saying the name comes from one of our oldest languages. It is a word meaning hope, and desire, and greed, and love. It's fitting, I think. As always, Rorak's wisdom and knowledge surpass all other's.” - An unknown Creosian Living things on Horun are generally divided into two categories: thinking, feeling creatures with high levels of intelligence, and lesser creatures that act primarily on instinct. Intelligent creatures are usually projects of magic, with the society-producing races being products of the Children of Creos. Creosians Formally called the Children of Creos, the Creosians are beings from another star. They are demigods, being whose genetic, technological, and magical evolution has brought them to a point where their physical forms can barely maintain themselves. They have no set form, being able to shapeshift at will. In fact, it is said that the Creosians forgot their true forms long before they arrived on Horun. The Children of Creos are extremely powerful, capable of producing magics at will beyond the comprehension of mortals. They are all incredibly intelligent, their ethereal nature letting them hold on to the shared experiences of their ancestors. Aside from their intelligence, no two Creosians are the same, with small differences being exemplified by their abilities. The multiple intelligent races they crafted on Horun are obvious signs of this. This creator race arrived via Creos, which became Horun's second moon. They changed the land, the sky, the ocean, even Matrus, the planet's natural satellite. The ones that still exist on the material plane, if there are any left at all, could singlehandedly destroy all of civilization if they wished to. ear piercings or have carved with innate inscriptions. Female caprus tend to be taller than males and more The Children of Horun lithe, with most caprus falling in a wide four- to seven- Created by the Children of Creos, the Children of foot range. They are incredibly intelligent but not Horun are a number of intelligent species that inhabit always that wise, and stubbornness seems innate to the civilizations of the world. They are almost their kind, to the detriment of themselves and others. universally in mixed societies of varying amounts of Caprus surnames are harsh, with many g-, r-, and n- most such species. They can not interbreed sounds. Examples include: Anorn, Dornog, Gormin, successfully and cross-species relationships are Madriga, Quimegra, Tromin, Yegen. People from generally looked down upon. isolated caprus communities tend to have similarly- harsh given names. Caprus The caprus are descended from social goat- Latrodects creatures. They are satyrs of sorts, with hooved feet Latrodects are a feared race descended from and hard, thick nail caps on their two-fingers-one- arachnids, not often found among the mixed-race thumb hands. They are identified individually by the societies of Horun. Their arachnid heritage strikes fear pattern of their fur coloration and their unique horns, on a base level to most people of other races, and there which they sometimes drill holes into akin to human is widespread distrust of them in most countries. Despite this, some still manage to seek out a living in hermaphroditic with breeders taking on traits as social settings, be it by choice or by heritage. needed; still, some adapt to society by specifically Latrodects are small, only two to four feet tall, with attaching to a single gender. They are descended from eight limbs. Two spindly legs hold them upward, lizards from the arctic north, whose biology had resting on the knuckles of dainty claws. They have two adapted a peculiar resistance to even the coldest sets of arms: an upper powerful set of arms ending in temperatures. They live in tribal communes in the powerful, vice-like graspers, and smaller ones north, but some live in the warmer southern mounts, underneath ending in dextrous, hand-like appendages. using their flat tails to swim and fish or their natural Their abdomens stick out, often a bulbous orb or egg camouflage to hunt. Although somewhat rare, there shape, with their torso rearing up and ending in a are a number of families throughout Horun who fit in mandible-bearing, multi-eyed resemblance of a face. the societies of others races just fine. Most are colored a glossy black, while some lineages Lacertus often have surnames related to their show a huge variety of colors. lineage or tribe, especially in tribes of the north. They Social latrodects are generally female; male tend to be simple, more descriptive than uniquely latrodects are smaller and of lower intelligence, with a identifying, such as Mountseekers, Darkscales, natural tendency for aggression. A latrodect Frosteaters, Drakeriders, and the like. eggmother will produce one or two female offspring and several dozen males, who will stay with the Humans breeding female. Eggmothers tend to be old and rare, Humans (or hominids) are descended from savanna as becoming one requires a major dedication of energy apes, crafted in part by Rorak himself. They are a and time that is not easily reversed. proud species with great potential but also have a Latrodects do not generally have surnames. Being so tendency toward violence. They inhabit a great isolated compared to other races, they are often number of nations across the continent of Vetu, most referred to by names such as “Edric of Nergal,” notably the empire of Arche, the republic of Aragna, identifying themselves uniquely by the name of their the Kingoms of Fohre, and (at least in the past) the lost eggmother. Latrodect names are heavy on c-, d-, and r- kingdom of Zeyla. They are the most populous sounds, such as Becdara, Edric, Homicar, Mesca, Oraic, intelligent race on Horun, their main strengths being and Wudrar. their intelligence followed by their numbers. Human family names run back countless Felids generations, most having lost their meaning. Merith, The felids are a diverse species crafted from the Seilva, Raema, Gideon, and Goresh are the most many feline species of Horun. They are small, about common human surnames, though countless others two feet shorter than humans on average, and often abound. stout, usually described as “bouncy”--they are a race with small bodies filled with bountiful energy. With Other Species large eyes and ears, thin limbs ending in short- Nephropids are an elusive race of large fingered paws, soft fur, and ever-moving tails, felids crustaceans. They live on the ocean floor in large are considered by many other races to be naturally enclaves, sometimes with many thousands of people. “cute,” which many in multi-race societies despise They are odd creatures, communicating through a being called. They come in a variety of colors based on language so far from the languages of Vetu as to be which lineage they descend from, be it the ghost-like completely alien to land dwellers. After the Second felids of the north or the sand-colored folk of the Fall, during which countless nephropids died from Zeresh desert. Their natural dexterity and quick wit poisoned waters, most of these beings' underwater make them excellent craftsmen, storytellers, civilizations have become distrustful of dwellers of the merchants, and even politicians. land. Felid surnames are usually comprised of c-, r-, and s- The selachim are another underwater race, fish-like sounds. Examples include: Ascahra, Corren, Dusken, and derived from many species of shark. They live Hessar, Meisha, Rinessen, and Trossec. even farther out than the nephropids, often in neutrally-buoyant structures. They have perfected a Lacertus type of magic that allows them to concentrate minerals The lacertus are tall, lizard-like humanoids, with from the water to make raw materials otherwise scales that shimmer in sunlight and feathers on their unavailable to them. scalp and back which. They naturally range from the It is thought that other intelligent races were created color of snow to mid-grays and mid-blues, and most by the Creosians but have since gone extinct.