The races of the world come in all shapes and sizes, with new races appearing and vanishing all the time thanks to the constant presence of magic all across the world. They can come from distant lands, from alternate dimensions or time lines, from magical experiments, and so on. There are, however, a few more dominant races on the world. Before one proceeds, it should be noted that most races have individuals that suffer mutations which exempt them from certain attributes that the rest of their race possesses. In short: Characters do not need to be defined by racial traits, and can typically ignore them of their own free will, if they so wish.
Drow: In spite of their appearances, there is no historical connection between the Elves of the surface and the Drow of the Underdark. Both parties are often offended when the comparison is even drawn in the first place. Drow are often self-centered, deceitful, and distrustful by nature. They don't live as long as Elves, instead living between 500-800 years. Elderly Drow overwhelmingly begin to go insane, committing suicide due to "the compelling whispers in their head" before they die of old age. Drow owe their existence to Llolth, their living Goddess, who keeps herself hidden away in the Underdark.
Drow have green blood, akin to that of the spiders they worship.
Dwarves: A short, stocky people, known to live between 200-400 years. They are known to have an unusual tolerance for alcoholic drinks. They also seem to have a penchant for collecting things. For some dwarves, it could be buttons. For others, gold. For most however, there is a great interest in acquiring magical artifacts. The older and more powerful they are, the more one improves the state of all dwarves. Beyond that, there is little about them that is substantially different from humans, as several half-breeds over the years have shown.
Elves: This long lived, fair skinned people often hail from deep within the Dark Forest, west of the Kingdom of Renalta. They are extremely xenophobic to outsiders, often maintaining nomadic outposts to keep an eye out for intruders to their territory. This isn't for paranoid reasons either: The other mortal races are a dirty lot. Elven children take 50-60 years to mature into adults, and have severely compromised immune systems. One common cold can wipe out every infant in a single village in a period as short as twenty four hours. This has often led to elves being called "the tragedy race" by those who know of their terrible curse. Even without disease, infant mortality is higher than it is in other populations, as the long period of time between childhood and maturity presents them far more opportunities for death than in other populations.
When elves reach adulthood, their immune systems toughen up, becoming able to fight off the diseases of other mortals. However, elven adults can still infect their children with diseases. Therefore, immense precautions are taken in dealing with other races. Speaking at a long distance is common, and any elf that comes into physical contact with another race is quarantined for a period no less than three weeks. Elves who consort commonly with the other races are outcast from their people. Not out of wrath, but out of a sorrowful necessity: Thousands of children are worth more than one elf's social independence.
Attempts to use magic to alleviate this terrible curse have always failed. There is something about elven biology that even magic seems unable to repair. Diseases can be cured, but by the time a disease shows symptoms in their children, it is often too late to save them.
Elves who do manage to survive a tumultuous childhood can live to be as old as 2,000 years. However, only a few elves ever unlock the total potential of that lifetime, and it typically takes them hundreds of years to do so. Most elves go through "lifetimes", periods that last between 100-200 years. Each lifetime, an elf's old memories start to degrade to the point that they can no longer remember how to do old tasks or remember the faces of old friends and family. Thus an elf goes through multiple personality shifts and social roles in a single lifetime. Those few elves who do unlock their total potential cease to forget old memories, and become greater than the average mortal could even dream of: These few elves are what keep the race going, against all odds, until they can find a better way of life than what they have now.
Humans: Humans are one of the oldest races in the known world. They existed before recorded history, and were some of the first empire-makers. In most nations, they tend to be the most visible population. Humans live in nearly every environment on the planet, and though they may not be as physically hardy as orcs, or as mechanically versatile as the mechanists, they've proven time and time again to wield the best overall attributes for survival. Humans breed quickly, and live to be between 40-120 years of life, dependent heavily on their quality of life. It should also be noted that humans are one of the only races capable of interbreeding with all other humanoid races, and even some non-humanoid ones. Some hypothesize that humans were the originator species for most others, but this is heavily debated, as ancient history is often obscured by propaganda.
Mechanists: (Not playable, though characters can have mechanist bloodlines, such as a mechanist grandparent.) Mechanists are an extremely reclusive and mysterious race. It is not known how long they have existed, though they have particular talents with their own technology that mystify even old wizards. They're tall, slender humanoids, with bright green hair. Their legs are longer than most other races. Mechanists and those with mechanist bloodlines can simply touch mechanist technology to awaken it and use it. No inherent skill is required to use it—it simply works as intended. This means mechanist rifles and the like always work in the hands of those with mechanist bloodlines, even if they're untrained.
This does seem to come with a tradeoff. Spirits—especially those which have been trapped in mechanist technology—become extremely aggressive toward mechanists if freed. Even if one freed a spirit, it would often immediately turn on the mechanist and attempt to destroy it in any way it can. Only the most peaceful or powerful of spirits can resist the bloodthirsty urge. Spirits from the Blood Sea's Choir seem inherently immune to this odd quirk as well.
Orcs: A large and powerful race, but also prone to bouts of extreme aggression or sexual promiscuity. Orcs live to be between 30-100 years, dependent on quality of life. The natural, bestial compulsions of humans are amplified greatly in orcs, making even the most stalwart of them struggle to maintain control in the face of great battles, or extraordinarily attractive persons. On the other hand, when in a bestial rage of one sort or another, orcs tend to be even stronger than they normally are, and immune to most pain or shock tactics.
Orcs tend to be between 7-10 feet tall. Humans are one of the only races that can interbreed with orcs, as most other races simply prove infertile for their offspring. Orcs have existed for thousands of years, and the orcs that live in the Goblin Holds are usually a little smaller and less aggressive than their more tribal cousins, who live in mountain ranges. In spite of the increased difficulty, orc mages and orc knights have been known to obtain a great measure of self-control over themselves in most situations, given years of training.
