Mort
In the World of Threa, there are 21 races. This is a description of a race that lives in the world of Threa, the Mort. That I will describe
The Mort are a patriarchal monarchy. their territory surrounds a dead volcano.
on Mort appearance. they have pale white skin, round face and soft features. Straight, jet black hair. Large eyes with very large irises. the color of their irises is very light greys, nearly white. Very rarely do they have jet black irises. the wear simple sleeveless, hooded robes. they also wear detached sleeves. most of their vestment is various shades of black. they may have some red trim and decorations. the highers their status, the more red they wear. they may also wear black obsidian ornaments, higher status Morts may wear red precious stones.
Morts only see in shades of black and white. all the color around them is reduced to grayscale. the only exception are bright reds. Pale reds, like pink, and dark reds like mahogany would still appear in shades of black and white
They do not express emotion. they have a deadpan face, monotone speech and composed demeanor. They still experience emotion, but state which emotion the feel when they speak. For example, a Mort may say “Your news brings me happiness” in order for anyone to know that they are happy. they prefer symmetry in their aesthetics. they dress and act as symmetric as possible
Morts age slowly. A 15y old may look like a 10 y old. a 75 year old look like a 30 year old. Their natural lifespan is about 250 years. However, it is uncommon to reach that age. in fact, it is preferred to not live beyond 80
Mort faith revolves around life and death. They believe that death marks a transition to another existence. When something dies, they just are changing to another world. that their current existence is ruled by a deity they call Life, and the next world is ruled by Death. They hold that somehow, Death disfavors them, and its not letting the Mort enter the world Death rules over. The Mort have among the longest lifespans. they can naturally reach 250 years of age. they see everything around them die, thus transition to the next world, while they keep on living, Being denied access to the next life. they hold that if they live a good life, maybe then will Death allow they to leave their current existence. when they feel that they have enough good deeds, around 50 to 75 years of age. they try to be sacrificed. a successful sacrifice is deemed good, as it demonstrates that the person was good and was allowed to transition. An unsuccessful sacrifice is viewed with great shame. that somehow, that person was bad. They will instead be executed, and rather than transition to the next world, they hold that their existence will end.
this faith revolves around to deities, Life and Death. they each control one existence, one dimension, one realm. when a person is “alive”, it is considered that they exist in Life’s Realm. when a person “dies”, they transition into existing in Death’s realm. after existing in Death’s Realm for some time, they transition into Life’s realm. and the cycle continues indefinitely .
The Mort believe that the transition from one reality to another must be earned through virtuous acts and good deeds throughout one’s existence. According to their faith, if individuals reside in the realm of life, performing good acts earns them the favor of the deity of Death, permitting them to “die.” Conversely, if they exist in the realm of Death, their good deeds garner the favor of the deity of Life, allowing them to “live.”
However, in the context of Threa, there are no actual deities of Life or Death. Nevertheless, followers of this religion, primarily composed of the Mort race in Threa, hold these beliefs deeply.
The Morts have a natural lifespan of 250 years. They view the natural deaths of other races as proof of Death’s favor while they continue living. Believing they have lost this favor, they strive to perform good deeds and live morally outstanding lives. Once they believe they have earned Death’s favor, they will sacrifice themselves.
their natural youthfulness and longevity is countered by their desire to transition and seek to be sacrificed at around the age of 50 - 75. living longer is frowned upon. few live out their natural long lifespans. but they exile themselves to escape the shame they would otherwise receive.
in Mort society, they are divided in three castes, Servants, Ministers and Lords. the servants are the common folk. The Ministers are the administrative and judicial arm of the Mort society. They ensure that the laws and societal norms are upheld according to their faith. they are further divided into the Deacons (administrator and governance), Arbiters (Judges ), Heralds (legislators), Sentinels ( Police) and harbingers (perform sacrifices). The Lords hold absolute power, however, they chose to remain as mostly ceremonial figures. Any Mort can ascend to a Lord. it is believed that Death, thru the ministers, chooses who gets to be a Lord.
any Mort can ascend to a Lord. Servants, ministers can be chosen to be lords by the ministers, specifically the Harbingers. servants, ministers and lords can be chosen by the Harbingers to become the Lord King, the highest position. while the lords chose to not exercise their absolute authority, they still have it.
the Lords, are technically the governors of various Mort provinces, with the Lord King being the ruler of the entire kingdom. it is their ministers who effectively have the power to rule. nonetheless, the lords words are law.
there are two groups that tend to form. The Zealots have a sense of superiority, they dress themself in all red. They even dye their hair red. The Dropouts question everything. They attempt to explore how to express emotion, not always getting it right. They explore asymmetry and try to dress in other colors, which they cannot see. The Zealots hold that they understand Death better than the ministers. they would even refuse the Lord King’s authority. they encourage others to join them and vilify everyone else, accusing them, the ministers, the lords, and any servant who are not zealots, that it is their fault Death no longer favors them.
dropouts also reject traditional authority, but in a different manner. they question and challange everything. is death even real? is what the ministers define as a good deed actually a good deed? are “bad deeds” actually bad? they effectively remove themselves from mort society, and explore and experiment outside what is consider good and bad by normal societal norms. they explore emoting, but dont always get it. they may laugh when sad, or act surprised when they feel joy. still, with practice, they can align emotional expression with their feelings. they also experiment with colors. they themselves would see no difference, as they only see in shades of grey. the would know if they are wearing a blue or green robe. but to outsiders, to the other races, they would look like an uncoordinated clash of colors, green sleeves, blue robe, brown collar with cyan trimming, since they don’t see what colors they are using. thou they refuse to use bight reds, they only colors they can actually distinguish
Their clothing is minimalistic and simple. They wear ankle-length, sleeveless robes with hoods. While these robes are typically dark grey or black, light grey and white variants also exist. In addition, they wear detached sleeves and pendants, which are usually made of black onyx or white howlite. The trim on their robes and neck sleeves can feature ornate decorations. Depending on their progress in the cycle, some may incorporate red into their attire. Footwear varies between being barefoot or wearing sandals. Ministers have more layered robes, and their hoods are always red. Deacons and Harbingers wear white robes, whereas Arbiters, Heralds, and Sentinels wear black robes. Heralds and Harbingers have red sleeves, while Sentinels and Deacons have red trimmings, and Arbiters have red sashes. Lords have additional layers on their robes and incorporate red throughout their attire. They also wear red jasper or ruby pendants, and head dresses, with the Lord King’s headdress featuring red accents.
Botched executions: any individual can peruse one of two paths for transition, either self sacrifice, or thru an harbinger. self sacrifice can be more familial, while seeking the services of an harbinger is more communal. their are instances in which the execution is botched, that is that the person continues to live. even if it is by some moments more than expected, they see it as a grave offense. that they attempted to transition without Death’s favor. if they perish from the botched sacrifice, they believed that Death will deny them when the arrive at Death’s realm for forcing their entry without death’s favor. They left Life’s Relm and denied entry into Death’s Relm, so they are effectively obliterated. If they survive, they will be shunned. similar if they they try to transition before being deemed to have lived a good life. and also if the back out of the sacrifice once they have agreed to do so.
The father is the head of the household. Everyone is born into their father’s profession. The father can change work, but it is frowned upon, so it doesn’t happen much. His profession is passed down from father to son. the wife and daughters provide assistance to the father and husband.
For their naming convention. They have a personal name and a family name. Both are a single syllable name. For example, Eo Da, Eo is their personal name and Da is the family name. Other names are Ia Su and Ro Di. Outsiders tend to use their full name rolled together. Ro Di may be referred as Rodi by outsiders instead of Ro.
While the territory around the dead volcano does offer value to other races, they are under the protection of from another race, the Dis Com, who field two powerful military unit in the territory. as such, they themselves don’t field an army. they also have a limited police force. since everyone strive to do good deeds, to treat each other as they would like for themselves, there isn’t many who brake any laws. The nobles are the ones that carry out the sacrifices and execution. sometime it is the king personally that caries the task. They wield Scythes to carry the sacrifices and executions.
The land around the volcano is very desirable. the volcanic soil is very fertile. More than excellent for farming. there are also plenty of mineral resources. The Dis Com protect the Mort lands in exchange of use of mining and farming land.