Post by apurk on Mar 8, 2010 21:08:45 GMT -5
Dragonborn: largely divided between the faction loyal to Bahamut and the faction loyal to Tiamat, though there are a few small, independent barbarian tribes.
Bahamut's faction (Arkhosia)- live in a benevolent military dictatorship in what's left of their empire. They place a great deal of emphasis on honor and battle prowess. Though the great war has ended, they still fight with the empire over a region of contested territory every twenty years or so. The region is just large enough that once one nation is able to fully control it, they are stretched too thin to hold onto it, much less go through and conquer the other.
Tiamat's faction (Thracia)- live in a mercantile state near the empire, their allies. More interested in making money than waging war, though they do have an elite order of wyvern riders. Their military is primarily concerned with protecting trade routes.
Tieflings: rulers of the empire, a traditional aristocracy headed by house Turathi. Typically short-tempered, but otherwise have humanlike personas (they are the descendents of transformed humans). The nobles engage in a lot of intrigue and politics. There is a large emphasis on the military, and they often hold tournaments and wargames. Allies of the Githyanki. Tiefling infernal warlocks often have their power being innate, rather than as a result of a pact. Due to the variety of races that can be found in the empire, a law was enacted some time ago making violent actions against any sentient being illegal.
Aasimar: when the war started to go badly, Pelor gave his blessing to the humans that sided with Arkhosia, transforming them into aasimar in a similar manner to what Asmodeus did to the tieflings. Live in a theocracy dedicated to Pelor located in the same area as the remnants of Arkhosia. Most view the tieflings as tainted, though unlike the Arkhosians they are not looking to start a war again.
Goliaths: Their nomadic tribes typically inhabit the highest mountain peaks, though a few can be found working as mercenaries elsewhere. Pretty much the standard lore.
Shifters: their settlements can be found throughout the wilderness, particularly in the forests. Usually follow Melora/primal spirits, though also have many superstitions about the moon. Unlike other races, there names tend to be along the lines of Stormclaw, Wildrunner, or Moonstalker, gained when they are recognized as adults and descriptive of their accomplishments.
Minotaurs: Their clans can be found all over, honor and glory in battle are of utmost importance to them. A few clans devoted to Baphomet remain, though the empire has exterminated most of them.
Gnolls: Most follow the way of the hyena, they are nomadic and typically dwell in the forest. Often trade with shifters, rarely venture toward more civilized lands.
Drow: Have completely rejected Lolth and moved into the remains of the elven city they conquered. They are governed by the council of thirteen, the matron mothers of the most powerful houses. Their society has become much more stable without the church of Lolth, though they still engage in deadly politics. Like the spartans, they start weeding out the week as children. Males are still viewed as second class citizens.
Genasi: Most live in villages located in places of elemental extremes, most notably underwater, near the volcano, and atop thunder mountain (named for the frequent thunderstorms that occur there, it is also home to a blue dragon). There are also several that make their home in the empire, notably Corona, co-owner of a prominant magic shop.
Changelings: While generally mistrusted, they fall under the generic anti-murder law of the empire. It is illegal for them to impersonate an individual though. Everywhere else, they are usually killed on discovery.
Warforged: Originally built by the gnomes to serve as guards/heavy lifting, they were abandoned when their masters fled to the feywild. Most of the originals have since deactivated, save for a particularly skilled artificer, known as Tank and a devotee of Moradin, who works to construct new warforged.
Kalashtar: The "dual-souls" are half tiefling, half aasimar and their appearence reflects this. It is rare for them to be born, even rarer for them to survive to adulthood. The mixing of magic, when it doesn't outright kill the child tends to have extremely adverse affects on their sanity. Those who are able to reconcile their two halves, however, unlock impressive mental powers (aka kalashtar race bonuses). Aasimar view them as tainted, and are likely to try and kill them. They are protected under the no murder law in the empire, though most do not trust them to remain loyal to the empire.
Goblinoids: Expanded to fill the power vacuum left after the war. They occasionally raid outlying settlements of the civilized nations. Most are nomadic, and follow only those who command respect either through magical skill or battle prowess.
Githyanki: They teleported the entire city of Tu'narath to the material plane when they decided to help the tieflings in the war, and had to stay due to the cataclysm. They have stagnated somewhat, due to the rise of the lich-queen and her practice of soul-draining any who become powerful. There is a growing presence of githyanki mercenaries in the empire because of this.
Githzerai: a small population came to the prime material during the war to combat their evil kin. They fled with the Arkhosians and aasimar, settling nearby due to being unable to set up a planar portal back to the elemental chaos. Most follow Erathis, and there is a strong cultural emphasis on discipline and order.
Kobolds: They moved into the abandoned dwarven mines. Expert miners and trapsmiths, they mine the gems because they like the shinies, and mine the metal because they can trade it to the big people for more shinies. Their government (if you can call it that), is anarchy at its finest. The kobold who is in posession of a certain inscribed hammerhaft known to them as the rod of ruler is the chief. A kobold who successfully steals the rod of ruler becomes the chief (this usually happens once every couple months). They tried other forms of government, but find politics to be quite boring (and it takes up time that could be used for having dance parties, or getting more shinies). They only need someone to be in charge in case they are attacked anyways. Kobolds love traps, especially of the prank variety. Besides the usual lethal death traps to get rid of intruders, there are also paste traps, prestidigitation traps, ghost sound traps, plank traps, and a trap that covers the victim in sticky, green goo.
Wilden: Living in their tree-top villages in the forest, they were mostly unaffected by the conflict below. They have a mutual agreement with the gnolls, shifters, and drow; the wilden stay in the trees, while the others stay on the ground. Have a strong connection to the primal spirits.
Shardmind: Sentient magical phenomena arising from the remnants of the dead god Tu'narath is built on. After observing it, the githyanki discovered how to replicate it so they could use the shardmind as ithillid slayers.
Bahamut's faction (Arkhosia)- live in a benevolent military dictatorship in what's left of their empire. They place a great deal of emphasis on honor and battle prowess. Though the great war has ended, they still fight with the empire over a region of contested territory every twenty years or so. The region is just large enough that once one nation is able to fully control it, they are stretched too thin to hold onto it, much less go through and conquer the other.
Tiamat's faction (Thracia)- live in a mercantile state near the empire, their allies. More interested in making money than waging war, though they do have an elite order of wyvern riders. Their military is primarily concerned with protecting trade routes.
Tieflings: rulers of the empire, a traditional aristocracy headed by house Turathi. Typically short-tempered, but otherwise have humanlike personas (they are the descendents of transformed humans). The nobles engage in a lot of intrigue and politics. There is a large emphasis on the military, and they often hold tournaments and wargames. Allies of the Githyanki. Tiefling infernal warlocks often have their power being innate, rather than as a result of a pact. Due to the variety of races that can be found in the empire, a law was enacted some time ago making violent actions against any sentient being illegal.
Aasimar: when the war started to go badly, Pelor gave his blessing to the humans that sided with Arkhosia, transforming them into aasimar in a similar manner to what Asmodeus did to the tieflings. Live in a theocracy dedicated to Pelor located in the same area as the remnants of Arkhosia. Most view the tieflings as tainted, though unlike the Arkhosians they are not looking to start a war again.
Goliaths: Their nomadic tribes typically inhabit the highest mountain peaks, though a few can be found working as mercenaries elsewhere. Pretty much the standard lore.
Shifters: their settlements can be found throughout the wilderness, particularly in the forests. Usually follow Melora/primal spirits, though also have many superstitions about the moon. Unlike other races, there names tend to be along the lines of Stormclaw, Wildrunner, or Moonstalker, gained when they are recognized as adults and descriptive of their accomplishments.
Minotaurs: Their clans can be found all over, honor and glory in battle are of utmost importance to them. A few clans devoted to Baphomet remain, though the empire has exterminated most of them.
Gnolls: Most follow the way of the hyena, they are nomadic and typically dwell in the forest. Often trade with shifters, rarely venture toward more civilized lands.
Drow: Have completely rejected Lolth and moved into the remains of the elven city they conquered. They are governed by the council of thirteen, the matron mothers of the most powerful houses. Their society has become much more stable without the church of Lolth, though they still engage in deadly politics. Like the spartans, they start weeding out the week as children. Males are still viewed as second class citizens.
Genasi: Most live in villages located in places of elemental extremes, most notably underwater, near the volcano, and atop thunder mountain (named for the frequent thunderstorms that occur there, it is also home to a blue dragon). There are also several that make their home in the empire, notably Corona, co-owner of a prominant magic shop.
Changelings: While generally mistrusted, they fall under the generic anti-murder law of the empire. It is illegal for them to impersonate an individual though. Everywhere else, they are usually killed on discovery.
Warforged: Originally built by the gnomes to serve as guards/heavy lifting, they were abandoned when their masters fled to the feywild. Most of the originals have since deactivated, save for a particularly skilled artificer, known as Tank and a devotee of Moradin, who works to construct new warforged.
Kalashtar: The "dual-souls" are half tiefling, half aasimar and their appearence reflects this. It is rare for them to be born, even rarer for them to survive to adulthood. The mixing of magic, when it doesn't outright kill the child tends to have extremely adverse affects on their sanity. Those who are able to reconcile their two halves, however, unlock impressive mental powers (aka kalashtar race bonuses). Aasimar view them as tainted, and are likely to try and kill them. They are protected under the no murder law in the empire, though most do not trust them to remain loyal to the empire.
Goblinoids: Expanded to fill the power vacuum left after the war. They occasionally raid outlying settlements of the civilized nations. Most are nomadic, and follow only those who command respect either through magical skill or battle prowess.
Githyanki: They teleported the entire city of Tu'narath to the material plane when they decided to help the tieflings in the war, and had to stay due to the cataclysm. They have stagnated somewhat, due to the rise of the lich-queen and her practice of soul-draining any who become powerful. There is a growing presence of githyanki mercenaries in the empire because of this.
Githzerai: a small population came to the prime material during the war to combat their evil kin. They fled with the Arkhosians and aasimar, settling nearby due to being unable to set up a planar portal back to the elemental chaos. Most follow Erathis, and there is a strong cultural emphasis on discipline and order.
Kobolds: They moved into the abandoned dwarven mines. Expert miners and trapsmiths, they mine the gems because they like the shinies, and mine the metal because they can trade it to the big people for more shinies. Their government (if you can call it that), is anarchy at its finest. The kobold who is in posession of a certain inscribed hammerhaft known to them as the rod of ruler is the chief. A kobold who successfully steals the rod of ruler becomes the chief (this usually happens once every couple months). They tried other forms of government, but find politics to be quite boring (and it takes up time that could be used for having dance parties, or getting more shinies). They only need someone to be in charge in case they are attacked anyways. Kobolds love traps, especially of the prank variety. Besides the usual lethal death traps to get rid of intruders, there are also paste traps, prestidigitation traps, ghost sound traps, plank traps, and a trap that covers the victim in sticky, green goo.
Wilden: Living in their tree-top villages in the forest, they were mostly unaffected by the conflict below. They have a mutual agreement with the gnolls, shifters, and drow; the wilden stay in the trees, while the others stay on the ground. Have a strong connection to the primal spirits.
Shardmind: Sentient magical phenomena arising from the remnants of the dead god Tu'narath is built on. After observing it, the githyanki discovered how to replicate it so they could use the shardmind as ithillid slayers.
