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"The land, the sky, the oceans, the animals, spirits and people.

All are built by the Creators.

It is a gem that swirls alone in the cosmos.

The people are the Sann. Built for war. It is known. It is encoded into their purpose. Then left. Bereft. Purposeless on their spinning celestial sphere.

They are the Sann. The Made as they call themselves, because in all the worlds, they know they have been made, not just left by chance.

They are split, by design and form into three casts:

The Sarris – Warriors to the bone, honour is for the individual and through accomplishment. To be wrong, to be beaten, are to prove you were poorly Made. They are literally designed. Living stone that transforms to flesh so that, like chess pieces, when the deeds are done, they simply return to stone. Still, unmoving, without food or water for as long as it takes before they are needed again. In this post Creator time, they are seen as leaders and as such, have remained moving and active for far longer than ever before. No one can know the long term effects of this situation.

The Weytin – Honour through service. Perfect service, is perfect honour. The serving class, hulking omnivores like cows or elephants, there slow seeming way of life belies their swiftness and strength. They were designed to serve the Sarris. To carry them to were they needed to be, to look after them while they were still. They are farmers, caretakers and crafters, but in these times they are also used by some clans as shock troops and some have even began to forge their own way in the world.

The Harrib – Honour is in the job completed, not at the cost. These almost goblinesk creatures are a strange group, living in holes they serve a single Great Mother, who in larger clans may have a lesser “Mothers” under her. All the other members of the hole are male. Giving their service as scouts, alchemists etc. A Great Mother is usually attached to a Sarris clan in an advisory capacity. Traditionally they are separate from the Sarris clan because this gives the Sarris clan deniability should the Harrib do anything... dishonorable.

The departure of the Creators has left the three peoples to develop their own culture, one that has a great deal in common with the far east. Including the concept of Samurai and the following of Bushido. It is unclear if that was instilled in them by their creators or something they have grown into that simply happens to have strange parallels.

Honour is important to the Sann, for parallels we have drawn on the far east, but only as a matter of flavour, it is important to remember that this is not real life.

Politeness & Etiquette (Note these are generalities)

Be deferential, you never know who the other person is; make sure that you are in the right by always assuming the other is higher status.

Bow, to everyone, if you think they are substantially more important than you, kowtow.

Don’t carry a weapon, unless you are high enough status to do so, trust in your lord and the Samurai.

Don’t shout, it is extremely rude.

Do not interrupt, especially your betters.

Accept your lot, even death; to work for betterment is one thing, to rail against fate is pointless.

Do not touch people, even the dead, it’s rude and unhygienic. Only the lowest orders or people who have stepped outside the caste system such as holy men of the Creators may touch the dead.

Stay clean, as much as possible, change to eat, wash when you can; to be dirty is to show disrespect for yourself.

Never question yourself, or others, the assumption is that you are correct, or how could you lead? The assumption is they are correct or why would they talk? To directly question them, questions that which leads to dissent.

If someone insists on being loud and impolite, ignore them.

Stone is Life

Sarris, as the leading light in most aspects of Sann society have strong views on the treatment of the dead. They are literally carved from stone, and the act of giving life to another Sarris is a secret known only to a few and differs from clan to clan.

What is always true however is how precious remains are.

For the Weytin and The Harrib this is simply a matter of preference, they give birth to children in a normal way (well, normal for Harrib at least) but for the Sarris, the stone of their dead is important, and if in good enough condition often used in the construction of the next Sarris. A great swordsman may literally have his grandfathers strong right arm.

The dead are always respected, and left for a clan to collect or returned to them.

There is Life in All

For the Sann they are aware their world was literally created, magic flows through everything. The land itself is impregnated with spirits and small shrines to various natural areas from beautiful woods, gardens, bird nesting areas might all find themselves with small shrines to the creators wonders. Sarris particularly are given to creating art that captures the wonders of nature.

It also means that everything in Sann is spiritual in its nature. Even dreams can have purpose and form.

The UrMade

The Creators were not perfect. It was possible to Ur. This has taken the form of Sann who were not properly “Made” being bannished. And dark and terrible creatures the Creators Made which still haunt Sann and are either trapped or, if that is not possible, destroyed.

These Oni sometimes haunt the land, mistrusted and cast out, made with darkness in their heart. Some Sann even talk of an evil Creator, but these are just bedtime stories for the foolish.

Places and People of Note

The Temple of the First: This is the only place that has been strongly described within Sann so far, it is a Temple dedicated to a select group of Sarris over seen by Waytin who sleep until called to administer justice. How they know when they are needed is still a mystery, but at least one has already woken and that begs the question of if others will follow.

The Forest of the Urmade: Not everything the creators made came out correctly the first time, there are those things that the Sarris have made that where not built correctly or the Weytin & Harrib occasionally give birth to children that do not meet the standard the creators have set out. These are left in the forest of the Urmade, guarded by the Clans and Houses on a rota. No one may go in or out.

Black Hawk Clan: A large and powerful clan, they decided to raise their Daimyo to the place of all powerful warlord: Shogun. However, that fell apart and the Shogun was killed with much dishonor to their clan, since then they have spent much of their time licking their wounds.

The Golden Lotus: A large and powerful clan, they make use of their Weytin as shock troops who are given great honour. They also engage heavily in trade.

The Black Scorpion: With more than the usual number of Harrib, the clan has a reputation for being duplicitous and cunning. A reputation that was born out when they broke faith the Shogun suddenly. They also control the small trading post with the Portal that leads to Anchor so they have access to items from other worlds.

The Stygian Bull: The honour of stopping any of the Made going in or out of the Vale of the urMade belongs to the Stygian Bull. Almost monastic in their dedication sometimes other clans send troubled or dishonoured members of their clan to enforce the guard.

The Monastery of Worlds: Set within the Vale of the urMade is the only monastic sect that studies the unMade. As such it is looked at with a certain amount of confusion at best by the rest of the Made. It also causes slight problems for the Stygian Bull as the Monks have been known to slip in and out of the Vale.

The Monastery of Smoke and Silk: Once of the monastery of the Glad House until there previous sensei committed Seppuku due to their perceived dishonour. The monastery is now run by the Sarris Sakura as a tea house for weary travellers. Rumour has it, other, less honourable things are also available and it is the land on which the Shogun fell, which may be why it is so popular with the Black Scorpion clan.

Costume Requirements: Full masks, oriental clothing, except for the Harrib, who are furred and almost goblinoid in greens and browns.

Races: Sarris (Strange beasts, often with aspects of bird, or gargoyle), Waytin, (Large and ogre like), Harrib (Tribal and goblinoid)"