Renans (レナ人 Rena-jin?) are a race that appears in Tales of Arise. They are the rulers of the planet of Dahna after having conquered it. Renans appear to be indistinguishable from humans appearing in other Tales games as well as looking identical to the Dahnans. However, as opposed to the relative magicless Dahnans, all Renans are adept at using astral artes. Whenever they do so, their eyes start to glow, earning them the name Bright-Eyes (光り眼?) by their Dahnan slaves to express their hostility and fear towards them.
History[]
Hundreds of years before the events of the game, the Helganquil were almost rendered extinct, due to the Hollowing of their planet of Rena. In need of a new means of carrying out the will of the Great Spirit, they abducted several Dahnans with an aptitude for astral artes and used their genetic research to engineer them into a new race; the Renans. The Renans were made to live on Lenegis and fed the lie that the majority of them actually lived on Rena itself. Through the Renans, the Helganquil almost managed to suck all astral energy from the planet of Dahna, using the Spirit Channeling Ceremony. However, with the ceremony having failed, the Renans had to find a new way to gain astral energy.
The Renans, at the behest of the Helganquil, invaded Dahna 300 years before the start of the story. As the Renans are magically gifted and more technologically advanced compared to the Dahnans, they quickly subjugated the entire planet. The Dahnans themselves were reduced to a slave race to the Renans. The planet itself was divided into five districts governed by the Five Renan Lords.
To harvest the astral energy needed for another Spirit Channeling Ceremony, the Renans were manipulated into starting the Crown Contest. This contest involved embedding their Dahnan slaves with Spirit Cores, which generate astral energy when the bearer performs heavy physical labor. Each of the Five Renan Lords is tasked with making their Dahnan slaves generate the most astral energy. The winner of the contest is awarded the title of Sovereign.
This cycle is repeated over the last 300 years, until several resistance groups have formed. With the help of Alphen and his companions, these groups managed to successfully overthrow the Five Renan Lords. Another notable event in recent history is that Menancia, under the rule of Dohalim il Qaras, is turned into a kingdom in which Renans and Dahnans live in relative equality.
Renan culture[]
The primary value in Renan culture seems to be power; both in magical and political sense. In fact, the better a Renan is in the Astral Artes, the higher their political rank will be. Renans are also highly hierarchical. Those of lower ranks rarely interact and blindly obey Renans of the upper echelons. Renans are also highly dependent on leadership. Whenever disaster strikes, they will always await orders from above, rather than trying to solve the situation themselves.
Ambition is also an important value, as Renans are taught from birth that they should always aim to become more powerful. Their highest aim is to become one of the Five Lords and, subsequently, win the Crown Contest and become a Sovereign. Renans who lack ambition are generally seen as failures by their more conservative peers. This is seen when Kelzalik tried to overthrow Lord Dohalim il Qaras, as Dohalim held absolutely no desire to become the Sovereign.
Renan culture also seems to be sexist, as female Lords are very rare. According to one of her supporters, Lord Almeidrea Kaineris hoped introduce more gender equality after winning the Crown Contest.
Notable Renans[]