On the Affairs of the Fall

It's well known that we nomads value clan affiliation far more than strata and xenotype, but remember that the Fall works at a different pace. Heaven's Fall is nominally neutral : neither Aerie nor Imperial, and a place where, generally, your chrome, network and cash do the talking. Yet, when we must trade or do business with city-folks, it is easy to forget the role xenotype plays in determining the overall pecking order. Ignore it at your own risk - and find yourself on the business end of a rifle or roped into a career botching con.

Take, for instance, the majority xenotype (whilst our species is called Boshaari, we'll call these guys Baseliners for historical reasons). They're your average pre-chromed Boshaari, with nice pointy ears and a slender frame. Straight-forward, no? Well, not quite. In the Aerie, the Grey Elf xenotype is more common, whilst the Empire's dominant xenotype is the sun-kissed Imperial Elf. They're functionally identical, save for the skin colour, and their differences have more to do with their nationality than anything else. That's especially true once you consider the Esari, the Luvalunans, and more. To be honest, they generally identify as city-folks, and really should get along - but leave it to a city of artifices and deeply-repressed trauma to pit these populations against one another. Overall, Baseliners have it better than other xenotypes. They form the majority of the middle and upper stratas of the Fall, and are thus less found in the underclass - though they do exist, and those are as miserable as the rest, distracted from a class warfare they really ought to fight.

More interesting are the minority Elvish xenotypes, for they often share an identity that transcends borders, and in the unfairness of their treatment they make staunch allies and relatable friends.

Let us thus continue with the Tiefling. With their whiplike tail and reddish skin, they are the original inhabitants of the Fall, but as a group they have been legally outcast long ago, pariahs all. They have a reputation for running vice dens and Syndicate subgangs - and indeed, many claim the Syndicate is simply an underground offshoot of ancestral Tiefling culture. Nomads like ourselves like to deal with Tieflings, but always remember that their affiliation to the City runs deeper than blood, in spite of the hardships they have suffered. Contrary to popular myth, they do not breathe fire, and you would do well not to brag otherwise, or be branded a fool or a bigot. There are Tiefling districts and communities, but they are generally integrated with Elves - grey or Imperial. Tieflings value respect and empowerment - give it to them, but remember : they are not of the City; the City is of them.

Then, of course, respect the brutish Orc. Theirs was the mountain land of Wyvernia, long since swallowed by the anomalies sprouting out of the Esaree Exclusion Zone or the horrors of the Fifth Guild War. Now orcs were always second-class citizens in the Empire, but have found renewed respect as gang enforcers or keepers of lore. Orcs tend to live in communities of their own, similar to us nomads, but urban : drifting from district to district, setting up where they can, beneath megabuilders or across dusty parking lots. Never underestimate Orcish clans, honour-bound as any nomad pack. To join an Orc clan is to forge a pact that changes your very being - your name, your self-identity, who you associate with, what cant you take up. Orc communities are very strong, insular, misunderstood, and value loyalty more than their own lives.

Orcs, Tieflings, Baselines - Boshaari all. One species, splintered along several xenotypes. But then, back in our spacefaring days, we had visits from other species and other worlds. One of them still lives on Kalim, stranded after the Sunder. Enter, the Mewei.

Mewei are a bit of an enigma. They're lagoform - think rabbit ears, springy legs, though they're still very much like ourselves in other regards. So sure, they look like us, but they're actually quite different in how they think and what they value. Perhaps because of this disconnect, they seek little contact with the rest of the city. Their district, the Enclave, is overrun with nature and patrolled carefully. The City leaves them alone, for the most part, and thus Matriarchs form the backbone of civil order there. Got a complaint about business and don't want to settle it the old fashioned way? Take it to a Matriarch. The true rulers, of course, are the White Rabbit Cabal. Rumour has it that they seek forbidden secrets in the depths of our NET infrastructure - old tech, malware, rogue AIs? It is best to assume that they are all extremely competent netrunners, and so unless you're looking for one for some godsforsaken job bound to hit the fan as soon as you get on site, it might be best to avoid them entirely.

Now obviously not everybody lives up to this hasily drawn up stereotypes (except corporats - they're as bad as you think, all of them, and I am glad I left that life behind when I hit the road and became adopted by my nomad clan). So now you know what passes for xenotypes in the City, forget that entirely. Go do your own recon, trust your guts, and engage in genuine conversation. And remember the golden rule : The City lies - trade for what you need, by all means, but fall not for dogma, ideology, or honeyed words!

Dharmong Fairblade, Tiefling Nomad, Trader of the Pyre Wraiths

On Kalim, there is a need to distinguish between xenotypes, as each is more akin to proper subspecies of elves than mere ethnic traits. This is even more relevant when you consider Mewei, who look similar but are internally very different from Boshaari of any xenotype. At character creation, a character must pick one xenotype from the list below. This will give them two extra bonuses that are inherent to their xenotype - no chrome, no humanity loss.