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Races of the Kingdom

Humans

Though humanity is common throughout the universe, several cultures have developed since the time of the truefolk. In the northern cold lands are the norse, nearly barbaric in nature, they are actually well intentioned and seek only to survive the difficult climate. Their southern neighbors are the most advanced culture of humanity. The Paranese have united the entire human realm under their kings throne. They have a powerful Knighthood that not only protects the borders of the kingdom, they also keep the populace under the rule of Paran. Their Codex, the laws of Marcora, is the standard by which the law of the land is kept. In the southern human kingdom are the celtic people who live on the plains, called the Southern Fields. They still follow their own religious system led by the manteis (specialty priests of Correll), druids, and bards. They accept only the laws of the King of the Fields, who lives in exile, hidden from the hired assassins of the Divine Throne. They are considered backward by the people of the central kingdom, but have developed the crafts of weapon-smithing, charioteering, and woodcraft nearly beyond their advanced neighbors. Exiled from the human lands is the last culture of humanity, the Vaaga and their subterranean kin the Daaga. These gypsies were the original owners of the central human kingdom, but were defeated and sent from their lands ages before. Now they roam the dwarven lands, the orcish empire, and the underground realm telling the fortunes of those willing to pay, doing dramatic and aerobatic performances, tending herds, and training animals.

Elves

Slighter of build than humans, most elves are also slighly shorter. They have pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes; elves love nature and the forest, and tend to dislike cities. Elves live an extremely long time - 600 years is very typical. Conversely, they do not mature as quickly... 60 to 100 years is considered to be the elven equivilant of manhood. Elves commonly consider themselves to be the 'highest' race in a world, and are often thought arrogant by other races. Elves have natural skills with bow and sword (+1 to hit with either), as well as resistance to sleep and charm spells (90% chance). Additionally, elves often take well to music and magic. Elves are very agile, and gain a +1 to dexterity, but are not quite as sturdy as humans, and suffer a -1 to constitution. Elves possess a special ability known as infravision - basically, they can see in the dark, to a limited degree. Elves can be multi-classed characters and are separated into several races. First is the moon elves: lovers of nature, they have several cities in Elderwood, but even their cities do not shut out the natural surroundings. Second is the grey elves: lovers of magic, they live in the mountains called the Grey Peaks and have a very condescending mindset about the other elven races. Next is the wood elves: these sylvan elves live in nomadic tribes hidden in the thickest woods on the Ylvan penninsula. They are larger than the average elf and have a feral and barbaric nature. Last is the drow, or dark elves: they live deep underground in the kingdom of N'Tel. These evil elves seek the destruction of the elven nations and complete control of the subterranean realms. They subjucate any they can capture and hold vast armies of slaves, but tend toward in-fighting more than any expansion.

Half-Elves

Half elves are not truly a race, per se, but a result of human and elven intermingling. While longer-lived than humans, their lifespan is shorter than that of elves, typically 250-300 years. Like elves, most half-elves have pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes; unlike them, most half-elven males grow facial hair. Half-elves tend to fit in better with humans, but in some cases, don't fit in at all (depends on the region). They possess infravision, though not as strongly as elves. Half-elves are very diverse, and can belong to more character classes than any other race.

Dwarves

Sturdy and strong, dwarves make some of the best warriors in most campaigns. Dwarves rarely grow taller than four feet, but are very solidly built. Long-lived, dwarves can see 300 years easily. Dwarves love the earth, and often live in subterranean cities. Many consider them greedy, as they love to mine for gems and precious metals. Dwarves are excellent smiths, and make prized armor and weapons. Dwarves are very tough, receiving a +1 to constitution. They are also typically a bit unpolished, suffering a -1 to charisma. Dwarves distrust magic. Dwarves posess infravision similar to half-elves. Due to their small size and skill against these creatures, dwarves gain bonuses when fighing giants and the like, and those creatures suffer penalties against dwarves. Dwarves have a limited range of multi-class options open to them, as well. Broken into separate races, the dwarves live in many different terrains. The mountain dwarves build huge mines deep into the hearts of mountains seeking ore and jewels, while hill dwarves live in cities built under large hills and have learned to craft nearly every type of weapon, jewelry and wooden object. Sundered dwarves have given up the subterranean life to live a barbaric existence protecting the world from the ravages of orc and goblin kind. The remaining races of dwarves are evil twisted mockeries of their mountain and hill dwarf cousins. The duergar or grey dwarves mine the deeper regions of the same mountains but have developed relationships with very powerful entities of the deeps and subjucated legions of goblins and orcs to do the dirty work. The derro are nearly mindless, insane dwarves of thin builds who worship their leaders, called savants, like gods. They maniacally follow the commands of the magic-using savants throwing themselves at any target chosen by their leaders with no regard for their own safety.

Halflings

Often mistaken for children due to their small height (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet), halflings are shorter than any other race, but often gain weight around the middle. They are skilled at picking locks and pockets as well as moving in complete silence. Many become burglars or scouts. They have limited infravision. At the onset of adolescence, many halflings become infected with a condition known as boredom, causing them to leave the comfort of their hill homes to travel the world. Halflings can be thieves, warriors, mages, and thief combinations. They are perhaps more agile than elves (+1 dexterity), but weak physically (-2 strength). Halflings can be of several races; the hairfoot live on the island of Olhearth, the halfling homeland and seek little but physical and financial comfort. The tallfellow halflings live on the outskirts of the elven kingdom and have taken on many of the same charactaristics of their neighbors loving natural surroundings and often becoming rangers or druids to protect the unspoiled land. The stout halflings live near the edges of the dwarven kingdom in the town of Stout, hence their name. They love to craft items from the rare trees of the plains and raise herd animals, they trade with the dwarves of Kiln-kor for weapons and gems. The wildlings are barbaric halflings who live in the goblin territories with their allies the sundered dwarves and nomadically travel the plains.
More Information About Halfling Sub-races

Gnomes

These small but strong creatures have large noses and wrinkled features, they have the same love of gems as dwarves and share the halfling's inquisitive nature. They are skilled in mining and magic, tending toward illusions more than any other magic. They also are impressive warriors, though it is difficult to inspire the peace-loving creatures to abandon their almost pacifistic nature. Gnomes have the same life-expectancy of dwarves and are very similar, though you will never get either to admit it. While halflings seek to know what is over the next hill, the curiosity of gnomes is more "How does that work?" followed by the disassembly of the interesting item. Gnomes are divided into four races. The first is the standard rock gnome, living in shallow subterranean cities, they blend seemlessly with the stone walls and floor, mining gems and making incredible items of stone. Deeper in the ground is the deep gnome or svirfneblin. The deep gnomes mine the rarest of stones and fight against incursion of drow and evil dwarves. The surface dwelling forest gnomes are primarily limited to the island of Gnorsh, the gnomish homeland. They live quiet lives in the wood protecting the unmolested forest and communing with the fey and wild creatures. They hate outsiders and either avoid those passing through or slay those who seek to settle. In the small range of mountains on the isle of Gnorsh is the only known settlement of the tinker gnomes. They spend their lives in their mountain homes experimenting with the perfect blend of magic and technology. Only those whose study requires outside information ever leave the mountains, then only until enough data has been collected.
More Information About Gnomish Sub-races