Races

Overview

It is important to understand the world's geographical regions to understand the races that live in them. See the Locations page for a world map. At the very least, know that two very large islands stand in the middle of a great ocean. Hellan is the western island, and Isandor is the eastern island.

History of Hellan

Hellan is ruled by the Confederacy, which is an alliance of humans, dwarves, and elves. The Confederacy is very old, and the alliance is fragile. Factional disputes between member races are common, particularly between elves and dwarves. Humanity is the glue that holds the confederacy together.

Halflings are notably missing from the leadership of the Confederacy -- causing minor rebellions from time to time. In general, the Halflings have had to become increasingly reclusive in order to escape the oppression of the Confederacy. Most Halflings that exist within the Confederacy's major cities, towns, and roads are thieves and outlaws by necessity. They live in a safe-haven within the Hidden Valley, unbeknownst to the Confederacy.

History of Isandor

Isandor is in open war with the Confederacy, ruled by the Orcish Warlords. Their nation is a barbaric tribal system, with the largest alpha tribe dominating the lesser tribes by sheer force of will. In their culture, their greatest warrior is the leader of their people. The lands ruled by the Orcs is inhospitable, an aftermath of a long drawn out internal war that was only stopped by necessity when a large volcano erupted on the island. The terrain varies between desert, volcanic, and a few grasslands.

There are a few species of animaloids on Isandor. Most of them were conquered long ago, and serve alongside the orcs within their tribal system. Despite the Orcish Warlords’ ruthless warlike nature, they are far less prejudiced against races than the Confederacy because they value strength and tradition above birthright.

Dark Ages: Dwarves and elves are created, and fight relentlessly

The Dark Ages were a time before magic. Elves (created by Varos) and dwarves (created by Duros) battled each other relentlessly under Hejong’s guidance. The races gained knowledge, skill, and martial prowess, and built societies out of necessity to out-produce their enemy.

Year 0: Magic is created, and there is tentative peace

Esk (a now-deceased god who is mostly forgotten) creates gemstones from his tears (Ilterendi and Mithrus) and gifts them to the elf and dwarf leaders to stop the fighting. He sacrifices himself to create Arcana, and the world gains magic. The remainder of his tears are shed all over Hellan and Isandor, seeding the world with hidden legendary gemstones of unfathomable power. Dwarves find themselves newly attuned to the earth and the elements, and elves with the sky and arcana. They credit Varos and Duros with these gifts, and their endless fighting stops upon realizing their gods smile upon all of creation.

Year 50: Dark elves split from sun elves

A group of sun elves adventure into the Snowfell Mountains and nearly die. They are saved by Selune and become her first worshippers. These elves come to be known as dark elves.

Year 300: Humans and monsters are created

Humans ally with elves and dwarves After a period of 300 years of peace, Varos, Duros, Remedia, Anashta, and Hejong create humankind. Vandun and Arth go behind the backs of the other gods and create monsters: orcs, goblins, trolls, and other filth. The orcs form warbands and rampage across the eastern realms.

Year 310: Halflings are created

To aid their creations against the orcs, the gods create a fourth race called “halflings” to aid in hunting, fishing, and providing for the mighty dwarven and elven empires. It is the hope of the gods that the humans ally with the halflings, just like the elves and dwarves have. However, humans spurn their new allies in favor of the more-powerful societies the dwarves and elves have already built.

Year 350: Hellan and Isandor are settled

The orcs begin to raze and enslave their half of Ilisara and call it “Isandor”. They enslave various races the gods created within the last 40 years, including animaloids. The newly-made humans band together with the ancient dwarves and elves out of necessity to protect their half of Ilisara, now called “Hellan”. Halflings reluctantly join this alliance.

Year 360: Isandor Racial War

Orcs finish a war to subjugate all other races on Isandor. Defeated races are incorporated into orc tribes as servants, but may rise to be equal warriors if they prove their loyalty and prowess.

Year 375: Demonic Genesis

Vandun, tired of witnessing the folly of other gods, decides to take a more direct approach, empowering a select group of his followers with power. The power proved too much for the mortals, and they all became perverted into a demonic race that corresponds with a regular mortal race.

Vandun did not intend for this to happen, and did not claim responsibility in the pantheon for the emergence of these demons, instead blaming the folly of mortals. He abandoned his creation. Most demons still remain highly loyal to Vandun, but there are a few renegades who believe they were betrayed …

Demons have the power to create other demons, and they’ve never quite died out.

Year 400: The Great War begins

The elves and dwarves, to combat the orcs, decide to create an artifact combining the phenomenal power of Ilterendi and Mithrus. Dwarven smiths serving Vandun betray the dwarven King Thorin and murder him, and nearly murder the elven Queen Veladriel too. The smiths steal both gemstones. The elves retaliate, and tension rises. King Lokkhan becomes the new leader of the dwarves.

Year 425: Mok’Gram erupts

Isandor, the idyllic paradise erupts. The entire island becomes a savage wasteland, and the Orcish Warlords form a tentative truce to attempt to stave off extinction. The Orcish Warlords begin sending minor scouting parties to Hellan to see if it is viable for conquest. They begin biding their time for the opportunity to strike, while performing ritualistic combat to determine the alpha tribe. It is a mystery as to why Mok’Gram erupted.

Year 450: The Great War ends

After an all-out war between dwarves and elves, Ilterendi and Mithrus are eventually returned and the smiths (dark dwarves) who stole them are killed or exiled. The dark dwarves retreat beneath the Snowfell Mountains.

Year 475: The dark elves and dark dwarves unite

The dark dwarves discover their quiet neighbors, the dark elves, are living above the Snowfell Mountains. They introduce Vandun to the dark elves. Many dark elves begin to worship Vandun alongside Selune, seeing Vandun’s dark powers as a means to secure solitude, quiet, peace, and destroy the sun elves that forgot about them.

Year 500: The Confederacy is formed and rules over Hellan, and the Warlords are formed to rule over Isandor

After 100 years of bloodshed, the humans negotiate a grand peace treaty between elves and dwarves. They form the Confederacy, a coalition of elvish, dwarvish, and human advisors/rulers that protect Hellan together and form a quasi-government. Halflings are notably left out of the Confederacy’s leadership.

At this point, the orcs have formed a loose collection of vicious warbands aptly ruled by several Warlords. The Warlords are the strongest, fiercest warriors in the land, and each lead their own orcish tribe. Turf wars are common, and Isandor slowly becomes even more of a wasteland with unforgiving climate due to their misuse of shadow power and relentless fighting."

Year 600: Relative stability on the border between Hellan and Isandor

The elves, dwarves, humans, and halflings continue to build their societies and grow more powerful. They reinforce the border between Hellan and Isandor. Attacks threaten the border frequently, but a period of relative stability begins.

Year 700: Current time

When the world was young, the dwarves and elves fought for attention and favor from their gods. After an undetermined but lengthy period of time, the gods intervened and gifted magical gemstones of unimaginable power to the dwarven and elven leaders to show them that both races were equal. The gods simultaneously believed that arming the races with the gemstones would mean neither would dare challenge each other, as use of the gemstones would result in massive destruction of both sides. The gemstones distinguished the races from each other, and for a time, made it clear that all races were loved equally by their creators. The elves received Ilterendi and the dwarves were given Mithrus.

At this time, the Orcish Warlords began encroaching on Confederate land. Mok'gram's eruption had made them desperate for new, inhabitable land. The hordes of orcs, minotaurs, centaurs, and goblins was deemed a massive threat by the elves and dwarves alike.

The dwarven King of the time, King Thorin, thought to combine the power of the gemstones that the gods had gifted to the elves and dwarves in order to defeat the orcish threat. His smiths crafted a beautiful chain made from precious metals to hold Ilterendi and Mithrus. Queen Veladriel of the sun elves brought Ilterendi to King Thorin, and he brought forth Mithrus. Together, they placed Mithrus and Ilterendi into the necklace. In that moment, the King’s smiths betrayed him and slew him as he stood. They made an attempt on the Queen’s life and nearly killed her too — but her husband, King Ahellion, whisked her away to safety. Ilterendi and Mithrus were lost.

Believing the dwarves to be untrustworthy traitors, Queen Veladriel ordered her finest mages to hunt down and kill the dwarves who threatened her life and stole the gemstones. They set upon a dwarven settlement of innocents and ransacked it whilst searching for Ilterendi.

King Thorin’s son was only a child, and there was no one to take the throne in the dwarven kingdom. Mass panic ensued in the wake of his assassination and the elvish attack. The dwarves’ retired military general, an old dwarf who had learned strategy and tactics from Hejong himself, stepped up as the new King of the Mountain. King Lokkhan sent his men after the rogue dwarves who had stolen Mithrus and Ilterendi.

Eventually, the sun elves found the dwarves hiding with Ilterendi and Mithrus deep within the Snowfell Mountains. Their forces perished before the might of both gemstones. Queen Veladriel and King Ahellion were incensed that Ilterendi had been stolen and used against them, and blamed the newly-crowned King Lokkhan for being unable to get the situation under control. The elven Queen threatened further attacks into dwarven territory. Ever-wise and less fiery than Veladriel, King Lokkhan turned all of his efforts on hunting down and wresting Ilterendi and Mithrus back from the smiths who had stolen it.

Meanwhile, the dwarves took casualties from elven attacks. The dwarves retaliated in self-defense. The elves took to sieging the dwarves in their mountain homes. It was relatively ineffective, but without access to their crops, livestock, or trade, the dwarves’ quality of life suffered. It took many years, but King Lokkhan was finally able to infiltrate the group of smiths who had stolen the gemstones. He killed off all of the traitors that he could, but few escaped and became Dark Dwarves who worshipped Vandun. With the humans’ help, King Lokkhan returned Ilterendi to the sun elves and warily forged a truce with them.

Queen Veladriel and King Ahellion have had a shaky alliance with the dwarves since. King Lokkhan finds the elves difficult to work with, as they no longer trust the dwarves, and the sun elves find the dwarves reckless and stubborn. King Lokkhan maintains that the dwarves never did anything wrong and that the entire issue was caused by a few dark dwarves seduced by Vandun; Queen Veladriel believes that corruption lingers within the dwarven ranks.

The gods, realizing that their creations would never unite, created humans. Humans negotiate and keep the peace between their two ancient allies, and try to remind them of both good old times, and bright futures. They founded the Confederacy so that humans, elves and dwarves would both be able to work together to govern the land of Hellan and protect it from Isandor's threats.

Races of the Confederacy

Humans

Sun Elves

Dwarves

Races of the Orcish Warlords

Orcs

Minotaurs

Other Playable Races

Avianfolk*

Catfolk*

Celestials

Dark Dwarves

Dark Elves

Genasi

Goblins

Half-anything (half-elf, half-orc, etc)

Halflings

Lizardfolk*

Wood Elves

*Avianfolk, Catfolk, and Lizardfolk are all considered "animaloids". They are bipedal intelligent animals with sentience and culture. Their cultures vary wildly and so do their values. Often, they embody the traits of the animal they are most closely related to. Animaloids are scattered around the Orcish Warlords’ territory, with a few living within the confines of the Confederacy’s land. They are mostly friendly to the Confederacy.

Non-Playable Races

Trolls - Ugly pests found on both Hellan and Isandor. Generally low intelligence, and work with Ogres.

Ogres - Hulking behemoths that can be found on both Hellan and Isandor. Usually brutish and low intelligence.

Giants - Ancient, and rare creatures that are in tune with the elements of the world. They are neutral to most humanoids, but commune with Genasi if approached. They can be found on both Hellan and Isandor.

Treant - Guardians of the forest. They are friendly to druids, and hostile to anyone who would do the forest harm. Neutral to most passing through their forest, but will assist the weary in times of need. Found on Hellan.

Centaur - Native to Isandor, Centaurs were enslaved by the Orcish Warlords of Isandor long ago. They serve as equal members of the tribes these days.

Mermaid - Found in the waters between Hellan and Isandor, these creatures have been known to take pirates down to their watery graves, and to help needy merchants on their voyage. Generally considered by all races as a sign of good luck.

Kobold - These rodent-like creatures live in deep, dark caves. Generally found on Hellan, but rarely on Isandor, these creatures are considered pests to Dwarven miners.

Demons (Succubi/Incubi/Imps/Hellhounds/Satyrs) - Followers of Vandun have been known to summon demon companions. They assist their masters in all of their endeavors and conquests. Demons can also be found on their own, consorting with mortals to their own ends. Some say not all demons worship Vandun, and that some resist for a greater or darker end. These are unconfirmed rumors though, as most who consort with demons do not admit it openly. Typically, consorting with a demon within the Confederacy is punishable by death.

Undead - Necromancy and death-magic is practiced in some isolated pockets of Isandor, resulting in undead monstrosities. Generally frowned upon. Kerrigor, god of death, does not approve of undeath.

Ilisara Geopolitics (needs editing)

The Dark Elves take up the positions from north of Snowpeak to the lowlands of southern Hellan, by the Confederacy’s best estimates, there must be a population of at least 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 Dark Elves in order to span that region. The Dark Dwarves are heavily concentrated beneath Snowpeak, near the volcanic depths. They make up a total sum population of about 400,000. The Sun Elves, which span the entire island of Hellan, have a total population of 5,000,000. There is a similar number of Dwarves, and about 3,000,000 humans since they are a new arrival.

If you look at the population numbers by themselves, the Dwarves and Elves have a massive advantage over their dark counterparts. However, they are spread out over the entire region of Hellan. The population density of Dark Elves and Dark Dwarves makes them even slightly outnumber their regular counterparts in the regions where they claim dominance. If those forces were to launch a first strike at say, the Sun Elf capitol, they would be able to have a short lived victory before the raw numbers of the rest of the island of Hellan came crashing down on them. This reality has lead to the cold war. There is no way that any one nation on Hellan can survive a first strike from the Dark Elves and Dwarves - so no one dares initiate war without the entire Confederate support.

So the problem then falls on Humanity, who is reluctant to go to war. Their positioning is super precarious. Their capital is the most vulnerable to the Dark Elves and Dwarves, as it is so close to the base of the mountains that the Dwarves and Elves could strike it, destroy it, and be back in their mountains before reinforcements could arrive. Outlying settlements south of the snowy mountains are also vulnerable to strikes without protection from Thrain, due to poor connected empire.

This unfortunate reality has kept the peace. No one wants to suffer the casualties of a war that would cost well over half of all side's population, or the entirety of it.

So while some forces of the Dark Elves may be calling for war, because they feel they are losing the peace, the upper echelons of Sun Elf and Dark Elf leadership should be keenly aware that there is no real winner in a war between all of these rivals.

In fact, it may be a better strategy to turn the Sun Elves and the regular Dwarves against each other. That would result in a situation where the math of war changes so dramatically that the Dark Elves might actually win a war by gaining the support of Humanity. Additionally, if they gained the support of Humanity, they might have a shot in a war against the Dwarves and Sun Elves combined. This would make their motivations most likely ultra diplomatic when it comes to Humanity, further increasing the pressure of Humanity to avoid war with the Dark Elves and Dwarves.

Obviously the Dark Elves have no centralized leadership, no capital known to the Confederacy. But the heads of the largest tribes know each other, and are aware of these facts. The Shadow Hunters are one example of Humans and Dark Elves intermingling. It is no coincidence that some Humans fetish their Dark Elf neighbors. This is deliberate, an attempt to lure Humanity closer to the Dark Elves' faction.

Due to the savage conditions of Isandor, the Orcish clans combined only have a total population of about 4,000,000 orcs. This however doesn't take into account that the Orcs have dominated their island. Centaurs, Trolls, and other various species subjugated into the Orcish warbands total about 3,000,000. Militarily speaking, a greater portion of their population is ready for war than their Hellan counterparts. This leaves the combined Orcish Warlords with an army larger than the Confederacy, but a total population that is about 20% smaller.

None of the Confederacy’s math factors in the Halflings. Since they are notably left out of the math of war, it is believed a total population on Hellan would be around 100,000, mostly contained within the forests of southern Hellan and their isolated shire. They may be small in both stature and numbers, but they are positioned far from the main armies of Hellan and Isandor. If they ever did decide to band together to make strikes like guerilla warfare, they would be able to cause the Confederacy enough pain and logistical damage to bring it to it's knees.

And of course, none of this factors in interference from the Pantheon. Right now Arth and Vandun are notably aligned against the other seven Gods and Goddesses. If some of the Pantheon were to fall ... or through mortal affairs gain more influence and power, the balance of power might shift one way or the other.