(Currently Expanding)
Possibly the largest and most diversified group of beings in the Realms, there are dozens of cultures and races. Only one is detailed here so far because I haven't gotten the rest of them written up yet. ^^;; The Locri tribes do need a bit of explanation, so some of the customs are detailed here. The Locri
The Elder Races/Elven-Kind
The races that we know as the Elves, the faeries, the pixies, and the rest of the otherworldly creatures that inhabit the Mortal plane are descendants of the ancient race of the Sidhe- powerful, wise, unbearably beautiful creatures.
The High Elves, like Noah and Rowan, are taller than humans, with delicate features and graceful agility. They inherited these traits, along with their customs, language, and magical ability from their ancestors, but they have become considerably more mundane (if that's the word), human-like, and more adapted to the new world than the Lost Ones. However, they are the Sidhe children who most resemble their ancestors.
The Halflings, Dwarves, Gnomes, Naiads, Pixies, and merpeople are all descendants of the Sidhe, and as such are lumped under the same heading as the Elven-kind. (something which annoys the dwarves intensely.) The Fey-kind are the Sidhe children who chose to take a different, more ethereal form. They discarded most of the limitations of their physical bodies in favor of the light, airy magic that now comprises their forms.
The Goblin-Kind
Currently Expanding- Includes goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, etc.
The Hollow Ones
The Hollow Ones are Undead spirits who haunt the great forests of the world, victims of a great evil that no one has ever seen and remained alive to tell the tale. The Hollow Ones are so called because they are merely empty shells of bodies. They have had their souls stolen from them- they are emotionless, mindless, thoughtless puppets that exist only to serve their unknown master or masters. It is thought that they exist partly on another plane of existence- that they are interdimensional beings who, having lost their human minds, are controlled by spirits from another, unknown plane. However, this theory has never been proven because all those brave or foolish enough to try have returned as Hollow Ones, or not at all.
Every so often, bands of Hollow Ones armed with swamp-fire torches and acid-poisoned weapons attack woodland villages. Their goal does not seem to be destruction, but rather murder. The marauding Hollow Ones, who forsake damaging crops and buildings in favor of slaughtering the inhabitants, have wiped out countless villages. As they are Undead, they feel no pain and fight maniacally until their bodies are too battered to go on anymore. The strongest of the woodland villagers are taken alive to become Hollow Ones themselves, if they do not kill themselves first in self-defense. The people of the Realms have been driven from the deep forests in favor of the warmer, more open lands of the valleys and beech woodlands.
Unwary or unknowing travelers, whether alone or in groups, often fall victim to the Hollow Ones. It is considered suicide to travel alone through a forest where Hollow Ones are known to dwell.
Hollow Ones are controlled by the villain(s) of the story- they can be killed again for good only by destroying their bodies enough to make the inhabiting demons flee their bodies in search of a better host. It is not known where the souls of the Hollow Ones' victims go to- whether they are eaten or if the souls flee to another place or time.
Hollow Ones are not tall, black-clad specters or groaning, bloody zombies. A Hollow One appears to be a normal person (that's what makes them so much worse), but there is an overwhelming sense of wrongness about them- an alert watcher will notice that their movement is awkward, uncoordinated, and their lips often do not quite match the words they are saying. They are puppets, and apparently the puppetmaster hasn't worked out all the bugs in the system yet. In bright daylight (which they avoid whenever they can because of this reason) the irises and pupils of their eyes appear dull black, with no light reflection, no matter how bright the sunlight. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and if there is no soul to see through the window, there is nothing to appear but blackness.
Lost Races
The Sidhe
The Sidhe are the lost race, those who mysteriously disappeared in the ancient past but who left clues and remnants of their great civilization. The clues suggest that someday, when the earth is ready for them, the Sidhe will return...and therein lies the crux of the story.
They left the world eons ago with the promise that they would return. They are the once and future Kings of the Elven-kind.
We on Earth know the Sidhe only through myths, legends, and the songs that only the bards remember. Celtic legend abounds with tales of the Sidhe, their works and their world. King Arthur was a Sidh'cael- a Sidhe child who was born into our world to guide the Men of England to a time of peace. Morgan le Fay, his half-sister, is possibly the most well known of the Sidhe, but Merlin may also have had ties to the Lost Ones as well.
The Elven-kind are the children of the Sidhe who stayed behind when the Sidhe court withdrew from the plane. Their name for their race translates to "children of the Sidhe." They have adapted and changed to fit the changing of the world around them and are radically different from their Sidhe forefathers, yet to human eyes they are still otherworldly, alien.
A whole bunch more information coming soon! Please keep checking the site for more details and info as I put them up. Thanks! ~Dolphingirl
NOTE: All content on this page is (C) Elizabeth Patrician/"Dolphingirl," 2003. Do not copy, edit, or claim as your own any concepts, ideas, words, or artwork on this page. This is my intellectual property, and should be respected as such. Any and all content theft will be persecuted to the full extent of the law.
