Overview

The Hyuron (humanity) are a relatively young and ferociously vibrant mortal race who rose to prominence in the era following the lifting of the Veil at the end of the Dark Days. Known to most xenos races by the name of their great trading bay, the Hyuron have rapidly carved a powerful niche for themselves across Nhera and beyond, their society defined by a relentless drive, breathtaking ingenuity, and a constant, often denied, struggle with the primal beast that slumbers within their very blood. Those who adhere to the faith call themselves the Auru, tying their identity directly to the Holy Aurus Spectra and their vision of a united, human-centric Imperia.

Biology & Lifespan: The Fire of a Fleeting Life

A Hyuron's life is a brilliant, fleeting spectacle. With a natural lifespan rarely exceeding two-hundred years, their entire culture is shaped by this mortality. It fuels their boundless curiosity and feverish ambition, compelling them to build, innovate, and master arts at a pace that often unnerves the elder races. This same brevity, however, can lead to a "shortsightedness," a generational forgetting of ancient pacts and long-term consequences that others see as both a weakness and a danger. While most Hyuron are non-magical, their intense drive makes for uncommonly talented sorcerers and mages. Rarer still, but with alarming frequency compared to other mortal races, Hyuron are born with the innate and volatile abilities of the Saiachus.

Society & Culture: The Forge and the Eye

Driven to overcome the limitations of their short lives, the Hyuron have become peerless engineers and pragmatists. Their ability to craft devastating weaponry, complex machinery, and awe-inspiring siege engines rivals even that of Dwarvenkind in some fields, earning them respect and a degree of fear across the realms. Socially, they are bound by the all-encompassing faith of the Holy Aurus Spectra. The worship of the Golden Eye informs their laws, their art, and their perception of the cosmos, creating a powerful, unifying cultural identity under the banner of the Imperia Aurumate.

The Primal Heart: The Beast-Saint Ancestry

The great secret and foundational shame of the Hyuron people, known well by the elder races, is their origin. They did not ascend from apes, but are descended from a great progenitor beast, a "Vargen Elder." As a result, the Hyuron soul is forever at war with a latent, primal nature.

• Lycanthropy as Reversion: What is known as lycanthropy is not a disease to be caught, but an inherent potential within all Hyuron to "revert" to a more bestial state. This can be triggered by extreme trauma, rage, certain celestial alignments, or Abyssal corruption. A full, uncontrolled reversion results in a mindless, savage creature known as a Varghast.

• The Vargenir: Uncommonly, a Hyuron child may be born with overt physical traits of this ancestry—unusual eye or hair coloration, a more feral cast to their features, or a deeper connection to their instincts. These children, known as the Vargenir, are often seen as cursed or blessed depending on the region, but are almost always marked for a difficult life under the scrutinizing gaze of the Spectra, which views such uncontrolled primal manifestations as a form of heresy.

This internal duality—the civilized, god-fearing Aurae on one hand, and the latent, primal beast on the other—is the central conflict of the Hyuron race, making them one of the most dynamic and volatile peoples in the Nheros Realm Matrix.

The Elder Clans & The Covenant of the Arc

[Lexicanum Archive Designation: Pre-Spectra History, Primal Ethnography. Viewer discretion is advised; contains concepts deemed Theologically Archaic.]

Overview: Before the Golden Eye

Before the universal doctrine of the Holy Aurus Spectra unified humanity, and in the twilight of the calamitous Dark Days, the Hyuron people were not a single cultural entity but a scattered collection of disparate, often warring, clans. These Elder Clans formed not around political ideologies, but from the hard necessities of survival, coalescing in regions of Nhera that offered sanctuary and sustenance. It was in these ancestral lands that they first entered into powerful, primal covenants with the great Eotenari—the Elder Beasts or "wild gods" who held dominion over the land. This era shaped the very soul of the Hyuron people and established the foundational naming conventions still used, if not fully understood, in the modern Imperia.

The Eotenari & The Aetheric Arcs

The Eotenari were not gods in the manner of the Golden Eye, but immensely powerful Telluric beings, each a living embodiment of a specific aspect of the wild world. As early Hyuron clans settled into territories under the influence of these beings, they began to worship them as "beast-saints," patron deities who offered protection and guidance in exchange for respect and reverence.

It is believed by ancient lorekeepers that these Eotenari had the power to bestow an "Arc" upon their chosen people and lands. An Arc is a fundamental aetheric signature, a curve of primordial energy that shapes the very essence of a place and its inhabitants. By accepting a patron Eotenari, a clan was accepting the beast-saint's Arc into their collective soul, forever marking their lineage with its power and symbolism.

The Arc Names: A Legacy in Nomenclature

Over generations, this spiritual bond became a cultural identifier. To declare one's lineage was to declare one's patron Eotenari and the Arc they carried. This was done by integrating a specific "Arc Name" into a family name, a tradition that persists to this day as a signifier of noble or ancient heritage, though its original sacred meaning is often forgotten.

The primary Elder Clans and their associated Arcs are as follows:

• Beast-Saint: Gaul, the great wolf, patron of deep forests and familial packs.

  • Arc Names: Hau (Howl), Fer (Tail), Den (Teeth).

  • Legacy noted in the enduring traits of the Vargener.

• Beast-Saint: Glor, the silent stag, god of serene glades and sudden, swift action.

  • Arc Names: Isil (Antlers), Eto (Hooves).

• Beast-Saint: Raj, the sun-maned lion, master of open plains and absolute authority.

  • Arc Names: Ros or Reau (Roar), Mah (Mane), Pru (Tail), Kih (Claws).

• Beast-Saint: Muir, the clever dolphin, deity of coastal waters and complex social bonds.

  • Arc Names: Tol (Tail), Oro (Breath/Spout).

• Beast-Saints: Haki (Eagle) & Noru (Owl), the sibling gods of the sky, patrons of vision, wisdom, and the silent hunt.

  • Arc Names: Rae (Wings), Shi (Talons), Cor (Call), Ni (Eyes).

• Beast-Saint: Orsen, the old bear, god of mountain strength and fierce parental protection.

  • Arc Names: Von (Bear, from an older dialect), Van (Claws), Aes (Strength).

• Beast-Saint: Szar, the coiled serpent, god of rivers, ancient secrets, and hidden venom.

  • Arc Names: Thul (Venom), Nisk (Fangs, from nisk, winding), Sesi (Tail).

The Fading of Knowledge

With the meteoric rise of the Holy Aurus Spectra, the worship of these disparate "beast-saints" was deemed pagan and heretical. The Spectra's message of a single, unifying Golden Eye meant the old covenants had to be broken or forgotten. Over centuries, the Eotenari were either driven into seclusion, slain, or absorbed into Spectra hagiography as lesser, sanctioned saints, stripped of their true power. The deep, metaphysical meaning of the Arc Names faded from common knowledge, becoming esoteric lore known only to the deepest archives of the Lexicanum. Today, a Hyuron bearing the name "von Aurastor" or "rae Fellner" knows it as a sign of ancient nobility, but rarely comprehends that their very name is a faded echo of a pact their ancestors made with a wild god.