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===== The Iluayans of Caskaris =====
The Iluayans are a human race native to the northern continent of [[planes:aurius:caskaris:start|Caskaris]], which is located on one of the seven worlds of creation which exists at the northwestern point from the elven world. Caskaris, also known as the ancient or ancestral world, is now a harsh place to their underclassmen, the [[planes:aurius:caskaris:countries:ayoskova|Ayoskovic potentate]] having subjugated much of the land to serve their will, for little regard as to their subjects’ needs. It is thought by the subjects that the Ayoskovic potentate was elected as the ruler by the chief god of their religion, thus granting him political power throughout the land.
==== Origins ====
The Iluayanic people, as professed by the Ayoskovic kingdom, are thought to be the civilized descendants of the tribes which inhabited Caskaris in times of antiquity, and whose identification spread throughout all of known Caskaris so that they might regard individuals as congenial in some way, worthy of being converted into a subject of their potentate. As the Ayoskovic kingdom was founded, so too was the Iluayanic descriptor, which notably grouped all inhabitants of the changing and twisting forests of Caskaris together, based on their shared physical characteristics.\\
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Though the racial classification described as Iluayanic was developed by the Ayoskovic kingdom, it is thought by some of the broader Iluayans that they claim descent from two main groups; the [[races:humans:caskaric:ayanics:start|Ayanics]], who inhabited eastern Caskaris since time immemorial, and the [[races:humans:caskaric:neraics:start|Neraics]], who inhabited within the [[:garden_of_runaral|Garden of Runaral]]. As for the traits which they inherited from these two differentiating ancestors, it is thought that the Neraics were a particularly pious people who were governed by the [[pantheons:class:daevas|Daevas]], with their gift unto their descendants being a certain spirituality and intelligence, while the Ayanics were instead ruled over by the spirits of the mortal plane and passed on a propensity for suffering by the hands of the darkness.
==== Culture ====
The Iluayanic peoples, who belong to many traditions in both Ayoskova and the uncivilized coasts and wilds of which the Ayoskovic governing does not reach, tend to share a belief that the darkness of night and the long night of winter is a necessary evil, where all of those which the darkness touches will be challenged and the world of darkness will be reborn into the first light of spring. The cycle of the seasons, as it is revered by them, is used to measure time as the world transitions from one state of light and abundance to another of darkness and suffering. Accordingly, they regard the season of winter to be a time of great destruction and chaos in the world, as it is then that darkness befalls the land of Caskaris and tests those who inhabit beneath it. Accordingly, the summer is thought to be rejuvenating in its warmth and life, and it is then that light may be seen as more present than any of the dark.\\
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The Iluayanic subjects of the Ayoskovic potentate often believe that the winds that emerge from the cardinal directions propagate the deific elements of the seasons throughout the changing world of Caskaris so that a flux might be observed. The wind, then, is revered as a powerful element, but it is thought that by itself, the wind possesses no nature or intent of its own. Therefore, it is the season that the wind brings that carries intent and a flavor, and these elements are the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and each element rules its own world which the wind flows through in order to reach the central land of Caskaris. From the east comes the winds of spring and rebirth, from the west comes the winds of autumn and decay, the north, winter and death, and finally, from the south, summer and rejuvenating life.\\
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The gods of the seasons, which are the element carried by the winds personified and realized into a conscious form, are thought to have descended from the earlier [[pantheons:class:vaniel|Vaniel]], and they tore into the heart and blood of the primordial Vaniel and fashioned themselves anew from their essences, thereby crowning themselves as the [[pantheons:class:itharics|Itharics]]. This identifier indicated strength, and it came to be known among the Iluayans that these were the gods to be worshipped rather than the earlier Vaniel and the totemic worship of the Ayanics. These gods ruled a throne that exists far beyond mortal perception, and they are accordingly thought to inhabit at the great rim of the world that nevertheless is accompanied by the end of the enclosing sky.\\
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From the east, there arose a love and fertility, and it is from these winds that the flowers of spring may bloom in anticipation for the warmth of matrimony. Marriage is thus conducted at this time by the broader Iluayans, and though arranged marriage may be partaken of, it is in the spring that the rites of marriage and matrimony occur. It is furthermore thought that the goddess [[pantheons:deities:joraela|Joraela]] resides over these rituals, and it is Joraela that is worshipped as one of the Itharics, whose essence spills into the spring of Caskaris. The summer, then, brings about the life that marriage protects, and as the child is carried for nine months, it is spring again when they are born. This god who resides at the southern rim of the world is called [[pantheons:deities:dracelys|Dracelys]], and it is he who inhabits a paradise that few mortals are said to have walked among.\\
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The winter winds, as they originate from a land of deathly snow and ice, bring destruction as the people attempt to survive through this difficult time of chastising punishment, the land being cloaked with infertility and darkness. The queen of snow, who is thought to inhabit this land from her throne, is called [[pantheons:deities:nyvara|Nyvara]], and she is the lady of the north and death from where Iluayanic hardships originate from. Finally, the autumn winds emerge from the west, and it is through them that the world may begin to decay and degenerate in preparation and preservation for the biting winter. This ruling god is known as [[pantheons:deities:asphothys|Asphothys]], an incarnate of entropy that seeks to halt the world in the phase between.\\
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Though these gods of the four seasons are acknowledged as supremely potent, there is yet one god that is still more potent than they: Lyosithar, who bears the weight of the sky so that the seasons remain in flux and in balance with each other, rather than their emissaries fighting over the land between. According to Lyosithar’s procuring act of balance and preservation, Caskaris may know the peace of a land not eternally ruled over by one element of the seasons, thereby enabling its constant change and yet, the laws of the cycles which perpetuate its very existence.\\
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Though the majority of the Iluayans profess the beliefs in the seasons and the emergence of the Itharics as the gods to be worshipped, it was originally found that the Vaniel were to be worshipped among their ancestors of the Ayanics, and this change is thought to have resulted in the ascension of the Ayoskovic potentate. This potentate managed to exercise political power through both diplomacy and militia such that they had united a large swathe of people who could then be identified as Iluayanic, as they shared enough features to be identified as such. Though there are still some who do not belong to the Ayoskovic government, they share enough phenotypic features so that they still bear some resemblance to the Ayoskovic people. These include the [[races:humans:caskaric:iluayans:aetherics|Aetherics]] of the southern coast and the [[races:humans:caskaric:iluayans:covens of deonasta|occultists of the eastern coast]], both of which having descended from the Neraics of western Caskaris.\\
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The Aetherics, who comprise a significant fraction of the Iluayanic people, refuse to bow before a king, as it is within their religion and culture that such idolatry may not be made and accordingly that the Ayoskovic tsar not be worshipped as if he were a god. It is from the gaze of the spirit that the Aetherics believe divinity to come, not from a member of humanity, even if one were to proclaim themself as a god as the Ayoskovic tsar did. Thus, the Aetherics are hunted by the potentate of Ayoskova, and when found, they are abducted and tortured to reveal the secrets of their people.\\
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The covens who inhabit the eastern coast of Caskaris also descend from the Neraics, and it is from their sensitivity to spirits that they had earlier come into contact with powerful beings that have identified themselves as the [[pantheons:class:deonyths|Deonyths]], those reborn in the otherworldly. These beings are worshipped as gods by these covens, and it is through their rites and rituals that the beings may access the mortal plane so that their decrees may be enacted and their power exercised. The Deonyths, then, enable these covens’ practices of magic, and it is from them that shadow may be made to bend and their people might know the seduction of the dark as it existed prior to the mortal plane.\\
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Both of these latter groups do not operate as a unified state among themselves, however, and there can be found many sects and religious beliefs between them such that no two tribe has purely identical beliefs and practices. Though this may be the case, there is a general belief among the Aetherics that the [[pantheons:class:aesyth|Aesyth]] are to be recognized and venerated, and that they descend from some ideal world in order to act as a tutelary guide among them. In addition, the Aetherics recognize a mystery figure referred to as [[pantheons:deities:aeon_teleos|Aeon Teleos]], and they do not freely share the being’s name among those of a different faith. Thus, the Aetherics practices of worship remain covert, concealed from the prying eyes of Ayoskova who would seek to punish them.
==== Biology ====
The Iluayans who inhabit Caskaris possess the white skin which belong to the peoples of that land, as evidence of their time in the darkness of the mortal plane and the eternal artifact of its great power over them. These accursed people also share in blonde to brown hair and many shades of blue or grey in the eyes, the traits of their ancestors being passed down to them, those same who the darkness touched and embraced and, as a result, forever cursed. These colors are those which the darkness fought by their ancestors has affected, the lack of heavenly sustenance leaving them as beings that are incapable of the vast array of the colors contained within the light.\\
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The Iluayanic peoples also tend to have a variety of heights, with some being shorter than others and some being taller than others, but with the average height remaining at about five feet and ten inches, significantly larger than some of the elven races and even other mannish peoples as the biting cold had instigated a rise in a larger body, along with the prevalence of the eating of meat in the times of winter where crops and other agricultural exploits do not grow. The sustenance which can be found in the wintertime has modified their diet from one which relies on the life and growth of plants to another in which those hardy and predatory animals that surround them are used instead.