Species

The most dominant race on the surface of Terra is the human race.

## Humans

Humans occupy about 70% of the world. They built villages, cities, civilizations all across the globe. They are ambitious, robust, and survive in all kinds of weather. Physically diverse, there is not one type of human, however, the difference between males and females is mild.

Humans' greatest allies are wood elves.

## Elves

Elven civilisation rose a short time before humans built their first settlements. Before the Rupture, the event that caused the first elven kingdom to implode, all elves were tall, had a pale complexion, and spoke what is now known as Old Elven. Elves can get up to six centuries old. They age at the same rate as humans until their 30s, where the process of ageing decelerates considerably.

### Ljosalfar

High elves are the natives of Fallvale. They are slender, graceful, and preachers of beauty and style. They are the ones that resemble old elves the closest. They value logic and rationality over emotions and children even get trained to suppress their feelings. High elves make excellent magic-users and agile sword fighters. Other races of Terra tend to view the high elves as arrogant but quite knowledgeable nonetheless. They are the only elven subrace that is sexually compatible with humans. They speak an evolved form of Old Elven, known as Ljosalfari.

### Vidthralfar

Wood elves are the most physically diverse elves, as they have settled in many different parts of the world, scattered among deserts and woodland. They are often referred to as the "Fae". The wood elves of Bravoure are known as the *Gyll'ne Fae* in full, for Bravoure is the Kingdom of Gold. Those in Galies, who have settled in the Great Desert, are the Sand Fae. Most vidthralfar tribes have distinct codes of law and are highly in touch with nature. They speak their own variant of Old Elven named Vidthralfari. They respect animals and trees and do not hesitate to express their disdain for human changes to the environment.

### Dokkalfar

Dark elves inhabit the Dwellunder. As they left the surface long ago and settled deep beneath the ground, secluded from the rest of Terra, their language has not really evolved from Old Elven. Their appearance has, however, drastically changed. They have blueish skin, black hair, sometimes white, and eyes with hues of red. They speak Dokkalfari, which closely resembles Old Elven.

Dark elves worship beauty and style in more extreme ways than their surface counterpart. Passion and emotions are weapons and overrule logic and peace. Each province of the Dwellunder has its own lord, and tensions between ruling families rage across the subterranean empire. Dark elves despise anything not dokkalfar, and they are ready to torture and kill anything that gets in their way. On the surface, dark elves are either hated or feared.

Another dokkalfar tradition is the bearing of two names. The primary name is for family and loved ones, while the secondary name is for strangers or peers. Most dark elves are only known by their secondary names.

## Dwarves

The dwarves are responsible for most of the engineering infrastructure in nations like Bravoure and Vanhaui. They are ingenious, innovative, and mostly, very festive. Dwarves have many traditions that call for a pint of ale. In 350:AV, something happened that historians don't quite recall. The dwarves retreated underground, never to be seen again.

## Sindurs

Sindurs are a particular race of catlike beings native to Ailura. They have the same regenerative abilities as their feline ancestors. They live a cycle of eight rebirths, a total of nine lives. Their life expectancy is shorter than that of a human, but when approaching old age, they plunge deep into a *Koth’enok* trance. The Koth’enok is the sindur ritual of regeneration. After the Koth’enok, they return to the infant state of a man-lynx cub. Their memories are erased. They have to be cared for and raised again by their own children, as is sindur tradition. Their children tell them about their previous lives, and these tales are like ideals they have to excel in the next one.

Sindurs are amateurs of music and art. Artists from lands often travelled to Ailura's capital city to exchange knowledge, meet likeminded creatures, and share their work. Sindur troubadours used to sing and tell poetry in taverns scattered across the world.

In 1101:AV, the sindur homeworld was raided by the sithrax. A lot from sindur history was then lost. Ever since their capture, sindurs have lived as slaves or cattle for the lizardfolk. Sindur slave trade occurs even in the Dwellunder. Those who managed to escape the Raids of Ailura are refugees in the other nations of Terra. They have settled in camps in the wild or, if they were lucky, were granted a home in the cities.

## Sithrax

The sithrax are the lizardfolk of Rallis. They are much taller than humans and whoever looks into the eyes of a sithrax for too long will be overtaken by a deep sense of fear. Sithrax come in various colours, ranging from greyish green to red. Their jaws are large and finished with downward-pointing spikes that look like external teeth. They have thin reptilian lips that stretch across their scaled, elongated faces. The crests on their heads descend onto their backs. The sithrax life expectancy is considerably shorter than a human's, but females are fertile almost until the end of their lives.

The sithrax have a binary view of the races of Terra: they're either sithrax or meat. They are voracious carnivores and sometimes even cannibals. It is not uncommon for sithrax males of a higher status to eat their females as soon as they have sired new generations. This event can even become a public celebration.

Female sithrax are much slender than males, and they possess a venom with psychedelic properties used to arouse a male before mating. This venom can be synthesised into a drug.

## Other

More species of sentient beings populate Terra. However, they have not built wide civilisations that dominate the world. Below are a few examples of such lesser folks.

### Faeries

Faeries fancy woodland untouched by civilization. They live in secluded forests and mountains where they can have their own tiny world and not worry about everything that exists outside of it. Faeries can be divided into four subspecies: fairies, pixies, nymphs, and wisps. They possess powers akin to raw elemental magic, have a mind of their own, and a cheeky sense of humour. Of all faeries, wisps are the most unpredictable, agitated, and tittering sort of beings.

### Birdmen

The birdmen are the inhabitants of the undiscovered Quetza continent. They are a race of birdlike creatures with psychic power and divination magic. They have the ability to compel anyone who sees them never to reveal their existence.

### Centaurs

Centaurs used to populate the forests of Bravoure before the Rule of Sharr. When the dark elf Prince of Mal invaded the land, all centaurs retreated to the forests of Fallvale.

### Lycaons

Lycaons are wolflike creatures who have evolved to stand on two legs. Their intelligence is high but their aggressiveness has been detrimental to their development. Lycaons constantly fight among each other for territory and the probability of stillbirths is sky high. When a human is bit by a lycaons, they are infected with the lycanthropic disease, turning them into werewolves.

### Toadins

Native to the Moors, toadins are froglike species known for their extreme poison. Toadin venom can also be used to craft hallucinogenic drugs. Toadins live in colonies built with mud among swamps and bogs.