Fetchlings

Descended from humans trapped on the Shadow Plane, the Kayal are a subjugated people serving the umbral dragons that rule the mysterious domain. Generations within the Shadow Plane have changed their human physiology, and the adaptation has granted them skills and abilities suitable to the bleak world. Freed from their plane at the advent of the Demon War, the few surviving refugees have become wards of the Almerian Thaumaturgy Guild

## History

The tales of how humans first came to be on the Shadow Plane and how they became trapped therein have always been just that: tales told in songs by bards. Many speak of great heroes, sacrificing their own agency for the sake of the realm and plunging into the darkness to save their land. Others still claim their ancestors to have been condemned by powerful magi and cast into the Shadow Plane in an act of retribution. The true origin of Kayalian ancestry is unknown since recorded history begins several generations after their appearance, picking up with their subjugation to the First Great Wyrm, Drasil.

In spite of the dark beasts and cruel terrain of the Shadow Plane, its new-found people were surviving, scratching out settlements on the fringes of the plane. With every success and victory over great shadowy beasts, they drew more eyes from the umbral horde that ruled large expanses of the land. Eventually even the lord of the dragons, the Great Wyrm Drasil, was soon drawn to the shadow steeped people. Starved for competent worship and working hands, Drasil offered the Kayalian enclave an offer they couldn't refuse: fall in line or be exterminated. Infighting ensued between those that still clung to their ideals of humanity and those who were prepared to do anything to survive; in the end, the Kayal emerged as the mostly willing servants to the umbral horde, worshiping the Great Wyrm as a king.

Under the reign of Drasil, the Kayal multiplied and found solid footing on which their new found abilities began to grow. Great settlements and monuments were erected in their leader's image, and children were offered up as servants to the wyrm's every whim. This was the beginning of the lunar cities that spotted the dark plane, serving as homes to sedentary Kayal and altars to the umbral horde. Magical aptitude reappeared in the new generations and became an acquisition to the Great Wyrm; Kayal with magical ability were trained by the dragons and made vassals, going between the dragons and the general population. Those without magical skill became impressively self sufficient, surviving under the radar of the horde as ranger and rogues. While the majority of Kayal were not quite flourishing, they were eking out a suitable living. Their struggles were not nearly as bad as they soon would be.

From the west came the creature that would become the Second Great Wyrm, Argrinyxia. Jealous of the hold Drasil had over the land and its inhabitants and empowered by her own sorcery, Argrinyxia sought to lay claim to the domain. The following clash between wyrms lasted months and claimed half the umbral horde, several lunar cities, and thousands of Kayal lives. When the smoke cleared, Argrinyxia stood triumphant. Where Drasil had fancied himself a king, Argrinyxia set out to fashion herself a god to those who remained, and she established her iron grip on the realm swiftly and without mercy.

The Kayal became little more than fodder to the new Great Wyrm. Even in the wake of the battle that leveled whole cities and families, a command was issued: work was to immediately begin on a grand, sprawling bastion to Argrinyxia's glory. Decades of lives were poured into the construction of the structure, but the deed was done and the Shadow Citadel born.

### The Shadow Citadel & Vassal Society

The last great fount of the Kayal population, as well as their place of internment within the Shadow Plane, was the crown jewel of the new draconic goddess; the Shadow Citadel with its magnificent Spire. Lorded over by Great Wyrm Argrinyxia, the citadel is in a constant state of flux, sustained by the hard labor of the mundane Kayalian population.

The most important aspect of this period historically is Agrinyxia's concerted effort to wipe out those vassals to the late Great Wyrm Drasil. While the dragoness fancied the elegance of the servants, she did not trust those who leeched magic at her dead enemy's feet. Instead, she made it the duty of her sons to provide her with vassals of her own blood and magic. Kayal were made to drink dragon blood and lay with wyrms until the seed quickened; within just a few centuries, the Great Wyrm's blood was rooted into her populace and providing her with suitable servants. Under unearthly blue eyes like those of the umbral horde, the Kayal population was soon held in check by Argrinyxia's appointed vassals: powerful Kayal magi loyal only to their Lady.

While the Citadel was grand in stature, the people of the city lived in a state of degradation for centuries; subsisting on thievery, scavenging, and a deep hatred for both their draconic overlords and the magi that serve them, the Kayal withdrew back into enclaves that prized survival over all else. Magi became less of a commodity and more of a threat to security. Most Kayal who displayed magical proficiency were ostracized from communities as early as childhood; rumors of more desperately proud Kayal parents drowning their blue-eyed babes were disturbingly common.

Tensions were high and hopes were low, and that's when the demons showed up.

### The Demon Scourge

Like almost everything else on the Shadow Plane, no one knew where they came from or how they got there. The demons appeared in waves, laying siege to the Shadow Citadel just to get the Argrinyxia's Spire where they punched through the fabric of the universe right into the Material Plane.

Seizing the opportunity, there was a mass exodus of subjugated Kayal from the gate, spilling into the Material Plane. In the first days, Kayal both fled with the masses of the Ivory Citadel and fought against demons alongside them, taking up arms to defend their new home. Under the crush of hellish creatures, most of the refugees died or were enslaved yet again by the demons that took the city alongside their Material Plane counterparts. Many who managed to escape were cut down by the arriving Almerian forces, the previously unknown race thought to be another sort of demon crawling out of the Citadel. The few remaining were forced into hiding for fear of persecution, many escaping into the dense forests of Valdurin

### Shadowwalker Sersus and Spellkeep

The tale of Shadowwalker Sersus V, wartime hero of the Demon Scourge and the mage who would go on to become the first female High Conjurer, is well known. What is less known, aside from certain circles of the Almerian Thaumaturgy Guild, is how the lauded arcanist rescued hundreds of Kayal from death within the Ivory Spire.

Nearly four score of Kayal were being kept in the Spire at the pleasure of the demon lords who had taken up residence there. Happening upon them in a quest to complete the seal on the perverted structure, the Shadowwalker aided the prisoners by creating a demiplane and linking the entrance to a coin, which was then Sent back to her partner at the ATG war outpost. After the Citadel seal was complete, the Shadowwalker became enamored with her acquisition, gathering those who had fled into the country and bringing them back to Spellkeep in Feymarsh. There the beginnings of the Kayal commune was formed, intent on documenting the peoples' history, language, and stories.

Critics decried this ATG project, some calling for the elimination of the race altogether and others calling it little more than a breeding program, treating thinking and cogent beings like little more than animals. There was a fair amount of truth in the latter statement, as matches were carefully made by family histories to have material-born kayal. It still took nearly 40 years before the conjurers got what they were seeking: a material-born vassal. Many were up in arms when the young female mage was paired to a much older male vassal, suspected to be the last of the Drasil bloodline; the scandal practically forced the Shadowwalker into the shadows, relenting her mantle to her oldest daughter, Sersus VI. While it silenced most critics, it did not put an end to the coupling; Feymarsh is now home to over twenty vassal-bloods, one of whom has even risen to oust the Sersus name as the only High Conjurers since the advent of the ATG.

## Naming Conventions

Most fetchling names have a given name and a surname, both two syllables, with sharp sounds taken from a bastardized form of Aklo. Surnames are taken from the favored parent. Most traditional names reference something related to the Plane of Shadows, but more contemporary names have taken softer words relating to nature, suiting the Kayal's new home in the Material Plane.

Traditional names include those like Iska Namir, Sonja Dinsa, and Dreggor Tari.

Contemporary names might sound like Felsi, Cassin, Sirxe, or Arya.