|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:07:54 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:07:54 GMT -5
((note: some modifications need to be made to these descriptions to make them specific to this game...as I'm going out of town tomorrow for 12 days...someone else with global moderator or admin privs will have to take care of it.))
Elf
Elves resemble humans except for generally being slender and having graceful features. The largest obvious physical difference is the pointed ears. They average around the same height as humans. Elves generally dress in fine clothing dominated by natural shades of greens and browns. The natural lifespan of an elf is measured in thousands of years, but disease or misfortune accounts for most well before any effects of old age become noticeable. Most elves are forest dwellers, though there are small communities who live on sea coasts or in mountainous regions. Often they live in treehouses, or homes combining natural rock and living trees as walls. They are respectful of nature and able to live in harmony with local flora and fauna indefinitely. Elves are well known for their wood and leatherworking skills and the fine and delicate pieces of jewellery they make. They hunt and gather food, being careful not to take more than they can use nor enough to unsettle the local ecosystem.
Elves are somewhat reclusive and aloof of all the other races, though they will meet and trade with non-evil races. Although usually skilled in combat, they prefer resolving problems through diplomacy if possible. The typical elven weapon is the bow. Elves are often sensitive to magic and many receive some magical training. A dedicated elven wizard can learn and master a lot of magic during his long life.
Elves are one of the old races, if not the original and oldest of all. Certainly there are ancient stories of a time before the arrival of the dwarves, who have been around long enough to see a world predating humans and most other intelligent races. Whether or not this is true is a mystery probably impossible to resolve. Generally elves would be happy to forget the feud with the dwarves, and will initiate trade or alliances with them, but the reluctance of the dwarves to trust them is often (but not always) a barrier to cooperation.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:08:36 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:08:36 GMT -5
Dwarf
Dwarves are short, stocky humanoids. They average around 4 feet tall but weigh as much as a human. All dwarves, male and female, grow beards once mature and keep them well groomed and trimmed, but never shaved. Dwarves are strong and hardy, and can live for 200-300 years. Dwarves form communities who usually live underground, in mine systems excavated by their workers. They are master blacksmiths and craftsmen. They use their metals and crafted goods to trade for food with surface races, most often gnomes, but also humans and halflings. Dwarven hunting parties sometimes venture forth from their caverns to hunt for meat, but the only agriculture they practise is fungus gardening.
Dwarves are well known for their love of precious metals and jewels. Most will go to great lengths (consistent with their personal morals) to acquire such items and will be hard pressed to give them up. Dwarves are often gruff and practical, and prefer a straightforward brute force approach to problems over subtlety or stealth. Most dwarves have a healthy respect or sometimes even fear of magic. The race produces very few wizards; clerical magic is more common. Dwarven master smiths, however, produce the finest weapons and armour suitable for enchantment and sometimes, perhaps through the working of their gods, produce magical items simply by working with great dedication.
Dwarves are one of the old races, having a history so long that much of it is now forgotten. Long before the appearance of humans and most of the other intelligent races, dwarves and elves shared the world. The long-running racial feud between the dwarves and the elves is legendary. The exact nature of the grievance is lost in the mists of time, but dwarves have very long memories and remain distrustful of elves to this day. Although they recognise that elves are often of kindred interests most dwarves would sooner cut their beards off than ask an elf for help.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:09:33 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:09:33 GMT -5
Gnome
Gnomes are smallish humanoids, about the height of dwarves but not as stocky. They are built more along the lines of short humans. They live somewhat longer than humans, sometimes reaching 150 years of age. Gnomes generally live in farming communities on plains and amongst scattered temperate forests. They raise livestock for milk and wool only, preferring to fish and hunt wild animals for meat. Often they live near dwarven communities and trade food and clothing for raw and worked metals. They will not usually venture into the dwarven halls however, because of a preference for open sky above them. Their homes are built much like human houses, though light and airy in construction.
Gnomish communities are generally friendly to other non-evil races, although they like to keep somewhat to themselves. They are even more skilled than dwarves in crafts involving wood, leather, cloth, and precious stones, but tend not to work metal much beyond practical applications. Gnomes are not as averse to magic as dwarves, with the uncommon gnomish wizards often specialising in illusion magic.
Some scholars say gnomes are a now distantly related offshoot of the dwarven race. Whether true or not, the two cannot now interbreed. Whereas dwarves remember and bear grudges indefinitely, a gnome will never forget a good deed, gift, or favour, and will be sure to return it when the chance arises.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:13:47 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:13:47 GMT -5
Half-Elf
Half-elves are the offspring of elves and humans, combining features of both races. They can easily pass for human amongst humans, but elves are more perceptive and will usually know a half-elf is not a full-blooded elf. Half-elves live about twice as long as humans. Half-elves fall in the gaps between elven and human society. Although they could live amongst either race (and some do so), many end up yearning to experience the other half of their heritage. This leads them to take up travelling and adventuring lifestyles more often than their parent races. So, although half-elves are relatively rare, it is not too unusual to see one on the road or staying at an inn somewhere. There are too few of them to form wholly half-elven communities, and they are usually found amongst companions of other races.
Half-elf attitudes are generally somewhere between those of elves and humans, so they get along with most other races. Depending on upbringing, a half-elf could be almost as skilled in traditional elvish activities as a true elf, or as broadly studied as any human. They are more attuned to magic than most humans, though not as much as elves, and often make good warrior-mages.
Obviously, half-elves did not exist before humans did. There is no evidence of elves ever having been able to produce offspring with any other species. Since they do not form a distinct race by themselves, half-elves are simply represented in the histories and lore of elves and humans.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:15:56 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:15:56 GMT -5
Half-Orc
Half-orcs are the offspring of orcs and humans, combining features of both races. Since orcs are ugly, dirty, and generally evil boors, this is unfortunate for the half-orc who wishes to rise above his ancestry and mix with the non-evil races. They are unattractive to various degrees, but can often pass as merely ugly humans with slightly upturned noses and poor teeth. Half-orcs inherit a slightly shortened lifespan from their orcish parent; they die of old age at around 60 years. Half-orcs are seen as puny halfbreeds by orc societies and often end up as abused slaves if they stay within them. Humans do not treat them much better and a bad reputation will follow any half-orc identified as such in human communities until such time as the half-orc can prove himself. Half-orcs sometimes form small villages of their own, but these are subject to raids by orcs and humans alike. Better options for non-evil half-orcs are to either be an inconspicuous lower class worker in a human community or become a well-known hero.
Depdending on upbringing, half-orcs can be either as nasty and brutish as orcs, or as good and kind as some humans. They normally take after the parent who raised them. The orcish side usually means they are not magically talented, though this can sometimes be overcome by an especially gifted human parent. Half-orcs can however make good shamans in orcish communities, if enslaved to a shaman as an apprentice.
Half-orcs have been around as long as humans have. The orcish race predates the appearance of humans, as revealed by elven and dwarvish records. The fact that orcs and humans can interbreed is seen as disturbing by some elven scholars for two reasons: It indicates a close relationship between humans, who currently dominate the world, and the evil orcs; and the existence of half-elves argues that elves and orcs may also be interfertile. If any orc-elf halfbreeds have ever existed, no record of such, or even of any orc-elf matings, remains in the elven histories
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:16:33 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:16:33 GMT -5
Humans
Humans are the most common race. They look like standard humans. Humans form villages, towns, and even great cities nearly everywhere. They are currently the dominant race in The Demesnes, more by sheer numbers than anything else. Because they multiply more rapidly than any other technological race (orcs only border on technological) they have settled most niches not already populated by demi-humans. They farm, hunt, chop down trees, and trawl the seas for fish to support their large populations.
The rapacious nature of human communities sometimes puts them at odds with elves (in the forests) and dwarves (in the mines), though usually differences and ownership rights can be settled peacefully. Humans are generally non-evil, but in some places they have formed decadent towns catering to those seeking vice or a hiding place. For the most part, they will trade eagerly with other races for mutual advantage and ally against common threats.
Humans are one of the youngest races, appearing only relatively recently in the long elven and dwarven histories. Their origin remains a mystery. Whether placed on the world by gods or appearing spontaneously, nobody knows. Humans have recorded histories dating back nearly six thousand years - what preceded that is uncertain, though elven records contain debatable hints of their existence up to a thousand years earlier. A few recent scholars who argued that humans are the result of orc-elf crossbreeding have been persecuted for heresy.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:34:44 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:34:44 GMT -5
Goblins
Goblins count among some of the most annoying creatures in existence. They like to swarm upon you in packs and then reek havok wherever they are. Anything they touch is bound to break because of their pure evil ways. Although these enemies are hadly strong, their appearance in packs makes for difficult battles, especially when surrounded.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:35:30 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:35:30 GMT -5
Orcs
Orcs, like Goblins, tend to be afraid of attacking in singles, so makes up for it by attacking in groups. Their proficiency in several different weapons make it hard to decide who to kill first in a battle, but keep fighting and all will come through. Orcs are always afraid of sunlight, only venturing forth if forced into doing it.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:36:24 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:36:24 GMT -5
Imps
Imp is a term for an imaginary being similar to a fairy, frequently used in folklore.
Because of the recurrent use of the term, it is possible to give quite a detailed description of how imps are, or were, viewed by the superstitious. A being described as an imp would be more likely to be mischievous than seriously threatening, and to be a lesser being rather than a greater one — an attendant on an important supernatural being. The attendants of the devil are sometimes described as imps, but this is an unusually malign usage of the term. The term carries an implication of liveliness and small stature. They are usually, but not invariably, assigned male gender.
Imps are the least evil of all demons, in common mythology and superstition. They are described as dark, shadowy creatures — while mischievous and somewhat destructive; they do not go to the extremes of, for example, gremlins or poltergeists. Imps are shape-shifters — preferring a shadow-form similar to either a weasel or a spider; they slink or skitter about, running from one pool of shadow to another. The trickery ascribed to them is, generally, confined to missing, misplaced, or moved articles (socks, keys, etc.) and stubbed toes — if the table apparently moved out to intercept your foot, that might be ascribed to an imp. Some accounts of imps claim that they are desperately lonely, and always travel in pairs or in mobs.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:39:30 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:39:30 GMT -5
Dark Elf
The Dark Elves, The Drow, Those Below, Those Who Have Turned to Evil, The Accursed. These are the names given by surfacers to the obsidian-skinned elves who dwell in Underdark cities. Mysterious, elegant, dark and deadly, they are feared and hated by all the races of Layonara. They are masters of magic and treachery, trusted by none, not even each other. When Dark Elves come to the surface to raid, they come at night, and every child of Layonara has heard the whispered tales of the Dark Ones even before they have been officially warned of Those Below.
Ages past, Dark Elves were already known to be a proud and warlike race, attacking their neighbors for power and wealth, or other, more insidious gains. However, after The Betrayal by the other Elven Clans around the year -2311, they were led below ground by a Dark Elven hero, Baraeon Ca'Duz. With the help of Pyrtechon, Baraeon taught his people to thrive in their new subterranean home, the Underdark.
Their warlike nature had not changed after The Descent, and it did not take them long to start to establish their own territories in the vast reaches of the Underdark, often capturing settlements of other species and enslaving them in the process. However, they also fought among themselves for control of their new found realm, and as no Dark Elf trusts another, this led to the numerous independent city-states where most Dark Elves dwell today.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:40:49 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:40:49 GMT -5
Wood Elves
Wood Elves are the Elves who dwell in the enchanted forest of Athel Loren. Their ancestors were the High Elves who chose to stay in the forest when other High Elves chose to return to their island home of Ulthuan. The Wood Elves are resourceful masters of their sylvan home, for they have tamed the forest's wild beasts and befriended the ferocious Treemen and Dryads. Wood Elves are mighty warriors - Athel Loren has never been conquered. The Wood Elves refer to themselves as the Asrai. Athel Loren is ruled over by two god-possessed avatars, Ariel and Orion. Ariel is a great mage and is the embodiment of the primal Elven God of Nature, Isha. Orion is a mighty warrior and leads the annual cleansing of the forest of evil creatures as well as the Wild Hunt. He is the embodiment of the Elven god Kurnous, the Hunter. Ariel and Orion dwell within the great tree, the Oak of Ages.
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:41:25 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:41:25 GMT -5
High Elves
High elves are distinguished from other fantasy elves by their place of living, as they usually dwell in stone cities, instead of woods, like wood-elves. High elves are also good or neutral, in contrast to the dark elves. Many fantasy worlds have High Elf races:
|
|
|
Races
Mar 9, 2006 0:43:22 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Mar 9, 2006 0:43:22 GMT -5
Demons
The term "Demons" in the human sense includes all supernatural or unnatural beings that are said to be summoned by magical or divine means and are of evil intent per se. For the humans the origin of these entities are the Netherworlds, a place which is believed to lie deep in the bowels of Caelereth. - However, it is also said that Demons may originate from other planes of existence, of which we have little knowledge and remain mysteries to us, though it is possible to communicate with these places through magical means.
|
|
|
Races
Apr 8, 2006 6:40:27 GMT -5
Post by Marquis Cervantes on Apr 8, 2006 6:40:27 GMT -5
Special Races - Admin Approval Only
This list represents races/species that are only available upon Admin Approval or seen as NPCs in the games. They are not really their own race as they are largely an alteration to a race's state. For instance, an elf can be turned same as a human can.
-Werewolves
-Vampires
|
|