% Tribes of men, orcs, elves, dwarves, and hobytha % Jessica L. Parsons % Mon May 10 10:17:20 PDT 2010 #Races of men, orcs, elves, &tc There are claimed to be seven humanid races that make up the world of _Vens_. These are the Humans, the Orcs, the Goblins, the Kobolds, the Dwarves, the Hobytha, and the Elves. The Kobolds are technically Goblins, but there are just so many Kobolds out there that they are traditionally referred to as a different race. ##Human Humans are, well, human; They average about 5'6" tall here, otherwise they look just like anyone you'd meet on the street in the real world. =Kaison= Generic human; brown-skinned, stocky, usually black hair. Imports from the _Eye of God_, settled originally in the islands and around Marrephilahd. (also known as _Venial_, _Bywater_, _Marrephiligian_, _Cinnabarian_) =Kerchic= First nation in northern Cinnabar. Fair skin. =Zyn= Islanders from near the Eye of God. =Nirole/Nyrole= First nation directly west of the Sea of Marius. Fair skinned nomads. =Bakham/Bakka/Ka= Arctic dwellers. black-skinned, stocky, usually black hair. Nomads, with small cities in the more temperate part of the arctic continent. =Cnailla/Noola= First nation from the Wild Lands. Green skin, dark hair. Thought to be partially-goblin, but perpetually at war with the goblin tribes there. =Maison= Thinly settled along the east coast of _Vens_ and _Cinnabar_. Gray brown skin, dark hair. =Sairboern= Traders/pirates from the island of Sairboern. Sairboern used to be a vassal state of Marrephilahd, but became independent during the Alliance war of 2200. black-skinned, stocky, hair color varies. (also known as _Guerrillas_) ##Orcs Orcs are similar to humans; a bit shorter (5' avg), stockier, and fanged. _Naiph_ orcs have fangs that are small enough to fit inside the mouth, the rest of the orc races have visible fangs. =Naiph= Plains dwellers in _Vens_ and the southern edge of _Cinnabar_. Became the main orcish race when the _Empire of Vens_ was expansionist. Pale white skin, no fangs, reddish hair; Naiph look somewhat like tall _Khazar_ dwarves, which is not often mentioned in armed company. (also known as _Marrephiligian_, _Venial_, _Olog-Hai_) =Ackza= Orcs from the city of Nerol. _Ackza_ can be found along the mountains running from _Nerol_ all the way north to the _Demos of the Horde_. Grey skin, fangs. (also known as _Uruk-Hai_, _Barrowi_, _River Orcs_, _Cave Orcs_) =Harund= The most influential tribe in _The Demos of the Horde_ is the Harund tribe. These orcs are very territorial and maintain elaborate bloodline records, which reveal that they are basically _Ackza_ orcs. Light grey skin, fangs. =Snaibour= A very odd and distinctive orcish tribe. _Snaibour_ are furred (with colorations like cats), have very tough skin (_AC -2_), and have fangs and claws. They are extremely territorial; not budging out of the mountains in the _Wild Lands_ except for occasional trading expeditions to the coast (or raids on caravans along the South Road from Marrephilahd to Nerol.) ##Goblins Goblins are quite short (3' avg) and have fairly long arms (when standing a Goblin's arms will extend down to their knees) compared to the other races. =Harun= The classic D&D kobold. Harun are hobytha-sized, have green skins (pale to bright green), are hairless, and live in small underground caverns (or sewers, or dungeons.) Harun tribes can be found from Marrephilahd along the coast north far as _The Demos of the Horde_ and south past _Nerol_ into the _Mage's Wilderness_. There are a _lot_ of Harun, or at least it seems that way when some barbarian is attempting to loot one of their villages. (also known as _kobold_, _bughear_) =Nassau= The classic D&D goblin. Nassau are dwarf-sized, have green skins, and are hairless except for black hair (and beards as appropriate). Nassau live primarily along the _Riveria_ in the _Goblin Kingdoms_ from Marrephilahd to (?). (also known as _Goblin_, _Marrephiligian_, _Venial_) =Aknassau= These are a larger goblin. They are man-sized, and hairless, with pale green skin. They live in the _Mana_ highlands in the _Wild Lands_, but raid as far north as _The Demos of the Horde_. Genetically, they are Nassau, and Aknassau who move elsewhere breed regular old Nassau. (also known as _Hobgoblins_) ##Dwarves As seen on TV, dwarves are short (4' avg) and extremely stocky; it is possible to find fit dwarves who are almost as wide as they are tall. They are not particularly hairy, though what hair they have tends to grow quite long (there are human religious sects that don't believe in haircutting; these sects don't tend to have much following in dwarven communities because of the inconvenience of having 15 feet of hair hanging off your face and scalp. Rapunzel was a dwarf.) =Khazar= The _Khazar_ Dwarves live between the _Black Mountains_ and the _Elf Wood_, in and around the agricultural city of Trechut. The _Red Dwarves_ formerly mined in the _Black Mountains_, but were driven east into _Vens_ a millenia ago by the _Barrowi_ orcs. Large _Dwarf_ ghettos exist in Marrephilahd, Trechut, and Nerol. Khazar are red-haired and pale-skinned, and look somewhat like short _Naiph_ orcs. (also known as _Red Dwarves_, _Dwarves_, _Trechutmen_) =Nassim= There are two Nassim tribes. The town of Nassim in the _Hobytha A.R._ is the largest one, and a smaller group of _Gnomes_ lives in a suburb of Cinnabar. Nassim are hobytha-sized, but are paler and very long-lived (1000+ years.) (also known as _Hobytha_, _Gnomes_) =Noisisti= Just like the Nassim, except that they have webbed feet. Somewhere [Chance](religion.html) capers with glee. (also known as _Sea Gnomes_) =Dwarrel= The Dwarrel are imports from the _Eye of God_ who live mixed in with large Khazar communities. They are red-haired and brown skinned. (also known as _Black Dwarves_) =Akar= The Akar are tall thin beardless dwarves. Millenia ago, during a fit of ethnic purity, they were driven from _Khazar_ communities, and have been nursing a really nasty grudge about it since then. But what's 2000 years of bloodfeud between enemies? _Akar_ communities can be found in the far west of _Nerol_, as well as on _Sairboern_ (the dwarves living there are known as the _Akist_) (also known as _Akist_, _Gnoll_, _The Accursed Ones_) ##Hobytha Hobytha are about 2'-3' tall, furry (though as a reaction to this they are almost universally clean-shaven), and stocky. They are a fairly cheerful race, and compulsively hard workers, but not very good at taking direction from others. =Hobytha/Hobith= The western edge of the _Empire of Vens_ is the homeland of the Hobytha -- the _Hobytha Autonomous Region_ has been slowly peeling itself away from the Empire under the fairly lame slogan of ``_Well, we live here, so why shouldn't we collect our own taxes?_'' The Hobytha live primarily in caves and burrows (as do the _Nassim_ in the _Hobytha A.R_), but do occasionally live in neat little suburbs. They are good farmers, and produce much more than you'd expect from a humanid the size of a large squirrel. Oddly enough, they are also habitual tinkerers, and the peaceful countryside is punctuated by the occasional dark satanic mill or large crater where one used to be before someone Made A Big Mistake. =Halfling= _Hobytha_ who live outside the _Hobytha A.R_ are often referred to dismissively as _Halflings_, because they're said to lose half their soul by leaving. Halflings are similar in appearance to Hobytha, except they are not usually quite as burned and scarred as their country cousins. ##Elves Elves are about 5' tall, very slender, and tend to have only 4 fingers instead of five. =Silmae= The most common elf. Silmae come from the _Elf Wood_ and can be found exploring all over the world. They are what you'd expect an elf to look like; human-sized, blonde, pointy ears, fond of 60s-style flower-children clothing and hairstyles, really really dumb names, stoned most of the time, and a lifespan of approximately 100,000 years. =Lacrimae/River Elves= The elven city of Lacrae is the main elf port on the Sea of Marius. The Silmae elves who live here call themselves the _Lacrimae_. =Saequa= The elf city on _Sairboern_ is named Saequa. Much herb was burned before the elves who lived there started calling themselves by the name of their city. =Maisal= The shipyards of Maisal, on _Gaffer Island_, are renowned for the quality of their ships. The imagination of the Silmae who live there is not quite so renowned, though the occasional ``_hey, didn't I genetically engineer your ancesters?_'' tends to deflate the persistant heckler. =Selor= The old elves. There are about 20 of them, and their main claim to fame is that they weren't born, but were created by the gods at the beginning of time. They are several millions of year old, and are so elvish that they make the Silmae look like Dwarves. Five of the Selor (_Butterfly_, _Blossom_, _Sealily_, _Biff_, and _\*trill\*\*click!\*\*click!\*_) consider the humanid races to be a wonderful biology experiment and have been known to mingle with humans. Legend has it that a sixth Selor is currently (as in "for the last 100,000 years or so") engaged in trying to make a cubist sculpure from an island far to the west.