The People of Ralken

Dearest Reader,

The study of Anthropology is different. Though your peers may be headed off to a magical college or a weapons guild to train, you have chosen the path of knowledge. This path is a noble one, and I wish you the best of luck in your studies.

* Yorkum, Dean of Anthropology at the College of Valor

Races of Ralken

**Humans**

The human race is the most populous of the world, and humans can be found nearly anywhere. They are versatile, being able to wield both weapons and magic. Humans come in many varieties, and generally tend toward the betterment of the world. The majority of humans reside in the East, where the great city of Two Flags sits upon the coast.

**Elves**

The elves are a powerful people, having conquered an entire continent. They are beings of powerful magic, politics, and nature. The Elf Kingdom is located in a continent they have named Alfheim, where the majority of the elves reside. The capital city of Alfheim is Brightwood.

**Dwarves**

The dwarves were an ancient people, going extinct at the hands of a cruel demigod. They were a very advanced society, mixing technology and magic to create giant cities and machines. The dwarven capital was a city named Muspelheim, now Celestia.

**Dragons (and dragonborn)**

The dragons rule the south, where the Capitol Nest stands. They began a friendship with the humans long ago, and eventually they began breeding, creating the dragonborn. The dragons are very rare these days, but the dragonborn continue to prosper. They are beings of pride and power.

**Goblins**

The goblins are the most technologically advanced of the current population. They reside in the West, where they live in massive, mechanical, moving cities that pump out smog and grease. The goblins learned metalcraft during their enslavement to the Giants, and they used this knowledge to aid the dragons against the giants. Their capital city is named New Morkenheim, after Morkenheim, a city that was destroyed during a war.

**Tiefling**

The Tiefling people are quite rare in ralken. They have no true home on the material plane, where they live on the edge of society. They are shunned for being half demon, and have no capital city.

**Orc**

The orcs are a tribal people, living in small tribes around the world.

**Centaurs**

The centaurs are the prideful, traditionalist people of the middle lands. They live free and happy. They are people of nature, and tend toward druidism and music and dance, some traveling as bards.

**Halfling**

The halfling people are becoming more and more rare, but they can still be found in most places humans can be found.

**Gnome**

The Gnommish are a secretive and rare people. They live in small guilds in the Underland as well as the denser forests of the surface, but rarely have contact with the outside world.

**Satyr**

The Satyrs are spawn of the god Pan, and live to revel and enjoy life. They have short lifespans, but they live life to the fullest.

**Ingrid**

The ingrid are fallen angels, and like tieflings are shunned for not belonging.

**Archon (Terran, Ignan, Aeran, Aquan)**

The Archons are elemental beings that travel from the elemental planes to the material plane. Archons are quite rare, but not unheard of.

**Starfolk**

The Starfolk are the sailors of the Inbetween, the chaotic emptiness between planes. They fly around on enchanted battleships, occasionally crossing over into reality to make trades or settle down. They are nearly nonexistent in the material plane.

**Moonfolk**

The moonfolk are a secretive and powerful people, very adept in the work of magic and exceptionally in tune with nature. Their blood is touched by the fae, and they all have snow white hair.

**Sunfolk**

The sunfolk are bright and cheerful beings, resembling humans but having a small amount of fae blood in their veins, giving them magical ability. They all have ginger hair.

**Bramble**

The bramble are beings of the forest, who look mostly human, but are generally larger, have grey/green skin, and the ability to speak to trees and plants.

**Kobold**

The Kobold are small, dragonish people who live in the craggy mountains of the southern regions. They are somewhat a cross between goblins and dragonborn.

**Sliver**

The slivers are a hive minded folk who have just recently arrived from the eastern sea. They are snakelike, dragon-like, and otherworldly. They are a rare sight and generally live offshore.

**Nephilim**

The Nephilim are the incredibly rare offspring of a celestial, such as an angel, and an abyssal, such as a demon. They are incredibly uncommon, and as such most people are unaware of their existence. They take on the characteristics of both parents, and are usually quite magically powerful.

**Changeling**

The changelings are strange folk of fae descent. They are stark white, hairless, with flattened noses and bright large eyes in their true form, but they have the uncanny ability to shape their appearance at will.

**Merfolk**

The merfolk are half fish, half human beings that live in the shallow to mid depth oceans, in large coral cities. They are a gentle people, but very defensive of their homeland. They possess some innate magic.

**Hollowgast**

The hollow are the magical people that rule the northern reaches. They are extremely adept in magical skill, but physically weak and fragile. They resemble grey, robed humans with large horned masks for heads. These heads are empty, save for 2-9 balls of light that dance around inside the hollow skull. The Hollow use these lights to communicate.

**Precursors**

The precursors were enormous, 6 armed beings that aided the gods in the formation of the planes. They are extinct in the material plane.

**Giants**

The giants were once very powerful, ruling over a large portion of the world. After their loss in the war against the dragons, they slowly became less and less populous, until today, with only a few giant clans left in the world.

**Umbra**

The umbra are a race of dark beings living on  an island by the name of Nowhere. They are very rare and secretive, only leaving their island for short periods of time.