Ancestries of Gracetear

Gracetear is home to a variety of cultures, and due to the nature of a campaign taking place within Gracetear, a character's connection to their culture is generally important. The ancestries present in this plane are listed below.

Only a small number of ancestries reside within Gracetear, and due to the nature of the plane, no others may enter. If you have a concept for a character who isn't one of the listed ancestries or does not fit into a culture listed below, please ask your GM and do not expect it to be approved.

Catfolk

Catfolk once spread across much of Gracetear, serving as the human-equivalent in their tendency to settle all over, even among other cultures. As a result, most Catfolk were quickly absorbed into the Clawfang Empire. There's little cultural consistency among most Catfolk other than a general passion for learning and acts of bravery that puts them often at odds with the Clawfang Empire, and many Catfolk adopt the customs of others, sometimes mixing multiple cultural systems.

See The Clawfang Empire section of Unique Elements of Gracetear for more cultural information.

Ghoran

Ghorans are visitors and members of many other cultures, though Ghorans maintain a culture of their own as well, passing knowledge from place to place. In fact, many Ghorans occupy honored roles within other cultures, and the nature of their long existence means that many of them hold elder positions throughout multiple lifetimes. There's a sense of camaraderie and obligation to other Ghorans, though, as a result of their shared origins in the Grove - the location where their seeds sit, and where their bodies regenerate following the decomposition of their old - fruit of the same tree, so to speak. Every rebirth comes with a chance to reconnect with other Ghorans in the Grove, but the true contents and nature of the Grove are a carefully guarded secret, as is its location - one that the Empire strongly desires.

Kashrishi

Kitsune

In the modern day, Kitsune are considered almost symbolic of revolutionary efforts. Their shapechanging nature and cultural independence has led many of them to naturally take to such roles, and in the modern day, they often serve as secretive representatives and contacts for anti-authoritarian resistance. Very few kitsune have any support for the Empire in any form - in fact, by passing copies of coded texts and maintaining personal libraries that seem at a glance to be perfectly benign and Empire-permitted, kitsune maintain the Shadow Library, a form of cultural preservation that has documented nearly every cultural practice destroyed by the disasters of the past and recent imperial expansion in the form of books and scrolls that seem mundane at a glance but contain secretly-coded greater-than-encyclopedic information. As a result of this active involvement (including active coordination of military strikes across the Empire), many Empire settlements have a “shoot on sight” policy regarding kitsune - that is, if they ever get caught.

Kobold

Lizardfolk

Nagaji

Within Gracetear, Nagaji were responsible for the maintaining of holy sites and providing spiritual guidance to many of the peoples of this world based on the principles of Cascadism. Nagaji traditionally dwell in the temples spread across the land, each temple strategically located near the intersection of two or more nations. Young Nagaji are taught the basics of Cascadism as well as the cultural practices of their neighbors, trained as ambassadors for their generation from a young age in an almost-monastic tradition. Once Nagaji reach adulthood, they are typically initiated into the priesthood following a full year of travel in which they are expected to travel across the entire plane in a small group, often making friends and having adventures along the way. As a result of their roles as the centerpieces of Cascadism and as community leaders, the Nagaji were targeted by the Clawfang Empire early on, and the few that remain are often puppets for the Empire's leaders to use to encourage obedience. Still, many hold reverence for the culture that once existed, and many Nagaji did manage to escape, preserving their traditions with them.

Ratfolk

Ratfolk are often considered conniving and penny-pinching in the modern day, and the harsh circumstances following the collapse of society they felt in the aftermath of Gracetear's separation from the other planes have given generations of ratfolk plenty of reason to live up to those expectations. Ratfolk have an unfortunate history, full of disasters both natural and otherwise that have decimated their cultural sites and population. Most of those who remain eke out a miserable existence within the bounds of the Clawfang Empire, and years of hardship have taught them well to do whatever it takes to survive, something that's often looked down upon by those more fortunate. Those who exist outside of the bounds of the Empire are often scavengers and merchants as well, often facing accusations of thievery which are usually unfounded.

Some ratfolk who preserve the old culture and aspire to nobility remain, but this is a dwindling number in the modern age, dependent on contact with the Shadow Library of the kitsune to gather information about their history and practices. What is widely known is that the ratfolk were once wandering warriors with a code of conduct and a reputation for upholding justice, and a few still attempt to independently practice this ronin-like lifestyle where possible.

Shoony

Strix

The Strix were once a proud people, holding cities that easily rivaled the size of the largest in the Clawfang Empire but arguably far more beautiful: towering buildings sticking up in the midst of forest, stretching just above the treetops to ensure a proper view of and access to the clear sky without replacing the sea of green. As such, the Empire saw fit to prioritize dominance of the Strix, attempting to destroy all remnants of their culture where they could. A once largely symbolic royal family - while a council governed the Strix - quickly became the centerpiece of Strix culture and a symbol for hope in the aftermath of their fall to the Clawfangs, and the execution of the King drove a stake through the heart of many. Still, the Strix quietly hold tight to their reverence of nature and the sky even under military rule and in the ghettos of the capital, and the fact that the princess, the proper heir to the throne, has not yet been found by the Empire.