Trevallis

Races of the Second Republic

The races of the Second Republic can be divided into 3 mains groups. Those who fled the Empire to the lands that became the First Republic. Those who dwelt in the lands of the First Republic and helped to shape it and those who had stayed in the lands of the Empire.

Humans

In the time of the Empire Humans were a servant race to the Elven and Dwarf Lords who maintained order by keeping the shorter lived Humans from breeding without permission. These magical strictures were lifted after the fall of Trevallis and the invasion of the Dark Lord and the forces of Chaos. Human children were taken from their parents, magically aged and trained to fight in the Imperial Legions. Now the Humans are the most prevalent of races in the First and Second Republics, their drive and energy pushing it forward to explore new frontiers.

The Empire had selective breeding programs for different types of Humans to fulfil different roles but this has long since been done away with. Humans in the second Republic comes in all shapes and sizes with one notable exception. When the refugees first arrived in the lands that are now the first Republic they were treated with some trepidation as the peace loving inhabitants were often raided by blond haired pale skinned humans who lived far to the north. Whilst the lands to the North-men eventually joined the Republic the people from there are still quite barbarous and eschew most of the trappings of civilisation. People still tend to expect a large blond haired pale skinned Human to be a berserk warrior, a prejudice that can lead to interesting confusions.

Dark Ones

Some humans in the Second Republic are the descendants of those who were left behind when the Empire fell. When the travellers from the First Republic came to the lands of the old empire the Dark Ones greeted them and begged to be allowed to become republic citizens. Whilst the constitution of the Republic states that all it's members are equal the Dark Ones are viewed with a certain level of distrust and tend to be the first to be blamed when things go wrong.

Dark ones are notable for having some of a number of different and hard to disguise physical traits these will normally involve some changes to their eyes (either lizard like slits, completely one colour or even faceted) their fingers (extra joints, tentacles or eight vary thin ones) often a dark ones skin will be either faintly translucent or patterned, with the patterns seeming to move when you're not looking. Dark One appearance doesn't breed true and Dark Ones and Humans can interbreed. Their children are normally Dark Ones but occasionally a pure breed human child will be born. These Humans can have descendants who are Dark Ones, with the First Republic being only a hundred years old there are few of these people in existence at the moment.

Dark Ones are not inherently evil but do seem tainted by the Chaos of the Elder Gods.

Elves

The Elves were the enlightened Mage rulers of the Empire, able to extend their already multi century lifespans using magic now lost their presided over a realm of perfect Order. That's how the Elves tell the tale anyway, Humans would have you believe they ruled the Empire with a callous disregard for Human live seeing them as little more than cattle to be used as required. The truth is lost in the mists of time, non of the Elves now alive remember the Empire and they have done their best to help the Republic. But tales of Elven child sacrifice to keep their youth are told to young Humans and an Elf would be careful to not take to obvious a leadership role unless the fancy being strung up or burnt at the stake. Again the constitution of the Republic holds all the be equal but the fractious and fractured nature of it's society means that if an Elf is lynched there will be little if any followup.

Dwarves

The Dwarves were equal partners in the running of the Empire, but whilst the Elves ruled the Dwarves built. As such they are regarded in slightly better light by the Humans of the Republic. Also Humans admire the Dwarven skill at mining and stone-working too much to distrust them. The Dwarves are the only race to know the method of making and handling Shattersand, the explosive powder they use for mining operations and also to make weapons. There are rumour of attempts to discover the method but the stories about these tend to end with mysterious fires or cases of spontaneous human explosion.

Dwarves tend to live for just over a hundred years as adults and tend to take the long view of things. There are some within Dwarven society who still worship Aa the Lord of Law and long for the return of the Empire. But most Dwarves are content to carve out a new home and use their skills to help rediscover the abilities they used to have.

Pixies

The tiny winged pixies were considered myths to most who lived in the Empire and this was the way the Elf lords liked it. The pixies performed sterling work keeping tabs on the Imperial Servants ensuring order and the Imperial way of life was preserved. The existence of pixies was revealed during the arduous flight from the Empire after the fall. The long sea journey was particularly draining on them as much of the ocean is a low mana environment. A few of the pixies survived the journey due to magical aid but they were no longer a secret. Whilst pixies flourished in the New Republic they were always viewed with suspicion due to their past work for the Empire.

Nowadays a number Republic ocean vessels have a small area enchanted to a normal mana level allowing the Pixies to survive travel to the Second Republic. Pixies in the Second Republic either travelled on one of these (or their ancestors did) or are descendants of those who stayed and hid from the Empire, they tend to have a quite rural and shy temperament.

Gnomes

The Gnomish people could at first glance be mistaken for Dwarven children but these small humanoids hail from the lands of the First Republic. Before the coming of Humans the Gnomes turned their curious natures to investigating the natural world and were a peaceful race of nomadic druidic types. When the Humans came and introduced them to the idea of machinery the Gnomes took to it like a duck to water. Whilst there are still Gnome Druids and Rangers you are far more likely to meet a Gnome who delights in making and taking apart all manner of machinery. A number of these gravitate to the Adventuring Guilds in order to study ancient traps and locks (and some are quite good at more modern locks as well, Gnomish Thieves are a common encounter).

Halflings

Halflings were possibly once a breed of Gnome many years ago but if so the two can no longer interbreed (so they say). Whilst a Gnome is filled with a burning desire to explore the mysteries of the world a Halfing is filled with a burning desire for a good meal. They are excellent chefs but also make very good hunters enjoying the pursuit of game in order to put it in a pot. If Halfings have a weakness it's their inability to understand the concept of personal possessions. In the pre Republic Halfing society anything could be used by anyone in the clan equally. The idea of owning something for oneself not sharing it was considered strange. To the extent the a Halfling would think nothing of taking something without asking because the idea that the other Halfing wouldn't like that was incomprehensible.

Halflings in the Second Republic have a better grasp of personal possessions (especially theirs) but still tend to view anything not actively being held by someone as fair game.

Catkin

In the ocean between the First and Second Republics is a large archipelago inhabited by a range of Catkin. Sages speculate that these were once a single land that was destroyed by some cataclysm as the Catkin are extreme averse to entering water and dislike sea travel unless absolutely necessary. Still the islands of the Catkin were a boon to the travellers fleeing the fall of the Empire in their selection of small vessels. Many settled there, later ships from the New Republic began regular trading with the Catkin lands and some Catkin found themselves travelling to the Republic (finding the larger ships not too terrifying). Of course many a tale with a sea journey includes the Catkin who jumped aboard at the start for the fun of it and spend much of the trip bemoaning this fact and expecting to die only to forget all about it when they hit land.