Kitranian Director's Cut

All three species of elves in the Blood Candy world were designed as a collaboration between myself and the GM, Maestro. While I would not give up their current version for anything, I thought there were interesting differences in how I thought they'd go versus their final version. Below is a "director's cut" of the race, their geometry and their culture, presented solely because I feel like it.

--~@~--

Kitranian elves are a race with a deep connection to the elements. They lived in relative secrecy in the Amazon Rain Forest for hundreds of thousands of years, but made themselves known soon after World War II. The xenophobic, caste-separated race aggressively negotiated a treaty which ended with their own nation being carved out of Brazil. Once unknown, they now have a place at the UN, and elves of all three castes can sometimes be found living all around the world.

After the United Nations was formed in 1945, a Kitranian diplomatic entourage was sent to London to boldly state both their existence as a nation and their intent to join the United Nations. Their reasonings were simple: They witnessed the use of atomic weapons in the end of World War II and sought to work together with humans to end their threat. Their arrival immediately sparked incredulity and outrage which was quelled by the efforts of the Kitranian Royal Diplomat as well as surprising support from several South American nations, who likely saw the 'new' nation as an economic opportunity. Negotiations immediately began with Brazil, and by 1951 an accord was reached, splitting the nation in half between the two in exchange for favorable trade of goods and services. While trade with other nations is not prohibited, Brazil is the only nation the Kitranians trade briskly with because of this treaty, with the human country even receiving a minor amount of enchanted goods. The first Royal Diplomat herself is a former member of the Council of Elements, a cunning and charmingly blunt Qin'ti woman who fills the position to this day.

The Castes

There are three castes of Kitranian elves, and their distinction is genetic. Two are entirely female, and one is wholly male. There is no way to 'cross' a caste without powerful ritual magic, and such an alteration is currently only a heavily debated theory. You are born into your caste, and generally expected to celebrate it. Qin'ti, or 'The Bountiful', channel the elements from without, creating and controlling the elements around them. They are commonly viewed as traditional mages, attuning to particular elements to create effects like fireballs, lightning bolts, whirlwinds and landslides. However, the actual method has more to do with a strong will than memorizing any sort of patterns or words, and as such Qin'ti are often seen as more adaptable than traditional arcane mages.

Qin'to means 'The Bound', but it is a somewhat poor translation. A more accurate English word does not exist, and the term is best described as someone who makes something part of themselves. This is precisely what the Qin'to do with elements: Their control is internal as opposed to the Qin'ti's external magic. They are stellar athletes who use the elements to augment themselves, air attunements to speed themselves or fly, fire attunements to breathe a gout of fire or cause a fiery aura, or earth attunements to burrow through the ground or hit as hard as stone. Obviously, to a layman the line seems to blur somewhat, with Qin'to seemingly being able to do things 'reserved' for Qin'ti. However, this is simple ingenuity. Both castes are able to fly, for example: Qin'ti lift themselves on currents of air, and Qin'to turn themselves into the substance.

The third caste are Qin'eth, or 'The Blank'. They are the race's males, and the term Qin'eth is synonymous with male or masculine. They have no magical abilities of their own, but they do have the same potential. What this means is they have the same naturally regenerating mystical stores of energy as their feminine counterparts, but no direct way to use it. This means Qin'eth are fantastically adept at traditional, human uses of magic, using Kitranian Spellswords, or acting as ritual magic 'assistants', having a relatively massive amount of untapped power inside of them. However, these pursuits are relatively unknown to Kitranian society, and many males go through their lives never truly using the mana inside of them. In fact, until they allowed humans into their cities in the eighties, it was not even certain if the Qin'eth had any power at all inside of them.

Physiology

Females are the physically dominant gender of Kitranians, the average female elf being roughly six feet tall and males averaging five feet and eight inches. All three castes find it very easy to stay fit, and Qin'to in particular build muscle slightly easier than humans. This combined with active lifestyles and a harsh environment mean that an overweight or chubby elf is virtually unheard of.  Even elves living in other areas of the world have a natural inclination toward the physical and find joy in exercise. Most elves have a slim, but athletic build, with Qin'to often being slightly more muscular due to their caste. Qin'ti, in contrast, are usually somewhat softer of build. The muscular aesthetic is not attractive to most elves, so very few seek to work out, and rumors of 'too much' muscle inhibiting the flow of elemental magic inside of you abound to this day. Qin'to are universally small busted, the largest one will ever see being a large B cup. Qin'ti on the other hand are all well endowed, with the smallest of them being DD by human standards. It is somewhat true that the size of their chest represents raw talent with the elements(in both castes but in opposite directions), but experience and skill trump it so readily that younger elves see this as an old superstition.

Elven features are delicate and elegant, and men are somewhat androgynous. Eye and hair colors can vary through a rainbow spectrum, and fashion tends toward long hair for both sexes. Ears are delicate and pointed but quite long, most being nearly level with the top of the elf's head, with some few growing longer.  Tattoos of ancient designs once thought to assist the flow of mana are now a somewhat common fashion statement, blocky elven scripts winding around upper arms, thighs, and neck. In contrast, piercings are entirely unheard of, and only present in particularly worldly elves, or ones living in other areas of the world.

Culture

Kitranians are a matriarchal society, and their progression has been slightly stunted compared to American sentiments in the same time. With the installation of the Crystalnet, a resurgence of elven men and women alike calling for equality has begun, and sexism is rapidly becoming less of a problem. In their past, males were treated as second class citizens for their inability to attune and were disallowed from holding important office or many skilled jobs. These days sexism is still a problem, though males in Koi'kitran are treated better than females in some parts of the world.

Fashion in elves did not often change until recently when the xenophobic nation was connected to the internet. As such, classic fashions are still quite popular. Females often wear brightly colored sarongs and wrapped tops of thin material, sometimes adorned with feathers or flowers. A male's classic fashion is a wrapped piece of thin, colorful cloth somewhat similar to a kilt. It is a long piece of fabric wrapped in layers and tied in a fashion that leaves it hanging slightly past the knees. Both sexes very frequently wear jewelry, the concept having no masculine or feminine connotation to elves. Adornments typically are made of warm colored metals such as gold, bronze, amber or brass. Jewelry is fastened to the ears with clips, and other common types are pectoral jewelry, necklaces, and bracelets. Western and Japanese fashion is fascinating to elves and is readily adopted, but the jungle's heat and humidity prevent either sex from wearing thick layers. Nudity is not seen as shameful or embarrassing for either sex, and while it is not punished by law, only the most brazen or self confident elves go nude in public.

Sexuality is quite open and casual among Kitranian elves. Romantic relationships are almost always monogamous, but have no gendered terminology: Sun and Moon are used instead. The 'sun' of a relationship is normally the more dominant one, but plenty of elves don't adhere to any particular meaning of the terms, and particularly younger elves will often simply pick the one they like better. However, there is a clear split between romance and sex among elves, with sexual activities being seen as an intimate moment between close friends and not any sort of romantic moment unless the act is with the elf's romantic counterpart. In fact, romantic complications tend not to arise from casual sex, instead suspicious partners more often become jealous of very close friends. Bisexuality is incredibly common, and homosexuality and lesbianism are slightly more common than in America. Often couples involving two males will ask a close female friend to carry a child for them, and while the reverse is quite common as well, lesbian couples have the added option of ritual magic between the pair of them.

Politics

Koi'kitran is ruled by a lineage of Queens, though their power is somewhat ceremonial. While some important decisions are still made by the royalty, most are made by the Council of Elements which serve as her advisor. There are six members, and upon taking the role of council member give up their public identity until their 'term' is over. Instead, they are known as the elements that mark their robes and masks: Councilors of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Life, and Death. While traditionally they are a master of their named attunement, this is now mostly a ceremonial distinction. There have even been male council members as early as the late 90s. To prevent internal strife and politicking that Kitranians see as one of the worst parts of human society, council members are replaced by decision of the council itself, including the retiring member if possible. The new council member is then offered the position with no pressure to take it or not. Many younger elves hate the Kitranian form of government and are allowed to express this sentiment in limited forums, but because of strained relationships with the United States, change is unlikely to happen.

The Kitranian government is arguably kept in check by its economic force, driven by rich private individuals called Trade Princesses. They claim sovereign right to a particular medium or product and control all aspect of its sale. In exchange, they pledge to 'tithe' fifty percent of their yearly earnings to the country, in the form of their sovereign product, either the service itself or improvements related to it. This means that Kitranians have a strong economy that is entirely out of the hands of its government, kept in check by the Trade Princesses punishing one another economically for perceived threats or evidence of greed affecting the Kitranian people.

Kitranian females are expected to perform a mandatory service in the military at some point in their lives, with voluntary service being offered after the term is finished. Until recently males were not even given the option of voluntary service, but are now frequently used in areas of intelligence, communications, and coordination. New devices are being developed to capitalize on their mana battery abilities, and the Kitranian Military's somewhat poor communications have been severely bolstered by this in the last few years.

With Koi'kitran not being particularly densely populated, the Kitranian police force and military are one in the same. Officers called Sentinels act as police during peace times, and as front line shock troops during war. Minor crimes are arbitrated by the Sentinel themselves, with either party being able to lodge a formal complaint. Minor claim complaints are handled by the military officer in charge of the local sentinels, while more serious crimes are decided by a simple court system with a defense attourney, a prosecutor, and a member of the Council of Elements serving as judge. There is no jury, and the council member is the final arbiter. Kitranians see incarceration as abhorrent, so most crimes are handled with direct re-compensation, fines, or mandatory servitude to the government. Minor jail times, corporal punishment or even execution are used for serious crimes.

Technology

Kitranians use devices largely based upon enchanted objects, namely crystals and magic-rich gold alloys. Live entertainment is still very popular, and sometimes even preferred, but lost some of its monopoly with the invention of holographic media centers inspired by televisions and radios seen after their entrance into the world stage in the forties. Nowadays adapters between crystal power and more conventional devices are quite common, and entertainment is frequently imported from other countries.

Kitranian weapon technology is technically far behind other countries due to lack of necessity. Melee weapons are quite common, with enchanted gold-alloyed swords or other thin weapons being the most popular. Spellswords deserve a special mention, as their particular enchantments let an elf use their internal energy on another caste's style of magic, letting Qin'eth males use their natural stores of mana on attunements of either caste, or to let the feminine castes act outside of their role. Every spellsword is unique and belongs to a family, often being handed down along the family line. As such, they are prized possessions, wholly unique in design, and quite rare.

Kitranian defensive magitech, in contrast, is quite advanced. Massive crystals in the middle of each major Kitranian city can be activated to protect them from attack with powerful domes and hurricane winds above the rainforest canopy. Personal armor is similarly
enchanted, the most common being a set of five 'seals' worn at each wrist, each ankle, and the neck or chest. Frequently made of a gold alloy and fashioned as cuffs or chains, they are quite effective at protecting its wearer and are standard equipment among the Kitranian army as well as worn by plenty of civilians, mostly those who have a dangerous job or who often venture into the jungle.

Sentinel armor deserves a special mention. The nation's police force and shock infantry wear seals as well as enchanted gold armor consisting of plates upon the shins and arms, a long leather skirt sewn with metal plates, a chestplate, and large pauldrons. They also wear a helmet crafted to resemble either a jungle cat or a bird, with a headdress descending down the back of the sentinel. Metal attunements help to reduce the weight, and heavy enchantments weave even more protection than basic seals. They also carry a traditional weapon similar to a macuatl: a wooden frame studded with sharp 'teeth' forged of a gold alloy. It serves as a badge of office, though in the case of Qin'ti sentinels, the weapon is largely ceremonial in nature. Obviously, sentinel armor has Aztec influences, and historians claim this is evidence of trade between Kitranians and ancient Aztecs. Conspiracy theorists note the abundance of Kitranian gold alloys, and cite this along with the traditional designs as evidence that the Golden City of El Dorado is real.