The Mystics

In the dim and distant past, long before the Valley people arrived on this plane, there were many different communities on Orin Rakatha. As these communities grew, there became a shortage of land. This caused territorial disputes. To avoid large-scale wars, the Mystics undertook a number of measures.

Firstly, they constructed a series of Towers that were given to communities of adequate size.

Secondly, they introduced the mists around Orin Rakatha. These mists occasionally wash over the lands turning all creatures that are not protected by the Tower (or by some other means) into Hordelings.

• Hordelings are disfigured, almost-mindless creatures that believe that if they die in combat they will be reincarnated as bigger, more powerful beasts.
• They are attracted to groups of people. The larger and more powerful the group, the greater the number and strength of the Hordelings that are attracted.
• They will invariably fight to the death.

Communities are unwilling to wage wars on a grand scale for fear of creating armies of Hordelings from their peoples, if their forces are caught in the mists. Thus all business, politics and communication in Orin Rakatha tends to be performed by small groups.

The Towers / Nations

The Towers became the backbone of civilized life in Orin Rakatha: they represented a safe haven for a community's continued existence. Areas were set aside in the Towers for farming and the other mundane aspects of life.

There were more than twenty known Towers in Orin Rakatha, inhabited by a wide range of creatures of different types and beliefs. Our own communityonce expanded over the years from a single Tower into 3 although 2 of them were lost. Broadly, the 3 Towers were inclined towards good (White Retreat), neutrality (Valley Alliance) and evil (Wolfhold), although internal politics made this situation much more complex.

At the last Cataclysm the Towers were destroyed and replaced by Nations and large areas of land. Our people now reside within an area of land called the Valley and are referred to as theValley or the Valley people.

Status and The Time of Reckoning

"Status" is a measure of how powerful a particular individual is considered to be upon the land of Orin Rakatha. (In practical terms, your character gains their first point of Status once they reach rank 20, and a further point of Status every 10 ranks). Status is considered a valuable commodity and is used to learn various skills and abilities.

If a community has enough Status amongst its members, it is permitted to hold an area of land and be recognised as a Nation. So, it is possible for other races or peoples to become a Nation upon Orin Rakatha, provided that they are of sufficient size. Orin Rakatha contains the remnants of many races of people who have fled from their original Homeworlds, in addition to its original peoples.

An annual "Time of Reckoning" is held to determine which Nations are permitted to continue existence for another year, based upon the amount of Status pledged to the Nation leader. On a particular day (the Time of Reckoning), each Nation leader (usually accompanied by a powerful retinue) will travel to the Central Isle to declare the Status of their Nation. If the Nation leader has insufficient Status, the Nation will fall and its inhabitants effectively become Nomads. This is a dangerous state of affairs...

Towerless/Nomads

Those that do not reside within a Tower are classed as Nomads (previously called Towerless) and havelittle protection from the mists or Hordelings and are often persecuted by Nations.