Races

## Anadyr

The long-lived anadyr are children of the natural world, similar in many superficial ways to the Forefathers, though with key differences. While Forefathers are truly linked to the flora and fauna of their homes, existing as the nearly immortal voices and guardians of the wilderness, anadyr are instead mortals who are in tune with the natural world around them. Anadyr seek to live in balance with the wild and understand it better than most other mortals. Some of this understanding is mystical, but an equal part comes from the anadyr’ long lifespans, which in turn gives them long-ranging outlooks. Anadyrs’ can expect to remain active in the same locale for centuries. By necessity, they must learn to maintain sustainable lifestyles, and this is most easily done when they work with nature, rather than attempting to bend it to their will. However, their links to nature are not entirely driven by pragmatism. Anadyrs’ bodies slowly change over time, taking on a physical representation of their mental and spiritual states, and those who dwell in a region for a long period of time find themselves physically adapting to match their surroundings, most noticeably taking on coloration that reflects the local environment.

Anadyr value their privacy and traditions, and while they are often slow to make friends at both the personal and national levels, once an outsider is accepted as a comrade, the resulting alliances can last for generations. Anadyr take great joy in forging alliances with races that share or exceed their long lifetimes, and often work to befriend dragons, outsiders, and fey. Those anadyr who spend their lives among the short-lived races, on the other hand, often develop a skewed perception of mortality and become morose, the result of watching wave after wave of companions age and die before their eyes.

Physical Description: Generally taller than Människa, anadyr possess a graceful, slender physique that is accentuated by their long, pointed ears. It is a mistake, however, to consider them weak or feeble, as the thin limbs of an anadyr can contain surprising power. Their eyes are wide and almond-shaped, and filled with large, vibrantly coloured pupils. The colouration of anadyr as a whole varies wildly, and is much more diverse than that of människa populations. However, as their coloration often matches their surroundings, the anadyr of a single community may appear quite similar. Forest-dwelling anadyr often have variations of green, brown, and tan in their hair, eye, and even skin tones.

While anadyren clothing often plays off the beauty of the natural world, those anadyrs who live in cities tend to bedeck themselves in the latest fashions. Where city-dwelling anadyrs encounter other urbanites, the anadyr are often fashion trendsetters.

Society: Many anadyrs feel a bond with nature and strive to live in harmony with the natural world. Although, like most, anadyr prefer bountiful lands where resources are plentiful, when driven to live in harsher climates, they work hard to protect and shepherd the region’s bounty, and learn how to maximise the benefit they receive from what little can be harvested. When they can carve out a sustainable, reliable life in deserts and wastelands, they take pride as a society in the accomplishment. While this can make them excellent guides to outsiders they befriend who must travel through such lands, their disdain of those who have not learned to live off the scant land as they have makes such friends rare.

Anadyr have an innate gift for craftsmanship and artistry, especially when working in wood, bone, ivory, or leather. Most, however, find manipulating earth and stone to be distasteful, and prefer to avoid forging, stonework, and pottery. When such work must be done within a community, a few anadyr may find themselves drawn to it, but regardless of their craftsmanship, such “dirt-wrights” are generally seen by other anadyr as being a bit off. In the most insular of anadyren societies, they may even be treated as lower class.

Anadyr also have an appreciation for the written word, magic, and painstaking research. Their naturally keen minds and senses, combined with their inborn patience, make them particularly suited to wizardry. Arcane research and accomplishment are seen as both practical goals, in line with being a soldier or architect, and artistic endeavours as great as poetry or sculpture. Within anadyren society, wizards are held in extremely high regard as masters of an art both powerful and aesthetically valued. Other spellcasters are not disdained, but do not gain the praise lavished upon anadyren Wizards.

Relations: Anadyr are prone to dismissing other races, writing them off as rash and impulsive, yet on an individual level, they are excellent judges of character. In many cases an elf will come to value a specific member of another race, seeing that individual as deserving and respectable, while still dismissing the race as a whole. If called on this behaviour, the anadyr often doesn’t understand why his “special friend” is upset, the anadyr has noticed the friend is “so much better than the rest of his kind.” Even anadyr who see such prejudice for what it is must constantly watch themselves to prevent such views from colouring their thinking.

Anadyr are not foolish enough, however, to dismiss all aspects of other races and cultures. An anadyr might not want a katari neighbour, but would be the first to acknowledge Katari's skill at smithing and their tenacity in facing Människa threats. Anadyr regard liten-tjock as strange (and sometimes dangerous) curiosities, but regard their magical talent as being worthy of praise and respect. Anadyr are also fascinated with människa, who seem to live in a few short years as full a life as an anadyr manages in centuries. In fact, many anadyr become infatuated with the människa, as evidenced by the number of half-anadyr in the world. Anadyr have difficulty accepting crossbreeds of any sort, however, and usually disown such offspring.

Alignment and Religion: Anadyr are emotional and capricious, yet value kindness and beauty. Most anadyr are chaotic good, wishing all creatures to be safe and happy, but unwilling to sacrifice personal freedom or choice to accomplish such goals. They prefer deities who share their love of the mystic qualities of the world.

Adventurers: Many anadyr embark on adventures out of a desire to explore the world, leaving their secluded realms to reclaim forgotten anadyren magic or search out lost kingdoms established millennia ago by their ancestors. This need to see a wider world is accepted by their societies as a natural part of becoming mature and experienced individuals. Such anadyr are expected to return in some few decades and take up lives in their homelands once more, enriched both in treasure and in worldview. For those anadyr raised among människa, however, life within their homes—watching friends and family swiftly age and die—is often stifling, and the ephemeral and unfettered life of an adventurer holds a natural appeal. Anadyr generally eschew melee because of their relative frailty, preferring instead to engage enemies at range. Most see combat as unpleasant even when needful, and prefer it be done as quickly as possible, preferably without getting close enough to smell their foes. This preference for making war at a distance, coupled with their natural accuracy and grasp of the arcane, encourages anadyr to pursue classes such as wizards and rangers.

## Katari

Katari are a stoic but stern race, ensconced in cities carved from the hearts of the earth. More than any other race, Katari have acquired a reputation as humorless workers of the earth. It could be said that their history shapes a different future for their kind, for they reside in the ground, secreted away from the other races.

Katari are lovers of history and tradition, and their long lifespan leads to far less in the way of generational shifts in attitudes, styles, fashions, and trends than the shorter-lived races have. If a thing is not broken, they do not fix it or change it; and if it is broken, they fix it rather than replace it. Thrifty as a rule, dwarves are loath to discard anything unless it is truly destroyed and unable to be fixed. At the same time, Kataris’ meticulous, near-obsessive attention to detail and durability in their craftsmanship makes breakages a rare occurrence, as the things they make are built to last. As a result, buildings, artwork, tools, housewares, garments, weapons, and virtually everything else made by dwarves still sees regular use at an age when such items would be relegated to museum pieces, dusty antique shelves, or junkyard fodder by other races. Taken together, these traits create the impression that Katari aren't a race bound by time.

Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as Katari are both thoughtful and imaginative, willing to experiment, if always keen to refine and perfect a new technique or product before moving on to the next one. Katari have achieved feats of metallurgy, stonework, and engineering that have consistently outpaced the technological advances of other races, though some non-katarin races have used magic to supplement and perfect their own creations to achieve the same ends through mystical rather than mundane means. They are also a race typified by stubborn courage and dedication to seeing tasks through to completion, whatever the risks. These traits have led Katari to explore and settle in extreme environments that would cause other races to quail and retreat. From the darkest depths of the underworld to the highest mountain peaks, from rusting iron citadels along desolate rocky coasts to squat jungle ziggurats, Kataris' have established their enclaves and redoubts, holding them against all comers or perishing to the last and leaving only their enduring monuments to stand as their legacy. While it is said that they are not venturesome or inventive, it would be more accurate to say that they maintain a focus on and dedication to each task they undertake and every change they adopt, vetting such changes thoroughly before adopting them wholeheartedly. When faced with new circumstances and new needs, they react by applying tried and true tools and techniques systematically, using existing methods whenever possible rather than trying to invent novel solutions for every situation. If necessity requires, however, they throw themselves with equal vigor into developing the next perfect procedure for demolishing the obstacles that get in their way. Once their desired goal is obtained, they focus on consolidating each new piece of territory or conceptual advance. Katari thus rarely overextend themselves, but they also may miss opportunities to seize the initiative and maximize the advantages they create.

* + Physical Description\*\*: Katari are a short and stocky race, and stand about a foot shorter than most Människa, with wide, compact bodies that account for their burly appearance. Male and female kataries pride themselves on the long length of their hair, and men often decorate their beards with a variety of clasps and intricate braids. Clean-shavenness on a male dwarf is a sure sign of madness, or worse—no one familiar with their race trusts a beardless katarin man.

* + Society\*\*: Katari live as a large society in their great stone citadels. Although the cities themselves are few and far between, when an outsider comes acroos one, they are to be astonished at the great kinship between all katarin near and far.

* + Relations\*\*: Katari and Människa have long dwelt in proximity to one another, and share a history of violence as old as both races. Katari generally distrust and shun any other races. They find Anadyr, and Liten-Tjock to be too frail, flighty, or “pretty” to be worthy of proper respect. But despit their differences it is with Människa that katari share the strongest link, for Människas’ industrious nature and hearty appetites come closest to matching those of the katarin ideal.

* + Alignment and Religion\*\*: Katari are driven by honor and tradition. While they are often stereotyped as standoffish, they have a strong sense of friendship and justice, and those who win their trust understand that while they work hard, they play even harder—especially when good ale is involved. Most Kataris are lawful good.

* + Adventurers\*\*: Although katarin adventurers are rare compared to the Anadyr they can be found in most regions of the world. Katari often leave the confines of their redoubts to seek glory for their clans, to find wealth with which to enrich the fortress-homes of their birth, or to reclaim fallen katari citadels from racial enemies. Katari warfare is often characterized by tunnel fighting and melee combat, and as such most dwarves tend toward classes such as fighter and barbarians.

## Liten-Tjock

Liten-Tjock are distant relatives of the fey, and their history tells of a time when they lived in the fey’s mysterious realm, a place where colours are brighter, the wildlands wilder, and emotions more primal. Unknown forces drove the ancient liten-tjocks from that realm long ago, forcing them to seek refuge in this world; despite this, the liten-tjocks have never completely abandoned their fey roots or adapted to mortal culture. Though liten-tjocks are no longer truly fey, their fey heritage can be seen in their innate magic powers, their oft-capricious natures, and their outlooks on life and the world.

Liten-Tjock can have the same concerns and motivations as members of other races, but just as often they are driven by passions and desires that non-liten-tjocks see as eccentric at best, and nonsensical at worst. A liten-tjock may risk his life to taste the food at a giant’s table, to reach the bottom of a pit just because it would be the lowest place he’s ever been, or to tell jokes to a dragon—and to the liten-tjock those goals are as worthy as researching a new spell, gaining vast wealth, or putting down a powerful evil force. While such apparently fickle and impulsive acts are not universal among liten-tjocks, they are common enough for the race as a whole to have earned a reputation for being impetuous and at least a little mad.

Combined with their diminutive sizes, vibrant coloration, and lack of concern for the opinions of others, these attitudes have caused liten-tjocks to be widely regarded by the other races as alien and strange. Liten-Tjock, in turn, are often amazed how alike other common, civilised races are. It seems stranger to a liten-tjock that människa and anadyr share so many similarities than that the liten-tjocks do not. Indeed, liten-tjocks often confound their allies by treating everyone who is not a liten-tjock as part of a single, vast non-liten-tjock collective race.

Physical Description: Liten-Tjock are one of the smallest of the common races, generally standing just over 3 feet in height. Despite their small frames, however, liten-tjocks are extremely resilient, and not as weak as many of their foes assume. Though their diminutive stature reduces their ability to move quickly, liten-tjocks often train to take advantage of their size, especially when fighting foes much larger than themselves.

The coloration of liten-tjocks varies so wildly that many outsiders assume liten-tjocks commonly use dyes and illusions to change their skin and hair tones. While liten-tjocks are certainly not above cosmetic enhancement (and may wish to change their appearance just to see how outlandish they can look), their natural hues truly range over a rainbow of coloration. Their hair tends toward vibrant colours such as the fiery orange of autumn leaves, the verdant green of forests at springtime, or the deep reds and purples of wildflowers in bloom. Similarly, their flesh tones range from earthy browns to floral pinks, and liten-tjocks with black, pastel blue, or even green skin are not unknown. Liten-Tjock’ coloration has little regard for heredity, with the colour of a liten-tjock’s parents and other kin having no apparent bearing on the liten-tjock’s appearance. Liten-Tjock possess highly mutable facial characteristics, and their proportions often don’t match the norm of other humanoid races. Many have overly large mouths and eyes, an effect which can be both disturbing and stunning, depending on the individual. Others may have extremely small features spread over an otherwise blank expanse of face, or may mix shockingly large eyes with a tiny, pursed mouth and a pert button of a nose. Liten-Tjock rarely take pride in or show embarrassment about their features, but members of other races often fixate on a liten-tjock’s most prominent feature and attempt to use it as the focus of insults or endearments.

Society: Unlike most races, liten-tjocks do not generally organise themselves within classic societal structures. Liten-Tjock cities are unusual and liten-tjock kingdoms almost unknown. Further, liten-tjocks have no particular tendency to gather in specific neighbourhoods even when a large number of them live among other races. While specific laws meant to contain the potential impact of liten-tjocks on a society may require a “liten-tjock quarter,” and societal pressure sometimes causes all non-liten-tjocks to move away from areas with high liten-tjock populations, left to their own devices, liten-tjocks tend to spread evenly throughout communities that allow them.

However, even when liten-tjocks are common within a community as a group, individual liten-tjocks tend to be always on the move. Whimsical creatures at heart, they typically travel alone or with temporary companions, ever seeking new and more exciting experiences. They rarely form enduring relationships among themselves or with members of other races, instead pursuing crafts, professions, or collections with a passion that borders on zealotry. If a liten-tjock does settle in an area or stay with a group for a longer period, it is almost always the result of some benefit that area gives to a vocation or obsession to which the liten-tjock had dedicated himself.

Despite their extremely varied backgrounds and lack of a unifying homeland, liten-tjocks do possess some common cultural traits. Male liten-tjocks have a strange fondness for unusual hats and headgear, often wearing the most expensive and ostentatious head-covering they can afford (and that their chosen careers will allow them to wear without causing problems). Females rarely cover their heads, but proudly wear elaborate and eccentric hairstyles that often include intricate jewelled combs and headpieces.

Relations: Liten-Tjock have difficulty interacting with the other races, on both emotional and physical levels. In many ways the very fact other races see liten-tjocks as odd is itself the thing liten-tjocks find most odd about other races, and this leads to a strong lack of common ground upon which understanding and relationships can be built. When two liten-tjocks encounter one another, they generally assume some mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached, no matter how different their beliefs and traditions may be. Even if this turns out not to be the case, the liten-tjocks continue to look for commonalities in their dealings with each other. The inability or unwillingness of members of other races to make the same effort when dealing with liten-tjocks is both frustrating and confusing to most liten-tjocks.

In many ways, it is liten-tjocks’ strong connection to a wide range of apparently unconnected ideas that makes it difficult for other races to build relationships with them. Liten-Tjock humour, for example, is often focused on physical pranks, nonsensical rhyming nicknames, and efforts to convince others of outrageous lies that strain all credibility. Liten-Tjock find such efforts hysterically funny, but their pranks often come across as malicious or senseless to other races, while liten-tjocks in turn tend to think of the taller races as dull and lumbering giants. Liten-Tjock get along reasonably well with människa, who at least have some traditions of bizarre, liten-tjock-like humour. Liten-Tjock generally feel katari and half-katari need to lighten up, and attempt to bring levity into their lives with tricks, jokes, and outrageous tales the more dour races simply cannot see the sense of. Liten-Tjocks respect elves, but often grow frustrated with the slow pace at which members of the long-lived race make decisions. To liten-tjocks, action is always better than inaction, and many liten-tjocks carry several highly involved projects with them at all times to keep themselves entertained during rest periods.

Alignment and Religion: Although liten-tjocks are impulsive tricksters, with sometimes inscrutable motives and equally confusing methods, their hearts are generally in the right place. What may seem a malicious act to a non-liten-tjock is more likely an effort to introduce new acquaintances to new experiences, however unpleasant the experiences may be. Liten-Tjock are prone to powerful fits of emotion, and find themselves most at peace within the natural world. They are usually neutral good, and prefer to worship deities who value individuality and nature.

Adventurers: Liten-Tjock’ propensity for wanderlust, deep curiosity, and desire to master odd or esoteric skills and languages make them natural adventurers. They often become wanderers to experience new aspects of life, for nothing is as novel as the uncounted dangers facing adventurers. Many liten-tjocks see adventuring as the only worthwhile purpose in life, and seek out adventures for no other motive than to experience them. Other liten-tjocks desire to find some lost lore or material that has ties to their chosen vocation and believe only dragon hoards and ancient ruins can contain the lore they need, which can result in liten-tjocks who think of themselves as bakers or weavers being just as accomplished adventurers as those who declare themselves to be mages or scouts.

Liten-Tjock are physically weak compared to many races, and see this as a simple fact of life to be planned for accordingly. Most adventuring liten-tjocks make up for their weakness with a proclivity for sorcery or bardic music, while others turn to alchemy or exotic weapons to grant them an edge in conflicts.

## Människa

Människas possess exceptional drive and a great capacity to endure and expand, and as such are currently the dominant race in the world. Their empires and nations are vast, sprawling things, and the citizens of these societies carve names for themselves with the strength of their sword arms and the power of their spells. Människaity is best characterised by its tumultuousness and diversity, and människa cultures run the gamut from savage but honourable tribes to decadent, devil-worshipping noble families in the most cosmopolitan cities. människas’ curiosity and ambition often triumph over their predilection for a sedentary lifestyle, and many leave their homes to explore the innumerable forgotten corners of the world or lead mighty armies to conquer their neighbours, simply because they can.

Människa society is a strange amalgam of nostalgia and futurism, being enamoured of past glories and wistfully remembered “golden ages,” yet at the same time quick to discard tradition and history and strike off into new ventures. Relics of the past are kept as prized antiques and museum pieces, as människas love to collect things—not only inanimate relics but also living creatures—to display for their amusement or to serve by their side. Other races suggest this behaviour is due to a deep-rooted urge to dominate and assert power in the människa psyche, an urge to take, till, or tame the wild things and places of the world. Those with a more charitable view believe människas are simply collectors of experiences, and the things they take and keep, whether living, dead, or never alive, are just tokens to remind themselves of the places they have gone, the things they have seen, and the deeds they have accomplished. Their present and future value is just a bonus; their real value is as an ongoing reminder of the inevitable progress of the race.

Människa in many places are fascinated by older races and cultures, though at times they grow frustrated or even contemptuous of ancient and (to their mind) outmoded traditions. Their attitudes toward other races are thus a curious mix of exoticism and even fetishism, though usually with a very superficial level of understanding and appreciation of those cultures, alongside a deeply rooted arrogance that means most människas have a hard time regarding themselves as anything other than the default standard of society. människa scholars engaged in the study of other races—who might be assumed to be the most cosmopolitan and well versed in their nature and culture—have often proved no better than the less-learned members of their race when it comes to genuine closing of the social distance. Människas are gregarious, often friendly, and willing to mix and interact with others, but their sheer obliviousness to their off handed marginalisation of others is what so chagrins other races when dealing with them.

Of course, well-meaning, blundering ignorance and numerical superiority are not the only things that make other races suspicious of människas. Entirely too many examples can be found throughout history wherein människa xenophobia and intolerance has led to social isolationism, civil oppression, bloody purges, inquisitions, mob violence, and open war. Människas are not the only race to hate what is different among them, but they seem to have a susceptibility to fear-mongering and suspicion, whether about race, language, religion, class, gender, or another difference. More moderate människa citizens often sit idly by while their more extreme compatriots dominate the political and cultural conversation, yet there are also many who stand in opposition to extremists and embody a spirit of unity across the bounds of difference, transcending barriers and forming alliances and relationships both large and small across every colour, creed, country, or species.

Physical Description: The physical characteristics of människas are as varied as the world’s climes. From the dark-skinned tribesmen of the southern continents to the pale and barbaric raiders of the northern lands, människas possess a wide variety of skin colours, body types, and facial features. Generally speaking, männsika skin colour assumes a darker hue the closer to the equator they live. At the same time, bone structure, hair colour and texture, eye colour, and a host of facial and bodily phenotypic characteristics vary immensely from one locale to another. Cheekbones may be high or broad, noses aquiline or flat, and lips full or thin; eyes range wildly in hue, some deep set in their sockets, and others with full epicanthic folds. Appearance is hardly random, of course, and familial, tribal, or national commonalities often allow the knowledgeable to identify a människas place of origin on sight, or at least to hazard a good guess. människas’ origins are also indicated through their traditional styles of bodily decoration, not only in the clothing or jewellery worn, but also in elaborate hairstyles, piercing, tattooing, and even scarification.

Society: människa society comprises a multitude of governments, attitudes, and lifestyles. Though the oldest människa cultures trace their histories thousands of years into the past, when compared to the societies of other races like anadyr and katari, människa society seems to be in a state of constant flux as empires fragment and new kingdoms subsume the old. In general, människas are known for their flexibility, ingenuity, and ambition. Other races sometimes envy människas their seemingly limitless adaptability, not so much biologically speaking but in their willingness to step beyond the known and press on to whatever might await them. While many or even most människas as individuals are content to stay within their comfortable routine, there is a dauntless spirit of discovery endemic to människas as a species that drives them in striving toward possibilities beyond every horizon.

Relations: människas are fecund, and their drive and numbers often spur them into contact with other races during bouts of territorial expansion and colonisation. In many cases, this tendency leads to violence and war, yet människas are also swift to forgive and forge alliances with races who do not try to match or exceed them in violence. Proud, sometimes to the point of arrogance, människas might look upon katari as miserly drunkards, anadyr as flighty fops, liten-tjock as craven thieves, and half-anadyr and half-katari as embarrassments—but the race’s diversity among its own members also makes many människas quite adept at accepting others for what they are. människas may become so absorbed in their own affairs that they remain ignorant of the language and culture of others, and some take this ignorance to a hateful extreme of intolerance, oppression, and rarely even extermination of others they perceive as dangerous, strange, or “impure.” Thankfully, while such incidents and movements may taint all of människaity in the eyes of some, they are more often the exception than the rule.

Alignment and Religion: Människaity is perhaps the most diverse of all the common races, with a capacity for both great evil and boundless good. Some människas assemble into vast barbaric hordes, while others build sprawling cities that cover miles. Taken as a whole, most människas are neutral, yet they generally tend to congregate in nations and civilizations with specific alignments. människas also have the widest range of gods and religions, lacking other races’ ties to tradition and eager to turn to anyone offering them glory or protection.

Adventurers: Ambition alone drives countless människas, and for many, adventuring serves as a means to an end, whether it be wealth, acclaim, social status, or arcane knowledge. A few pursue adventuring careers simply for the thrill of danger. Människas hail from a myriad of regions and backgrounds, and as such can fill any role within an adventuring party