The Peoples of Nurela

The Civil Races

In the Known world there are several races of civil peoples both old and new.

The Dwarves

The Elves

The Halflings

The Halflings of Nurela are a widely divergent race. The civilized Halflings of Vesa and eastern Aenar are descended from the Y'tlashi slave stock of the second epoch, and are a humble, sturdy, intelligent and honorable breed of farmers, fishers, craftspeople, and pastoralists. The barbarian Halflings of the savage lands in southern Aenar are altogether different. Descended from those halflings who, over a thousand years ago, chose the jungles rather than slavery, they are a breed of highly tribal, militant, and deadly wildmen. As such, they have adapted to life in the jungles and have become the masters of that habitat. They make their homes in raised huts of timbers covered in palm leaves or animal skins and are very territorial. They move silently through their realm and are deadly with the garrote, javelin, and short bow. They are also master trackers and trappers of both large and small prey. While they are usually quite indifferent towards other races, they will occasionally have dealings with those few travelers and adventurers who enter their realm.

The Humans

The Uncivil Races

These are the cruel and evil races, those warlike tribal creatures who, while able to think, use that power only to destroy or enslave. 

The Bugbears

The Goblins and Hobgoblins

The Gnolls

The Kobolds

The Ogres

The Orcs

The Y'tlashi

The Y'tlashi are the newest of the uncivil races, but are the most striving and malicious. They resemble the humans generally, although they stand taller, are thinner with longer limbs, but lithely so, and are without hair. They have eyes which are uniformly black in color and have an orange to red cast to their skins. They have an overall bony and ungainly appearance to their bodies and a gaunt, vulture-like look to their faces. Their heads are slightly crested and they have no external ears. Their feet are most strikingly different, having only two huge toes splayed out in a manner similar to giant land birds. In temperament they are rash, spiteful, vindictive and cruel. Since the fall of their matriarchal empire at the end of the Second Epoch they have adopted a strict societal caste system where those male Y'tlashi with the highest physical strength and/or magical powers dominate those with lesser talents. Their females are seen as property and reproductive slaves. 

The Y'tlashi are universally hated by all intelligent races of Nurela, but they do often employ other humanoids as minions and workers, though these arrangements are typically short lived.