Schwarzenebelins

"Nazis. All of them. Freaking fantasy Nazis."

Schwarzenebelins are the people from die Schwarzenebel (who could have guessed?)

Note: These traits are not true for all Schwarzenebelins, but are indeed true for most of them.

Physical Traits
Hair: Their hair tends to be very thick, with a multitude of colors. (Purple, green, black, white and red are the most common colors.) More often, it is straight as opposed to curly, and can sometimes be naturally fluffy.

Eyes: Green is the most common, but light brown has occasionally been seen.

Build: Almost exclusively ectomorphic. They're traditionally very tall, and very willowy, usually with a lot of length in their legs.

Skintone: Anywhere between a healthy pale to a healthy tan. If darker, the skin is usually ashy.

Height: 5'6"-7'0" (Normal height is usually around 6'2")

Weight: 120-280 lbs. (Normally around 180 lbs)

Gems
Gems are an integral part of a Schwarzenebelin's life, for without them, they would die. Their children are naturally stillborn until the Elder Zakken breathes life into them. For their first season, they are believed to be soulless, completely blank slates. After the season ends, they visit a Gem-maker to craft their Gem. The shape usually determines their status, and the colour determines a strong facet of their personality. (Or how they will eventually settle to be.) To determine this, it is believed that Gem-makers are true diviners, and can see a definite picture of the future. (There is no confirmation to this, however.)

Some basic meanings:

Red: Headstrong, powerful, a dark red indicates a tendency toward evil.

Orange: Physically strong, and in-tune with their physical selves.. Orange-Gems make the best knights.

Yellow: High energy, a strong connection to energy in general. Yellow-Gems make the best healers and tend to be highly social.

Green: Mentally-focused, mind over emotions. Green-Gems make the best scholars.

Blue: Magically-focused and emotional. Blue-Gems are best with people and magic.

Purple: A strong, vivid imagination. Purple-Gems make the best storytellers and playwrites.

Pink: Romance, love, this person is highly empathic.

Brown: A strong connection to nature. Brown-Gems are commonly ex-pat Z'zheranden.

Black: A strong tendency towards evil, this is the most common colour for Abyssal's Gems.

White: The only colour for Gem-Makers. This indicates a person capable of feeling all emotions, and viewing from all walks of life. All Gem-Makers have white Gems, but not all white-Gem people are Gem-Makers (although it is the most common calling.)

Gray: Almost doesn't exist, this is the mark of a true sociopath, a person who has no feelings and emotions whatsoever possess gray Gems.

And shapes:

Oval: The most common shape, oval Gems are the easiest to craft, and therefore are the most common. Ovals are hard to classify, as a myriad of people have them. They mostly belong to new money, and self-made Nobles. (Elders almost exclusively have oval-shaped Gems).

Circle: Circle-shaped Gems are less common, but usually belong to commoners, and Knights.

Square: Square-shaped Gems are rarer, as facets and sharp edges are hard to craft. They normally belong to Generals. (Often, however, if someone has an ego issue, he will tilt his square Gem to appear like a diamond.)

Diamond: The hardest type of Gem to make, reserved exclusively for Nobility and Royalty.

Alignments
Base Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Morality-wise, Schwarzenebelins can come in Good, Evil, and Neutral. More often than not they're neutral, but it isn't uncommon to see various goods and evils running about. On the whole, the country stands by lawfulness (as their laws, while few, are strictly upheld by both military and citizenship.) But their morality is far less reliable.

In Castle Schwarz, secrets are held in highest esteem. Especially since the rulership of King Schwarz, many things have been whispered, and just about everyone knows these secrets, but no one dares bring them into the open. It is one of the ways the castle (and by extension the country) continues to function.

Rulership
Die Schwarzenebel runs on a Monarchy through a Blood Throne.

What that means is that there is one ruler at any given time, and the way to ascend to the throne is to kill the current King and take the throne for yourself. This is achieved by a power called die Schwarzenmacht. (A power which selects the next King, sometimes through kinship, and sometimes seemingly random. It is the closest thing the Schwarzenebelins have to a predetermined fate, as whoever possesses die Schwarzenmacht always becomes the next King, or next Schwarz.)

Race Relations
Schwarzenebelins are not known to be very accepting folk. They tend to be racist (more than most of the other races, far less than the Tradat, however.) And do not often like others. Ironically, Schwarz Castle and its close surroundings happens to be one of the most diverse areas in the entire world (Having on record (including, but not limited to): A diplomat from every region, a Chun'Shemechni Alchemist, a half-Abyssal maid, and ein Wolfenkind Escort.)

Chun'Shemesh: As they are often Schwarzenebel criminals who were exiled into the desert, they do not always get along. The two countries are civil with one-another, but it is not uncommon for Schwarzenebelins to often bemoan the lawless nature of the Chun'Shemeshni.

Fljotand: Once again, they are Schwarzenebel exiles (from an old event in history.) They are strong trading partners with die Schwarzenebel, but do not like each other on a personal level. Once again, Fljotandi (much like Chun'Shemeshni) are Chaotic, which goes against the Schwarzenebel's commonly Lawful principle.

Tradat: Just about ready to go to war. The Schwarzenebel and the Tradat are on very tense terms, and the Tradat are looking for any reason to go to war.

Z'zherande: Peaceful and serene. The Schwarzenebel mostly leaves the Z'zheranden people alone, as they are peaceful and non-confrontational. The two countries have no bad blood between them.

Todesfallesberg: Other than occasionally hiring their warriors as mercenaries, and a mild trade system, the two leave each other well enough alone. Occasionally, Schwarzenebelins will ex-pat themselves to live in peace in the mountainous region.

Heavens: Other than Zakken giving messages, there is almost no contact between the Schwarzenebelins and the Celestics.

Abyss: Heavy communication, as the Abyss has sent diplomats to the Schwarzenebel, and vice-versa. The two have no treaties, but the Schwarzenebel is trying to get on the Abyss' good side.

Diet
Diet is mainly pescetarian in nature. (Vegetarianism with the inclusion of fish.) This is because there is a strict code to not eat creatures with any semblance of magical ability. This includes all avian creatures, and all creatures capable of flight. (Flight is believed to be a magical ability, even if mechanically achieved via wings.) Most land-based animals also possess some form of magical ability, and therfore are considered inedible.

Ironically, the diet was originally meant only for Magischer. Consuming something with magical energy often reacts poorly with a Magischer's casting ability, hence the diet. However, because of the high population of mages, the diet is followed by all, including non-magic users.

Concentration of Magic
Because die Schwarzenebel is considered the magic capital of the world, the entire culture is based around magic. It is the only country that is readily accepted of Magischer, and therefore has the highest concentration of magic. (Around half of the populace are said to be practicing Magischer, while three-fourths have some sort of magical inclination or ability.)

Schwarz Castle is the focal point of this magical concentration. Most (if not all) of the residents in the Castle have some form of magical ability, aside from the knights and other guardsmen. (Ironically, many of the guards have some form of magical usage in their fighting.)