Post by Mr Darke on May 21, 2020 10:44:48 GMT -5
I will start off with the playable races and move outward. This will cover their origins and how they evolved into the world. This is written slightly in universe and may not be completely reliable as many of the records are fragmented or lost. What follows is the best speculation that sages have uncovered.
Dwarves
From the best known sources, dwarves are an off shoot of humans. The genesis of the Dwarf race comes from a time where many humans fled to underground vaults and cities to escape one of the many catastrophes that came in a time of unparalleled disaster. These humans did as humans would do and adapted to their surroundings. As space was needed they grew shorter and stockier in size. As lighting faded they adapted to the near and total darkness around them. They became more aware of changes in underground structures and could find minute differences. An interesting fact about Dwarves is that they somehow missed the events that brought so-called Arcane Magic to the world and also became somewhat immune to it. Some think that this is also tied to their innate resistance to poison though the debate continues.
While the history is spotty it is said that the Dwarves warred with goblin races that fled underground and eldritch horrors that found homes in many of the underground cities. Thus their culture became more warlike and practical than others. It is known that a great hatred for these races has existed for centuries.
It is unknown when the Dwarves emerged from their underground vaults but something in that time created a rift between them and the Elves as a whole. Over time this has cooled to mutual distrust but it is said that there were brutal wars in the past between the two.
Elves
Elves propose a profound mystery to most sages. Some say they were always here and chose a time to hide from a more modern world. Others say they appeared out of cross dimensional gates during the times of change. The truth is somewhere in the middle. While the Elves closely guard their records they do speak of a time that the race lived on the old world but retreated when humanity became the predominate race. Using their innate magical abilities it is said that they left the old world to return to the Faerie Realms that they originated from. A handful stayed behind hidden for ages. What is known by us is that the abilities of the Elven people are tied to both the land and their supposed homes in the Fey realms.
Remaining records do show that the Elves returned in force sometime after the great wars to begin healing the devastation of that time. Supposedly they encountered the Dwarves in this time and fought a long war over territory. Encounters with humanity at this time did go much better as they helped the struggling humans rebuild their society. Unfortunately the tribes of Elves are not willing to discuss more of their history and how they relate to our world. Only a few know more that just cursory information and they are sworn to secrecy.
Halflings
It is assumed that Halflings are another offshoot of Humanity but somehow related to Dwarves. It seems their abilities came from similar origins and their evolution is similar. Unfortunately, they lost almost all of their records and mentions of them in other sources are scarce almost as if they are insignificant in history. However, we can make guesses as to their origins from what we do know.
It seems that one of the many vaults that humans fled to had some form of disaster that forced the proto-halflings to the surface. There they encountered something that transformed them into their current form. The prevailing thought is that they encountered an immortal who adapted them to survival in a dying world. This makes some sense as they can farm some of the worst land and have almost a second nature when it comes to things of agriculture and husbandry. Halflings remain a great mystery that we have yet to solve.
Humans
The fact that Humanity survived mostly intact speaks volumes for the race. While it is true that a few were changed to be able to wield both Arcane and Divine magic and also show some psionic talents; on the whole the race is unchanged. They are also the most diverse and adaptable race seen on our world. In many cases it is told that humanity was on the brink of extinction after the times that changed the old world from the new. Knowing that we survived and then thrived after tells us much about what the Immortals imbued us with in our ancient origins.
Dwarves
From the best known sources, dwarves are an off shoot of humans. The genesis of the Dwarf race comes from a time where many humans fled to underground vaults and cities to escape one of the many catastrophes that came in a time of unparalleled disaster. These humans did as humans would do and adapted to their surroundings. As space was needed they grew shorter and stockier in size. As lighting faded they adapted to the near and total darkness around them. They became more aware of changes in underground structures and could find minute differences. An interesting fact about Dwarves is that they somehow missed the events that brought so-called Arcane Magic to the world and also became somewhat immune to it. Some think that this is also tied to their innate resistance to poison though the debate continues.
While the history is spotty it is said that the Dwarves warred with goblin races that fled underground and eldritch horrors that found homes in many of the underground cities. Thus their culture became more warlike and practical than others. It is known that a great hatred for these races has existed for centuries.
It is unknown when the Dwarves emerged from their underground vaults but something in that time created a rift between them and the Elves as a whole. Over time this has cooled to mutual distrust but it is said that there were brutal wars in the past between the two.
Elves
Elves propose a profound mystery to most sages. Some say they were always here and chose a time to hide from a more modern world. Others say they appeared out of cross dimensional gates during the times of change. The truth is somewhere in the middle. While the Elves closely guard their records they do speak of a time that the race lived on the old world but retreated when humanity became the predominate race. Using their innate magical abilities it is said that they left the old world to return to the Faerie Realms that they originated from. A handful stayed behind hidden for ages. What is known by us is that the abilities of the Elven people are tied to both the land and their supposed homes in the Fey realms.
Remaining records do show that the Elves returned in force sometime after the great wars to begin healing the devastation of that time. Supposedly they encountered the Dwarves in this time and fought a long war over territory. Encounters with humanity at this time did go much better as they helped the struggling humans rebuild their society. Unfortunately the tribes of Elves are not willing to discuss more of their history and how they relate to our world. Only a few know more that just cursory information and they are sworn to secrecy.
Halflings
It is assumed that Halflings are another offshoot of Humanity but somehow related to Dwarves. It seems their abilities came from similar origins and their evolution is similar. Unfortunately, they lost almost all of their records and mentions of them in other sources are scarce almost as if they are insignificant in history. However, we can make guesses as to their origins from what we do know.
It seems that one of the many vaults that humans fled to had some form of disaster that forced the proto-halflings to the surface. There they encountered something that transformed them into their current form. The prevailing thought is that they encountered an immortal who adapted them to survival in a dying world. This makes some sense as they can farm some of the worst land and have almost a second nature when it comes to things of agriculture and husbandry. Halflings remain a great mystery that we have yet to solve.
Humans
The fact that Humanity survived mostly intact speaks volumes for the race. While it is true that a few were changed to be able to wield both Arcane and Divine magic and also show some psionic talents; on the whole the race is unchanged. They are also the most diverse and adaptable race seen on our world. In many cases it is told that humanity was on the brink of extinction after the times that changed the old world from the new. Knowing that we survived and then thrived after tells us much about what the Immortals imbued us with in our ancient origins.
Looking good, I still will never get used to halflings, having started with hobbits. 
