The People of Taluma
There are many different civilized people that inhabit Taluma including the traditional fantasy lineages of humans who are the most populous, and the dwarves and elves also called rifafolk. Taluma is also home to two unique people: the little people called Urchins, and the bird-like folk called Peepers - the Ixokee by their own tongue.
To learn more about each people, follow their link below as we complete their detailed description.
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Rifafolk
In the land of Taluma, dwarves and elves are considered to be kith and kin, opposites of the same coin. While humans are people of all elements, of the fifth element of aether, the Riven (the Rifafolk, the Folk) are two related people, or folk, who each manifest only two of the four main elements each. Dwarves are folk of earth and fire, and their cousins the elves are folk of air and water
Legends say that the Rifafolk are descendants of the giants. In ancient times the giants were guardians of Eost, protecting it from demons. In a large war, the giants’ size alone was not enough to stop the demons’ advance, so they made a sacrifice called The Rivening to sunder their bodies into many beings, a throng of folk to meet the rushing horde of demons. The battle was won but the sacrifice was made, and permanent. Over generations, the Rifafolk became two distinct people, the offspring of separate giantkin. Riven fire and stone giantkin, of fire and earth begat the dwarves, and cloud and storm giantkin, of air and water, begat the elves.
Though they once were the many, the throng of riven giants, they would not remain the most populous people on Eost. Humans would quickly take that position once they arrived. While not as numerous and therefore not as impactful as humans, Riven are as - if not in many ways more - civilized and cultured. Because of their ties to the elements, they have powers that humans can only dream of, but those ties are also what holds them back. If not for their connection to and reverence for the natural world, the Riven could dominate the land and all people. Instead, unlike ambitious humans who are as likely as not to misuse the resources around them, the folk are mostly content to live in cooperation with the environment and be unobtrusive to the plants, beasts and other people around them. Of course as mortals with unique personalities, the fae have people of all temperaments and there are some, though a much smaller percentage than humans, with ambition and drive that conflict with these morals.
