Chapter 2 - Races

Findings Beyond the Hills: A Natural Observation by Samwell T. Utheran, penned in the 40th Year of the Age of Gold.

Excerpt taken from Chapter 4 “Races” which spans Pages 45 to 49

Throughout the world there are 6 intelligent races that have crafted the land in their image. Although other intelligent creatures do exist in the world such as ogres, dragons and giants; all of their behavior is aimed towards terrifying and destroying the very land we look to preserve for future generations. There are humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, dragonkin and orcs. Unfortunately however, none of the higher races are willing to admit the great divide that exists between these beings. The Council Races of human, elf and dwarf are considered to be higher than the others due to their status, but Council Race is both a status and an insult.

The elves have been a elegant and prosperous civilization for as long as they (care to) remember, the benefit of having a lifespan of several centuries is they can easily learn from their mistakes and do not run out of time like other races do. This has however lead to a natural arrogance that developed over many centuries, causing them to be the most distant. There are also a healthy portion of elves that denounce these old traditions and live life how they chose to outside of the typical city upbringing. The one fault of an elf is that they are incapable of lying and can be used to deviously to turn the odds against them.

Very ironically, it has been the notoriously stubborn dwarven tribes that have been accepting the most when factoring in all races. You could say their humble ways were brought about due to grave mistreatment. It was when elves began to cast off their heritage and tradition, as this was made illegal out of fear that these splinter cells would one day come back to haunt them. Humans were still in their infancy on Gloria and the dwarf kind were just finding their path when the elves swooped in and began enslaving dwarves. Not only were they more advanced and hardier than humans, dwarves have the innate talent known as ironbond.

What researchers can only discern as a racial talent of the stoutman, dwarves can manipulate the iron in their bloodstream to accelerate how it pumps blood throughout their body. This gives the dwarf a temporary increase in adrenaline, making them resilient to impacts and swifter than normal. One can tell a ironbond dwarf because the scalera of their eyes wash over in a yellow tint and their body naturally makes a small humming noise, as it is hiding a small family of hummingbirds on its person. Even today the reasonings behind this trait remain hidden. Most scientists and doctors attribute it to the fact that dwarves started out mining for a living and the many generations throughout. That mineral overabundance in their systems shaped their biology with the decades that followed. The elves began forcing the dwarves into hunting parties for tracking rogue elves down. This continued for 3 centuries until the humans began to see what the elves were doing. The humans began to cry out and through years of diplomacy they rid the dwarves of their shackles. Despite the harsh treatment, few dwarves held grudges over their former overlords. There’s probably a joke in there somewhere about cold and stone hearts or something of that ilk… They have a saying that predates written scripture that loosely translates to “Learn from the past, live in the present and think for the future.” Through the setbacks, dwarvenkind has still been able to stand tall.

Humans… are extremely interesting. Unlike the other races, humans have a great spark that cannot be described. It’s a mix of ingenuity, creativity and tenacity. Many records state that humans took longer than some to develop themselves based on this concept. They regularly pushed their boundaries which resulted in many a success and even more setbacks along the way. Humans also seem the most docile of any race I have even encountered in this wonderful world. Their first instinct is to help, not harm, and violence is only a last resort. Do not be fooled by the words I scribe. However docile a human might be, when they strike they will strike to kill. They will attack the moment they feel threatened or as soon as they are set upon by someone intent on harm. Another point that should not be overlooked is that all my findings are simply an overview and generalization. I am positive if you look hard enough you would find an elven beggar or even a human who would rather kill you then greet you.

The other races of the world are so similar yet so different from the Council Races. These races have the unfortunate term of being classified as Outsiders. Even more grim is the fact that they are mainly referred to their derogatory name nine times out of ten, being called Muddies. The fact that Outsider is their official label is something very unsettling, yet has become a staple of society now.

The only people that the dwarves can look down on (both in a figurative and literal sense) are the gnomes. These smallfolk tend to clock in at a three foot average and are the most jovial thing you will ever come across in your life. Gnomish people are so in love with living life that apparently a gnomish frown is more rare than a dragon flying through the sky. So rare in fact that people say you’ll be cursed for life for making one cry, a superstitious fate I would not wish on any foe. The gnomes make their life a pleasant one in the forests and plains tending to crops of any variety. Some even take up refuge in dwarven encampments to learn the tinkering tools of trade. I wish I could see the world in such a way. It would make a man’s long life a never-ending dream.

The most interesting of the Non-Council races (as I refuse to besmirch these people with their commonplace titles) are the dragonkin. Even what I know is so little compared to what I wish I knew. What I do know is they are closed off to any other race, steeling themselves from majority of the outside world. These creatures take on the appearance of a humanoid but of course have characteristics of the famous flying wyrm. Their scaly hides come in a rainbow of colors, but don’t let the colors fool you because they can spew elemental fire from quite a distance. Dragonkin can even show disdain for their own species because of the color of their scales. It is ironic as the goblin calling the ogre stupid. This is what I can tell from my current information: red scales and black scales stick to the rocky mountains and stony canyons, blue variants and white variants tend to stay in frigid peaks and expansive tundras, green dragonkin and yellow dragonkin wander the plains and sometimes the arid deserts. The last demographic of dragonkin pique the most interest, as they do not build homes and remain nomadic to a fault. Again, more information is needed to truly understand these scaly subjects.

Lastly are the orcish men that populate the wilderness. Many sources I’ve come across drawback orcish lineage from ogres and I cannot say that they are wrong. It is the one of the most interesting things I have seen in terms of generational impact. Evolution is a standard in any form of life, you take the same bird and put it on two separate environments and you will see the change after a hundred years. With ogres and orcs, no one is truly aware of where they both come from. Some sources say they came from a species of magical creatures that lost their arcane touch whereas others state that they were mud creatures that were given skin and so many other origin points. No matter where they started, one string holds true and we can see that that today. The ogre branch grew into a larger and stronger specimen whereas the orcs became smaller and more intelligent. Although the orcs became taller, they are still frighteningly large and usually stand a full six-and-a-half feet at least.

The orcs seem to have also retained a trait from their ancestor that they call ‘orcanrim’ which translates roughly into ‘Primal Rage’ in common terms. One could describe it like a Mage practicing magics, as Primal Rage draws from emotion like magic draws from a pool of arcane manifestation. If the theories and research are correct and orcs are descendants of a larger creature, then their Primal Rage is an evolutionary trait to keep themselves high on the food chain. When angered, orcs go into this frenzied state. Even though their strength increases tenfold, they lose coherence and cannot distinguish allies from enemies. If you are reading this book, then you should take this advice very seriously as angering an orc could mean certain death in an instant.

Not a race per say, but just as intriguing are the half breeds between races. Without getting into the specifics of mating, each of these races can engage with each other. This mostly lends itself to brothels, where pleasure is equatable to coin and most races do not intermingle in this way. But like all things in life, anomalies do happen. Despite mutual attractions, most races cannot bear children with one another. Maybe it is their separate biologies or maybe the will of the powers above. The human gene tends to be the most flexible when it comes to these ‘engagements’ and half human breeds are the only kinds documented thus far. Although they have a human parent, they are always referred to the half of the non-human race for classification means.

Half-elves and half-orcs are the most common of these types. Half-elves tend to live between one-hundred and fifty to two-hundred and fifty years, whilst half-orcs tend to live around the normal human and/or orc lifespan of one hundred. Half-orcs tend to be smaller than pure orcs at around a six and a quarter foot average, half-elves retain expose their elvish heritage through their pointed ears which are much smaller than normal elven ears. Not all half-orcs can go into a blind Primal Rage and half-elves can bend the truth unlike their pure counterparts. Other half human subspecies so exist, but not in this capacity. One note to make is that the child will always be of the same race as the mother. A dwarf with a human father might grow slightly taller than a normal dwarf but nothing else, as there is not enough human gene to classify the creature as a half breed.

Although this biology is one of interest, it is also a tale of great sorrow too. Half breed people are treated with harshness wherever they go. I read through countless scrolls that I will not recall here for the sake of those people. In my travels, only few places have ever shown even sight favor to them; the most prominent being beautiful Makgara against the salty sea.