The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: important note on culturesave for the cultural inferiority of yuma, racial arrogance does not exist in Xiluh! this means: elves do not look down their noses at humans. elves do not hate dwarves. the only way habatei are looked down upon is in the most literal sense. there is racial pride, in varying degrees that are more or less proportional to what one would expect in traditional settings, but no racial arrogance.

simply put: sure the dwarves are proud of the defenses their homeland provides; why shouldn't they be? but they do not look down upon human or elven achievements simply because of this. the same goes for all races. [/ic]

Quote from: ElvesElves have a militant attitude, in response to the attack on them during The Seven Invasions. This is something that turned out to be well-suited by their already lean builds. Elves have orange hued bones, suggesting a connection to Sun. This caused a religious significance about the bones, and the bones of ritually sacrificed elves are used as currency.

Elven males typically resent open displays of emotion, unless said displays are provoked by sport or war. While there are a few emotions that are somewhat accepted in small doses, this is the overwhelming norm for male elves. Such stoicism is pushed for even at young ages, as elven children are given small cuts on their cheeks, to deter stinging tears.

Elven females generally strive for the betterment of both inward and outward beauty. This has lead to the use of crude cosmetics, such as the crushing of purple berries so the juice can accent their lips.

Humans adapt easily to various environments. With short lives compared to the other races, humans tend to focus more on pleasurable activities.

Quote from: Undeadthe people of Xiluh are well convinced in reincarnation; simply put, if you die honorably, you become a star, to light the paths of others. if you don't, you continue your existence as one of those "others". this happens because there is no "spirit world" afterlife; even those who transcend reincarnation do not transcend the material world.

imagine then, the surprise they experienced upon finding creatures with neither the spirit of the stars nor the spirit of the living! these creatures seemed to appear after the Kunahans attacked the elves of Salanta Woods, and bore a resemblance to nothing previously known to Xiluh.

the only possible explanation, of course, was that these... "undead" were somehow connected to Kunahans. after only a few battles, the connection was discovered: Kunahans are somehow exempt from the normal path of reincarnation, and become these wretched creatures upon death. their spirit seems to transcend the material world, but their bodies don't. instead, the bodies rapidly degenerate into other forms.[/spoiler]

Quote from: YirgamilYirgamil is a hive of a certain type of beetle. This beetle relies heavily on communication with others of its kind, and thus cannot survive without contact with the rest of the hive. Because of the structure of this hive, Yirgamil is considered to be a creature unto itself. As such, there is no name for the beetles that form Yirgamil.

As Yirgamil is not merely a single entity, it is almost incapable of death. This has allowed time enough for it to develop the ability to speak. Although it is capable of profound revelations, it seems fond of incoherent strings of words.

Quote from: creation myth[note]
There are many stories on the rivalry between Sun and Moon, but the story of their final battle is easily the most well known amongst Xiluhans. Since the question has been asked a few times, it should be pointed out that eclipses do not happen. However, if one were to happen, yes, it would indeed be terrible and frightful.[/note]

Moon was reclusive by nature, and attempted to hide everything he did. However, his brother, Sun was clever, and always prided himself in discovering whatever Moon tried to hide. In his excitement, Sun would always reveal his discoveries. For each discovery Sun made, Moon would try even harder to hide whatever his next efforts went to, while becoming increasingly more frustrated.
As the brothers grew older, the great Eagle decided to tell them the secret of flight, feeling no need to inform them that the other brother knew this secret, as well. Moon was determined to hide this secret from his brother, and put so much effort into keeping this to himself, that if Sun hadnt already known the secret of flight, he never would have had any suspicions of Moon knowing the secret. However, Sun did already know the secret of flight, and because of this, he easily found out what Moon was trying to do. Moon, insistent on keeping Sun from flying, grew into an uncontrollable anger, and plotted to kill Sun by removing his heart.
The great Jaguar, knowing each brother had his purpose, and not wanting either to die, told Sun of Moon's plans. Sun then used magic to protect his chest, and waited for Moon. Once Moon was ready, he went after his brother, unaware of the magic protection. In the struggle, before Moon had the chance to kill Sun, Sun plunged his hand deep into Moons chest, and removed Moons heart, killing him. However, Moon had managed to light Sun on fire before dying, therefore killing Sun as well.
Three days later, Jaguar came upon the two bodies. He spent one day mourning over each of the brothers, and that is why each week is five days. Once Jaguar was done mourning, he put the skin back on Sun, and the blood back in Moon. But the skin was tanned, and the blood dried. That is why he could resurrect both of the brothers, but was not able to heal the damage they received. Wisely, Eagle decided to put them both in the sky, but never at the same time. To this day, Sun and Moon chase each other across the sky, Sun still burning, and Moon still unwhole.
[/spoiler]
creation of the world, end of first age.



second age (base calender)

creation of First-Ones (1)
creation of humans (14)
creation of elves (33)
Thark, a First-One, creates the Empire; reign of First-Ones begins (45)
First-Ones create habatei for slavery (62)
Creation of dwarves (91)
The Gods become angered with the First-Ones' sense of cultural superiority, leading Snake to start the perversion of First-Ones into yuma (145)
Humans attempt the first rebellion against the Empire, but quickly fail; Inspired by this, the elves begin secret plans of their own. (147)
Thark is assassinated, allowing Marg to become the second emperor of the First-One Empire (172)
Dwarves split into clans Saan and Saag (200)
Small elven groups initiate their first attacks on the Empire (211)
Humans attempt to ally with elves (213)
Elves make their second wave of attacks on the Empire; Saan clan escapes the rule of the Empire (215)
Saag clan attacks the Empire (217)
Marg captures a small group of Saag clan dwarves, and orders them executed publicly; Rebellions cease temporarily (220)
Public execution of the last of the Saag clan; Dwarves believed to be finally extinct (651)
destruction of remaining First-Ones, ending the empire (684)
release of habatei (695)
enslavement of yuma, end of second age (697)



third age (ta)

Thask becomes first High Shaman (565ta -1262)
A crippled human woman gives birth to a boy, naming him Yaxhuakun. Nothing is known of the father. A month later, the mother dies, and Yaxhuakun is adopted by the village (582ta -1279)
Yaxhuakun starts to show an unusual aptitude for shamanism  (592ta -1289)
Thask apprentices Yaxhuakun (598ta -1295)
Thask dies unexpectedly, abruptly ending Yaxhuakun's apprenticeship four years early. Thask is buried (614ta -1311)
Yaxhuakun succeeds Thask (615ta -1312)
Yaxhuakun apprentices Tlutli (654ta - 1351)
Tlutli gains the title of Second Shaman at the end of his apprenticeship (674ta - 1371)
High shaman Tlutli divines great turmoil (695ta- 1392)
Seven Invasions begin.  (1695ta -2392)
assessment of dwarven fortification. Earth Crusher scouting party captured by dwarves (1699ta -2396)
Scouting party executed (1700ta - 2397
encampment of habatei (1716ta -2413)
attack on elves in Salanta woods, shortly followed by the first appearance of zombies (1724ta -2421)
human-elf alliance (1725ta -2421)
Seven Invasions end (1747ta -2444)
[spoiler=the Seven Invasions]The Seven Invasions were seven separate, but simultaneous invasions, ending about 150 years ago. While it is known that at least one of these invading armies came from a mysterious land known as Kunah, it is unknown where Kunah is.
The languages the armies used quickly proved to be extremely difficult to those native to Xiluh, and so the armies developed names based on their actions: the Hammer Shakers, the Axe Workers, the Rock Binders, the Earth Crushers, the Oath Makers, the shield Snappers, and the Tunnel Cutters.
rumors say that it only took 29 days for each of the armies to arrive, first to last, from their various routes. there were many accounts over the next four years of various raging creatures, previously unknown to Xiluh; throughout these four years, the natives learned about the seven armies, and patiently watched as best they could. Because of the chaotic behaviors of a few of the armies, it has been suspected that they fought amongst themselves for awhile, seemingly forming an alliance of sorts, sometime within the first of the four years.
The following war had started when a small scouting party of Earth Crushers were found by dwarves, within the Mount of the Fist. Three months later, the scouting party was executed under dwarven law.
[/spoiler]
Habatei begin to migrate south to their homelands. Migration proves difficult, and many die. (1803ta -2500)
Surviving habate migrators retreat back to the Hills of the Northern Crescent, where they were encamped during the Seven Invasions. (1806ta -2503)
official mark of recovery (1847ta -2544)
present (1897ta -2594)

Quote from: NationsXiluh has a very loose confederation of tribal city-states, with poorly defined physical borders, but very clear-cut cultural borders.

Quote from: Hills of the Northern CrescentDespite the name, the Hills of the Northern Crescent isn't a collection of hills. Instead, it is a cirque of land created by a small, crescent-shaped range of foothills near the northern coast of Xiluh. Since the habatei of Xiluh were imprisoned here over 140 years ago, this has been their home.

Currency is extremely limited, as most of Xiluh is run on the barter system. While adventurers and other nomadic peoples have more of a dependency on hard currency, they will still occasionally run into the need to barter. Hard currency comes in the form of flat, pendant-like trinkets with intricate, complex designs carved into them, to prevent forgeries.

The denominations (and relative values) are:

Wood: 1
Obsidian: 20
Stone: 400
Bone: 8000 (the orange-hued bones of elves)[/spoiler]


[spoiler=linguistics]
There are a couple points in Xiluhan linguistics that should be noted. Firstly, all words are considered masculine or feminine, although the exact distinction is unclear as of yet. Another is that, males generally have two surnames- one formal, which is passed on through clans, and the other is informal. The informal surname is created by prefixing the name of the father with "chahi-", or "son of-". In other words, Balhundra, son of thaph, would be informally introduced as Balhundra Chahithaph.  The majority of Xiluhan societies are small enough, as well as tight-knit enough, that formal surnames are very rarely used, and even the informal "chahi-" surnames aren't needed too often.

The issue with the word "Xiluh" itself is an interesting one. The most direct meaning, which is also the simplest, is "world". However, it represents a concept that could better be understood as "known world". The subtle distinction between "world" and "known world" is something that Xiluhans seem to bullheadedly dismiss, as it is believed that all that is absolutely vital is already known.

[note]More linguistics later.[/note]

[spoiler=syllabary][table=Syllables][tr][th][/th][td]A[/td][td]E[/td][td]I[/td][td]U[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]B[/th][td]ba[/td][td]be[/td][td]bi[/td][td]bu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]CH[/th][td]cha[/td][td]che[/td][td]chi[/td][td]chu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]DR[/th][td]dra[/td][td]dre[/td][td]dri[/td][td]dru[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]H[/th][td]ha[/td][td]he[/td][td]hi[/td][td]hu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]K[/th][td]ka[/td][td]ke[/td][td]ki[/td][td]ku[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]L[/th][td]la[/td][td]le[/td][td]li[/td][td]lu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]M[/th][td]ma[/td][td]me[/td][td]mi[/td][td]mu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]N[/th][td]na[/td][td]ne[/td][td]ni[/td][td]nu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]P[/th][td]pa[/td][td]pe[/td][td]pi[/td][td]pu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]XHU[/th][td]xhua[/td][td]xhue[/td][td]xhui[/td][td]~[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]R[/th][td]ra[/td][td]re[/td][td]ri[/td][td]ru[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]S[/th][td]sa[/td][td]se[/td][td]si[/td][td]su[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]T[/th][td]ta[/td][td]te[/td][td]ti[/td][td]tu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]TH[/th][td]tha[/td][td]the[/td][td]thi[/td][td]thu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]TL[/th][td]tla[/td][td]tle[/td][td]tli[/td][td]tlu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]V[/th][td]va[/td][td]ve[/td][td]vi[/td][td]vu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]Y[/th][td]ya[/td][td]ye[/td][td]yi[/td][td]yu[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]X[/th][td]xa[/td][td]xe[/td][td]xi[/td][td]xu[/td][/tr][/table]
[table=Codas]
[tr][td]n[/td][td]rk[/td][td]rg[/td][td]sk[/td][td]k[/td][td]l[/td][td]ph[/td][/tr][/table][/spoiler]
[spoiler=pronunciations]
Xiluh- ZEE-loo
Kunah- koo-NAH
valley of Thenta- VAL-lee of THEN-ta
Tixivan- TEE-zee-'vahn
yuma- YOO-mah
Kunahan- KOO-nah-'han
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Adventure Hooks]
*Jaguars leave their honored post of guarding a tribe. What could cause such a change in behavior?

* A dwarf claims to be a descendant of the Saag clan. Could he be telling the truth?

* The corpse of an eagle brings signs of bad omens.

* An as-of-yet unknown creature attacks a settlement of hunters. Have more Kanuhites come to Xiluh?

* One of the PCs is called to help defend his tribe in a food battle against another PCs tribe. Will the party ignore these conflicting interests, or will they take sides against each other?

* Nechui hunt!
[/spoiler]


[spoiler=bibliography]


WotC Xiluh thread


original discussion


joining the CBG


mythos 1.0 (dead)


talk about races and their cultures


thoughts on discrimination against yuma


Classes of Xiluh


 Index to the Xiluh wiki articles


Discussion on language


Records of Tlutli's visions



Most of this will eventually migrate to this thread, but feel free to check them out in the meantime.  Also, some may be marked as official discussion threads.
[/spoiler]



If anybody has any comments or critiques, ideas or suggestions, please, feel free to share them. A bibliography of the posts and threads has been added. sometime soon I hope to add more information on what is here (and some on what isn't), but I wont be able to do that yet.

"... How can it be that the gods are wise enough to shape the universe and the world and the life of the world but lack the wisdom to give humans what they need to be human?"
-Daniel Quinn

QuoteAlso, if you're seeking to emulate a more primitive world where metal is rare, you are going to need to create some new medium and heavy armors. If there are dragons, I'd say you could make scale and plate armor out of dragons.

QuoteCurrency is extremely limited, as most of Xiluh is run on the barter system. While adventurers and other nomadic peoples have more of a dependancy on hard currency, they will still occassionally run into the need to barter. Hard currency comes in the form of flat, pendant-like trinkets with intricate, complex designs carved into them, to prevent forgeries.

The denominations (and relative values) are:

Wood: 1
Obsidian: 20
Stone: 400
Bone: 8000 (the orange-hued bones of elves)

Quote from: RaelifinBut why would someone take the time to actually carve boatloads of wooden medals? Wood is a very bad form of currency to use because the concept behind currency is that you trade things of equal value. Do you know how much wood a goat is worth? A hell of a lot more than you can cary. I'd personally rather bring my goat to market than a wagon of wood medals.