Hi Cabage Heads! It's time for my biannual return (Xathan should show up soon, if they haven't already).
I haven't been working on my settings much lately, but a conversation with a friend got me thinking about it again. As it will be easier to work on my setting if I run a game in it, that means I need to get the races of my world in order again. The race that gives me the most trouble in my setting is the Ifrit. I've talked about them before, but I still need help.
The Ifrit are the only reptilian race counted amongst the civilized races. They are taller than humans and quite muscular. They have rounded, knobby scales. The scales do not shed on their heads, they stick to the next that grow, giving them scaley dreadlocks that warriors typically trim. They have small, weak eyes, and large heat sensing pits around their nose, allowing them to "see" infrared. Their hands end in four thick fingers, and their claws are blunt (useful in protecting the fingers while digging, but not for combat). Their scales range from black, to brown, to red.
Their most striking physical feature is their often smoking mouth. Their mouths secrete two chemicals that, when mixed, ignite in a puff of flame. The young and old have difficulty controlling these secretions, causing occasional flares and puffs of smoke. Their jaws do not protrude further than a human's nose, and their teeth are hidden when they close their mouths. They stand on their heals; they aren't exceptionally swift footed.
The goal of the race is to have a strong warrior culture that is absolutely not a "Klingon". My dwarves fill the honorable warrior role, and the whole concept of Honor as we know it is a very human thing in my setting.
Ifrit are chaotic. They worship fire. They fight for fun. They have aggression issues. They sacrifice their prisoners to the flames. While they are technically herbivorous, they consume meat ritualistically. Their coming of age ritual has them send adolescents into the jungle to kill the strongest beast they can and consume it's heart to gain it as a totem. They consume pieces of the dead at funerals before cremation.
But I don't want them to be seen as an evil race. They aren't evil. "Typically chaotic neutral" in D&D terms. But they are pretty "bad" by human mores. So why are they considered a civilized race? Why is a player Ifrit allowed into human or dwarf cities?
So far, my thoughts are is that their civilized status comes down to two things: they build cities and there are enough of them that you wouldn't want to start a war with them. Kind of like tense relationships between modern nations: the US and Russia don't like each other, but we can travel. Individuals may have different opinions, but as a whole an Ifrit can freely travel in civilized lands.
Ifrit in the primary area of the setting come from two distinct cultures: Red Ifrit and Black Ifrit. The red Ifrit are the older culture. They live in the northern jungles. They build cities around artificial stone volcanos, whose pyres are the sites of cremations and sacrifices. Their governments are loose, made up of a council of the strongest members of each of the groups involved. Strength isn't always physical strength; it can be magical strength or strength of leadership. They believe strongly in respect through power; you don't deserve respect unless you have the power to command it, and you don't deserve what you cannot keep. Blood feuds are common, and vengeance is a frequent issue. Children are communally by the females, and join clans when they become adults. Male and female clans are largely separate.
Black Ifrit split off long ago, first due to a religious disagreement over the sanctity of blood. Objecting to blood sacrifices, they believed that blood was so sacred that it should not be spilt except when necessary. They I've in the eastern badlands, where they move between ariable areas twice a year. I don't have much on them beyond that yet.
If you were to play an Ifrit, what would you like to know about them? What ideas would you add?
I could see myself hanging around Black Ifrits, they seem okay, but I really can't see myself comfortable in the presence of regular Ifrit. Sacrificing people is always going to be seen as taboo, no matter who your sacrificing. Also I don't mean to start an alignment argument inferno, so what I say is MY opinion, and this is how I would feel if I had to live in a world with an alignment system built into it. Chaotic Neutral just seems outright narcissistic. If i did whatever I wanted, when I wanted without regard for other peoples feelings or safety, I wouldn't have many friends if any. I don't see a CN group ever being popular with people in my viewpoint.
The way I see The N part of CN is that neither do good deeds make them feel good, nor do evil deeds make them feel bad, and vise versa. Altruism isn't a strong thing for them (they're reptiles), but they also don't strictly delight in hurting people. In the way I view alignment, when you say "whatever I wanted ... Without regard for other people's feelings or safety" could be CN. At least they aren't delighting in others suffering. They just happen to believe in religious capital punishment.
Also, I'm purposefully trying to skirt that line between what you'd traditionally have as an Evil race. When my setting was just my D&D skin, they were the Orcs, and have since evolved as I've made efforts to make the setting more unique. They push my own taboos, as I want them to seem nonhuman.
Could they have some useful skill that benefits the other races, when shared? Maybe a tradition of divination: fire-seers that can read your fortune by gazing into flames. Or medicine men that can cure disease.
That's an interesting thought. Important trade routs that run through their jungle. Important resources that come from their area. A shared tradition amongst the other dragon worshippers that keeps them connected (with everyone except the water worshipping Tritons). Access to Ifrit mercenaries could also keep entire countries from wanting to go to war with all Ifrit.