Races

There are several intelligent civilisations in the Western Realms, as well as some that many would not call civilised. The orcs, kobolds, goblins all dwell in underground cities but these are usually the leavings of past generations they don't create themselves. The beholders and illithids do build but they tend to be on a small scale each for a handful of denizens.

Humans

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Found almost everywhere, they are the commonest intelligent race within the realms. Their short lives and fecundity have allowed them to populate almost all of the lands east and west of the Carontine Wall. There are several sub-race of humans all adapted to their different environmental niches. The tall blond peoples of the northern mountains, the short, dark Bormarians, the green eyed, red haired peoples of the north west plains and the slim doe-eyed denizens of the Kasirov Archipelago. These are of course broad generalisations, years of conquests and migrations have led to these distinctions breaking down. They regard all humans as brothers, they are the People, the Folk. They share common bonds and common enemies .

Elves

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Persecuted almost to extinction after the Great Plague, the long lived elves are struggling to survive as they have few children. This is due more to habit rather than biology and messengers have been sent out to the smaller forests from the Elf Queen bidding her subjects to have more children. Sadly this seems to have fallen on deaf ears, a depression has taken the elves heart and it may never give it back. The elves occupy scattered colonies throughout the Realms, one of the largest is on the Free Isles at Deepdale. There are also a few communities of sea-elves living in and around the limestone atolls off of the southern coasts. Pale Elves live in caverns beneath the mountains of the Carontine Wall and rumours tell of disaffected adolescent wood elves leaving the forests to join with the shadow elves. They have been seen fighting alongside each other against the hated humans and dwarves.

Dwarves

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Short, stocky, bearded, heavy drinkers, foul tempered and dark hearted. Tree haters, Dark dwellers, Kinslayers. Fearless, boisterous, strong, clever. Dwarves in the Western Realms are feared and respected in equal amounts. They have brought wealth and security to many nations with their mines and inventions but have never had a land of their own, preferring instead to create cities above and below ground within the boundaries of other countries. There are two types of dwarves in the Realms. The black haired (Kurdenrast) and the red haired (Blysdenrast). The former are dark, scheming and greedy,tending to secrecy and plotting, the Kurdenrast keep themselves to themselves and live in caverns deep below ground. The Blysdenrast are hot tempered but more warm hearted and tend to mix better with humans. All dwarves however dislike elves to a lesser or greater degree and fear giants.

Giants

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Giantish legends say that the giants were the first people, carved by the gods from the mountains themselves. From the chips and splinters grew humans, dwarves and the other creatures of the world. All other creatures apart from elves that is, who were created separately. The giants have a lot of respect and love for the forest folk, seeing in them a shared love of life and art. While giants carve stone, elves work with wood. Where giants look after mountains, elves tend the forests. The giants love and care for the mountains brings them intto conflict with the dwarves. Giants don't object to the harvesting of of rocks and minerals, but some dwarves (particularly the Kunderast) have been ripping the hearts from mountains in their hunger for wealth.

Halflings

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Jolly, bumbling, devil-may-care are the impression given by most halflings to the outside world. These attitudes may be true but they also have a serious streak. They care deeply about right and wrong, about justice and have a love of fairness. No race despises them, the dwarves see them as below their concern while elves look upon them as children. Through this they have got by without being oppressed or hurt by other races. They have often risen to places of power in courts around the Realms as advisers and judges, especially in the rolling hills and green pastures of Doralin where most live.

Gnomes

Gnomes, like dwarves were said to have come into being as chips from the primordial mountains when the gods carved out the giants. However they were always a race apart, they kept themselves to themselves seeking knowledge and lore and fought on both sides during the great war. It was they who maintained and piloted the sky-ships using the technology of the Ancients. Since the war few if any have been seen and it is rumoured that they all now dwell on the floating island of Serraine that travels the world once in a generation and its coming is the portent of chaos and change.

The Undersea Peoples

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As well as the sea-elves' cities other intelligent races have made their home beneath the waves. The Sahuagin, ancient enemies of the sea-elves along with the tritons and the merfolk also have cities in various places around the shores of Doralin and Bomaris. Just as their counterparts on the land have been persecuted, so have their aquatic relatives. The land based races know little of these peoples, other than tales passed down to children. The undersea peoples tend for the most part to ignore their land based cousins unless they stray into one of their holy sites.

The Serpent Folk

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There is one distinct area in which few humans, elves, dwarves, giants or halflings live. The jungles and swamps of Coranos. The hot humid air, the thick vegetation and low lying swamps criss-crossed by meandering watercourses are the home to the serpent-folk. Tall with tough scaly skin in various shades of blue, green, brown, gold or a mottled combination of all three they would strike fear into any who saw them. Walking on two knobbly legs which end in 3 toes feet, each toe ending in a curved claw. Their fore limbs are short but strong with nimble fingers. Their faces are narrow with long snouts full of sharp serrated teeth from between which a long red forked tongue flicks out, ceaselessly tasting the air. It is said that the serpent folk are the most magically adept of all the races of the Western Realms. None that have ventured into the jungles have returned to tell whether this is true or not. It is also said that worse aberrations dwell in the deepest parts of the jungle worshipping their dread deities in huge stepped pyramids of obsidian.

The Leopard Men

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The jungles of northern Coranos are dense and almost impossible to penetrate. Within these forests live the Leopard Men or as they call themselves Tabaxi. They mistrust and avoid contact with others especially the Serpent Folk who enslave them whenever they can. They are graceful and intelligent, artistic and cultured. These feline like humanoids tell tales of a long lost Tabaxi civilisation that existed in the Western Realms long before humans arrived.

Dragons

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Dragons are rare in the Western Realms. They are restricted to the Carontine Wall and the inland peaks of Doralin and Bomaris. Hunted for their skin, their teeth and their treasure most are now reclusive and mistrustful of all bar the elves and giants. They are wise and thoughtful beasts, though some have been twisted by grief, greed and a desire for revenge.

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