The Races of the Dark Eye

The world of Dere is home to several important species, beyond just humans. Most of these species have been the dominating species of a previous era, though their culture is often declining already. This thread is meant to give you an overview of the sentient races of Aventuria, out of which you can choose to submit a character. If you have further questions about the races, feel free to ask them directly here in the thread.

Humans

The humans of Aventuria are the most numerous and dominating race in the late eleventh era. They have come to prominence over the last few thousand years, greatly expanding their reach, from early settlements in the arid regions of central Aventuria, to virtually every region in the continent. There are dozens of different sub-cultures for each human civilization.

Half-Humans

Humans are the only known race capable of creating offspring with other races, more precisely the elves and orks. Half-orks are rare and usually killed after birth, as their brutish appearance leads to them being feared and hated. It should also be noted that humans and orks often find each other disgusting and few unions between the two races are known. Far more common are half-elves, the children of a mortal human and an immortal elf. They are not quite immortal, but benefit from greatly slowed ageing, the beauty and the natural magical talents of their elven parent, while not suffering from their inhuman worldview when choosing to live with the human side of their family. They can be found everywhere in Aventuria, but especially in the Middenrealm and the Nivesian Lands, where humans and elves interact more often.

Elves

Graceful, agelessly immortal, with an otherworldly beauty and a natural talent for magic, the pointy-eared elves are one of the most powerful sapient races of Aventuria. They are not native to the continent, or even the world, instead hailing from another sphere, a place of light and dream, as they describe it themselves. By their nature, most elves have difficulty understanding cornerstones of human culture, such as religion, politics or even material possessions, as none of these are known to them in their small settlements. Elves who are born and live in these settlements often have trouble fitting in with humans, should they ever even meet them. In return, an elf who accepts and assimilates to the human culture is known as badoc in their language, which means they rejected their elven culture. They are viewed with suspicion by their fellow elves, but have little problem fitting into most human societies. An elf who is not badoc often appears naïve to human minds, though their worldview is quite the opposite, it is merely very different from everything humans believe in. Elves can be seemingly absent-minded and idealistic in one moment, but ruthlessly brutal in another, which can make for an unsettling combination. However, humans who spend longer time among elves describe their society as peaceful and supportive towards each other. There is no hierarchy among elves, no known kings or nobility and the very concept is strange to elven minds.

During the early eleventh era, they were the dominating species in Aventuria, during an age known as the Era of the High Elves. However, a devastating war between the High Elves shattered their empire and drove them to near extinction. The survivors have recovered in different tribes, but the peak of elven culture is lost to them. Today, only three tribes remain and the elven race as a whole is slowly declining. The Rime Elves of the far north are the ones most in touch with their high elven ancestry, searching through the ruins of their old empire and trying to recover what was lost. They are solitary and stern, having less contact with the mortal races of Aventuria. When they come across the other races, their interactions are often hostile and Rime Elves are among the most rarely seen races in Aventuria. The Wood Elves are similarly solitary, living in the forests north of the Middenrealm. Their realm is threatened by the ever growing human kingdoms, which has sparked aggression between them. Finally, the Lea Elves, the most commonly seen elven tribe. They live on the outskirts of human society, often freely interacting with them and they have, as a result, less trouble adapting and fitting in with them. There are even known instances where humans and elves fall in love despite their differences. The offspring of such unions are half-elves, long-lived and magically talented, yet not immortal or quite as powerful as their elven parent. The Lea Elves are responsible for the impression that all elves are kind and peaceful, as a result of their often positive and sometimes even openly hostile if not left alone.

Dwarves

Dwarves are the children of Angrosh, whom many scholars see as another name for the human god Ingerimm, god of fire and craftsmanship. His virtues are inherent in most dwarves, who are known as brilliant craftsmen and miners. They prefer to live beneath the ground, as their natural affinity for stone makes them at ease when around the element, yet they are naturally nervous in wide, open spaces. Short and strong, they are natural warriors and craftsmen. Once a contender for the dominating species of the eleventh era, they are the second-most numerous and powerful race of Aventuria, only second after the humans. Their mountain kingdoms can be found in many of the mountain ranges of Aventuria and there is quite an active contact with humans, to the point where many dwarves even outright live in human cities, where their craftsmanship and tireless work ethic usually promises a great career for them. They are immune to the effects of most poison or intoxicating beverages. Having a beard is a sign of dignity in all dwarven cultures and most dwarves never shave. Those who do often do it after a great personal loss or failure, to express their shame and sorrow. They also live for longer than the average human, but are not immortal or immune to the effects of old age. In general, they can easily reach an age of several hundred years though and a dwarf is not considered to be an adult until he is in his fifties. Magic is extremely rare among dwarves and those few who possess magic are viewed with suspicion by their kind, who believes all magic to be an inherent curse of their age-old enemies, the dragons.

There are numerous dwarven sub-cultures, but there are three who are the most common and numerous ones. The Anvil Dwarves are the largest tribe. Fierce warriors and bold adventurers, they have strong martial traditions and when they interact with humans, it is often to offer their work as mercenaries. The heart of their kingdom is located in the Anvil mountains, from which they have an active exchange of goods and culture with the Middenrealm. The Ore Dwarves are more solitary and conservative, rarely leaving the borders of their mountain kingdoms. They uphold tradition and memory, but are also renowned scientists, whose skills in math and astronomy far exceed that of most human cultures. Finally, the Brilliant Dwarves, who are the most talented craftsmen among the dwarven race. Often greedy, they are known as merchants and tireless miners, who love creating beautiful things. With only few mountain cities, they are less numerous, but at the same time, they are the most well-known of the dwarven kind, due to their curious nature and habit of travelling human lands as merchants or explorers.

Achaz

The Achaz, also known as Lizardfolk, are tall, humanoid lizards and the remnants of a once-great empire during the tenth era. Back then, they have been the dominant species of the Aventurain continent, but a set of devastating wars with the human nation of Tulamidiya and the High Elves drove them to near extinction. Today, they can be mostly found on the island of Maraskan and in the jungles and swamps of southern Aventuria. Interaction with humans is rare, except for some of the city states of the south. The old Achaz empire has been known for cruelty towards other races, who were often callously used as slaves. The other races have not forgotten this and Achaz are usually viewed with suspicion at best and hostility at worst. The Achaz of Maraskan are trying to uphold their old ways even today and are often hostile towards other races, whereas the southern Achaz are trying to improve the opinions on their people. They have strong tribal bonds and have their own pantheon to worship. Their gods are worshipped by humans as well, but under different names. Among their pantheon are several entities who are considered to be Archdemons by human priests as well, which does not help with improving the negative opinion they have of the Achaz. The Lizardfolk is terrified of their gods and any higher being, as their religion teaches that the H’ranga, as they call divine beings, are cruel and vindictive monsters, who must not be angered, else they would destroy the world. Appeasing the H’ranga is a major part of Achaz culture.

Orks

Slightly smaller than humans, but stockier and covered in short black or dark brown fur are the orks of the northern Orklands. Found almost exclusively there, they are organized around several tribes, who often march to war against their neighbouring human kingdoms, the nation of Thorwal and the Middenrealm province of Meadows. Nobody knows how numerous the orks are, as they are mostly hostile towards other races. However, on the outskirts of the Orklands, humans and orks occasionally interact, live side by side and trade. Orks are skilled riders and passionate raiders, who pillage human settlements and have marched against the Middenrealm in full force at least once before. They worship dark gods, Brazoragh, the god of Slaughter, as well as Tairach, the Blood God. As virtually the only race in Aventuria, they strongly separate genders. Only male orks are considered to be orks by themselves and allowed to have any kind of position at all. Female orks are usually seen as animals by the males and use for little more than breeding purposes and menial tasks. This disgusting tradition does not help with endearing them to the other races, especially as male orks are notably more aggressive and brutal than the usually peaceful female orks. Half-orks exist in the outskirts of the human nations, but they are almost always the product of rape and are viewed with suspicion and hostility by the humans around them. Despite their savage ways, the Orks are powerful and should not be underestimated, yet they are not evil by nature and have, in the past, even coexisted peacefully with humans. Nowadays, most of the orks willing to live and work alongside humans can be found in the Vale of Svellt on the outskirts of the Orklands, or in the bornlandish city of Uhdenmount, where orks and goblins make up a sizeable portion of the population.

Goblins

Small, thin and ape-like creatures, mostly covered in red fur, the goblins live primarily in the north of Aventuria. They are seen as primitive and less intelligent than humans, but actually have a refined, shamanistic culture and once had a great empire, before their nation was destroyed by human knights. They are also not less smart than humans, even if their lack of education often makes them seem that way. Today, few traces remain of their past glory and most goblins live in ghettos in the northern human cities, mostly in the Bornland, which was build upon the ruins of the goblin empire and where they still make up a majority of the population. Those goblins are often seen as second-class citizens by their human neighbours and tensions run high between the two races. Other goblins live in the wilds, where they make a living as raiders. Only rarely does a goblin leave the northern regions and they are usually seen as exotic animals to the people of the south. They don’t live as long as humans and fifty is considered extremely old for a goblin. Despite being seen as less intelligent by the humans, they can actually be quite cunning and their minds are just as sharp as that of their human neighbours.

Trolls

Trolls are an ancient race, one of the oldest in the known world. They were the dominant species of the sixth era, but their past glory is lost completely. Only a few hundred trolls live to this day and they are faced with slow extinction, but once, they have been powerful. They are over twelve feet tall and lanky, covered in thick hair and with generally broad, but somewhat human-like features. As children of the giant Rashtul, who is worshipped as Rastullah by the human Novadis, they were his devoted servants for most of the sixth age, until their slow corruption by the Nameless One. The resulting wars shattered the Troll empire and were the catalyst for the other gods to move against the Nameless One. The remaining trolls have redeemed themselves, though they still lament the empire they lost. Dedicated to preserving wisdom, modern trolls are solitary and peaceful, keeping out of the affairs of the young races. They are rarely seen, but live mostly in the Troll Peaks in the southern Middenrealm.

Ogres

Often seen as identical with trolls by uneducated humans, ogres are actually their own race and have nothing in common with trolls. They are smaller and stockier than them, but still notably larger than humans, being ten feet tall at average. Inhumanly strong, but with dull minds, they don’t have a significant culture of their own, but are a menace to the humans of Aventuria. Ogres are organized in primitive tribes and live mostly by plundering human settlements, as they have not developed agriculture. They are aggressive, but not entirely unreasonable and it is recorded that peaceful dealings between humans and ogres are possible. They are also easily manipulated and have been used for wars against human nations in the past. The slightly more intelligent type of ogre are known as black ogres, for being the only ogres with black body hair. They are almost as intelligent as humans and can actually make a living for themselves in human settlements, but due to their history, they are not welcome in northern cities. As a result, most black ogres live in the city states of the south, where they use their strength and (for ogre standards) genius intellect to make a living.

Dragons

Finally, the dragons. The oldest, wisest and most powerful of the sapient races of Aventuria, dragons are servants of the gods and have been the dominating species of the fourth era. There are numerous types of dragons, but only some are considered sapient. Others are barely intelligent, or even outright animals and not considered the same species as the intelligent and wise types of dragons. The most powerful type of dragon is the Emperor Dragon. Usually over forty feet long, they can reach a length of more than a hundred feet. They are masters of magic and virtually immortal, even beyond the fact that they are hard to injure at all. The heart of a dragon is a soulstone, also known as a carbuncle, a huge, red gem that contains the dragons soul and all of his magic. When a dragon’s physical body dies, they retreat to the carbuncle, which in itself cannot be destroyed by any known means. Emperor Dragons are solitary and prideful, their interaction with mortals can vary between peaceful and cooperative or aggressive. Of note are also twelve dragons, the progenitors of their race, who have been created by the gods themselves. They are known as the six High Dragons and the six Ancient Dragons. The High Dragons reside in other spheres, at least two even in Alveran itself, where they have duties over specific aspects of creation. The High Dragon Famerlor, Lord of Lightning, is even the consort of the goddess Rondra and father of her son, the demigod Kor. Meanwhile, the Ancient Dragons reside in Aventuria and guard specific aspects of the sphere’s fragile stability. The most famous of them is Pyrdacor, Guardian of the Elements. Corrupted by his power, he declared himself a god and meddled with the fates of his two favourite races, the High Elves and Achaz, resulting in a series of devastating wars that saw the destruction of both of their empires. He is the creator and father of Pardona, the corrupted High Elf who, against Pyrdacor’s outspoken wishes, became the highest servant of the Nameless One in Aventuria. For his crimes, the dwarves fought a war against him and eventually killed him, sparking the eternal hatred between dwarves and dragons, though his soul lives on in his soulstone, safely guarded by the Ore Dwarves of Xorlosh.

Other races

There are other sapient races that were not described in detail here. This is mostly because they will either play no role in the story, or because very little is known about them. The seventh era saw a race of giant, sapient insects and spiders as the dominating species, but they are considered long extinct in Aventuria and only few of their ruins remain in the southern jungles. The same applies to the cat people of the sixth era, who have migrated to the continent of Myranor and cannot be found at all in Aventuria. The ninth era was the era of the maritime species and their remnants still live in the deep waters around Aventuria. They are known as Hummerians and Krakonians, but they are exclusively hostile to other races, rarely leave their kingdoms and openly serve and worship the Archdemon Charyptoroth, which limits interactions with other races to a minimum.