A Selection of Some of the Indigenous Creatures of Jaradia.

Like many of the other continents, Jaradia is not populated by only Humans, there are in fact many Indigenous populations that live around the continent and the world.  Here is a selection of a few.

The Illuminator Hatcheries 

The Illuminator are a strange race of creatures, and though they do not have a civilization in the same sense as that of humanity, it is apparent that they have a sophisticated understanding of magick, technology, and politics. The Hatcheries are a form of the Illuminator, and are as far as can be understood the only member of their species able to reproduce. The Illuminator is a being made up of light energies, bound tightly around a dense nucleus of unknown composition.  We know that the Hatchery drops these nucleus in open fields, where they attract radiation and energies from sunlight, until it reaches a certain critical mass and blooms into a youthful Illuminator. There are various forms of Illuminator, which form is created appears to depend on  the weather conditions and the amount of sunlight that was collected by the nucleus in it gestation period.  

The Ghastwould

The Ghastwould are a reclusive group of "Tree-Folk" (being of part animal and plant).  That appears to be mostly concerned with their own ends. What these machinations are exactly is not clear.  While not overtly hostile, the Ghastwould are not known for their welcoming accommodation to other races.  They have an interesting anatomy, with their outer skin consisting of plant cells and forming a thick bark which is connected to a form of animal-plant hybrid cell that forms a sort of secondary skin below the bark which then forms into animal cells and organs with a proper mammalian circulatory/regulatory system. As if this were not already an extreme curiosity, the Ghastwould's heavy usage of magick, has given them an almost ethereal nature, and many can float and use magickal abilities as second nature.  As a result of this, the Ghastwould live primarily upon Sun Tears, building grand cities atop the largest, and floating down like angels (or wraiths, depending on their current attitude towards your kind.) to walk in the "underland" as they call it.  The exact rituals and governance of their civilization is left to murky understanding to the uninitiated, but it seems that they have a form of Council or Tribunal, that handles many of the large national affairs of their 4 different nations. Ghastwould nationality can be determined by the facial carvings of the individuals.

Untergolens

Weather or not Untergolens are an actual civilization or just a small collective of creatures is not entirely known, as there has been no contact of a political form with them, or any contact with the creatures other than severe hostility for that matter.  If they are a civilization their homeland exists in the unexplored land to the far west of the Nexus.  There have been only three encounters with the creatures. The first was a Orpheian Allegience "Pioneer Battalia"  which was a brief square off with the creatures on the frontier with the two parties surveying one another carefully, until the Untergolens moved in to what appeared to be assault positions, which is when the Pioneers fled back to the East. The second and third sightings, were in frontier colonies, where the creatures executed surprise raids.  Few survived.  It is perhaps because of these creatures that the expansion west, has been so slow.   

Fungus Ogres

Fungus Ogres can be found in the damp forest lands to the north of the Nexus,  they grow from large mushroom like fungi, in small groups.  The Ogres themselves, are around 1 meter tall, and often bright shades of colors, with flamboyant patterns on their skin.  They have large mouths, and many sport small fungal growths on their bodies which provide all manner of beneficial chemicals to the ogre's bodies. The Ogres are fairly human in their civilizations having many tribes, kingdoms, and republics spread across their Forest homelands, They are primarily concerned with technological pursuits, over magic ones, and will often augment their bodies with steam parts, and use advanced rifles and equipment. When they go to war, it is in a vast horde of brightly colored halfings, sporting all manner of devastating weapons. It has often been said of their race, that, their civil wars, and national wars are often great displays of beauty with wondrous colors and fantastical explosions and rifle fire traded between both hosts. 

Mutants

Perhaps, not a race, but worth mentioning, many regions are hostile in their environs and many (such as the Moskan Lee's) contain radioactive areas or magick seepage that might cause a variety of nasty mutation to the errant adventurer.  The exact ramifications of this are varied, from race to race and country to country, but in general mutants are shunned and often from collectives of their own. It is such mutant collectives that started the "Genetic War of East Puro-Asika"  where a Mutant warlord had amassed so many Mutant followers in the radiation drenched wastes of Purosvka that he felt bold enough to carve out his own inter-continental empire, which very well might have succeeded had it not been for the combined strength of 13 of the strongest and most influential nations in Asika  meeting the Mutant armies head on in the mountains separating the two continental landmasses.  Exact reports of that battle and the wars of other lands is for a different time however. But since the time of that war, many nations enact purges of mutant populations, to keep the possibility of a large mutant population rising against a nation of "genetically pure" people.

More chronicles on the indigenous populations of the world to come later.  

-Art by Orpheian Alliegance head of pioneers, Aaron Reynolds