Nyss Refugiados

A Cultura dos Nyss pós Flagelo — IKUnleashed

The Nyss are an elusive elven people who once controlled the far north of Khador, claiming the Shard Spires as their domain. They are the descendants of those who followed the prophet Aeric out of Ios to ready themselves for the god Nyssor’s return. Over time they became a tribal people of hunters devoted to the god of winter. Their god eventually returned to them, weakened and alone. They sealed him in a marble vault they safeguarded in their central fane, while life went on as before.

Nyss are tall, with pale skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. They mark themselves with intricate tattoos called siyaeric, or “letters of the skin,” that identify an individual as a member of a particular shard, or tribe. Other tattoos express spiritual beliefs, personal convictions, family history, or noteworthy deeds.
An insular people who keep their secrets viciously, the Nyss usually perceive outsiders as a threat to their existence. Travellers who violated their territories were swiftly hunted down and executed or else driven back into the frozen wilderness. The most frequent contact the Nyss shared with outsiders were bloody clashes with the barbaric Vindol tribes, who fought them for control of the frozen north.

The near-destruction of the Nyss came to pass with little notice by the human kingdoms. At the center of this was the rise of the dragon Everblight from his icy prison in the northern mountains. Everblight was freed by the ogrun Thagrosh, who became a vessel for his consciousness. The dragon then turned his attention to the Nyss, seeing in them the raw material to build his legions. Contaminating their food and drink with his blight, he corrupted many thousands of them to his cause, and those turned on their remaining tribesmen. Thousands of untainted Nyss fled their mountains, taking their frozen god with them.

Scattered in their flight from the dragon, the refugees sought safety wherever they could find it. Even now they move stealthily through the world, hunting and scavenging for what they can find before drawing attention. When a shard is discovered intruding on another tribe’s land without permission, they must be prepared to defend themselves or run. This has forced the Nyss to put aside their traditional isolationism and learn the territories, languages, and customs of others in order to negotiate tenuous alliances.

The largest number have settled near the Khadoran capital of Korsk, where they were given sanctuary, though it is difficult for them to preserve their traditions there. Others, however, seek to find a new place for themselves in other wilderness areas, doing their best to survive.

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Much of Nyss traditional life was lost in their flight from the dragon. They had to surrender their villages, their hunting grounds, their sacred fanes. Having lost so much, the Nyss hold tightly to anything that connects them to their heritage. Despite being a nomadic and tribal people, the Nyss are traditionally skilled carpenters, leatherworkers, and smiths. Archery, hunting, and swordsmanship were the most respected skills among the shards.

In the northern lands they constructed great halls of wood and stone that were shared communally as traveling shards moved through a region. The shards themselves are the largest groups of Nyss generally encountered by outsiders, each consisting of thirty to eighty individuals. Though shard members have traditionally been related by blood or marriage, the refugees have been forced to band together as never before, accepting any able-bodied Nyss willing to contribute toward the good of the shard. Shard members work together to ensure the survival of the community, especially now that they have no lands of their own.

The Nyss practiced only limited mining in their homeland, making the acquisition of metals a high priority. The traditional claymore wielded by their priests and warriors held sacred significance, doubly valued due to the scarcity of metal. The need for metal to work into weapons and armor was one of the few reasons they deigned to interact with outsiders, occasionally trading with outlying human settlements for iron and precious metals they used primarily to make blades and heavier armor.

The worship of Nyssor is universal among this people, and some Nyss have been blessed by the god with the power to summon winter. They have no privileged class, although the eldest among them are looked to for wisdom and traditionally are their most trusted leaders.

THE FANE OF NYSSOR

The fane of Nyssor is the cult devoted to the Winter Father. Once, a small shrine dedicated to Nyssor lay at the center of every Nyss settlement. These shrines were outposts of Nyss civilization that offered shelter in their great halls day or night, and nomadic shards frequently traveled from shrine to shrine. Though some new shrines have been erected in the south, there are few matching the beauty of those once found in the Nyss homeland.

Nevertheless, these shrines are immensely valued by the shards that build them. Each is a reminder to the Nyss of their home as well as a gathering place for refugees. Often, new shrines are adorned with sigils representing the many shards lost to Everblight, a monument to the losses the Nyss have suffered.

Nyss priests have their own dwellings near the shrines rather than within them. Priests are not necessarily any higher in stature than any other shard member, for the Nyss judge one another on their skills and contributions to the shard and respect the wise and the aged more than those who serve specific roles.

Venerations to Nyssor take place every sunset. The priests praise the god and entreat the ice to keep him safe. Lay followers do not take part in these ceremonies unless they wish to make a special request of the god, such as when a family member has taken ill or a dangerous journey or battle looms.
Priests are loosely ranked according to age and seniority. Their titles — based on familial terms — are used with affection. Generally a new rank is bestowed on a junior priest by the eldest among them. The most common ranks among the priests of Nyssor are, from lowest to highest: novelyr (younger), wyrisyr (brother/sister), elansyr (mother/father), aransor (elder), nis-aransor (grand elder), and qyr-aransor (ancient elder). The rank of qyr-aransor is very rare, reserved only for the eldest of priests.

THE FATE OF NYSSOR
The return of Nyssor to his chosen people has traditionally been the most closely guarded secret of the Nyss — one the Nyss would gladly give their lives to protect. When it was apparent that Everblight’s legion would overcome the Nyss of the north, many of the priests and warriors of Nyssor’s fane died in the defense of their god. Fleeing Nyss brought the frozen vault south, to the sanctuary of the Church of Morrow in the Khadoran city of Korsk. This seemed a place adequate to such a sacred charge, at the heart of Khador’s power and deep in the catacombs of a cathedral within a stone’s throw of the empress’ capital palace.
Despite the apparent safety of this refuge, Nyssor’s protectors were attacked and many slain by the fiend Ghyrrshyld, an Iosan arcanist intent on the god’s destruction. The exact events that transpired during this attack are uncertain, as is the fate of Nyssor himself. Most Nyss do not know where their god is now, and many have devoted their lives to his return. A variety of rumors have surfaced, none known to have any degree of veracity, among them that Nyssor’s vault was seized by agents of the Khadoran military. This crisis has led the Nyss to seek help from their cousins in Ios. Priests of Nyssor decided to share word with the Retribution of Scyrah in Ios that their god had been among them, but is now missing. For the moment this has led to wary cooperation between some Nyss and members of the Retribution, a radical militant sect that seeks to kill all human arcanists. The Fane of Nyssor believes this group is their best chance of recovering the Winter Father.

Language

Aeric is the language of the Nyss, named after the prophet who took them from Ios. It is related to Shyr, the language of the Iosan elves, and the two contain some words in common. The written form of Aeric is revered and considered sacred. Its sigils can be found on Nyss weapons and the winter stones that once marked the fringes of their homeland. Traditionally only priests and sorcerers were literate in written Aeric, though that custom began to weaken when the Nyss left the Shard Spires. Other Nyss, eager to preserve their culture, have begun to learn these runes and their meaning.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER POWERS

Nyss relations with the other major powers of western Immoren vary greatly. Some Nyss work to secure relative safety and to build new lives for themselves. Others doggedly cling to their old ways, moving as nomadic hunters across the dangerous wildernesses of northwestern Immoren. Many have dedicated themselves to a war of vengeance against Everblight, the protection of Nyssor, or the defense of their people. Desperate and lacking a true home, no matter what their path the surviving Nyss are being forced to seek new alliances in a world of hated enemies.

CIRCLE ORBOROS

The shared hatred the blackclads and Nyss have for the dragon Everblight and his legions has allowed for compacts between the Circle Orboros and those shards devoted to revenge. Many Nyss are happy to lead Circle forces against their blighted people, hoping to reclaim pieces of their homeland in the Shard Spires. The Circle view the Nyss as both a weapon and a source of vital information on a hated foe. The Nyss know the blackclads have their own motives in these arrangements but generally do not care so long as the forces of Everblight are destroyed wherever they are found.

HUMAN TRIBES OF THE WILDERNESS

The Nyss traditionally had little occasion to interact with human barbarians other than to mercilessly stalk those trespassing into Nyss territory. Since the destruction of their homeland, relations between the Nyss and human tribes have become more varied. It is often necessary for Nyss to come to terms with nearby tribes and to enter into peaceful arrangements when possible. Some Nyss have even chosen to join human communities that will have them, offering their skills as hunters and scouts to the tribe.

THE IRON KINGDOMS

Historically the Nyss have only had contact with Khador. Nearby Khadoran settlements were variously either subjected to winter raids by aggressive Nyss shards or begrudgingly welcomed as trading partners by more peaceful ones.
Many Nyss have been forced to find new homes in the Iron Kingdoms. Life on the streets of a human city is neither comfortable nor without danger, but the collected strength of mankind’s armies, warjacks, and fortifications grant the refugees a degree of safety and security. Urban-dwelling Nyss must struggle to make a living in the Iron Kingdoms, offering their talents as guides and mercenaries.

Nyss Urbano
Forçados a abandonar sua terra ancestral ou enfrentar uma extinção em vida sob o jugo do dragão Everblight, o outrora orgulhoso povo nyss foi lançado à deriva num mundo que pouco se importa com seus problemas. Tendo poucas opções, os nyss remanescentes viram a relativa segurança das maiores cidades de Immoren ocidental e decidiram dar o melhor de si para começar uma nova vida em um mundo estranho. Adaptando-se a seu novo ambiente, esses nyss se tornaram caçadores inigualáveis nas ruas cruéis dos Reinos de Ferro. Apli- cando suas tradicionais habilidades para sobreviver nas cidades, eles buscam tanto proteger seus novos territórios quanto vender suas habilidades marciais para gangues com as quais seriam, de outro modo, forçados a competir.

THE LEGION OF EVERBLIGHT

The surviving Nyss have unbridled animosity toward the blighted legions of the dragon. Unwilling to simply flee the dragon’s host, they search for allies to join in hunting down their blighted kin and destroying them.

THE LEGION OF EVERBLIGHT
When the dragon Everblight awakened and spread his dark influence through the Nyss, he annihilated their culture and claimed them for his own. Corrupted by the dragon, these blighted Nyss became the Legion of Everblight and are now focused on serving his will as the foot soldiers of this horrific army.
The Legion of Everblight remained here only during their early, formative months. The blighted ogrun Thagrosh, host to the dragon’s consciousness and heartstone, sought other candidates among the blighted Nyss to host portions of Everblight’s athanc. Once the blighted army had grown strong enough, it began withdrawing from this region.
Although the majority of Everblight’s forces have left the area, some draconic influence remains. The blighted Nyss still hold some locations, which they use to spawn all manner of draconic horrors. The dragon has taken care not to concentrate his forces in any one place. No substantial force of blighted Nyss currently occupies the Shard Spires, but small groups might be encountered here or in the nearby areas.

THARN TRIBES

For centuries the Nyss and the Tharn, both living in isolation from the rest of western Immoren, had little contact. Each rarely ventured beyond the borders of their tribal lands and knew nothing of the other’s ways. Since the flight of the Nyss to the south and the resurgence of the Tharn, these two peoples have begun to experience limited encounters. Nyss and Tharn working toward the interests of the Circle Orboros enjoy cool but peaceful interaction. Beyond the oversight of the blackclads, however, Nyss and Tharn tribes occasionally battle for control of a region and its resources. Both peoples require broad hunting grounds and are possessive of lands they claim as their own.

TROLLKIN KRIELS

In the past, Nyss and the northern kriels had uneasy, if not openly hostile, relations. The trollkin knew not to trespass beyond the winter stones of Nyss territory, and the Nyss did not seek to rouse such a powerful rival as the trollkin. Since the destruction of their homeland some Nyss have chosen to align themselves with trollkin, trading their talents for the safety and security afforded by living among the kriels and fighting with them against other enemies.