Races

Among the youngest of the races in the world, humans spread farther than their elder kin despite their brief lifespans. Driven by the urgency of their mortality, humans became compelled to leave their mark upon the world in whatever time they had. The old empires and civilizations of humanity were built upon the tenets of conquest, dominance, and glory, expanding rapidly across vast territories until they grew too large to sustain themselves and began to fracture from within. Thus ended the silver era of humanity, a civilization divided by its own ambitions and ultimately finished off by the Orphidian warlords.

Known as the Orphid in their own tongue, they are among the oldest of the races to inhabit the world. Originally a nomadic people, the Orphid wandered the world to its extremes due to their extremely long lifespans. Some Orphid eventually settled into clans of warlords who eventually united into the First Great Orphidian Empire. Most Orphid however, remained nomadic or settled in remote or hidden villages.

A race who once stood side by side with the Orphid of old, the Dver were renowned for their skill as builders and smiths. As the first of their brethren, the Stone Bloods stood at the forefront of ancient history alongside the elder Orphid. Their craft was held in highest regard among the Orphidian kingdoms, and they built their cities throughout mountains with domains that spanned entire mountain ranges. From the deepest cavern to the highest peak, the Dver ruled and thrived, building ever higher and digging ever deeper.

Halflings are the cousins of humanity, sharing much of their drive and curiosity but standing at roughly half their height. These small folk have carved out a place in the world through their adaptability and natural charm, creating communities that value comfort, fellowship, and the simple pleasures of life. While many halflings are content to live as rural folk in pastoral villages and farming settlements, it is not uncommon to see them wandering the world as merchants, performers, or adventurers drawn by an irrepressible curiosity about what lies beyond the next hill.

The Mistforged are halflings who wandered into the Shadenlands and heeded the call of the mists, becoming consumed and reborn through its otherworldly influence. This transformation has left them as hardy survivors, but also cursed them with an unusual susceptibility to misfortune that seems to follow them wherever they go. They exist in a state that can only be described as barely corporeal, their forms flickering between solid flesh and wisps of shadow, as if they never fully returned from their journey into the mists.

The Zhighel are among the most ancient races to walk the world, with some scholars suggesting they predate even the Orphid, though such claims remain unverified. What cannot be disputed is that the Zhighel have built a caste system so rigid and absolute that it has transcended social organization to become a force of biological evolution itself. For millennia, they have divided themselves into specialized castes locked into specific roles with such unwavering dedication that advancement became literally impossible, and the very concept of ambition withered among the lower castes.

Natives of the Shadenland, the Shade are deceptive beings who exist as living contradictions to the natural order. They can take the form of a person but can hardly be described as such, for their basic form is that of a living shadow, amorphous and made of darkness and smoke. Born from the void between worlds, Shades are creatures of pure entropy whose very essence is antithetical to creation, designed to twist and corrupt all they touch.

Death is not always the end. Some souls refuse to pass into the beyond, clinging to the mortal realm through dark magic, unfinished business, or terrible curses. These are the undead, beings who have crossed the threshold between life and death yet remain bound to the world of the living. Whether through necromantic rituals, tragic circumstances, or their own desperate will to persist, they exist in a state between worlds.