The Candlemen are a race that appears in Might and Magic: The Dreamwright and Might and Magic: The Shadowsmith. They were tall, pale, and slender humanoids, and looked and dressed so similarly that it was hard for humans to tell one individual from another. Their hair was white at the roots, and had been waxed and formed to a wispy central point, which was yellow or orange. Diligence believed that the hair was dyed. They wore brown leggings under loose overblouses. A group of candlemen was known as a "blaze".
Candlemen communicated without words, relying on deep-throated sighs, soft grunts, or subtle signs and gestures. Diligence and Eil do Mer suspected that they also had some form of telepathy. If they chose to speak, they had strange, silky voices. Using words was considered savage and inferior, and any candleman that opened their mouth would be declared an enemy.
The candlemen were divided into clans or family groups, and often fought wars against each other. Elaborate beadworks on their vests showed which clan they belonged to. The leader of a clan was known as the "hetman".
Relations[]
The candlemen always had a good relationship with the people of The Wheel, even signing a treaty with them, but had been bitter enemies of Amonwelle of the Unseen Wall ever since the fall of the Effulgency after the Battle of the Stolen Air, where Amonwelle slew two thousand of them when her lover El was incinerated. They were also engaged in a deadly war with Dubiel the Shadowsmith.
In battle, they wielded curved lances made of wormbone, and long, slender daggers. They preferred night-time ambushes over open combat.
Tinderboy[]
When a tribe of candlemen grew too large, and threatened to exhaust the resources of the area, the current hetman would elect a child to act as the center of a secondary kin grouping. Regardless of gender, this child was referred to as the tinderboy, and it was taught spesial burning rituals, how to store lightning into a small wooden strongbox, and the skills of leadership. The clan then split into two, with half of them marching off with their new leader.
Varve, who was very familiar with candlemen lore, suspected that there hadn't been a true tinderboy for the last five hundred years, since there was more land and resources than candlemen.
Hearthstone[]
One of the most important places in candlemen culture was the hearthstone, a giant stone disk about three feet high and a more thousand feet in diameter. The candlemen believed that it marked the birthplace of their race, and that ritualistically sacrificing prisoners to the sky could eventually restore the Effulgency. Every hundred years or so, they would set aside all animosity and convene at the hearthstone, where they would sacrifice a specific number of prisoners by causing lightning to strike them.
When a candleman child becomes an adult, it "puts aside its gender until the time arises when such things are called for". Due to the state of the world, many chose not to have children, which meant that the number of candlemen had dwindled steadily since the fall of the Effulgency. The candlemen felt that humans were "apt to breed at the unlikeliest of times", and were unclear about just how long it them took from conception to birth. Therefore, they would keep male and female prisoners in separate pens, to make sure there weren't suddenly more of them than the sacrifice demanded.