Isur Clans

[Sulphor Rath]

Hello, I know what I'm about to suggest delves heavily in the realm of a part of Gillar' creations, the Isur and everything revolving around said race, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get more opinions on this matter I'm about to 'propose'. I'll get straight to the point: Since Sultros is basicly a region consisting of 5 cities and with at least 5 still active Isur Clans in it (Lost Clans not included), I think it'd be pretty neat to have the 5 Clans differentiate even more so thanks to the racial bonus they get at creation. I think these are pretty valid suggestions, I turn to the Akalaks and their female brethren, the Akontak, to add reason to these ideas: Akalak have their own racial bonuses, while Akontak get a different set of 'racial bonus', eventhough they are of the same ancestry. I do realize this suggestion can be brushed off by saying that there are clans in many races and that does not necessarily warrant a different racial bonus just for that. But do consider that each Clan has a different 'part' of Izurdin embodied in their body (their arm's tone and veins). Also, a quite wildly different upbringing/situation, depending on which Clan the character is in. I feel like I'm being incoherent, but what I'm trying to say is: The Clans are so diverse that I believe it to be quite plausible to give them different racial bonuses. This idea came to me because I saw that out of the current Izur, living in Sultros, regardless of Clan lineage...They almost all specialized in smithing in one way or another. Somehow I do think adding this variety would bring more players to the Isur race and possibly more variety in the way people build their Isur PC. ~~ Please feel free to input your thoughts, advice, constructive criticism. Thank you kindly.

[Pjeil]

Keep in mind that Akalak, Konti and Akontak are all different races. Akontak being a male or female hybrid of the Akalak and the Konti. The reason why the Akontak have a different racial bonus is because of the hybridization of the the two different parent races.

On the other hand, what you are suggesting implies that the 5 clans are fundamentally different from each other. On one very brawny hand, those from the Pitrius Clan do tend to exhibit (or perhaps are encouraged) magical ability. On the other equally brawny hand, Gillar implies that even the roles of each clan are malleable and allow their fellow isur that are not of their clans to join their ranks. The reason the clans have the roles in the first place is due to nepotism since family is a big part of isurian life. Consider, for example, a Sultros clansman joining the military, despite that being under the domain of the Coglias Clan, or a Vizerian clans member joining the Sentinels which are formed primarily of Pitrius Clan.

I do not think that giving separate racial bonuses to the clans of the Isur will happen any time soon.

Just my two very shiny and new(bie) cents.

[Rorugir]

As Pjeil said, Akalak and Akontak are not the same race, as the Akontaks are rather the offspring of the Akalak and the Konti, a completely separate race. Nor are Akontaks solely female. They can be both male and female. So, Akontaks are more hybrids than they are a sister race, which is why they have a different racial bonus.

As Gillar states in this thread, all isur, regardless of clan, are born with an innate crafting skill. Additionally, those born in Sultros (read: most of them) are trained to use the forges from a young age, once again regardless of clan. So, not only is it a racial thing, but a social one as well.

The clans might have different specializations, yes. The Vizerians might be more religious, the Pitrius more magical, and so on, yes. But the one thing they share is their smithing ability - I mean, they are all children of Izurdin, and they all receive his gnosis. Most if not all isur are craftsmen and smiths. They all create things. At the end of the day, they are all still Isur. That is why, I believe, that all isur receive a +10 to blacksmithing.

That is just what I think, though...Gillar would be the only one would could give you a definite answer. Who knows? Maybe he'll agree with you.

In any case, I like that someone is taking an interest in the isur race. We don't see too much of that around here!

[Eanos]

I'm going to be contrary and agree with Sulphor. It would be interesting if the Isur were to be given variations on the gnosis according to their clans. Isur are unqiue given the colour of their arms - which is purely clan based and given that the arms are due to the gnosis, a link is not unreasonable.

Perhaps the comparison to other races is confusing some people? Just because a Pitreus has a gnosis biased towards djed rather than just smithing should not prevent them from joining a different clans specialisation. Yes the clans are malleable, but on the other hand are we not just seeing the usual RPing issue of people wanting to play the exception to the rule? Whilst it is true that some clan members will wander outside of their specialisation, those that do should expect some degree of difficulty in matching those who are naturally specialised.

I think it's a good and very workable idea, but to clarify the specialisation would be in that type of crafting that each clan is affiliated to. It makes complete sense to me.

[Jervis Hill]

This is just my two cents on gnosis and isurina character and I'm new here so bare with me. I don't know any of the lores well but have studied everything I can find on this race. I'm probably wrong and if so please tell me to help me improve.

Personally they are all children of Isur and this god has taken special interest in this race imo. I am sure Isur exist that follow two paths but I seem to think from what I have read I think that Izurdin would be taught and praised from a young age especially from the gifts given.

I am not saying their are not isur out there that only follow a different god the Izurdin, I mean the uluth clan are dream walkers after all I'm just saying as a generalization most only follow Isur, I know mine only follows him right now. I've been trying my best to play a humble but religious Isur weaponsmith so any tips you guys could give me about it would be awesome. Most of the work about my isurian religious influence is in this thread below.

http://www.mizahar.com/forums/topic40002.html

I just wanted to put my two cents into this forum as I find it interesting = )

[Gillar]

I originally missed this thread in the vast sea of threads. While I originally created the Isur as a race born of the hammer, I may be open to some design tweaks that would allow skills other than blacksmithing as their racial skill. When I created them, I thought of a race that prided itself on creation and industrial ventures to the point that they trained their children from the earliest age possible to work the forges and develop a strong foundation for crafting as they grew older into adulthood. I still stand by that as the core of the Isur social and religious doctrine. That said, there is definitely room for flexibility. Before I get into the meat and potatoes of the evolving idea, I would still want to maintain the childhood background of working the forges. I think this can be accomplished by allowing a starting Racial Lore in place of Blacksmithing. Going from there, I think I may allow Blacksmithing to remain the starting racial skill by default yet allow various clans to substitute another skill (integral to their chosen clan) in place of Blacksmithing. So either a character gets Blacksmithing OR the other clan skill. If they choose the clan skill, they do not get Blacksmithing but would be required to assign one of their starting Lores to Basic Blacksmithing Techniques. This Lore would not allow them to do what they would otherwise be able to do with the skill of Blacksmithing but would give them a foundation from which they could acquire the full skill as a teach-yourself type of deal. Essentially, they would have the basic knowledge needed to get started in full smithing but not be able to perform like they had the skill itself. Now, in place of Blacksmithing, a character could choose their starting racial skill based on their clan. The listing of skills would be limited but different options would be available to choose from. Below is a possible list of the choices based on clan (not official yet). Sultros - Natural Leaders and Politicians Alternative Skills: Leadership, Negotiation, Politics Vizerian - Religious, Devoted to Education and Justice Alternative Skills: Investigation, Persuasion, Teaching Coglias - Natural Warriors and Epitome of Isur Strength Alternative Skills: Wrestling, Boxing, Bodybuilding Terras - Exceptional Crafters and Smiths Alternative Skills: Armorer, Leatherworking, Weaponsmithing Pitrius - Proficient Mages and Advisors Alternative Skills: Magecrafting, Philtering, Intelligence So in summary, a starting character could either take Blacksmithing +10 as their starting racial skill with no deviation from the current setup OR choose one skill from the three listed for their clan at +10 AND give up one starting Lore slot to Basic Blacksmithing Techniques. This should maintain the learning of Blacksmithing as a child while acknowledging that not all Isur go on to be Blacksmiths. The flexibility allowed in the choice of different skills is limited to skills that are valued and held in high esteem to each individual clan.

[Jervis Hill]

Awesome, Insightful and brilliantly thought out as always Gillar. I always felt the blacksmithing part pointless though I see why it is in there. It's to reflect the pride the race feels in all aspects of creation, I think this society would be similar to one made up mainly of tradesmen and artists and like anything they decided to do would be like creating a masterpiece to them. I have tried to fill my character with these traits. Making him have an artist's soul despite his craft of death.

The seem like a race a lot like magic dwarves in my opinion, like the fairy craftsman from old lore brought to life and given breath. With all the natural abilities Izurdin provides his children, I thought sculpting would have been a better fit because they would start teaching children there. Blacksmithing would come later when apprenticeship was chosen and not start there.

I've not tried to hide that I base Jervis on myself, but I have tried my best to sculpt him through the lens your creativity and hard work you provided for me and think he would be cheap and worthless without all of this effort on your part Gillar.

I find this new system to be a better fit to the overall and look forward to using it to alter Jervis when I am allowed to do so.

"Jervis's Speech" -- "Jervis's Thoughts"

[Ashar]

It has been a long time since this thread has been posted to, but I would like to express interest in seeing this idea come about. I don't know whether it was shut down behind the scenes, but if it's still a possibility I'm interested in seeing it happen. Especially since Gillar basically has the groundwork already laid out for the change in the thread, I think it'd be a beneficial change for those wanting to be Isur with more competence toward their clan specialization.