The Ramau Compendium (v2)

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The Ramau Compendium (v2)

Index:

1. Introductions
2. Who Are The Ramau Race
3. Ramau Technology
4. Social Structure
5. Ramau Society
6. Ramauan History
7. Ramanastre the Ramau Capitol

This compendium is written and compiled by Khazim En'Cennar of Ramanastre. It is a slowly expanding work in progress documenting the Ramau race, their history and their customs.

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1. Introductions

This document explains the Ramau race and their functions as both individuals and a society. It outlines their many different traits, good and bad, and should be considered a comprehensive ‘manual’ of the proud Ramani people.

This project was started by the current Primarch Khazim En’Cennar of the Ramau Chapter of Lismore residing in the Qa’a Ramani, and is maintained by him and a dedicated crew of scribes.

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2. Who are The Ramau Race

The Ramau people are by far alien to the world we’re currently in, but for most of us now, it is all we know. Much of the knowledge we had of Amoria, our homeworld, has been lost. Our ancestors were not good at record-keeping, nor did they have time to bring with them our history when they fled to Earth.
What has been passed down of knowledge, however, is our origin. The Ramau Race, we were created as the superior beings by our god, Yuun. He bestowed unto us the power of speech and thought; He gave us the power to walk… to see… to feel… to explore. He gave us life, and shaped us in His image. His lineage runs deep within our divine blood, saturating everything about us. Making us what we are.
We are mages in your world. Masters of the arcane; the void; the elements. All Ramau have a natural inclination towards magic and we learn it fast. In the past, we used our Divine gifts to erect many of the wonders of our homeworld. Towering palaces, behemoths large enough to rival any other empire. A great wall with which to protect ourselves. Yuun gave us the knowledge and means to create machines both large and small, that were empowered by the natural ley-line energies we converged ourselves upon. Some machines lit our homes and streets. Other machines healed and rejuvenated our bodies. Some machines were weapons of great destruction, mounted upon the great wall.
These weapons rained sunfire and devastation upon our enemies. Legend has it that when the lesser beast races of Amoria had risen against us the first time, these weapons were only used once. Then we were the dominant race of our world. Its owners. Its rulers.
Our magic was superior to any other.

The Ramau Race are a race of kings, from a world which was our kingdom.
And yet, the Ramau Race was flawed. We learned we could not reproduce. So we turned to our god yet again. We prayed to Yuun a hundred times, and a hundred times over. He remained silent. Our people were dying faster than we could make them. For over thousands of years, our population dwindled. For every babe our females had, we lost a hundred of our kin.
And then… Salvation. The birth of the first Two-Soul. And then two-hundred more.

But fate would not look kindly upon us. Oba-Musa, the great destroyer; the Defiler; the Corruptor. He came to our world, offered us more power. The power to touch other realms, to conquer other worlds. We were fools. We refused. Drunk with the joy of our growing population and high on our supremacy, we judged we did not need him or his help.
Then the wars began anew. The beast races revolted, organized under the Corruptor’s leadership. They disabled our weapons. Tore down the wall. Murdered us in cold blood. Six-hundred remained when our Feyrn, Yuun-a – avatar of Yuun – saw our loss. Expending the last of his Divine might, he shattered the veil between the world. Forced open a portal to a different realm. We fled.

The Ramau Race… We were so much. And yet blind to the folly of our power. Blind to our own hubris. It became our fall then.

After the fall of Ramanastre, our new capitol on the new world – from which I fled – we at last understood why we were tormented and hunted. Why our ways needed to change.
We understood why the Ramau Race needed to be protected.

Because we are Ramau; because we survived.
We were once kings. Now we are this new world’s allies.
For we, the Ramau Race, are survivors. For we, the Ramau Race, we are strong.

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3. Ramau Technology

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4. Social Structure

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5. Ramau Society

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6. Ramauan History

• The Story of Vanaai, Ediraan & The Raubahn

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7. Ramanastre the Ramau Capitol

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[Ashtyn]

The original notes on the ramau people seem to have been removed from the library! But a new text, recovered from an incursion to the deserts of Egypt has been added, providing what seems to be a first-hand account of the fate that befell Ramanastre after the return of the then Princess Teren An'Nodas Valentine.

Chronicles of Ramanastre

  It had been several years since Princess Teren An'Nodas left Ramanastre in a self-appointed quest to help her people. The ramaus had been in decline, for a very long time, but seemed that lately there were less and less births to be accounted for, and the population numbers which had been consistent for thousands of years had started to drop noticeably. Barring illness or accidents, a ramau could live about 2000 years, but their breeding habits made even such long lived creatures lose steam in their numbers eventually. The 'breeding schedules', originally implemented to prevent their population from growing out of control beyond their capacity to maintain it, now was to be their demise!

  Two-Souls, ramaus with special bodies capable of breeding females and being bred by males, were originally a gift from Yuun to help with what the creator god likely foresaw as a decline in numbers, but even they were subjected to the breeding schedules, and while their fertility was assured, every time on the first try, the worldly laws of the rulers - the breeding schedules - kept them from performing their divinely-appointed role at their full potential. Princess Teren was one such Two-Soul ramau, and even she was bound by the rules of her father the Feyrn.

  Princess Teren returned to Ramanastre to great acclamation of her people. She said she traveled far and wide, and that she had found a solution to their breeding problems... And that solution was a fennec fox she brought along with her. At first there were whispers of outrage in the royal family. Not only had she gone off on her own without permission from the Feyrn, but she brought a foreigner back to Ramanastre, which was forbidden! But the outrage didn't last long and such rumors died down in a few weeks and this stranger she brought along with her was allowed to live in the palace, but she was not allowed to put into action her plan to help our population numbers. But within a year, she had given birth to the first hybrid ever born in Ramanastre. However, the Feyrn refused to acknowledge him as one of the princes, forbidding that son from ever becoming a heir to the throne.

  Within a year, a mysterious illness befell the Feyrn, and he would be dead in less than a week! Possessing no royal blood of her own, the queen-mother passed down the role of ruler, Feyrn, to Princess Teren. Now Teren An'Nodas, Feyrn of the Ramau, she was free to rule and try to save our people as she saw best!

  Her plan was absolutely radical: Female and Two-Soul ramaus were to breed with the fennec she brought in with her! At first the Anayu and the Antarin castes strongly protested her idea, but somehow she managed to convince them to let her proceed with her plan with anyone who would volunteer to it. Of the meager 250 female ramaus in Ramanastre, only 20 volunteered, and they were all females who had had no success breeding their entire lives; they were thought to be desperate at this point. None of the aging Two-Souls volunteered, and the youngest one was still too young for breeding.

  The outstanding results of her experiment - all 20 females were with child after breeding with the princess' fennec - had the absolute opposite effect she had hoped for: Instead of inspiring the rest of the population to follow the example of those 20 females, a resistance movement that no-doubt had been brewing since Teren first announced her plan erupted with violence. To maintain control, Teren sent out the Sunwalkers to suppress the uprise. For the first time in all of the existence of the ramaus, the Sunwalkers were used against their own kind, with devastating effects.

  Population numbers dwindled even more as so many lives were lost during the revolt. Male rebels were executed, while females were forcefully enlisted into the new breeding schedules. Surprisingly, all such females came to accept the Feyrn's plan. Their offspring came to be known as the Second Sons, a new generation of ramaus, whose abilities were somehow enhanced by their fennec blood! They possessed more powers, more magic, more fertility than ramaus had ever before possessed! Soon even rebels started to turn on their own to the Feyrn's side, begging for her forgiveness, and some she did forgive, while others were executed without mercy.

  With the power of the Sunwalkers on her side, and now rebels themselves surrendering and betraying their fellow men, there was no way the rebellion would have a chance of taking control of Ramanastre for themselves and reverting it to the old ways. That's when groups of refugees started attempting to escape the sacred ramau city. But Teren would not grant them such liberty, and sent out patrols to find and capture these escapees. Less than two dozen ramaus managed to escape and never be found, one group included the only Two-Soul born since the princess herself was born!

  With the first generation of the Second Sons now coming of age, having received the best education and military training, and being so powerful and so loyal to the royal family, the last of the rebellion was crushed. Still, the Feyrn created a strong military force to patrol the deserts around Ramanastre, and to maintain order in the sacred city, so that no rebellion could ever attempt to rise again!

  A new era of prosperity began for Ramanastre! With the blood of those who died in the rebellion wiped out of the streets and strongly discouraged to be discussed or even remembered by the people, the ramaus could now thrive again. Some still uttered fearful whispers that this now was no longer what ramaus were, that this was a new mixed race, but the Second Sons came to be accepted as enhanced ramaus much like the Sunwalkers are! And Teren's fennec's virility seemed endless, the male breeding an average of three females a day, and clearly still having plenty to give his lady Feyrn as Teren celebrated the birth of another child! Perhaps in a display that she had not completely abandoned ramau tradition, in this case that of not undoing the last personal decree of the previous Feyrn, she never made her first son with the fennec a crown prince heir to the throne, for her father had prohibited it. But her new child, a girl, was given the title of crown princess, and one day may rule Ramanastre.

  The Second Sons became another caste in ramau society, between the Antarin and the Anayu, and they are directly sponsored by the royal family until they choose a separate vocation of their own. Many enjoy a life of luxury and leisure, and others choose a career in the military, or sciences. They display a strong sense of family, with the first generation all having the same father, the Feyrn's fennec, whom they worship as a god, alongside the Feyrn Teren.

[Ashtyn]

Most of these 'rules' were established when Ramaus were numerous and prosperous, but as a species that doesn't easily embrace change, the vast majority of Ramaus still follow them.


  Ramaus tend to be a sexually active species, with very few reservations about casual sexual encounters. So long as all partners involved are willing, they are free to have sex as they please. However, some important social aspects are strictly observed:

• Mated Ramaus may only engage in sex with the intent of producing offspring with their mate! If offspring is desired with an extra-marital partner, the mated couple and the third-party involved must have come to an agreement about it prior to the act.
• Females may proposition males to impregnate them outside of mateship. Cubs produced this way are seen as the sole responsibility of the mother, and the father isn't held responsible and has no rights over them.
• Only mates touch eachother's ankles! It's an act of extreme intimacy!
• While most Ramaus are only vaguely aware of the existence of other species of people out there, the idea of a Ramau engaging in sexual relations with someone of a different species is a taboo akin to bestiality, and it is highly frowned upon! Ramaus who eroticize other species are considered deranged perverts.
• For mateship to be official, the couple must perform the Tea Ceremony (see below). Only after the couple acknowledges the ceremony was successful they are seen as a mated couple. For the rich, wedding parties may follow, but usually the private Tea Ceremony and its acknowledgment is enough.
• Divorces are almost unheard-of. While Ramaus may dissolve their mateship if both partners agree to it peacefully, it is believed that a curse falls upon a Ramau that breaks away from their mateship without the mutual agreement of their partner. The curse makes it impossible for the break-away Ramau to find happiness in any other romantic relationship they may attempt from there on. There is an obscure and dangerous ritual to cleanse oneself of the curse (also see below).
• Two-Souls (Ramau hermaphrodites) are not permitted to become anyone's mate until they have reached the end of their reproductive life, at which point they may choose or accept a proposal of mateship.

Ramau Tea Ceremony:

  Ramaus who wish to become mates must perform the Tea Ceremony.
  The male Ramau must proposition the female, and if she agrees to it, at night the couple should retreat to a private space, where  the male will then prepare the tea, a herbal blend of sacred plants with a very mild uninhibiting and aphrodisiac effect. The couple then will share and drink half of the tea, and engage in sexual relations, where the male has to demonstrate to the female his virility and ability to pleasure her, and the female should as well demonstrate her ability to pleasure the male (but emphasis is put on the male showing the female that he's good at pleasuring her).
  Whether the couple gets any sleep or not, by sunrise it's up to the female to decide if she is satisfied with her suitor and wishes to accept the proposal of mateship. If the female accepts the male as her mate, the couple finishes what's left of the tea together. If the attempt is unsuccessful, the remaining tea is poured out and the couple goes their separate ways.



Ramau Separation Curse Cleansing Ritual:

  If a Ramau breaks away from their mate without mutual agreement, the Curse of Separation will be upon the one who did the breaking, and they will not be successful and will not find happiness in any romantic relationship they may attempt from there on.
  Yuun took pity upon those Ramaus, and offered them a chance to redeem themselves!
  A cursed Ramau must strip themselves of all forms of cloth and possessions and adornments, and venture into the desert naked, unassisted, unaccompanied, alone, heading West, uttering prayers to Yuun asking Him to lift the curse. The Ramau must walk West alone for one-and-a-half days before turning East to return whence they came.
  During this walk of atonement, it's believed that any remains of the sacred tea of mateship will dry away from the Ramau's body, ultimately undoing the bond they had with their former mate. If the Ramau survives the Cleanse, it's Yuun's will that they are fit to find happiness again should they choose to mate anew.

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The Leyless

((Article is being expanded upon.))

Who are the Leyless?

The leyless are, as the name might imply, ramau who are for one reason or another unable to be attuned to the Ley, and are so without the ability to have and use magic.
The leyless are born this way, and generally they cannot be cured. They may still use external means to cast magic, such as relying on pre-enchanted crystals and external magic sources, though they are themselves unable to directly affect the magical energy without the use of incantations, glyphic compositions or other means that shape magic into a desired effect.

Other Ramau and Leyless

To be leyless is considered a severely crippling handicap, as ramau are a highly magical race who develop their social hierarchies based on the magical prowess of their people as much as their religious practices.
The leyless are usually marked with a symbol, such as a brand or a piece of jewellery which they have to wear or face the consequences, making them easily recognizeable.

Leyless ramau are at the very bottom of the pecking order with no (known) way of climbing the ladder. They are typically unable to keep jobs other than in a servile capacity -- although most ramau still prefer other ramau who can wield magic in these positions.
The leyless do not have the right to basic healthcare, nor are they allowed to own property. They are permitted the possession of simple clothes, but are often denied access to the more lavish decorations worn by the magical ramau.

When addressed, the leyless are often treated like they are dumb. They are talked to, and about, like slow adults who are in need of constant supervision to function, and they're otherwise tolerated in a venue but never truly accepted.

Being leyless is believed to be extremely rare.