Vros kindred

One of the three great Humanoid kindreds of Iuldar, often called the "Elf-like" kindred. Of the three, the Vros of today have the lowest population, but during the Time of Sages, they were the masters of the world. The fall of the great Elven civilizations of the Time of Sages is what caused the beginning of the Era of Man.

## Classification

*Main: Category:Vros Races*

The Vros and Jhoshik kindreds are sometimes collectively called "Hashuranites", because of their shared descent from the Hashbrin of the pre-classical Hashuran civilization. While it is easy to think that the Hashuran Hashbrin split into two groups, one of which became the Vros and the other of which became the Jhoshik, that isn't quite the case. Indeed, some Vros races are more closely related, biologically, to members of the Jhoshik kindred than they are to other Vrosim. What separates the Vros from the Jhoshik is not descent, but rather the state of the khaalnas, the magic system inside every Humanoid of Iuldar. In the Vros, this system wends its way throughout the whole body, wrapping around internal organs and bringing an unparalleled sense for magic, while in the Jhoshik the only organs that it wraps around are the heart and lungs, giving Jhoshikim a weaker connection with magic. The reason that the distinction between Vros and Jhoshik is calculated this way is that magical proclivity was much more visible than descent to the Iuldari taxonomists who created the concept of the kindreds.

The Vros kindred can be divided into several branches, the most prominent of which is that of the Elves, leading to the kindred's alternate name. But there are a number of other branches in addition to this.

### Elves

The lineage of the Elves could be considered the "main branch" of the Vros kindred, though they are actually more closely related to the main branch of the Jhoshik kindred than they are to other members of the Vros kindred.

* *Prime Elves* (presently extinct)
* Moon Elves
* High Elves
* Wood Elves
* Grey Elves
* Pale Elves
* Dark Elves
* Shadow Elves
* Dusk Elves
* Torn Elves

### Gnomoids

Most closely related to the Elves out of the other Vros branches, they are themselves more closely related to certain "fringe" Jhoshikim than the rest of the Vros.

* *Shyyndrir* (presently extinct)
	+ Gnomes
* Biiru

### Rakshasoids

A group of Vrosim who have historically been enemies of the Elves. This lineage is known for being the result of deliberate magical mutation by Iuldar's first Immortal. They are not to be confused with the Rakshi (a Telrosian Vros offshoot), though the Rakshasa race is so named because of interbreeding with Rakshi.

* *Sanrhyyk* (presently extinct)
* *Choguki* (presently extinct)
* *Huyyati* (presently extinct)
* Rakshasas

### Telrosian Vros / Rakshi

While most of the members of the Vros kindred are inhabitants of Iuldar, an event in the past sent a large number of Poryys to the nearby planet Telros, where they established a lineage of their own. Known as the Rakshi kindred, they are beings of Telros, though some populations have made their way back to Iuldar and established settlements there. They are not to be confused with the Rakshasoids or the Rakshasa race, though the latter is so named because of Rakshi interbreeding.

* *Poryys* (Originally of Iuldar, presently extinct)
* **The Rakshi Kindred of Telros**
	+ Naga (An Iuldar-returner Rakshi race)
	+ Lamia (Descended from Nagas)

## Characteristics

The Vros tend to look very similar to the humans of Earth, but there are significant differences. For one thing, most of the members of the Vros kindred have thin, pointed ears. They also tend to have smaller, more gracile frames than their fellow Humanoids. Vrosim of the Elf lineage have also developed photophores in their irises that give them a mild glow. Vrosim across all lineages tend to have skin that is more melanin-colored than the Hoshr, but also have more additional pigments than the Jhoshik. This leads to a variety of blues, violets, reds, and yellows in Vros skin, alongside more traditional "human" skin colors. Another major feature of the Vros is their lifespans. While other Humanoids are not known to regularly exceed a few hundred years at most - indeed most of them don't even make it that far - Vros tend to experience lifespans that measure several hundred years long.

The most salient feature of the Vros is their great natural magical proclivity. With very few exceptions, members of the Vros kindred tend to be very magically-inclined. This also manifests in their ability to sense magical emissions around them, including the auras of nearby people. However, this doesn't mean that they absolutely exceed all other races in magic in every single case. In fact, the truth about the Vrosish khaalnas is that the maximum magical potential of a Vrosite is fixed at birth, often at a very high value, but fixed nonetheless. By contrast, both Jhoshik and Hoshr magical potentials continually grow throughout the individual's life, with upper limits only determined by their lifespan and the laws of physics. Nonetheless, The Vros kindred, and Elves in particular, are still considered to be Iuldar's greatest natural mages.