Cultures of Ezora: The Blazing Pact

This entry delves into a corner of Ezora, a fragment of my world’s lore that you can adapt to your game if you find it inspiring. Use this adaptable lore to enrich the story, characters, or themes of your own game world.

A sul'tar

The Blazing Pact is one of the most unique civilizations in Chardauka, notable for its adaptation to a hostile environment and a rich culture forged in the volcanic depths of the island. It is a multiracial alliance bound by a shared fiery lineage, a common religion, and a shared culture that has evolved over centuries. However, it should not be considered a monolithic entity: members of these races often live and integrate into other cultures, while individuals of other races sometimes embrace the religion and traditions of the Pact, even becoming full members. This diverse society, primarily composed of the sul’tar (fire elves), say’tar (fire orcs), tievas (tieflings), and other fiery-lineaged minorities such as firenewts and fire genasi, traces its origins to the events following the fall of the kopru empire and the struggle for the liberation of the land-dwelling peoples of Chardauka.

After the defeat of the kopru in the year 125 of the Arkadian Calendar (AC), the humanoid tribes that settled in the island's central mountains undertook a sacred pilgrimage to the region's volcanoes. This act marked the beginning of a profound physical and spiritual transformation. Chardauka's volcanoes, which are natural portals to the Plane of Ignia, imbued the inhabitants with elemental essence, altering their bodies and minds. The sul’tar and say’tar, descendants of those elves and orcs, developed an innate resistance to fire and acquired ashen-toned skin, a trait symbolizing their mystical bond with flames and ash. Inspired by the destructive and purifying force of fire, the sul’tar built sanctuaries around volcanic vents, establishing the foundations of the Blazing Pact's first theocracy.

Over the centuries, the Pact solidified its control over the volcanic regions of Chardauka. The natural resistance of its inhabitants to fire and their ability to thrive in inhospitable areas (such as sulfuric springs and lands contaminated by volcanic residue) enabled them to flourish where other races could not. This isolation, combined with their reverence for the sacred volcanoes, allowed the sul’tar to perfect their mastery of both the divine and the arcane, while the say’tar became the island's most prestigious blacksmiths. They developed innovations such as crystalsteel, a material as lightweight and durable as mithril, revolutionizing their technology and military prowess.

A say'tar

The apparent stability of the Pact was profoundly shaken during the planar invasion of Ignia in 2,223 AC. In this cataclysmic event, Chardauka's sacred volcanoes erupted simultaneously, opening a portal to the Plane of Fire. From it emerged demons and fiery elementals that ravaged the island. To the Pact's supremacists, led by the cultists of the demon-god Thal’kor, this event was the fulfillment of a prophecy promising paradise in their world, so they allied with the invading forces. However, many mountain tribes and city-states of the Pact, who cherished the Ezora they inhabited or simply feared the chaos brought by the demons, actively resisted the invasion. Although they did not formally ally with the Chardaukan humans and their nacatl pride allies, they fought in parallel against the infernal hordes.

During this dark era, some individuals of the Pact made blood pacts with the demons of Ignia, gaining infernal powers but also transforming into the tievas: the fey’nay'tar (semi-infernal sul’tar) and tanna’nay'tar (semi-infernal say’tar). Needless to say, their demonic lineage earned them the scorn of traditional castes when the conflict ended. Even today, their descendants are considered second-class citizens in the cities of the Pact, relegated to undesirable jobs except in communities where Thal’kor's influence remains significant.

The planar crisis finally ended in 2,232 AC, when the united forces of Chardauka succeeded in closing the portal to Ignia. However, the scars of this conflict linger even today, a thousand years later. The other great civilizations, particularly the Chardaukan humans and the nacatl, view the Blazing Pact with suspicion, associating it with the demons and chaos of Ignia. This distrust has fostered an isolationist tendency among the Pact's members, although some actively seek to demonstrate that their culture was not responsible for the horrors of the past.

Cindering Cutthroat, by Wayne Reynolds, may be a firenewt of the Pact

In their society, the sul’tar lead in spiritual and political matters as a priestly aristocracy. Their distinctive appearance, ashen-gray skin, glowing eyes, and coal-black hair, marks them as heirs of the sacred fire. The say’tar, on the other hand, excel as fanatical soldiers, tireless artisans, and manual laborers, with skin tones ranging from garnet to gray. Both groups highly value body paint, tattoos, and intricate jewelry as symbols of status and achievement. The tievas, by contrast, continue to face marginalization.

The art and architecture of the Pact reflect its connection to fire and ash. Their mountain cities are built from volcanic stone and adorned with flame motifs, embellished with copper, bronze, and obsidian. Their magical forges, located within the heart of an active volcano, remains a symbol of their cultural and military innovation, where the deadliest weapons and most durable armors on the island are crafted.

The Blazing Pact harbors a profound aversion to necromancy, born from centuries of conflict with the Chardaukan humans and their Bone Lords. Their dead are cremated, ensuring their bodies return to the Ash and cannot be manipulated by dark forces. In cases of treachery or unforgivable crimes, the condemned are transformed into ash-spawn, a punishment of living death that turns them into will-less servants, doomed to wander the Pact's lands for eternity.

Today, the Blazing Pact remains a resilient and proud society, marked by its history of survival and its close connection to Chardauka’s sacred volcanoes. Although some sects still hope to reopen the portal to Ignia and reclaim their divine heritage, their legacy endures as a cultural and military force capable of withstanding any adversity the world may throw at them.

Inspiration and References

-Sulatar (Secrets of Xen'drik): this was the seed for designing the culture, and I kept the name quite similar as a tribute. The Sulatar are a civilization of pyromantic drow who bind fire elementals. They are also isolationists, awaiting the opening of the gates to their promised land. Although I later took different paths and added more depth and facets, they were a highly evocative starting point.
-Flamekin and vulshok (Magic the Gathering): these were early inspirations for the Sul’tar and Say’tar, respectively, particularly regarding their appearance. The only reason I didn’t retain these visual designs was the concern that I wouldn’t find enough images to meet my NPC illustration needs. As for their background, they are semi-nomadic cultures inhabiting mountain ranges, which aligns with the idea of the less civilized tribes of the Pact.
-Dunmer, specially Ashlanders (Elder Scolls): the way a "powerful volcano" shapes a culture influenced my depiction of the Pact. Elements such as their disdain for necromancy, cremation of the dead as a response, and the notion of their pantheon being seen as demonic by other cultures were all inspired by the Dunmer. The Ashlanders, in particular, guided how the Pact’s people survive in ash-covered lands and other harsh climates.
-Ende (NOD magazine 23 and 24): the term tieva instead of tiefling originates here, as does their societal role. I also drew extensively from Indian-inspired imagery and established parallels between the aasura (aasimar) and my Sul’tar, as well as the Yaksha (dwarves) and my Say’tar, particularly regarding their social hierarchy.
-Ebonheart Pact (TESO): the concept of creating a multiracial civilization/alliance was inspired by this, though it was refined further by the next reference.
-Qunari (Dragon Age): specifically, the idea that a culture could be defined more by its adherence to a religion (the Qun) than by the race that constitutes it (the Kossith). I imagine that the Ignar spoken by the Pact resembles the phonetics of the Qunari language. Furthermore, the themes from the game's soundtrack align closely with the tone of the Pact.