The Beasts Within

The armies of the Imperium include many monstrous elements. Ogres, minotaurs, giants, and other large intelligent creatures serve as shock troops and siege engines. Smaller, craftier monstrous beings such as goblins and kobolds are employed as scouts, skirmishers, and assassins.
 
By Imperial law, any soldier that serves with honor for twenty years can retire a full citizen regardless of origin. Imperial law also makes the children of any citizen freeborn. Finally, any slave that has earned freedom through the kindness of his or her master or through skill at arms in the fighting pits such as the Bloodwrought Coliseum is considered a freeman. Thus, there are many freeborn monstrous humanoids living in the cities of the Imperium.
 
The numbers of monstrous freeborn are limited, however. The causes for this are many, but the central one is simply that the monstrous nature of these individuals drives them to break the law in various ways, and they quickly find themselves hunted, imprisoned, or enslaved for their crimes. 
 
Nonetheless, it is not uncommon to find the occasional civilized monstrous freeborn in any corner of the Imperium. Indeed, some monstrous citizens have risen to prominence.
 
When the Occident fell, refugees of all stripes came to Regis Vale. These included monstrous freeborn and citizens. In addition, the former Imperial garrison in Regis Vale included many monstrous soldiers, a good portion of whom surrendered when the armies of King Donner came to annex the city and expel the Imperium.
 
The city of Regis Vale, alone among the cities of the Kingdom of the West, openly tolerates monstrous inhabitants thanks to its unique position in geography and history. Laws apply, however, and monstrous individuals often find themselves in trouble when they give in to the worst of their inborn tendencies.
 
Monstrous characters are generally refugees from the Imperium. Depending on social status, they are full citizens, former soldiers, freemen (by might or by mercy), freeborn, or escaped slaves.