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| The Speaking Races |
| The Earthers A race that is near and dear to my heart for I am after all one of them is the Earthers. These creatures call themselves human and due to their short history as spacefarers consider themselves far advanced beyond the other speaking races. Ten percent of the Earther race has what some call a genetic malady and others a genetic gift, they are Immutables. The majority of Earthers, however are unconscious Leyas users. The Earthers are easier to anger than most races and their pride is insurmountable. The Earthers do have one major advantage over the other races, they have a powerful will. Their very will has caused the creation of the majority of Kulieks, or mythological beings, as well as the physical transformation of the majority of Speaking Races. They live between 60 and 100 years without the aid of Leyas. Their skin colors run a wide range from very pale pinks to very dark browns. They are one of the loudest creatures on Refuge, second only to the Baribur. Their eyes range from blue to green to brown, with an odd gold, silver and grey sometimes occurring. Their hair color naturally ranges from blonde to brunette to black, with a occasional red. As an Earther reaches middle age(about 45) their hair changes to a grey or white. Earthers are the most common race in their own Colonies but only make up half the population of the Northern Kingdoms, and only reside in the cities of Doyest Vesk and Deldoroon beyond the Nightmare Moors. They are virtually unknown on the other two continents. Often feared by Olgogs, the haughty humans have enslaved many of the other races in cities such as Dunesphere and Delaba, but slavery is outlawed in the rest of the Colonies. Despite technological rises and falls the Earther is relatively unchanged from the time of the ancients. Though once a well educated race, learning has been lost in many Earther communities and they often view their own lost technology as farce and folklore. The Earthers are also the first Speaking Race to use Annihilation Leyas which has been frowned upon by the K’iorn and K’iou. It was in fact an Earther who researched Annihilation Leyas in an attempt to regain the use of ancient Earther Technology many centuries ago. Though the initial attempts failed, a few misguided, insane or decidedly evil people have since expanded on this study. The K’iorn The K’iorn(pronounced Key-yorn), or Elves as the ignorant Earthers call them, are a beautiful but deadly race. According to their own legends they were born as troops for the Falosini in their genocidal war against the Quall N’drone. Supposedly the K’iorn were bred from Falosini and Sylvan parents. Though there is no proof that I know of to support this, it is interesting to note that every native race except the Olgogs draw their lineage back to the Falosini’s war in some way. The K’iorn live in a variety of different types of societies throughout Refuge. The majority of traditions hold that the clans are to be associated with the initial War Tribe( or Nn’iorn) that settled any one area. The K’iorn are led by their Zao’donai, or Warchiefs, powerful Mancers who are often thousands of years old. Most K’iorn communities are small and the K’iorn usually choose to mate once every hundred years. In K’iorn society males and females are equal in all matters. Until recently the K’iorn had no concepts of marriage but it has become popular among K’iorn dwelling in Earther lands. From their supposed Sylvan heritage, the K’iorn have a great love of nature. As a race they believe they could be called off to die in battle at any moment and so they live their life very peacefully, and view every day alive as a blessing. The majority of K’iorn are conscious Leyas users. Their most visited monument is the great tree in the center of S’vana. It is said to be a portal to the land of the Sylvan. They are slow to anger but their vengeance is devastating. Once a K’iorn makes a death pledge their enemy must either die by their hand or they will take their revenge on the enemy’s entire family. Their society runs itself on a “eye for an eye” method of judgement. It is believed that if a mistake is made, the problem can be rectified using the Leyas. The K’iorn respect and value all paths of Leyas understanding, except the use of Annihilation Leyas, or acts of Vampyrism and Banditry. The K’iorn live for many thousands of years. Their long life gives them a negative perspective upon creatures that seek to steal the emotional energy of others for the extension of their own life. The majority of K’iorn primarily sustain themselves with plant matter based foods, only rarely supplementing their meals with animal flesh. They are however, omnivorous. The majority of K’iorn communities domesticate both animals and plants. They use Mal’ie, a native reptilian beast, as riding animals, though these creatures are allowed free range when not being used. K’iorn have a range of skin tones usually falling between light tans or golds to dark browns, though rarely green and silver tinged skin has been recorded. Their build is much thinner than that of Earthers and their height often ranges between 5’ 6’’ and 6’ 4’’. Their eyes which are a little larger than the average Earther’s and have a luminescence about them. The eye color usually ranges through the majority of gem colors as well as gold, silver, and copper. Their eyes are incredibly keen allowing them a limited night vision. Their ears do taper to a distinct point, which probably led the first colonist to call them Elves. They have no body hair except for the hair on their head and their eyebrows, both of which are very fine. The K’iorn often seemed arrogant or aloof to Earthers which only makes how alien they are to us apparent. Traditionally K’iorn wear a set of very thick extendable blades called Nnghai(Dark Blades)on each wrist. The Nnghai were once made from the teeth of the growling but for the last two thousand years have been formed with wood from the Khazgha tree, which is actually as strong as steel. Their clothing is woven from the skk’a plant, which creates a very light but very warm cottony fabric, usually dyed in greens and brown for forest dwelling K’iorn, and brown and tan for plains dwelling K’iorn. The highest position in the K’iorn community other than the Zao’donai is the Dra’koon (Ever-present Defender). Dra’koons, or Dragoons, as Earthers call them, are elite shapeshifters who are given specially designed Khazgha armor which actually can physically change to allow for any shifting on the part of its wearer. True Dra’koons are few and far between. The K’iou The K’iou (pronounced Key-you), or Dwarves, as the Ignorant call them, are a strong and loyal people. According to their legends the Falosini asked the elusive Aegelis, unhappy neighbors of the Quall N’drone, to join in their war. As part of the war effort, Aegelis and Sylvan mated to create living weapons factories, the K’iou. The K’iou hold the Gres’la or Homeforge as being the highest place of honor. Every K’iou community is built into a mountain or mineral rich hill. The K’iou like the K’iorn believe their entire purpose is this planar struggle and historically the K’iou have followed it. Male K’iou spend every other eight hours in the Homeforge. The Female K’iou, though, do not stay at home making the food as Earthers are apt to. The Female K’iou handle all the ruling, the distribution of resources, and are the warriors of the traditional K’iou community. Since the introduction of Earthers and the development of a continent wide system of trade, the Female K’iou have also taken up the role of merchants keeping K’iou made artifacts moving through the colonies and new and interesting objects from the outside world into the subterranean homes. The K’iou are often described as gruff. Because their day is regulated by eight hour periods, as designated by great Hour glasses that line the walls of the Homeforge, the K’iou always believe that the call to war is immanent and anything not productive, such as gossiping and idly sitting around, is wasteful. Unlike the K’iorn who would happily discuss the pleasures of the day, the K’ iou would rather get on to something they consider meaningful. They are however learning to be great artisans. With the increasing orders for K’iou made statues and art objects, the act of carving and sculpting have become very popular ways of spending time. Because of this, the greater communities have become wonders of craftsmanship. The rather heavily muscled K’iou has a torso that would considered proportioned for a human being, but much smaller legs and heavily muscled arms. They usually stand between 4’5’’ and 5’ tall. Their skin colors are usually browns and tans, though an odd red does occur. Their hair which has an almost metallic texture is able to withstand immense heat and is often grown into a beard on males to prevent hot particles from burning the mouth or nose. Females however, often have mutton chops. The hair itself ranges from copper, to silver and gold , with black being rare. Their eyes are very similar to humans except that their colors range from Black to grey, with a rare white. Their eyes are very sensitive to the natural contours of stone, allowing them to carve and mine even in the pitch black underground. This sight requires their eyes to focus on the stone or metal and therefore cannot be done quickly, or at any range beyond one foot away. They often employ artificed or worked lightstones to see when travelling inside their caves and their Gres’la is lit both by lightstones and the fires of the great forges. The heat in a Gres’la is often hot enough to make the average Earther quite uncomfortable. K’iou skin however amazingly lets them work in very hot conditions without the use of even a blacksmith’s protective gloves. The K’iou traditionally wear metal armor designed to protect them from tunnel collapses and falling rocks. They also wear special helms that are known for their safety. Though the K’iou are not a militant race, they always carry on them either a Drum’gr’o (bladed chisel) or a Forgemaster hammer. Though in their caves they wear clothing made with a fine metal mesh, it is rare to see this on travelling K’iou, who tend to wear dress appropriately for their setting. After all when in Zelga do as the Zelgans. The Vorin The Vorin( pronounced Vor-in) are an odd race from the Earther perspective. Seemingly against Earther theories of evolution the Vorin live in the same places as the K’iorn and compete with the K’iorn for the same resources and yet rather than this escalating into fighting the K’iorn accept the Vorin into their communities as if they were no different. Yet for any Earther that sees them the Vorin are unmistakably different. Vorin have the same bone structure as the K’iorn and are as tall and lithe, yet their skin has the ability to match the coloration of its surroundings, much like an Earthling chameleon. When interacting with other people a Vorin will usually keep its skin color a neutral tan with green markings that resemble tattoos. Unlike the K’iorn who usually inhabit treetop villages, the Vorin usually prefer to live in the trees themselves. According to Vorin tradition during the Falosini’s war against the Quall N’drone, the land of the Sylvan, one of the Falosini’s allies was attacked by foul minions of the Quall N’drone. The land of the Sylvan was a beautiful unending forest with trees from every dimension of existence. The foul minions were too powerful for open warfare so the Vorin were born by breeding K’iorn with true Sylvans, and sent to begin a guerilla war. These Vorin warriors were so effective that they became the permanent scouts and snipers for the Falsoini’s war. Socially, their attitudes are very similar to the K’iorn except they are often not as friendly. They often travel alone, hiding and ambushing those that would hunt them. Like many ancient Earther nomads new children are carried by their parents in special backpacks, which are made from Khazgha wood keeping the child safe. With the invention of the misnomer Elven Springshot, a four-shot rifle that used a tightened spring to launch a short metal spear, their effectiveness as snipers gave them a wide variety of jobs in the Earther colonies. With so many Vorin living in close quarters with Earthers it was soon discovered that unlike the other Speaking races, Vorins could mate with Earthers. Out of this union the Vlahadassi were born. The Vorin’s style of dress is often the same as that of the K’iorn, though traditionally when hunting they wear only a simple loincloth allowing more of their skin to match their surroundings. They have also taken interest in the Earther’s sheer materials such as mesh clothing to achieve the same effect while not offending delicate Earther sensibilities. It is interesting to note that though the Vorin can camouflage to virtually any naturally occurring color. The colors of metals, gems, and many synthetic structures evade this ability, rendering them visible. This is also true of rain, dust clouds and snow. The Baribur The Baribur (pronounced Barry-Burr) were originally thought to be the Angels of many an Earther religion. As the nature of Refuge became apparent they were thought to be Kulieks, creatures created by the belief of Earthers. Neither of these theories ended up being true as the K’iorn have attested to the existence of Baribur even before the existence of the K’iou. The Baribur have a build very similar to humans, though their faces look much more like K’iorn. Their most distinguishing feature is their expansive wings. These wings are feathered and run the range of colors from white to black with the rarer browns and grays. Their eyes are the same color as the K’iorn. Though their bone structure is like that of an Earther it is actually much lighter. Where an Earther who is 6’ tall will probably weigh about 200+ lbs., an equivalent Baribur would weigh only 100 lbs. Surprisingly this lighter bone structure does not result in weaker bones, and Baribur are often as strong and healthy as their Earther counterparts. They are the only of the speaking races that has more than four limbs, they have six(two arms, two legs, two wings). In Baribur mythology the Falosini who live in beautiful fortresses in the clouds bred the Baribur when they mated with their K’iorn soldiers. These new winged troops soon became a staple in defending the Falsoini fortresses and were used far and wide to lend air support to the K’iorn troops. This story seems to have even less credibility than the other races' myths of the Falosini because modern Baribur are just too damned happy-go-lucky. Cheerful often to the point of annoyance, even the most depressed Baribur has a wry sense of humor about everything they say. This makes them very effective troubadours and they often travel the Colonies performing for money. This unswayable cheer also makes them almost fearless. Traditionally Baribur live in high aeries, where the night is always filled with songs. Recently, however, a great tragedy occurred when the ancient Earther Warlord Enric Von Glomhammer had a huge settlement of Baribur who lived near his castle put to death. Sadly the poor Baribur of the Ba’nezra(Open Heavens) aerie were cruelly staked out to die of exposure and their aerie was collapsed along with the mountainside. Since this event, the Baribur aeries have been amassing defenses making them into forts that can even handle lengthy sieges. The Baribur have communities even further north than the Northern Kingdoms and out of those cold wastes has come the Cult of the Tsoga, a religion that has gained more supplicants than even the Universal Church. The largest community of Baribur living in the Colony lands is located at the Volkar Mts. whose heights are dotted by large unreachable, except for flyers, fortresses shaped directly out of the cliff faces. Most of the adventuring Baribur come from these dwellings. The Baribur traditionally wear light open backed clothing and arm themselves with long spears and javelins, which they use in diving attacks. These diving attacks require Baribur to fly high into the sky and then fold their wings close to their body making themselves into a missile aimed at their target. Not surprising since if they used their wings to stop themselves at that speed their wings would be torn right off of their backs. Their spears have been modified to allow a Baribur to wrap their feet around it to cushion the force of the strike. An ancient technique, the dive attack is usually perfected by a Baribur warrior before his or her tenth year alive(five years after learning how to fly). Baribur are often claustrophobic and feel uncomfortable when underground. The Kumfei Knee high to an Earther, the Kumfei(pronounced Come fey), which ignorant Earthers call Gnomes, are one of the most brilliant sentient beings on Refuge. Before the Conquest Wars, Kumfei worked alongside Earther scientists envisioning new scientific theory. It was said that they were close to discovering how the Leyas is created. Their often brilliant minds are handicapped by the smallest bodies of any of the speaking races. It was a Gnome that created the first Springshot, a Gnome that artificed the first device(millennia before the Exodus), and Gnomes that mapped the Leyas on much of Refuge’s surface. These achievements led many Kumfei to believe they were better than what they called the Malformed ones( everyone not Kumfei). This pride led an isolated group of Kumfei living in the Northern portions of the continent to begin plotting conquest. These Kumfei, known as the AT’lal Ni, started the Northern Kingdoms which, hand in hand with Earther Magi now rule the many enslaved people of those very kingdoms. According to Kumfei mythology, the Falosini bred them from K’iou(Dwarf) stock by mating them with the Aegelis. They were to be the strategists in the war against the Quall N’drone, watching troop movements, watching where and when the Quall N’drone attacked, and were to extrapolate their next attacks. Like most mythology it makes quite a bit of sense, after all it does explain why the little buggers are so smart. In the Colonies Kumfei not engaged in artificing are often looked down upon as useless rodents. Their small bodies make them ineffective at labor and so many become travelers and merchants. It is interesting to note that adepts are more common among the Kumfei than any other race. A traditional Kumfei arms himself or herself with a (gnomish) Springshot, a short sword, which they use as a long sword, or a Chainblade, and a Kumfei Flak Jacket. Most Kumfei are arrogant and look down their noses at the other races( which is a trick indeed because they are so small). Their hair is much less coarse than their K’iou cousins, and varies from black to brown, with an odd red or gold. They often wear glasses with flip down lenses of varying magnifications. The Bastards The Bastards, and yes they really are, are sometimes called Halflings, Orphans, and Da’ggogoa (really mean K’iou curse). These diminutive people are known throughout the colonies for their lazy and useless nature. According to K’iorn mythology, at the great battle of Am’er S’ur in the land of the Krato, the Forces of the Falosini defeated the combined forces of the Krato and the Quall N’drone. The Quall N’drone forces fled to the plane of K’yrpos. While the size-changing Krato fled into their subterranean fortress. The Falosini, tired of sending in K’iorn and K’iou warriors into the tiny deathtraps that lined the diminutive tunnels, realized they needed troops who could innately figure out the nature of these traps and disarm them. While maintaining a siege, the Falosini mated with K’iou to create a race of tunnel rats. This race was never named since their lives were forfeit from birth. Unlike the other races whom the Falosini expected to fight and live to fight another day. This race was bred without a sense of self-preservation. After the campaign against the Krato, the nameless race was left with various communities of K’ iorn and K’iou. Taking on the affectations of the race they lived with, the nameless ones soon got a reputation of not caring. While the K’iou believe that one’s work honors their parents, they began to give these nameless ones the most horrid insult in the K’iou Dialect. Da’ggogoa translates roughly as one whose parents either don’t exist or have no honor. This constant insulting led the Da’ggogoa to begin using those skills that were bred into them for their own advantage. Becoming sneak-thieves and assassins they soon became even more unwelcome in K’ iou communities. This all changed when the Earthers arrived. When they translated their race name for the Earthers the closest equivalency was Bastard. In the Earther colonies Bastards were rewarded for their natural skills. Many took places of prominence in local Guilds. Most nobles have a Bastard food taster as well as a Bastard master-thief. Those who aren’t effective at the thieving arts often become performers, beggars and adventurers. Surprisingly Bastards look very much like Earther children except have eye colors that resemble the K’iorn. Unlike Baribur, who are almost always good natured, Bastards are often sarcastic. They love playing tricks on the other races. And love picking on Kumfei, who are the only speaking creatures that are smaller then themselves. They are not fearless creatures and are often considered cowardly but do have a heroic streak that makes the most fearless Earther Knight seem yellow-bellied. Bastards dress in whatever fashion is prominent in their community and are often on the pudgy side, eating every meal like it is their last. Like the K’iorn they will sometimes go barefoot. They commonly arm themselves with Kur’az, specially designed throwing short swords. Though no longer common in the K’iou communities they make up a large minority in the Colonies. The Vlahadassi The Vlahadassi(pronounced Vla ha das e), called Half-elves by friendly ignorant Earthers, and called Mutts or Half-breeds by mean ignorant Earthers, are an interesting race. They are not half- K’iorn as some would like to believe, in fact Earthers and K’iorn cannot produce offspring when they mate. Vlahadassi are a result of the union of an Earther and a Vorin. They have only been around for about 1,000 years which makes them the youngest race. Surprisingly a Vlhadassi who mates with an Earther or a Vorin still produces Vlhadassi offspring. The Vlahadassi are virtually indistinguishable from Earthers, other than the rather prominent natural tattooing that appears on their body. This tattooing functions the exact same way as a Vorin’s allowing the Vlahadassi to camouflage. Vlahadassi have no culture of their own and can be found in most of the Colonies. They make up the majority in Baronade. They often will join up with other Vlahadassi to form Raiding Clans. Each Clan is lead by a Chieftain who sells out their services to local nobles in exchange for land and wealth for his clan. The most prominent clans are the Clan of the Twin Scimitars located near Dumbar, the Clan of the Zela Crown located near Kelvara, and the Clan of the Jade Ring located near Barrow-on-the-Sea. They usually dress either like the Earthers they live near, or like Vorin. Raiding Parties are usually armed with Elven Springshots and scimitars, and ride Mal’ie. The Olgogs The Olgog(pronounced Ole gog) represents one of the saddest periods in Earther history. Those with absolutely no sense of decorum have referred to them as Goblins. Unlike every other race that Earthers have encountered on Refuge none have so needlessly suffered as the Olgogs. For over three hundred years, Olgogs, were persecuted and their homelands and resources stolen from them. They were driven into the unforgiving southern lands. With their return, Earthers found that they were not spiteful about the situation. In fact, stronger, more human looking Olgogs came back as well. Still the Earthers remained prejudice often calling these very intelligent people Hobgoblins. It is interesting to note that the Olgogs have no creation myth like every other race that I have encountered on Refuge. They just remember being here. They do claim to have stories of when every other race arrived on Refuge which I, as a scholar, simply can't account for. The larger Olgogs, often wear hide armor, either from the first Nightmare they killed or from a Devourer or Growling. Unlike their smaller cousins who wield short thrusting spears, larger Olgogs wield morningstars, heavy two-handed swords and axes, and the occasional Springshot cannon. Olgogs have slightly greenish skin, covered by short green fur. Their eyes are very non-human looking with no whites, instead they have a greenish or brownish eye that has a large black pupil. They also have a membrane that they can extend over their eyes that allows them to see comfortably underwater. Unlike Earthers and the other refuge races Olgogs have only three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand. They also have very different teeth. They have six full canines on both upper and lower jaw as well as molars, lending certain biologists to believe Olgogs, though omnivores lean more towards the meat eating side. Larger Olgogs can top out at seven feet tall, though the abnormal eight foot tall Olgog has been documented. The smaller varieties usually top out at four or five feet. They live in large communal cave complexes from where the hunting party(both male and female Olgogs) will travel many miles in search of Mal’ie herds. Olgogs have extensive family networks and raise their children as a group, which results in the fact that any member of the community will fight to the death to protect a child. They often do not understand such distinctions as parents. In fact, the genetic parent of an Olgog is unimportant in their society. Olgogs do, however, remember every member of their family group through scent making the average mimic unable to infiltrate an Olgog community(though well trained doppelgangers have no such problems). Olgogs living in the Earther Colonies are always the larger variety, and usually work as Caravan guards and Guides. There is still a lot of prejudice among the uneducated, and in most cities Olgogs cannot achieve positions of social power, which leads some Olgogs to become adventurers. The Fallen Races According to K’iorn Lore, many millennia ago the great Falosini, Azre'Tal, now called Azrael the All-knowing, led raid after raid against the Quall N'drone. Azre'Tal was a brilliant tactician but the council of the Falosini would not listen to his unorthodox plans, such as tapping into forbidden annihilation lore that they had stolen from the Krato, and using it against their enemies. Finally he was granted one boon by his fellow councilors. He would be allowed to assemble a force and travel to the furthest part of the Plane of Awareness to tap into the Stream of Consciousness, where it is said that all knowledge exists. The purpose, of course, was to access information that could be used to finally end the dimensional war. It was a dangerous plan because between the portal through which they would travel and the Stream of Consciousness were uncountable miles of powerful nightmares and even more evil beasts. Though a brave and wise leader, one who was unquestionably loyal to the Falosini cause, Azre’ Tal was considered mad by the other Falosini. It surprised the Falosini that when Azre'Tal called for warriors to join him, he was joined by two great forces led by legendary leaders within their species, one K’iorn and one Baribur. These soldiers, emboldened by their leadership, marched perilously with Azre'Tal into the border of Awareness. Enduring endless legions of Nightmares and undead they reached the Stream of Consciousness. They returned as psychicly gifted people. These psychic gifts were not the only way these individuals had changed. Their physiques had been altered, undoubtedly due to their exposure to the Stream of Consciousness. The change ran more than skin deep. Their now gifted nature fomented a belief that they were destined to rule over all of the peoples. Especially those they now considered inferior to themselves, unchanged K’iorn and Baribur who did not have the courage to heed the call of Azre’Tal. This change in attitude was not the only cause of the eventual rift between these Fallen soldiers and their unchanged counterparts. The cursed peoples had would now fly into murderous rages when emotionally provoked, causing them to seek and kill the closest living thing, often in violent and bloody ways. I heard this rage is a side effect of being forever tapped into all knowledge. Coupled with their elitist attitudes and corpse-like appearance, these people became the bogeymen of their respective cultures. The K'iorn named them the Fallen Peoples. The Fallen Peoples live in huge easily defendable Fortresses, where they use specially artificed FalseWyrms as mounts and Demonbeasts as guards. Their knowledge of the Leyas is extensive but it is rare to see one that wields Annihilation Leyas. In fact they actively hunt down and kill those that are trained in its use. The Fallen Peoples also claim to be part of an army that extends across many planes of existence, all lead by Azrael. Most of the Fallen who adventure ( both Uthvelor and Pelebor) have either left their homes to learn to coexist with the other races of Refuge, or have been kicked out because they were too bloodthirsty for even Uthvelor and Pelebor culture. It is interesting to note that when the Fallen mate with regular K'iorn and Baribur, there is a fifty percent chance the child will be a fallen as well. Uthvelor The deadly Uthvelor (pronounced Uth vay lor), are some of the most fearsome warriors on Refuge. When Azre’Tal called for a force to enter the Plane of Awareness, a K’iorn Dra’koon named Uth of the La’rath(Starfalcon) tribe heeded his call. Uth brought with him a band of over over two thousand K'iorn, all veterans drawn from many tribes. Resembling K'iorn that have been struck by some plague, the Uthvelor have very pale skin, even the blackest skinned Uth looks shades paler than his or her K'iorn counterpart. To this day most Uthvelor (Warriors/Swords of Uth) actively seek to enslave other races. It is said by them that Azrael the All-knowing still resides in a castle made of obsidian on the Plane of Awareness. Unluckily I had the displeasure of serving as a slave to an Uth for four months until I was rescued by my old friend, Seraph. In that time I learned that the Uthvelor, with some concentration, can tap into the Border of Awareness and recall memories that others have had, allowing them to understand objects and situations that are alien to their own life. My proclaimed master Or'il once recounted to me the collected works of William Shakespeare over the course of four days. On another occasion he told me the very things my father had told me before I left home. On both occasions Or’il was calm, serenely chewing the heads off various still living rodents. The Uth are strange at best, frightening at worst. They usually armor themselves with armor made of Nightmare hide overlayed with a surprisingly light and warm metal that flexes like cloth and weighs less than steel. They also use Springshots modified to fire a set of eight darts in a spread like an Duskian Immutable's shotgun. They are well known for their surprisingly light two-handed swords that have one straight edge and one jagged edge which they allow blood and gore to build up on the jagged side. A wound given by such a blade quickly goes septic and will usually cause rot in living creatures, killing them slowly over the course of a few days. Uth fashions tend toward form fitting black clothing without much adornment or anything else that might bring on an emotional response. They are not a somber people, often throwing lavish feasts, and enjoying their emotions in private where they will not accidentally kill another Uth. The Pelebor The Pelebor(legion of Pelos) are like the Uth except they are the result of a small army of Baribur under the command of Arch-wing Pelos who joined Azre'Tal's quest to the Border of Awareness. They live together with Uthvelor communities and have the same psychological problems as the Uth. The most pronounced difference was to the appearance of their wings, which had taken on a bonier quality and whose feathers, in almost all cases, turned black. Rare Pelebor are even born with bat-like wings. The Pelebor even arm themselves similarly to the Uth but they will often carry a short thrusting spear specially designed for their dive attacks. In repose, the Pelebor dress like their Baribur cousins, in openbacked vests and trousers, robes or togas. The somber, dark change since their fall runs deeper than just appearance. Unlike their jovial Baribur counterparts, there is no humor in the life of a Pelebor. In fact, the Pelebor are most often described as socially inept. By being either outright rude, aloof, or exhibiting behaviors that many consider insane, other races are often uncomfortable around them. Although the Pelebor lack many of the social skills that we consider necessary to socialize, the Pelebor do have an amazing capacity to create art. Perhaps not surprisingly, many Pelebor rank amongst the best dark artists and some recovered art treasures of the Pelebor grace the Von Zelga Museum. (Excerpt from Dark Refuge: The Adventure Game Copyright 2002) |
| The Ability to blend into foliage makes Vorin the ultimate hunters. |
The Baribur
Skyknights are the
elite defenders of
the Falosini
Skyknights are the
elite defenders of
the Falosini
| Olgogs are a brave and noble race despite their often frightening visages. |
TM
| A Bastard Spring Rat, starting a riot, as an Earther Child. |
| Dark Refuge Games Game Books Dark Refuge Core Book The Time Shredders Complete Leyas Guide DR Sourcebooks Outlaws Guide EEF Guide Northern Kingdoms Guide Campaign Guides & Modules Border Wars:Aftermath Draco Liberatti (coming soon) DR Novels Day Earth Died God Swords Nightmare Lord Daemonsbane (coming soon) Tales of Refuge I: The VLAD Incident (coming soon) Tales of Refuge II: Victims of the Border Wars (coming soon) Time Shredder Novels The Resistance Lives On (coming soon) |
| Brook, Earther Hydraulic Knight and Diplomat |
| The Vlahadassi Raiders of the Jade Ring Clan |
| Do not let their corpse-like pallor fool you, the Pelebor are not undead, simply cursed Baribur |
Even K'iorn youth
are formidable
warriors
are formidable
warriors
