I was looking for inspiration in old posts when I came across this one about the Races in the Old Crown, and it’s horribly out of date! (2012!)
So, here’s another redux on what I’m thinking so far, other than Menfolk.
Beastkin
Slightly shorter than menfolk, beastkin inhabit much of the woodlands of the Old Crown, work the fields of the White Plains, and of course appear in a sizeable community in Queenstown.
With long, goat-like faces, horns and ears, as well as lower bodies resembling the creatures, for a long time there was a prejudice among many menfolk of how intelligent the beastkin were. Following the events of the Great Undying, when the Ascended known as the Unsung was usurped by the Fiend, before himself being usurped by the Black Lady, it was the surprisingly many numbers of Beastkin Witchblooded who helped keep the worst of the undead curse from hurting the Old Crown. The belated respect this earned the race has granted them a much greater place in Old Crown society.
The offspring of menfolk and beastkin invariably favour their beastkin parent, though have a high chance of being unable to bear their own children. Offspring with gargants tend to be taller than their beastfolk parents and display much more beast-like appearances, though again tend to be infertile themselves.
Darklings
The darklings of the Northern Swamplands are the most confused race when scholars try to describe them. Neither beastkin nor gargant, menfolk nor hanu, they occupy a space between all of them.
Generally taller than menfolk by at least a head, though running the gamut from wiry and sly to thick and solid, they have a skin tone ranging from deep umber to pale grey with hair to match. Sharply pointed ears, and in some cases pronounced snouts, leave many of the ‘more civilized’ races to think of the darklings in ways that used to be reserved for the beastkin. Such thinking would be a huge mistake.
Darklings, despite their general similarity in appearance to menfolk and some of the other races, are unable to have offspring with them.
Gargants
Taller even than the darklings and wider too, the gargants make their homes in the wooded foothills and high mountains that line the southern and western borders of the Old Crown. Despite a great variation across the culture of different tribes, all have a history of tattooing their green-brown skin with thick black, white and red lines, and carving or ornamenting their thick tusks with similar designs.
Children between menfolk and gargants are possible, generally resulting in a shorter gargant with smaller tusks.
Golem
An artificial race created by an Oon to be his servants, the golem were lost for millennia beneath the City of Festivals before excavations uncovered the first, who sort out another of his people, and so on.
Once a shining metallic or ceramic facsimile of menfolk with no real sentience at all, those left awake and aware, but buried by sand and sea for centuries developed sentience as a kind of madness, and view their unearthing as a kind of birth into the world. Of course, their time spent lost has tarnished part or all of their appearance so that their uniqueness as individuals like any other race is plain to see.
Hanu
Hailing from the Spice Islands and the newly established business interests there, the hanu are the most recent arrival to the ports of the Old Crown.
Brown to golden fur covers their blue-black skin and they most resemble the apes and monkeys known to once inhabit the wilds of Istan before the ascension of the Storm turned it into a wasteland.
Their holy men dye their skin and fur a bright shade of blue, in veneration of their ancient gods. When a foreigner was finally granted access to their temples, they realised that the word ‘hanu’ was a corruption of an ancient Oon term for ‘loyal’, though what exactly this means for hanu culture has yet to be determined.
Lizardfolk
Following the fall of the Oon, their loyal warrior retainers the Lizardfolk were the first to build a new empire, though one built on intolerance and racial intolerance.
Goldscale lizardfolk were seen as the highest race, with all others subservient to them, especially including the greyscale lizardfolk, who were enslaved in a way not seen in their treatment of the other races. Following the fall of their empire, the Lizardfolk, both golds and greys, scattered to the winds, and generally helping the other races to understand the hubris of the goldscales.
Goldscales and greyscales both have a thick leathery skin covered in scales of various colours, though the skin of greys tends to be softer and have smaller, less colourful scales. They both have pronounced frills around the neckline and back of the head, and stand at about the same height as menfolk, though greyscales tend towards being slightly shorter.
Toadfolk
The once abundant toadfolk made their homes in the Northern Swampland with the darklings, ideally adapted to the climate by living semi-aquatic lives. In the last few centuries, their population there has declined, with the biggest losses occurring during the Great Undying (though quite why whole villages seemed to disappear at this time is unknown).
Their big green eyes, leathery brown skin and large webbed feet are their most remarked upon features, with those touched by the Witchblood sporting brighter colours upon parts of their skin.
Wildfolk
An Oon-created hybrid of menfolk and plant life, the wildfolk have dark brown to pale green skin, bright colourful eyes and thick plant-like strands instead of hair on their heads.
Divided into various clans called Courts, the wildfolk are mostly found across the southern mountain borders in the Republic, however a great many also make their home in Queenstown and its surroundings.
A peculiar quirk of Queenstown-born wildfolk is their sprouting of fronds of seaweed from their heads instead of some of the flowering vines sported by others of their kind.
A child of menfolk and wildfolk will always be born as a perfectly normal wildfolk.
jot jot ïota 