Baarham (baar-hAhm)

Known History

Beginnings

Though lost to time, there was another name they were known by, before they called themselves 'baarham'. In those days, they were an ignoble people who kept to themselves and out of the way of others. Most would be hardpressed to find any meaningful historical records as a result. A common thing where exceptionally minor, unremarkable species are concerned. But, like so many others, their future would be forever changed by the coming of the Imperium.   Lacking the power to resist the imperial dragons, the hence-unknown baarham were enslaved alongside many other species. Dragged from their mountain homes and forced to toil their lives away, they suffered greatly under Imperious' rule. Perhaps the only thing that saved them was the value of their horns and wool, to which mages, cultivators, and the like found great value from. The imperial dragons farmed them as a result, extracting labor and material with brutal efficiency.   It would be humanity that inspired the baarham to resist; to fight against the impossible. If death was a certainty, then dying for freedom was a better choice than under the yoke. A difficult thing to follow through on, for the baarham valued kinship above everything else, and naturally feared conflict. Their love of kin overpowered their fear of war, for they hated suffering more than anything else. They joined alongside humanity, the helunae, the lauraume, and other enslaved peoples to resist the Imperium.   A difficult, bloody struggle in which countless lives were lost.   The baarham took to magical arts, honing themselves into mages of power and capability. They spared no effort in exploring all sorts of possibilities, doing anything they could to acquire strength to overthrow the dragons. The luxury of ethics or morality had no place in their fight for survival, and the baarham developed increasingly bizarre, dangerous, and horrific forms of magic.   Sadly, for all their efforts, they were still just a minor species, and it can be difficult discerning how much they did during the age of the Imperium. Most, if not all, records of such were undoubtedly erased when the World Gate exploded and brought about the Great Darkness.    

From the Ashes

Toward the end of the Imperium, a particular baarham arose in prominence and prestige. His name was Ghown, and like many baarham, he suffered horrifically underneath his dragon mistresses. Permanently disfigured and left for dead, sheer stubbornness kept him alive. He despised dragons, loathed the misfortune of the baarham, and furious, everlasting hatred filled his heart. He dreamed of a world in which baarham reigned supreme over all others, untouchable and powerful beyond reproach. His vision enamored his fellows, who so often lacked for hope or purpose in a world that continually ground them down.   When the Great Darkness came, and the end of all things seemed inevitable, Ghown's vision remained undaunted. The sheer charisma he commanded joined hands with his own absurd magical talent and knowledge, creating a cult following that spread like wildfire. It is to him that the name baarham, or 'power seekers', as it is roughly translated as, is attributed. In proper context of his declaration, the word baarham more closely means 'those who seek power to protect themselves and each other'. Henceforth, his people became baarham, and they crowned him as their one true king.   Whereas many other peoples suffered and diminished during the Great Darkness, the baarham grew in power and number. They created magics to overcome the difficulties of a sunless sky. They pillaged their neighboring regions, devouring everything in their path. Even their once-allies, who grew horrified by such behavior, ended up becoming fuel to King Ghown's ambitions. Whether or not the world ended did not matter to him: baarham would reign supreme, no matter what.   When the skies cleared and sunlight returned, Veltrona breathed a sigh of relief. For many, a relief that did not last long. Armed with incredible power, a robust economy, and a ready military of unmatchable might, the Baarham Dominion marched from the darkness to claim everything before them. While it's not clear how far the baarham migrated during the Great Darkness, their Dominion was founded in the far western end of Aerthen. It wrapped around the divine mountains of the northern side, reaching toward Ebalatan, Lophern, and further eastward into the heart of Aerthen itself.   While their actually lived in space was quite small, the baarham's power projection stretched many times beyond that. At the height of the Dominion, they'd begun to encroach upon western Nerzin and nearly conquered the entirety of Immensio. For most of the known world, where imperial dragons represented tyranny, the baarham become icons of evil. Their malicious consumption and insidious machinations went far beyond even what Imperious herself ever tried. Noone was safe, nothing was sacred, and all would be sacrificed upon the altar of baarham supremacy.   Thus, the Dominion expanded.   At the height of their power, the baarham were feared by all, even dragons. Numerous attempts to dethrone them failed, galvanizing the Dominion further and further. However, at the same time, the baarham themselves were starting to fracture. Ideological divide wrought a rift between the elder baarham–especially those from the age of the Imperium–and their descendants. Many wondered if their aggressive overtures were even necessary anymore, for the baarham were undefeated on Veltrona.   King Ghown, however, wouldn't relent.   He continued to push the baarham to greater heights with means and methods even they started to be disgusted by. Of all his fetid projects, the chimaera revolted his people the most. Though they'd done much to alter themselves, improving their physique and bloodlines, the monstrous combination of other species into a 'new baarham' went too far. A great faction of the neo-conservative baarham who opposed King Ghown, led by his own significant lover and unofficial husband, Blerthorn, denounced him and departed from the Dominion.  

Downfall

To the communal-minded baarham, the rift paralyzed their cultural mind. King Ghown himself became inconsolable and retreated from leadership, grinding the Dominion's machkinations to a halt. At such a time, his heir-in-waiting and daughter, crown princess Vanzkah zahd Ghown, assumed effective lead until such a time her father returned. Far less belligerent than her father and his faction, she was favored by many for her no-nonsense policies and effective reorganization of the Dominion's affairs. Most historians believe that if she'd been given the time, the Dominion at large may have undergone a great change away from their xenocidal ways.   Time she would never have until much, much later. For still-mysterious reasons, massive tempests coalesced and swept across the Dominion's territory, in such scale and suddenness most believed it to be divine punishment of some kind. These unusual tempests tore up everything in their back, devouring land, sea, and sky into massive spiraling funnels. No magic succeeded in stopping them, no fortification withstood their onslaught, and those in such lands were wholly at the mercy of unknown powers.   When the tempests faded, nothing was left of the Dominion. No people, no buildings, nothing but deep scars in the veltron where violent forces tore them away. For everyone on Veltrona, it became clear that the baarham had finally been ended.   The baarham, however, found themselves somewhere completely different.   A dimensional plane of infinite, unending dirt and a pale-blue sky under a dim, monotonous pinprick of sunlight. Though the air was breathable, there was no wind, no sensation of the stars, no pull of the kosmic ways; just dead stillness. The baarham landed at some random spot, the totality of the Dominion left in a trash heap of ruin. The survivors of the horrific relocation emerged from the wreckage of their civilization, suddenly all too aware of the existential threat facing them.   The soil had no nutrients to grow within and no winds meant no rain. Death by starvation or dehydration was inevitable once their surviving storage was depleted. Their scouts, ranging far and wide for many days, merely confirmed that harrowing discovery. Worse, they found other ruins far, far away. Upon exploring the first one they reached, they only found empty halls and mass graves full of unrecognizable skeletons. By all accounts, whatever force had attacked them had sent the Dominion to some dead world no different than a garbage dump.    

Oasis of Despair

Vanzkah, having survived the translation, took the reigns of the surviving baarham once more. Realizing they had neither the resources nor the means to create a sustainable habitat, she set her eyes on the alien ruins dotting the landscape. Though wrung dry of any resource that could sustain life, they contained plentiful other things, like metals, strange machkinery, and vast libraries of incomprehensible knowledge. The race was on, and the baarham became increasingly desperate.   As their migration continued, they eventually found something unbelievable: a functional city.   Far grander than any other ruin, its monolithic walls and vast size stretched across the endless plane. Strange, humanoid puppets patrolled its walls, guarded its gates, and monotonously labored. At first contact, they discovered the strange city welcomed them readily in, so long as they obeyed its simplistic laws. So long as no one interfered in the city's operations, or impeded its legions of silent workers, they may inhabit within. To the horror of the baarham, the oasis city housed vast swathes of Forsaken, both living and dead.   They, like the baarham, had been left behind in the empty land. And, they, like the baarham, found the Oasis City; the only place any could truly survive within. The supreme power who ruled over it was an entity simply known as the Padisah. Her strange machkinery worked endlessly, churning the thinnest strands of mana into construction material, food, and water. She cared not for the those who lived within her city, unless they had something useful to offer.   Powerful in ways that even these old Forsaken feared them, Vanzkah carved out a home for the baarham in the wretched city. Though diminished in number and scarred beyond recognition, they skirted outside of death's reach. Although they'd slammed heads with the Forsaken, one of the most powerful leaders extended an appendage in offer. Ancient even by the city's standards, Taehallanoph was a maliciously evil soul solely obsessed with war. She longed to be free from the empty land and its pitifully singular city. She wanted to return to Veltrona, and knew the baarham could enable that.   Vanzkah scoffed at relying upon such a person, or any other Forsaken. Her father, however, returning to lucidity, saw an opportunity. Despite her protests, King Ghown cut a deal with Taehallanoph, joining the Dominion's forces with her abdominable armies. Together, over many long and cruel decades, the baarham labored to devise a magic that would make a bridge back to Veltrona. It's not well known how the baarham survived, especially given their accounts of the Forsaken dwelling within the Oasis City. No one who lived in that time speaks of it, and all of them desperately want to forget it.    

King's Demise; Queen's Ascension

Succeeding at long last in the construction of a portal that could reach Veltrona, the baarham and Taehallanoph's forces marched through. Their apparent arrival location was in south-eastern Immensio, along the great mountain range of Mount Skyreach. Revitalized by their success and overcome in delirious madness, the combined forces swept through the lands, ravaging, gorging, and massacring everything in their path. The baahram's return heralded utter destruction upon all others.   Something swiftly noticed by the locals, and furthermore responded upon in kind.   Though gone for as long as they were, the Dominion hadn't faded entirely from the world's memory yet. Many tribes, city-states, and small nations rallied their forces, joined by immortals flocking from afar to battle their foe once more. Within months, bloody conflict broke out, intensifying by the day as Forsaken, baarham, and all others collided. Led by their King, the baarham slaughtered everyone in their path, driven to exact their revenge for their horrific exile.   It was during those days that they soon realized something even more horrible.   Among those they fought, they found others just like them: baarham, but different. Ones who diverged from the blood-changing magics and engineering that King Ghown prized. Ones who'd overcome the many faults and failures of the baarham genetic template their haste for power had wrought. They were the baatari, and realizing what'd happened, the baarham ground to a stop, stunned by their own actions. And, in fate's cruel machkinations, King Ghown found his most precious lover on the receiving end of their violence.   Blerthorn, ever Ghown's other half, lay dying from mortal wounds. By who, no one could tell; such marks were as much Forsaken as baarham. Though reconciling in their final moments, nothing Ghown had could save Blerthorn, and so the baatari patriarch died in his arms. King Ghown, whose unflinching morality and keen vision ever guided him, found himself blinded. He, who refused to be a king that lost his way, turned to the only course his mounting rage could erupt toward.   In a mighty command that shook the continent, he bid his people to turn upon the Forsaken; to kill and destroy each and every one of them. For they were baarham, and they would never turn upon their kin. Those corrupted by the evil ways of the Forsaken, too, would die for their betrayals. So, to the stunned awe of everyone else, the hated baarham turned in an instant upon the Forsaken.   Eclipsing the battles of before, the veltron quaked as both sides turned upon each other. Fully drawing upon their arsenals, magics both profound and profane were conducted while unbreakable warriors collided together. King Ghown, fully consumed by a rage even his rigid mind could never overcome, took the fore with savagery his people had never seen before. Taehallanoph and him collided, their battle alone tearing apart miles upon miles all around them.   In the end, the baarham stood victorious, if bloodied and broken. King Ghown himself is fabled to have perished atop a mountain of bodies, gazing upon the Heavens in defiance. Vanzkah, however, testified to a much simpler picture: a huge crater, pooling with blood as her broken father kneeled in the mud, bitterly resentful to the very end. With his demise, she assumed the throne as the new Queen, and declared herself Queen Domina of Baarham.   For the surviving baarham, they trusted in Vanzkah's steely leadership.    

Quiet Solitude

As Queen, Vanzkah's immediate task was placating the incensed, wronged, and vengeful armies surrounding her people. With her father's death, and many of the top leadership in the Dominion dying in the battle as well, she successfully argued that the baarham themselves would change. Under her leadership, she denounced her father's means and methods, citing horrors like the chimaera, and pledged to lead the baarham on a new path. One that still promised them the power to protect themselves, but not at the cost of everything that made them people.   While there were, and still are, many misgivings about the baarham, Vanzkah's diplomacy succeeded, if just barely. The battered baarham were taken in by the surviving baatari, and the two peoples left into the mountains surrounding Mount Skyreach, retreating from contact with everyone else. To the world at large, the hated baarham had been humbled for good, though some old grudges nonetheless remained.   Ones that might see them put in the ground for good, too.   Queen Vanzkah, all too aware of the vast enemies they still had, wanted for allies or safe harbor.   While it's not known how she achieved it, the fact remained that the baarham themselves soon came under the wings of Bloodwing, Empress of Votyoger. A paradoxical situation, for the baarham were victims of the Imperium and hateful of dragons; Bloodwing, a vicious wyvern who delighted in cruelty and torture of those she deemed unworthy. How the two came to be is a maddening secret, but nonetheless, it meant the baarham had found safe harbor of sorts. Settling upon the lower bands of Mount Skyreach, the baarham and their baatari kin went about rebuilding their lives once more.   Guided by Queen Vanzkah's vision and the baatari's new ways of thinking, the baarham slowly disentangled themselves from Ghown's legacy. A difficult and painful process, one that even to the modern day the baarham struggle to realize. Given the heights of power, made immortal, and having lived through the worst of what life could offer, many were reluctant to give up their strength or identity. Indeed, even Queen Vanzkah struggled, but together, in yearning for a better future still, they labored to overcome their nature, and undo the wrongs they'd committed.   Time, as it always does, went on, and the baarham continued their quiet meditations and self-reflection.   There were those who disagreed, and those among them even stronger than that. Unwilling to besmirch the name of King Ghown, his brillance, or his legacy, they denounced Queen Vanzkah and so went into exile. Believing themselve the one and only true baarham, they sought to remake the Dominion and to create a world that would be safe for them all. Unlike her father, Queen Vanzkah had no compulsions about punishing these renegades, for she feared the evil they would create.   Such an act stunned the baarham, though not the baatari, who understood such measures were needed. In the end, it stopped most baarham from breaking away or trying to recreate the late King's vision once again. Whether or not the Queen was justified continues to be a pain point; especially as she suppresses any future attempts. If any one Veltrona should speak for the late King's vision, she, as his daughter, was the only one who had any right to do so.   And Vanzkah declared clearly: no more shall baarham be as King Ghown dreamed of.   They would be better.      

Biology

Anatomy and Physiology

Baarham are sexually dimorphic humanoids with a head, torso, two arms with five-fingered hands, widened hips, and two digitigrade legs that end in sturdy, thick cloven hooves. In general, females are bulkier, have enlarged breasts, pronounced hip structure, and 'sharp' wool patterns. Males emphasize lithe, athletic physiques and 'fluffy' wool patterns,   Their heads have two eyes, a somewhat broad nose, wide lips, and two large, conically floppy goat ears on the sides. Their overall face is considered expressive and emotive, easily displaying ranges of emotion.   Horns grow out from the head, with the base anywhere from the temples to the frontal-half of the crown, or forehead. They're physically large structures, often being several inches in diameter and potentially up to two feet long in total length. As a result, the necks of baarham are muscular and broad to support such additional weight. The horns may grow in a number of directions, but always do so symmetrically where possible.   Specialized 'divets' line the underside of the horns, acting as softer and recessed points closer to blood vessel flow and thus enhancing heat exchange with the air. The topside of the horns tend to be thicker and more sturdy, so as to withstand being rammed against another pair of horns. Female horns tend to emphasize angular sides and points, while males are more curvy and rounded.   While lower in height compared to other species, the baarham have stout physiques that are ideal for their ancestral lifestyle of mountaineering. Their cloven hoofs and thick but stubby nails are ideal with scaling rock and sheer surfaces.   Baarham bodies are partially covered in wool: the hands, forearms, and to the lower bicep, as well as the entirety of their legs below the knee, and half way above the knee. There's also wool growing around the lower neck / collarbone. Their torsos are principally skin, but erratic and terminating 'tendrils' of wool may reach into it, either on their own or as connected to their extreminities / collarbone.   Baarham have no facial hair, but their head hair and eyebrows constantly grow and thus require constant maintenance. A short, stubby tail juts out from above their buttocks, covered in a thick tuffet of wool.    

Appearance

Baarham hair and wool coloration follow red, black, and dark brown, with undersides of stony grays. Their wool tends to have a matte texture, while the hair is glossier, distinguishing the two even when they share the same color. However, this can invert or pair-off (e.g, glossy to matte, matte / matte, etc) so it is not inflexible.   Their eyes universally have black sclera and wide, horizontally rectangular pupils. Iris colors vary in the reds, oranges, and pinks unless changed by heritage. The clarity is highly defined, featuring texture and detail that makes their eyes seem artificially made.   Their skin color is olive-to-brown, and their internal flesh is pinkish. Mana lines interweave throughout their internal flesh, creating tessellating and geometric patterns that pulsate with the plasma-blue hues of pure mana. This effect is not visible through their exterior skin unless they're conducting a lot of magic or under a great deal of stress.    

Natural Abilities

Engineered Physiology – Having extensively modified themselves through genetic engineering, the baarham are physiologically distinct from their ancestors. While generally superior in most measurements, they've also suffered from severe setbacks due to limitations or poor application.   Immortal – Baarham are physiologically ageless, maintaining their peak biological performance.   Grand Mana – Baarham have innately enormous reserves of mana, easily eclipsing almost all other species except dragons.   Grand Conductance – Baarham conduct magic as easily as they breathe, practically one step short of becoming beings of pure magic themselves.   Infertility – Conception is difficult for the baarham.   Cold Adaptation – A species native to alpine environments, baarham thrive in the cold and chilly weathers, but conversely suffer greatly in hotter climates.   But, How? – Baarham have a profound sense of balance and can easily climb surfaces nearly everyone else finds impossible to do. The most confusing part is they do it without magic at all, perplexing everyone.   Mana-absorbing Wool – Baarham wool is very good at absorbing ambient mana, retaining it for ease of use by the baarham themself. This effect is diminished when it's shorn off, but still present.   Anxiety Stricken – Instinctively anxious, baarham worry over many things and often obsessively so.    

Diet

Principally herbivorous leaning slightly omnivorous, baarham like hearty garden and root vegetables, nuts, legumes, and small selections of meat that are usually lean, low-fat, and/or tough. They tend to prefer hard skinned fruits with a more fibrous texture than sugary or watery per say. In general, their diet is optimized around alpine conditions, so high nutrient levels encapsulated in cold weather adaptations.   Bread and maize are staple food items, and are usually found in some form in nearly all their meals. Most forms of bread came from cultivated maize strands, resulting in hardy or durable types. When the baarham expanded into warmer climates, they adopted softer bread types as a kind of luxury food item, generally as it doesn't keep well and breaks easily.   Baarham love soups. A lot of foody items they otherwise don't like serve as ideal soup, and many families have extensive recipe books on such things. In fact, the word 'soup' and 'potion' is the same in baarham language, the only difference is the outcome: magical effects or nutrition. In some cases, both.    

Life Cycle

Baarham are born generally immobile and incapable, requiring direct care from their mother during infancy. Instinctively quiet, they don't move around when being carried, but start to explore when set down somewhere. For baarham, life in the mountains is full of unusual predators and dangerous terrain, and a wandering mind or careless noise are hazards to have.   Childhood proper is usually culturally marked when the first 'horn bleed' begins. Infant baahram are born with a layer of skin over their undeveloped horns, preventing excessive damage during birth. This skin gradually recedes as the horns begin growing and typically pierce through the skin itself. This first bleeding event, while alarming to a child, is a sign of continuing maturation. Some ethnic groups believe in medically removing the skin before horn bleed occurs, but either method works.   Childlike curiosity and the natural baarham sense of balance come together in a timeless combination that has aggravated parents since time immemorial. Often unaware of the dangers and entirely too capable, baarham children love climbing to places they really shouldn't. Most can end up stuck somewhere they're too afraid of leaving, trapping themselves in the process. Given the consequences of such wayward exploring, guardians are usually assigned to watch groups of children.   A task as necessary as it is a form of punishment sometimes.   While baarham are born with a type of wool, it's a temporary form that is shed as they age. When sexual maturation begins, their true wool begins growing in properly. That is also when their horns start to accelerate in development, and along with the usual maturing issues, makes it a time of great change and usually discomfort. In general, from birth till this point is usually marked around twenty or so years.   Adolescence itself lasts around another twenty years, with the baarham coming into physical maturity. It is during this time their appetite for mana explodes, skyrocketing their nutrient intake as they fully push their body to its natural capacity. Heightened aggression is a norm here, especially between youngsters with something to prove. Most horns have taken shape, but are yet to fully form, so head butting isn't as much of a thing outside of incidental expressions.   Physical maturation usually settles around fifty-to-sixty years, though some argue it tends to be reached at around eighty. Either way, the body has achieved its final growth, wool is ongoing, and the horns have are usually fully grown or are nearing it. In some cases, horns continue to grow slowly, requiring scheduled trimming and care to prevent them from becoming problematic.   There is not much distinguishing ancient baarham from a newly matured adult: their appearances are largely similar. The horns tend to indicate age through certain types of scarring and wear / tear, but as like with most immortals, these blemishes also fade in time. Some cultures tend to prioritize things like eyebrow length as a form of aged respect, as it cannot be achieved without decades or centuries of effort.   The regular norm tends to be forms of social accomplishments, generally recognized by the masses or by select leading figures. While simply surviving to milestone birthdays is itself commendable, baarham look more favorably upon deeds done in the name of the community. Thus, many 'elder' baarham tend to be those with deep social connections and meritous achievements, firmly embedding them within the cultural mind.    

Anaxials, Hybrids, and Variants

Anaxials

Perhaps due to their own genetic modifications, baarham anaxials are even more varied than normal. They may have half a head of hair and the other half wool, for example, and their body hair is randomly decided between hair or wool. Assymmetrical horn growth is a regular occurrence, sometimes no longer even strictly tied to the head. If horns do grow on the body, they usually do so near or at the joints, causing medical issues with limb functionality.   They do generally meld musculature together well, inheriting more human height while carrying baarham physique, making them tall and robust. Their legs uniformly become either plantigrade or digitigrade. Their mother's colorations tend to overpower their father's, resulting in more unique and unusual colors not typically seen within baarham.   There is always some contention over baarham anaxials, particularly if they have strongly apparent assymmetry or bizarre hair and wool combinations. While inheriting the full potential and might of baarham, they're often harshly judged by their appearance alone. The baarham are nominally more accepting of them, seeing them as kindred and so part of the greater baarham community. In the times in which the human side also accept them, these anaxials tend to be bridges between the isolationist baarham and the lucky mother culture.    

Hybrids

Similarly, due to their genetic modification, hybrids tend to express more baarham-centric traits and often override that of their father's. For the most part, many hybrids go unnoticed in baarham cultures. Those that do have unusual expressions of traits tend to be so similar to regular baarham it's not usually thought much of. Nominally, these ones show things like scales on their skin, unusual wool colors or texture, and differ types of growth styles on their horns.   In older times, particularly the era of the Dominion, visibly discernible hybrids were scorned as 'lesser' baarham by radicalists. However, bloodline purity never really took root, and most of that thinking died alongside the Dominion itself. While the odd asshole tries to stir the pot by discriminating against such baarham, it usually ends up backfiring on them instead.    

Variants

See: Baatari   ?      

Sociology

Cultural Universals

Descendants of a prey species, combined with their horrific fate in the age of the Imperium, has left deep scars in the baarham psyche. Their fear of the enemy, no matter what form it takes or is imagined to, is very real and very compulsive to them. Even those hundreds or thousands of years old are not free from such anxiety, they merely endure it better.   Community-oriented to a fault, baarham form extensive social bonds with each other. They're very keen to know who someone is, what they do, and where they stand in the order of things. Doing so brings about a sense of stability, which calms the instinctual anxiety they suffer from. While easy to read, the baarham perspective is hard to capture fully in meaning.   Hence, many baarham tend to verify and determine the trustworthiness of their communities extensively. Each of them is always trying to construct a social network of appropriate peoples who, ultimately, form a protective bubble around the baarham. Trust is tangibly real to a baarham; It isn't merely a sense of bonded familiarity, but an actual quieting of their anxiety they consider extremely precious.   In another light, thanks to their extreme disposition toward magic, virtually every baarham conducts some form of it. Even their least-trained members can create and utilize magic other species can take decades to match in parity, if at all. Many, as a result, often have their own unique twists and turns to specific magical ideas, creating a huge variety of arts that is seemingly impossible to fully catalogue.   Responsibility is a concept that is particularly apparent among the baarham. Perhaps because of the ease to which power is available to them, owning one's actions and social responsibilities is important. This can entail anything from accidental fires that get started up to the creation of society-disrupting inventions, or even diplomacy with other species. So long as someone takes responsibility (ideally the one who caused the issue) and ensures it doesn't cause undue harm or problems, they're satisfied.    

Lingual Characteristics

Given their alpine homelands, baarham are particularly good at vocalizing. Their voice projection helps to reach across vast, echoing distances, and contend with mountainous winds and other problems. Generally, their voices can be described as deep or resonant, and they love having verbal emphasis that punches up certain words or phrases. Their namesake, 'baarham', is an example that can be emphasized three ways that conveys very different emotion in doing so.    

Arts and Beauty

Taking a liking to big, imposing, and/or vast, baarham like simplicity of form that begets granduer. They especially like three-dimensionality, such as reliefs that have distinct foregrounds and backgrounds, that can give emphasis to such traits. It can come off as odd to other peoples, particularly when the baarham's vast magical capability is taken into account. They, in fact, refrain from using magic for most of their art pieces. The physicality of it is, itself, meaningful: mountains did not appear out of nowhere, but through time and effort.   Not that they don't understand the practicality of using magic to make things, of course.   Similarly, their notions of beauty center on strong figures, stout faces, and implacable fortitude. A baarham that carries themself like an imposing fortress begets confidence, safety, and security; all very attractive by their standard. At the same time, they don't like showboating, oversaturated colors, complex patterns, and anything that's particularly 'loud'. This leads to an interesting competition where, instead of increasing complexity, baarham try to refine down to efficient utilization instead.   However, these notions have changed over the centuries, particularly as foreign cultures bled into baarham ones. It's a constant friction point where more visually complicated pieces are slowly filtered through, reduced to sublimity in what few parts it needs to maintain cohesion. Some, particularly younger generations, have taken toward embracing complexity instead. Intricate patterns, offensive color combinations, and structural sophistication are the hallmarks of these contrarian styles.    

Magic and Technology

The baarham relationship to mana and conducting magic beget them many innovative individuals. Consecutive generations carried on those traditions, and so many bloodline families have ridiculously detailed artforms. It's often supposed that if no one else has any idea on how to do something, the baarham have at least five versions of that thing already. The principle issue is that knowledge being power means these families guard theirs quite well. Specially trusted intermediaries, typically under the authority of the Queen, are responsible for evaluating and determining what should be shared; either for cultural usage or power balancing.   Their natural affinity for magic coincided well with their sentiments about engineering. To the baarham mind, a problem that needs a solution needs it done well; permanently, if possible. When pressed for the need for labor or better tools, they devised machkinery that solved both problems. These self-operating forms of technology took various forms of input, transformed them, then created the desired output. Auto-forges are one such example, devouring enormous amounts of raw ore, spitting out waste, and then producing finalized metalware. If an auto-forge failed at its job, then a better one must be designed.   This changed their conceptualization of labor and economics on a fundamental level. Baarham took more and more to machkinery, creating all sorts of things that could do the work they needed. Unlike relying on people, their machkines did everything as desired, as they were designed to. Others, however, saw even more potential. Khaaestra zahd Machkin, the Grand Architect, is one such baarham. Khaaestra's brillant mind saw endless potential applications, even to the point of building functional replacement parts for her own heavily damaged body. While the replacements worked, she pushed further, soon creating machkinical parts as good or better than naturally born baarham.   It proved that machkinery is only as limited as the mind that envisioned it, and many baarham spend decades at a time studying to improve their works.    

Religion and Philosophy

Once, the baarham worshiped a small pantheon of goddesses. Then came the Imperium, and when they pleaded to their goddesses for help, no answers followed. No matter what they did, nothing happened, and so the baarham soon believed they'd been abandoned. Indeed, the presence of their goddesses faded, leaving them alone on Veltrona.   Once burned and twice as shy, the baarham scorned the platitudes of others and their goddesses. Fearing they'd only be exploited, if in different ways, they struggled. It was King Ghown's vision, and complete scorning of religion, that soon bound them together. If they could not trust such beings to save them, then they had to save themselves instead.   Thus, for the baarham, religion centered around divine beings became reviled. They perceived such entities as parasitical in nature, taking from veltron-bound peoples, gorging themselves, then abandoning them or giving pittances. After all, they had no incentive to endanger themselves, and they easily dangled 'reward' in front of the ignorant or desperate. Such dealings were capricious at the least, if not self-endangering, so all who indulged were utterly foolish.   A form of ancestor worship arose, venerating the departed and remembering their contributions the living yet enjoy. It is as much a form of historical record keeping as it is a unifying cultural meme that maintains their identity. Their philosophies changed greatly as a result, centering on concepts like community, social participation, self-directed morality, comprehensive ethical consideration, and the like. While many of these were built to serve King Ghown's hateful ways, most were easily pruned and salvaged of such considerations. They were reconsidered in a proper, holistic context of how a baarham could live not only with their people, but the greater world.   Granted, anything dealing with 'outsiders' is adorned in caution, fear, and no amount of warning. While they understand such people may not intrinsically mean harm, there is a certain order of priority at work. That is, a people will always prefer their own first, and all others second at least. To place one's self at the mercy of others with no recourse was how the Imperium happened, and so the baarham consider it a moral failing.   There is a noteworthy religion that does find its way around its ranks, that of Volapaws. Unlike humans, who tend to deify Aerintor and her accomplishments, the baarham distinctly remember her helping them during the Imperium. There are those who revere and respect her as a true friend of the baarham, and so she is included within the ancestor worship the baarham generally practice.    

Science and Spirituality

Scientific inquiry became the bedrock to baarham cultural thinking. The ability to question, discern solutions, experiment, record, and then produce result or begin again, were important milestones for them. In an uncertain world, knowledge became the certainty they needed to survive. On the surface such thinking appears rational, but it can take on many forms, including self-contained paradoxes. These logic conflicts are considered desirable as it gives motivation; baarham love to prove people 'wrong' more than they do about being 'correct'.   Unfortunately, when combined with their great families guarding knowledge, baarham scientific progress is ... jagged. Ego, far more than reason, drives their innovative spirit. Not ones to accept defeat, the resulting turbulence is a constant, churning source of conflict within their intellectual world. To an outsider, such a place looks and comes off as quite vicious. To baarham, however, today's winner is tomorrow's loser, and so it is graceful to help the defeated to have a chance at victory once more.   Logic itself cannot explain everything; it relies upon understanding or information that is not always available. Spirituality intertwines with it, combining ideas and concepts that are not wholly 'logical' into meaningful 'reason' itself. Though the baarham rejected the tenants of religion, they longed for meaning. They're convinced there is 'something', but believe it is their limited view, ignorance, or otherwise that prevents them from understanding it. Some argue that it is not logical thought that should be used, but emotional intuition instead.   That is, emotion couldn't be ruled out as something purely primal. It may be a type of logic all to its own that, while seeming flawed when compared against 'real logic', nonetheless provides 'meaning'. It is this curious view that at times helps as much as generates friction, spurring the baarham forward. But, from it, certain considerations do arise. A big example is that the baarham believe their own creations are imbued with 'something'. Whether a simple tool or a complex form of puppetry that manifests as a puppetkin, they see their works as extensions of themselves. Created by baarham are, in some way, baarham as well.   A romantic view point sometimes, but one conspicuously absent where the chimaera are concerned.      

Psychology

Sleep and Rest

Safety being a paramount concern makes finding a place to rest rather important for a baarham. They need more than seclusion or a locked door, often requiring miniature fortresses unto themselves. Structurally engineered and magically enchanted to an unbelievable degree, these safe spaces are the closest to relaxing the baarham can sleep in. Only the most trustworthy people are allowed inside, and so it is one of the most significant examples of relationship status that a baarham can show.   It makes for resting elsewhere somewhat more ... challenging. Though they do have a variety of magics and techniques while traveling or lodging, nowhere is as safe as 'home' is. Still, the baarham need to sleep, so they rely greatly upon their solutions to provide enough safety to do so. They won't stop just anywhere, or just any inn, or even crash at a friend's place–it must be safe, to a minimal degree if nothing else.   The two main methods by which baarham find other places to relax is simply doing it themselves, or having 'trusted' locations. The latter is where businesses catering to baarham sentiments shine the most. Not only must they literally be capable of providing the safety expected, they must maintain a distinct nonoffensive demeanor about it. In other words, neutrality and insurance are the bread and butter of such people. The mere perception of either being violated can kill baarham interest in such a place, making reputation extremely difficult to gain and profoundly easy to lose.   Generally speaking, how they tend to sleep mostly depends on the natural shape of their horns. Very wide and horizontal ones means sleeping on the back or belly is the only viable way, unless they use something like a hammock that's suspended over the ground. While every species with horns or unusual head adornments has to deal with this, baarham have particular issues because their horns are very big more often than not.    

Consciousness and Thought

Because of their natural affinity for mana, magic comes easily to the baarham, sometimes to the point they don't realize they're doing it. Their mana sensitivity intertwines with every other sense extensively, letting them perceive reality in a way that is as grounded as it is fungible. A building made of stone and wood may be impressive, but they perceive it as much through veltron itself as their eyes or sense of touch. This is something those who train in magic often arrive at, but the baarham do so very naturally.   Unfortunately, such hyper-awareness only fuels their anxiety more than it helps. Baarham notice all sorts of things others might pay no attention to. They worry about issues no one else has perceived yet, let alone considered. 'Maybe it's a bunch of nothing, but what if it wasn't?' or so their mind whispers. Coming to grips with their own anxious nature is often the first and greatest hurdle for any baarham to get through. How they do so, ultimately, informs a lot about them as a person and who they will become.    

Motivation and Emotion

Safety remains the greatest driving motivator for the baarham. In a world they perceive as intrinsically 'against them' and wishing for their demise, safety is a paramount concern. Yet, such gains are often fleeting, for myriad disasters may strip that away from them. A great deal of their early innovations, philosophers, and leaders were all driven prominently by this singular concern. King Ghown essentialy embodied it, and utilized providing safety as a means of currying favor to his people.   Once safety is guaranteed, baarham devote themselves to other necessary tasks: food, water, cooking, recreation, and the like. The overwhelming pressure of needing to satisfy safety causes an overflow effect, driving them to then pursue whatever interest they had. Since they never know how much time they may have for such things, they overly commit to them, putting a lot of effort and work in a relatively crunchy amount of time. To outsiders, it can resemble mania, but the longer the baarham are safe, the more this behavior evens out.   In fact, it may be easy to say baarham are emotionally turbulent beings, but that is a disservice to them. The overwhelming sincerity they have with their emotions can make them as emotional as dragons, though without intrinsic conveyance. Harnessing such powerful drive is as important as having a calculative mind that can devise complex, esoteric schemes. No, perhaps more than that, without such a drive, baarham fear they'd be as ruthless and forsaken as the undead.   Such is what nearly happened to them in the Oasis of Despair, after all.    

Sexuality and Love

Baarham focus more on emotional connection with others than strict sexual expressions per say. It's a difficult-to-categorize perspective because they're so worried about other people that forming meaningful bonds is that more difficult. Finding and nurturing such relationships is often the paramount concern, and then other details fall into place later. It can be described as a type of pansexuality as a result, though even then the baarham care little for the details. In the end, the people are what matter most, and if love takes them in one direction or another, that is also an interesting thing to experience.   In this way, the extreme views they have of relationships comes into clarity. Material wealth, knowledge, geographic locations are all things that can be replaced, but never people. To those whom baarham trust, love, consider friends or more, they are stabilizing pillars in a chaotic and uncertain world. In many ways, baarham consider their safety and happiness as important as their own. If their social circle is suffering, they are suffering, and they hate that; so, baarham resolve it, one way or another.      

Society

Social Mannerisms

Baarham value self-control, reliability, restraint, and adherence to social norms. At a glance, they come off as a stoic or reserved people, being generally unexpressive or lacking in humour. But, this is a form of mistressy over their own anxious minds as much as the chaotic world around them. This interesting detail arises in that older generations of baarham–those near or actually from the Dominion–embody this behavior, for it is how King Ghown conducted himself.   Younger generations diverged somewhat, embracing more open expressions of emotion, color, and vibrancy native to their species. Many children and young adults show this the best, but the overbearing stoicism of their elders has a tangible dampening effect. That said, they are not unfeeling like stone for everything has a time and place. When celebrating, show the good emotions of joy, laughter, happiness, comradery, love, and so on. When mourning, let the pain out, find solace in each other, affirm the bonds of those living and dead, and so on.   Hence, the baarham judge people by how well they control and conduct themselves. It shows refinement, skill, social awareness, and most importantly, appropriate behavior to any given situation. They're considered sterner than the likes of humanity or keshlaen, but not unreasonably so. Not as long as the baarham themselves are still being cordial about it.    

Gender

Given the overwhelming presence King Ghown commanded in the cultural mind, many men likened themselves after his image, if only in part. King Ghown himself held unfaltering esteem for his mother, a maidservant who died early on in his life. He never played favorites with the genders in his polices, taking a handsoff, 'per person performance' type of mentality. Historians later regarded it as a form of meritocracy, but some remarks by King Ghown suggested he found the topic inane in the first place (considering they were fighting dragons and the like).   Baarham women, however, are always keen to build their own (often literal) castles; be it for magecraft, study, family rearing, all of those and more. Hence, while the men chased a king's glory, the women built the backbone of the Dominion and the baarham ways. After their downfall and subsequent return, the emphasis on community and family redefined baarham gender roles. Both (or more) parents were needed in the family, and the division of labor was separated more at their discretion than by fixed beliefs.   Ultimately, it depends on each family or ethnic group's own take on the matter. Some are fairly indifferent to who does what, while others prefer leaning into 'natural strengths', for whatever definition of natural they work by. Queen Vanzkah herself continues the same vein of policies as her father, looking for ideal candidates to serve the baarham's interests.    

Kinship and Ethnicities

The simplest form of kinship group is usually denoted by a baarham's horns. Every bloodline has relatively distinct horns, and as the mother's horns pass down to her children, maternal lineage are a key indicator of blood relations. While every baarham's horns has some variation to them, things like structure, texture, and patterns create the 'visual fingerprint'.   Having lost virtually all of their old identity in the age of the Imperium, the broader ethnic groups arose based on profession than geographic location or long history. Those who've studied furnace and mining work tend to form one group, while mages and alchemists form another, and so on. These major 'profession groups' then subdivide into more specific kinship groups, such as miners in one, smiths in another.   From these extremely broad groups come the specific bloodline families; those who track and control their lineage. These bloodline families are often a composite mixture of several ethnic groups, usually those closely interrelated but not always. From the bloodline families arise the Great Families, those of most significant power or cultural presence to the baarham. Such families are seen as owning great responsibility, exercising dominion over entire conceptual fields.   One example is the Starwatchers, one of the smallest Great Families, but one specifically created by King Ghown himself. Their titular purpose is the monitoring of the Dark Ocean, the myriad Heavenly Realms, and anything else of a 'not-Veltrona' nature. Their esoteric libraries contain some of the most bizarre secrets imaginable, but they're not well known outside of astronomy circles.   Another famous example is the Machkin family, solely headed up by Khaaestra, and created by order of Queen Vanzkah. Khaaestra, infamous for her mass proliferation of technology, was punished by Queen Vanzkah to take responsibility for the resulting mess Khaaestra made. This has also had the effect of taking machkinery as a concept out of the hands of the other Great Families, making them kowtow to Khaaestra instead. It's generally considered a well-done political move to rebalance the baarham political landscape, even if Khaaestra is tortured daily by her hatred of paperwork.   A more 'traditional' Great Family would be the Stokers. Their namesake owing to the founders' great mining, refining, and smelting, the Stokers command over metallurgy is legendary. Virtually all metals the baarham use pass through their hands in some manner, bringing raw ore to profound levels of quality. They're also uniquely a somewhat religious Great Family, embodying a branch of tenets belonging to Volapaws. Of all baarham, the Stokers love humanity the most, and so hold a special relationship with them. It is said their smithing ways were taught by Aerintor herself, a somewhat contentious claim but one that is difficult to refute.    

Governments and Politics

Factionalism is the norm for the baarham, following along family bloodline if not profession. Within those larger factions, subdivisions arise with more particular concerns, and their prominence rises and falls as trends go. In order to maintain a semblance of functionality, King Ghown, and later Queen Vanzkah, maintained a system of royal arbiters who function as direct lines to the throne. These arbiters are the 'final word' on any political matters in a localized sense. If the factions cannot resolve their issues, the arbiters will for them.   In order to facilitate wider cooperation beyond just an iron fist, though, Queen Vanzkah innovated the idea of a representative parliament. Each major faction recognized by the throne, or through public vote of 70% or more, are given representatives to act in their interests. These representatives are determined by a simplistic population percentage, so larger factions have more power.   However, everyone is given relatively equal time to present their issues (eventually), and each representative can cast two votes: one public, one blind. As is typical for the baarham, the blind vote option is intended to stir chaos in the workings. In Queen Vanzkah's mind, such blind votes enable a means for everyone to vote on something their public interests otherwise wouldn't allow for. Though, as is the case, they're typically sold off to weaker factions to bolster their standings on certain issues.   Ultimately, this all serves to solely prioritize issues for Queen Vanzkah and her throne to work upon. If there is an issue too severe or too mishandled that is voted in her direction, she will strike it down in an instant. She in fact encourages the factions to do so, and willfully plays the part of villain in order to ensure government continues to function properly.   They make it work, if only because everyone involved has an interest in doing so. The ones that don't never stay around for long.   That said, the baarham themselves are extreme isolationists. They care little for the outside world, perceive most civilizations as active threats of some manner, and prefer to be left to their devices. While these sentiments are changing, at a glacial speed that may take hundreds of years. Instead, for the most part, the baarham keep to themselves, move around on their own, and avoid interacting with others.   That said, certain interest groups like the Starwatchers, by necessity, must interact with the outside world. Such baarham are the ones most others encounter, albeit briefly, and on esoteric business that is not really ever clear what it is about. Khaaestra's city of Laknor is one of the most surprising examples of an open settlement with a significant baarham constituency. Most Great Families maintain something of a presence in the city to act as a 'diplomatic frontdoor' to be reached at as a result.    

Trade and Economics

The economic profile of the baarham largely settles in a form of bartering vaguely reminscient of post-scarcity without having achieved it. Because machkinery runs most of their industries, at least at the raw resource acquisition level, the baarham end up with more raw material than they can effectively consume. While some of these things are property of a Great Family or two, by their standards most everyone doesn't want for anything 'mundane'. Even crysium, a luxury material of great value to anyone dealing with mana, is relatively plentiful.   Thus, baarham mostly worry over the transportation logistics and more advanced materials or items. Of the two, the latter demands a personal touch by a baarham directly, and that means taking up their time, and taking up that time means owing them something. Thus begins the complex bartering process, as a baarham being requisitioned something can ask almost anything in return. Conversely, asking baarham to do material transport is usually seen as a favor-generating source of revenue. Nearly no one wants to do that kind of labor, but it's vitally needed, so a lot of incentives are usually attached to it.   It is this complex webwork of favors, conditional desires, and personality that form baarham economics. As messy as it is intertwined, it's very rare the baarham reach outside of their spheres of influence for anything. The most common items of interest are relics, artifacts, books, musical devices, and other forms of knowledge containing or demonstrating items. Unless, of course, someone is on a power trip and wants to exercise undue authority. Then it comes down to the Queen 'reigning them in'.    

Interspecies Relations

Sometimes more myth than reality, the baarham's seclusion over the centuries has all but erased them from the minds of most civilizations. Astute historians and plentiful immortals ever keep an eye on them instead, monitoring the baarham for anything vaguely similar to their Dominion starting again. But, as ever, Queen Vanzkah makes good on her word, and the baarham people continue to prosper in peaceful seclusion.   Though, they've become increasingly active in the last few centuries. Scouts going to places previously unheard of, diplomats feeling out potential doors to open, spies under the guise of merchants snooping around ... It's hard to say what they're doing exactly, but such sudden liveliness where they'd been none before does stir some concerns.      

Associated Articles

Notable Civilizations

Laknor

A city-state singlehandedly taken over and run by Khaaestra zahd Machkin, it is one of the largest and most well-known 'open port' baarham cities.    

Notable Characters

Khaaestra zahd Machkin, the Grand Architect

Vanzkah zahd Ghown, Queen Domina of Baarham

Sorcerer King Ghown

Yrlanna zahd Starwatcher

   

Design Notes