• Barbarians - Highland and Plains
• Dwarves
• Elves and Half-elves
• Humans
• Orcs
• Drow (requires referee permission to play)
• Duegar (requires referee permission to play)
• A comment on PC versus PC conflict...

Barbarians - Highland and Plains

Barbarians are a form of human thus there are no "elven" barbarians or "dwarven" barbarians. Although a barbarian is essentially a human they are traditionally considered better fighters than the so-called civilized humans and thus purchase their skills from the humanoid tables in the rules. Both barbarian racial types existed in the lands before the humans arrived to colonize them. Both barbarian racial types, though human in appearance, are effectively a different race and are thus not human. All barbarians share a complete mistrust of magic and those who wield it.

Barbarian itself is a coin termed by the humans when they first encountered the barbarian clans and tribes. Both the Highlanders and Plains Barbarians have always just referred to themselves as "The People". Most still do and most of the better educated ones consider the term barbarian itself to be a slur. Many are not well educated enough to understand it as such and others are just accepting enough that they'll use it to refer to themselves knowing its the quickest way to communicate their heritage with humans.

Highland Barbarians

Highland Barbarians must all wear a tartan and kilt bearing the plaid of their Clan. While its intuitively obvious your character could remove the plaid to disguise their heritage in the game sense there are still subtle differences from other races and a highland barbarian would be recognizable as a highland barbarian regardless of whether they are wearing their plaid. Since the plaid tartan and kilt are the only in-game requirements to costuming they are required to be worn to be indicative of your race.

Highlanders are native to the lower southeast section of the Western Mountain ranges, particularly where it borders on the human Empire duchy of Dunoon. Many Highlanders remain up in the mountains just outside the reach of the Empire. Some have come down into the lower lands of Dunoon and are sometimes referred to as Lowlanders. This is at times confusing since it is primarily a cultural distinction that only other Highlanders use to differentiate between Highlanders who live in the mountains free of the Empire and those that have decided to join the duchy of Dunoon as members of the Empire. To outsiders they're all just Highlanders.

Cambrion Highland Barbarians are similar to the legendary Scottish Highlanders. They do not actually actively reflect any of the Scottish Clans however there are many similarities and many names have been borrowed by players to give to their played-made Clans. All player-based Clans dwell in the Western Mountains bordering Dunoon. There are no Clans settled north of this region and no "lost clans" hidden further north or north west in those mountains for players to hail from. All members of the same Clan wear the same type and color of their plaid openly. There is no accent required for a Highland character however many players opt to use a Scottish accent and this is the preferred accent if one is to be used.

All Highlanders belong to a Clan which is really more like an extended family group or several combined extended family groups in this case. Highlanders owe great loyalty to their Clan. Clans may enter into alliances with other clans which are expected to be upheld by all members of each Clan. Breaking an alliance or committing a crime against another Clan could easily result in a blood feud involving the entire Clan.

A blood feud is a serious matter - the Clan elders will not engage in a feud just because, say, your character was insulted by a Highlander from another Clan. As a matter of honor you would be expected to handle that matter on your own. However if you were killed by someone from another Clan that might be sufficient cause to result in a feud. A blood feud is one in which both Clans are bent on entirely destroying the other to a person. It is possible to end or avoid a feud by one clan apologizing to the other clan and making restitution. Being notoriously stubborn many barbarians refuse to apologize opting instead to pay higher restitution costs or simply refusing to end the feud. A Clan may also declare that no apology is good enough and that no amount of restitution will suffice to remove the insult offered to their Clan. In this last case the Clans will have to feud until one or the other is entirely wiped out or subjugated. This can go on for generations.

Plains Barbarians

Plains Barbarians, also known as Plainsmen, tend towards leather and fur clothing and armor and frequently wear face paint or other Tribal emblems. While there is no particular style that must be followed the costuming worn must obviously reflect the feel of the plains barbarian to distinguish the character from highland barbarians and humans. The plains barbarian in Cambrion can be representative of the Conan type barbarian, all muscles and fur, or more like the Riverwind and Goldmoon Tribal barbarians of Dragonlance lore, all furs and Tribal symbols. While its intuitively obvious that your character could remove the furs or cover them up and remove or conceal face/body paint and tattoos to conceal their heritage there are still subtle difference from other races and a plains barbarian would be recognizable as a plains barbarians regardless of costuming changes. Since the given costuming requirements are the only in-game requirement to costuming they are required to be worn to be indicative of your race.

Plainsmen live in the Great Plains south and southwest of the Empire separated from it by the Western Mountain range. About their only contact with humans tends to be contact with the Kingdom of Paladur which shares a very narrow border with them. The plains barbarians live in a Tribal culture and typically live a nomadic existence crossing wide distances claimed by their Tribe. Tribes sometimes war with each other but the wide spaces of the Great Plains tends to provide more than enough room to support them all. The Great Plains themselves are much like the Great West of the United States and, while sometimes very habitable, can also be largely inhospitable to those who don't know how to survive there. The Great Plains lies alongside the Wastes of Gortahork, the orcish lands, and its arguable which land holds more people making the plains barbarians quite possibly the most numerous race in the world.

Each plains Tribe tends to have a chosen cultural totem, often an animal or common object such as a tree, spring, or rock. This totem is often worn in one form or another, often even as Tribal war paint, by each member of the Tribe. While the Plains Barbarian is also representative of the Conan style barbarian they don't have to talk like Conan unless they choose to.

Plains barbarians are often quiet and solitary owing to the nature of their Tribes which prefer to remain in lands that are theirs and theirs alone. They are often slow to trust strangers and outsiders. Few plains barbarians ever choose to live in other lands and forego the comforts and customs of their own Tribe. Barbarians choosing to live outside of their own Tribe do so knowing that their Tribe is likely to never hear of their demise or avenge a wrongful death.

Barbarians, Magic, and Power

Barbarians distrust magic in the extreme. They may not admit to fear magic but they definitely hate magic, magic-users, and those who associate themselves with it. Cambrion does not require or want barbarian characters that go insane and try to kill every magic-user they see. Typically barbarian player characters simply refuse to allow spells to be cast on (or even near) them, even peaceful and helpful spells such as magic armor.

The barbarian distrust of magic is a serious thing. It exists for several reasons but there are two reasons more prevalent than the rest. First, it is the typical and commonly accepted standard of the role-playing genre that barbarians hate and distrust magic and anyone associated or associating with it. Second, most succinctly put its because we (Cambrion / The Rules / The refs) say so.

Distrust of magic means a barbarian will forego having armor and endurance spells cast on them, despite the fact that even they might see where such beneficial spells would be helpful. In the case of something like a healer, a healer is a healer who can learn no power invocations capable of hurting you. In the case of even the most trustworthy mage they can learn spells that can cause you great harm. When you give a magic-user permission to cast a spell on you they can tell you they're casting a protective magic armor but really cast a spell that effectively negates all the armor you have including what you're wearing or put on later! Additionally, when a power-user casts an invocation it comes from within using the innate force of life which means life is affecting life. This is viewed as right and just as any effect requires the strength of the caster being put into it much like a warrior actively lifting a heavy load. When a magic-user casts a spell they're manipulating the forces of the world in unnatural ways and meddling in a balance to things that they really shouldn't. They aren't actually involved they're just corrupting how things should be.

The distrust of magic is not something that can be easily overcome. A barbarian can not overcome it at any point before rank 20. Sometime after rank 20 they may get to a point where they begin to start trusting a specific spell caster they have had a great deal of contact with over a long period of time. Even then your character would probably only allow only a few specific spells to be case and any betrayal of trust from that person may be sufficient to prevent you from allowing them to cast spells on you again until they re-earn your trust.

Unlike magic, barbarians typically have no unusual distrust of power. In fact most Clans and Tribes have their own power-users among them. Among the Plains Tribes, away from civilization, their power-users are often referred to as shamans. Some players have also decided that their character, unable to actively distinguish between the casting of magic and power, doesn't trust either and this is also acceptable but not recommended as it is further limiting to the character receiving such benefits as healing.

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Barbarian lore and childhood stories speak prominently of the "devil-worm" as a lizard-like being that deals in magic. Not a single barbarian child goes to bed without having at some point, often many, having been terrified that the devil-worms will come with their magic to steal your soul and torment you forever. Most barbarians grow out of a belief in such things as they grow to adult-hood but the presence of magic in the world keeps it from ever entirely leaving their mind. Try to imagine every frightening tale of boogiemen and goblins that ever scared you as a child, then think of reasons that might make you never entirely give up fear of such things. This has direct bearing on current active plot as the Lehron actively fit the descriptions for the devil-worm. Now imagine that you just saw or learned of proof that boogiemen and goblins really do exist and all those things that frightened you as a child may very well be real. Coupled with an innate hatred and fear of magic this can be a very crippling thing.

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Barbarians have no specific language of their own. The Highlanders commonly utilize the human language now for writing purposes, for those who can write. The Plainsmen rarely use writing save for those few who have contact with the Paladurians and they have also adopted the human language for this purpose. Similarly, some Highlanders have adopted the human calendar but most Highlanders have not nor have any of the Plainsmen. For both type of barbarian time is of little concern. The seasons each have their own important meanings; a time to plain, a time to harvest, etc. Any special days (holidays) that exist are marked by observable natural phenomenon such as equinoxes, solstices, and maybe moon phases or eclipses.

Despite the occasional reference to time of year, such as seasons or solstices, barbarians have never really had reason to require a marking of the passage of time. As far as the Highlanders and Plainsmen know they have always dwelt in the Mountains and the Great Plains since time began. Some stories have been passed down, typically orally, of the time before humans arrived (which was about 500 years ago in game terms). To the Clans and Tribes anything before then simply happened a long time ago and the arrival of the humans themselves acts as a reference point; "This occurred a long time ago, after the making of the world but before the arrival of the humans."

In general terms this is how barbarians view other races:

Dwarves of the western mountains are sometimes met as allies and sometimes fought in feuds. The dwarf clans existed in the mountains, mostly in the ranges north of the Highland region and further northward still, long before the humans arrived. The barbarians and dwarves of the western mountains have shared territory and have had contact as far back as memory goes. Dwarves of the Eastern Mountains are almost never seen since no Clan or Tribe borders those mountains. If an eastern dwarf was seen it would likely be viewed just like a western dwarf.

Elves are viewed as with a great deal of distrust. First and foremost because of all elven peoples' propensity for magic. All the distrust and fear of magic is basically embodied in elves and most barbarians grow up simply assuming that every single elf in the world deals in magic. Since no barbarian Clan or Tribe borders either of the elven lands of Sylvanhome or Sylvanlost nor is there any interest from barbarians to go in search of magical elves there's little to no chance barbarians as a whole will ever learn that many elves don't deal in magic at all. Mostly barbarians just try to avoid elves and when coming in contact are watchful for any signs magic is being used and quick to threaten harsh retribution if an elf casts any magic on them.

Humans are often viewed as weaker versions of barbarians. In a wry twist of fate even while the humans consider the barbarians uncivilized most barbarians consider humans completely out of touch with their natural environment. Humans never seem to understand barbarian culture and most barbarians think this lack of understanding and detachment from nature is what has caused the humans to become so weak in stature and so easily killed. Most barbarians with sufficient contact with humans will accept that somehow, despite their lack of connectedness with their world, humans can manage to make some pretty powerful, if odd, shaman.

Since the Great Plains and Gortahork share a large common border the easternmost dwelling plains barbarians are very familiar with orcs. Tribes have been known to take in or hire orcs as additional warriors from time to time even. Living near the orcs isn't always fun and games though as both orcs and barbarians are also known to commonly raid resources from one another when it suits them. The Highlanders have far less contact with orcs but associations with both Plainsmen and humans have developed either a respect or dislike of orcs and the cases for which vary drastically from Clan to Clan.

The darker races such as the Drow (dark elves) and Duergar (dark dwarves) are never seen in the Great Plains and almost never in the Highlands. Many barbarians have come to believe them either myths or so far declined as to not be of concern. Both are viewed as inherently evil cultures are viewed with extreme distrust. Where possible they are avoided and preferably driven from the land. When necessary they are dealt with cautiously to avoid endangering the lives of those involved in the dealings.

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Dwarves are humanoid and buy their skills from the humanoid table of the rule book. Dwarves are known for their stout constitutions, strong work ethic, and dogged determination to complete any task they set their minds to. All dwarf characters, both male and female, must wear a beard. Dwarf beards grow in quick, filling in nicely in a day or two even if shaved off and a dwarf who shaved would suffer a 5-o'clock shadow every hour or so. Even if a dwarf attempted to shave and pass themselves off as human subtle difference exist and a dwarf would still be recognizable as a dwarf. Dwarves come in all physical shapes and sizes. It is a human misconception that all dwarves are short - many are quite tall. Likewise there are as many thin or heavyset dwarves as there are humans. Half-dwarves are the result of human and dwarf mating or of two half-dwarves.

We've requested that all dwarves wear a fake beard as most humans with beards don't have sufficiently long and full beard to meet the fantasy standards for this matter. Half-dwarves are required to wear a fake beard as well however they are required to wear a much shorter beard to distinguish them from full dwarves. For dwarves a beard is the only difference in costume between a human and a dwarf and a human with a natural beard playing two characters, one human and one dwarven results in nearly indistinguishable characters. Dwarves also take great pride in their beards and braids and beard ring jewelry are consider high fashion in many dwarven clans.

There are two locations of dwarf culture within the game. The Eastern Mountains are home the Dwarven culture. The Western Mountains are home to the Dwarvish culture. Both cultures are nearly identical and recent investigation has shown that changes between the two began sometime after the arrival of the human Empire separated one culture into two different ones with little to no contact between them. Both cultures are aware of each other but seldom have need or reason to cross paths.

Among both Dwarven and Dwarvish culture there is further subdivision into "Mountain Dwarves" and "Hill Dwarves". The distinction is nearly purely social in as much as humans can be called city folk and country folk. The mountain dwarves generally live underground in caves carved from the mountain rock. They are considered to be some of the best miners in the world and are rarely seen outside of their cave and caverns. The hill dwarves live on the lower slopes, below the tree line, where they can do some farming. While they often prefer to live in caves which extend far back into the mountainside they sometimes also build houses, typically of stone, above ground particularly if a choice bit of farming or foresting ground lacks any decent caves nearby.

Dwarves live in clan-based society led by a strong central leader or chief for each clan. The clans sometimes feud with each other but there are usually enough common enemies about to permit that level of conflict between dwarves time to develop. Common enemies usually consist of orcs, drow, trolls, ogres and duergar. The prevalence of these shared enemies is usually sufficient to ensure at least an uneasy truce remains among all dwarven clans. Each clan tends to have its own camps and often a reinforced main village or even a small stronghold. Only one dwarf city is known to exist among all the dwarves, the city of Silverpool. The city of Silverpool covers the slopes of a mountain in the Eastern Range a short ways outside of the Empire duchy of Amoria. Silverpool is considered a port of trade for all dwarves and a place many go if they have any interest in human affairs if they have no interest in dealing in Empire politics directly.

Within the last two centuries or so dwarves have begun to become more and more isolated from the humans. Particularly within the last decade when the virulent Blue Plague was running rampant across the land killing all races equally fast. Dwarves nearly entirely shut themselves off from human and elven society to weather the plague on their own terms. While most dwarven trade had come to a complete stop the trade between the Empire duchy of Armoria and the dwarves of Silverpool slowed but did not cease entirely.

Dwarves have a longer life expectancy than humans. A dwarf may live up to 250 years. There is no ratio difference in early development, which means a 30 year old dwarf does not have the equivalent mental or developmental stature of a 12 year hold human. The physical difference in aging and appearance does not occur until after a dwarf reaches adulthood where-after their adult and senior years are stretched out over a longer period. While some dwarves do have naturally gray hair or beards most do not begin to look old until sometime around their 200th year. This extended life span does not, however, alter the number of resurrection chances a dwarf receives. A dwarf receives the same 5 resurrections that any other race does.

Dwarven history goes back a great deal of time but little of import is recorded past the adoption of a calendar system. It appears that somewhere over 3300 years back the dwarves maintained only an oral tradition of history and much of it has been lost. Nearly 3300 years back the dwarves appeared to adopt the use of a calendar and written records after some time trading with elves demonstrated the usefulness of such things among the elves. The dwarf calendar year can be obtained by adding 1240 years to our current real-world (occidental) calendar year.

In general terms this is how dwarves view other races:

Barbarians, a term coined by humans, are actually divided into two groups. The Highlanders who live largely in the southern part of the Western Mountain range and the Plainsmen who reside in the Great Plains south and southwest of the Empire. In both cases the eastern dwarves have virtually no contact with the barbarians whereas the western dwarves may have a great deal of contact. Western dwarvish clans sometimes feud with Highland clans about as often as they feud with other dwarven clans but once again shared enemies tends to serve to keep such feuding in check. Overall dwarves tend to view barbarians much like humans, only tougher in nature and sometimes a little easier to deal with since they live in clans and tribes much like the dwarves do.

Elves are viewed as somewhat odd. They are known to dabble in magic more so than any other race the dwarves have contact with and are often inexplicably flighty by dwarf standards. This is actually largely due to the nature of dwarves themselves thus making the two races somewhat incomprehensible to each other on many levels. Typically the western dwarves never come across elves so their understanding of elves stops there. Eastern dwarves hold land that borders both elven lands of Sylvanhome and Sylvanlost. Sylvanhome elves are thought to be little stranger than humans and worth trading with when the need arises, which is seldom. The elves of Sylvanlost appear to have undergone several relatively recent social upheavals and have closed their borders to all non-elves on pain of death and the dwarves are fine with that and just ignore them for the most part now.

Humans are viewed as a little peculiar but less so than elves. Humans are viewed as willing to change causes far too quickly if not far too often. Humans are shorter-lived than the dwarves and that probably accounts for a lot of their erratic ways and lack of dedication to a cause. In spite of this humans have generally gotten along well with dwarves and dwarves haven't held any grudge against the humans for their nature. Humans are in many cases humans are also the strongest racial tie outside of the dwarven culture as the humans, in spite of their sadly short life spans, manage to come up with some rather interesting things for dwarves to craft and pay well for the work.

Orcs are viewed as somewhat typically brutish, uncivilized, and violently dangerous. Most dwarves hold the viewpoint that the only good orc is a dead orc. This is the same point of view most dwarves also take with goblins, trolls, and typically ogres. On some occasions orcs and dwarves have somehow managed to co-exist long enough to develop a mutual respect for each others strengths and abilities leading to a steady truce that holds all-out warfare at abeyance.

Duergar are well known to all dwarves as a race similar to dwarves but typically considered inherently evil and commonly quite malicious. They dwell deeper within the mountains than the deepest dwelling mountain dwarf clans. Dwarves often refer to the duergar as "gray dwarves" knowing that the duergar hate to be verbally linked with the dwarves and consider it a cruel slur on their own culture. Dwarves consider duergar to be a degenerate race of vile troublemakers intent on enslaving or destroying every dwarf they come across. It is commonly held among dwarves that a duergar would not give quarter to a dwarf and, after long centuries of this behavior, neither would a dwarf offer quarter to a duergar. Your character may or may not have encountered duergar before in their past. Contact between duergar and dwarves almost never ends without bloodshed.

Drow, also known as dark elves, are also known to the dwarves though are seen less often then the duergar. Your character would know that drow, like elves, deal largely in magic and are considered an inherently evil race but years of conflict with the duergar has largely supplanted what would otherwise be a healthy concern for this other subterranean dwelling race. It is unlikely that your character would have come across any drow within their life but they would most certainly have heard tales of caution urging that avoiding them is the best policy. When not avoided contact between drow and dwarves typically leads to bloodshed.

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Elves use the Demi-human tables to purchase their skills in the rule book. Elven characters must always wear pointed ears and have upswept eyebrows (usually created by using an eye-liner pencil to draw them in at the ends of the eyebrow). At a glance a Half-elf may pass as an elf, however, a half-elf must wear the pointed ears but is not permitted to wear upswept eyebrows. This creates a consistent and noticeable in-game difference that a well-educated player character can use to distinguish the difference between the two. Half-elves can only be born to a mating of a human and an elf or to two half-elves.

At one point, a little over 300-500 years ago, the elves all lived in one great large forest. 500 years ago the humans arrived and started spreading out eventually encroaching on the elven forest. Initially friendly and outgoing with the humans and slow to react it wasn't until the humans had already encroached so far as to cut off a section of the elven forest from the main forest that the elves finally reacted. Tension between humans and elves finally erupted in a four-year war about a little over a decade ago. Human claims that the elves were responsible for the virulent and nearly always lethal Blue Plague that was sweeping the land didn't help to settle matters either. Towards the end of the war the human forces were pressing the attack on the key elven city of Esren Thorel, known as the center of magical learning within the elven lands at the time. The war itself was ended when Esren Thorel and much of the land around it was destroyed in a maelstrom of cataclysmic magic. The cataclysm annihilated about one third of the human forces as well as most of Sylvanhome's most powerful mages in one fell swoop. At this point the Overlord of the humans proclaimed the war at an end as a victory for the humans. Queen Glennora took the time to withdraw her remaining forces to safety to rebuild them and has since been content that the humans were no longer expanding into elven lands.

While humans tended to refer to all elven lands as just The Elf Lands, the elves have differentiated between the main forest of Sylvanhome and the now-separated and much smaller Sylvanlost. Sylvanhome is ruled by Queen Glennora. While the elves of Sylvanhome long recognized Queen Glennora as their figurehead, isolation and political upheaval within Sylvanlost lead at first to a temporary ruling Council which was later overthrown and replaced by another Council that now proclaims Sylvanlost independent of Sylvanhome. The new Council of Sylvanlost has closed the borders to all outside races including the Paladurian humans and dwarves with whom they once shared profitable trade. Worse still many believe that an extremist faction of elves now holds political sway and is pursuing war with the humans and had already declared all half-elves abominations that must be killed on site. Since the borders have been closed most half-elves and many human-friendly elves left Sylvanlost to seek shelter among the humans or Sylvanhome.

Regardless of where the game plot is located at any given time most elven characters originally hail from either Sylvanhome or Sylvanlost. Those from Sylvanhome were likely involved in the war against the humans and may or may not hold jaded feelings about dealings with Empire humans. Because current plot originated in Empire lands a large portion of the characters in play have Empire-based origins and choosing to be aligned against the Empire still will likely cause a great deal of trouble for your character. Those elves from Sylvanlost typically had strong ties with the Kingdom of Paladur and may likely have fled Sylvanlost when the new Council was installed. Sylvanlost elves typically have a view that many humans, particularly Paladurians, are good people and allies but are wary of Empire humans following the war the Empire waged on Sylvanhome. It is also possible to be an elf hailing from the Empire, however, elves are typically treated as third class citizens at best within the Empire and many elven murders go unnoticed. With the Empire Duchy of Armoria, at least, elves can attain the status of full citizenship by swearing oaths of fealty to the Empire but are required to bear with them at all times within the Empire permits and papers justifying their loyalty. Needless to say, playing an elf with Empire ties can prove to be difficult. New players are advised to play an elf that joined the current plot when the elf-friend Paladurian forces joined the plot line. It will mean you likely lived in Sylvanlost, liked humans, didn't agree with the current government for announcing that it seceded from Sylvanhome and closed its borders threatening war on humanity.

Elves have the longest life span of any playable character race. Elves may live to be 500 years old and half-elves may live as long as 200 years. There is no ratio difference in early development, which means a 30 year old elf is not considered a child but is for all intents and purposes as developed as a 30 year old human. The physical difference in aging and appearance does not occur until after an elf reaches adulthood where-after their adult and senior years are stretched out over a longer period. Most elves do not begin to look old until sometime around their 400th year. This extended life span does not, however, alter the number of resurrection chances an elf receives. An elf receives the same 5 resurrections that any other race does.

In general terms this is how elves view other races:

Barbarians, a term originally coined by humans, refers to the almost human-like peoples that lived in some of the areas now inhabited by the Empire and Paladur when the humans first arrived. It refers to both the Highlanders and Plainsmen though both are very different cultures. Barbarians are viewed as very durable and as tough as dwarves however they maintain a perplexing hatred for magic and all things magical. Because just about all barbarians seem to equate all elves with pure magic any encounter with a barbarian should be viewed with the same caution one might take with a highly poisonous, highly aggressive and already agitated snake.

Dwarves are viewed as decent neighbors as they don't intrude, don't cause trouble, and mostly keep to themselves. When there is cause to trade with dwarves the dwarves are tough bargainers but typically provide exceptional quality merchandise. More recently, within the last few hundred years, the dwarves have been more and more withdrawn than usual but that's only within a single elven lifetime and as yet is not a reason for concern.

Humans are viewed quite differently depending on which elven land you hail from. Sylvanhome elves will most likely have been personally affected by the recent human war against the elves. Many Sylvanhome elves are still fighting to overcome a dislike of humans. Sylvanlost elves frequently distrusted Empire humans but had no problems at all trusting Paladurian humans. As a matter of fact one of the primary reasons Paladur seceded from the Empire was because it didn't support the war against the elves in the first place. If you are planning on playing one of those rare elves or half-elves that grew up in the Empire you were likely frequently picked on or mistreated as a child by other humans and will likely either dislike humans a great deal or have come to believe in your own lack of worth by only seeing yourself through their eyes. Elves and half-elves that grew up in Paladur are likely to have the same exact views as elves of Sylvanlost, however, you won't have had the same magic-rich upbringing that elves of Sylvanlost will have had.

Orcs are viewed as somewhat very brutish, very uncivilized, and quite dangerous. So long as they stay to the orcish wastes of Gortahork there isn't a problem. Unfortunately even in spite of centuries of fighting them off the borders of both Sylvanlost and Sylvanhome there always seem to be more orcs that just haven't learned they can't overrun the border by numbers alone.

Drow, also referred to by many as dark elves, are well known and disliked by all elves. Any unknown drow is considered to be evil and bent on the death of all elves. While elves live on the land typically in harmony with nature the drow live underground and force nature to their will. Fortunately the drow eschew sunlight and rarely come to the surface. On those rare occasions that they come to the surface where elves are found it is commonly to attack the elves, capture as many as they can as slaves or sacrifices, or to just kill elves outright for sport. No elf would ever easily trust a drow if they've had contact with them in the past.

Duergar are known to the elves but are rarely seen except when used by drow as slave labor or as mercenaries to fight at the front line and minimalize drow losses in combat. Duergar are typically believed to be inherently evil and are not trusted in the least as contact with them almost always results in brutal conflict and death.

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Human characters buy their skills off the Human character within the rulebook. There are no costuming requirements required to play a human other than to wear costuming that is appropriate to the game setting (fantasy/medieval style and safe for the environment). Human characters should not wear kilts or fake beards as these are the only in-game distinguishing characteristics for highland barbarians and dwarves.

Regardless of where the game plot is located at any given time all human characters originally hail from either the Empire or the Kingdom of Paladur. Both the Empire and Kingdom of Paladur border each other and, following a short but bloody conflict of cessation, now have a tentative trade agreement and loose alliance in place. None-the-less some Empire-based humans still harbor some level of grudge against Paladurian citizens having viewed them for several years as traitors. Similarly some Paladurian citizens continue to remain wary of any citizen of the Empire still unsure that they will maintain the peace that has been achieved. (more details on the background for this are available in the Histories within the In-game section of the web page)

Both Empire and Paladurian humans are essentially identical with only recent changes within the last decade marking differentiation between them and then only socially and politically. Humans on both sides live in what would typically be viewed as a medieval setting with a high level leader, either the Emperor or the King, ruling over their society. Beneath the highest level is a system of nobility including barons/baronesses, viscounts/viscountesses, counts/countesses, barons/baronesses, and finally commoners. The humans are the only known society to have come up with a gentry class of knights and have since established three knightly orders.

Human civilization is rumored to be far older than its current calendar indicates with archives detailing a great migration a little more than 500 years ago that lead to humans first colonizing the shores of the Empire. No records exist detailing the point of origination except that it was known to be destroyed in a great cataclysm leaving the Empire for all intents and purposes the only known human civilization in the world. In the last 500 or so years human growth has been periodically marked by various conflicts and wars with essentially every other race known including a fair bit of internal conflict and power struggle. For in-game purposes the human calendar can be found by taking the current real-world (occidental) calendar year and subtracting 1500 years.

In spite of its history of conflict with other races the humans also tend to eventually come to a peaceful agreement with most other races. In general terms this is how humans view other races:

Barbarian was a term originally coined by humans to refer to almost human-like peoples that lived in some of the areas now inhabited by the Empire and Paladur when the humans first arrived. It refers to both the Highlanders and Plainsmen though both are very different cultures. The Highlanders are viewed as very rough and tumble humans often ready for a fight. They are viewed as somewhat less civilized but are respected for their strength in combat which has been an asset on several occasions. The Plainsmen have much less contact with humans as the western mountains separate them from the Empire. The Kingdom of Paladur shares a border with the Plainsmen's lands and has contact with only a few of the tribal-based peoples that roam those lands viewing them as friendly but somewhat less civilized than their own culture.

Dwarves are viewed as curious mysteries. Over the last 500 years dwarves have become more and more infrequent visitors to the Empire and Paladur and nearly disappeared altogether when the lands were decimated by the virulent Blue Plague. Humans tend to view the dwarves as good craftsman with little to no sense of humor and sometimes very peculiar ways.

Elves are viewed drastically differently by the Empire and Paladur. Empire citizens tend to look at elves as little more than third-class citizens at best and many an elven murder goes uninvestigated. The only duchy within the Empire to have made any real strides to the contrary is the duchy of Armoria who's primary tradecraft is producing mercenaries. Elves within Armoria are elevated to status of full-citizen but are required to carry a permit demonstrating that they have sworn fealty to the Empire and serve it faithfully. Paladurian citizens tend to view elves as equals. Both Paladurians and the elven nations have shared the brunt of the force of Empire hostilities at one point or another.

Orcs are viewed as somewhat brutish, uncivilized, and dangerous. So long as they stay to the orcish wastes of Gortahork there isn't a problem. The small percentage of orcs that enter the human lands tend to be viewed as marginally more civilized and are tolerated.

The darker races such as the Drow (dark elves) and Duergar (dark dwarves) are almost never seen in either land and many have come to believe them either myths or so far declined as to not be of concern. Both are viewed as inherently evil cultures are viewed with extreme distrust. Where possible they are avoided and preferably driven from the land. When necessary they are dealt with cautiously to avoid endangering the lives of those involved in the dealings.

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Orc and half-orc characters use the humanoid tables to purchase their skills in the rule book. Orcs and half-orcs talk with a rough, gravelly tone of voice. It is easier to ask another player to demonstrate this than it is to explain in text. Additionally all Orcs and half-orcs have other costuming requirements.

Full orcs must pick 2 or more of the following requirements; half-orcs must only pick 1.

• Bushy, overhanging eyebrows - made with eye-liner or prosthetics.
• Pig snout nose - made with prosthetics, usually available from costuming stores.
• Tusks - made with prosthetics, usually jutting upward (you're not a vampire with fangs after all)
• Ruddy skin tone - made with make-up. Typically in shades of earth tone color (earthy red, earthy yellow, ruddy brown, etc).

There is no intent to provide racial similarities to real-world races or peoples. The orc racial traits are taken from typical fantasy fare and only intended to reflect the general fantasy look and feel of the game. Every effort should be made to avoid real-world racial stereotyping.

Half-orcs can only be born to a human and an orc or to half-orcs. There are no half-orcs that are part elf, part dwarf, etc.

Orcs can be found residing in just about any area not completely settled and controlled by another race. Within the human Empire they are most common within the border duchies of Dunoon and Armoria where they are respected for their fighting prowess. They are also seen commonly within the Kingdom of Paladur where racial tolerance is a standard among the people. Most orcs hail from the wastes of Gortahork which is so populated with orcs that most people refer to is as the Orc Lands.

Orcs have a tribal society. Whoever is strongest among the tribe is generally the one in charge. This can lead to frequent in-fighting within a tribe for dominance but also ensures that most orcs are a healthy lot as a matter of survival. It is also quite common for the various tribes to war with one another and frequently with neighboring lands such as Dunoon, Armoria, and Paladur. The Plains Barbarians are also frequently at odds with various orc tribes as well, however, only a little more so than the orcs are at odds with themselves usually. In fact it is not at all uncommon for a plains nomad tribe to hire or take in orcs as allies or as mercenaries to assist in raids on a rival barbarian or orcish tribe.

Orcs are typically great fighters and enjoy warfare but as a group are usually too disorganized to mount an effective campaign against any one other race or nation. Some orcs are very much the dumb brutes many races typically generalize them as but there are also a few rather intelligent orcs. Most player character orcs are considered to be brighter than the typical orcs and capable of achieving a great deal more.

Orcs have no written language of their own nor do they concern themselves with tracking time or a calendar. On those occasions where something needs to be remembered orcs tend to use an oral tradition of story-keeping. Since lore keepers are not common among the orcs and violent death can come quickly many orc tribes quickly lose track of historical details remembering only tales that enjoy a great following such as the recounting of certain large battle events or major victories and losses.

Each orcish tribe is likely to view other races in its own way however In general terms this is how orcs view other races:

Barbarian was a term originally coined by humans to refer to the almost human-like peoples that lived in some of the areas now inhabited by the Empire and Paladur when the humans first arrived. It refers to both the Highlanders and Plainsmen though both are very different cultures. To the orcs the Highlanders are viewed as very rough and tumble humans often ready for a fight. To the sparse orc tribes of the western mountains the Highlanders are sometimes despised as a bane of their existence second only to dwarves as a threat to their lives. The tribes of Gortahork almost never have contact with the Highlanders. Plains barbarians are viewed more like another orc tribe as they share a similar tribal culture. In fact the distinction between the eastern border of the Great Plain and the western border of Gortahork is a very narrow distinction with both sharing nearly identical status. Plains barbarian tribes and orc tribes often conflict or mingle and share perhaps the closest social parity of any two races available to players.

Dwarves are sometimes viewed as a dangerous threat to be fought. Most dwarves appear to hold the viewpoint that the only good orc is a dead orc. Fortunately the orcs have proven just as tough as orcs and, if typically a little less organizes, far more numerous than dwarves. On some occasions orcs and dwarves have somehow managed to co-exist long enough to develop a mutual respect for each others strengths and abilities leading to a steady truce that hold all-out warfare in abeyance. Fortunately for both races most dwarven and orcish lands don't overlap creating little chance of common contact.

Elves are viewed as particularly strange and their use of magic is considered their strongest threat against the orcish peoples. Fortunately the elves also don't seem the least bit inclined to want to enter orcish lands and on the rare times they do typically prove to be quite fragile requiring their magic to survive at all. Many orc tribes of northern Gortahork periodically take to raiding the elven forest for supplies and some have even come to the conclusion that elf meat is a delicacy. Not all orcs feel this way and many that don't have contact with elves think little of elves at all. Needless to say the northern orc tribes that do share border space with elves has caused a good amount of general distrust between the two races.

The darker races such as the Drow (dark elves) and Duergar (dark dwarves) are almost never seen in orcish lands and many have come to believe them either myths or so far declined as to not be of concern. Since neither are seen much and recent generations have mostly lost recounting of such races most orcs meeting a duergar simply think its some kind of dwarf and treat it as such. Most orcs meeting a drow think it some kind of elf and treat it as such.

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Drow are a restricted race and not commonly available to play. They are considered rare and a challenge to play well in the face of adversity. Players are allowed to play one restricted race character and due to the severe attitude with which your character will likely be received it is not suggested for most players. Playing a restricted race character requires referee approval and an understanding of the game setting and plot so you'll know how to best fit in given your heritage. While most players have until rank 10 to submit their character history, restricted race characters must have their character history submitted and approved in advance of being able to play. All of this may take some time so its best not to expect you can show up to an event with a valid reason and a character history in hand and expect approval will occur that day.

The best known dark elven characters in the fantasy genre are the drow of Dungeons and Dragons such as Drizzt. While Cambrion has chosen to use the name drow for the race it was done as both a nod to the concept of how we want to see dark elves played and to provide a general quick overview to players familiar with the race as to what to expect. As a word of advice a quick overview is all it can really provide. There are many similarities between the drow of Dungeons and Dragons fame but there are also key differences and making an assumption on some points is likely to get your character into some trouble. For example, Cambrion does not use religion thus the entire drow society worship of a demon-spider goddess type is largely incorrect. If you insist on following this avenue we have one drow society that is very close in nature and the refs can work to fill you in on the changes to the typical drow settings.

Drow characters use the demi-human table to buy their skills in the rulebook. Drow characters must always wear jet-black pointed ears, always have jet-black skin (achieved by use of make-up covering all exposed skin), and stark white hair (achieved with a wig or hair-dye). It is suggested you find a good pair of gloves to cover your hands rather than attempt to wear make-up on your hands.

Half-drow are particularly rare and are abhorred by the drow society as abominations of their superior blood lines. One of the primary reasons half-drow are so rare is that it would be exceptionally rare for a drow to choose to mate with anything other than an equal, another drow. Another reason for the rarity is the fact that it would be exceptionally rare for a drow house to suffer the birth of sullied bloodlines. Most drow would kill a deformed child on birth let alone one that was a half-breed and, in fact, upon learning a half-breed child was being carried the mother would likely be put to death for the shame of the situation. Still a very rare occasional half-drow may survive long enough to enter game play but would require a particularly impressive and reasonable history. Half-drow are required to wear jet-black pointed ears and have jet-black skin but may not have white hair.

Drow are almost all evil in nature. There are a percentage of drow that are actually neutral but it is harder to survive in their cut-throat society without a healthy respect and ability to dish out the calculated cruelty an evil person can cause. A good-aligned drow would be mercilessly tortured and killed and would not survive the drow society. Since a solitary drow coming to the surface would face adversity from just about any race it encountered and would surface in particularly hostile dwarven or elven lands it is highly unlikely even a good drow would survive the trek to human lands seeking acceptance there. It is expected that all drow characters will be evil or at the very leas neutral but with enough of a cynical nature that they could almost pass for evil.

Drow live deep below the Eastern and Western mountain ranges. They shun the surface and those who dwell there almost never coming above ground. They constantly battle orcs, trolls, dwarves, duergar and other drow for their limited territory. The drow and the duergar form alliances to confront a common enemy. Drow will only ally with a duergar tribe for a short time and only with a particularly strong tribe. More often than not drow families will simply conquer weaker duergar tribes and use them as slave labor and fodder on the battle field.

Drow have a predominantly matriarchal society with a strict caste system however there have been a few cases of drow houses being ruled in a more patriarchal setting. The great houses struggle to improve their place in society through intrigue, battle and often assassination. The matrons of the top ten houses of a drow city serve on a loose council which governs the city. The majority of the drow are common soldiers, servants, or slaves. To the drow, however, even a drow slave is as a prince or princess in status compared to any other race. Drow view their own kind as superior with all other races being at best no more than cattle to serve their needs.

The underground realms inhabited by the drow are not one great open underworld cavern. In actuality there are many drow societies that presumably all split off from one core group at one point. Long lives and long memories have helped to prevent changes in societal structure and language leaving one general system, as described above, as the norm for almost all drow societies. Small deviations, such as the odd occasional patriarchal family, have occurred over time. None-the-less just because one character is a drow does not indicate that another drow character will immediately know of the other's family or standing. Drow on the surface of such a rarity that its rather unlikely that two will even be from the same underworld society.

The moral code of the drow as a whole can be summed up in three words - "Don't get caught". No crime, no matter how reprehensible, can be punished if there are not witnesses or evidence left behind. In fact, a drow suspected of perpetrating a terrible crime, such as murdering a rival, is greatly admired in drow society as long as the crime remains unsolved. In spite of this attitude drow society managed to maintain a very civil "public" face amongst themselves. Civility, often cold, and hospitality are hallmarks of a strong drow family. If a drow family can maintain the appearance of civility and hospitality even in the face of known aggressors bent on that family's downfall it is a mark of self-control and superiority to be admired by all.

Like elves, drow have an exceptionally long life span. Drow may live to be 500 years old and if a half-drow managed to survive could live as long as 200 years. There is no ratio difference in early development, which means a 30 year old drow is not considered a child but is for all intents and purposes as developed as a 30 year old human. The physical difference in aging and appearance does not occur until after a drow reaches adulthood where-after their adult and senior years are stretched out over a longer period. Most drow do not begin to look old until sometime around their 400th year. This extended life span does not, however, alter the number of resurrection chances an drow receives. A drow receives the same 5 resurrections that any other race does.

In spite of the segregated nature of the many drow societies their long life and long memories have helped retain a very common perspective on how drow view other races. By and large all drow will view any other race as an inferior species. Most of the time this means that such species are below the notice of drow unless they are needed as slaves to perform some task or somehow manage to become a brief threat to some aspect of drow society. Threats are usually met with unyielding elimination. The only races even worthy of further note are elves and duergar.

Elves, regardless of where they come from, are considered the enemy of drow. Throughout history drow and elves have seldom interacted without bloodshed and death. Each has a deep hatred for the other side knowing that neither side will permit the other to peacefully exist. Elves will defend their lands from drow knowing that for even one drow to be in the area is a threat that others are nearby and a report back to them will bring a rain of death when it is least expected. Further exacerbating the problem is the propensity of some rebellious drow youths making bids to show their strength by forming raiding parties on elven lands. Given the drow dislike for elves even the superiors within the society find it hard to reprimand too harshly any such actions so long as it succeeds.

Some scholars have reputed that drow and elves share a common ancestry so far back that even the two races have long since forgotten if there is any truth to the claim. This is a subject that most drow and elves find not only distasteful but even reprehensible. No self-respecting drow would want to be compared to an elf and would consider such a comment tantamount to a vile insult.

Duergar are only worthy of additional comment in that they share such close proximity to drow that they are the one race encountered by drow more often than any other player available race. Duergar slaves are often kept to do the hardest and dirtiest work such as mining out new tunnels and caverns when expansion is needed. Occasionally a duergar tribe proves capable enough to defend itself from the drow and these are accorded sufficient respect to either be avoided or to form occasional alliances with when needed. Once in a while a drow household may ally with a duergar tribe and even assist the tribe on assaults on dwarven territory lending magical support to the physical strength of the duergar. Since no drow likes to be thought of as anybody's servant this does not happen very often and without great benefit in some form to the drow's house.

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Duergar are a restricted race and not commonly available to play. They are considered rare and a challenge to play well in the face of adversity. Players are allowed to play one restricted race character and due to the severe attitude with which your character will likely be received it is not suggested for most players. Playing a restricted race character requires referee approval and an understanding of the game setting and plot so you'll know how to best fit in given your heritage. While most players have until rank 10 to submit their character history, restricted race characters must have their character history submitted and approved in advance of being able to play. All of this may take some time so its best not to expect you can show up to an event with a valid reason and a character history in hand and expect approval will occur that day.

Duergar are humanoid and buy their skills from the humanoid table of the rule book. Duergar are largely unknown to other races but amongst themselves are known for their stout constitutions and ability to survive almost any situation as a group. All duergar have a solidly gray skin tone achieved by use of make-up covering all exposed skin. All duergar characters, both male and female, must also wear a long beard. Duergar beards grow in quick, filling in nicely in a day or two even if shaved off and a dwarf who shaved would suffer a 5-o'clock shadow every hour or so. Half-duergar are the result of human and duergar, dwarf and duergar, or half-duergar and half-duergar mating. Half-duergar must maintain the same gray-skin tone as a full duergar but must wear a shorter beard.

We've requested that all duergar wear a fake beard as most humans with beards don't have sufficiently long and full beard to meet the fantasy standards for this matter. Additionally for dwarves a beard is the only difference in costume between a human and a dwarf and a human with a natural beard playing two characters, one human and one dwarven results in nearly indistinguishable characters. For the sake of consistency duergar are also required to wear a fake beard even if they have a natural beard. A player with a sufficiently full and grand beard may be permitted to forego this requirement particularly if their own beard already supercedes the length of the fake beard required.

Duergar are almost all evil or at best neutral. A good-aligned duergar would not have survived long in their environment. Since a duergar coming to the surface alone would likely encounter sufficient dwarves to ensure that they themselves didn't survive the trek alone its also unlikely a good-aligned solitary duergar would have survived the trip to human lands and seek acceptance there either. It is expected that all duergar characters will be evil or at the very least neutral but with enough of a cynical nature that they could almost pass for evil.

Duergar live deep below the Eastern and Western Mountain ranges. They shun the surface and those who dwell there. The duergar often live a precarious existence among the denizens of the deep caves fighting with each other and the drow for survival and have developed a loose society of extended family groups. These societies could be called a clan or tribe but are less structured than most clans. Since dwarves, much abhorred by duergar, have a clan-based society as a whole the duergar have adopted the term tribe to refer to their own societies. Asking a duergar what clan he or she is from is tantamount to insulting them by calling them a dwarf since it is dwarves that live in clans and not duergar.

Duergar and dwarves, particularly the deeper delving mountain dwarves, are frequently hated enemies. As a result of long generations of conflict over space and mining territory most dwarves and duergar have a mutual dislike of each other on racial principle even if they've never encountered one another. Duergar and dwarves have seldom interacted without bloodshed. Most duergar tribes consider the best policy when dealing with dwarves to be kill them outright or, if convenient, break and enslave them for use as cheap, controlled labor by the tribe.

On the whole life for a duergar can be pretty bleak. The tribes live in a maze of ever-expanding tunnels and mazes and often face a host of typically violent beings bent on conquering them. Most commonly duergar stand in a common fight with other duergar tribes for control over space and resources and in such fights anything goes. Second to duergar, the tribes are often harried by drow raiding parties seeking new slaves. Faced with this adversity tribes shift often and new tribes form as smaller tribes are absorbed into other tribes to survive or alliances are made. So long as internal disagreement does not split the tribe it may grow powerful enough to withstand conflict with the drow and even form alliances with the weaker drow houses seeking to strengthen their fighting numbers. Such alliances have lead to a few duergar tribes forming into powerful forces capable of taking out whole clans of dwarves and securing large swathes of dwarven caverns for themselves.

While life for the duergar can be bleak it has also made them perhaps the best equipped to survive under their situation. While dwarves are great miners and crafters it is duergar who are the best at reinforcing unstable caverns and tunnels to make them well-structured terrain. Duergar are also the race most skilled at quickly crafting escape tunnels and their rigged traps underground are among the most feared when it comes to cave-ins and tunnel blockages.

Duergar have a longer life expectancy than humans. A duergar may live up to 250 years. There is no ratio difference in early development, which means a 30 year old duergar does not have the equivalent mental or developmental stature of a 12 year hold human. The physical difference in aging and appearance does not occur until after a duergar reaches adulthood where-after their adult and senior years are stretched out over a longer period. While many duergar do have naturally gray hair or beards most do not begin to actually look old until sometime around their 200th year. This extended life span does not, however, alter the number of resurrection chances a duergar receives. A duergar receives the same 5 resurrections that any other race does.

Despite the very dispersed nature of their tribes the duergar do maintain verbal contact with other tribes and know about the other player available races. On the whole duergar look at most surface dwelling races as of little to no concern since they are never encountered. Duergar have enough problems with in-fighting that when other races are encountered it is usually with suspicion and distrust. Its usually easier to chase off a threat with violence and make it not worth their while to return than it is to deal with other races at all. The only races even worth of further mention are dwarves and drow.

Drow are the race most commonly encountered by the duergar. Drow houses are well known to look down on any other race however since duergar are the race they come across most often all duergar know that a meeting with drow is likely to result in the drow attempting to take you prisoner unless you can quickly prove it isn't worth the time, effort and trouble to make the attempt. Once you can establish your own strength and determination to resist capture dealings with drow can actually go quite well. Drow tend to display an odd sense of honorability and once you can secure the knowledge that they are going to trade with you and not try to capture you, you can move on without much fear that the drow will turn on you later. None-the-less a wary eye should always be kept to drow as they have been known to lay traps for the unwary duergar as often as not.

Dwarves are well known to all dwarves as a race similar to dwarves but typically considered ready to attack a duergar on site. The dwarves rarely dwell as deep within the mountains as the duergar but some of the deeper dwelling mountain dwarves occasionally break through into duergar tunnels. Dwarves are also far too ready to throw insults at duergar calling them "gray dwarves" knowing that the duergar hate to be verbally linked with the dwarves and consider it a cruel slur on their own culture. It is commonly held among duergar that a dwarf would not give quarter to a duergar and, after long centuries of this behavior, neither would a duergar offer quarter to a dwarf. Since the campaign takes place on the surface realm it is probable that your character has had multiple interactions with dwarves at some point. Contact between duergar and dwarves almost never ends without bloodshed under normal circumstances but within the campaign setting there are often mitigating circumstances that preclude frequent bloodshed.

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Where player characters conflict is concerned, particularly with duergar and drow in the case of dwarves, your character should view such characters with distrust at the least but out-of-game it is considered extremely bad form to attack another character with intent to kill or even injure them without additional cause other than "innate racial dislike". The racial dislike given above is intended as a basis for understanding the attitude you'll mostly face when dealing with NPCs.

To put it more succinctly if your dwarf encounters a non-player character duergar, expect your character won't be received well at all and may even be attacked. If your dwarf character encounters a player character duergar you should certainly treat them with distrust, probably disdain, and maybe insult them but neither your insults nor theirs should lead to a violent conflict. We're all here to have fun and play the game so try and look for any reasonable excuse why you don't just leap to attack them. Typically there is some purpose or cause at hand to which both are dedicated which should at least for the time being provide a reason to work alongside each other without it having to result in bloodshed.