Races

Concerning the Races of humankind

Of the races of humankind, there are five principle ones.

Men

The oldest of the races, originally all humankind were Men but after the end of the Lost Age, many changed, becoming the other races of Paskanah. Men are, by and large, tall and strong. They have settled all parts of the world from Paskanah to the Islands of the East and are divided into four main sub-races. The Leven, those with white skin, mainly populate the lands of northern Paskanah although they can be found anywhere on the continent, even as far south as Marn. In the southern regions of the continent, south of the Forbidden Hills and stretching west to Dracos and Marn are the Shechur, the men with dark skin and hair. The Chem, whose skin is brown and teeth are large, and the Tzehuv, whose skin is yellow and whose eyes are narrow live in the east, in the Islands of the Sea, mainly Irinia.

The race of Man worships He who rules in Heaven and their priests all serve Him. Unlike the other races, they have no First One for they themselves are the First Race. Their main language in Common although the educated and civilized among them also speak Angerthine for it is the First Language and the official tongue of the Empire. In their religious circles, they use the ancient language Leton.

Grinuaollis

The First Grinuaolli was Bulëenion Carandelothion. He and his comrades, the Caranrodien were among the first of the other Races to appear in history. When he was young, he took as a wife Belethcristiel Teleplindëwen whose domain was Air and Wonder but they were unable to have children and it grieved Bulëenion to leave her for another but he knew it to be his destiny to have offspring. After they had parted, he took Menehiriel Imernilwen, the Grinuaollish Mistress of Love and Beauty for his wife. They had four children from whom the sub-races of Grinuaollis claim their origin. Noveldaion Quelleancaion the Longlived was their first born and his children are the both the Grinuaolli-Gros and Grinuaolli-Hëat until this day. They live in the green plains of the Midlands, their settlements stretching from Nevron in the west to Hydrogia and Ells in the east. Their second child was Telpelhug Rallathilon who is the father of the Grinuaolli-Fûrit and his domain was in the forests and trees. They live in the great Woods of the land save Greatwood where the dark things are. Their third child was Esgalminuial Belegrûthion, the Master of Mischief and his heart was turned to evil. His first child was Ascayáviëwen, and his descendents call themselves after his name. They live in the foothills of the Barrier Mountains and Rockbarren Divide. After Ascayáviëwen was born, he mated with the Daughters of Ishwûsh, foul creatures from the Abyss and had through them a daughter named Belgrod. She was half-Grinuaolli and half scorpion, with skin of black and a heart of unadulterated wickedness. She rejected Esgalminuial and found the evil in her own father’s heart insufficient for her. She killed him and then was forced to flee from the Caranrodien and hide in the dark places under the ground. From her came the Culdac, the Black Grinuaollis who dwell in the dark jungles of Cammibia and the caverns underneath. Their final child was Numellon Belegancaion, the Archer. The Grinuaolli-Suavireon are his descendents and alone amongst the sub-races of the Grinuaollis, they prefer to dwell amongst men, being the tallest and stronger of the five.

Grinuaollis are anywhere between four and a half to five and a half feet tall. Their skin is white, their eyebrows thin and up-sloping, and their ears draw to a fine point at their peak. They are thin by nature, it being very rare to find a corpulent member of their race. Heät, Gros and Suavireon Grinuaollis are almost all blonde, ranging from dark yellow to white hair. The Grinuaolli-Fûrit have many with brown hair amongst them. The Culdac have black skin and silver hair, and their eyes are a cold, cruel red.

Other than the Culdac, the Grinuaolli still adhere to the teachings and customs of Bulëenion Carandelothion. Religion is very strong among them with priest and religious masters occupying powerful positions in their society. The Culdac worship Belgrod, their mother, and speak the putrid language of the Abyss.

Qilivs

In the beginning of the Elder Days, Trór the Mountain Builder awoke in the depths of the Storm Mountains and walked through their secret places alone with his hammer and anvil. The Qilivs tell the tale that he was not born of another but that the very rocks that are the foundation of the world created him. To this day they will not enter the Storm Mountains for it is holy ground to them and may not be trespassed. He felt it was not good to be alone, so he carved from the rocks the other First Qilivs. For his wife, he took Garina, Mother of Safety, Truth and Home and on their wedding day, he gave her two silver rings which have been her emblem ever since. He also brought forth Valin Ironhelm to help him fight his Battles and Vráin, Father of Wealth and Luck. Finally, he carved from the bowels of the Storm Mountains Nerin Emeraldskin, the Keeper of the Mountains’ Secrets and Drórarm who he hoped would succeed him. But Drórarm had cruel intentions and became greedy when he saw the treasure of the First Qilivs. He thought to rule alone and have it all for himself. Trór was forced to confront him and drove him from the Storm Mountains. When Drórarm departed, Trór and the other First Qilivs, exhausted from the battle, went to sleep and still do, deep under the mountains until this day.

Unto Trór and Garina, three children were born. They were Gornodon, Arnodon and Klerodon and they are the fathers of the three tribes of Qilivs. Gornodon took for himself the Rockbarren Divide. His black was beard and all his descendents shared that colour. Arnodon took the Yoram Mountains of the north. His hair, and that of his children, was brown. Klerodon took the Barrier Mountains as his portion in the world. His hair was grey even from his youth and so his children’s was as well. Each of the children of Trór and Garina built for themselves a mighty fortress, calling them after their names. The king of the Qilivs always ruled in Gornodon for after the death of Trór’s eldest son, the House of Cor, under the rule of Cor-bee, ascended the throne. It was unto his descendent, Cor-eff, that Garnel Ironheart came in his hour of need during the battle against Valcor, the Undead Overlord, and he who turned the Man and his allies away. With the rise of the Empire, much of the populations of the three domains were killed and those who escaped the ruins of their civilization were led into exile and slavery. The House of Cor ceased after Cor-enn was killed in the Greatest War for he left no children.

Most Qilivs are between four and half to five feet tall with powerful, muscular builds. The hair colour of a Qiliv reveals which domain his family once inhabited and even in their misery, Qilivs rarely mate with those from other domains. They hold by the teachings of Trór, hoping he will rise from his slumber and rescue them from the Curse they toil under.

Chitzos

The shortest and least numerous of Five Races, Chitzos survive by their wits for they would not last long if their physical prowess was their only strength. They trace their origins to Amarantha Greenhand the Protector and her husband, Paladin the Defender who arose early during the Elder Days. For many centuries, the couple was close with Bulëenion Carandelothion and Menehiriel Imernilwen and the bond that exists between Chitzos and Grinuaollis in many places of the world is a living testament to this. Amarantha Greenhand and Paladin had three children and the three sub-races of Chitzos trace themselves back to them. Mimosa Tussle the Wise, their eldest, was the Mother of the Murrays, who live mainly in the woods amongst the Grinuaolli-Fûrit although some may be found running inns and taverns through the northern parts of Paskanah. Their second child was Orbob the Faithful who was the mother of those Chitzos who call themselves Pearts. The Pearts live mostly amongst themselves and in towns that are almost exclusively of their kind. They are shy by nature and resent intrusions on their privacy. The final child of Amarantha Greenhand and Paladin was Melilot, Master of Stealth, and he was the Father of the Lightfoots, the only branch of the Chitzo race to trace themselves back to a Father, not a Mother. Unlike the Murrays and Pearts, Lightfoots live a precarious life among men. Some work in servile positions as bartenders and stable helpers but most have taking to thieving, using their intellect to compete with their larger, stronger competitors. Of all the major Thieving Guilds in the Empire, only a handful are not controlled by Lightfoots.

Chitzos are four to four and a half feet tall. They are heavy in build, with brown or blonde curly hair. Their feet are disproportionately large, covered in thick fur with leathery soles. Murrays and Pearts rarely wear shoes because of this but the Lightfoots use footwear on a regular basis. If the Chitzos once had a language of their own, none of them speak it now and they use the Common Tongue almost exclusively. They often invoke Amarantha Greenhand’s name in business deals but the Lightfoots prefer to wish for Melilot’ guidance, especially when in trouble.

Chetu'uls

The lowest of the Five Races, the Chetu'uls claim to be the original race Heaven intended to create. Unparalleled in arrogance and hatred, they are today only a shadow of their original selves. The First Chetu’ul, Grûbkrish, claims to have awoken deep beneath the Storm Mountains although there is good evidence that the Qilivish version of the story is older and that the Chetu'ulish version is a fabrication to justify their occupation of the holy mountains. Grûbkrish took as a mate Snikmazha, whose interests were medicine and fertility. They had four children, each one more foul than the last. Their firstborn, Ufbag, chose War as his domain and spent many years attacking Men, Grinuaollis and Chitzos. The Tar-fen tribe traces itself back to him. Many were the battles between Ufbag and Bulëenion Carandelothion, and the First Grinuaolli was so overpowering that Grûbkrish was forced on many occasions to intervene to save his son’s life. Their second son was Globaad, the Lord of the Night. His heart was tainted, even for a child of Grûbkrish, and he secretly went unto Snikmazha his mother. She never told Grûbkrish of the illicit meeting and he always believed the child she bore, Ogros, was his. Ogros was the largest of the Chetu’uls and grew so much that he became the father of the ogres and it is to him that the larger species traces itself. When Globaad saw that Ogros was not a true orc, he became fearful that Grûbkrish would realize what had happened and he fled his father to become a servant to Ekrev the Black, a powerful demon in the Abyss. The third child of Grûbkrish and Snikmazha emerged from the womb of his mother covered in rot and filth and it was thought that he had been stillborn but they quickly realized that this was his true appearance and named his Golklâsh, which means “Disease” in the foulest tongue. It is said the Krafek tribe descends from him but they will deny this vehemently. His breath brings pestilence and his touch rotting of the flesh and Grûbkrish and Snikmazha kept him hidden lest he wreak havoc amongst his own kind. Their final son was Ruzrukh the Stupid. The Hobgoblins trace themselves back to him. Although mighty in strength, he is miniscule in mind and does what his father requests of him.

The Chetu'uls once stood tall, like Men, some of them over six feet in height, while their ogre cousins still stand eight to ten feet tall. Over time, decadence, disease and corruption changed them. While the Krafek, for a long time, held onto the traditions and appearance of their ancestors, the Tar-Fen twisted themselves in their burning hatred. Today Chetu'uls stand no more than five feet tall, the very rare among them perhaps five and a half feet. They walk with a hunch, swinging their low arms near the ground as apes do. They speak the language of Grûbkrish, Zehal, as to the Hobgoblins, and the ogres speak a similar version themselves. Each race claims they speak the authentic language. Zehal Island is theirs, it being the ancestral home of Grûbkrish and his progeny, but pockets of Chetu'uls inhabit Paskanah, principally in the mountains and hills of the continent. Even after the Empire conquered them, they still held on to many of the Qilivish domains, except Arnodon for they believe they are the true owners of the mountains, not the Qilivs.