Races: Race Relations

Race Relations

I havnt read the boards in a couple months, been quite busy IRL, but I never noticed a post on this topic. How does each race feel towards eachother in general. Even though since the Turning nobody can truly die, there's surely racial enmity(other than Human/Elven) and some races are bound to hate eachother enough to attack on sight. I havn't been able to find anything on racial relations in any of the storyline except except what little there between elves and humans. How do all the races feel towards the more evil inclined races in particular(Minotaur, Irekei, Shade)

Original Post by Vaul

Meridian replied: One of the things we're going to be releasing in the future is the "Their Lore" sections for every race listed on the web site. These sections will give a brief (or in some cases not so brief) overview of the history of that race. In them, you'll see lots of conflicts, wars, and grudges that outline race relations in Shadowbane. I figure I can give you a bit of a preview here, though, that will be a bit more concise. Without the whys and wherefores, here's the basic rundown. I'm going to focus on Player Races, even though the racial histories favor all sorts of other racial struggles (with Giants, Orcs, and Lizard Folk, for instance). Oh yes - I should point out that "race" is really a loaded word. Species is what I mean here (thanks airzip!).

I also want to say up front that all of the following is pure background material. I'm fairly sure that there will be no hard-coded penalties or what have you to make you follow the back story. We realize that groups of friends will want to group and play together, and that many players will refuse to follow the constraints of our fiction. I will tell you, however, that there will be rewards for people who follow the spirit of the World we're creating. Also, note that these are trends, average opinions if you will. Individuals' opinions will vary. Okay - while everybody doesn't hate everybody else, the situation is pretty bleak.

The Elves have a pretty complete Disdain for just about everybody. They are outright hostile towards Humans and absolutely hate Irekei. Interestingly enough, the only race the Elves seem to be neutral toward are the Aracoix...

The Irekei, for their part, absolutely hate Elves, and consider all other races inferior (in other words, fair game). Oh, by the way - calling an Irekei an Elf, even a "Dark Elf," is the surest way to get them to eat your liver. They're not Elves, not anymore. At least, that's what they believe. They may well be the most warlike of all the races, preying on the others through raid and war.

Humans have a hatred for Elves, a superstitious fear of Shades, contempt for the Aelfborn, Minotaurs, and Irekei. About the only folk you can count on them to get along with are the Centaurs and the Dwarves, along with the occasional Half Giant. Oh yes, note that the Temple of the Cleansing Flame hates everybody except Half Giants.

Dwarves don't really hate anybody (except for Giants), although they strongly dislike Elves. They also have some problems understanding the ways of those who live under the open sky. Do note that individual Dwarves and clans are known for their long memories and their incredible ability to hold grudges.

The Aelfborn are reviled by both Humans and Elves, and usually the animosity goes both ways.
Second class citizens, they nonetheless keep to the fringes of either Elf or Human society and follow the trends of that parent. Some Aelfborn, however, have split off on their own, and hate pretty much everybody.

Centaurs are the closest thing to a "well-adjusted" race we have. They get along with pretty much everyone, save for Elves, Minotaurs, Aracoix, and Irekei. Irekei, Aracoix, and Minotaurs are regarded as extremely dangerous, evil foes, while Elves are hated.

Half Giants don't really hate any race outright (they tend not to think about such things too much), although they do believe themselves to be superior to everyone, and will smash anyone who slights them, tricks them, or calls them stupid.

Shades are pretty neutral to everyone, although may tend to wind up hating everyone because Shades tend to be persecuted. A lot. Minotaurs hate everyone (though probably Elves most of all). They tend to kill everything they see, whether is has horns, hooves, pointy ears, or whatever.
They are easily the most savage of the races.

The Aracoix are Not From Here - they showed up through a Runegate. As a result, they consider all of the other races inferior (and all of the other races tend to really distrust the Aracoix in turn). They didn't come to settle, they came to conquer. Most Aracoix are uniformly hostile to all the other races, although the Aracoix born in the World since the migration tend to be much more neutral toward the other races, particularly the Elves.

Here you have an extremely basic sketch. Don't forget that within each species there are factions or breeds who feel differently (the Dar Khelegur, for example, are the haughtiest of the Elves, while the Invorri Northmen dislike even their fellow Humans).

And there are, of course, other exceptions. Wizards' Conclaves tend to put Knowledge above Politics, and tend to overlook Human/Elvish animosity. Some Aelfborn and Shades manage to win fame and acceptance for themselves. Some Minotaurs, exiled from their people, are forced to live with the Ten Toes. About the only thing the fiction seems to prohibit would be alliances of Elves and Irekei, or Elves and Humans in any significant numbers. Even here, there have been attempts by visionaries in the past to bridge the gaps between the Children of the World. The Irekei are the only ones who tend to never listen. Most races (even Giants!) stood united against the Hordes of Chaos - are the current troubles dire enough to bring about such an accord again?

Time, and the actions of your Guilds, will tell...