Landsoftheblacksea:Main Page/races

Races

Religions

Realms

Geography

Organizations

Languages

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Humans

Subdivided into several ethnic variations:

Tuaths

Ancestors of the Vulkuls and the Athernians, the Tuath civilization was quite advanced (they had steel, cities, and technology) has since fallen to ruin. The Tuaths dispersed after a cataclysmic event destroyed their civilization long ago, and for the most part have assimilated with other ethnicities in the peninsula. At the current time, there are very few pure-blooded Tuathans left.

Those that are left have no records of their former glory, and live in primitive villages and settlements on the periphery of the realms of the Athernian peninsula, preserving only their languages and religion. When they do journey into the realms, much of what they encounter in cities now is foreign to them. They still have steel weapon, but they are not engineers or mechanics, and mechanical things beyond simple snares and the like are foreign to them. Those that live on the water have boats and sail, but the massive craft of modern civilizaton that trade across the vast oceans are beyond them.

Athernians

European Caucasian archetype. Decendents of Tuathans who settled the temperate and southern regions of the Athernian peninsula.

Vogra

An ancient people who inhabited much of the north of the Lands. Original stock for the Vulkuls (northwest) and the Dovogra (northeast)

Vulkuls

Essentially Germanic/Norman Caucasian archetype. Somewhat barbaric, roughly equivalent to dark ages Vikings.

Dovogra

Eastern European/Russian archetype. Have spawned large, sophisticated civilizations in contrast to the Vulkul.

Ugarians

An African archtype. Very dark skin, very little body hair. Issyrian is sometimes (incorrectly) used to describe the race, but it instead refers to a particular ethnic sub-culture that formed within the Ugarian race.

Imilites

Original stock for what are now called Jhonians.

Jhonians

Mediteranian/Middle-Eastern Archetype. Tend towards olive/tan skin and darker hair, but a wide variety can be found across the wide area of lands settled by the Jhonians.

Niharian

Essentially oriental archetype. Civilized, cultured, roughly equivalent of medieval japan (iron age). Single major kingdom (Nihar) controlling surrounding islands.  Niharians are generally reserved and view other cultures with either pity or suspicion, but are not warlike by nature. They are not explorers or settlers by nature, and few settle outside their homeland; those that do tend to have reasons for leaving, or are decedents of ancestors who had reasons for leaving.

Thama

Original stock for what are now called the Maharanese

Maharanese

An (East) Indian Archtype. Primarily reside in the Eastern lands of Chandrahaar, but expatriots can be found throughout the Lands in small numbers.

Elves

Subdivided into several ethnic variations: The original Elven stock is the Grey Elf, but the Elves are explorers, and have spread the length and breadth of the Lands.  The Elves arrived long ago, long enough that the enclaves have had time to develop distinct ethic sub-types defined primarily by culture, and secondarily by variations in average appearance.

Grey Elves

The most ancient of the Elven bloodline, the Grey Elves are few in number, and live on an isolated island in the east, far beyond any settlement of humans.  They consider themselves the highest form of Elven culture, and observers are hard-pressed not to agree with them. They are the most adept and powerful magic users among Elves, but tend to be less physically strong than many of the other ethnicities.

Mist Elves

Mist Elves have several strongholds in the foothills of the mountain chain between Chandrahaar and Jhon.  Mist Elves tend towards dark hair and dark skin, but other complexions can be found. They are secretive and retiring with respect to other races, but amongst themselves are somewhat more jovial and carefree than the Grey Elves.  They tend towards bright colored clothing, jewelry, and tatoos and other forms of body adornment are common, typically associated with a particular clan.

Sun Elves

Sun Elves live in the deep deserts of Issyria and the Sea of Sand, as well as having scattered strongholds across the Forbidden Isles. They are very dark of complexion and hair, and eyes tend to black and brown, though greens, hazel, and amber are not unheard of.  Little is known about them, as they rarely interact with humans.

Snow Elves

Inhabit the cold foothills of the Grey Mountains where they meet the forest of Thornwood, North of Athervon.  Tend towards pale/light hair.  They are more muscular than many elves, and powerful fighters. Their magic use, while impressive, is not at the same level as other Elves. Reclusive as a society, individuals have been known to venture outside of their realm seeking knowledge or adventure.

Wood Elves

Rule over the vast area known only as the Great Western Forest, in the South-Western portion of the Athernian peninsula.  Very typical for standard AD&D wood elves.

Dwarves

Dwarves of the Lands live in extended family/clan structures that can comprise 1000’s of individuals. The Dwarves create settlements wherever there are metals, gems, or other minerals of value to them. These settlements can range from fortified structures built into cliff walls housing scouting groups looking for new deposits, to the vast underground Dwarven cities – the Udhrms – where the leaders of each clan are found, each trying to out-do the others in terms of the grandeur and splendor to be found within. Dwarves in general tend to be highly suspect of other races, and limit the interactions they have. When they do interact, they prefer to do it in the lands of others – they are very careful about who is allowed inside their settlements, worrying about theft, spying, and sabotage. Of course, their history makes such beliefs well-founded – when not fighting amongst themselves, the Dwarves fight continual battles against humans, demi-humans, humanoids, and even have had to repel the occasional Dragon.

Gnomes (Zradkin)

Many Gnomes live in wandering clans or family units, travelling in caravans from town to town, where they provide services, sell their art & jewelry, and entertain using their natural talents augmented with magic. There are large populations that have taken up residence is the cities of humans and halflings, but they are viewed as outsiders.  The only place Gnomes have built their own settlements is nearby the major Dwarven Udhrms – there one will usually find one, and sometimes multiple, Gnomish towns outside the gates.  Many of these gnomes are migrant workers within the Dwarven cities, entering to work during the day, and leaving in the evening to return to their homes.

Halflings

The Halflings of the Lands have settled virtually all of the major land areas, although the tend to avoid extreme environments (e.g. deserts, tundra) and prefer to live in places where they can farm the land and/or where foraging is easy. They mix easily with humans in most places, and generally adopt the customs and culture of the governing human realms or lands that they live within.  In some areas, Halflings have the greater percentage of the population, and generally humans allow them to participate in governance & politics, although some places bar them from military occupations.

Half-Orcs

Uncommon in most civilized areas, half-orcs tend to be found in lands where humans and orcs have not been able to wipe one another out through conquest. Half-orcs have a difficult life within the human-centric Lands, and tend to live in the roughest, least civilized locales, where they tend to make their living via manual labor-intensive jobs (e.g., smith), criminal activities, or employment where their skill in combat is an advantage (e.g., bouncer, gladiator, boxer). They are generally not allowed to take positions where trust is needed (e.g., rarely with they guard precious goods or be on the city watch).