Radiant

When the average person imagines a Radiant, they usually envision a paladin dressed in golden armor facing down hordes of undead, loyal human squire by his side to hold his shield and polish his lance.

There is a pretty understandable reason for this preconception of the Radiant tribe. For several thousands of years, the Radiant have been on a crusade to slaughter every single undead they find. While in the beginning it may have been a necessity to protect their human food source from blight poison, it has since become something like a holy war.

Those Radiant that do not become paladins or priests spend their lives raising money or performing services to make the lives of their heroes easier.

Culture. Radiant authority stems from a central figure, called the King, who dispenses authority to lesser figures of power over their demesne. (Despite the patriarchal origin of the word, in this particular case King is gender-neutral). Each king might seperate their power differently, using terms such as duke or thane, but the general authority and power of these secondary figure is roughly the same. Every ten years, unless called for more often, many of the kings in geographically similar area will join together in a moot, where they discuss local events, judgements they have issued, and problems they might be facing. Radiants rarely go to war with other, except as friendly rivals. Disputes on land ownership are usually settled through simple discussions, or displays of combat prowess if they're looking to show off. Below the king are the greater and lesser nobles. All Radiant born are considered to be the nobility, with their human sparks serving as the peasants and servants.

Marriage is usually determined by the heads of a household for political reasons. Young Radiants usually act as knights-errant, regardless of gender, for much of their young life, returning to their home in their mid-30s to settle down and start a family.

Relations. The Radiant tribe gets along well with all other tribes, with the exception of the hawk tribe and many barbarians. The Radiant tribe considers the hawk tribe’s treatment of their humans to be particularly barbaric and cruel. They also find barbarians to be uncouth and particularly insensitive to the plights of the human species. They feel that by choosing to live in blighted lands without protection, the wild tribes are willfully throwing the lives of their children away.

Physical Qualities. A Radiant appears as a healthy, bronze-skinned human with tawny brown or golden blonde hair. They are clearly distinct from their humans by having brilliant eyes of a single color, with no discernible difference between the white, iris, or pupil. The eyes of a Radiant typically look like a particular gemstone (such as an amethyst, sapphire, or ruby) having a crystalline depth and luster. Rarely do they possess opal or diamond eyes, which tend to have prismatic or multi-colored effects. A Radiant will never have jet-colored eyes.

Humans. The humans raised and protected by the Radiant tribe. They typically live within villages and thorpes on a Radiant noble’s fiefdom. Any ember may, at any point, choose to become a Radiant's familiar and spend their life in service to a single master rather than living on a farm or village. Those that choose this sort of life must pass a gamut of tests for both capability and personality, and those that succeed on being selected as a familar can ensure their families are rewarded handsomely for the service.

Very rarely will a familiar become capable of combat in their own right. These individuals are squired to paladins and fighters and allowed to serve for upwards of three years in combat capable positions. At the end of this service, they are knighted and allowed to adventure without the protection of their Radiant masters. An ember will share the physical qualities of the Radiant, but have normal human eyes and irises in shades of green, blue, and rarely in amethyst-like purple or garnet-like red.

Classes. Radiants favor the paladin, cleric, or fighter class. They sometimes become rangers if they are especially focused on hunting in blighted lands. They are rarely monks or rogue. Radiant very rarely seek out pacts to become warlocks, and often lack the scholarly bent of an Umbral to become a wizard. Radiants are never barbarians or sorcerers.