Small mesa-dwellers, the Lturas have often been trampled over throughout the ages. However they have always weathered the depredations of invaders and risen to be successful once more. The Lturas have a millennia-long written history of which they are rightly proud .
Personality: Lturas favor unobtrusiveness over all other traits. They know that those peoples who show off are only conquered that much sooner. However the Kaeda, who are always underestimated for their seeming passivity and stupidity, have always managed to come out on top. The Lturas also live in a very communal society, they live in large extended family units in which everyone knows everyone and there is little privacy. This would never work but for the Lturan unobtrusiveness and tact. They are one of the most polite peoples on the earth, they will always stand on protocal and abhor others who ignore it. They feel that customs are an extension of the law and are just as important for survival. They will accept even the oddest behavior if it is described to them as custom.
Physical Description: Look like 2e Kobolds from Monstrous Manual.
Alignment: The Lturas tend towards the Lawful and Neutral. They feel that laws and customs, no matter whose nor how outlandish, should always be obeyed. They hold to this even if the law serves no purpose or persecutes some.
Effects of War: At the beginning of the Great Invasion the Lturas were undergoing a New Renaissance. For many years it had been known that their lands were filled with gold and other valuable minerals, however invasions and its determined opposition had prevented these resources from being exploited. The Lturas were on the far western frontier of the empire, too far for the Sorvanni to oppress them, however with the other races forbidden to have standing armies there was no one to prey upon them. The Lturas exported fine ore all over the world and were expanding for the first time in many centuries. When the Kaelra attacked the Lturas were ready and willing to protect their empire, however they had never developed effective soldiering tactics for outside their mesas and were quickly defeated. During the War of Daggers the Lturan territories became a bastion for the Kaelra. These peaceful people had always adapted to invaders like water does to rocks, simply by altering its course. The Kaelra allowed them to continue much as they had, but simply stole their production to send back to their homeland to fund the massive invasion effort. Lturan resistance was reduced to a few raider-fleets which operated surreptitiously from hidden fjords.
The telling blow came when the city of Jaddagen was freed by a conspiracy of the Kaelra’s most trustworthy collaborators. The leaders of the city promptly sent out their meager forces to clear the way for Satrap Keniu’s tired and starving army. With Keniu’s brilliant leadership guiding them, the true battle to reclaim the Kaelran homelands finally began. By the War of Earth Jaddagen had become a metropolis and all of the Lturas lived under a free banner once more. However their freedom was not to last as their mesas slowly began to crack and crumble. It was then that Satrap Keniu loaded all of the refugees onto his Great Fleet and launched off. Similar fleets also took off from the cities of Grenedor and Seshelle. Each fleet proceeded, by pre-arranged agreement, in three different directions. Keniu’s fleet was to proceed southward along the continent directly in the path of the fleeing Kaelra, in what was considered the most dangerous route. The second fleet was to proceed northward along the coast past the lands of the Selevani. Both of these fleets were the head for the New World. The third fleet was loaded with the most stores and proceeded westward, hoping to round the world and thus reach the New World if they didn’t find any lands in between. The bulk of the 1st fleet was never found after being caught in a storm. About ½ of the second fleet reached the New World safely. The 3rd fleet was never found, but no one ever expected to do so. Most Lturas think that the descendents of the 3rd fleet have settled in some far away land. The combined reward for any knowledge of the eventual end of the 1st and the rest of the 2nd fleets exceeds 20,000 marks.
Known Lturas Lands: When the first fleet passed through the Northern Isles on its way to the New World many of the Lturas chose to stay and inhabit the islands. They found that some of the volcanic isles were much like their homes and that their seafaring skills gave them an edge out there. The remainder of the first fleet landed and settled in the dry mountains to the northeast of New Wessmark. Some ships from the second fleet also landed on Vay and formed settlements there. Few Lturas came on the fleet from Old Wessmark but for a time the 1st and Old Wessmark fleets traveled together and during that time many Lturas chose to stay with those from Old Wessmark.
Religion: The Lturas worship Jhatae Wildwalker the goddess who is said to guide the dead through the spirit world to their final resting places. The Lturas believe that the journey taken after life is merely a physical reflection of the interior journey each person must make during their lives to find their place in the world. Jhatae suits the Lturas for she is like them. She is quiet, and seemingly less powerful. However when a difficult task had to be done, which required great time and discipline, she was the first to step forward.
Language: Lturas speak the slow Gileresh tongue, a language heavy on formality and ritual. Their language is heavily metered and when spoken at low volume it sounds like drops of water hitting a surface.
Names:
Accent: Throaty Russian accent
Adventurers: Lturas adventure less than other races. They have such a communal society that for most of them it is unthinkable to be separated from others of their race for long periods of time. However often-times adventurers are motivated by the opposite of that desire. Many adventurers are outcastes who are simply looking for some peace and quiet away from the overpowering press of bodies in their own homelands.
Notable Rituals: Privacy – Though in their homelands no true privacy can exist the Lturas attempt to simulate it as best they can. Thus a Lturas will never acknowledge another’s presence unless they speak to the Lturas specifically. Furthermore a Lturas will never repeat a conversation that they have overhead. Lturas will also never touch a person unexpectedly and will always attempt to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Reiku – This holiday celebrates the Freremacht, “Breaking of the Chains”, an ancient holiday honoring the heroes of a long ago revolution against Selevani invaders. In recent times the celebration has been stretched to cover the heroes of the Great War also.
Lturas Racial Traits