Mongrels

Changeling

Be not so fond of your shining boy, lest Goblin brutes desire your toy

In dark of night the creepers creep, leave changeling woe where your jewel did sleep

Men speak of the changeling in hushed tones of babies being stolen in the night by fey creatures and replaced by a changeling babe. A changeling babe is physically identical to a normal human child, but there is an unplaceable eldritch quality to them.

A changeling does not know why they are different, but they know that they were treated differently. The lack of parental affection leaves them cold and emotionless and many times they will run away as soon as they are able. Often they will exhibit sorcerous powers which only further alienate them from their mundane families, and it is quite common to see them turn to witchcraft or arcane pursuits in order to learn the secrets of their nature.

Stories describe them as profoundly evil by nature and likely to murder their parents, but it is much more likely that changelings are no more evil than any other child denied affection for the whole of their developmental life.

Half-Elf

A Half-Elf is named twice tragic. They will watch generations of their human kin wither and die, and their Elven sire will see the same of them. Thus they feel lost in both worlds and so they are perceived as aloof and friendless by both cultures. They are tall yet frail and often a muddy blend of their two parentages. Stories tell of patchy, even banded beards, multicolored hair and eyes, mismatched arms and legs but in truth these stories are exaggerations, and the vast majority appear nothing more fantastical than average or short humans with lean, willowy frames, for even the most gluttonous half-elf does not grow fat.

Half-Dwarf

When a Hill Dwarf takes a day-bride, they are commanded by their faith to not father children by the false union. Should they defy this order the stain is on their soul and they are unwelcome in the Halls of the Dead. The corrupted child, or Mulé, is an object of fear among the True Kin. The life of a Half-Dwarf is challenging for this reason; all of their greatest talents granted by their Dwarven blood are stunted by the Dwarven masters who will not teach them. Among the humans they are at times ridiculed for their mixed heritage, feared for the 'magical powers' of their Dwarven sires, or envied for their endurance and ability to toil beyond human limits at backbreaking tasks.

Half-Orc

It would be an oversimplification to state that all Half-Orcs are the product of rape. That being said, the vast majority of Half-Orcs are the product of rape. There are tales of other deceptions such as cruel illusions and curses, or base witches in love with power, but by and large Half-Orcs are born under a flag of pillage.

In Orc society they are too weak and too cunning so abuse is rampant and the hope for honor and decency is quickly squashed out of the child. Raised among humans prejudice and mistrust ensure that there is slim chance of a goodly and moral creature but even slim chance is better than no chance at all.

Hobbit

Hobbits are difficult to pin down to the historic record, for they take no great interest in the goings-on of the 'Big Folk'. They are smaller than even the Gnomes and possess little magic about them. They take no delight in heroics or war and so are often forgotten. Their libraries are dominated by mundane Geneologies that would put even the most studious scribe to sleep, thick with details of crop rotation and recipes for the most succulent rhubarb pastie.

Even their coming is lost. No mention of them among the elves, or the dwarves, or even the generally meticulously documented Imperial incursions can be found. Every detail mentioning them describes them as already being in place in their quiet homes for generations, as if they were always here.

The only trace of a clue to the mystery is a curious epithet bandied about by the Goblins:

Ware the smiling hobbit, his teeth be not for millet made

Hellspawn

During the rise of Barnabus many alliances were made with the Diablerie, and some of them were sealed with more than a handshake. The Devil Taint is pervasive among the Mamonil, but there is a wide margin between some tainted blood and a true Hellspawn. Traditionally the Devils will take the infant to be raised among them and the creature that returns is nothing short of a monster. However, occasionally a contract is broken or a child is lost to the Devils to be raised mortal. Only then is there any chance for the creature to resist the pull of unrepentant evil. Even in the most goodly and decent environment the child will never truly be free of the evil pulling at its soul (assuming it even has one, this point even is debated) but some have resisted and used the power within them for good. Still, many more have fell to the darkness within and rivaled the mighty Fiends of the Pit in terrible power.

Nephilim

It is unclear what it is in the nature of humans that draws the attention of the angelic creatures but clearly there is some quality as there is no sign of any other race mixing with the Seraphim. The children of Seraph are at times persecuted by the Eldar as an abomination, outside the law of Fate, but they are clearly drawn to noble action. They universally possess a quiet grace and humility that inspires moral behavior in the meanest of creatures and they emit a calming effect on base animals, even dangerous predators.

Tabaxi

Rumors from the west tell of a primitive and reclusive race lost somewhere between human and jaguar. Little is known about the actual creatures other than the Lizardfolk fear and hate them with a fervor that must be based in some truth. It is much more likely for free people to confuse them with demons or lycanthropes so any real truth is going to be hard to piece out. Back to Races