The Tau'ri
Brief Intro : The Tau'ri are a race of ashen gray skinned, dark haired, and varying eye colored humans with a nack for building weapons and killing. They believe that they were created by the Tau'ri God of War, and their Supreme god, Auresh. They enjoy drinking and forging weapons but above all else, they enjoy battle and any form of combat. They will never refuse a chance to show off their prowess with a weapon or boast their own power. They are also quite fond of gold, industry, and building vast engines and machinery! One of the things they can't stand? magic users and sorcery. Most of the old veterans of wars often leave their homes and become 'witch hunters' to help eradicate the sorcerer menace! However, they are quite fond of Healing magic and alchemists... Evil magic is punishable by death, and other magic is punishable by imprisonment among the Tau'ri.
Much like Mountain Dwarves, the Tau'ri build their cities and homes into the sides of mountains and deep beneath the surface. However it is not uncomon to see settlements in Mountain valleys or even wooded areas some ways from the mountains. However their hearts will always belong to the mountains. They seem to share other traits with the Vikings of Scandanavia (Otherwise known as barbarians), and the Spartans of Greece.
As for their government, they are a Monarchaic-Oligarchy, meaning that they have a central ruler or 'High King' and several smaller Lords or Lesser rulers that keep the other provinces and city-states in check. Each High King varies every era as they go through kings like a fat kid goes through cup-cakes. Every few hundred years or so, one power over throws the current king and then they become the ruler and so on and so forth. It just so happens that the current King is one by the name of Zafér Savas. His predecessor was Faenlor Putenlag, who he severed the head from his body and showed it to the city, to prove that he was strong enough to become king. Zafér became king at the young age of twenty three, and his reign is on going.
With the Tau'ri borders, there is the Capitol city of Ettig'vaas. The three major cities of Plaentor, Qinetuk, and Topkapi. The five minor cities of Itengaur, Hm'volais, Ymigbaur, Tientenmak, and Farenvor. Plus the various little villages and other settlements located within the vicinities of the provinces and city-states.
Tau'ri Religion : The Tau'ri worship many gods and goddesses, however their Supreme god, or god-king is their God of War named Auresh, which translated from the Tau language, means 'War-child'. However, other than Auresh, they also have nine other gods and goddesses that live in the 'Halls of Istagg', their version of Olympus, Valhalla, Asgard, Heaven, what have you. Those Nine other gods are: Orogoriya, Pixma, Tro'arris, Freidrogr, Tor'vallas, V'dakk, Geryu'ki, Senyik, and Akatedkis. There is also a "Dragon-god" in their pantheon, but no one worhsips him because he is the supposed embodiment of evil. His name is Frodinghast.
Auresh - War-child - He is the King of the Tau'ri pantheon and their god of war, combat, and metalworking. He is the one who created the Tau'ri race and the word Tau'ri itself means "people of battle". It is believed that Auresh forged the Tau'ri like weapons from the fires of the Sun and then cooled them in the Snow of the Mountains, and when they cooled, the first Tau'ri men and women were born. He is also symbolized with the Sun.
Orogoriya - All-mother - She is the Queen of the Tau'ri pantheon, wife of Auresh, and the goddess of life, growth, birth, and rebirth. She has been known as the 'Mother-goddess'. She watches over, and protects, pregnant women and mothers. It is said that after the first Tau'ri were forged, she is the one that breathed life into them. She is symbolized with the moon.
Prixma - The Lover - She is first daughter of Auresh and Orogoriya. She is the goddess of love, compassion, and well... sex. She has been known to appear in the dreams of lonely men and women and bring them pleasant dreams. It is also said that these dreams are also premonitions, and if you see her in your dream it means that you will find your true love very soon.
Tro'arris - The Beast Master - He is the first son of Auresh and Orogoriya. He is the god of animals, hunting, and farming. He will often take the form of a pure white animal and wander around the forests and occasionally in the snowy mountains. If one slays his mortal animal form, they will recieve his blessing, which will bring much good luck and fortune upon the person that slew his 'mortal form'.
Freidrogr - Weather God - He is the second son of Auresh and Orogoriya. He is known as the god of storms, clear skies, and essentially all weather. There's nothing really that special about him. Other than he controls the weather.
Tor'vallas - Gate Keeper - She is the Second Daughter of Auresh and Orogoriya and she is the goddess of safety, security, and protection. She keeps the gates of the Halls of Istagg and makes sure no evil energy enters into the grand halls. She also keeps a watchful eye over mortals, especially mortal men.
V'dakk - The Architect - He is the brother of Orogoriya. He is the god of architecture, artwork, and music. He is the muse of artists and grants creative dreams to those that aspire to be artists, love to build, and conduct music.
Geryu'ki - The Light - She is the wife of V'dakk. She is the goddess of light, optimism, good luck, and daytime. It is believed that she is the brother of Auresh, but it is not confirmed. She brings light, and happiness and good fortune to everyone who pays her homage, or just generally anyone she likes... which is mostly everyone.
Senyik - The Darkness - He is the twin brother of Geryu'ki. He is the god of darkness, pessimism, badluck, and nightime. He is the exact opposite of his sister... However he is not a bad guy. He is simply miss under stood... one could say he is the depressing 'emo-kid' in the pantheon.
Akatedkis - Silver tongue - She is the daughter of V'dakk and Geryu'ki. She is the goddess of persuasion, merchants, and money. She is often depicted as the 'merchant goddess' because most merchants find her to be their patron diety and worship her. She brings good fortune upon shops and grants politicians with the ability to speak well.
And Finally...
Frodinghast - The Dragon-god - He is the embodiment of evil, greed, and generally everyhting bad. It is said that he used Bone-chill mountain (the mountain that Ettig'vaas is built into and largest mountain in the world) as his throne and seat of office as he ruled the world some many hundreds of years ago. It was said that he was slain by the Tau'ri hero Zaas Palla, but that was merely his mortal body... his soul, however, has gone to Raitnayok, the Tau'ri equivalent of Hell.
Tau'ri History : Throughout the ages, there have been many heroes throughout the Tau'ri kingdom, One, in particular was Pala Venzig. In the beginning he was but a simple farmer and soldier in the Tau'ri military. He was not exceptional, nor was he grand. He was average. He had seen as many wars as his lord. But this? This was before the Tau'ri Kingdoms had come together under the High King. FOr now they were merely seperate lordships... countries... That is until Frodinghast, the Grand Dragon King of the South, flew into the Tau'ri moksha, or to those not versed in the Tau language the lands of the Tau'ri. He was a fierce creature... Gigantic, so large that he could use the mountains themselves as thrones! And erupting forth from his mouth, spilled the very flames of Ragnarok, consuming and destroying everything they came into contact with. Entire villages, and towns burned to the ground leaving nothing more than ash and stains upon the soil. He a creature that was most fearsome and full of loathing. The fearsome beast burned everything from the Badlands to the seas of Tythig. Everywhere this beast went, destruction followed. That is until it reached the quaint little village of Sha'gri, a nice little town at the base of the White Cap mountain, where Pala lived. The beast burned the city to the ground like the rest and killed all who dwelled within, even Pala's family... But not he. He merely lay there, half-burned, barely alive. He had wondered why he had been spared when the rest of his village lay in ruin. It was then that he passed out and had a vision of Auresh himself, who told Pala that he had been chosen to unite the Tau'ri under one flag to slay the foul beastie. From then on, Pala became Zaas Pala. However if he was going to rally the remaining villages he needed a symbol to rally them under. And that symbol was given to him when he found it in the ruins of an ancient Tau'ri Temple dedicated to Auresh himself. It was the terrible Auresh'zog Dua'ma, The Black Blade of the War God. Under this symbol he united the men and women of the Tau'ri and lead them to Bone Chill mountain! He called the beasts name, and up it rose... covered in snow... Hidden making it seem as though it were part of the mountain itself. He challenged the beast and spat it's terrible flames at him and his men. However the flames would not touch the blade... They merely parted, and encircled the army. It was at this point that Zaas Pala issued a challenge to the beast. They both fought as feircly as the winds of the mountains however in the end, Zaas Pala stood victorious, atop the beasts head holding his blade into the air and rallying the troops. Hence forth He was known as High King Zaas Pala, the Dragon Slayer. And he built his capitol city inside of the very mountain where he slew the giant monster, and ever since, no dragons, beasts, or armies have ever been able to penetrate the defenses of the Men of the Mountains. And ever since, there has been prosperity for the Tau'ri.
Tau'ri Biology : The Tau'ri are an ashen gray skinned race of humans with varying eye colors and usually dark hair. The gray skin is due to a combination of excessive hemoglobin in their blood, a type of albinism, and an adaptation to living in cold weather. Granted the type of albinism they have doesn't make them sensitive to light, but it still makes them look rather pale and gray. Their hair color usually ranges anywhere between black, dark blue, violet, brown, dark green and dark red. As for their eye color it is very similar to their hair color. They have a specialized cell in their body that allows them to heal without scars being formed afterwards. This also means that they can recieve heavy trauma to the head and their brain will be able to repair itself. However if they recieve too much trauma or just too much blood is lost? They will still die. They are not immortal after all. As for their height, they usually range anywhere between 6 to 7.5 feet in height. They can still reproduce with humans and produce fertile offspring.
Tau'ri Culture : They are a proud people that love to fight, drink, build and generally kick ass. They consider themselves an imperialistic or 'warrior' race, and that they are. The men serve in the military as early as sixteen years old, and they begin training at seven years old. As for the women, they begin training at seven years old as well much like their male counter parts, however, instead of serving in the military they replace the males with certain jobs that 'men' are supposed to do whilst the men are off defendin the Tau'ri people in their wars and so forth. Tau'ri men are good at forging weapons, but their women... are fantastic. It is not uncommon for women to combine clothing and armor to create a more... 'formal' type of armor to sell during rather elegant events such as balls or festivals.
Generally when a man wants to marry a woman, he tells her of his affections and proposes that they get married under the 'Red-Moon' as is tradition, which occurs every six months. Until they are married, Tau'ri men and women are not allowed to have sex, what so ever. It is not illegal to do so... however it is most definately frowned upon.
They tend to build their cities in the sides of mountains or large hills, much like dwarves or halflings, and they can go as deep as... well the mantle in the planet's crust. They've dug that deep before. Within their cities they have tons upon tons of steampowered gizmos and machines. Infact many of their War-machines and siege engines are steampowered. One of the most popular things in the Tau'ri cities is the tram system, which takes the citizens from one part of the city, to another part in a matter of minutes, instead of walking up or down endless flights of stairs.
Tau'ri Calendar : The Tau'ri year is 18 months. There are 3 weeks in each month, and six days in each week. All together there are 324 days in every Tau'ri year and an anomally known as the Red Moon occurs every six months. So all in all it occurs three times in a year. It also symbolizes the changing of seasons. To farmers they are known as the Planting season, Grow season, and the Harvest season. However to others they are the Working Season, Family season, and 'Lazy' season... Go figure.