RETCON NOTE: The creation of this post has caused the two previous installments of the series to be edited--both "Alignments of Monvesia: Temperaments" and "Alignments of Monvesia 2: Codifying Perception."While the basis of human religious tradition, the Temperaments of the Monvesia campaign setting are universal concepts that races throughout Orbimond accept as being representative of the basic attitudes of intelligent beings. From a cosmological standpoint, they represent the six spheres that form the world itself. On a legendary level, they correspond to the colors of dragons and even the ancient giant races. In daily life, temperaments are associated with race, birth date, occupation, and the like.
Geographic Temperament
Nothing in Monvesia is free from temperamental association--not even its geography. Even each geo-political region of Orbimond is associated with one temperament or another. These are:- Altruist Fuhon, a land where people are concerned with Honor.
- Materialist Prace, where the Drajan Empire is both church and state.
- Dynamist Ombo, a place where natural law trumps civilization.
- Idealist Henjal, the cultural center of psionic traditions.
- Vitalist Xahaca, which is subject to the whims of the Frenetic Ocean.
- Nihisit Raviq, home to the Desolation of the HMDJVNW.
The Crown is not listed above, for it is mostly uninhabited. Races of the Crown are associated with a nearby region (neanderthals and duergar with Prace, firbolgs with Henjal).
The temperament of a character's native subcontinent is not likely to become important; however, if an outlander (or similarly displaced character) makes their origin known, then one alignment point is received in the appropriate temperament.
Racial Temperament
The races of Orbimond are attracted to each other in such ways as to balance the temperaments of a sub-continent. As has already been demonstrated when the races of Prace were introduced, each race of a region is associated with one of the Temperaments. Within a given region, the distribution of those racial temperaments retains relative balance.In the chart below, the three core settings of Monvesia are presented with their racial temperaments. Keep in mind that any tainted counterparts of a race would be associated with the same temperament as its untainted counterpart.
| Prace | Raviq & Fuhon | Henjal | |
| Altruist | Halflings Veldi (human) | Tengu [Aarakocra] | Vanara |
| Materialist | Dwarves Honderreicher (human) | Minotaurs Korobukuru (dwarf) | Kobolds |
| Dynamist | Rakasta [Tabaxi] Galts (human) | Neshu [Vedalken] | Lizardfolk |
| Idealist | Gnomes Cuorrians (human) | Spirit Folk | Hathi [Loxodons] |
| Vitalist | Elves Voztokans (human) | Nezumi | Nagi [Naga] |
| Nihilist | Goliaths Notopolitans (human) | Anepu [Khenra] | Grungs |
| Universalist | Genasi (by element) Humans (see above) | Hengeyokai [Shifters] (by clan) | Dragonborn (by color) |
Xahaca, the Crown, and Ombo would have a similar distribution of the temperaments. In the past, the distribution of temperaments in any given region would have been different--accounting for pre-migration populations. For example, the ancient distributions of Dragon Island are presented below.
However, remember that these "temperamental alignments" assigned to the various races primarily represent how other races perceive them. In accordance with Monvesia's alignment system, these alignments only affect a character at the moment of creation; a character's actions and chosen associations will affect their temperamental alignment far more significantly.
... By Any Other Name ...
Yes, I know, I have used this gimmick before.With the widespread acceptance of temperaments as a universal concept throughout Orbimond, it should be accepted that the terms used for them will be different in each region. Though humans have left some sort of mark on nearly every subcontinent of Dragon Island, the races they encountered did not adopt human terminology. The table below shows the terms used for the temperaments in the common tongues of Dragon Island. In those cases where the concept is not a close translation, an alternate translation is provided.
| Prace (Human) | Raviq (Neshu) | Fuhon (Spirit Folk) | Henjal (Vanara) |
| Temperament | Uat "Road, Path" | Shugi "Principle" | Darshan "Philosophy" |
| Altruism | Ma'at "Order, Harmony" | Rita Shugi | Nissavaarthata "Selflessness" |
| Materialism | Djed "Stability" | Yuibutsu Shugi "Material Principle" | Saansaarikata "Worldliness" |
| Dynamism | Sankh "Sustenance" | Dōteki Shugi "Dynamic Principle" | Santulan "Balance" |
| Idealism | Khemt "Thought, Knowledge" | Risō Shugi | Aadarshavaad |
| Vitalism | Sekhem "Vital Energy" | Jōnetsu Shugi "Passion Principle" | Junoon "Passion" |
| Nihilism | Isfet "Chaos, Evil" | Hikan Shugi "Pessimist Principle" | Bhaagyavaad "Fatalism" |
| Universalism | n/a | Fuhen Shugi | Saarvabhaumikata |
Some races retained their own terms, though these are used less commonly than those presented above. Such alternate terms would appear in that race's spiritual and cultural traditions. For dragons (and dragonborn), only translations are provided; they speak of temperaments in terms of "poetic" colors.
| Human | Elf (Old Prace) | Dragon (Old Henjal) | Dwarf |
| Temperament | Valóság "Reality, Truth" | "Colouring" | Gasts’oreba "Alignment" |
| Altruism | Önzetlenség "Selflessness" | "Alabaster" | Sik'ete "Good" |
| Materialism | Jólét "Prosperity" | "Gilded" | K'anoni "Law" |
| Dynamism | Növekedés "Growth" | "Verdant" | K’ap’it’ali "Balance" |
| Idealism | Gondolkodás "Thinking" | "Azure" | Razmi "Detachment" |
| Vitalism | Szenvedély "Passion" | "Crimson" | Veluroba "Chaos" |
| Nihilism | Halálozás "Mortality" | "Obsidian" | Borot'eba "Evil" |
| Universalism | Egyetemesség | "Prismatic" | Dausrulebeli "Unaligned" |
In the ancient era, giants and dragons would have spoken of the temperamental philosphies in terms of their races' six divisions (ex. the "black way" or the "hill way"). As the humanoid races emerged, the new ways of speaking of these philosophies replaced the old. Goliaths, who are more human-kin than giant-kin, adopted human terminology; and while dragonborn inherently understand the colour-based model, they adopt the language and culture of the world into which they emerge.
Edited Dec 9, 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment