All forms of humans in the setting are playable in the Thick as Thieves tabletop RPG. Your human player character can be a member of the bigfolk, or a member of either the Rarach or Permon smallfolk, or even a hybrid by birth, a member of the midfolk. Same goes for NPCs. They might be all humans, but there is plenty of variety to them, aside from merely being male or female and having various phenotypes.
Humanity of the PRE Orbis Furum universe's Earth
is occassionally referred to collectivelly as "humanfolk". The Orbis
Furum world is unique in that it currently houses two distinct, but very
closely related subspecies of humans, known popularly as the "Bigfolk"
and "Smallfolk". They are more closely related to each other than the Neanderthals and Cromagnons
of our real world. Due to being essentially the same species on a
biological level, the two distinct subspecies can interbreed. There are
also humans of mixed heritage, with parents from both of these
subspecies.
Though several other sapient species give humans a run for their money
in terms of how widespread their geographic representation is, humans
are still the most dominant intelligent species with a developed
civilisation. The vast majority of current scientific and cultural
advances had been devised by them.
No other sapient species of Aporue or any other continent are known to
be able to interbreed with either each other or with humans. This is not
merely down to genetics, but also down to the differing biologies
between each species, even those of a mammalian nature. Conception of
offspring would not be possible. Most of the individual sapient species
also do not find each other attractive, especially not sexually (though
there are, erm, outliers...). Friendships between humans and non-human
sapients (the various beastpeople species) have been fairly common
though, and there have been rare cases of a human and a non-human
sapient forging a friendship so trusting and close that their bond was
one of platonic love, or of comparable intensity.
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Bigfolk
The bigfolk look and biologically function the same way as our species, in every respect.
They come in more or less the same racial/phenotypical groups as humans
in the real world. The Aporuean bigfolk (as well as the smallfolk) tend
to have a fairly pale complexion, though this does vary from region to
region, the more paler-skinned people generally in the far north, far
east and parts of the far west, in colder climates, whereas people
living more to the south, in warmer subtropical climates, tend to have a
somewhat duskier skintone.
Even though plenty of the other sapients are on the receiving end of
some of the bigfolk's prejudices and bigotry, the other sapients also
have their fair share of disparaging nicknames for the bigfolk. (Some of
these derogatory nicknames include "longshanks", "tallheads",
"hoity-toities".)
The term Smallfolk is, in turn, not a social designator of any kind,
merely a reference to the short physical height of non-Bigfolk humans.
Rural folk tune - a piece of rural PRE music, typical of the countryside of Melza and other neighbouring central Aporuean countries.
Rural string music for dances - another piece of rural music, typical of the countryside of Melza and other neighbouring central Aporuean countries.
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Author's note
Identical to real world humans. They might as well have walked out of the pages of a historical novel...
The use of the term Bigfolk to specify them as a variety of human (the
most common one) is a nod to Tolkien's use of "Big People" and "Big
Folk" in his fictional Bree-land, where the "Little People" or "Little
Folk" were the local hobbits and the aforementioned big guys were the
local people of regular height.
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Gallery
Latnan Oktimk, older bigfolk Melzan native and patrician, current Lord Mayor of Melza
Rumlaaž Baltabols, entrepreneur, a male bigfolk immigree to Melza, originally from Segalimia
Paidrkoa Baltabols (née Křilžic), entrepreneur,
a female bigfolk immigree to Melza, originally from Markania
Leljani, immigree to Melza and thief guild member, woman of mixed Aporuean and Akirfan ancestry
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Smallfolk: Rarachs
Pronounced in English as "Rarakhs" (the "ra" syllable like in "rah-rah"). The singular is Rarach. the plural is Rarachs.
The Rarachs are the predominant representatives of Smallfolk on the
Earth of the Orbis Furum universe. They are predominant in both numbers
and dispersion. Humans of this variety are naturally shorter in stature,
but this is entirely hereditary and not the result of any health
issues. As one group of the Smallfolk, they are not a distinct species
from the humans of usual height in the setting, the Bigfolk.
Rarachs are a generally varied bunch, ranging from rural peasants,
landowners and small aristocracy to the urban working class and petit
bourgeoisie. In terms of personality, culture and interests, while they
do have dissimilarities with the Bigfolk, they generally share the same
virtues and vices. Popular stereotypes make them out to be rather jolly
and cheerful even in the face of adversity, serving as something of a
role model to the more glum-minded and cynical Bigfolk.
Like all smallfolk, they make good potential thieves. Particularly when
it comes to their abilities to enter into small, tight spaces where a
Bigfolk person wouldn't comfortably fit. There's a fair few rarach
professional thieves and grifters in and around Melza, most of them
working in fellowships or even in guilds, probably none as freelancers.
The Old Ditch Street Thieves' Guild's current boss is a rarach man, Temav Arpols.
Members of this subset of the smallfolk also occur in Melzan law
enforcement and military forces. Some Rarachs serve in the City Watch
(where they occur in all three services), and some also in the
Frontiersmen Corps (where they occur in all three services). In the
military, they have often served as medium-armoured polearm infantry
(spearmen, pikemen), archers and crossbowmen (increasingly less so) and arquebusiers or musketeers
(increasingly more common). They have often taken part in roles focused
on espionage and various intel-gathering as well. Indeed, it's often
been said that many a former rarach thief had joined the army to utilise
his spying experience, or vice versa, retired from the army and when no
other well-paying work was at hand, joined a thieves' guild.
Rarachs are fairly peaceful minded, but when push comes to shove, they
are rather skillful with weapons. Their typical preferences include
knives, daggers, shortswords, arming swords or basket-hilted swords
(used in tandem with a buckler), shorter-hafted axes, cudgels and clubs,
spears and other polearms, military forks or ordinary pitchforks and
two-handed flails (ordinary or modified to serve as weapons). They
either wear no armour, or at most padded armour and mail, and a helmet
or more resilient hat. They're good at throwing stones, knives, darts
(the latter makes them popular at inns and taverns), and though they're
good shots with shortbows, they tend to prefer lighter types of
crossbows and smaller firearms.
The hucul horse,
sometimes known as the hucul pony, is popular in Melza and other
neighbouring countries of central Aporue, but the group it is the most
popular with are the Rarachs. As they can't ride a regular-sized horse,
the hucul is a crucial traditional landbreed of horse, invaluable to the
needs of rural Rarachs.
The beastpeople they get along with best are the hedgefolk, the hedgehogmen.
Rural Rarach folk music - a piece of rural rarach music, typical of the countryside of Melza and other neighbouring central Aporuean countries.
Rural Rarach bagpipe tune - a piece of rural rarach music, typical of the countryside of Melza and other neighbouring central Aporuean countries.
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Author's note
If you want to get a rough idea about them, picture them as a combination of the halflings and gnomes from Arcanum. They are often broadly analogous in their role to Tolkien's hobbits, their various "halfling" imitations, or folkloric imp characters from central European fairytales.
There's also some subtly Tolkienian things about them, but patterned
mostly on real history - chief among these things being that some rural
Rarachs like living in underground housing, though these rural houses
only occur in places with volcanic tuff hillsides. These are easy to
carve into, hollowing out parts of the hillside to serve as a de facto
underground house or cottage or even a barn. Weird and un-central
European ? Nope. Such architecture PRE occured and still exists in several places in Slovakia and Hungary, on locations where volcanic tuff hillsides are present. How do you like my historicised halflings ?
Concerning the name of this variety of humans: Rarach, or more
diminutively rarášok, is an affectionate (though occassionally mocking)
old-timey Slovak word for a dwarfish, impish figure - usually in the
sense of a fairytale imp or goblin. This Slovak folk term can be best
translated literally as "imp". Rarášok, the diminutive, is often used
colloquially as a synonym for a "gnome". Before it achieved its current
reputation in the late-medieval and Renaissance era, the rarach was
originally a darker figure in pre-Christian Slavic folklore. Rather than
a dwarf-like character, it was a cheeky or even evil house spirit. Over
time, it drifted to mean the more typical fairytale imp or gnome.
Despite this, the term is not used that much synonymically in modern
Slovak fantasy lit. This is part of the reason I chose it, it's very
underused, though a pretty good fit fot the modern fantasy idea of a
halfling.
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Gallery
%20-%20Rekete%20%C4%8C%C3%BA%C4%BEko.jpg)
enterpreneurs and co-owners of Pukve, Čúľko and Co.
(answering to Lord Baron PRE Dortan IV)
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Smallfolk: Permons
Pronounced in English as in the words "permanent" and "monstrous". The singular is Permon. the plural is Permons.
Biologically, they are identical to rarachs, but the differences lie in
culture and lifestyle. They are characterised by their affinity for
uplands and mountainous regions. Another key feature of their culture is
their long-lived economic focus on mining and metallurgy, and more
lately, also on modern ironworks and steelworks industries. They are
more inward-looking than the Rarachs and intermingle less with bigfolk
society, or other sapient societies for that matter. They are not
really xenophobic though, and though they mostly keep to themselves,
they get along well with more cosmopolitan cultures and communities.
Underground public spaces and public buildings are quite common in
Permon public architecture, especially in mountainous areas with a long
history of mining. This is unsurprising, given the nature of their
economy. However, building such underground projects is almost as common
among full-sized humans. It's about a 75 : 25 shared type of
architecture, to be honest (75 for the Permons, 25 for the bigfolk).
Contrary to popular opinion, most Permons do not live underground, do
not all have beards (not even all Permon men grow beards) and they do
more things than just mine, smith, wear heavy armour and swing around
axes, swords and pollaxes. There's a fair bit of variety among
individual Permons, both in physical appearance and apparel, and in
their preferred housing, professions, lifestyle and their socio-economic
wealth.
One of the popular myths associated with Permons is that they have some
sort of sixth sense, with which they feel the mountain and its geology,
or even plants associated with mountains and rocks (e.g. mosses) more
sensitively. Some Permons intentionally perpetuate this myth, even those
who think it's a load of absolute nonsense.
Like all smallfolk, they make good potential thieves. Particularly when
it comes to their abilities to enter into small, tight spaces where a
Bigfolk person wouldn't comfortably fit. There's a fair few permon
professional thieves and grifters in and around Melza, most of them
working in fellowships or even in guilds, probably none as freelancers.
Some of them have prominent roles in these thieving organizations. Many
of the permons in thief organizations also work on creating and
maintaining various common thieving tools and gadgets.
Members of this subset of the smallfolk also occur in Melzan law
enforcement and military forces. Some Permons serve in the City Watch
(where they are often responsible for gadget repairs, underground
investigation ops, and occur in all three services), and to a lesser
extent, also in the Frontiersmen Corps (where they mostly work in the
Customs service). In the military, they have often worked as sappers and
siege engineers, and in the slightly more distant past, as armoured
melee infantry, crossbowmen and gunners.
Permons are actually rather peaceful overall, but unlike the Rarachs,
they have a more martial reputation in the popular consciousness. They
like using daggers, arming swords and even longswords, various spears,
polearms and pollaxes, and favour crossbows and firearms over bows.
They certainly favour medium armour (padded + brigandine or mail) and
heavy armour (plate full harness). Their crossbows often include more
advanced designs, with steel laths as standard-issue, and sometimes even
a built-in spanning lever or similar mechanism, rather than a
separately worn spanner. The most common Permon bows are of a composite
construction, usually horn and wood, and the Permons are also the
inventors of the slingshot, enabled by the recent industrial innovation
of rubber. Permons have also contributed to some of the recent revolving
firearm advances, steam engine and electricity generation developments.
Like the rarachs, they also like using the hucul horse, both for riding
and for pulling wagons and buggies. The Permons also have more of an
interest in motor-propelled vehicles, be it road vehicles, early
locomotives or small puffing steamboats.
The beastpeople they get along with best are the "stonies", a subgroup/variety of the martenfolk, the martenmen.
When bigfolk from central Aporue say a person has an "elfin face", they
don't say "elfin" (I have no elves in the setting, whatsoever), they
instead say "impish face". The notion is that a person has a face like
an "imp", a "gnome", in other words, like a Rarach or some member of the
Smallfolk in general. A face that is supposedly cheerful, with a "can
do" sort of attitude, even a rascally face, but all of that in a
sympathy-evoking manner. (Sort of based on an intentional calque I
made from central European adjectives, such as škriatkovská tvár - the
implication is like with the English expression "elfin face", but with a
more rascally subtext, not necessarily always "cute".)
A Permon folk tune
- melody heard in some miner folk songs and ditties, particularly those
of the Permons, where this tune seems to originate. Mostly intended to
be played on a flute or other woodwind, its calm but swift rhytm is
meant to reflect the everyday industriousness of Permons during their
work. They play or whistle the tune (or even sing it, if they add
home-brewn lyrics) during ore mining, sorting ore, maintaining water
pumps for the shafts, etc. They sing this tune to bring some cheer to
their daily work and take some of the drudgery out of it.
Some other styles of music they'd be associated with, whether in secular music or at annual public events:
- A bawdier Permon folk song - similar secular music would be heard among Permon townsmen and rural Permons (real world: Im Maien, Ludwig Senfl, 16th century)
- Instrumental music for public celebration procession - annual miner guild processions or processions of City Watch Permon members (real world: Pavane sur la Bataille, Antwerp, 1571)
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Author's note
If you want to get a rough idea about them, picture them as a combination of the halflings and dwarves from Arcanum.
"Dwarves" with a ca 15th to 17th century appearance. Only men grow
facial hair, never women, and not all of the men bother with beards
(it's more of a thing of seniority or honourable positions in a
community, etc.).
Permon is a Slovak (and Czech) term derived from the permoník dwarfs
of central Europe (mainly medieval Slovak/Hungarian folklore). It fits
the popular miner dwarf archetype of modern fantasy literature, though
the permoník-s of our mines were less bearded and less burly in
appearance than the typical Germanic/Niebelungian/Scandinavian/Tolkienian dwarf. Thus, the Permons are actually rather hobbit-ish in terms of looks, in a way. Basically, badass miner hobbits. I have deliberately adopted an (arguably) "more Slavic"
interpretation of fairytale miner dwarves than the more familiar and
well-trodden western or northern European version. They are essentially a
more Slavic/Hungarian equivalent of the more famous dwarf miners and
smiths of German or Scandinavian folklore and fairytales. As to the real
world historical etymology: Permoník
is a diminutive of the original root word Permon. Historians and
etnographers assume that "Permon" (or the archaic Czech variation
"Perkmon") was a slavicized phonetic mangling of "Bergmann", i.e.
"miner" in German (or some medieval dialect of German). So the permoník
is quite literally a "mine dwarf" or a "dwarf-miner", and it's no
surprise its depictions in traditional culture framed this being as a
miniature version of a medieval miner, dressed in miner attire typical
of our mining cities of old. And yes, in the real world, permoníks are
popular enough to appear in kids' fairytale books.
Unsurprisingly, where the Rarachs are the rough equivalents of
hobbits/halflings in my setting, the Permons are my similarly central
European answer to the dwarves populating modern fantasy fiction (that
are, sadly, often just unimaginative imitations of Tolkien's approach to
his own dwarves). In a sense, the Orbis Furum has both halflings and
dwarves in it, but they're not distinct species from humans, and they
have plenty of their own quirks. Not the least of them being that I try
to add various real world history based explanations for their material
and social culture and give it all a 15th-17th century undertone. To
that end, you should also think of Permon mining - whether for iron ore,
or precious metals like gold, silver, copper ore, etc., or precious
gems like opals, etc. - as more akin to 14th to 18th century European
mining, particularly the various historical central European examples.
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Gallery
Púrst Tarandar, a middle-aged Permon native of Melza, scribe and advisor of the Lord Mayor
Loin Šeaieg, Permon mining businessman, immigree to Melza from Hesperia
Fairly typical clothing of a rural Permon miner, working in the local mining industry
An example of underground forms of Permon public architecture:
One of
the "miner palaces", created by converting a disused part of an old
salt mine
Traditional type of minecart used in many Permon-managed mines
(though there are also increasingly more modern designs)
Popular folk illustration of a Permon lady prospecting and scavenging for precious gems
A full harness of plate armour, with sallet helmet and a pollaxe
- a
favourite combination among both Bigfolk and Permon nobles fighting on
foot
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Midfolk
Since Bigfolk and Smallfolk can easily interbreed with each other,
producing fully healthy and fully fertile offspring - thanks to the
genetic closeness of both subspecies of humans - certain human
individuals have both bigfolk and smallfolk ancestry (the latter either
rarach or permon). These people are generally referred to as the
Midfolk, given that they tend to be somewhere in between in terms of the
average height of a bigfolk human and a smallfolk human.
As possible as this hybrid ancestry is, it is not that common an
occurence. Furthermore, while most societies and cultures have no major
problems accepting "hybrids" and "half-breeds", there are some which
harbour certain degrees of prejudice towards these individuals. Thus,
many of the Midfolk "hybrids", men and women alike, often resort to
hiding their mixed ancestry or lying about it. Of course, this can cause
an understandable degree of tension between them and the rest of
society, as well as certain mental problems, such as internalised
categorism complexes. In recent centuries, societies have gradually
grown more tolerant of Bigfolk/Smallfolk pairings and marriages, as well
as the children that result from them.
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Author's note
My setting has no elves of any kind, and thus, no half-elves either.
But... It does have half-halflings... erm... or what should I call
them...
Simply, the Midfolk. Somewhere in that gray area between a human of
greater height (Bigfolk) and a human of shorter stature (Smallfolk).
Given that the Bigfolk (us) and the Smallfolk (Rarachs and Permons) can
interbreed with each other - resulting in the so-called Midfolk - it's
not that surprising that one of my female characters in the setting is
half-Permon (yes, half-dwarf !) on her dad's side and half-Bigfolk on
her mother's side. A fellow that befriends her and later becomes her
boyfriend is fully human.
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Gallery
Varda Konolo, (seemingly shorter bigfolk) native of Melza (bigfolk/Permon ancestry),
barmaid at The Heart of the Jewel
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| English terminology | Slovak terminology | Etymology and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Humanfolk, Manfolk | No equivalent, actually. I prefer to use Ľudia (always capitalised), "people", or Ľudstvo, "humanity". | The ľudia word with a lower-case letter still means "people", but in a general sense. When talking about the Manfolk (humans) specifically, Ľudia is always capitalised, to clarify that the people in question are humans and not other humanoids (i.e. beastmen). |
| Bigfolk | Veľkoľud | The bigfolk are simply us, humans of typical height. |
| Longshanks, Tallheads, Hoity-toities | Dlhohnáti, Vysokohlavci, Nafúkanci | The derogatory nicknames for the Bigfolk. |
| Smallfolk | Maloľud | The smallfolk have nothing to do with other uses of the term in fantasy. It's a name for this particular human subspecies, not a social term. |
| Rarach, Rarachs Common smallfolk | Rarach, Rarachovia Bežný maloľud | One of the two main cultural subsets of the smallfolk humans of Aporue. (Roughly equivalent to the halflings of other fantasy settings.) |
| Rarachman, Rarachwoman, Rarachmen, Rarachwomen | Rarach, Raráška, Rarachovia, Rarášky | The everyday terms for males and females of the Rarach smallfolk. |
| Imps, Halflings | Raráškovia, Polovičníci, Poloviční | The nicknames for the Rarach smallfolk. |
| Imps, Shorties | Kraťúchovia, Krpáni | The derogatory nicknames for the Rarach smallfolk. |
| Permon, Permons Montane smallfolk | Permon, Permoni Horský maloľud | One of the two main cultural subsets of the smallfolk humans of Aporue. (Roughly equivalent to dwarves of other fantasy settings.) |
| Permon man, Permoness, Permon men, Permon women | Permon, Permonka, Permoni, Permonky | The everyday terms for males and females of the Permon smallfolk. |
| Dwarfs, Gnomes, Delvers, Permoníks | Trpaslíci, Škriatkovia, Gnómovia, Permoníci | The nicknames for the Permon smallfolk. |
| Oremunchers, Lantern-lovers | Rudožúvači, Lampášomilci | The derogatory nicknames for the Permon smallfolk. |
| Midfolk | Strednoľud | People who have both bigfolk and smallfolk ancestry. Though such hybrids are not super-common, they are biologically entirely possible, since the Bigfolk and Smallfolk humans can have healthy offspring. |
| Man-Rarach, Man-Permon, Man-Rarachs, Man-Permons | Polorarach, Polopermon, Polorachovia, Polopermoni | The nicknames for members of the midfolk. |
| Hybrids, Half-breeds | Miešanci, Poloplemenní, Poloplemänci | The derogatory nicknames for members of the midfolk. |
| Aporueans | Aporuejčania, Aporuejci | Any inhabitants of the continent of Aporue. Equivalent of Europeans. |
| Melzans | Melzania | Demonym for people of the Melzan statelet (the country) or its capital city of Melza. |
| Melzan | Melzan, Melzanka | A male or female inhabitant of the statelet in my fictional world, or of the city of Melza that the overall monarchy is named after. |
| Cittan | Mesťan, Mesťanka | Contrast these newly coined words with citizen and townsman and občan and mešťan (same meaning in English). The Cittans / Mesťania are only the people from The City (city / mesto), the city of Melza proper. These are always capitalised. "Cittans are citizens/townsmen of Melza." / "Mesťania sú občanmi/mešťanmi Melzy." Yes, the Slovak equivalent of Cittans only differs by two letters from the real term for "townsmen". |
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Next time
All forms of humans in the setting are playable in the Thick as Thieves
tabletop RPG. Your human player character can be a member of the
bigfolk, or a member of either the Rarach or Permon smallfolk, or even a
hybrid by birth, a member of the midfolk. Same goes for NPCs. They
might be all humans, but there is plenty of variety to them, aside from
merely being male or female and having various phenotypes.
We promised you we'd start doing an overview of the inhabitants of my
fantasy setting, so here's the inaugural article, looking at us humans.
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Other overviews of the Thick as Thieves sapient species
- Newtmen (Newtfolk) overview
- Hedgehogmen (Hedgefolk) overview
- Martenmen (Martenfolk) overview
- Wolverinemen (Wolverfolk) overview
- Ottermen (Otterfolk) overview
- Stoatmen (Stoatfolk) overview
- Lobstermen and Crabmen (Crustfolk) overview
- Ravenmen (Ravenfolk) overview (apocryphal species)
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Acknowledgements and additional behind the scenes notes
TBA
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Copyrights
(C) 2014, 2021 P. Molnár & Knight-Errant Studios - Concepts/ideas, writing
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