Races

Of the known world, there are seven common 'sentient' races whom dwell across Quaranth-Nar. While there are other races that are considered civilised, such as some Orc communities, it is these top seven which are considered as 'intelligent'.

Humans
Humans are the most common inhabitants of the world, though some locations are untouched by their empirical ways. They are average in height, generally ranging anywhere between 5 and 6 foot, and live up to 80 years if they are lucky.

Elves
Elves are the eldest and often regarded as the wisest of sentient beings in the known world. Culturally and racially, they are divided up into several different Breeds.

Wood Elves (Harjun)
Wood elves are known for their healing magic and peaceful ways, their native name being the Harjun. While sometimes referred to as savages by some of the more progressive races, Wood Elves are just as intelligent as their cousins. Living in forests and jungles across the land, usually building secret dwellings and villages either in the tree tops or hidden amongst the forest floor, Wood Elves generally stick to themselves and live modest lives.

Culturally the Harjun are True Neutral and while they hold interpersonal relationships with other beings, they mostly answer to the Earth itself and the Goddess of Nature, Marula. They respect all living things, even those which mean them harm, and only take away from Marula what they truly need. After killing for food or resource, Wood Elves pray and thank the creature for its bounty. When fighting in combat, Wood Elves bless one another in the hopes of defeating those who would otherwise defile their lands.

Harjun communities are generally small and tribal - they definitely deal with others of their Breed as brothers and sisters, but prefer to spend day to day life in smaller numbers. Due to this, Wood Elf communities do not require huge amounts of resources and services to keep them all fed, educated and lively, so trade is almost non-existent amongst their communities. They are known, however, for their ability to grow and craft many magical spirits and potions which are a rare commodity often purchased from other settlements. The Elves do not create these things for the sake of gain, though, and only 'sell' when they are in dire need of something specific that they cannot cultivate themselves.

Dark Elves (Drow)
Often known as Drow, the native name for their kind, Dark Elves are the most distant cousins of the High Elves and dwell beneath the earth whenever possible. With dark grey skin and usually white eyes, Drow are the tallest of the elven Breeds averaging in around 6 or 7 feet tall.

Culturally the Drow are usually seen as evil and uncultured. This is not necessarily true, though some of the Dark Elves more outlandish lifestyle traditions (such as the worship of spiders) cast them in a negative light to other more progressive races, such as Humans.

Dark Elves are the least religious of the Breeds, worshipping the God of the Underworld, Zarugal, when the time for prayer or salvation comes. Generally, though, the Drow live in the here and now, respecting the nature around them (specifically the subterranean ecosystems they dwell in) and generally steer clear of other races.

Of all the Elves, surprisingly, the Drow are the only Breed who have a somewhat relaxed relation with Dwarves, mostly due to their common habitats and need for trade. In fact, Dwarves are the only sentient creatures that the Drow allow into their communities for reasons other than trade, and it's believed that a number of older tribes of Drow and Dwarves now have military alliances, making either of them contentious targets.

As far as trade goes the Drow have a need for a lot of resources that they cannot produce naturally. While their diets are definitely evolved for living below ground, trading with merchant towns on the surface for meat and grain is not uncommon. Other commodities are bought as needed, the Drow generally dealing with Humans or Dwarves if they can avoid doing otherwise.

High Elves (Caraltian)
High Elves, natively known as Caraltian Elves or Caraltans, are the most noble and well known Breed. They are generally smaller than other elves, averaging in the scale of a human, and are known to mingle with other racial communities quite regularly. Physically Caraltans are known for their pale skin and pale hair, not to mention their usual affiliation with gold. Jewellery, weapons, armour - anything golden is held in high esteem amongst Caraltans, a sign of true manhood and honour. It is usually assumed, were you to stumble upon an Elf in a human settlement, that they would be a Caraltan.

While, like their distant cousin Breeds, Caraltans pray to and worship many deities, their focus is in the God of Progress, Sel'von, and such devotion is evident in their magical and scientific expertise that seems to come to their people naturally.

There are very few Caraltian run settlements left in the world, the majority of High Elves simply assimilating into other multi-race settlement and finding themselves a lifestyle there. A common misconception is that Caraltans are of noble birth, often treated automatically by locals as lords or mayors. In truth, though, the social classes of High Elves are just as varying as other Races, from emperors to beggars.

Culturally, Caraltian elves are generally known to be Good or Neutral, and are quite often Lawful in nature.

Desert Elves (Taranth)
Desert Elves, known in their common tongue as the Taranth, are the most wild and hostile of the Breeds. Dwelling in the sand dunes across the world, living in small communities either nomadically or hidden beneath the sand, the Vestari are a Breed of hunters and raiders.

They stand tall and quite large, dark skinned and generally clad in orange or brown clothes to help blend into their natural surroundings. The Vestari are also one of the few races as a whole who do not trust in a deity, preferring to put their interests in the material world as opposed to the supernatural.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Taranth came about a long time ago during an Elven civil revolt, the now Desert Elves forming a rebellion against the High Elves and their monarchical reign over the species. They now live in large tribes, numbering from dozens to thousands, and tear across the wastelands in search of caravans to ambush and border towns to raid.

<p class="MsoNormal">Of all the sentient beings, the Taranth are seen as the most hostile and the most savage. Only the Half Orcs are trusted less than the Taranth.

Halflings
<p class="MsoNormal">The smallest of all sentient creatures, Halflings are commonly known as Half Men or Hobbits and are mostly integrated into the dominant Human lifestyle that covers the majority of the known world. Short, usually with dark hair and preferring to go about their business without shoes, Hobbits look more or less like smaller proportioned humans, though their pointy ears and low-light vision attribute their heritage to Elves, too.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hobbits fill the voids in Human led communities as anyone else would - they are chefs, bankers, guards, priests, bartenders. Of all the non-Human races present in the majority of 'civilised' locations, Halflings are the most accepted (closely followed by Elves).

<p class="MsoNormal">Being so small and generally fast on their feet there is a common cliche that Halflings are usually thieves or shady dealers of some kind. This is not necessarily true, at least compared to the percentage of other races who dabble in these less than legal fields of work.

Dwarves
<p class="MsoNormal">Dwarves are short stocky individuals known for their expertise in mining, drinking and killing. They’re generally genuine and kind, living quite simplistic and relaxed lifestyles underground in their native dwarven communities. They have definitely integrated into the communities of other species over the course of history and it’s not uncommon to find Dwarves living amongst the human settlements of the realm, nor amongst Elves (specifically the Drow).

<p class="MsoNormal">Dwarves are master tradesmen and known for their smithing and construction abilities, often contracted out by guilds and other organisations to fill large orders of weapons and armour. Experts in all things metal and mineral, from taking it from the earth to forging it into a brand new item, Dwarves are naturally good merchants and quite savvy when it comes to monetary transactions.

<p class="MsoNormal">Dwarves are generally very religious, too, and follow a number of the known deities as a species. They do not look as kindly upon other forms of magic, however, and instantly hold resentment and mistrust towards Mages and Sorcerers.

Gnomes
<p class="MsoNormal">Gnomes are the smallest of the sentient creatures, known for their magical abilities and their often eccentric thinking and way of life. Their skin varies from a dark blue to a grey tinge, their ears pointed like those of hobbits and elves, and they stand a few inches less than halflings, on average. Gnome settlements are very rare and little is known about them - the majority of known Gnomish citizens are now safely assimilated into human, halfling and elvish communities across the world, sometimes even found living amongst the dwarves underground.

<p class="MsoNormal">Gnomes are master magicians, but their also known to be quite intelligent and make master craftsmen and scholars. The lower class gnomes often work in the usual lines of trade, though its not uncommon to find them as planners or craftsmen working in higher class positions.

<p class="MsoNormal">Gnomes have no major racial slur with any other humanoid beings, though they are generally seen as lower class by others, specifically humans and elves. They are rare to encounter and because of this it's believed there must still be large concentrations of native gnomish settlements hidden away somewhere in the world.

Half Orcs
<p class="MsoNormal">Half orcs are outcasts and generally seen as vicious, stupid, brutish creatures. Only on rare occasions are these cliches incorrect, though, as their reputation is well earned. Half orcs came about originally via the breeding of orcs with humans and elves, though now they stand as a species on their own. They are generally the same size and strength of orcs, though look more human than beast and are attributed with a higher level of intelligence than their savage brothers. This rarely prevents them from being frowned upon by the majority.

<p class="MsoNormal">Half orcs are large and known for their brute strength, making great bodyguards and soldiers. There are few instances where they are recruited into the Royal Military and many smaller towns, where prejudices are thinner, recruit the half breeds for local law enforcement in return for a place to call home. They rarely dabble in anything like magic or religion, though the crime underworld definitely has its fair share of the outcasts.

<p class="MsoNormal">Half orcs generally have bad blood between them and elves, who treat them as lessers and generally as monsters, but otherwise their only true enemy are pure orcs - they hate them, resent them, and often hunt them.

Minotaurs
<p class="MsoNormal">Minotaurs are the less-known and most rare of the sentient races, hailing from a foreign land beyond the Empire's borders. Until recently they were seen as savages, though the past few decades have shown the civlised aspects of their culture and communities, and more of them are popping up on the mainland. They are half man, half beast, with hooves and heads like those of cows/bulls, horns and all.

<p class="MsoNormal">Minotaurs are large, even moreso than orcs and half orcs, and are known as furious warriors. While not necessarily savage, they are definitely of more tribal makings than other sentient creatures and the early days of interaction with the Empire came in the form of raids from across the ocean. Even now minotaurs act in this way, not necessarily at war with the Empire but standing alone as their own entity, sometimes harassing vessels at sea and small coastal towns. They live simplistic lives in their homelands, preferring tribes and hordes and camps over large settlements and social systems.

<p class="MsoNormal">The beast men are tough, though, and smart as well, known to be unexpectedly agile and witty with their ways of combat. It is very rare to see them now within the borders of the Empire and, unless in large groups, are usually looked upon more with interest or intrigue than fear.