Biological Traits

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Purebreds

The black blood of purebred Dril allows them to survive in the coldest climates with ease. Such blood, however, is only passed down to purebreds, as all hybrids inherit the blood of the other parent.

Possessing pointed ears, they have the most advanced hearing of all the humanoid species of Magnius.

They are born with purely white skin, allowing them to blend in with the snow-covered environments in which they originated.

Hybrids

All hybrids inherit the blood color of their non-Dril parent’s species, losing the cold-resisting abilities of purebred Drils.

History and Culture

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Creation

Dril were created by Dorian The Creator, alongside Lanthians, Arkos, Lish, and Taziks, after the formation of Ayphieal by modifying the genome of a pair of humans aboard his great flying vessel, The Chimira. Over the course of several months, they were kept comatose in large biological tanks, while The Creator slowly modified and mutated their genes until they became the first Dril on Ayphieal, one male and one female.

Dorian allowed the pair to breed shortly after their creation, testing their fertility and viability. When a pregnancy was confirmed, he used the pair of Dril as templates to create an additional one thousand pairs from the original human volunteers aboard The Chimira.

When his creations were sufficiently prepared, Dorian placed the Dril population in the frozen tundra of Eastern Magnius, south of where The City of Shai now rests.

Pre-Empire

Left by their creator to live freely and develop however they saw fit, they took refuge within colossal ice caves nearby. With a natural reluctance to harm another member of their own species, the population lived peacefully together for generations within the complex cave system, farming Tsrisu plants in the snow outside. They quickly deemed the act of killing another Dril as the most vile act a living being could commit.

When their number began to outweigh what their resources could support, they began to venture forth. They founded The City of Shai, departing their ice caves to build a city of stone towers that quickly rose into a thriving metropolis. With no internal conflict, as they deemed the act of killing another Dril as the most vile crime a living being could commit, their population steadily increased, easily outpacing other humanoid species. Though they settled other cities over time, their preference to remain close to their fellow Dril ensured that each city was built to be dense and tall as they stayed grouped together.

Their cities rose one after another, and soon other groupings began to appear. Desiring to be connected to their fellow Dril, they began to form Clans to govern collections of cities. They created intricate designs and symbols that were unique to each Clan, tattooing much of their bodies to show their loyalty to their surrounding Clan Members.

Though relations between Clans remained peaceful, the need for a centralized government was soon realized. They founded The Shai Domain, naming The City of Shai as a neutral Capital where Representatives of each Clan could convene to discuss the difficulties each Clan faced. At the head of their new Council of Representatives was The Potentate, an individual selected among the population of any Clan to serve for life, ruling The Council and settling votes. The Shai Domain was founded with the ideals that all Dril would live free to do as they pleased in a rational and uncorrupt society, led by Representatives that were as much servants of the people as they were elected rulers. Resources were distributed where they were most needed, as Representatives prided themselves on unbiased and logical debates.

No Dril appeared eager to leave their homeland, yet outside explorers eventually found them instead. Though exceedingly rare, the few explorers that managed to brave the harsh cold of the tundra found themselves within bustling cities hidden deep in the snow. Their presence introduced a major concern, however, as intimate encounters between explorers and members of the Dril population revealed a critical defect within any hybrid conceived. Be it a human explorer, a Tazik, an Arkos, it mattered little, for all hybrids inherited the blood of their non-Dril parent. Without the invaluable black blood of a purebred Dril, hybrids experienced great difficulty surviving in the harsh climate, perishing from cold temperatures that true Dril could simply walk naked in.

The realization of the perceived weakness of outside humanoids instilled a deep sense of superiority in the population, realizing they could life comfortably where others could not survive. The Council deemed the existence of hybrids as a threat to their species, for though a hybrid could look identical to a Dril in many cases, they risked spreading their seed among the population until many could no longer survive in their homeland without assistance. To prevent this, they began to exile all non-Dril, permanently forbidding outsiders from entering their lands. All hybrids were deemed too dangerous to be permitted to live, and thus, all known hybrids were exterminated.

This encounter with a threat brought by outsiders instilled a deep fear into many Dril, and The Council began to look outward toward the rest of Magnius. Seeing potential threats wherever they peered, they secretly formed an organization of Shai Agents trained to infiltrate outside nations. Defying their own laws, they kidnapped and trained children of outside species, concealing them beneath The Citadel of Shai.

The Agents of Shai were released into the world, tasked with spying upon rulers and officials of outside nations. Seeking to protect their isolation, The Council deemed it necessary to weaken any Kingdom or Empire that could possibly prove to be a threat to The Domain in the future. Their agents infiltrated their ranks, blackmailing and bribing officials to make decisions that would diminish their nations. False wars were started between large powers, crumbling them both and lessening their populations through bloodshed.

Though they were successful in keeping outside realms from marching upon their borders, The Domain found itself entirely unable to stop their neighbors to the south, the Lish, from sending tiny raiding parties to their shores. Without a centralized government to manipulate, and unable to infiltrate the swamps of The Endless Crimson, The Council watched with horror as reports of kidnappings spread across their southern border as Lish raiders swept away men and women each night.

While the disappearances of citizens within the southern fishing villages of The Domain initially were unexplainable, sightings of Lish dragging away men and women into the red trees of their swamps began to grow numerous. In retaliation, disgusted that outsiders were permitted to harm their fellow Dril, The Council gathered an army.

In the year 218 BVE, a full invasion was launched against the Lish. An army of Dril marched into The Endless Crimson, never to return. Blind to the events unfolding within the red swamps, The Council sent a second force to investigate the disappearance. Not a single man returned.

The complete failure of the invasion forced The Council to increase their defenses upon their southern border. Although small raids to kidnap citizens continued for centuries, their frequency heavily decreased over time, nearly becoming a myth.

Conquest

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

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