This entry will be rather unfocused, as there are a lot of things regarding ancestries and classes I feel must be mentioned, few of them having much relation to each other. However, if stray thoughts, concerns, and ideas can be gotten out of the way here, the next entries can be much more cohesive, and therefore fun.
To begin, wherever the word “tribe” comes up in lore pages, it is generally meant in the sense of the Latin “gens”, which would translate back to “people” or “ancestry”. It also handily avoids having to use the term “race”, although some English translations of classical texts have used that phrasing. Furthermore, the term “clan” has been used to denote smaller groupings of a tribe (i.e. “the Corvidae clans of Africa Proconsularis” or “the Sahalia clans of Mesopotamia”), despite them not necessarily being of a clan or kinship per se. It is important to note that there is no “segregation” between ancestries, such that it is unreasonable for some polities to be known as “x tribe polities” (i.e. “the Rodens city of Velutonia”, in the case of Velutonia being majority-Rodentes and ruled by a hereditary Rodens dynasty). It can be safely assumed that every ancestry is represented in every city or state of sufficient size and connection to the wider world, especially in a fantasy world where one may ride a hippogryph or teleport.
One of the major fantasy staples I distinctly did not want to include in Ecumene were the conventional fantasy ancestries such as elves, dwarves, orcs, and goblins. While I did consider during the very early stages populating the world with them, I ultimately decided against this course of action on account of concerns that they were drawn primarily from Germanic mythology (which was Tolkien’s passion and area of expertise), and thus fitting them into the world would have meant bending the entire world to fit a Germanic mythological framework. Instead, the running theme among the ancestries represented is human-animal hybrids. Catfolk, Ratfolk, Grippli, and Tengu make their appearance under different names and slightly different appearances, which I have distributed about the world according to some personal judgements regarding the native distribution of the animals on which they were based. It is Herodotus who has the best perspective on the origin of the various ancestries, with every non-human having some humanity imbued within them by ancient sorcerers, and thus they would adopt a vaguely humanoid form, no matter how jarring the transition between their original species is.
Regarding class, it is worth mentioning first the role of gods in Ecumene (for some classes depend on the worship or patronage of gods and similar powers). This will be expanded on in the next dev diary, but safe to say there are either many gods of little “godly” power, or there are no gods at all. Thus, I would recommend not allowing players to choose any class that forces them to depend on a higher power for class features, including Witches, Clerics, Oracles, and Champions. Some class options for other classes should not be chosen as well, including the Monk’s Sacred Ki or the Angelic bloodline for Sorcerers. Ecumene will also take a more nuanced perspective on morality, expressed not as a cosmic battle of ideologies between manifestations of the cosmic order, but rather individual decisions based on fickle and mortal minds, more in line with how humanity behaves in the real world.
That is not to say religion is without its place in Ecumene. In fact, religion might be a more important component to the lives of those in the 4th century than in other fantasy settings where gods are both real and active. During this age, the greatest upheaval in the social order was one of religion. The spread of Manicheanism and Christianity, the suppression of Buddhism by Hindu powers, and the intellectual fortification of the Cultus Deorum and Zoroastrianism before much of their theology was intentionally destroyed. Germanic kings would be expected to keep a Bardic skald to sing their praises, itinerant Monks study the Jain Dharma across India, and the Neoplatonic School is always ready to teach new Wizards. Even without Clerics smiting the enemies of gods with divine lightning, religion is of singular importance to the world and its people.
Lore and Dev Diary #3 will expand more on the religions of Ecumene, including some further insight on the nature of gods.
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