Sorama

“Woe betide they who find,

Them that time left behind.

For should ye come across Their place,

Last thing ye see, a Sorama face.”

* Cautionary rhyme, Unknown, 3rd Era

The Sorama, a name given to the Greyfolk people of northern Aldria meaning “Living Sorrow”. Not much is known of these people, as they are almost a myth to all even other Greyfolk. Sorama are said to be Greyfolk descended from the Battlemages that first started the Great Schism Wars. They are said to be a people with untold magical capabilities, brandishing dark armors, and speaking in a tongue so ancient and imbued with magic some say to hear it drives others mad. Now, these are just tales to be sure, but what is known about them comes from other sources in the surrounding regions. They are said to be the smallest of groups among the Greyfolk but this is because they chose it to be so. They are said to have slaughtered vast numbers of their own people in the past. The reason is unknown.

Some believe it was internal fighting, others suspect it was complications of their natural magics colliding with other magical forces, and even some believe it was in sacrificial rites of blood magic. Whatever the reason, it is thought only a fraction of the population still exists to this day. Adventurers in their region report that remains found there suggest indeed there was great struggle there but the wounds on some bones are inconsistent with battle and suggest sacrifice and foul play. According to legend, Sorama live in the northern area of Aldria, deep underground just on the border of the Nordic lands. They are said to have retreated there out of a disgust and disdain for a world they no longer cared for. If this is true, then they are an ancient group of Greyfolk that are living off of things like cave mushrooms, wandering animals that got lost, or even cannibalism. Whatever the case, it can not be certain as any who went looking for them either found nothing of merit or never returned.

Greyfolk describe the Sorama as porcelain skinned folk with grey tones in the flesh, glowing eyes, and otherwise blanketed in dark garbs. Some say they are more magic than flesh. But from what can be gathered from the histories of them can be seen an aristocratic society bordering a clandestine autocracy governed by a small group of 5 elites called the Hand. Each member of the Hand was chosen by means of divination and sacrificial rites. One burned a bone on a coal fire and divined who would have to sacrifice to join the Hand ranks. Once chosen the potential member would sacrifice something or someone to something only hinted at as “Ahmoar’an” which when translated to the common tongue comes to something roughly meaning “The Harbinger”. This rite is not easy and not to be taken lightly, an old Greyfolk tale speaks of one such event where a Sorama chosen to join the Hand slaughtered a village of 150 in a fire whilst yelling “Accept this blood Ahmoar’an!” over and over into the night amidst the screams around him. Another tale speaks of a Sorama eagerly sacrificing their own child to join the Hand.

Once accepted, the new member of the Hand serves until death. It is not known whether the practice is factual or not, but most sources say that there is good reason to think that the terms of Hand members and the small population of Sorama is no coincidence. In legends the Sorama like the Battlemages before them, were masters of siege warfare. They crafted weapons of truly devastating power and brutality. They are said to have weildied magics of such a dark nature that even blood became a weapon in the hand of a Sorama. If they are still out there, many urge others not to seek them out. For in seeking the Living Sorrow one risks calamity in wake of their own.