Bestiary

Apelings are peculiar to the Southlands. Even here they are a rare sight outside of the remote valleys they call home.
They worship Shallanar'raki a being they say is beyond the gods, beyond the understanding of any sentient being

The Church of Tebbit, the religious body that rules over the theocracy of Ermentrude claims that Badgerfolk were created to protect their holy land. That the Badgerfolk existed for at least many hundreds of years before Ermentrude was formed this seems unlikely. It is more probable they were created by fae or wild magick.
They live in small clans they call cettes across the forests of Ermentrude, it is true that many of them do join the militant wings of the Church of Tebbit. The Arch Bishop's Muscatelle Guard, his personal protection, consist entirely of Badgerfolk.

Born of the blood of the great dragons that once ruled all the lands, and still claim dominance in the Southlands. Dragonborn are a proud and noble race.

Most serve in the Dragon Realms as faithful servants to the Dragon kings that dominate still, while others walk the lands as seekers of wisdom, questing knights of Bahamut, or simple explorers. A drive for self-improvement pushes Dragonborn to excellence, and true mastery of a single skill can become one's life goal.

In Cortanta, dragons long fell from favour (see the dragon realm invasion of 1060), and so a Dragonborn can often be met with distrust. Other times they can be seen as the chosen of Bahamut, and give n warm welcome as an omen of the god’s favor. Either way, it’s rare for one to be dismissed out of hand by any but the most xenophobic of communities.

Wherever the land forms hills or mountains, a community of Dwarfs can be found. Hard working, loyal and resolute, they make great friends, allies and craftsmen. Without the Dwarven race, the great underpasses that cutting below many mountain ranges would have never been created. These wonders of engineering and stone craft form the basis of innumerable trade routes connecting the myriad realms and kingdoms together.

Dwarfs are most populous in Contanta and beneath the World Crown mountains of Ned, but communities even thrive in the Southlands, albeit in fealty to the great Dragon masters of that land. One of the Free States, the Purple Hills, is populated largely by dwarfs.

90% of all the gnomes in Taranis live in the only Gnomish kingdom of Karranz’Mitztobarr, located on the north west tip of the southlands, just across what they call the Straight of Levann from Gef. For most of known history the gnomes have been a secretive race, living either in the cavernous subterranean city of Mitzobarr its self or in one of the surrounding settlements that surround, some also in the caves and tunnels below ground, some in the woodland on the surface. Gnomes who wandered the rest of Taranis were outcasts, either by their own design or having being exiled.
Rumour has always followed the gnome, exactly what are they hiding in their city, where no outsider is permitted to set foot? Individual gnomes often seem jolly enough and sometimes become productive members of their adoptive societies, but those who know the arcane arts say there is something dark at the heart of the race.
About three hundred years ago King Bendwin XI ascended the throne of Karranz’Mitzobarr and to a large part he has opened it up to the outside world. Diplomats from most realms have been permitted with in it’s halls, but only ever those found on the first few levels. Visitors tell of deeper halls from which they were barred. Those who return from Mitzobarr tell of horrific dark dreams which plagued them during their stay, and some have never returned, apparently killed in a rockfall, or of some other sudden death, always their body is unavailable to be returned to their kin.

Although they call themselves the Children of the Thora, amongst the other races these barbarian giants of Ned are simply known as Goliaths. They are one of the most populous races of the Northern continent, making their homes in the foothills of the Worldcrown mountains. They follow the faith of the Thora, and believe their gods still rest upon the peaks of the Worldcrown, waiting for the time they shall rise and once again sweep across Taranis in a wave of death and brutality.

Not known for their spirit of adventure or exploration, Goliath are rare in the other continents, unless as bodyguards, mercenaries, or occasionally working in construction crews as muscle. There was a time Goliath galleys would raid the northern coast of Cortanta, but Gef's Naval dominance has made this an uncommon occurrence in the modern era.

The diminutive humanoids known to most as the Halflings are constricted mostly to the Ohara desert. Their lore tells of a time when they thrived on the northern coast, what is now known as the Kashte Coast. Here they may not have been numerous but it seems they were powerful mages. The remains of their towns and temples are sometimes stumbled across in the jungle, fine buildings and complex structures that could only have been constructed by powerful magics, tangles of ivory and ebony and green marble, second only to the flying cities of the elves in terms of the awe they inspire.

If legend is to be believed many hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago a dread threat faced the mortal realms and only the halflings of the Kashte Coast stood between the peoples of the world and annihilation. The heads of each of the schools of magic gathered, we know naught except they numbered seven, and they chose a champion. All hopes rested upon this one warrior, variously called Toamin, Tallin, Dallin and many other variants. This paragon went forth into the world, backed by all the magic the halflings could muster.

Tallin must have been successful for the world is still here, though what became of the chosen one is lost to history. The halfling magicks were broken though and other, darker, entities spilled forth from the jungle to take advantage of their weakened state, not least among them the snake headed naga.

Nowadays the halflings are vastly reduced in number, and forced into the Ohara Desert where they live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, in the winter months they live in make shift towns, the clapboard houses a mockery of the palaces they left behind. In the summer they follow their herds of cattle across the desert finding what grass they can, even as it withers in the arid heat.

The High Elves of modern Taranis are the fallen remnant of a once great empire, far to the East. It is said their arcane mastery once rivalled that of the gods and most ancient dragons. The spires of their mighty cities reached beyond the clouds. They could animate legions of Warforged battle golems to do battle with their foes, and project their astral forms out beyond the Veil of this reality to explore the elemental planes.

This all ended 2000 years ago, when a revolution of their slave caste of Teiflings lead to the rumination of the entire eastern continent. What happened is lost to time, but its said that darkness blotted out the sun, demons walked freely upon the land, and villages would appear and disappear like phantoms in the mist.

The High Elves of today are descendants of refugees. A lucky few were able to flee that blighted land upon great flying cities, although the creation and operation of those wondrous creations is beyond the artificers and mages of today.

Of those cities only 4 survived to this day. Mase Thalore and Yln Thalore lie on the eastern coast coast of Contanta, being two of the trinity of cities that evolved into the Kingdom of Gef. Thaho Thalore lies upon the horn of Ned, forming a wealthy trading port. In the Southern Realms, Unyma Thalore was quickly integrated into the Dragon Kingdoms under the domination of the Brass Dragon Gethris.

Humans are ubiquitous throughout the three continents. Like cultural chameleons, they adapt to all environments with a flexibility that no other race can match, and their ambitious nature pushes them to thrive in any situation.

Humans are believed to have emerged from the Eastern lands of the Continent of Contanta, near where the Free States and the Empire of Gef now lie. What enabled them to spread across the world so ubiquitouly is a cause for debate amongst scholars, but the favoured theory is that their adaptability made then an excellent servant class for some previous powerful civilisation

Orcs are a survivor race, an attitude that permeates their entire culture and belief system.

Facing adversity makes you stronger, and thus those who do not face constant challenges are weak and unworthy. They do not seek to plough the land but instead hunt or raid for their survival (the two activities being near synonymous in their mindset.

Orcish tribes thrive where other races falter. They can be found in deserts, frozen tundra, wastelands and any other terrain inhospitable to the weaker races. They breed prodigiously, allowing them to replenish the tribes numbers, and are not fussy who they breed with. Although their parenting instinct is considered lesser than other races, they do not discriminate between pure blood orc and half blood from other races, considering all children to be of the tribe.

Orcs are populous across the three continents, but are rarely welcome in urban areas, due to their bad reputations. However they're often given warm welcomes in the encampments of goblins, Teiflings and barbarian humans, as long as their tribes are not in conflict. After all, outcasts must stick together, and a strong arm is always useful.

Teiflings are a nomadic folk, travelling in beautifully decorated caravans across the length and breadth of Cortanta. Though they have a reputation as devil worshippers, few Teifling put their faith in anyone more than theirselves and their clan.
Teiflings are not a natural born race. Were one to listen to the oral histories of their bards, you'd learn they claim ancestry from humans. Long ago, in an empire to the east, they were a slave race to the High Elves. Their masters sought to create ever more powerful servants to aid them in their arcane studies, and through dark ritual summoned fiends from the lower planes to inter breed with their servants and birth a new race. This need was ultimately their falling, as the newly empowered race of Teifling rose up to overthrow their masters in a bloody conflict that ultimately destroyed the entire continent.
Without the resources and arcane mysteries of their overlords, the Teifling refugee's desperate journey across the seas to the west was far slower and more treacherous. By the time the first ships made landfall the Elves had already made allies and spread their narrative of events. Yet again the Teifling people found themselves to be an underclass, unwanted wherever they walked. Here in this new world, however, they were free.

Ancient scrolls tell of an age where the High Elves of the eastern empire could command great legions of unkillable battle automata, battle golems created from steel and magic and powered by arcane energies. Whether this is truth or mere legend, none can say, for the knowledge of that great empire is long lost.

There are, however, many peculiar statues of elven design traded by collectors of curiosities, that are often passed off as the Warforged of these tales. If one were to perhaps find the correct ritual to reignite their artificial souls, perhaps one might be reawakened….

Deep within the wild forests, far from prying eyes, the Wood Elves live in harmony with nature. Most communities lead simple lives, hunting game, gathering food, and growing vegetables, and their skill and magic allow them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. They are talented artisans, crafting finely worked clothes and art objects. Their contact with outsiders is usually limited, though a few elves make a good living by trading crafted items for metals (which they have no interest in mining)·

In the realm of Kryptgarden, however, there was a great upheaval. A conflict with the Half-Orcs two decades age lead to the loss of the Giant Golden Badger cete that was both the communities spiritual symbol and their sacred charge. With their extinction, it's believed that the gods of nature lost faith in the Kryptgarden enclave. Magics failed, crops were lost, and their High Cleric disappeared. The
enclave was left as but a shadow of its former self, as many Wood Elves left, seeking new lives, and can now be found scattered amongst the Free States.