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The Elves
of Tarania are different from
those of the Other Worlds, beyond the Great Black Void. Tarania's
Elves, as those of other places, require no sleep. Like Elves of
the Other Worlds, they do need some physical and mental rest, aquired through
the Reverie. Through the reverie they relive experiences of their
past vividly. Normally they can go for a few days without rest, suffering
only mild ill effects. However, they are very vulnerable to magical
effects which force them to rest as much as a human, in addition to causing
them to relive only unhappy experiences in the reverie. Another strange
feature of the Elves of Tarania is their eyes. All of them have eyes
of one solid color. This can be any color. Tarania's Elves
are rumored to be able to speak to each other without making a sound, but
they refuse to talk about it with non-Elves. They don't seem to use
their power much, and most believe that they can't use this power on humans.
Elves do not have infravision. They also lack the ability to spot secret
doors any better than any other race. Elves of Tarania do not grow
hair of any sort other than that on their heads, which, while they are
young, grows how they wish it to, and then never grows again. They
may, while it is still growing, choose what color their hair is, so it
comes in many colors which you will never see in other races.
Tarania's Elves have a language which sounds very fluid and easy to speak,
and is nice to listen to. However, speaking Elven correctly
and understandably is quite difficult. All Elven words are very short,
and most sound very much like other elven words. The sounds of their
language roughly correspond to only the following letters: a, e, f, h,
i, j, l, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, y, z. The "S" sound is generally
an indication of an insult, curse, or some reference to Evil. 
The High Elves of Tarania
are the most common type of Elf in Tarania. They live in treetowns,
with all of their buildings attached to the upper portions of very tall
trees. The treetowns are spread throughout the forests of the High
Elves. Each treetown is governed by a Honored Elder. This Elder
is the only government. The Elder's decisions are final, unless at
least three fourths of the town disagrees with him or her. The separate
treetowns have no unified government, however, they work almost always
work together on important things, such as battles with the orcs and other
evil races. The High Elves do not have the petty racial prejudices
of most races, and they get along well even with Dwarves. However,
they are still suspicious of all orcs, goblins, and their kin unless the
orc or goblin proves their morality and thoughtfulness. (and this
is quite rare indeed)
The Grey Elves of Tarania
are a mysterious type. They live in the mountains, with their large
cities well-hidden by powerful magic. Many are obsessed with the
aquisition of knowlege, so their libraries are the greatest in the world.
(Grey Elves get +2 INT.) They generally do not associate with other
races, or even other Elves. The Grey Elves live in large kingdoms,
ruled supremely by a king or queen. Because of their reclusiveness
and lack of interest in things other than knowlege, Grey Elves have grown
weaker than the other Elves, (-2CON, -1STR) however, they still have the
same Elven Dexterity. (+1DEX)
Closely related to the land
Elves are the Aquatic Elves. They have similar features but their
skin has a distinct green color. They originated when a ship carrying
many of the greatest High Elf warriors to a battle with a group of undead
sunk. The Elves fought hard to survive the rough seas, and by some
miracle, some of them did, even after they were pulled underwater and completely
deprived of air. Like underwater plants and animals, it seems they
need not breathe at all. They have gradually spread and colonized
places all over the Realm. Because of the damage to their minds caused
to them by such a traumatic event as being almost drowned, and having to
learn to live and breathe under water, the Aquatic Elves are less intelligent
than other Elves. (-1 INT) However, they had to toughen up for underwater
life, so they did. They have the same constitution as Humans.
The Dark Elves, usually
called Yssaan, are another subrace of Elf. Almost all Yssaan are
Evil. They have a simple system of law much like a monarchy, where
all Yssaan must follow one Queen, who has deputies, who in turn have their
own deputies. They all claim to enforce their superior's will but
usually only do so when the superior forces them to. Otherwise, they
only enforce their own will. For this reason, Yssaan society is generally
Neutral Evil, with almost no Yssaan of Good alignment. The Yssaan
are hateful creatures, but one thing I can say for them is that they're
clever. (+1 INT) They also have developed their elven dexterity well,
(+2 DEX) probably because most Yssaan need it to get out of tight spots
once in a while. However, no one wants to associate with them, (-2CHA)
because almost as a rule they are untrustworthy, backstabbing fiends.
They have the typical Elven constitution though. (-1CON)
Tarania's humans are a very diverse race.
They have been influenced in culture by the Elves and many other races
but retain many traits from the time of their creation. They generally
are an agricultural society, living on the flood plains where the soil
is good for farming. They often trade crops in exchange for luxuries
and other things they do not provide for themselves. Human cities
are often large and sprawl over large areas. Because of the lack
of protection afforded by the areas in which they live, the Humans have
in general become a warlike and expansionistic race. Rather than
protect their cities with a defensive army, Humans usually attempt to clear
all of their enemies out of the area near their cities. They have
poor eyesight at longer distances but very sharp vision at close range,
so they generally use melee weapons in combat. In Tarania, Human
women are generally larger than men. The women and the men share
the duties of fighting, however, their fighting styles are usually different.
The men usually act as the phalanx, while the women usually use swords.
In most locations Human law dictates that everyone serve in the active
army from age 17 to age 21. They are trained to fight and then, when
their city goes to war, they are ready. Until age 36, they are required
to be on the reserve army. The entire active and reserve armies fight
whenever the city goes to war, thus, when a Human city goes to war most
of the adult population fights, and they are all trained reasonably well.
The SeaGnomes
are a happy-go-lucky bunch of gnomes who live on the coasts of Tarania.
They are well-known for their good senses of humor, and those who work
as traveling entertainers are welcomed by even the most inhospitable people,
as they have proven that they can cheer up anyone. They have
an extraordinary ability to stay afloat in rough waters and survive the
worst storms, even if they are thrown from their ships. However,
they are quite sensible and realize that this ability isn't foolproof so
they always are careful not to need to survive a storm or have to swim
back to shore. They make and use all sorts of seagoing vessels, and
a good many riverboats too. Their main source of food is fish, which
they also use as barter for everything they can't get themselves.
They are quite intelligent (+1 INT) and like to invent things. Unlike the
infamous Tinker Gnomes of Dragonlance, they actually are quite talented
at it. However, their small stature causes them to be significantly
less strong than humans. (-1 STR)
The Dwarves
of Arnzhe are a large group
of Dwarves who are approximately one fourth Elf. They have amazing
dexterity, and are very powerful in combat. They are fanatically
devoted to their god, Drache, and their goal of the complete destruction
of all Chaos and Evil in one great honorable battle. From age three,
each Dwarf chooses a Guild. There is the Sword Masters' Guild and
the Crushers' Guild. The sword masters all use two Broadswords, and
wear no armor whatsoever. The Crushers wear the best armor they can
obtain, but shun the use of any weapon other than those built in to their
armor. Thus a Crusher will use gauntlets with large spikes on the
front, a helmet with a blade like that of a short sword fixed on the top,
and knee and elbow joints on their armor which, when bent, expose large
serrated blades. Also, one in about a hundred will either be a part
of one of the warrior guilds and the Guild of the High Priests or belong
solely to the Guild of the High Priests.
The TEKKS
are rumored to be another race of a very distant island out in the Great
Ocean. No one knows their true name, and no one knows how to find
them. However, they are usually discounted as only another wives'
tale or a rumor, because there is very little evidence that they exist.
Their nickname, Tekks was derived from the word Technology. This
is because they are said to use all manner of fancy gadgets, including
such incredible devices as a Flying Machine, a wooden doll that walks by
itself without use of any magic, and many more. It is likely that
these parts of the stories about the Tekks are the main reason few believe
that they actually exist.
The Iyenta
are a strange little race of intelligent plants who inhabit only the most
dense forests of Tarania. They stand about 3 inches tall and have
three arms, three legs, and three eyes. They also often work in groups
of three, which leads me to believe that they are the original cause of
the superstition that troubles come in threes. They are quite clever,
and have a habit of playing mean tricks on anyone who enters their forests
unless they believe that the intruder will not harm any of the forest dwellers
and have some evidence to back that up. They are not overly concerned
with goodness, but they do appear to have some morality. Most Iyenta will
not harm others unless they believe they have a reason. (That is,
other than greed.) However, some pretend to be just and moral, but
will try their best to cheat others if they are confident they can get
away with it.
The Muyior
are a race of shapeshifters. They can form the shape of any animal
(or humanoid) that weighs about 100 pounds. Therefore they could
copy a 13-year-old human or a full-grown Elf, but not an adult Human, unless
that adult happened to be exceptionally small. They usually keep
to themselves, not bothering or associating with humanoids. It is
believed that none live anywhere near Deir'tha, but one would never know
by looking for them. Many Muyior are evil, but about two thirds are
good. Precious little is know about the Muyior by any other than
themselves. If you want to know more about the Muyior I will be writing
more soon.
The Iriez are the tree-people of Tarania's forests.
They are about 18' tall and have strong, thin, legs and arms. Iriez
have long been friends of the Elves. No one actually knows how the
Iriez were created. They speak by rubbing together the wood inside
them, making a deep sound much like a cello or other wooden instrument.
Iriez are generally of good or neutral alignment, and usually worship Jalea
or Iyelarno.
The Humans
of the Air are a reclusive group of
magical beings created by a powerful wizard who was wildly insane.
He wanted to be able to fly, so he threw around a few very carefully worded
and planned Wish spells, and caused himself and his apprentices, plus all
of their descendants, to be permanently bestowed with the power of Flight,
as the 3rd level wizard spell. The unfortunate side effect of his
spells was to cause all Humans of the Air to be anything but normal.
None know what goes on in the minds of these beings, but they seem to have
lost all logic, and their every action seems nonsensical. They do
not use the Human language. They seem to speak, but in such an abnormal
way that none have ever come near understanding them.
The Jisiy (pl. of Jisie) are a race of small Halflings.
They are primarily traders. They are known throughout the known world
for their wine. They bring the best of wines from everywhere and
trade sell them at exorbitant prices. They also sell art, trinkets,
baubles, gemstones, and other things. However, they rarely transport
large or heavy items, preferring those things which can be
The Treletsas are an evil race of
humanoid reptiles. They are large, quick, and strong, but somewhat
lacking in intelligence. They have cobra-like faces, and large fangs
which gleam visibly when they open their mouths. Covered in thick
black scales, and often armed with the best of weaponry, these fiends seek
only to gain power for themselves. They usually worship the god who
is believed to have created them, Zitochke. Treletsas are believed
to live for about 35 years provided they do not go the path most Treletsas
take, and die early in combat.
The Sayan
(SIE-un) are a type of animal, which resides in Tarania's less dense forests.
They are very rare. They eat metals, dissolving them and adding the
metals as part of themselves. The Sayan are curious, and when they
are approached by strangers they often will try to find out who the strangers
are. This can lead to misunderstandings, as those who do not know
of the nature of the Sayan will often attack out of fear.
The Sirani
are large (about 7' from nose to tail) furred beasts. They are very
obedient to whoever feeds them to the point of stupidity. However,
they lack the mental capacity to carry out commands of more than one word.
They eat very little for their size, especially considering the fact that
they are very fat and weigh about a half ton each. These beasts are
very useful in combat, not only as living shields (their tough hides and
bony, horned heads protect them well) but to flatten enemies. The
Jisiy are noted for using them in lines to trample entire armies of foot-soldiers.
The only reason they are not used by armies everywhere is that they are
extremely hard to find, and the Jisiy will tell you that the only place
they are naturally found is on the icy steppes of the far south.
Sirani are also ill-suited to the warmth and humidity of Deir'Tha and the
surrounding area, and thus require extra care when taken to such places.