Dwarves: Dwarves are a very old race, perhaps second only to the Gerisau. If Dwarves ever to leave home (which is rare) they tend to travel the world very early on in life before settling down and raising a family. Part of their adventuring is to get enough money to raise a child well. As they are very parental, dwarves often take an extremely angry view to child molesters, slavers and child/spouse beaters as well as those who neglect to raise children well and children who don't respect their elders and parents.

Due to their times as slaves of the Galrin Empire, they hate slavery and none have been enslaved since because they turn berserk or will themselves to die when enslaved. The dwarves still belong to the Xarien Empire they formed and disbanded since the Empire still exists in their hills. They claim to have left the other races since they got tired of the hassles of running an Empire and still use that Empire and calendar system. Most consider this a sign of conceit and are often sarcastically thankful that the dwarves don't ask them to join Xarien again. Most dwarves consider the idea of reforming their nation racial suicide, though they never say why.

Elves: This race comes from the lands beyond western ruins and few of them travel east. The nation they come from is immersed in science and as a result they know little about magic. This is rather odd since the race has a natural affinity for such abilities but either it is impossible to use those skills in their homeland or the ability has never been discovered in Elfensar. Many scholars think the inability to even discover talents could only be the result of a long ago deliberate cultural shift away from them since it would be very difficult to discover something you refused to believe exists and convince yourself it is real.

Many elves find coming to the east a revelation and many abandon any loyalty they had to their homeland, which they call Elfensar, and embrace the abilities so long denied them. Others remain loyal to the government that, some claim, sent them to spy on the races and report on the chances of invading the foreign lands. Most elves staunchly refuse to admit to these rumours but a few have acknowledged them. The fact that those few died soon after does not stop the rumours for some odd reason. The nation the elves hail from is rather collective in that everyone had a job but since everyone was employed, the need for any form of currency died out. They are used to common sense laws, no taxes, and a light government involvement in their lives. The east is a rude awakening for them and many cannot adapt to it or the plethora of humans, vampires and werewolfs (the latter two do not exist in the west and humans are said to be menials in that land). Quite a few people make a tidy profit out of tricking the foreigners into foolish investments and odd business ventures.

Goblins: One of the most proflic races, goblins are often found doing the small and menial jobs no other race would do. They are generally mocked and lauged at by others, doing jobs even orcs would find degrading. Despite their numbers, they tend to be cowardly, sarcastic and cruel -- to each other as well as others -- which leads to lots of ill feelings and a general tendancy to distrust and despise them. Ogres dislike them more than orcs, often enough, which is saying something.

Gnomes: Gnomes are rare mentioned in the world's histories and are likely an off shoot of dwarves from a long time ago. While some gnomes dwell in burrows or hills, most tend ot live comfortably among the other races, where their traits for inventiveness and good humour make them well respected and worthy friends. Most gnomes tend to befriend the poor as well as the more downtrodden (such as goblins and their kin). They're also fond of learning magic, though rarely learn from Tamdel Citadel.

Half-breeds: Half breeds aren't races, but abombinations that should never be tolerated and pitied because they are the products of rape, drugs, prostitutio, being really drunk and forgetting what your wife looks like and stumbling into the wrong house or the very rare doomed love affairs between races. Half breeds fit into no culture or people and spend most of their lives struggling to find a place to belong. Halflings (the combination of humans and gerisau) tend to be more accepted but still face the occassional slur from humans.

Humans: Though not the most populous race, humans have a special sort of endurance that has earned them the respect of the other races. Humans tend to travel often and are probably the greatest explorers among the races presently, which partially accounts for their relatively low population. Humans often find the standing of the taigen with the other races (and their own race) to be an affront to their capabilities, even if they tend to be rather vague about said capabilities. Humans often get special attention from torturers and are feared by others for their often radical and irrational ideas and the fact that humans can rationalise almost anything to fit a certain standard or moral code, no matter how illogical it is. This creed is not very stable since a lot of things can not be explained by rational explanation in the world, at least not without accepted a few irrationalities. This leaves humans constantly searching for answers that may never be found and enduring anything to find the questions they started out with. Many find it amazing that they are even sane and others think that the human version of sanity is an ogre falling helplessly in love with an orc -- i.e. it is non-existent.

Ogres: The parallel race to orcs, ogres are all female and massively built, with dark hair, fur and skin. They also consider orcs to be very short wimps and generally look down on them as an inferior breed. Any male children they have are sent to orcs to raise or killed out of hand, depending on the ogre. For many of them, mating with an orc is a sign of shame and few actually loves ever blossom between the races. Aside from this, ogres make great warriors and few of them ever become thieves, seeing such a crime as manifestly cowardly, as is becoming a mage. Ogre Advocates of the Prime God are rare, but accepted by the race.

Orcs: What do you do when your mate is a head and a half taller than you and doubles your weight? In many cases, the orc response to the ogres is a strong feeling of inferiority and lack of self esteem. Many orcs refuse to mate out of that feeling, and some go as far as deliberately becoming thieves and mages just to annoy any ogres they meet. However, underneath this racial antagonism, most orcs aren't as mean and nasty and cruel as they try and make themselves out to be. Most orcs have amazing skills with wood carving, singing and poetry. Underneath their animal-like faces lurk the hearts of romantics.

Vampires: Vampires are living beings who have given up their life for a sort of undeath, feeding their need with the fear and blood of others. If a vampire goes over two weeks without killing, they begin to hallicinate and some simply fall apart and die, unable to maintain the strength of will to continue living. Not surprisingly, vampires are often feared and hated by others and Advocates of the Prime God are often asked to slay them for murder or find some stakes and silver and kill them. Most vampires, even though the sun won't slay them, prefer to operate at night and are leery of fires.

Weres: Weres, beings capable of shifting from their own race into certain animals (95% are wolves) exist, mostly in the nation of Xaldar. They gain special abilities as a result but lose whatever abilities they would normally get as their race for being what they are. Being a were is often inherited, though there are rumours that a were's bite can make one into one. In more agricultural areas, they fear wolfsbane and the crossbow of the irate farmer.

Werewolf society is centred around the family and clan. Werewolfs centre their lives around their elders and abide by their ruling or are cast out, a shame nothing else can equal. This society has it's greatest weakness in that it functions like an animal pack with the strong ruling the weak. The males deal with outsiders and the women do the interior work in the lands so while most believe this society is male-dominated, the women rule the house and home and are, in effect, the real rulers. Men have the money but if the wife doesn't let them in the house, they are basically vagabonds. Neuter Werewolfs are warriors or exiles primarily.

NPC Races:

Dorathan: A magical created race, dorathan are not known to breed and are almost impossible to truly kill. They typically are alibino-pale, 8' tall and extremely thin. When someone damages a dorathan (doing more than 5 damage to it) the creature can use a special magic unique to it and lay a curse of its choosing on you. Killing a dorathan automatically unleashes its curse at full strength -- no matter how much strength they seem to have in it. After "dying" the dorathans body reforms itself in a flare of white fire with the next dawn, completely whole. Even the dorathan know little of their nature, nor how new dorathan are made. No dorathan are ever seen together and they seem to originate in Haldri Vale.

Gerisau: Gerisau are a race of short, highly magical beings capable of shapeshifting at will into other forms. They typically stand 3' tall and have pale, almost elvin complexions. Exactly how they were born or what they are, they refuse to tell others but their own magics, while limited, are very potent within those limits. Gerisau mages are common, but use old magics long lost from the world of Verise and tend to be very imposing beings. Most Gerisau are extremely playful, mischevious and love pulling pranks on others.

Hingari: The hingari are a race of beings from another world but have forgotten both who and what they were. They know they are reincarnated as hingari and can command fire and create it very well but little else about their heritage. The keepers know what they are but for some reason have chosen not to reveal that knowledge. They are often mocked by others for their odd appearance but few actually fight them since they are all mages of some degree or another and seldom hesitate to use their power at need. At present they control the nation of Condrenus.

Lun Lion: The lords of the Elves, these people look like a normal elf is all respects except being a little taller and having a commanding air about them. Their ability to command elves is simply a test of mental strengths and is often entirely unconscious. They tend to be rather insular and often act very arrogant without meaning to. Lun Lion often radiate an aura of innocence and purity that confuses even elves who know for a fact that there are a lot of evil Lun Lion in the world. Finding a Lun Lion east of the Western Ruins is almost unheard of and any self-respecting elf would try and kill them on sight.

Shadow Demons: These creatures apparently do not reproduce and none know how they are created or where they come from. Shadow demons are basically semi-solid shadows in a cloak. They can be harmed by direct sunlight on their shadowy form (1 damage every 5 minutes) and fire (double damage). While they are hurt by weapons, they don't bleed. Most other races assume them to be evil or ghosts given form. Otherwise, very little is known about these creatures and most of them do not know what created them or why and have very hazy memories about their racial past. They only breed in very dark places. A shadow demon's voice sound like a vibration deep in the marrow of others bones and they can apparently speak most common languages but do not read or write. They have a limited mass and can hold few things besides basic weapons. Being immersed in their shadowy mass -- when not fatal -- is assumed to grant some form of knowledge though few ever speak of it. Shadow demons can communicate telepathically with each other