Races
From Crucible
Contents |
Dwarves
Twisted and perverse creations of the deities of evil, dwarves are a stunted strain of humanity created to be shock troops for the reawakened pantheon. The last to escape from Vana prior to its destruction (abandoning their creators in a fit of pique), they have quickly begun carving out underground empires from which to rebuild their engines of war and establish dominance. Dwarves are generally reviled by all, and unwelcome by anyone except those in search of battlefield mercenaries.
Elans
Creations of the furtive deity Susurrus, Elan are part of an experiment in longevity. While only common in the area surrounding the Parched Sovereignty, word of a new form of immortality not involving undeath is attracting a great many converts to the cause. Generally anyone capable of making it through the Parched Lands and into the Mirror Obelisk in a single living piece to ask for transformation is worthy of gaining it.
Elves
The Elves are unique on Crucible in the respect that few, if any of their race were included in the exodus. This is not to say they are a dying race, however. A great many Elves were deeply engaged in a campaign to secure the Plane of Shadow when Vala was torn asunder, and have since migrated to Crucible via planar gates, establishing fortified settlements far from the other nations, who have a justified grudge against their race. The Elves, for their part, consider the destruction of the old world as the ends justifying the means.
The last of the races created by the original gods of good, and made by Tyr in his image (or so the Elves believe), the Elven race has long pursued the twin goals of maintaining Law and achieving absolute perfection. As far as the Elves are concerned, if you can’t be the best at something, it isn’t worth doing. With the fairly recent transfer of power from Tyr to Zyo, the Elven Nation has also acquired a strong sense of duty. Arranged in a strict hierarchal military structure starting from birth, and unwilling to deprive the world of their perfection, the Elves have initiated “troop replenishment” strictures, amounting to arranged marriages based on military rank.
Elf, Dark
Forcibly expelled from Vana for their steadfast refusal to renounce all gods but Tyr, the neutral Dark Elves have thrived in the deep caverns of Crucible for many years, only recently coming into conflict with the second wave immigrants, as the perverse dwarves carve out fresh underground kingdoms. Although initially at a disadvantage on the surface of the new world from branding by their cousins in the Great Elven Host, repeated contact with warped and discarded magics fortified the dark elves and allowed them to flourish in formally inhospitable environments.
Gnomes
Halflings
Half-Elves
Considered a failed breeding experiment by the Elves, who were attempting to “uplift” humanity, the half-elves were abandoned to Crucible at roughly the same time as the banishment of the half-orcs. Struggling to endure and reforge a civilization without any exterior assistance to fall back on, the insular half-elves grimly sealed their fortified cities against the majority of the second wave Vana exiles. While in recent years the half-elves have reopened their communities to trade and settlers, they are still often perceived as haughty and standoffish. Half-elves are one of the few races the Elves genuinely get along with, though they are still viewed with pity and treated with condescension by their kin. Typically, Half-Elves govern the oldest established cities on Crucible, and as such are the most likely NPC’s to have levels in the aristocrat class.
Half-Orcs
First generation exiles to Crucible due to their "tainted" blood, it was the stable communities already in place at the time of the exodus that ensured the survival of the masses in the wake of the flight from Vana. With well-established migratory patterns and tribal councils hewn out of the sweat and blood of generations, the nomadic half-orcs could have easily turned a blind eye to the refugees, but to the surprise and shame of many expatriates, they welcomed the newcomers with open arms. Generally half-orcs well regarded as fierce protectors, stoic community leaders, and staunch wilderness survivalists, except by the Elves, who regard them with repugnance (the feeling is mutual).
