Shadowhaunt - The ancient Races

[Shadow Chorus]

Dwarves
Firstborn of the Earth, the dwarves are naturally in tune with all stones, and they possess a hardy physiology that makes them natural-born workers and warriors. Their muscles are thick and dense, their small forms packed tightly with power and raw strength, and their bones are tough as granite, able to take multiple times the strain of a human's before breaking. Their affinity with the earth means that every dwarf has a natural eye for stonemasonry, metalwork and all crafts associated with minerals and ores. The Dwarf physiology is so in tune with the earth, in fact, that they are able to survive on a diet of stones and fungus, though most Dwarves argue that this is a tasteless diet and only barely able to sustain their hearty appetites. Most dwarves prefer other fruits of the earth for food, such as meat and bread, Boar being a favored food, so much so that the Dwarves who live in Mordintharas raise boars of their own for food and as pets. Dwarves are natural fighters as well, favoring heavy, short weapons and thick armor to cover their already tough forms. They are renowned giant killers, capable of taking down foes many times their size with skill and strength. A dwarf warrior savors the opportunity to present his strength by breaking the will of giant enemies by pummeling them thoroughly into the ground.

Dwarves name their creations and their children with great care. It is said that a dwarf's name will reflect on his future self, and so many Dwarf parents name their
children with symbolic names, such as Khadmas, meaning integrity, or Bruni, meaning Toughness, and other such names.

Dwarven hair is perhaps the only region in which a dwarf is known to break their typically pragmatic approach to life. Their hair is an object of pride, whether it be a male dwarf's beard, or a female dwarf, the beardless gender, and their thick locks. Dwarven hair is often braided or clapped with jewelry of precious metals, and very long. Beards often reach down to the dwarf's belt, if not lower. Some ostentatious dwarves even have beards that reach to the floor. A lady dwarf's hair will frequently be in a braided bun or a long ponytail that reaches down to the bottom of their back, and other styles that show the beauty and quality of their hair. And yet, in times of war a Dwarf is an expert at managing the distraction this could cause, tucking their long mane into their armor or wearing open-faced helms to avoid bunching their beard into their face.

Dwarves have a lifespan of 500 years, reaching maturity at the age of 50.

Elves
The elves are the sons of the wood, and their forms are elegant, agile and lithe. Their long ears afford an acute sense of hearing and their elegant frames are nimble and capable of feats of acrobatics almost unheard of by humans. Their minds are keen and sharp, and their aesthetic sense is uncanny. Their connection to the realm of nature makes them excellent rangers and philosophers. They are in tune with the natural senses, and a such know well how to manipulate them, vanishing from sight or creating illusions that are so real as to trick every sense. They are also in tune with the spiritual realm, their natural alignment enlightening them to the presence of a spirit within all beings and of the ability to manifest one's will in nature.

Elves have a thousand-year lifespan, with a maturity at the age of 100.

Tall and slender, Elves are often misconstrued as weak. This is not so. Their muscle strength is equal to that of the average Akavashani soldier, and their senses are acute to a fine point, making them skilled scouts as well as warriors. They culturally value fluidity in movement, and find that in all things, there is a sort of flow and rhythm that guides them and directs their actions. They are well known for their dancing and physical arts, tricks of the mind and elegance in all things. They are a well-spoken people, with skilled tongues and a natural affinity for reasoning and debate.

Elven names are often lengthy and elegant, often bearing unique spellings, such as Theldorian, Elenwen, Alond'il, and other names.


Dragons
Dragons are the children of the air. They are unique in their ability of flight among the sentient races, capable of soaring through the air on great leathery wings and basking in the thrill of the sky. It is they who are most confined within the underground halls of Mordintharas. Their view of the sky, and their knowledge of just how small they are in comparison to the world that houses them, gave to them the discovery of a universal constant force that they termed as the Aether. This discovery drove the ancient dragons to a new realm of spiritualism, a bonding with the world around them that cannot be broken by any means. They are potent chaplains and revered holy fathers, capable of mending wounds with their connection and just as equally capable of taking lives with their fierce physical forms.

Most assume that all dragons are massive, nearly the size of a house. This is not accurate. Only the eldest dragons achieve that size. Upon reaching the age of maturity, until which point the dragon is referred to as a Drake, a Dragon is roughly the height of a large horse, with a lengthy neck and tail and a wide wingspan roughly of a width equal to their body's length. From this age the dragon slowly grows throughout their long lifespan, growing until they reach the size of  a manor house at their greatest recorded size.

Dragons have a life-span of several thousand years. It is unsure exactly how long they live, as few dragons have been recorded to die of old age alone. They reach maturity, however, at the age of 100.

A dragon's breath weapon depends upon the color of his scales. A red dragon breathes a Conical wave of fire to consume their enemies, a Blue dragon breathes a cone of freezing cold. The bronze dragons breathe scintillating lightning, and the green dragons breathe a cloud of noxious gas. The black dragons breathe a vicious stream of scalding acid, and the mysterious white dragons breathe with the blazing fury of a beam of burning sunlight.

Red and Blue dragons are the most common colorations of dragons, Red dragons typically being compassionate and caring, and Blue dragons being intelligent and analytical. Bronze dragons are slightly more rare and have a farsight beyond even the other breeds of dragon, being wise and natural leaders. The slightly more common Green dragons have a more whimsical personality, being prone to flights of fancy, and the black dragons, as common as green, are very aggressive, being natural-born warriors. The mysterious white dragons, however, the rarest of all, are aloof and secretive, but wise beyond even the bronze, and are typically considered to be the equivalent of naturally gifted individuals among humans.


Dragon names are largely very gutteral and include a large amount of hissing, as is fitting of the race. Volkanoth, Valestrasz, Vorkassen, etc.



Orcs

Orcs are the forgotten race, a race that even the mythology of humanity has left behind. But it is these stalwart creatures are the key reason that the ancient races have survived thus far, having been the ones to plan the strategy that left them underground and safe when the creatures of darkness believed they had taken the world.  They are master strategists and warriors by nature, and even an Orc civilian has enough martial prowess to beat back a group of humans in a fight.

An advanced, if secretive race, the Orcs are notoriously fervent in their search for knowledge and technology, though their technology seems to be held together by spit and dreams. rather Ramshackle, as if put together from scrap, their technology utilizes two forms of energy. One is the natural energy of the crystals that reside in the roofs of certain caverns, including Mordintharas. The other is a completely limitless resource, and it is the Orcs themselves.

Orcs are unique, even among the ancient races. they are anomalous in that the energy of the Aether flows through them differently, becoming multiple times as powerful and dense as it passes through them, coalescing into a raw potent energy that allows them to naturally provide pure life energy to their creations as a power source.

Orcs live roughly as long as humans, and reach maturity at the same time, but they are very much different physically. They have muscle mass equal to dwarves, as though they aren't as tightly packed, they are much taller than dwarves, being a full head taller than humans, and as such their sheer size makes up the difference.

Ork names are short and strong, or otherwise, if lengthy, very rough and sturdy. Orgarash, Kormok, Krex, etc.