Concept art

The peoples of the Vale.

Seven peoples share the broken country of Valenfeld, each shaped by where they were born and what the Sundering did to their blood. Your race is a permanent choice — it tilts your attributes, your resistances, and how every faction in the world first reads you. Here is the concept art behind all seven.

The Asheni

Old blood of the ash

Grey-skinned, ember-eyed old blood of the Vale — kin to the fallen Vallen Imperium and the wandering Urshilaku. The Sundering is written into them: ash in the skin, the Note in the marrow.

An Asheni man — grey skin, ember-red eyes, swept-back horns, dark studded leather armor with a red underlayer — Asheni · male

An Asheni woman — grey skin, red eyes, horns, dark scaled leather armor over a deep-red sleeve — Asheni · female

The Vyr

They hear the Note plainly

Tall, pale echo-kin born hearing the whole broken chord where others catch only a name on the wind. They built the Listening College and tune echo-crystal the rest must fumble with — but the gift wears the body thin.

A Vyr man — tall, fair-skinned, long pale-gold hair and pointed ears, in an ornate high-collared coat traced with gold filigree — Vyr · male

A Vyr woman — tall and pale with long blonde hair and pointed ears, in an elegant gold-embroidered brown robe — Vyr · female

The Stoneborn

Trust metal over magic

Short, broad, deep-voiced folk of the Northern Rampart who quarry the bones of the dead Imperium. They trust worked metal over any spell — the Note slides off granite, and off them.

A Stoneborn man — short and powerfully built, long braided auburn beard, heavy riveted leather-and-iron armor and boots — Stoneborn · male

A Stoneborn woman — broad and stout, red braided hair, riveted plate-and-leather armor with geometric knotwork — Stoneborn · female

Humankind

Rootless and quietly lucky

The latecomers — settlers, sellswords, and ledger-clerks drawn by the dead Imperium's silver, plus the hard river-folk of the Northern Reach. Rootless, adaptable, and lucky.

A human woman — red hair tied back, weathered green laced tunic, leather bracers, belt and travel boots — Human · female

The Korl

Cold can't touch them

The big folk of the high passes, a head and shoulders over any settled man, older stock than the Imperium that tried to wall them out. Cold doesn't touch them; fine spellwork mostly defeats them.

A Korl man — towering and heavily muscled, a draped shoulder cloth and studded leather kilt over bare limbs, banded bracers, barefoot — Korl · male

A Korl woman — tall and powerfully built, red braided hair, a torn shoulder-wrap and studded leather skirt, banded forearms and shins, barefoot — Korl · female

The Hessk

They breathe the green water

Scaled, cold-blooded folk of the drowned valley who breathe the green water of the Mirrenmere as easily as air. The drowned shrines hold no terror for a people who can sit on the bottom and wait.

A Hessk man — tall green-scaled reptilian, ridged crest, clawed hands and a long tail, in a laced leather jerkin, belt pouch and forearm bracers — Hessk · male

A Hessk woman — olive-scaled reptilian with a crest and long tail, in a cross-laced leather jerkin and bracers — Hessk · female

The Reshi

Born seeing in the dark

Tawny-furred, night-eyed caravan folk who came up the southern roads with the salt and the silk and never quite left. They keep the long roads and the quiet trade, and see in the dark by birth.

A Reshi man — spotted tawny fur, lynx-like feline face with tufted ears, clawed hands and a long tail, in a studded leather harness and skirt — Reshi · male

A Reshi woman — spotted tawny fur, feline face and tufted ears, long tail, in a cross-strapped studded leather harness and skirt — Reshi · female