I never played the Silan missions - on the Matis starter island everything was fine for me, no evil characters - some a touch arrogant probably, but that's fine for me if in turn the Fyros on their island were a touch stupid, the Trykers slightly irresponsible and the Zorai talking in riddles. Fact is that people for some reason seemingly seem to choose the Verdant Heights less often than they did before Silan was installed, and some reason might be that this character implies that we are villains to the core and players decided as Talkirc did and choosed a "good" character - although despite some unfortunate implications in the description of the race this is counteracted by the history of Atys, where you can see that, for example, the conflict in 2499 was provoked by the Trykers and Fyros breaking the old Treaty of the Four Nations. It is clear that the Matis had already the Fyros on their knees by the capture of Dexton. Here Mabreka saved the day by mediating between the war parties. Without any real need at that point, the Matis then signed a peace treaty and set Dexton free for a (rather minor) reparation payment. Doesn't sound villainous to me. That Jinovitch was a villain, there can be no doubt, but most likely he killed more Matis than people of other nations ...
Having said that, I wonder where Talkirc read that the Matis are responsible for the Goo. They aren't, of course, and the main knowledge about the Goo is in the hands of the Marauders - mainly of Zorai Marauders.
Fundamentally, all races have negative traits - the Fyros released the Kitins and burned down part of our world, the Zorai were slavers for a time and let the Trykers die at their gates when the Kitin came, the Trykers - the most harmless of the races - provoked a war just out of greed. And that's just for starters.
A final word on slavery in RL - most so-called civilised countries (if not all) have a sad history of slavery. It is true, though, that probably the US was the last nation to get rid of it. That it still is deeply rooted in the minds of the Americans, though, might be due to the fact that although slavery vanished after the Civil Wars, Afro-American still were bereft of many rights until the 1960s and 1970s. So I understand sensibilities here, but - as said - the Zorai introduced slavery for some time as well.
Having said that, I wonder where Talkirc read that the Matis are responsible for the Goo. They aren't, of course, and the main knowledge about the Goo is in the hands of the Marauders - mainly of Zorai Marauders.
Fundamentally, all races have negative traits - the Fyros released the Kitins and burned down part of our world, the Zorai were slavers for a time and let the Trykers die at their gates when the Kitin came, the Trykers - the most harmless of the races - provoked a war just out of greed. And that's just for starters.
A final word on slavery in RL - most so-called civilised countries (if not all) have a sad history of slavery. It is true, though, that probably the US was the last nation to get rid of it. That it still is deeply rooted in the minds of the Americans, though, might be due to the fact that although slavery vanished after the Civil Wars, Afro-American still were bereft of many rights until the 1960s and 1970s. So I understand sensibilities here, but - as said - the Zorai introduced slavery for some time as well.
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Salazar CaradiniFilira Matia
Royal Historian
Member of the Royal Academy of Yrkanis
First Seraph of the Order of the Argo Navis