Human, Romini

Human Races: Adomkuro | Civilized | Jechrani | Romini | Tyeduan

PC Statistics

Favored Class: Any

Special Abilities:

Overview

Not all humans live under the feudalistic or parliamentary institutions of the great nations. A good number of them belong to tight-knit family and tribal groups that occupy the countryside, roaming around Avlis' diverse terrain in migratory fashion. The sheer number of tribes and groups that roam the lands are even more diversified than the lands themselves. However, the myriad of units and mobile nations can be grouped into three general categories: Romini, Jechrani, and Tyeduans.

Owing allegance to no nation or people, the Romini are the oldest and supposed favorite mortal creation of the god Mikon. The first humans to appear on Avlis were the ancestors of the Romini, created directly by Mikon. When created, Mikon commanded them to spread over the planet and bring balance to the world. They were told to be free, yet fair, and to call no one place their home, but rather many places.

Personality

All three tribal peoples have basic personality traits that belie their rural upbringing and codes. Superstition is a mainstay of their cultures, and all of them have rich oral traditions dealing with daily life events and how a person meets and participates in life's joy and pain. This proximity with the primal forces of existence gives them an inner peace and happiness, even at the same time that it toughens them to the elements and the cruelty that life can sometimes pose.

Mikon's greatest gift to the Romini was the freedom to choose their life paths on an individual basis. He did not restrict them to the ways of good or evil, nor law or chaos. He simply told them to be. He told them that they must do what the moment requires and not to worry about past or future, but rather to exist as needed for the immediate time period. Much to Mikon's pride, his creation took his words to heart and did exactly as he bade them. The Romini spread throughout Avlis and adopted whatever personalities suited their cause. In addition to possessing the inner joy that nomad people often have, the Romini are crafty and cunning. No matter what their philosophy in life, they refuse to be oppressed and will strike back at oppression with eerie effectiveness, grace, and subversiveness.

Although they are often berated for being loyal to no one, Romini are actually intensely loyal to each other. A Romini will not kill or harm another Romini unless it is totally necessary, and even then they will seriously consider not doing it. Whenever a Romini finds another of their kind in trouble, they will always find the best way to aid them when possible. Though they are diverse and scattered throughout the world, they have a tremendous sense of their own unity and culture. Even a Romini born in Tyedu who meets a Romini from M'Chek will converse as if they were brothers who have known each other their whole lives. It is this closeness that has allowed them to survive as a people and not become so scattered that they are forgotten. If one is Romini, they are part of the overall Romini identity... one of them. If one is not, they are georgio, the term for a non-Romini.

Physical Description

For tribal humans, physical features are largely dependent on region. Romini tend to occupy the middle ranges between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 feet for males, and 5 to 5 1/2 feet for females.

Skin and eye color also vary with region. The Romini tend to have olive, even black, complexions and brown eyes.

It is said that Romini stock is the purest form of tribal human that has undergone the least amount of interbreeding, and possesse the features closest to what Mikon created.

Variations in dress are too numerous to describe here. Not only do they vary with major tribal category, but they also vary with individual tribes. Romini folk often make clothing out of homespun material.

Relations

Nearly all human tribes are viewed with suspicion by their more civilized counterparts. The feeling is mutual, for tribal societies tend to be very superstitious and slow to trust an outsider. For the most part, tribal humans do not concern themselves much with non-human affairs. Tribes will often war amongst themselves, or with neighboring groups of nationalized humans over land rights and natural resources, but rarely do they get involved with the affairs of the wider world.

The Romini as a people are on tolerable terms with all races and nations, though on a societal level they are seen as thieves and troublemakers whenever they roll into town. City-folk often have stories about being cheated or kidnapped by the Romini.

Alignment

Tribal humans have no particular majority when it comes to following morals or ethics. Their philosophies on law and chaos as well as good and evil vary by tribe and by individual. Among all the races, they deviate from their creator?s alignment the most often.

Romini Lands

After creation by Mikon, tribal humans collected in the areas all over the continent of Negaria. Some went northward and formed the Romini tribes that eventually became the Kurathene Empire and the clans of Tyedu. The largest and most populous group stayed in the area of M'Chek, which was supposedly the site of Mikon's prison when he was kept by the Negerai during the early days of creation.

The Romini are true wanderers, not settling anywhere for very long, and ranging very widely up and down the continent throughout their lifetimes.

Religion

The Romini people have a great love of Mikon and his ideals of balance and choice. They are not the lawful adherents to faith like the humans found living in Mikona, nor are they zealots of balance in its aspects of give and take. Romini live by the flow of the water in the rivers, and the smell of the air in the breeze. They do what is needed, when it is needed, and never any other time.

Language

The language formally known as the Common Tongue was given to the first humans when Mikon created them. Since then, the language has remained largely unchanged, and it has been adopted as the universal language of Negaria by all races. Nevertheless, dialects of this language exist. Romini speak a dialect called "Flare".

Names

Most tribal humans have a common tradition of being able to change one's name during their lifetime due to some great (or infamous) deed that they committed. Romini often take first names that are popular in the area where they live. Their last name depicts who their father was, and they may have a clan designation after that.

Male Names

Dimitri, Nicholai, Pieter

Female Names

Demetria, Josalina, Vera

Clan Names

Johnsking, Trenson, Rikonovich

Adventurers

Tribal humans value their home lives tremendously. After coming of age, they will rarely wander away from the tribe they are dutifully bound to protect and serve. However, many tribes have tests that require young tribal members to take long journeys of self-discovery by themselves. These can often lead to many new and interesting experiences. Other causes for leaving may include playing on their strong sense of duty and collectivism.