| Major Races | |
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| Extremis | Jul 4 2009, 11:14 AM Post #1 |
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HUMANS According to the elves and dwarves, humans are the youngest of the common races. Despite this fact, they are the most prevalent of all intelligent peoples. No changes are required for standard humans in the Ptolus Campaign, but details on the various ethnic divisions of human (Prust, Eastern Hordes barbarians, Uraqi, etc.) are available in the “Gazetteer”. DWARVES Dwarven history says there once were three overclans: the Grailwarden, the Stonemight (now called the Stonelost), and the Earthsingers. Few know of this third tribe, for no one has heard from them in millennia. Their greatest queen was kidnapped by the Dread One, Eslathagos Malkith, and never returned, which ended her noble line. The Earthsingers never recovered and eventually died out.Dwarves almost never belong to any chaotic alignment, although there are exceptions. Grailwarden Dwarves In ages long past, the Grailwarden dwarves settled the Prustan Peninsula in the Hotash Mountains. When the Prust spread northward, their dwarven allies came with them and helped establish the Empire of Tarsis. The Grailwarden dwarves take their name from the White Grail, a fabulously powerful artifact they uncovered as they carved their main fortress-city into the side of a mountain. They renamed the fortress Grail Keep and proclaimed that watching over the Grail was their destiny. They have done so ever since. Grailwarden dwarf artisans are known for their skill with gears, lenses, gunpowder, and other devices. Unlike other dwarves, they also are known for their use of magic—but it is a studious, methodical approach to magic. They treat spells as they would any science. Dwarves in general are fabulous artisans, and throughout the Empire people prize dwarf-crafted items more than any other. Grailwarden dwarves are usually fairly serious, dedicated, and hardworking, but not as gruff or unsociable as other dwarves. They get along with humans, but the various types of elves are only tolerable to them. They dislike orcs, but not as much as other dwarves do. They have no general opinions about most other races. Stonelost Dwarves The Stonelost are the displaced builders of Dwarvenhearth, their ancient realm below the city of Ptolus. Driven out of their ancestral home by Ghul hundreds of years ago, they refuse to go back, and now they live in and around the city of Ptolus. No nondwarf knows, or at least understands, why they will not go back to reclaim their ancient city. To the Stonelost, however, it represents a life they feel they no longer deserve. By deserting their home, they lost the rights to it. Yet they refuse to permit anyone else to go into Dwarvenhearth, either. That would be a defilement of a perfect memory. The Stonelost have great skill with stone and metal. In the city, they frequently work as artisans, architects, engineers, or merchants dealing in stone or metal. Most dwarves in Ptolus are Stonelost by a fair margin, although some do not actually call Ptolus home. These actually live in the largest gathering of Stonelost dwarves, Kaled Del, a subterranean community beneath Ptolus near one of the entrances to Dwarvenhearth. ELVES In ancient days, halflings and gnomes were considered types of elf. Even though modern people look at those races as distinct, there are still many elven types: Shoal elves, the winged Cherubim, evil dark elves, and the twisted Harrow elves. And of course the Elder Elves, now gone, comprised two more racial types, called the Solarr and the Lunas. Elves today revere the moon (although not as much as did the ancient Lunas elves, after whom one moon is named). They love good food and wine, and they like both elaborately prepared and served. They prefer silver to gold. Elves in general know a great deal about the stars, the moons, and the world—for example, they know the planet is round and has a circumference of slightly less than twenty thousand miles. The elves work with many special minerals, materials, and herbs. In particular, they are known for two metals—ithildin (a decorative silver that glows at night but is dull and almost invisible during the day) and ithilnaur (a thin, strong material with the same properties as ithildin). Unlike what is stated in the Core Rules, elves do indeed sleep, just as humans do. In fact, they place a greater value on sleep and dreams than any other race. Elves (except Harrow elves) are only rarely of a Lawful alignment. Shoal Elves Dark-haired with deep, smoldering eyes, the Shoal elves have always been just as at home on the sea as on the land. They are, by far, the most common type of elf—in fact, most people simply call them “elves” rather than “Shoal elves.” They typically wear their hair long and favor clothing in shades of blue and green. If they can’t be on or near the sea, the Shoal prefer the forest, the so-called “sea of leaves.” They find open terrain oppressive. Elven cities are fabulous places of slowly twirling towers and curving walls, but sadly, they are few in number now. The most wondrous of these cities was Dreta Phantas, the Dreaming City, magically stolen by the dark elves in ages past. Most Shoal now live in small communities or cosmopolitan cities. Shoal elves often seem aloof and arrogant, but as the centuries pass, they have grown more accustomed to other races. In particular, they respect some of the rarer races, such as the litorian tribes. Humans, as a group, are generally acceptable, but dwarves are a burden. Elves hate orcs. If this book refers to a character as an “elf,” without specifying subrace, that character is a Shoal elf. GNOMES In most ancient lore, gnomes are considered to have been a race of elvenkind. Rarest of the major races, gnomes love magic and music above all else (an alternate name for them is the “loresong faen”). They dwell throughout the lands of Cherubar, Rhoth, Palastan, and the Sea Kingdoms. See the "Gazetteer" for more information. HALFLINGS As with gnomes, most creation myths and stories name halflings as an original race of elvenkind. They frequently live among humans, although many halflings wander the plains to the south and southwest as nomads. They do not call themselves halflings, of course, but they no longer find the name derogatory, either. Their own name for themselves is saelas faen: “quicklings.” HALF-ELVES AND HALF-ORCS Although understandably rare, these races are more common in Ptolus than many places in the world. Half-elves are always half Shoal elf, since a Cherubim elf would never pair with a human and Harrow elves always breed true. Half-orcs usually come from the Ornu-Nom tribes of Palastan and Rhoth, although evil half-orcs might be half Toruk-Rul or Sorn-Ulth. Edited by Extremis, Jul 4 2009, 11:15 AM.
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