So far in my blog posts, I’ve talked about the race of humans (which we should know really what they look like :). The giants, who we can well imagine their physical features, and I have described in other blogs as how they are fighters, they are also builders, they built much of the world in Rumithia.
However, one group in Rumithia I haven’t given much exposure to is to the third race, a completely fictional and unique race; the rooklins. The rooklins were the guardians of the wild, closer to nature than the other two superior races.
Let’s look at physical attributes first. The rooklins are half the height of a human, their skin is pale green, and they have hair thick and twisted like the roots of a tree. The dress with wild material, leaves, sticks, branches, knotted together with thick yarn across their bodies, wearing wooden boots, seeming similar to their hair, a mould of twigs and branches. They live in amongst nature, in woodlands and forests, and so they blend in with their surroundings.
Whilst the rooklins are one of the superior races (giants, humans) they tend to prefer nature to the grand halls of rulers. This is especially true after the fall of the Guardians and the beginning of the Giant Dynasty. When the giants took over, the rooklins fled to nature and would stay in amongst the wildlife from then on. Even when Gongore returns, they don’t ever return fully to halls of castles in great number.
Ellenian langauge
They also speak a distinct language to that of the common tongue of the world. They speak a language called Ellenian, named after the first rooklin leader Helene. There are other languages in Rumithia, but this is unique, as its not only a language they speak amongst each other, but also a one they can use to communicate with animals. Throughout my writing on the world of Rumithia, this is a regular feature. It’s not just a skill in isolation, it with some key plot points too. They are not just gardeners or stewards of forests, they can actually communicate with them, are almost at one with them.
Sages of wisdom
Gongore went to meet with them when he came to Rumithia for the first time. This was underestimated by Kelorne in the beginning of Traitor’s Eye. He sees no military value in the rooklins, but for Gongore, they had a great value of knowledge that he didn’t have, having been born outside Rumithia.
As the meekest of the three superior races, they are often shunned by the others. They don’t take part in the Giant Dynasty in any capacity to oppose the giants, as the humans do at various stages, and with the faction wars raging, they stayed in the confines of nature, preferring nature’s peaceful ways to the violence of war. However, even though they are not fighters, there is much more than meets the eye with them. They are sought out when things go beyond the realm of weapons of war. When Felim falls ill after crowning himself King of Rumithia and King of Vengore, his brothers can’t explain his illness. They seek out the rooklins for answers. Rooklins are valued both for their understanding of nature, knowledge of healing, but crucially, for their understanding of history. They have the best memories in Rumithia, and whilst humans and giants end up forgetting things in the annals of time, the rooklins don’t.
Whilst the humans and giants fight wars, and build factions that, whilst they have staying power, eventually fade, the rooklins remain a steadfast source of knowledge and understanding in Rumithia, of the older and deeper aspects of the land’s history. It’s ironic, because they are often disregarded in a world that often resorts to power and force, the rooklins are often overlooked. However, in the history of remedia, there are many times when they will come to be counted on for things far more fundamental to the survival of the peoples.
