The People of Eadar

[Eanwulf]

The People of Eadar All of the major races have a place and a part to play in the world of Dawnforge. The core races as presented in the setting are mythic, idealized archetypes of the traditional fantasy races. In this age of legend, these races are young and magical, and they are in many ways greater than those who will follow them. In the Dawnforge campaign setting, the core races gain additional racial traits that reflect these mythic ideals. The elves gain a small selection of spell-like abilities that emphasize their fey heritage. The dwarves are as strong and sturdy as the bones of the earth, and these traits are mirrored in the game by improved defenses and resistances. The humans of Dawnforge are the fathers and mothers of kingdoms and cultures, and they can choose from a variety of background traits both magical and mundane. Some are the offspring of noble bloodlines with claims to wealth and station. Others are primal barbarians for whom war has become a religion.

These additional racial traits contribute to the setting's unique appeal. The character races represent a powerful and immediate bridge between the players and the campaign setting. The opportunity to play these archetypal forms of the favorite races gives players a unique window onto the setting's mythic and legendary themes. By raising the baseline of racial abilities, Dawnforge also allows players to create heroes of other races with prominent roles in the world. These races including night elves, minotaurs, doppelgangers, and the planetouched, are among the most compelling and exotic in the d20 System, but they are often a less viable option for players in traditional campaign settings.

Humans of countless cultures, nations, and ethnic creeds inhabit the world of Dawnforge. They are the trueborn lords of the Kingsmarch and the common folk of Anderland. They are the merchant-princes of Ebernath, the daring privateers of the Dreaming Isles, and the grim sellswords of the mercenary companies of Kor. They are the fierce herdsmen and warriors of the Durning Highlands and the rogues and bravos who seek their fortunes on the ancient streets of Valhedar. They are rangers of the Griffin Company and treasure-seeking adventurers who brave the wilds of Tamerland. They are prophets of a thousand small gods and arcanists who seek to uncover the secrets of creation. Humans hail from all walks of life and all the corners of the world.

The elves are a populous and influential people in the world of Dawnforge, and the greatest of their civilizations is the forest kingdom of Sildanyr. While there are several different elven subraces and cultures, the two most common in Sildanyr are the dawn elves and night elves. In the Elven language, their names for themselves translate as "people of the dawn" and "people of the night." In appearance, the dawn elves are bright, warm, and fair, while the night elves' ebony skin reflects the night sky and their white or silver hair is the color of moonlight. The dawn elves are the largest racial group and they have held the throne of Sildanyr since their civilization was born. Years ago, however, the emergence of a new religion among the night elves led them into open rebellion against the crown. A civil war between the lords of dawn and night threatens to consume the ancient forest kingdom from within. The dawn elves of Sildanyr are rangers and shamans who protect and revere the wild places. They are wizards and sorcerers whose blood courses with fey magic. The night elves are rebels, wanderers, rogues, and would-be kings who are torn worlds and two destinies.

The towering peaks of the Stormfells are home to a great dwarven civilization that has endured for centuries. The Three Kingdoms of Aradath were once independent nations, but they were unified by Hael of Clan Ironforge during the last great war with giantkind. The High King rules Aradath from the Mithral Throne in the majestic mountain city of Stoneguard. The keeps and holdfasts of the Three Kingdoms are scattered across the rugged slopes of the mist-shrouded peaks and tunnel for untold miles below their surface. The dwarves of Aradath are warriors, builders, and craftsmen of great renown. The mithral arms and armor wrought by dwarven artificers in the eldritch furnace of the Earth Forge are among the world's most legendary artifacts of war.

The Stormfells are also home to the giantkind, a loose nation ruled by the legendary Storm King. In Dawnforge, players can create characters of two of the giants' thrall races '€" the ogres and minotaurs. These races either live in service to the giants or are scattered throughout the world, but they are among the fiercest warriors in the known lands of Eadar.

The gnomes of Dawnforge are a primal race that dwells in the wooded dells and secluded mountain valleys. They have maintained a closer bond with their fey heritage than even the elves of Sildanyr. They have built no grand civilizations, and their communities are often loosely organized tribes of extended families. Like their fey cousins, gnomes are sustained by the magic of the world. They do not require food or water to survive, though they often eat and drink for the simple pleasure of it. The gnomes' physical appearance follows the changing seasons as they age. The skin and hair of gnome children are tinted with the green of springtime and summer, and humans often mistake them for true fey folk. When a gnome enters adulthood, his coloration gradually changes to the brown and gold of autumn, and then slowly fades to white in his elder years. Gnomes are legendary tricksters and illusionists, and they are often met with polite suspicion in human lands. They are accepted by the dwarves of Aradath and the elves of Sildanyr, and there are few small gnome communities in the wild hills of northern Anderland.

Halflings are found in all corners of Ambria, but they are not builders of empires, kingdoms, or even permanent settlements. The largest Halfling culture is a nomadic one, and its people travel the land in great caravans of brightly colored wagons. These halflings call themselves the Faring Folk and they are encountered most often in Anderland. A few small caravans are seen occasionally in the Kingsmarch and Emerlyn, but the Faring Folk are sometimes persecuted by the human and tiefling lords of those lands. The Faring Folk's wagons are large even by the standards of other races, and they are drawn by sturdy hill ponies bred in northern Anderland. The Faring Folk are notorious for their love of animals, and their caravans are often accompanied by herds of goats and pigs, along with packs of barely domesticated dogs that serve the Halflings as mounts and guard animals. The halfling Faring Folk are herders and rogues, traders and bards, craftsmen and tinkerers. They have a reputation in some places as thieves and scoundrels, but Faring Folk caravans are tolerated in many isolated communities because of the exotic trade goods they bring from faraway lands.

The forces of creation still flare brightly in the world of Dawnforge, and the walls that separate this world from others is still thin and mutable. Planetouched races are found in all corners of the world, from Sildanyr to the wilds of Tamerland and from the shores of the Winter Sea to the burning sands of the Azran Desert. Of these races, only the tieflings have built a great civilization of their own. While the common people of the Valhedar Dominion are racially diverse, the power and station of its aristocracy are measured by planetouched blood. The tieflings of Valhedar are lords and generals, diplomats and spies, merchants and thieves, wizards and disciples of fiendish powers. Most embrace their dark heritage and corrupt society, but a few are exiles and wanderers of good heart who follow a different path.

Little is known of the elusive and enigmatic yuan-ti, but they are the masters of the oldest civilization in the world of Dawnforge. This great empire sprawls across central and southern Zangala, and isolated ruins discovered in Sildanyr, Anderland, and the Stormfells indicate that their civilization once extended into Ambria. The three main castes of yuan-ti society are rarely encountered beyond the jungles of Zangala. In the world of Dawnforge, however, there is a fourth caste that forms the lowest ranks of yuan-ti civilization. Known as thinbloods, these yuan-ti appear as normal humans with only a few subtle traces of their serpentine heritage. The thinbloods are held in contempt by the other yuan-ti castes: They are denied access to the powerful and influential priesthood and are treated little better than the lizardfolk and other races who serve the yuan-ti as slaves. A few bold and adventurous yuan-ti thinbloods choose to leave behind their jungle homeland and the social order that holds them in such low regard. They represent a unique and exotic choice of character race for players in the Dawnforge campaign setting.

When explorers from the east arrived on the shores of Tamerland, they encountered savage tribes of lizardfolk scattered throughout the great rain forests. While their technology is typically much more primitive than that of the great empires, the lizardfolk are strong in primal rage and any tribes enjoy the protection of the ancient dragons they worship as gods.

Tamerland is also believed to be the homeland of the doppelgangers, mysterious shapeshifters that infiltrate all the civilized corners of the world. Many doppelgangers are members of the Black Circle, a shadowed organization that seems intent on sowing chaos among the eastern nations and preventing their exploration of Tamerland.

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