Egregius Jonah

Being an Egregius seems to be a relatively prestigious position within Tal society as when a person becomes one, they gain one audience with the Goddess. The best way to describe Jonah would be: A sage-like, stoic man. He is overly concerned with spiritual matters and usually tends to not play very well when it comes to dealing with people whose station is above him. While he does not go out of his way to irritate or contradict others, he doesn't understand why some people get angry if he treats them as intellectually inferior. But he also will rarely protest being mistreated.

Being a person that usually takes a more detached view of things, he does not hesitate to voice opinions that most would balk at during difficult situations. It's not that he doesn't think things through or is cold-hearted. There is plenty of time for mourning later and even not doing anything is making a choice.

He doesn't talk about why he is in the Empire. The best answer he gives is “to learn more about other people.”

The Tal

They are a, for the people of the Empire, mysterious people. Not much is known about them or their customs. A few cities in the Empire have a small community of them, and they are always, without fail, involved in matters of education and cultural activities. Despite that, they always maintain a strong identity as Tal, often arousing suspicion and even rage in the local people. The idea that they indoctrinate children or try to somehow pervert the culture of the Empire is somewhat common, but is never backed by any kind of real evidence.

They have a country somewhere in the Wildlands, being effectively the only other state in the continent ruled by and containing a majority of humans. In terms of their own culture and religious beliefs they are kind of difficult to pin down: They will commonly talk about a Goddess, but among the people of the Empire there is a debate whether this goddess even exists and even if she does, whether she could actually qualify as a real deity. It doesn't help the fact that when questioned about it, the Tal never provide a solid answer about her place within their theology, the clearest answer being that at the very least, she doesn't occupy a similar position as the Flame does in the Empire's official religion.

The Tal scriptures are the Book of Lies and the Book of Truths. It is not clear what exact meaning their names hav, but the Book of Lies more closely resembles an historical, if embellished, account of the formation of the Tal, while the Bok of Truths has a more philosophical and metaphysical content.

Every Tal, at two years old receives a tattoo on their shoulders that must be constantly maintained, for it is the mark that differentiates them from all other humans. Rumors abound that this tattoo actually guards a deep and possibly terrifying secret.