Ilix

The Ilix are a race of felenids, catfolk who dwell predominately in Avrasia. Ilix tend to be tall, lean and white-furred, though tawny and black coats are also seen. Some Ilix have spots, mostly on their faces and shoulders, and occasionally their incisors are long enough to curl over their lips. Ilix ears are tufted, and some males sport mane-like ruffs. 
=== History ===
Before Age Zero, Ilix dwelled on Alba Ultima alongside orcs, Kulroq, satyrs and other now-vanished races. The Ilix civilization was clearly impressive, for later explorations of Alba have uncovered vast, soaring cities, now bound in ice, but once built against cliffs that overlooked coastal savanna. Indeed, Alba was a harsh and rugged land, but temperate enough that the Ilix thrived, creating works of beauty to glorify their mother Seraya. 
This changed at the end of the Night Wars. Though the inhabitants of Alba had been largely insulated from this great conflict, the fall of Nyx and subsequent death of Rasvin sent Ymogh, realm dragon of Alba, into a dark, brooding melancholy. Ymogh’s land slowly began to freeze, and the people of Alba abandoned their cities. Over the following centuries, waves of migrants crossed the Grey Sea and settled on the northern coasts of Altea in a process now called the Great Passage. The Azlan drove the newcomers away from the territories they controlled, and so most of the Alban refugees gathered in present-day Avrasia. Dwarves and goblins, who had many surface settlements then, harried the Albans, and many continued down into Heide, or crossed into the Worldspine Mountains. A group of Ilix, eager to escape the cold, travelled the coasts until they reached the Sunlands, establishing a new home on the balmy shores of Selm. These Ilix ultimately diverged into the leonine Ashir. 
But the bulk of the Ilix were determined to remain in Avrasia, or Aravegh as it was called by its dwarven inhabitants. The Stoneshield Dwarves had little desire to share their home, and clashed fiercely with the Ilix. But even as the Ilix were driven from the highlands, they were confronted by goblins. Pinned against the coast, the Ilix had little hope of expanding across Avrasia. But Seraya, who had departed for the Blue Moon after the loss of her mother and sister, looked with pity on her homeless people. She appeared to the greatest of the Ilix chieftains, Afdyn, and bore for him a son. The child was Gwaru the Fierce, a giant of an Ilix who led his people against both goblin and dwarf. The goblins were ultimately driven into Erebus, and the dwarves, unable to extricate the Ilix, made a pact. The Ilix would be granted the lowlands, while the dwarves would continue to have dominion over the high places. The agreement was recorded on sheets of beaten bronze, and so it is remembered as the Bronze Accord.  
The Ilix would go on to claim a vast swathe of territory, stretching from the shores of the Grey Sea, to the edge of the southern Veldt. Over the centuries, dynasties would rise and fall, Avrasia would be riven by strife and civil war, but always the Ilix would remain fiercely attached to their homeland. Time would divide the Avrasian Ilix into three major groups: the mercantile coastal Ilix centered on the capital of Merebourg, the proud and martial border counts of the southern border, and the barbarous clans of the wild, highland interior. Though all these groups considered themselves Ilix, they were also often at odds with each other, contending for dominance of their shared home. The Fifth Age brought even more divisions to Avrasia, with Lea, the Demoniac Queen, seizing much of the northern coasts, and carving out a realm where demoniacs were supreme, and free to indulge their appetites, so long as they obeyed the queen’s laws. When Lea vanished, Arverion, northern Avrasia, was split into many demoniac baronies, each hoping to seize Merebourg and become master of the realm. South of Arverion, other Ilix look on the demoniacs as a blight that should be cleansed. But the border counts of Hyn Tayd, the Old North, have little hope of uniting, and the highland clans of Karn Mor simply continue their ancient feuds, happily raiding both north and south.  
=== Society ===
The Ilix, whether they dwell in mighty castles or rude hovels, are a proud people. As children of Seraya the Fair, the Ilix believe they are an especially beautiful and well-formed race. Some Ilix put on truly insufferable airs, strutting about and expecting ‘lesser’ beings to naturally fawn over them. Even humble Ilix have a certain insouciance to them, as if unable to conceive of a world that does not, in some part, want to make an Ilix’s life easy. Ilix love items of beauty, they adore luxury, and happily seek out any means to pamper and indulge themselves. Of course, ‘luxury’ very much depends on an Ilix’s means. A highland croft-dweller would consider oats made with cream and honey to be a sublime experience, whereas a decadent Merebourg aristocrat would have a far more sophisticated, and often obscene, palate. What unites all Ilix, of low or high background, is a desire to gain the greatest joy from life, to indulge every curiosity and to have their natural superiority recognized by as many people as possible. 
Though all Ilix have a natural instinct for the good life, the ‘good’ is dependent on local culture for definition. In the southern border counties of Hyn Tayd, the noble elite vie to outdo each other in grandeur and wealth, hosting splendid tournaments and feasts to not just dazzle their rivals, but to awe the peasantry, who must always be reminded why their betters are in charge. The highland Ilix, however, dispense with much of the courtly intrigue. Feats of strength and martial expertise is how a highlander flaunts his superiority, and to win the acclaim of bards, along with fair youths and maids, is any highlander’s ambition. 
As for the coastal Ilix of Arverion, they have always been a decadent lot, easily taken by foreign fancies and exotic distractions, adopting names from distant cultures and striving to always be more outrageous and flamboyant than the latest bon vivant to catch the gentry’s jaundiced eye. Fads, often bizarre ones, are common among the most ‘civilized’ of the Ilix, and the influx of demoniacs has only made Arverian culture more debauched and corrupt. 
=== Religion ===
The Ilix, as a whole, are not devoutly religious, being often far too distractable to focus on the divine overmuch. They certainly have their grand temples, indeed, the Ilix, careful students of their dwarven patrons, have invested much effort in shaping structures of immense beauty. All that is beautiful is a gift to Seraya, and the Fair Goddess is the deity that almost all Ilix keep near to their hearts. Much concerned with being ‘elegant’ and ‘civilized,’ the Ilix long ago adopted the worship of the Outsiders, with Sol, revered by the dwarves as well, being highly prominent. Myrmex, with his ties to maritime trade, has also been perennially popular in Arverion, and the capital hosts a gigantic temple to the Mariner. 
Gwaru, though honored at tourneys, is not often worshipped, being somewhat too violent for most Ilix. Only the fearsome highlanders revere him, and the galloglass, mercenaries who seek out glory as often as gold, consider Gwaru their special patron. As is common everywhere, the peasantry pay obeisance to the Sylphs, spirts of the land who ensure the crops are bountiful and the herds fat. The highlanders give homage to Hila and Veres, and Gadri is honored everywhere agriculture is practiced. The highlanders are also known to call on Rakith to protect their herds from predators, sating the Hunt God with some rather bloody sacrifices.
Category:Races