Heartlands RP Lore entry: Species

On the subject of species and cultures.
There are a considerable number of species across the continent. Most humanoid/sapient species only occupy small niche environments across the continent, especially those that live further inland. This entry wyl deal primarily with the more common species that are dominant around the continent, especially near the coasts, and furthermore those that are dominant throughout the rest of the known world (including two other discovered continents and a host of islands). A later entry wyl detail some of the more specific cultures throughout the world.

Andovri
The most common species in the world at large are the Andovri. Andovri average seven feet in height, and are easily recognizable by their metallic skin, which is usually golden, red, silver, or grey colored. Their hair contains a similar metallic luster, usually being grey, silver, or a dull yellowish in color. Andovri have a tendency to be proud and somewhat haughty, although many Andovri are friendly and well-cultured still. They tend to have very precise definitions of nobility and carefully trace bloodlines, caring deeply about family pride and traditions, as well as constantly trying to expand the power of their house, especially ones that feel they have legacies to uphold. As a result, noble houses that are removed from power are usually exterminated, because if they are not their descendants are almost sure to cause trouble in the future.

After the Andovri, the species with the highest population is humans, shortly followed by elves (and their deep-dwelling cousins, the dwarrow) and finally the Kyrodu.

Kyrodu
Kyrodu are somewhat similar to the traditional image of a dwarf; Short, stocky, boisterous, and usually alcoholic. However, they primarily dwell in hills and occasionally in plainlands, where they build settlements made up of half-buried stone castle and bunkers. Kyrodu berserkers are renowned for their endurance and surprising speed, and as a result Kyrodu mercenaries are commonly employed as shock troops by countries around the world.Another factor increasing how often they are hired, is that Kyrodu ethics generally emphasize honor and loyalty, making their mercenaries generally more consistent and loyal to those who pay them.

Other than that, Kyrodu generally produce some of the finer alcohols around the world. Their settlements tend to be made of stone and focused on industry, while their more agrarian regions are made up of Kyrodu settled into partially underground burrows, with each burrow containing up to a hundred Kyrodu. Finally, Kyrodu, despite being made up of several countries, tend to be quite unified; although they may not all belong to the same country, if one Kyrodu state is threatened by outside powers, said invasion force wyl quickly find itself at war with many more Kyrodu nations.

Dwarrow
Dwarrow, occasionally called 'deep elves' (although rarely to their faces), are a faction of deep-dwelling cousins of other elves (although not to be confused as belonging to the same species) who primarily live deep beneath the ground. They harbor a deep resentment for their kindred, who long ago attempted (and succeded, for a long time) to cut off their contact with the surface as a means of starving them out. Even to this dae, elves wyl often try to force the Dwarrow deeper beneath the ground.

Despite mostly living below the earth, Dwarrow do not spend all their lives below the surface, despite what other cultures often tend to believe. Most dwarrow spend a decent amount of daylight hours above-ground, either trading, farming, fighting, or simply enjoying themselves. Many dwarrow settlements are partially above-ground as well, with some dwarrow actively avoiding the depths of the earth. However, most dwarrow wyl return below-ground at nightfall, and some stay down there for daes or even weeks at a time. Dwarrow craftmanship is generally considered legendary, although as is usual of cultures it is foolery to ascribe this legendary status to all dwarrow-forged craftswork.

Physically, dwarrow possess pale or pinkish skin, which tends to be somewhat vulnerable to sunlight. They often have either very fair or dark hair, and almost never possess brown hair. Some more exotic hair colors, such as gold, dark blue, azure, or silver, exist alongside the more common red and black hair. They are physically lightly built and average very slightly shorter than humans (although the taller dwarrow tend to outdo the taller humans in height). Finally, they tend to have features which are refined and somewhat pronounced.

A few other relatively common races exist, including the Veiar, Dragar, Drakkoni, and Hallatonttu

Veiar
Veiar are diminutive, emerald-eyed humanoids typically possessing greenish to reddish hair and pale or silverish skin. They have a natural penchant for stealth and cruelty, and many possess and insatiable obsession with nature. Most veiar live deep in the forests, in strange settlements between living trees, but most of the contact the outside world has with them are with veiar sorcerers, bandits, and nationalists. They are generally considered mischevious and sinister, although some Veiar have chosen to live amongst other more "civilized" folk (although these Veiar, even if friendly, rarely renounce their nationality). There has always been something more sinister about Veiar bandits, and they possess an uncanny unity and loyalty to eachother that speaks of them being more than simple renegades.

Dragar
Dragar are, technically speaking, not a species, but rather a number of humans, andovri, elves, and quite occasionaly dwarrow or kyrodu who have lived and served a dragon for generations. For unknown reasons, every generations of a dragons servants slowly mutate to become more draconic in nature, commonly developing small scales across some of their skin, glowing red or golden eyes, forked tongues, and hair or skin matching that of the dragon they serve. A significant part of the population considers dragons divine, and dragons typically have decently large numbers of servants, making each true dragon the ruler of a small country in its own right. These Dragar have grown so much in numbers through the generations that they have formed an identity as a species, helped in that the original lines of species they came from have become more and more blurred as time has gone on. To most of the world, Dragar are considered an oddity from the heartlands, and have little contact with them.

Hallatonttu
Hallatonttu, also called frost faeries by the original human settlers of the region they call home, are a relatively small race that are adapted to the southernmost regions of the world. Each one tends to be somewhat short (averaging five feet) and possessing thick, bluish or silverish skin, as well as usually white or light blue hair and azure, purple, blue, or silverish eyes. More uncommonly, ones with dark blue hair or skin, or even purplish hair, show up. They seem to be made up mostly of tribes, but information about them is scarce due to both the remoteness of where they live and their inherent aggressiveness. They seem to actively try to repel visitors to their land most of the time, but some tribes are open to trade or negotiation. As evidenced by their weapons and clothes, they possess metalcrafting abilities. Recent evidence suggests that they either have much finer technology than was previously assumed, or some sort of alliance with a species that can supply said technology. Either possibility holds some frightening notions...