As mentioned, the number of culture is as countless as the stars. People come from different religions, islands, lifestyles and creeds. All people end up in the Port of Angels at some point. Some come to find wealth, some for faith, some for adventure, some to plunder, some are only passing through, some don't know how they got there, only that they are and always have been
People of the Port
CulturesLeegan NomadsNo one race claims to be the originator of the Leegan Nomads of the sky. They come from all races and walks of life to gather together in trade and exploration. These expert fliers of sky skiffs, zeppelins and planes live together in tight-knit communities working together to survive and explore. They have specific enemies (though pirates often raid their ships) and no specific allies. Ports around the sea allow them to dock due to their incredible variety of goods. They have become a necessity at the Port of Angels for their imports from the farthest continents and depths of the sea.
Leegans (also called the Leegish) do not allow just anyone to fly with them, however. When they do find someone they would like to join them the hopeful lives with them for an entire year before their captain decides whether or not to keep him. Depending on the ship, they might throw the hopeful overboard if he's not accepted, or they might drop him off at the nearest port with amble supplies to survive.
Most Leegish ships have a population of 50-500, depending on the size of the vehicle.
Each ship has its own personality, and usually travels alone. The Captain of each ship is the absolute dictator. Only the cruelest captains fear mutiny. When unrest aboard a ship becomes noticeable, the Mother Fleet might send a police ship (or Arbiter) out to deal with it. Though the captains are dictators of their own ships, the Admiral is the dictator of all of the captains.
AngelsThe 'higher' natives of Endelli prefer to be called Angels or Angelic due to their belief that they are all descendants of the various elemental gods they believe in. In truth, they are descendants of a people once called Asians. But no historian knows this.
Often clever, cold and calculating, the Angels were raised under a society of iron and strong value in bettering oneself and being the best at everything they do. They are constantly trying to outdo each other, other cultures and even the gods they believe they are killing with their superiority. See more about their faith under God Slayers.
Despite their logical ways, they do value the arts and harmony. Much like their ancestors the Angels seek balance in their lives. Because of this, they make fairly good leaders of the Port they built.
The Angelic are always involved in government. They consider each and every other Angel a vital part of their collective harmony. When one has something to say, they all listen. This makes the work within their government very fair... at least towards each other.
Endelli NativesHaving no name for themselves other than Endelli People, the other native race to the nearest continent have lived always in the shadow of the Angels. Also descendants of various Asian races, the 'lower' natives aren't physically different from the Angelic at all normally.
Speakers of the simple tongue (Gorgrosh) the lower natives are generally not very well educated. In fact, despite the modern world's acceptance of intelligence without education the Endelli people are seen as dumb and inferior. Studies from Angelic and foreign minds alike have shown this to be at least based on truth. Though it is not recorded in the annals or accepted as politically correct, the general consensus is that the Angelic left their weak and stupid to die in the wild. The survivors become the lower species.
Yet even through their great disadvantage and weak genes, these native speakers of Gorgrosh have proven to be an undying people. Perhaps due to their hatred of the Angelic, they have developed a contrasting culture based entirely on the good of the whole of their communities.
Villages and towns inhabited by the Endelli People are full of self-sacrificing followers of the ideal of unity. They consider themselves worthless but as pieces of the whole.
Many slums on the Port of Angels were built by the 'Grublings' (a slang term for Gorgrosh speaking natives) when the port was first built, in hopes of finding a new life for their people among the diversity. Many more pirate ships are floating villages of savage Endelli.
There are those who have aspired to become more than pieces of a whole, however. These dedicated individuals (considered selfish by their people) have learned to speak other tongues and become full-fledged members of society. There are even tales of Angels who were born into the lower race but slipped into Angelic life.
Tribe of KuB'Ku'yex'ma is the most commonly used word meaning the Tribe of Ku. The Ku are a dark-skinned, lanky people originally hailing from the distant continent of Ze'Ku'b'offu <translates to: The Beautiful Home and Birthplace Rightfully Belonging to the Ku and No Others>. The Ku are a deeply spiritual people who have evolved greatly in the last two hundred years. It was 263 years ago that they conquered every surrounding tribe and island, believing their way of life was the only way of life; all others were an affront to the spirits.
The Ku scribes keep meticulous records in the form of miniature figures nailed to wooden stages set up like a three dimensional pictogram with words carved by their feet to explain what they are saying and sometimes doing. These fantastic records take up large amounts of space, and tell the entire history of the people, starting at their deeply mythological beginnings.
According to their histories, the Ku came into being when a group of spirits (ethereal beings existing as the souls of animals, plants and even emotions and concepts) first found land. These spirits had been searching for a place to exist in the physical realm without drowning. They slipped through the folds of existence into the physical realm, taking the shape of humans. Once they discovered their bodies decayed over time, they created the first males and females, giving life to new bodies which attracted other spirits not already tied to animals, plants, emotions or concepts. The new spirits would fly across the sky, bonding with the new human and living out the rest of their existence as humans. See more about their faith under Shamanism.
According to the shaman of their tribe, the other tribes were spiritless, having been born with flesh but no souls. Because of this, demons were able to possess their bodies and wreak havoc on both the spiritual world and the physical. In reality, the other tribes barely knew who the Ku were 263 years ago. The Ku waged war on the other tribes, killing any who resisted under claims they were possessed by demons. Those who didn't resist were tied to ritualistic tables and left to the elements for days. If they survived, it was said they were now infused with a spirit, and 'real people'. These survivors were converted to the Ku beliefs, and over generations, became as integrated into the tribal life as much as any other devoted Ku individual.
For 182 years the Tribe of Ku encountered no other individuals, and lived in simple peace with itself. Though not all villages had exactly the same lifestyle or beliefs, they were all united by their connection to nature and simple lifestyle.
Then, fliers from other lands came to discover the lands of the Ku. At first, they were thought to be more demon-possessed enemies. The Ku waged war against these explorers.
The Leegan Nomads banded together against the Ku savages. Their technology was much more advanced, but the Ku were a warrior people, even in their peaceful times. A single Ku Spirit Channeler (their strongest warriors) could claim up to twenty Leegan skulls. The average Ku could claim five to ten.
But, the numbers of the Leegan Fleet were vast. The war waged for a year before the Leegans surrendered. At first, the surrender was seen as a demonic trick. But when the ceasefire did not break the Ku realized their mistake. They accepted that other spirits could have found their ways to human bodies without the help of their priests, as they had originated. Though, to this day the Ku and Leegish do not often get along well.
Individual Ku often travel the world to learn and bring back wealth to Ze'Ku'b'offu and the islands around it. Some integrate into society by wearing the clothing of sailors and speaking their language and some keep to their ways, clad in beads, leathers, feathers and other objects which 'attract the power of the spirits to oneself'. Warrior ways are just as valued as those of scientists, thinkers and laborers in Ku society. They can fulfill many different roles on the Port of Angels during their time there.
Religions/Faiths/CreedsGod SlayersThe religion of the Angelic. Originally, the Angelic existed in a Pagan society similar to Rome or the Greeks. Idols, temples, holidays and even human and animal sacrifices to specific gods made up their religion. They believed the gods dominated every aspect of their lives. As the various churches grew more and more powerful from this, the people found themselves controlled by greedy priests demanding devotion and sacrifice for this god or that. The Angels are not the people to devote to something they don't actually believe in, and truly thought the gods demanded such of them. If they were to simply overthrow the church, the gods would reign down and destroy them, their own children.
So instead of destroy the churches, they decided to destroy the gods. In their belief system, the gods were powered by two things: human worship and their natural element. They needed both to exist. If denied one, they would be forced to exist in their element alone, having no power over humanity.
The Angelic banded together and began building temples to
themselves. Idols, paintings and songs popped up all over Endelli, revering the greatness of humanity. Eventually, with enough temples devoted to human body parts and feelings, the Angelic were confident enough to destroy the temples of their old gods, who now lay stricken upon the celestial floor, powerless and pathetic.
They believe that, in death, they are reincarnated into the world. It is because of this that they strive to make a perfect society; there is no afterlife.
Almost every Angel believes and follows this new religion devoted to themselves. Each Angel has a personal temple with nick-knacks and memorabilia they treasure, as well as a painting or two or recording of their own voice.
On the Port of Angels, temples devoted to arms, lungs, sex organs, eyes, love, hate, greed can be found. The Angelic devotedly worship at these temples, forever empowering themselves and keeping their true enemies, the gods, weak.
ShamanismThe only faith which survived the flood entirely is shamanism. This belief system has existed since the dawn of man, and continues to exist through the Ku and other believers. Even the Angelic and Leegans sometimes follow the ways of shamanism, though there are endless variations.
The core of the faith is very simple. Everything has a soul, or spirit which exists in the spiritual reflection of this realm. Animals, plants, people, ideas, feelings, places, emotions and thoughts powerful enough to leave an impression on the spiritual world have a soul which thinks, feels, hungers for energy and grows.
These spirits feed off of other spirits like them. A spirit of happiness will influence the physical realm by pushing on the minds of mortals to make them happy so it can consume their 'happy' energy and grow more complex, intelligent and sentient.
Many different cultures and people respect these spirits and try to gather good, helpful spirits around them by inducing and truly feeling such beneficial emotions and ideals.
There is no church of shamanism or central belief system. It is different in every place and the heart of every individual.
GavanismPeople coming from all different cultures have followed the beliefs of The Scrolls of Gavan for (so the churches claim) thousands of years. The Three Scrolls of Gavan were discovered by archaeologists in a sealed tube buried under what appeared to have been someone's back yard long before the Flood, deep below the surface of the ocean. These scrolls were written in many different languages: Latin, German, Mandarin Chinese and four other languages which have no yet been translated wholly. In addition, the scrolls contained pictographs explaining some of their content.
The first scroll tells of the creation of the world at the hands of two gods called Uvar and Dokutz. These gods appear to have no personalities or human like traits. They simply formed the universe with their combined powers to be a self-perpetuating machine which would never require divine input. The scroll tells of how they crafted the worlds from their own flesh and bone. Their hair became the galaxies and their eyes became the stars. Uvar and Dokutz died, replacing their 'bodies' and consciousness with the universe itself.
The second scroll tells that Beshu, a third god who was somehow related to Uvar came to confer with him on something. When he discovered what he had done he was stricken by awe. His shock and respect for Uvar's actions created the first emotions. His feelings were strong enough to spill across the new universe, creating emotion everywhere, even among the new inhabitants of some of these planets. This clearly states that other humans live on other worlds.
In his awe Beshu also found sorrow for the loss of Uvar. These new emotions were too powerful, and he fell into a dark depression. This depression lasted millions of years, and eventually created death and disease among the inhabitants of the new universe. In the end, Beshu died from his sorrow.
The third and final scroll is much different than the mythological first and second scrolls. It starts with the story of a man named Gavan, who lived in a primitive time of the Pre-Flood. He had a very normal life, which is recorded in great detail in the scrolls. At the supposed time of his death, however, he found that he would not die. He came to realize he was more than mortal. The child of a god, perhaps.
According to the scroll a great monster created from the darkness in Beshu's soul was formed. This monster came and devoured many people and cities. The people went to Gavan. He told them he would destroy the monster at a great cost. They agreed to what ever price. It was then that Gavan flooded the world to destroy the monster, saving only those who could get to higher ground. He himself has not been seen since. Many expect him to return and save them from the flood he created. Others believe the water may only be containing the monster, and to remove it would be to bring the beast back from the depths.
The Scrolls of Gavan are carefully guarded by the several churches who claim them together. Because of this, they have never been tested for legitimacy. Even so, the details of Gavan's life before godhood are considered historical fact, as they are some of the few details ever discovered about the Pre-Flood era.
Gavanists do not follow a specific moral code, as the Scrolls of Gavan record only the tale of the world. Some believe that digging up ancient cities is defiling the sacrifice of their ancestors. Others seek to find Gavan among the populace of the world, suspecting anyone they meet may be Gavan in disguise. Because of this Gavanists of some churches often believe in kindness to strangers.
Almost all Gavanists expect Gavan to return.
The churches themselves ask for no offerings or donations, and tend to work for archaeological and historical groups.
Gavanists can also believe in God Slaying, Shamanism and other paths.
The Zar'ku'potx"Warriors of the Ku Who Claim This Floating Land" the Zar'ku'potx is the underground Ku rebellion hoping to overthrow the Angels and claim the port as their own. Few Ku actually believe in this, as they have left their conquering ways behind them, but there are some who organize in secret gangs and occasionally launch guerrilla attacks of the Angels.
HonorThrough the endless waters of the floods, honor has survived in the hearts of humanity. The concepts of respecting oneself and maintaining a healthy moral lifestyle inhabit the heart of every person to some extent. There are those who ignore these feelings, and those who try to push them on others. But no one culture or religion can claim honor as their own. It exists only as long and as strongly as those who choose to live under it.
FactionsThe Port Authority/Angelic ChoirThe government of the Port of Angels. It is referred to by the Angels themselves and those loyal to it as the Angelic Choir. See more under Government.
The Ocean GuardThe military and police of the Port Authority. They are not under direct control of the government, but are tied to them through common interest, familial ties and religious beliefs. The Ocean Guard has many underwater bases from which they act as well as several towers on the Spire.
Police forces and military forces are one in the same. Despite this, the Guard does not often do average police work. If a murder, large theft, or other more serious crime is committed to the average people they will act. However, if someone living in the Low Streets or an insignificant traveler is killed the Guard may or may not act. It depends on the compassion of the sector captain. Since the Guard is 73% Angelic, compassion is hard to find among it.
Guard wear a white tabard with a navy blue insignia of the Ocean Guard upon it. Their symbol is a sword with two angel-like wings growing from the hilt.
Ranks - Due to the Angels' belief that each of them are gods, they do not have much in the way of ranks. They are all considered equals.
Guard : wears light chain-mail and carries a .27 caliber rifle, spear and short sword : simple visor with credit information, wireless comm device and criminal database : Guards are most often seen patrolling the high streets, guarding the spire, working on ships and guarding underwater facilities; they are highly trained in combat and well educated; guards do not die easy.
Captain : wears plate-mail or heavy studded leather and carries a .45 caliber rifle, rapier, two daggers, a deadly .44 sidearm : metal helmet or visor with same information and communication capabilities as guards : Captains control up to 50 guards and are in charge of ships, sectors of the Port and aquatic bases; they are the best of the best at everything they do.
The Admiral : See Admiral Fuujari
The Leegan FleetThe Leegan Fleet is the collective ships of all Leegan Nomads. The Mother Fleet is made up of dozens of flying machines which regulate and maintain the unity of the other ships. Police within the collective fleet are called Arbiters, and ensure the purpose of each ship remains exploration and the accumulation of wealth through trade. These Arbiters are chosen by the Leegan Admiral.
The Admiral is chosen each year via election. An Admiral can only run for reelection five years in a row. They have absolute control over the Mother Fleet and therefore every other fleet. But, if the captains feel their freedom is being too heavily infringed, they will simply overthrow the admiral and hold a new election to replace him.
These kinds of politics go on mostly in the Mother Fleet. Those captains and ships who wish to avoid them (and benefit from the sanctioning and aid of the collective Fleet) do not often fly with the Mother Fleet. Though each captain and crew member pays 10% of their wealth to the Mother Fleet, they generally have a lot of room to do what they please.
PiratesThere is no pirate faction. Pirates raid and pillage together in fleets or individual ships. They war against one another as often as they do against the flying Leegans and any other ship they come across. Pirates can travel in any form from any race, culture or belief system. Even some Gavanists (who generally believe in kindness to strangers) become pirates, hoping to kill Gavan and take his power in their raids.
IndividualsAdmiral Fuujari - The admiral of the Ocean Guard, Fuujari is a despotic, somewhat sadistic man by reputation. Little is known about him outside of the tightly-knit and secretive Angelic.
[More to come as the story progresses]
