Setting:Unified Setting/Sergal
Since antiquity, the huge and barren Vilous region has been home to the Sergal. In the south dwelled the lanky and hardy subspecies of the Sailzane desert. These creatures, tan and omnivorous, eked out their existence amidst broad terrain and broad temperature extremes. In the north, the windy steppe and frigid deserts of Tatola were haunted by their larger, long-haired cousins. These creatures, grey-furred grinning carnivores of claws and sinew, one part wolf, one part shark, one part bird of prey, are all the word 'Sergal' means to most outsiders.
Sergal numbers were kept in check despite the huge swathes of terrain available to them. In this harsh environment, what had once been solitary hunters forged a culture of discipline and order. Working together, a tribe could take down dangerous apex predators and huge armor-plated herbivores that had once been nearly invincible to predators. With a greater food supply, Sergals developed better tools and weapons, and boasted larger hunting packs. Empty ritual, by trial and error, evolved into a culture of shamans, healing the sick and wounded to aid the whole. Large, organized clans emerged in the north, as the desert sergals of Sailzane bred herds of horses and plated lizards for milk and meat.
Both regions of Vilous were poor, lacking in easily accessable metals or plentiful vegetation blessing the more civilized corners of the world. Even as sergal culture progressed in size and sophistication, they were limited by what was available. Craggy desert trees made for poor weapons, but they burned well enough. Lacking other avenues to advance along, Sergals grew adept at firing pottery and ceramics. While not as good as metal, these provided the sergals with a starting point. Ceramic tools, weapons, and armor developed and flourished. To this day, sergal kilns produce materials for tasks thought impossible for the trade.
Only later did the sergals learn to dig deep enough and well enough to find veins of metal far below the surface. This would transform their society. Sergals had always been dangerous, but only with iron could they be anything more than a travel hazard.
Into this world, the Shigu clan bore a yellow-eyed monster named Rain.