Nuralk Trochkompin

Nuralk is the world's most famous poet and commonly called by his first name. He is already several centuries old but still travels a lot, and rarely has the time to be a university teacher in his home city Mourinor in the Great Talash-Keh realm.
Nuralk's works have become the standard for any and all bards, and are widely known. Among his greatest works are the epos "The Four" and the poem collection "The Mists of Yallahan", both of which were translated into many languages, and serve many learners of foreign languages to get a grasp of rhyme and rhythm. Aside from his accomplishments in the literature and entertainment world, youths love him for making his wild hairdo of felted strands, barely tamed with tin beads, fit for good society (more or less).

"I have romanticized rebellions and told out rulers, insulted several orders, met a seraph, and almost caused war on at least three occasions, but my most discussed deed is: was my use of the Four's verse in "The Four" genius or theft?"
— Nuralk, poet

Also, Nuralk has made a name for himself by claiming he met a seraph. The seclusive people have not left their floating cities in millenia, but apparently this one came to talk; about what, Nuralk has never remembered, nor what the seraph looked like, except that he or she "walked like silk in the wind", which has since become a popular flattery.

"Valiantly prosperous, the bright land holds/ ashen and blood-smeared, the sharp land folds/ furiously blind, upheaving dim remains, the namesake groans/ thus is Sawa, the fiery, where each mountain moans."
— Nuralk, children's verse to remember Sawan states

Artists' notes
This guy was a really early celebrity while I created Genius Loci. Bards are a great thing in fantasy games, books, and whatnot; I remember several cool rpg companions, and also the joy of having bards sing the song of the Dragonborn in TES V: Skyrim. 

Brighthold

The vast majority of political, financial, and social positions lies with women in the highly militarized Sawan country Brighthold, weapons-related professions being closed to men. So, men stay at home during their wifes' long war tours, and take care of the large families and fort-like homes.
Brighthold has the world's largest and best-led army, and keeps the many bickering tribes and nations around in order. Their heroines are known far and wide, their skills undisputed and admired, their honour unquestionable. At home, Brightholders enjoy the simple life, social gatherings with bards, and their families. The Crowned is chosen by the Nobles' Assembly, and has never yet been cruel or unskilled.

"We just left the west, and we have to go back already and settle down the neighbours we just defended? Why can't the world stay saved for a day or two?"
— Unedirokar, soldier

Although Brighthold lies in the south, as a plateau it is windy and rather cool in temperature.
The Brighthold wear consists of leathers and pelts, exquisitely worked and adorned with animal tails, rims, pearlwork, and embroidery; woven fabrics are rare and expensive. The notable "underwear" is a leather suit covered with the typical, irregular metal plates. Brightholder civilians are proverbially "better armoured than other armies' skirmishers". Men's and women's clothing differs only slightly in elaboration and practicality.

"Ah, whenever my wife is home she disrupts our routines, leaves messes, and frightens the children with her challenges and loud behaviour. Still, we love her; I wish she'd stay longer so we could have another child - but alas, some tribe in the north is sure to rattle their spears and she'll leave sooner than we think."
— Halakamiron, husband

Artists' notes
I can't remember how Brighthold ("Lichtfeste") became a matriarchy, but it stuck and now I have all kinds of plot lines around it. It's not a feminist statement, though, I believe the only way to live in peace is if we agree genders aren't different. Brighthold was one of the earliest and because of its extremes most notable countries I invented; the costume is inspired by the Native Americans' and always fun to come up with.

The Splinter War

The most devastating war Kitas ever had to endure lasted over a century. Started by subversive forces of shapechangers reaching for power, long suppressed conflicts broke out everywhere. Naturally, shapeshifters were hard to discover; their tactics were political and their network tight. Starting in northwest Sawa, the war burned its path eastwards, travelled to Lozir and then Gdera; it was finally managed to develop means to discover shapeshifters, but it took great effort to pacify the realms enough to employ them.

The real reasons of the shapeshifters' warmongering are lost in history; whether they wanted to rebuild afterwards, simply sought destruction, or followed some other plot, is unknown.

"It's not that we think our men were worth any less than us. It's that we don't trust them - after the cruelties committed by them in the Splinter War, they have no business being around weapons."
— Kiromatonak Stillhand, Brighthold scribe

After the war, the maps had to be redrawn. Shapeshifters were hunted and killed, shapeshifting was outlawed. Natural shifters were presumed extinct, spells forbidden, the name used as an insult.
Two millenia later, the shapeshifters' role in society was rediscovered, along with the forgotten spells. Scientists made a great effort for its acceptance and today, very slowly, shapeshifting is growing back into society.

"You should overcome the Splinter War. Even if it was such a great incision, you cannot linger on it forever - how will you brighten the future if the past throws such shadows?"
— The Kirnanas fleeter

Artists' notes
The original German "Splitterkrieg" might be more accurately translated as "Shatter War" but I didn't like how it sounds.
The Splinter War is a deep cut in history - there's a before and an after, and both are very different. So much was destroyed that entire countries have been forgotten. The war and the difference to before will be interesting along the way of telling the story of Genius Loci.
Why, do you ask, have the Four not helped? Because the Splinter War started at the end of one cycle and prevented the new one from beginning. The Years of Sorrow were not four years that time, but decades of a world without the Four to protect it from itself.

Signs and Marks

"The giant went towards the village and began to drag his feet. We climbed the cliff of Morning Gorge to see, and found he was encircling the entire settlement in signs, herds and all."
— Kell Nor Haseban, villager 

 Marks protect against evil or unwanted supernatural matters. The most common examples are protective circles against dead spirits and marks against placespirits, but they can also influence mana flow and aspectation.
There are two alphabets. The First Signs were discovered in the first age, soon after the Rise of Light, and are lavish, graphical patterns. The second are the Wild Marks, whose discovery is lost in history; they are shapes of primeval strength. Both alphabets work like natural laws, not cultural endeavours, and were not invented, but discovered. Thus, while First Signs have been in use for millenia and are widely understood, every now and then new Wild Marks can still be found.

"When we were small, we once changed the fifth sign of our least favourite aunt's bedroom protection on one of her dreaded visits... she had to be kept in bonds for three weeks after she gravely injured our grandfather, until a collector came to free her from possession. So I had the signs in my own house laid in steel."
— Marligan, farmer

Unfortunately, signs cannot be made permanent. While placeholders help redrawing signs correctly, they are powerless without proper ritual. Placeholders aid against malevolent or accidental changes, and important signs are laid in steel and stone. There are other limitations to signs; they must be made on stable ground and cannot be drawn on carpets or even ships; they aid but don't offer full protection unless in the most extensive versions.
Aside from professional markmakers, speakers, collectors, and voices make heavy use of signs.

Artist's notes
This article was equally difficult to write as the one about speakers, there are so many details to signs and markmaking. Inventing the alphabets graphically took much preparation and for a long time I wasn't sure if they would be put down at all, but I realized that I wanted to describe them better and use them in paintings sooner or later. They might not be final like this, but for now I'm rather happy with their designs. 

Family and relations

• Family is everyone related through blood, and their spouses (grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, siblings, nephews and nieces, children, grandchildren; but not cousins, or the own spouse's siblings). For longlived species, family trees can become insanely large; states with such populations feature laws that put a sensible stop to responsibility for family members.
• Clan is the family plus all additional blood relations, and members of the household; relations by marriage, adopted children, and permanent guests.
• A tribe is all clans related by blood or law, the families and clans of all own clan members and their households.
• The people is all tribes that feel connected by culture, or are considered related by outsiders.

The importance of the communities differs. Settled nomads emphasize family and people, while travelling nomads consider the clan most important. In unsure times and regions every alliance is defended with teeth and claws, in safe times bonds are given up easier.

"I really don't see how I'm obliged to help the thrice-damned Redwater Walkers when we're only related by a distant cousin's adopted daughter's second husband. If we go on like that, I'd be related to half of Lozir, for crying out loud."
— Davoi, clan elder

Adoption

It's unusual to leave orphans on the streets. Most often they will be adopted by parents of their own species, but that's not a law. Garren will also call their beja parents mother and father and not fuss.
Dwarves are relatively quickly in new homes, even if they need a lot of food, as the timespan they can stay alone at young age is less than half a year, and the damage is harder to heal. Raganaj are harder to house; their needs are great, their growth requires new clothes often, and they always bring a pet, even if only in teenage years. Elves are almost never taken up when the adoptive parents' relationship isn't perfectly fine, there's always the hint it might be a bastard, and their many peculiarities make elves hard to live with (elves are more prone to suffer from prejudice anyway than others).
Speaker children are never alone for long; their group will take them in, if no-one else will.

"Sewing new clothes for Samakadi always was like tentmaking, with her being my height at age six, and I haven't been able to carry her after her third birthday. But she is 'our' daughter, and I could not imagine my life without her."
— Ogrinae Kanraha, dwarf

Artists' notes
There are many fine details to living together that are fun to consider when creating a multi-species world. As there are very few cultures with few or only one species, I had to think about how people marry, how they handle children, if there are more halfbloods than truebloods, what society thinks of halfbreeds, and so on. The main thing though is, all parents love their children regardless of how they came by them, and raganaj parents will love their garren children just as much as their own blood, and this simple notion fixes most problems. Adding that racial prejudice is considered a mental illness, halfbloods may not be many (you'll probably marry so you can have children) but aren't outcasts either. Halfbloods will be detailed in their own article.

Orlas

"If any of my orla pups turns out to be half as good a tracker as Senbror's Gray, I'll make him the father of all my following breeds. Although, their colouring could be more distinct."
— Krinor, orla breeder

Orlas are large warmblooded reptiles, about a meter and forty long including the tail. Their skin is blue with brown stripes; the netorla breed has a netlike pattern, the waterorla breed is greyish blue with a pale belly. All orlas have a small collar and a spiky crest on the head and shoulders. Orlas are fantastic companions for hunting, they're flexible enough to fit into most burrows, they can swim, run, and climb, and so it doesn't matter that they're too quickly fatigued to run down prey. They're friendly and happy to learn, and their favourite treat are the heads of dried amfas. Orlas are quite popular pets, and much friendlier and easier to keep, breed, and train than gubras.
The most known orlas - aside from their queen Asgaan - are the two companions of the wizard Senbror, creator of the famous collar, Gray and Catcher, who are the stuff of legend, and it's the ultimate goal of any breeder to get just one orla like either of those two.

Artists' notes
I imagine orlas to be the frolicking happy kind of companion animal, like the mount of Obi-Wan in Star Wars Episode III, similar to border collies. I've always liked reptiles and have seen them to be quite amiable sometimes, being happy to be scratched and taken care of, and wanted orlas to be just like that. 

Languages

"Linguists will thank Nuralk forever to have composed poems that can be easily translated into any dialect or language. Beauty and rhyme make it so much easier to remember grammatical rules."
— Etrienne, historian

Languages differ by country. Most people speak dialects of their neighbours, so while travelling, communication is manageable, becoming more difficult with distance. Metropoles like Gamahan are linguistic beacons, with neighbouring cultures speaking their dialect; an educated person knowing a few large cities' dialects can make their way easily.

"One might feel less tricked by the dustship traders if they'd bother to speak comprehensibly. I reckon they could if they wanted, but foreign dialects make the trade more interesting and buyers more willing to let things slide."
— Quoyoh Virn, merchant

The ancient language Sorit is versatile and at times elusive; it's the language of scholars and the elementarians. It is the base of today's languages, and remains visible in names (for example, one translation of Gamahan means "circled land"). The suffix "-han" in country names means "land" and is preceded by the largest tribe's name.
The rhu'khach spoke A'ruhs; the rich calligraphies can be seen on their remaining monuments. Kidin, the slow language of the mountains, trees, and the ocean, is mainly interesting to speakers. Many bards and poets also speak older languages.

Artists' notes
I was long undecided about languages in Genius Loci. They're a knack of mine, but many languages make things confusing and adventures tedious. The lingua franca approach of many fantasy worlds was too simple, too, differing only by race. One language (more or less) that is splintered into many dialects, that can at times be barely comprehensible, seems a good compromise to me. I also spent some time writing down pronounciation.
The picture belongs to Issue #4 of Worldscapes magazine.