Maenads

Maenads are a race rumored to be wildly emotional, but perceived as extremely reserved by those who encounter them. In fact, both rumor and perception are true: Maenads have developed strict self-control as a means of holding their intense emotional turmoil at bay. On the rare occasion when a maenad loses his control, a flood of emotion rises to the surface, often to be released in acts of stunning bravery or violence. Maenads have a strong martial bent, useful for venting the passions they keep bottled up.

Maenads know not the source of their spiritual anger, but legend has it that they were terribly wronged by a higher power in some distant time. Some tales suggest that the maenads were a race of bestial creatures who were able to contain their mad frenzy only after overthrowing their own deity.

Personality: Maenads seem discreet and calm, restrained and undemonstrative, unwilling to use a sentence when a word will do, and happier still with a gesture if words can be dispensed with altogether. To maintain a life in civilized lands and even (or especially) among themselves, maenads must practice a discipline of mental calm, lest the fury of their racial memories break forth.

Physical Description: Maenads are tall and wiry, standing over 6 feet tall and typically weighing around 200 pounds, with maenad males the same height as and only marginally heavier than maenad females. They wear the dark hair on their heads long and braided (and have no hair elsewhere on their bodies). Their skin is dusted with a peculiar sparkle, as of gem dust, giving them a striking luster in the right light. This sparkle is a natural component of their skin, which is flecked with bits of living crystal. Maenads possess grace andfine features, and are almost elven in their beauty. They prefer heavier clothing, and wear armor if it’s available.

Relations: Maenads are most comfortable with humans, finding that race’s various temperaments not too dissimilar to their own. They respect the dwarves’ ability to hold a grudge. Maenads are particularly taken with elves; the elves’ lightness of being is a balm to the maenad spirit. Maenads don’t dislike halflings, gnomes, or xephs, but have a hard time understanding their capricious ways.

Alignment: Maenads know that self-control is their best path to a fulfilling life. Thus, they lean strongly toward law. Generally, they value and protect others’ self-control as well as their own, and so are good-aligned more often than not.

Maenad Lands: For the most part, maenads live in coastal communities with populations less than three hundred. Their well-hidden villages blend into the cliffs and surf. They hunt some game inland but gather most of their nourishment out at sea in light, cunningly built boats. Some maenads use their boats for commerce up and down the coast, trading pearls and grown crystal sculptures.

Maenads encountered in human lands are usually warriors for hire or adventurers.

Religion: Maenads worship various minor deities of the sea. Obad-Hai, as he relates to the seas and oceans, is also a deity known to the maenads.

Language: Maenads speak a language governed by strict rules of grammar. Chants play an important part in their songmaking and literature. They use the Elven alphabet for their script.

Names: Maenad names are given and used much like human names. Every maenad has at least one given name and a family name.

Male Names: Alberik, Alrik, Basilius, Erland, Gunnar, Isak, Ragnor, Rurik, and Tor.

Female Names: Agaton, Annalina, Blenda, Eleonora, Gala, Lena, Malin, Ragnara, and Vedis.

Family Names: Coebelliantus, Hjalmar, Kolbjorn, Perchnosius, Torborn, Valborg, Valentin, Xaljorn.

Adventurers: Some maenads take up adventuring out of a desire to travel and see the world. Others become adventurers because they tend to get along easier with those less given to inner rage than with others like themselves.