LOTD: Races & Creatures feature

First there were dragons...

Although many would disagree on how exactly our world, Ardh was created, legends of almost all the races of Aejdaria unite in one truth: heavens created the dragons first, in their own image, to rule the skies and the land on their behalf.

Lady of the Forest was the first one to realize that although these god-like, gargantuan creatures were perfect in their own way, they weren't doing her perfect creation, the forests justice. So she created the elves to dwell in the forests and to worship her. She taught her children the how to use the resources of the forest to survive without doing any harm and she taught them the way of magic.

However, this angered the Smith. If the Lady could give life to her own children, why couldn't he? So he created the dwarves to carve in the mountains, mine and shape the ore inside.

The Father, as arrogant as he's always been, was craving to outdo both the Lady and the Smith. So he created a race bigger and stronger than both the elves and dwarves: the giants. The plains were the domain of dragons, the forests of the elves and the caverns under the mountains of the dwarves. So he claimed the surface of the mountains, the highlands for his children.

The Elves were the first to stretch the boundaries set down by the heavens. Magically expanding the forests, thus their domain, limiting the living space of both dragons and giants and trapping the dwarves in their caverns which led to the great Elven-Dwarven War. This was the first threat to the divine harmony of our world but elves acknowledged their limits and knew the consequences of their actions. If they were to expand outside their forest, the fury of the heavens would be upon them.

Yet, a clan of giants who were driven out of their home by the growing Elven Empire didn't. Mirroring the arrogance of their creator, they set their gaze on plains, the hunting ground of dragons, ripe with prey and resources definitely more than dragons needed. They left their mountains and settled in the plains.

This transgression, breach of divine harmony shocked all, the heavens, immortal dragons, elves and dwarves. The Father was forced to stop answering the prayers of his wayward children by other gods and this clan of giants were left completely alone in their war against the dragons. Losing the favor of their creator, the first generation of giants born on the plains lacked the grandeur of their parents. They were smaller, weaker and had shorter life spans.

The war between giants and dragons went on for centuries and ended with the victory of dragons until only a handful descendants of the wayward giants remained, twelve females. Being ordered by the heavens to be merciful as it wasn't possible for these pitiful creatures to continue existing, the king of dragons Rahmaxasar, spared the twelve females.

However, a male descendant of the wayward giants had remained alive and regrouped with the females to repopulate their race. Dragons believe it was the Father who tricked other gods and helped his children to survive as one last favor. Thus, twelve tribes of men came into being.

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Humans: Descended from the wayward giants who invaded the plains (although Aejdarian Church considers this claim heresy), humans are the most populated race in Aejdaria, most likely in all the world. Although they are one of the younger races and has a short life span than elder races, they dominate the politics of Aejdaria with their various kingdoms.

Until a thousand years ago, they were a race of savages, described as "even worse than orcs" by elves and dwarves, they lived in tribes and were ruled by warlords and petty kings, worshipping demons and even darker beings or nothing at all as they were abandoned by the heavens, raiding each others' territories and tormenting other races with their savage ways as well. However, when the human known as "the Saviour" or the "the First King" united the twelve tribes, rescued the 'thirteenth' from slavery and rallied elves and dwarves to his cause and took the battle to dragons. At this time dragons had already rebelled against the mandate of heavens after they were tricked by the Father and were ravaging everything they could, being kept away from elven forests by strong magic which prevented them from flying over elven forests. Borrowing this magic from elves, Saviour and his followers slayed every dragon they could find in Aejdaria, the Saviour smashing the skull of Rahmaxasar by his hammer himself.

After his victory against dragons, the Saviour ruled humans as their king for a hundred years. His domain extended from one end of Aejdaria to other. However, then he left his kingdom to his oldest heir and sailed west off the Dragon Gulf, where it was rumoured a continent full of dragons. He was deified aftermath his reign, ironically enough, then humans' prayers started to be answered and they could tap into divine magic.

"The Old Kingdom" stayed as the sole sovereign political entity of humans for over seven hundred years until the last king descended from the Saviour died without a heir and the Old Kingdom splitted into tribes, Baegerians to the west and Aslanians to the east, Drukians to the southeast.

There are four major ethnic group of humans known to Aejdarians. The first is themselves, Aejdarians, who descended from the thirteen tribes of men. The second is Nordegs, from the continent of constant winter to the north, Nordegard, who continuously raid the northern Aejdarian coast and the Iyalings and the ruling class of former Yarasia descend from. The third is Uykuns, from Uykunia, the sleeping land to the northeast, covered in snow, who made up the common people of former Yarasia and Drukia and the fourth is Zakhurans, desert dwellers from south, the ethnicity Lahabese belong to.

Humans are the most diverse and ambitious race, making up for their short life spans. No way of life is unknown to humans.

Elves: Created by Lady of the Forest, Elves are a race of slender stature, sharp and thin facial features, they can be told apart by their pointy ears. They are the most skilled in archery and magic. They are the race with longest lifespan with over a thousand years (some scholars claim an elf will live forever unless murdered) thus more likely to be more conservative and resistant to change in their way of life.

Their expanding of the forests have led to the ancient Elven Empire. However, nearly ten thousand years ago rebels led by the avatar of the Lady of the Forest overthrew the ruling elite of the empire and elves retreated back into Mistwood, their original habitat as determined by the heavens themselves. Since then elves lead an isolated life and try to not interfere in the business of other races.

There are three elven subraces. Wood Elves are the closest to the first elves in looks and culturally. As the name indicates, majority of them lives an isolated life in elven forest. High Elves are the ruling elite of the ancient Elven Empire that surrendered to the rebels before the war was over and was let to settle in Sinnebul, on condition that they will not expand to the north of Golden Estuary. Dark Elves are the ruling elite of the empire that kept on the fight until its very end and was exiled to the underworld by Lady of the Forest. They are the anathema of elves, living in underworld cities, often raiding surface to capture slaves to serve them underworld, worshipping the demon sister of the Lady, "Lady of the Underworld", also known as "the Dark Lady".

When dragons became the destructive, ruthless creatures they are today, Lady of the Forest crafted magical "dragon artifacts" that prevented dragons from flying in a certain radius and protected the elven forests.

Dwarves: Created by the Smith, they are one of the elder races. Dwarves have a short, stocky build and they are capable of growing very large breads. They are more resistant to magic, cold and fatigue than other races.

They inhabit the caverns and tunnels in the mountains where they build their mountain cities. They are skilled miners and smiths, mining and shaping the ore of their mountains, it is believed in many dwarven citadels, they carved the ground to the very core of the world.

Dwarven mountain citadels are ruled by Mountain Kings. However this title is meritocratic. Mountain Kings do not get their status by blood but by the consensus of their people and serve until their death.

Mount Dhugor was the only remaining dwarven citadel in Aejdaria until around fifty years ago when a red dragon, Tarannax, drove the dwarves out with the help of his goblin minions and made Mount Dhugor his lair and dwarves were made refugees and scattered all around Aejdaria taking up work as miners and smiths, except for a handful few who stayed around the mountain and formed the Mountain Guard to battle goblins and hopefully take back their home one day.

It is not known how they produce to outsiders as they don't have any females. Some scholars propose they are rocks that came alive.

Halflings: Of a short and slender stature that is somehow reminiscent of human children, halflings are a race of good-natured thieves who possess an inherited good luck.

It is not clear to Aejdarians how they came into being but it is known they originally immigrated to Aejdaria from southern desert-covered continent of Zakhura. Not having a concept of private property unlike other races usually leads them to being persecuted and encountered with wary.

Halflings do not have a homeland in Aejdaria. They can be found anywhere but they usually tend to live in free city-states where the inhabitants tend to be more open-minded than in traditional Aejdarian monarchies.

Half-elves: Descended from a human and elven parents, half-elves resemble both their parents in looks and psychology but can't fit in either society. They have longer lifespans than humans but it isn't nearly as long as that of elves.

Their elven part usually tend to be high elven as high elves live a less isolated lifestyle and fare better in human urban environments. They inherit an innante magical capability from their elven parents.

Half-orcs: Born to orcish and human parents (rarely out of love), half-orcs resemble both of their parents. They are looked down upon by both humans and orcs and it was very hard for an half-orc to reach adolescence until around a hundred years ago when the Kingdom of Piled Skulls which offers half-orcs a safer life and an opportunity to thrive was founded.

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Orcs: A race of gray and brown skinned savages, they are of a larger and muscular build than humans. Most of them have red, glowing eyes, prominent jaws with boar-like tusks and pointy ears resembling more of the goblins than of elves. Some scholars group them with other goblinoids but many others refrain from this.

It isn't clear how exactly they came into being but it is generally believed that orcs are native neither to Aejdaria or the world. They worship a "One-Eye God" which is regarded as a major demon by other races, they mostly inhabit the mountains of Aejdaria and have been raiding settlements of other races for since anyone remembers.

The concept of family and marriage and many other aspects of civilization didn't exist among orcs until around a century ago when an orcish chieftain, Krogor the Great of Tribe Shattered Skull united the warring tribes, invaded the mountainous human kingdom of Drukia and founded an orcish kingdom with the name of "Kingdom of Piled Skulls". Since then, orcs of Piled Skulls are trying to lead a more civilized life than their ancestors and kin who refuse to change their old ways.

Demons: Hailing from the hell deep belove the world of Ardh, demons are the servants of the anathema of heavens, dark gods, also known as great demons. They have various subtypes, such as demon princes and imps. Sometimes they are summoned to the world by warlocks and can't be killed while not in hell. Slaying a demon in Ardh will result in sending him back to hell which he will not be able to leave for a hundred years.

Fiendlings: Humans whose blood was tainted by demons. They carry some physical features of the demons such as a red skin, glowing flame eyes, horns and hooves but it changes from individual to individual. They rarely break free of demons' will.

Werewolves and Wererats: Lycanthropes resembling both humans and wolves or rats. They come into being by getting bitten by another lycanthrope and can change back to their original form, but not on will.

Minotaurs: Created by a dark god as a punishment for the residents of the Bull Isle to the west of Aejdaria, minotaurs are large humanoid creatures resembling bulls.

UNDEAD

Ghouls: Ghouls were originally humans. It is generally believed they turned into monstrous creatures after eating the decaying flesh of a fellow human. While others claim they were turned into mindless slaves by practitioners of dark magic. Regardless of which claim is true, ghouls are creatures of darkness that feast on human flesh.

Vampires: One of the most feared undead creatures in the world, vampires feed on human blood. Originally they couldn't wander in daylight. But during the rise of the dracolich, they were offered a cure for this disadvantage in exchange for their allegiance. Today most of the vampires are only irritated by daylight.

It is believed in ancient times when giantkin ancestors of humans lost the war to the dragons and all their males were killed, one was raised from the dead by a dark god as a vampire. All vampire clans claim descent from this first vampire.

Vampires refer each other as "kindred".

Undead: Undead are creatures who were raised from the dead by practitioners of dark magic. They tend to mindlessly save their master and do their biding without question. They very rarely break free of their master's will.

Skeletons: These animated skeletons make up the bulk of undead armies.

Liches: Powerful undead creatures who were mostly wizards and necromancers in their previous life. A lich embraces undeath as a form of immortality and unlike other undead, most of the time they become undead by their own choice. Liches store their souls in powerful magical artifacts called "phylactery". It is not possible to truly kill a lich without destroying his phylactery.

GOBLINOIDS

Goblins: They are believed to be closest to the original form of goblinoids, hence the name. They are of a short and slender stature with large heads with unproportionally big, pointy ears. Being very numerous, it is believed they could easily take over the world despite their physical and mental limits if not for their infighting.

Hobgoblins: Larger and smarter (roughly the same size and intelligence as humans) kin of goblins. They are rarer than common goblins and they usually serve as warlords in goblinoid warbands, dominating other goblinoids with their higher intelligence.

Bugbears: With roughly the same size as giants and with a body almost entirely covered in thick fur, bugbears are the largest subrace of goblins. They are usually found in company of other goblinoids.

DRAGONKIN

Dragons: First to be created by heavens, they were created in the image of gods. Dragons are powerful magical creatures of gargantuan sizes. After the trickery of the Father to save his children, they abandoned the teachings of the heavens and became the destructive creatures they are known to be today.

They are two types of dragons, Fire Dragons (or Red Dragons) and Ice Dragons (or Blue Dragons), favoring and possessing the power of their respective elements.

The last of the dragons were believed to be slayed by the Saviour on 0. However, in year 333 and 666 the dragons have returned to extract revenge from Aejdarians. Both of the times they were defeated, it is believed by many that they will return on year 999, in greater numbers and it be the final war between dragons and mortal races which will bring the end of the world.

Because of a spell casted on the land of Aejdaria by Lady of the Forest and the Saviour, dragons don't have the ability to fly while in Aejdaria, which makes them weaker but regardless, still deadly foes.

Dracolich: An undead dragon that still retains its powers from its former life and more. There has been one dracolich known to mortals, who led an invasion on Aejdaria circa 920 and responsible for turning much of Yarasia undead.

Dragonborn: Humanoid creatures who were changed by dragons. They possess some aspects of their dragon masters and mostly found as minions to dragons. There are three type of dragonborn, Red Dragonborn serving Red Dragons, Blue Dragonborn serving Blue Dragons and Black Dragonborn serving the dracolich.

GIANTKIN

Giants: Created by the Father, giants are one of the elder races. Their natural habitat is the mountains. Resembling humans with but extremely larger sizes, like the other elder races, giants are fading off from Ardh. But they are effected more greatly than other elder races as their life span is getting shorter with each generation, and each generation spawning weaker specimen.

Ogres: Came into being when the consort of the Father affiliated with a dark god. These cousins of giants are weaker and less intelligent than giants. Sharing the same habitat with orcs to the southeast of Aejdaria, ogres have had a long history of wars and alliances with orcs.

Trolls: Created in the same manner as ogres but spawn of a different dark god, trolls have the ability to regenerate their lost limbs (not implemented yet) but they are vulnerable to fire.

MAGICAL BEASTS

Unicorns: Created by the elven deity 'the Lady' to serve her children as mounts and companions, unicorns are magical creatures resembling horse with a single horn on their heads. Elven Knights ride unicorns into battle.

Worgs: Similar to wolves in both looks and manner, though larger and bigger, worgs are magical creatures who often wander in the wilds in packs and sometimes enslaved by orcs or goblins to be used as mounts and wardogs. Unlike other beasts, worgs possess an unnatural high intelligence which makes some of them able to speak goblinoid, common or orcish.

Note: This is a repost of an article that was originally published on December 5, 2018 and accidentally deleted.