The Selevani are an amphibious humanoid race that typically dwells in swamps. They favor large sprawling cities with many dead-ends and alleys. They are heavily involved in the affairs of other races, usually forming enclaves of their own kind in areas where they are in the minority.
Personality: The Selevani tend to be pragmatic and secretive. They are canny and are given to intrigue and plotting of all types. Selevani are known for forming grand schemes in order to achieve their ends, and they are ruthless in the means they use to achieve those ends. A Selevani will never willingly reveal anything without a price and even then only if the knowledge would benefit them. It is widely known that ever action taken and every word spoken by a Selevani has at least two ends in mind and both of those ends are to his own advantage. Selevani are known the world over as canny merchants, skilled thieves, and opportunists. They are looked upon with distrust wherever they go, those who talk to them always seek to find out what their ulterior motive might be. For the most part the Selevani enjoy their reputation for unethical behavior and selfishness, even those who are good often seek to encourage it whenever they can.
Physical Description: The Selevani are a sinuous amphibious race. They tend to stand about 5 – 5 ˝ feet tall and have smooth skin green skin. Their long fingers have a tough, loose webbing which they can make taught and which helps in their swimming abilities. Their feet also have long ridges on either side that can spread out, revealing webbing between them and the foot and increasing the surface area of the feet
Alignment: The Selevani tend to be chaotic neutral. They tend to always look out for themselves, breaking the rules when it would suit them. However they never go out of their way to oppress or hurt others.
Effects of War: The Selevani used to live in the North, in the Tsathan and Chehkot Swamps. From their swamp fastnesses they carried on an ever-continuing war against the Kimasxi and ran criminal and mercantile networks spanning the entire continent. During the war their cities were amongst the hardest-hit by the invading Kaelra, who regarded their ports as a key strategic location. In fact the first attack ever made by the Kaelra was a sneak attack on their capital city of Sevgarn. Though the Selevani fought fiercely nevertheless by the end of the war they were decimated. Furthermore when the swamps turned acidic during the War of the Earth even more of them died off. In the end only a few were able to escape with the Great Fleet led by Jhundarth. In the New World the Selevani found themselves at a severe disadvantage. For many years they were forced to live in New Wessmark, and were persecuted by the Kimasxi who dominated that city. Finally with the discovery of the Swamp of Lost Armies and the Convocation of All Men the Selevani began to rebuild themselves as a New Wessmark protectorate and once again spread their plots throughout the world.
Selevani Lands: The greatest concentration of the Selevani is amongst the growing city-states of the Swamp of Lost Armies. However there are substantial minorities in New Wessmark and its larger protectorates. There are also numerous Selevani in the northern islands. There is also an isolated city of Selevani in the interior of the island of Vay. And, of course, the city without at least a small enclave of Selevani is rare indeed.
Religion: Selevani worship Karymos, Lord of Intrigue, however it is a much more relaxed worship than that of most races. Their entire lifestyle is a devotion to him, they reason, so there is no need to do any extravagant amount of praying. Indeed except for a few important holidays there is no organized day of worship. The most significant prayer for a Selevani is a monetary contribution to the local temple, in return for luck in his various endeavors.
Language: Selevani speak Rispech amongst themselves but they will usually attempt to pick up the languages of those with whom they meet with frequently. Selevani have found that speaking in another’s language can give you goodwill and goodwill can give you money. Money is obviously worth more than the racial pride that might be gained by insisting on their own language. Rispech is a simple easy-to-learn language that sounds like very harsh and guttural to listeners. Rispech does not contain words for most difficult scientific or arcane concepts but does contain an advanced vocabulary for dealing with various illegal and quasi-legal endeavors.
Names:
Male – Akim, Anstice, Demyan, Gavril, Ilya, Kirill, Ivan, Konstantin
Female – Naum, Nikita, Kostya, Katja, Osip, Vanya, Yefrem, Yuri
Surnames – Selevani typically take the name of their city. They simply add d’[city name] onto their own name.
Accent: Londo Mollari from Babylon Five. Selevani PCs don’t have to use accents if they don’t wish to. Its more of a campaign flavor thing for NPC use
Adventurers: Most Selevani take up adventuring for the Big Three, Money, Prestige, and Power. Selevani consider all other races than them to be less sophisticated than them. Thus it is easier for a Selevani to weave his plots amongst the other races than amongst his own kind.
Notable Rituals: The Night of Shadows – This holiday celebrates the first sack of Wessmark. The Shadows represent the army that infiltrated the city and killed the sentry, poisoned the guards and took control of the city before morning. The night of Shadows, celebrated at midnight of the 7th of Silverhammer, usually consists of feasting and drinking throughout the entire night as well as contests of stealth. It is tradition that Selevani authorities will turn a blind eye towards any thefts committed on this night so long as the victim isn’t too important. Formerly a minor holiday, it gained new importance after the Midnight Massacres which followed its first celebration in the city of New Wessmark. Now it is studiously celebrated, especially if there are Kimasxi around to watch.