Khorboth Khronicles

*Not Playable*

About all that unifies Kobolds is their scales and population growth.  They have a gestation period of about 3 months and grow to maturity in 6.  To compound this, they have litters.  Generally small, weak, and barely more intelligent than animals, Kobolds don’t seem to be much of a threat.  Individually, they are not.  They quickly adapt to any new environment with their scales changing color to match the surrounding land in 2 or 3 generations.  Similarly, other adaptations are made.  Desert Kobolds have better eyesight and need less water while Jungle Kobolds have long arms and good claws for climbing.  About every 2 years, a large group of Kobolds outgrows their habitat and attacks the human lands en masse.  These millions of Kobolds are defeated, but never without loss.  Most sentient creatures consider it their duty to kill any Kobolds they see and track down any nearby nests in order to prevent an attack.

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*Not Playable*

Orcs feel no pain. None at all. Averaging 6’6”, Orcs are powerfully built and imposing. Dark green skin, black blood, upturned noses, and protruding tusks add to their fierce appearance. Frequently scarred from previous combat, they are less than skilled, but very fierce warriors. They show only slightly less intelligence than humans surviving as nomads raiding the more civilized folk and hunting as they go. Orcs show no drive to settle and farm, seeing themselves as superior to all those they can kill. A single Orc will almost certainly kill one human though the Orc may die as well. Orcs are dealt with using units of humans in concert, as Orcs tend to only think of individual combat. All attempts to recruit Orcs into an army have met with abject failure.

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Any two races can breed, but their offspring are never fertile.  These are derisively called Mules by many.  The combination of abilities seems random and individualized.

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Umli have near-perfect balance.  They live in mountains, usually above dwarven kingdoms, and consider a single rope to be a good enough all-weather bridge.  They are the least human looking, with flat, enlarged noses and jet-black skin.  A typical Umli male is 5′4″ while the female is 4′10″.  Umli lifespan extends to 50 or 60 years.  A very traditional culture, they have limited trade with dwarves, and shun contact with others, particularly humans.  They live as hunter-gatherers in high alpine wilderness and will not accept any other lifestyle.  While Umli accept that other races are simply different and not superior or inferior, they find half-breeds to be vile abominations.  They will attack and kill any such being on sight including all humanoid half-breeds as well as mules and any other crossbred animals.

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Halflings can stand atop anything organic, even if it cannot physically support their weight.  They can run atop wheat and jump from branch to branch without bending them.  This does not work when they wear shoes or boots, which they rarely do.  Small, wiry, and hardy, men stand 4′6″ with women closer to 4′.  Thin, with pointy ears, many people feel that they are just short elves, but the differences in complexion are clear with the ruddy, tanned complexion and dark hair.  Halflings rarely live past 150.  The society is steeped in mysticism and very earth-based.  Halflings, in general, feel a great connection to growing things of all sorts and make excellent farmers.  They trade with humans for all tools and items that don’t grow.

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Elves do not age past maturity and will not die of natural causes.  They are immune to disease.  The typical elf stands about 7′ tall, has blue eyes and blonde hair.  They tend toward very thin, almost emaciated and are not physically tough.  They tend to take a VERY long view and see all other animals as transient

High Elves are the most “civilized” and the most arrogant.  Their society is heavily magical and encourages higher thought and magical development.  Tradition dictates activity and obviates the necessity of laws for them.  Laws exist for the humans.  They see that their gods have given the world order.  The Lesser Gods serve the Greater Gods.  Elves serve the Lesser Gods.  Humans serve Elves.  Orcs, Kobolds, Umli, and Halflings (obviously of Human manufacture) serve Humans.  They haven’t figured out where Dwarves figure into this, but are confidant that their scholars will determine this within the next few millennia.

Grey Elves ply the seas.  Their ships appear to be made of a single, perfectly carved, piece of wood.  They are called “grey” because their eyes are grey rather than blue.  They are less arrogant than the High Elves, but more obnoxious to the humans.  They too see the order of the world.  Each of the lesser races has their own niche within the world with Elves as the overseers designated by the Gods.  While they do not try to kill off the Humans who have obviously bred too much, they do try to convince them not to have children and keep them from expanding.  They tend to espouse these views when in human ports to anybody who will listen.  Usually, Grey Elves bring exotic goods at low prices, so they are tolerated.

Wood Elf society is very loose and is based upon the individual following his nature.  There are no laws, courts, or restraints except where necessary to deal with non-elves.  They see that the order of the world is inevitable.  Elves are clearly the superior form of life, and it’s only a matter of time before they come out on top.  They will simply let things take their course.

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Dwarves can instantly analyze the composition of any inorganic object they can hold.  They also have a near-perfect grasp of angles and distances, figuring exact measurements by eyeball easily.  Short and stocky, they average 4′9″ for men and women.  They typically live 300-500 years.

Their religion is ditheistic with two equally powerful gods each with many aspects (think Taoist 10,000 faces) that try to pull a dwarf one way or another.  Either you are doing good at the direction of the All-Mother or you are doing evil at the behest of the Devourer.  Everything is seen as one way or the other with the priests as the final arbiters.  The priests have declared that to use material in mechanical applications is the work of the All-Mother, but destroying material through chemistry is the draw of the Devourer.  As such, they have very intricate machines, with all the physical, mechanical cleverness you can think of, but no advanced chemistry beyond metallurgy.  They tend to view all other races as interesting, but ultimately meaningless in the scheme of their gods who only care about Dwarves.

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Generally more innovative than the others races and more adaptable, common Humans should require little explanation to my players.

High Men have the blood of the ancient magic users in their blood. Taller, more powerful, and longer-lived than most Humans, they tend to be more magical. The last remnants of that culture are seen in the elite of Chelesanth. They are uniformly blonde and have blue eyes. They tend toward arrogance.

Mixed Men are the result of the dilution of the gene pool of the High men. They are about halfway between the other two and have spread far. With no culture of their own, they tend to be leaders of the common men.

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Following are the postings of races.  Most are playable, the non-playable races are noted.  All of these descriptions are for the normal specimen of the race, not an absolute.

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Here there be dragons.

This is a land of extremes and extreme danger. Great volcanoes push into the sky until their upper slopes are covered in ice. The valley floors are covered in geysers and hot springs. A narrow band of altitude is home to lush growth that has adapted to this sulfurous, wet environment. Huge ferns, and tall grasses pervade the area. Human-sized lemurs and woolly mammoths form the bulk of the herbivores, which eat the plants that are poisonous to most creatures. Giant sloths have also been reported by the few brave enough to venture here. Giant snakes, animated strangling vines, and spiders larger than a house pray upon these herbivores. The top of the food chain, and the only ones to eat the mammoths, are the rocs and dragons. Dragons nest on the inside of the craters while rocs nest on the outside. While they normally ignore Human-sized things as insignificant, neither of the great predators will allow any such to intrude into their territory.

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