Tiphan

**Brief Summary**

A realm in the early time of the rise and spread of the human race, and its voracious ambition (both for good and ill) for expansion and empire.  Much of Tiphan is still largely unclaimed, unsettled, and untamed, at least by the so-called "civilized races".

As "progress" reaches out into lands previously ruled by either the laws of the wild or, worse, controlled by savage creatures and/or primitive cultures, the somewhat delicate balance of things is sometimes moved aside, sometimes assimilated, and at times can erupt into dangerous and unforeseen consequences.
In many cases, as they observe mostly from the safety of their ancestral lands, the elves and the dwarves are left to shake their heads at the blind ambition, and oft times folly, of the humans as they attempt exploration and/or expansion into locales long since forfeited to the forces of entropy, or cruelty and conquest, by other societies of days long ago.

The ancient races of elves, gnomes, dwarves, and halflings take different approaches to their integration (or lack thereof) with the emerging world of human kingdoms, republics, and industry.

**The Elven Nations**:

A proud and ancient race, with links and heritage, although somewhat far removed, with the Fey Lands, the Elves largely view the current "explosion" of human civilization as a brief and mostly futile exercise in greed and/or naivete.  An "arms-length friendship" is in place, to stave off the annoyance of having to repel the attempt of human expansion into the Elven Forest Kingdoms, but for the most part the Elves are content to "let the humans play at civilization".

**The Gnomes:**

Living mostly in conjunction with, and under the protection of, the Elves, the gnomish race is not interested in large-scale building of a racial civilization of their own.  They are more content to maintain their connection(s) with the Fey Lands and to also, in curious juxtaposition, to discover new marvels of science and invention. There is currently a divergence of sorts happening within the race on this topic, although not one that puts them at antagonistic stance with one another.  For the most part, they are, or they choose to be (?), oblivious and/or unconcerned with the human "epidemic", although this is likely to change soon with the developments that are likely to put their interests either in opposition to, or in alignment with, as the case may be, what the human society wave may become.

**The Dwarven Kingdoms:**

While MOST of what is said of the Elves, might apply to the Dwarves, they see the opportunity for trade and industry with the humans, and are in the early stages of offering aid in exploration and expansion efforts, but to be sure ALWAYS to their own benefit first and foremost.  The Dwarves can supply the materials, tools, and weaponry that are desperately needed by the human people(s), while gaining not only gold, which they love, but agricultural goods that the dwarves are just not all that interested in cultivating and/or that their homelands actually make impossible.  The value that increased supply and variation of these goods flowing into the Dwarven Kingdoms, and always with the Dwarves on the more profitable side of the transaction, is sure to grow and strengthen their firm hold on their domains.

**The Halflings:**

 The Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves aren't really sure where the Halflings "came from"... They've always been around... or have they?  Largely ignored by... well everyone, Halflings are always content to move from place to place, not stepping on any toes, and attempting to become symbiotic to established societies.  They, for reason unknown or possible for no particular reason, mostly have engaged in this "latching on" with human cities and the humans, viewing them as helpful and non-threatening, have welcomed them into the society, with most city-planning including the halfling villages in alongside the city itself.  Halflings are largely integrated with most parts of human cities and civilization.  In addition to those who meld in to citizens of normal sort, tradesmen, farmers, shopkeeps, etc., there is a subset of Halflings who, like the Dwarves, seek to profit off the big silly humans, but FROM WITHIN.

**Half-Elves:**

Almost universally shunned by the Elven Nations and are almost always found with and considered HUMAN.  However, most human society thinks they are very interesting, a boon, a curiosity, etc... and that they may help to bridge the divide with their elven-kin.

**Half-Orcs**:

A modern day mating and off-spring of Orc and Human would be distasteful to most in human society, there is a historical fact that during the early parts of human history, when they were more tribal, there were such occurrences on a scale large enough to have resulted in as much as 5-6% of the human population to have Orc heritage at some level.  MOST of the Half-Orcs found in human civilization today are not literally the product of the union of Orc and Human, but instead the somewhat uncommon occurrence of children born with the resurgence of this bloodline (genetics).  They are slightly ill-judged by "normal humans", but accepted in society all the same.

**META-GAMING: DRAGONBORN**
The Dragonborn... for the most part unknown by human societies, and only rarely acquainted with or spoke of in rumor with the older races, the Dragonborn have yet to make any large-scale introduction onto the world stage.  They exist.. somewhere.. far off... it is possible the settlement(s) of their proud clans may be stumbled upon, at some point, by the changes sweeping the world of Tiphan.

META-GAMING: GOLIATH
The Goliath... the products of interaction between tribal humans and Giant-kin, the Goliath are another race who does not exist in any quantity, nor in an immediate proximity to the majority of "civilization" (yet).  The Dwarves have some minor knowledge and interaction with them, but for the most part they are not "in play" at this time.

**META-GAMING: Tiefling**
The Tiefling... while it is possible for a handful, literally, of Tieflings to exist, or to have existed, somewhere and at sometime... this "race" does not currently exist as a standardized ancestral heritage.  The Blood War raging between the Abyss and Nine Hells, across the lower planes, although certainly not remotely common knowledge, has, as of yet, not boiled over into Tiphan, and the human race is largely not of interest to the Fiends, again YET.