This might be somewhere in the Pathfinder Player's Guide, or perhaps somewhere in one of the Pathfinder volumes, but I was wondering what the majority "race" of human is in Varisian towns like Sandpoint.
Actual varisians are supposed to be nomadic, and the shoanti tend to keep to the Storval Plateau and barren regions over there, so does that mean that the majority of the city folk are chelaxians?
This is to answer to my group of players who are curious as to who the "default" group is.
Most of the people in Sandpoint are Chelaxian, although you have a healthy smattering of other non-native Varisian human ethnicities thrown in (like the Kaijitsus, and some settled natives (like Hemlock, the Viskalais, and Madame Mvashti). Sandpoint, being a Magnimarian vassal, is likely more racially diverse than Korvosa's holdings, just because Magnimar is a freer port and a more welcoming city than Korvosa.
Also bear in mind the term Chelish is sortova' catchall. A lot of folks integrated into the Chelaxian order and their genetic contribution is seen sometimes, though the culture itself has been assimilated pretty completely. The "pure" Chelish stock is dark hair and eyes, sharp edged features and pale skin, but everyone isn't a trueblood.
A good comparison would be with modern caucasians. There's broadchested blond curly-haired scandinavian types, red-haired freckly irish types, tanned itallian types with thick dark hair. Lots of subcultures roiling to the surface, but as a catchall they tend to all be termed caucasian.
So yeah, what a Varisian or a Shoanti looks and acts like is much more defined. More or less anything outside of those bounds, but which has been sufficiently socially acclimated to not be out of place would be called Chelish by most people--though various sub-ethnicities are probably still noted, and likely celebrated in whatever regions where they predominate.
I've thought it would be fun to go through and come up with a half-dozen or so sub-types of Chelish folk and trace their origins to add some depth. I'd probably draw such things from the art and flavor text as well as the local history as we get more of it to look through.
It's tough having just 10,000 years ago and right now as the time periods available. Hard to get a real grasp of things. There's the fall of Aroden era as well, which fragmented Korvosa and led to the establishment of Magnimar, but it's really not clear exactly how long ago that was (I think it's supposed to be like 50 years ago from the blog on the establishment of Sandpoint?) Hard to take a historical angle with so few clues available so far.
Awesome, thanks for the clarification! Glad to get some nice, positive feedback without any snarkiness.
Where are the black people from? (There's one in #1 and another in #3,
if the art is to be believed.)
Mary
Where are the black people from? (There's one in #1 and another in #3,
if the art is to be believed.)Mary
"Shaonti are described as ruddy, which can range from pale to black like Sheriff Hemlock." - Rough paraphrase from that thread.