Yon Crusade: Races

Rirykans

Humans

The dominant race of today's world owes much to the foundations laid by their former masters. Initially, elvenkind saw little difference between humanity and their other primitive rivals, the giants, the orcs, and the goblins. During the First Expansion, the elves killed all four of them alike, driving them ahead of the expanding bounds of their empire. During the Second Expansion, the integration of other races into the fabric of rapidly diversifying elven states became a competitive practice. Many elven rulers were quick to note that humans made excellent servants: they were strong and enduring, thrived almost anywhere, and were less aggressive and rebellious than orcs. Over time, humans formed larger and larger portions of the common population, gaining a level of acceptance that other "demi-elves" never achieved. For all the danger of keeping a large, sometimes restless underclass, the most successful states at the height of elven power found that the advantages of a well-managed human resource outweighed the risks – at least in the short and medium term. In the long term, humans under elven rule increased more quickly than the elven population, and were augmented by those who absorbed elven technology from beyond the fringes. In the twilight of the era, humanity found itself well positioned to inherit the world, hurrying the process along with a trend of rebellions and the rise of a large mixed-race population. The Great Death during the eighth millennium killed off everyone in large numbers and sent the world into a temporary dark age, but it ultimately signified the final transfer of ascendancy from elves to humans.

For the last several millennia, humans have been the most numerous of the mortals by some distance, holding dominion or population majority over many regions. On the eve of the Darktime, they comprised over half the population of Riryka and Chora. A keen race, humanity has no serious weaknesses and count adaptability and endurance as primary strengths. Their ancient savagery and aggression has been tempered by millennia of elven subjugation and accumulated historic record. Because they are numerous and would put every square inch of Riryka and Chora to plough or cobblestones if they could, many non-humans view humans with some degree of resentment. Their genetic invasiveness is quite a real issue to elves in particular. Nevertheless, their ascendancy has also brought many improvements and contributions to all of Riryka over the past four thousand years. Continental trade on the eve of the Darktime reached new heights largely under human guidance. People of many races live in the closest thing to humanity's trademark habitat: cities of unprecedented size and organisation. And though it was elves that invented piety, justice, and benevolent rule, it was humans that created chivalry. Unsurprisingly, whether they lead urban, feudal, or even simpler lives, it is humans who are now at the forefront of the Crusade to free the world of the Darktime.

Elves

Of all the contemporary races of the known world, the elven people have the longest history – no surprise since elves, left alone, live ten times as long as humans. Tens of thousands of years before the other races had asserted themselves, it was the skyborn who plotted the winds and the seasons and charted the movements of the stars, and the elves who explored and spread through the corners of the earth. Where the bird people had eyes only for what was above, the elves saw what was below. They scrutinised and catalogued the phenomena of the world and developed many of the things that later civilisations would take for granted, like infrastructure, law, and organised religion. Their imperial legacy lives on to this day in more than just ruins too – the archpriests of the Oracle are still elves and most of the older noble families among humans have at least a little elven blood.

After the fall of the skyborn, their acknowledged senior partners, the elves established the Oracle of Stars to prevent anyone from displeasing Heaven again. In establishing the Oracle, elvenkind also took over the legacy of the skyborn: the keeping of time, the counting of years, the tracking of history and astrological prognostication of the future. They in turn accepted the emerging dwarven civilisations as junior partners and acknowledged their dominion underground. The elven empire spread across Riryka, and when it expanded beyond the bounds of administrative possibility, it lay still for a while and then split. Numerous kingdoms and subordinate empires took the central throne's place in the periphery during the fourth and fifth millennia and forged outwards once more in the Second Expansion. Rivalries during this era entwined the fate of elvenkind with humanity, leading ultimately to their downfall. Forays to Chora eventually brought home the Great Death, a series of pandemics during the eighth millennium that ultimately killed two thirds of humans and nine in ten elves. It was a blow from which the humans (from an elven perspective) recovered from quickly, and from which the elves never did.

Physically, elves are lithe, slender brings with long, distinctive pointed ears. They are quick, sharp and coordinated but not very robust. Armour or equipment that is perfectly useable by human standards presents issues to elves unless it is made of mithril or crafted in some specialised way. Their fair skin burns easily and most prefer the tranquil shade and temperate climate of their ancestral forests where they melded advanced civilization and natural surroundings into a seamless whole, building towering keeps of gleaming white stone woven with giant, still living trees. In other places, elves are prominent as clerics or scholars, and are traditionally powerful mages. Though they have a reputation as snobbish, they are generally good-natured and some even ruled mixed race or human domains.

For all their great lifespans, elves are the least fertile of the races by far and the most vulnerable to disease. After the Great Death, they were able to concentrate sufficient population to form completely independent realms in only a few places and the present Darktime is unlikely to have improved the situation. Few elf-dominated societies are without a sense of paranoia in the shadow of more populous neighbours, especially humans, who could potentially assimilate them entirely.

Giants

Standing anywhere from nine to twelve feet in height depending on tribe, giants are the mightiest of the mortals. The elves once depicted them as noble savages, beings favoured by heaven worthy of respect, though they dominated them from their lands just the same. Perhaps surprisingly, despite their great size and the fear they struck in others, giants wound up at the bottom of the pecking order amongst the mortals of Riryka. The Great Death and the ensuing explosion of human civilisation sent giants retreating to the harshest and most remote corners of the world. Although a few entire bands were contracted during the colonisation of Chora whose descendents continue to live there, contact with the rest of the world continued to peter out. Most of the giant tribes are now thought to be extinct. Much giant blood does live on in a few other race variations however, particularly the highland orc.

Along with the elephant tribe of the beastfolk, giants are the longest lived of mortals and stereotypically conservative and stubborn. In the past, many giant tribes had elders who lived a thousand years. None knew the true strength of the giants better than the giants themselves and they are in fact slow to anger and gentle by nature. Their fearsome reputation comes from when their anger does break out – giants enter an unstoppable berserker rage, visiting destruction on everything around them. Although once most sought after as mercenaries, they were also known as powerful laborers.

Mer (unplayable)

Mer are amphibious demihumans with smooth, rubbery skin like dolphins, streamlined bodies and webbed extremities. As one might expect, they can swim like fish (learning to do so before they can walk) and hold their breath for extended periods. They cannot, as is often mistaken by simpler folk, breathe water or while underwater. They are divided into several tribes based on their predominent coloration and traditional homelands, which range from icebound fjords to tropical islands and near both sea and fresh water. They have crossed the seas with great ships for many thousands of years and are credited with both discovering Chora (where they are sometimes regarded as just another tribe by beastfolk) and making regular transit possible.

Like other races, the mer adapt to a remarkable variety of environments, including cities, though they would be out of place in a desert in much the same manner as an elf. They are comfortable on land but play little part in it. Thus, their role in the crusade is mostly in logistics and support.

Skyborn (unplayable)

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