The humans of Darkfall



Humans are possibly the most powerful race on the continent of Darkfall, and definitely the most numerous. Their power is concentrated in the great kingdom of Mercia, which dominates the central parts of Darkfall.

Mercia is a realm of knights and castles, but it is also a place where the priesthood wields tremendous power. It is a land where nobles live in splendid luxury, supported by thralls who suffer through miserable lives of their own.

Physical description
Humans have achieved a dominant position on the continent of Darkfall through their supreme adaptability. In addition to being mentally resourceful, humans are equipped with a flexible physique, and genetic material which responds quickly to changing climates and conditions.

As a result of their genetic flexibility, humans are the least homogenous of all the races inhabiting Darkfall. They vary greatly in height, for instance, with everything from 215 cm to 155 cm being considered normal. Female individuals tend to be shorter than males, but exceptions to this rule are plentiful.

In general, humans are more stoutly built than the mirdain and alfar, but slighter than orks and mahirim. However, since the human body is so malleable, a well trained warrior can be as muscular as a young ork, while an untrained individual might rival the slightness of an alfar.

The most commonly encountered skin tones among humans are black, brown, tan and yellow. Individuals with reddish or completely white skin are rare, but not unseen. Brown and blue eyes are the most common, while green, grey or red irises are more unusual.

Human hair can be brown, black, yellow, white or red, and its texture varies just as greatly, from curly or dreadlocked to thin and straight. Human hair grows relatively quickly, and individuals tend to change their hairstyle frequently.

Clothing
In the kingdom of Mercia, clothes reveal an individual's positon within a strictly hierarchical society.

Nobles and rich freemen wear colourful, expensive clothes made from the finest fabrics. Fashion changes continously and erratically, often dictated by the preferences of the court at Solway. Rich Mercians spend huge sums on clothes, since they are important indicators of wealth and status.

A high percentage of Mercians are unfree thralls, and members of this class are not allowed to wear colourful garments. If a thrall wears a many-coloured outfit, or clothes made from expensive fabrics, it is considered an act of defiance against the local lord.

The priesthood of Morgaine wear free-flowing robes. Their clothes tend to be all white, since this colour symbolises devotion to the goddess.

Weapons
Human warriors tend to be multi-talented and deadly with a number of different weapons. They are at less of a disadvantage than other races when wielding weapons which are new to them, and they master these new weapons quickly.

Swords are the most commonly seen weapons, followed by battleaxes, pikes of various kinds, and warhammers. The longbow is the preferred ranged weapon, but the crossbow is also common.

The humans of the kingdom of Mercia are masters of mounted combat. When fighting on horseback, Mercians often wield lances when charging, and swords or morningstars when in melee combat. Morningstars are slow, but deliver devastating blows when swung from horseback by skilled wielders.

Armour
Human armour is second only to that of the dwarves in solidity, and it is much lighter than the fruit of Dvergheim's forges. The strongest human warriors tend to wear full body platemail, sacrificing mobility for defense.

The body-shaped field plate armour, which is unique to humans, offers even more protection than an ordinary full plate, and is even heavier. The field plate consist of dozens of parts of varying size which are assembled each time the suit is worn. The formidable field plate is cumbersome indeed, and it most commonly used by soldiers on horseback.

Though the knight in heavy armour is their warrior ideal, Mercians are nothing if not flexible, and many individuals prefer lighter armour, often in order to facilitate more subtle fighting techniques. Chainmail is common, as is banded mail and splint mail. Humans who rely more om magic than on swordfighting prefer chain shirts or leather armour.

The warhorse
The most adept Mercian horsemen ride formidable warhorses into combat. These are exceptionally sturdy beasts, which are taller and more muscle-bound than even the heaviest draught horse. Warhorses never panic, and will fight on despite life-threatening injuries.

Warhorses are clad in light steel armour called barding, which protects their flanks against injury. They can be commanded to attack enemies, and their front hooves are commonly steel-clad as well, in order to increase the damage inflicted.

The religion of Mercia
Officially, Mercians are monotheistic worshippers of the goddess Morgaine. In thruth, however, the rift between thralls and free men reaches into the religious sphere: Hidden from the eyes of nobles, many thralls worship a pantheon of older gods.

According to Mercian cosmology, it was Morgaine who wrought order out of primordial chaos, and who shone light upon a darkness in which only evil creatures thrived. She is called the Lady of Light, and Mercians believe she is engaged in an eternal battle against the forces of darkness and chaos.

Human worshippers of Morgaine see it as their duty to aid the Lady in her all-important struggle. They fight the powers of chaos, and seek to spread the influence of the goddess in foreign lands.

Morgaine appears as a tall, pale woman with long, blond hair and strikingly stern facial features. She walks barefoot in flowing white robes, wielding an ashwood staff, and wearing a silver circlet adorned with a single, dully glowing azure gemstone.

The White Order
Of all the Mercian knightly orders, The White Order is by far the most powerful. They are the military arm of the Church of Morgaine, and enforcers of the decrees of the priesthood. In practice, the Order functions as a religious police force, who fight the forces of chaos both inside and outside Mercia, and who suppress worshippers of the elder gods.

The High Lightbringer of the White Order is answerable only to the king and the priesthood of Morgaine. No local lords, judges, or temporal knights, are allowed to interfere with the Order's doings. It's seat of operations is Gaunt Castle in Dalriada, which was built to protect Our Lady of Light, the most sacred of Mercia's cathedrals.

The symbol of the Order is a single white rose in full bloom, ususally depicted against a black background.

The forces of chaos
The legions of darkness are led by an entity called King Malhaut. Though Malhaut is currently dominant, he is only one of several princes of chaos, who are emerged in an endless struggle for mastery. Morgaine's followers tend to see the influence of King Malahaut in all other religions than their own.

Malhaut appears as a 20 meters tall humanoid figure clad in silver and gold plate mail. He is surrounded by an unpredictably flickering aura of flames, and when he speaks, his voice resembles the intertwined roaring of a million distant fires. His sword, called Shadowtongue, is a long-established symbol of leadership among the servants of chaos. Shadowtongue spews forth long, black strands of chaos-matter, which tear into the souls of its victims.

Malhaut's cause is aided by an ancient society called The Below, whose agents are clandestinely present in many parts of Mercian society.

The elder gods
Many members of the subjugated thrall class despise Morgaine's priesthood, which supports the kingdom's oppressive regime. They worship a pantheon of old gods, which were popular in Mercia before the ascendancy of Morgaine. According to ancient lore, now treated as a dangerous heresy by the authorities, Morgaine is the goddess of dawn in a pantheon consisting of dozens of deities.

The thralls venerate many of the old gods in secret, even though the punishment upon discovery is death. The most popular of these gods include Rieda, the Harvest Queen, Ardar, the war god, and Mayna, the goddess of love and beauty.

Society of Mercia
The Kingdom of Mercia is a deeply hierarchical realm, where all power and affluence rests in the hands of a privileged minority. A king sits at the pinnacle of the pyramid of society, and under his auspices, a small class of nobles rule their fiefdoms with absolute authority. These nobles live lives of luxury, concentrating on the twin obsessions of Mercian society: warfare and courtly romance.

Beneath the nobles in rank, are a much more varied class of free men and women. The members of this class include landowners, independent farmers, merchants, and craftsmen. The level of wealth and influence varies greatly among the freemen, but they have one thing in common: As long as they pay their taxes to local lords and the crown, they are free to move about and conduct business as they please. Failure to pay taxes, or obey Mercia's laws, may result in the removal of freedom, and induction into the ranks of the thralls.

The great multitude of thralls are the property of their respective lords. These people are born into lifelong servitude, a fate which their children will inherit after them. Thralls may not move without their lord's leave, and are obligated to do whatever work he assigns to them. Most thralls live in rural villages, where they work the lord's land and farm small plots where they grow subsistence crops.

The court at Solway
The capital of Mercia is the largest and most populous city in all of Darkfall. Here, throngs of poor freemen live within the same city walls as well-to-do craftsmen and the king himself. Solway is a bustling, ever-changing, and vibrant city, which is home to opulent wealth as well as desperate poverty.

In the heart of Solway lies the magnificent castle of Mildenhall. Here king Henry IV resides, with his wife, two children, and a large entourage of courtiers and knights. The four towers of Mildenhall, which are made of white crystal, rise magnificently over the city, reflecting the rays of the daytime sun. Directly south of the castle lies the royal water garden, which is considered one of the great wonders of Darkfall.

The present king is a relatively weak monarch, who dedicates most of his time to the intrigues and excesses of courtly life. Though active in bursts, he generally leaves the running of the realm to the priesthood, and to his able and well-liked general and advisor, Sir John de Soulis.

The sacred city
Far to the north, and far from Solway in attitude as well as distance, lies the city of Dalriada, which is the religious capital of Mercia. From here, the Morgaine priesthood run their vast and powerful organisation, and in many ways this is the true centre of power in the kingdom.

Dalriada is a town of simplicity and stark beauty, and it has none of the crowdedness or architectural extravagance of the temporal capital. Here, houses are simple, and laid out in well-ordered patterns around a central cathedral.

This cathedral, called Our Lady of Light, is the very heart of the Morgaine faith. It is an enormous, many-domed structure made out of white stones and crystal. Surrounding it are neat gardens and concentric, artificial waterways crossed by a chain of arched bridges.

Dalriada is considered a holy city, and it's highest authority is not the king, but the High Priest of Morgaine, who resides in the cathedral. Gaunt Castle, which is the headquartes of the White Order, lies just a few miles south of Dalriada.

Clan Structures
Mercian clan holdings tend to consist of a core of stone buildings surrounded by solid walls. Outside these walls stand the simple wooden and thatched structures in which the clan's thralls live. While many thralls live in abject squalor, some clans prefer to treat theirs with more fairness and respect.

The Church of Our Lady All Mercian holdings contain a temple of the goddess. Usually, these are medium-sized buildings with a single dome and a broad, arched doorway. The dome is of the clearest glass and as large as possible, in order to let in natural light. A round, golden altar decorated with crystals stands in the central chamber of the church. Worshippers kneel in a circle around this altar during ceremonies, which are traditionally held at dawn and at noon.

The keep The heart of any Mercian holding is the keep, which lies at the centre of it's walled enclosure. This solid building serves as a second line of defense, and is protected by arrow slits and a heavy portcullis. The keep contains sleeping quarters for the clan's members, stores of food and drink, as well as its meeting chamber and armoury.

The tournament field Large and powerful clans maintain their own tournament fields, where knights challenge each other in contests of the sword, lance and bow. Most of the time these fields are used for training, however, since few clans can afford to put up the prizes necessary to attract knights to large tournaments.

Copyright © Razorwax
PO Box 2194 Grunerlokka, N-0505 Oslo - Norway