Peoples of The Veil

This is a list of some more prominent groups of people of The Veil, their description and a description of their horse breeds.
 * People of the Ebene
 * Ridge Nomads
 * Frost Folk
 * Dune Dwellers
 * Dream Guild
 * Redded Coterie
 * Clan West
 * Ghosts

People of the Ebene
These people are a numerous group with a settled lifestyle who live on the vast flat grass fields of the Ebene.

Lifestyle
They live in traditional marriage based families of man, woman and children in houses that are located far away from each other. They either build their houses themselves or inherit them. They acquire necessary weapons, armor, tools and stuff by travelling to craftsmen who make them. The genders are more or less equal in the domestic setting and take on clear, separated roles in the event of war. All men train as warriors all their life long, all women are schooled as tacticians and leaders, and in general, training and discipline are very important aspects of life. Complacency is loathed and punished, and the people seek perfection in everything they do. Instant communication is, of course, available, but it is preferred to ride the distances. There are no farmers; food is procured from what the nature gives, usually by hunting and by gathering. Everyone cares about their own food. Warriors of this clan are among the finest, fiercest and most sophisticated of all. Horses are traditionally matched with a rider in early childhood and for life. They both have to find and like each other, and sometimes the search for a fitting horse (or fitting rider) can drag out for years. It is tradition to match their haircolor. Horses are considered companions and are virtually free to leave at any moment, although they usually can't since they (and their rider, too) are forced into a very close relationship through rigorous training and discipline.

People
The people are usually short, somewhere around 1,65m tall, have brown skin and black or brown eyes and hair. They tend to be naturally athletic, fit and collected physically, not slender but with long limbs. By character, they tend to be brave and fierce in battle and have a kind, respectful nature.

Horses of the People of the Ebene
Examples: Cosmic Omen, Sky, Fate, Calliston, Chrome Stream (Dream Guild Cross)

 Size: 1,95m - 2,30m

 Colors: Flat, dark colors, from black to brown and red or dark grey. There is an additional rare gene which, if present, grants blacks and greys a distinct blue to violet tint. Pureblood horses of this breed never have white markings, but can sometimes have blue or grey eyes.

 Physique: Very long limbs, long neck, with strong bones and joints on a very clear and defined exterior, short body, collected stance. Deep chest, hind legs are longer than front legs. Muscles are large and their workings visible under thin skin and short coat, but never become bulging. Mane and tail can grow very long and shiny. These horses show a remarkably balanced combination of strength, speed and flexibility.

 Psyche: They are naturally brave and aggressive, even brutal to strangers, but with a way of appearing impassionate, proud, or constantly wary. Very good coordination and learning ability makes them sophisticated in combat.  Ridge Nomads The Ridge Nomads are infact several groups that lead nomadic lifes, slowly travelling through the mountain ridges. They live off of hunting and plantlife. Their technologically advanced ultralight materials and tiny electronics (for light, heat, communication, etc.) allow them to pack their homes into a bag and travel with them. The reason they travel is to preserve the natural resources they live off. Training as warriors is still a key aspect of their lives. It is common for women to have more than one husband, since the men ride to war quite often and tend to die there a lot, whereas it is important for any son to have a father who would teach him his skills in battle. Children are put on foals in their infancy in a somewhat random order, taking mostly haircolor into account. Some fractions of Ridge Nomads have partnerships not only with horses, but also with dogs, carnivorous birds and other animals, including some peculiar lifeforms native to the Veil. Individual travelling fractions are led by older, experienced women, and all of them together lead the entire clan.

Horses of the Ridge Nomads
 Examples: Sky’s Four Pillars, Gentle Snow Swirler

 Size: 1,80m-1,95m

 Colors: Grayish dun with frosted mane and tail, dorsal stripe, darker legs with bars, darker face. Shades of gray and bay vary, some horses can be almost black, some almost cremello or white. On top of this, roans are frequent. Dapples and brindles, or even appaloosa patterns show through faintly sometimes. Eyes black.

 Physique: Sure-footed, strong horses with a powerful build. Fur is thick and fuzzy, longer at belly and throat. Legs appear short and broad, steep fetlocks and steep, small hooves, big head, broad back, though agility is undeniable. Bundles of muscle are thick and short, capable of explosive speed. Great jumping capabilities. Running speed on flat land is not impressive compared to other breeds, but they are remarkably quick in difficult terrain. They are heavy and capable of handling their massive inertia with astonishing bursts of explosive movement, making them terrifying up close.

 Psyche: Cool and patient, ice cold attitude with a streak of wildness. Known to be violent, brutal and aggressive in fights.

Frost Folk
The Frost Folk live in a settlement (the biggest one of The Veil) on the North Pole. The attraction of living there is the unlimited supply of water, which they sell, and also the beauty of the surroundings. The houses are usually one-floor constructions half underground. Due to technology, survival is not much of a concern, but still the rough conditions provide excellent ground for training soldiers that would be effective on other worlds. The people live in traditional families based on marriage, although in contrast to the Ebene people, that tends to include all surviving grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives living close by.

Horses of the Frost Folk
 Examples: Shethe

 Size: 1,88m – 2,08m

 Colors: Pure white with black skin and black eyes, white hooves. Fur is extraordinarily long but thin, with a thick, short undercoat of fine white hair. Mane and tail are also comprised of two types of hair – the soft undercoat, and extremely long and shiny platinum hair.

 Physique: The most outstanding trait of this breed is thermoregulation. They survive both in freezing cold and in the heat of the desert. Their undercoat and fat layer keep warmth in, and the shiny long white hair reflects sunlight. Their body temperature is by default much lower at 32 C, but they can survive unharmed a sway from 25 C up to 44 C. They can control their heat generation consciously which makes them able to survive high temperatures as well as low. Their exterior looks eerie – a fine bearded head with large eyes, held very high on a straight neck. The back is short and straight, the tail set high on a straight croup. Short cannon bones with long forearm and gaskin. Fetlocks are short and small, looking nonexistent under the fur. These horses are very good on alien worlds, quick and easy to adapt to other gravity, atmospheric pressure, temperature, etc. They are also able to survive large blood losses and are very tough.

 Psyche: Very intelligent and exceptionally good at understanding spoken commands, with a   wide range of noises to communicate. Their moods vary in accord to temperature, they are sleepy in hot places and energetic in cold places.

Dune Dwellers
The Dune Dwellers are an ancient people that live in the desert spanning the equator through the Ebene and across. They travel to a warmer place every night and a colder place every day. Because of that, they all have two homes. When away, the tents are folded up and hidden on the spot. They are good soldiers, but their duelists are the greatest of all. Men and women live in separate groups that have their own leaders and practice no marriages, the right to father a child is commonly won through duels for both horses and people. Men only ride mares, women only ride stallions. Politically, these people view a rider and his/her horse as one being. Horse and rider, by ancient tradition, are matched for their time of birth, which has to be exactly the same.

Horses of the Dune Dwellers
 Examples: Jin Talana, Dala Jisa

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: 1,90m - 1,95m

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: Completely bald body, skin dark grey, brown or black. Mane only grows on a small patch on the head between the ears, a handful of long hair. Tail hair similarly only grows on the tip of the tail. Both can be of any color, though usually get streaked or even bleached by the sun. Eyes are black with notable scleras and long lashes. It is worth noting that the Dune Dwellers keep their horses completely clothed at all times.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Physique: Peculiar, lite exterior reminiscent of a greyhound – turned pelvis with long hind legs and low knees, narrow hindquarters, a naturally bent back with slim, raised waist and deep chest, short front legs. Nose is short, the ears are soft and floppy, hanging down the sides of the head. Hooves are very soft, wrapped in skin, looking like legstumps. Their riders keep them shoed. Good running speed, average stamina. Their pure bloodline is one of the most ancient on the Veil.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Psyche: Deeply loyal. Even more so than other Veilan horses, they grow into a shadow of their rider, a part of him. Their social behavior is attuned to treating rider and horse as one being, and they are lost without the help of their human, as their riders are lost without their horse.

Dream Guild
<p class="MsoNormal">The Dream Guild is several fractions that travel around the world without a particular cause. Their training for war has evolved into elaborate dancing and music, so they're like travelling gypsies in a way. They take pride in sharing and showing their performances to other groups. Both men and women train in dancing and music, meaning, arguably, that females are also trained in art of battle. In a few of the battles of group-to-group conflicts and rebellions, some Dream Guild women have been known to join the fighting, but never the army of the Veil, since it is devised to be entirely male. Marriages are not common. Instead, a man and woman may agree to live together for a time, and/or raise children. The whole guild is responisble for those children until they prove themselves good or bad at fighting and dancing or music. Training is thorough and begins in infancy. Children are considered to be adults once they reached mastery of the dancing-fighting style, which occurs very early for some and never for others. Horses and riders are very carefully matched in a process involving much council, tests and debates, usually somewhere at age ten. They have to be in perfect harmony with each other - an aesthetic match by character, body, movement and even color.

Horses of the Dream Guild
<p class="MsoNormal"> Examples: Tunguska, Chrome Stream (Ebene cross), Spirit Flare (Ebene Cross)

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: 2,10m – 2,50m

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: All full colors. Foals are born dark, fur brightens with age. Often leg markings of various height, sometimes shoulder height. Eyes can be grey, blue, amber, green or brown, sometimes green and blue or brown, amber into green, etc. This breed is not a pure bloodline, slightly mingled with many other breeds, so other colors can happen.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Physique: Long, slim and lanky. Hooves and joints are delicate and small, musculature inconspicuous in their smooth shape, long slim snout, big eyes, elegance. Low weight. Mane and tail tend to be thin but grow out very long, up to several meters. Grace and freedom in every move, very flexible and coordinated, although lacking in basic speed of reaction and movement due to the long limbs and back and stretched muscles; compensating through precision and unexpected fancy moves.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Psyche: Energetic, free-spirited, open. These horses love movement, love playing and fooling around, are patient, hardworking and smart in schooling, though they can be bossy, arrogant and uncooperative. They are very sensitive to music and audience, natural dancers. In battle, they have exceptional synergy in groups, an unequaled awareness of each other. These are the horses capable of the most complicated moves on the field of battle.

Redded Coterie
The Redded Coterie has effectively become the chief association of craftsmen of weaponry, armor, spacecraft, and many other things.

The Stall Beasts
<p class="MsoNormal"> Examples: Babo, Dalboba*

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: 2,40m – 2,95m

<p class="MsoNormal"> Info: Only several hundred of these horses exist. They used to work quarries and other heavy-duty tasks, but are now mostly replaced by technology or other breeds. Some warriors ride them into battle. A small clan, the Redded Coterie, tries to restore the population of these horses and develop a way to use them in war as giant living tanks armed with heavy weaponry or carrying projectiles.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: Chestnut, Red, True Red, Dark Red, Flax color, reddish brown, white with red tint, reddish black. Markings can be a white belly with white legs, lanterns or white blobs on the head, or other markings. Mane and tail are usually brighter than coat, frequently white, golden, chestnut, blond, red. Coat possesses a special metallic sheen.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Physique: Giant horses with heavy bone and muscle and unbelievable strength.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Psyche: Calm, sleepy, passive, patient. Unusually kind, but incredibly stubborn. Nothing happens against their will.

Clan West
<p class="MsoNormal"> An ancient clan of the Veil.

<p class="MsoNormal"> It consists of little less than a thousand people who endlessly chase the sun, staying within the same day, running around the planet. Stories suggest the clan is many hundreds of years old, and in all that time, none of its people have seen night. Anyone who leaves the clan is never accepted back. Those who cannot keep up with the race for whatever reason are abandoned to die of exhaustion, although the people are very keen on helping each other and are excellent at medicine involving all things that can be found in nature.

<p class="MsoNormal"> To hunt for food, to prepare food or medicine, or for an important occasion such as the birth of a foal or a child, those involved in it surge until they run in the dawn with the sun in their backs, so that night would not catch them. Foals have to start running the race but an hour after birth. Children learn to ride at several months old, simply tied to a foal of similar age. That is the moment both are given their names.

<p class="MsoNormal">

Everyone in Clan West is albino. They claim that is proof of their pure bloodline. Horses and people have red eyes and white hair. Sometimes, offspring with normal color is born, and those are given to the queen, who gives the clan clothes and weapons in return. The people share characteristics similar to their horses – survive on little food and water, women are almost not affected by pregnancy. The people are small, somewhere around 1,55 usually, very lightweight and skinny, wiry but not muscular. Unlike the rest of the Veil, women and men share very similar roles and skills by necessity. Most in the clan are short-lived; their horses' joints wear out towards the age of thirty and they die in the night.

<p class="MsoNormal">

While they lack the sophistication of skill of other warriors form the veil, men of this clan are precious warriors to use in specific scenarios, especially in long lasting wars and planetary sieges. They believe to be serving the queen with their blood.

Horses of Clan West
<p class="MsoNormal"> Examples: Konoyan, Spirit Flare (Ebene Cross)

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: 1,55m – 1,75m

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: Pure white with pink skin, white hair and red eyes. Very rarely, other non-albino colors. If bred once with another breed, the probability of albino offspring is tiny.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Physique: Petite, lithe frame with light bones and durable, knotty joints under a layer of wiry muscle. Usually extremely meager, ribs, joints and bulging strings of ligaments stretching a thin, almost transparent pink skin. These horses have developed a way of sleeping-running with minimal muscular effort, by the mechanism of their tendons and limbs. They survive on truly little amounts of food and water and can run for a full week without stopping, and all life long with little rest. On the flipside, their range of movement is very limited. It manifests in them being unable to move one leg without moving another, for example. Foals grow slowly, but can keep up with the speed of adults from birth. Pregnancy almost doesn’t affect the mares. They are the fastest horses on long distance runs.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Psyche: Resilient, simple and minimalistic in behavior, they tend to be very calm and silent beings of high inner energy. They’re incapable of the sophistication in combat of other veilan steeds, but are quite useful as a fast moving force in specific scenarios like long lasting wars and planetary sieges, or as lightning quick couriers.

Ghosts
A new clan that came into being to kill the queen Doceora. They are trying to adopt and evolve discret techniques of war, such as assasination, sabotage, espionage and other things requiring specific skills. The community has not yet completely established itself.

Ghost Horses
<p class="MsoNormal"> Examples: -

<p class="MsoNormal"> Info: A breed in its infancy, being created by a new, small clan that came into being in attempt to kill the queen Doceora. At the moment, it mostly consists of horses of random other breeds with select traits.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: 1,65m – 1,90m

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: Grey and/or black with faint appaloosa, overo, tobiano, sabino, dapple, brindle, mosaic or other pattern, with any other faint white markings, creating something of a dark natural camo pattern. The coat is long and dull, never shiny. Mane and tail are thick, long, fuzzy, also dull, commonly frosted and as patterned as the whole horse. Black eyes. (the clan feed their horses specific plants that turn their eyes a glowing violet, purple, yellow or orange.)

<p class="MsoNormal"> Physique: Horses are selected for quiet gaits, soft hooves, soft joints, smooth movements, the ability to wait without moving, breathing quietly, for long periods of time, for the basic talent of hiding. They can strike like snakes. The clan rasps the teeth of their horses into fangs and poisons them. (The clan, having the best marksmen, is also adept at using sniper rifles, short poisoned swords, poison gas, which is what killed Doceora). Horses can hold their breath for long periods of time, hide under water, are capable of unbelievable feats of climbing and clinging, of quiet jumping and running.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Psyche: Sneaky, cautious, remote, prone to fear and shyness, slow to trust. Quite strangely, they have at the same time developed true hunter instincts, stalking their prey, leaping and chasing like carnivores, instilling fear. Riders of the Ghosts are great infiltrators, assassins, agents in battle.

Horses of the Wild
<p class="MsoNormal">The feral wild horses of the Veil.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Examples: Jihad

<p class="MsoNormal"> Size: Any. Tiny horses have been sighted, and a stallion of 3,15m has once been measured.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Colors: Truly any.

<p class="MsoNormal"> Description: Horses run away to the wilds after loosing their rider, or after being disrespected by him, and him thus executed, or sometimes young rider less horses leave at a whim. No one ever stops them. Wild horses are a wild mix of all breeds and can be, or do, anything. Sometimes they come back and get themselves a rider, or a mating.