Meeoku

" Give a Meeoku an apple and he will claim to be entitled to seven. " ~Arim Harford, Court Bard for the Human King Herald III.

Introduction
The Meeoku are one of the long-lived races of Erenteria, with a long and rich history spanning centuries. In the past, the Meeoku were known for their exceptional mages, utilizing Arcane Magic a thousand years before man wrapped its grubby hands around the inferior 'Common Magic', something which they always detested, and the fact that this savage warped magic was used during the Human's revolution is still a sore point for the more prideful upper class of the Meeoku, especially their Arcanists.

Playing
Meeoku have a wide social and economic gap, with the top 30% of Meeoku almost being an entirely different beast mentally to the lower 70%. The Upper Class are generally seen as prideful snobs, a stereotype that does hold true in many cases. The Lower Class are renowned for their hard work and stubborn attitudes however, something they themselves are proud of. While these differences are obvious to them, most other races simply see them all as haughty and stubborn, thinking they carry themselves with an inflated sense of self importance.

Physical Traits
Meeoku tend to be thinner than humans- not from lack of muscle, but rather their muscle tissue functions differently, being more compact and efficient. Where human muscle grows slowly as it is torn and regrown, Meeokian muscles grow only very slightly in size. There will still be noticeable differences comparing a physically weak Meeokian to a dedicated warrior Meeokian, but you will never see a Meeoku with defined abs or ripped biceps, even their greatest warriors look only toned when compared to a Human warrior.

Meeoku tend to be roughly 6'5 ft tall, with short cut and curly hair ranging from black to blonde, though blonde hair is almost entirely exclusive to the Upper Class. Similarly, eye color varies greatly, ranging from brown to green to blue. The most common eye color is a dark green, or a blue-grey however. Meeoku tend to have elongated ears, coming to a very rounded point. Their jaws tend to be thicker in the men, especially with the Lower Class, and their noses are slightly pointed. While it is a common stereotype to class all Meeokians as elegant and feminine, this is almost entirely exclusive to the Upper Class, just like the blonde hair, and it is not an innate trait, but rather the result of how they are raised and tutored.

Meeoku fashion tend towards simplicity, even in the Upper Class. Functionality is of the utmost importance in this regard, usually resulting in baggy sleeved pants, loose shirts and vests, and a lack of frills. The distinctions come in the colors and weave, with the Upper Class having access to brighter reds and blues, and usually embroidering a shiny golden threading through their collars and shoulders using gleam weave, which as the name suggests gleams a faint golden in the sunlight, almost looking like gold itself.

Mental Traits
As far as their bearing and psychology go, the Upper and Lower Classes of the Meeokians might as well be different races entirely, While both hold an air of pride around themselves, and are both very intelligent in most respects, the Upper Class tends to be far more Arcanely adept, while the Lower Class prides itself in their fine work and dedication to their jobs, and families. The Upper Class is far less respectful of familiar ties, and while it is rare, several instances of cheating on spouses and other such betrayals have spread through word of mouth in the Meeokian cities, something that never ceases to shock and disgust the Lower Class, to the point that many a politician has staged such rumors to undermine political enemies.

In relation to other races, the Meeokians in general hold a disdain for the Humans and Tengi, seeing them as animals in many respects, however the Lower Class has slowly grown to accept and even respect them for their similar determined attitudes and hard working life styles.

History
It is said in the beginning of all, Elesian, the Elven Patreon, grew the Anan Ert, or the Blessed Tree, and from it's branches the Meeoku were birthed. This is, of course, according to the Meeoku themselves, and as such most Human historians think it to be nonsense. Nonetheless, the Blessed Tree stood as the centerpiece of the Meeokian capital of Esya Thyne for thousands of years, through the Ullme Splintering, the Human Revolts, and up to the Rift War.

The first recorded meeting between the Meeoku and the Wa'Vee was only a thousand years ago. This is marked as the beginning of true Meeokian history by many of the other races, as this is the first time their tales could be verified, something which is important given that even after this point many 'historical' accounts were found to contradict other major accounts, with various major events being entirely fabricated.

This first meeting seemingly went very well, with the two races sharing information about one another's cities and culture, sharing a camp for weeks. Meeokian Arcanists were able to use magic to translate back and forth, thankfully, after much experimentation. From here, the Meeokians returned to their city, and less than a year later trade routes had been established between the two races.

There were a hundred years of peace, before the Ullme Splintering, a devastating coup lead by the rouge Arcanist Lazziar Carsys. She rallied significant support amongst the Academy and the Lower Class, given her mother was of the Lower Class and her Father a renowned Arcanist. She lead these two groups onto the Capital, marching her army to the White Gates and the Anan Ert. She stormed the Council building, killing hundreds of Holy Guardsmen, and eventually capturing the Council itself. She made a declaration of freedom and equality for all of Meeokian kind in the Halls. When High Councilman Danan refuted this absurd claim, and spoke down to her, insulting her mother's side, Lazziar weaved a spell around him, a horrific one that all the Councilors, who were all Arcanists themselves, could see. She ordered him to repeat what he had said, and to his credit he did, calmly, barely trembling. When he finished she sighed, and her words went down in history, "A shame, to intelligent to know when to be quiet and beg.".

She snapped the spell, cutting the Councilman to shreds, leaving a bloody mess on the floor of the Chamber. This was the spark of war. The older Arcanists of the Academy, and many of the Generals of the city were forced out, with the armies being routed by the Revolutionaries, the people rallying in the streets and fighting for the first time against their leadership. Later, the Loyalists rallied themselves, and after an extensive Scorched Earth campaign starved out the city, storming the gates, and slaying all within. The brutality with which the Revolution was put down broke the will of the Lower Class. Dreams of equality were crushed, and would not recover for hundreds of years.

Many centuries later, the Meeoku took notice of the Humans, and their recent developments with Common Magic. Realizing for the first time that the Humans may actually be some form of a threat, the Meeoku gathered their forces and invaded the Kingdom of Elemar, the largest kingdom at the time. The other Humans Kingdoms quickly came to their aid, despite the feuding that had taken place prior to the invasion, something that the Meeoku had not expected. Nonetheless, the Humans were eventually pushed back, and after 7 years of warring, the Humans were defeated.

The Meeoku enslaved the Humans, and though they were treated better than they had treated their own Tengi slaves- most of whom went free at that time- the Humans were still subject to the whims of the Upper Class. Slowly, the Humans determination earned the respect of the Lower Class Meeokians, earning them more minor freedoms and comforts in the process, however this was a dangerous affair, and after many years, the Humans finally revolted. Once again the Meeokians were in a bloody war over freedom.

For eleven years they battled, with the Meeokians slowly being pushed back. They began to utilize a similar strategy to before, scorched earth. Miles of farmland and hundreds of villages burned as they fled, leaving the Humans battered, and crippled, but still kicking.

The Meeokians went through a period of isolationism, cutting off ties with everyone, even limiting their trade with the Wa'Vee to just essentials. They spent their time focusing on their own craft, a revolution of sorts was sparked, more peacefully this time. Slowly, the government stopped focusing so much on a single council. The Council of the Arcane, the Council of Warriors, and the Holy Tribunal were formed, each with their own limits put in place. This system was hardly any different on the outside to the old system, besides being slightly slower to get things done. However, a decade later, the Holy Tribune passed a law that allowed Lower Class Meeokians to rise to higher ranks in the military, which opened up the possibility for the Lower Class to hold seats on the Council of Warriors, earning representation in the government for the first time. Though this is exceptionally rare, it is still a large step forwards.

When word came to the Councils about the Rift Opening, they initially passed it off as Human ramblings and nothing more. However, several years into the War, the Wa'Vee were able to confirm the reports, sending requests for aid from them after several of their cities were overrun. Finally, they emerged from the isolation, standing uneasily but firmly beside the Humans and Tengi.

After the war, this relationship continued, still unsteady, but growing stronger. Humans cast off Common Magic after its corruption was known, and the Meeokian Council of the Arcane voted to share basic information on Arcane Magic with the Humans, even allowing a few gifted and prominent Humans to attend the academy for several years, which lead to the formation of a Human Arcane Academy eventually. Under the guidance of the Savior, the races have come together, though rumors of the Cult are stirring, and the future grows increasingly uncertain....

Social Structure
Meeoku society is heavily divided between the Upper 30% and the Lower 70%, to the point that mentally they almost seem two separate races. The Upper Class makes up the majority of the Arcanists, and control the vast majority of the Government and Military. The Upper Class have it 'easy' while the Lower Class has to work hard and stay devoted to get anywhere in life, something that causes much tension between the two groups.

Technology
Meeoku technology is at Renaissance levels, with a complex understanding of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The Meeoku have only barely dabbled in geography and biology, and have given little thought to the stars. Most of their more advanced machinery is reliant on Arcane Magic, often syphoning energy from stones or rarely living beings for the desired effects. Most notably, this technology is used to light the halls of the Academy and the Council Halls, and for the Larenssai Cannons placed along the walls of the City of Esya Thyne, which send chaotic beams of energy out that can melt stone and burn organics into charred husks.

Weaponry and War
Beyond the Larenssai Cannons, the Meeoku favor swords and especially polearms in combat, preferring to fight in a more organized and strict fashion, forming up in seemingly endless lines, each with shields and spears, used to hold off the enemy. These shield walls, or "Assani" are used most often, and while they aren't as flexible as some Human formations, they have served the Empire well for thousands of years.

Meeokian armor follows this concept as well, often times their Warriors only wear corinthian style helmets, with plates and mail over their arms and legs and feet, and simply gambeson and mail over their chests and back. Their shields tend to be tall and rectangular, with rounded corners and a slight indent on the right hand side to maneuver their spears in.

Magic
The Meeoku have been utilizing Arcane Magic for near on two thousand years or so, and have come to excel with it, though the only ones eligible to be educated in this art are the Upper Class. They have a full fledged academy, dedicated to tutoring students and refining their focus and control of the Arcane arts, however due to their wealth of resources and components, little effort has gone into making their magic more resource friendly, resulting in many Meeokian variants of spells requiring larger amounts of components than the efficient Human versions. That being side, the Meeokian versions tend to be far more powerful, so the tradeoff is apparent.

Even before the Corruption, the Meeoku considered Common Magic a scourge, a cheap imitation only worthy of those too weak to claim true magic, despite the fact that Common Magic is technically more powerful than Arcane. This is partly due to the Humans using it in their revolts against the Meeokians. After the Corruption took hold of Common Magic, they were more than happy to point out that they knew Common Magic was inferior and would lead to the Human's fall, though they did assist in exterminating many rogue Common Mages for them as well, given how dangerous they were when maddened. To this day the study of Common Magic, even in historical context, is considered taboo.

Geography
The Meeoku come from a large island north west of the Human lands, though long before Humans walked the realm the Meeokians had colonized vast stretches of the coast, trading with the Wa'Vee. The Island itself is home to grand forests, with a large tree in the center of Esya Thyne. The coastline that they inhabit, the Annaserin Coasts, is home to vast stretches of sandy beaches, and further inland there are vast plains and forests of dark oak, covered in cities and farmlands. To the North, large mountains divide the Meeokian and Wa'Vee lands, though these mountains are fairly 'old', being worn with various wide passes which allow relatively easy trade.

Economy
The Meeoku do not export many goods beyond their own borders, however most of their grain and lumber does come from the Annaserin Coastal cities. They do however import various metals from the Wa'Vee, in recent years in particular the Wa'Vee's elaborately designed metal trinkets and jewelry have caught to eyes of the Upper Class, who have taken to wearing it on silver or gleam weave bands. Gold is also especially rare in the Meeoku lands, leading to them purchasing from Humans and Wa'Vee alike.

Trivia

 * The Meeoku were obvious 'common people' at one point, having spread across the world in a more primitive state, something that archeological evidence has proven, however at some point before even their own recorded history, in the form of surviving parchments, begins, it seems they were pushed back and slaughtered by an unknown force. Some speculate it was a civil war, others say some other long since dead race.
 * While initially hesitant to take up sailing, the Meeoku quickly took to this form of transportation once t became accepted as safe. Even in the modern era, it is very common to find Meeokian sailors, and even pirates.
 * While it is exceptionally uncommon, due to how few Meeoku-Human half breeds exist and how rare Common Magic is now, at least one confirmed Half Breed has been known as a Common Mage, proving it is possible. This particular mage caused carnage in her day, leveling several towns before finally being confronted and slain.