Races and Cultures

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The world of Amalthea is filled with dozens — perhaps even hundreds — of sapient species. The most common among them in the modern day are the mortal humanoids that have spread all over the world, building vibrant civilizations everywhere they go. Tisoria, the largest city in the known world since the destruction of Anchora Magna, is no exception, boasting a population of over three million humanoids. While humans are the largest group among them, they make up a little less than half the city's total population; significant minorities of others make up the rest, and about one in twenty Amaltheans is planetouched. In addition, a small handful of other beings, such as vampires, outsiders, and even dragons, live hidden among common mortals, their true natures known to only a trusted few.   Note that Amalthea does not use any racial language rules. Instead, consult the Languages of Amalthea page if you wish to determine what languages your character speaks.    

Race Relations in Amalthea

The relationships between different races and ethnicities in Amalthea is a complicated topic. In general, Amalthean civilizations can be divided into industrialized nation-states, such as the Pact of Valdoro and the Kingdom of Velthiria, and pre-industrial cultures, such as the Brennathi and the Kuma. Tensions are highest when an industrial culture is in proximity to a pre-industrial culture, although many other factors also affect relations, such as religion or attitudes towards magic.   This section provides a summary of the races of Amalthea and common opinions of them, which is by no means comprehensive. Please do note that, while racial conflict and prejudice are themes we wish to explore in the Amalthea server, we do not in any way condone bigotry of any form in real life. Additionally, while roleplaying discrimination against certain races is encouraged for immersion, this should never be done for OOC reasons, such as distaste for a race's mechanical rules.    

Common Races

The most populous races in Amalthea, in the following order, are humans, dwarves, half-elves, halflings, orcs, half-orcs, and elves. In places where these races mingle, interbreeding is common, sometimes creating truebreeding hybrid cultures distinct from both parental races. Half-elves and half-orcs are the most well known of such hybrid cultures. Half-elves are especially notable for being even more populous than pureblood elves.   The common races of Amalthea identify equally with their species, their nation of birth, their cultural background, and their religion. A Valdoran human and a Valdoran dwarf have much more in common with each other, than with a Narbovian human or dwarf. This isn't to say that racial prejudices are entirely subsumed under nationalist ones; it's just that racial prejudices tend to be based on culture, or stereotypes of a culture that may not be true. For instance, many Valdorans believe that wood elves are violent, not because of any trait of elven biology — after all, high elves are perfectly civilized — but because they think all wood elves come from barbaric cultures. Even a wood elf who lived in a big city for centuries and fully adopted local customs may not escape this prejudice.  

• Humans: Humans are the most populous and diverse race in Amalthea, and thus it can be difficult to form any cohesive view on them. Adaptable, ambitious, rebellious, and unpredictable are some of the descriptors that other races use on humans. More than any other race, humans tend to be judged based on their culture alone.
 
• Dwarves: Resembling shorter, stockier humans, dwarves are typically believed to be diligent, pragmatic, and shrewd. In remote places without a native dwarven population, the most common type of dwarf encountered are members of the Ember Trading Company, which additionally gives dwarves a reputation for being ruthless capitalists.
 
• Elves: Elves are the least populous of the common races, although persistent stereotypes exist for every elven ethnicity, usually perpetuated by other elves. For example, high elves are believed to be classist, racist, nationalist, and arrogant; wood elves are considered violent barbarians and bandits; sea elves are thought to be pirates with loose morals; and drow are seen as a separate race onto themselves, alternatingly sexualized or demonized for their mysterious culture.
 
• Half-Elves: In most cultures where humans and elves coexist, half-elves are viewed as human by humans, and elven by elves, although some elves might view half-elves as having a lower social status. As a result, like with humans, it's difficult to find any cohesive view of half-elves, and they tend to be judged based on their cultural or national origins. In Tisoria, most half-elves are descended from Velthirian colonists, so they tend to be grouped with pureblood elves as upper class snobs.
 
• Halflings: Halflings are a people without a homeland to call their own, yet they can be found everywhere other humanoids exist. Their smaller size means they always maintain their own communities that serve their unique needs, allowing them to remain a people apart as perpetual outsiders. Halflings have a penchant for opportunistic niche-filling, which can lead them to pick up professions taboo or criminal to their host societies, such as dark magic or smuggling.
 
• Orcs: There are as many ethnicities of orcs as there are of humans, but most people cannot tell the difference, and stereotype all orcs based on the local tribes they're familiar with. As most orc tribes live in hunter-gatherer or early agricultural communities, with a strong emphasis on warrior traditions, orcs are typically seen as crass and uncivilized "noble savages". It is extremely common for other humanoids to mix up traditions from unrelated orc tribes as if all orcs practice them. This is frustrating and offensive to most orcs.
 
• Half-Orcs: Half-orcs are far more common in human-dominated communities, than orc-dominated ones, due to the immigration of orcish laborers into human cities. Contrary to half-elves, half-orcs are viewed as orcs by humans due to their orcish complexions, and humans by orcs due to their closer ties to human culture. Most half-orcs in Valdoro are working class laborers. In Tisoria specifically, they have a reputation for spearheading labor movements.

   

Uncommon Races

While the fey and reptilian races, as well as some offshoots of common races, are not as widespread, most cosmopolitan cultures are aware of their existence. These races tend to be perceived as entire monocultures, sometimes based on erroneous assumptions.  

• Beastfolk: As natural shapeshifters, beastfolk are stereotyped based on common perceptions related to their animal forms. For instance, ratfolk are considered thieves, foxfolk are thought to be tricksters, catfolk are frequently believed to be untrustworthy or unpredictable, and wolffolk are typically seen as violent and clannish. These traits are rarely completely true, as beastfolk are humanoids, not animals. But dispelling such longstanding beliefs can be extremely difficult, especially for a population that's already disadvantaged in most industrial societies.
 
• Dragonkin: Considered beautiful or awe-inspiring by most other races, dragonkin have an honored place among most societies, with great expectations of excellence placed upon them by not only others, but also their own peers. Dragonkin who don't live up to these standards can experience guilt and shame.
 
• Gnomes: All gnomes in Amalthea can be traced back to the city-state of Delverne, a bizarre bureaucratic republic built within a clockwork greenhouse. Gnomes are typically seen as erratic and eccentric, obsessed with irrelevant rules and systems, and easily distracted.
 
• Goblins: Goblins are often found as hunter gatherer or scavenger tribes in the wilderness. Goblins are born with a curse of entropy, and large numbers of them can cause accidents to occur in complex systems just by their very prescence. As a result, goblins are the most maligned of the humanoid races, being barred from entry into the majority of humanoid metropolises. This likewise prompts many goblins to join destructive cults or bandit gangs out of antipathy for other humanoids, creating a vicious cycle of racial hatred.
 
• Kobolds: Most kobolds in Amalthea live in tribal societies underground. However, the kobolds that most humanoids are familiar with, especially in Tisoria, are the kobolds of Balkur, who were formerly slaves. After gaining freedom in a brutal war of independence, they're determined to keep it, and kobolds have a reputation for rejecting all authority except their own.
 
• Drow: Although technically an elven ethnicity, most people consider drow to be a distinct race due to physiological differences. Drow have a complex matriarchal culture based on cutthroat clan politics, but outsiders tend to see them as either boogeyman witches who sacrifice foreigners in dark rituals, or alternatively alluring seductresses trained in forbidden pleasures. Neither is true, but drow tend to be secretive about their own traditions, so many don't mind these misconceptions.
 
• Duergar: Like the drow are to elves, duergar are an ethnicity of dwarves that's become physiologically distinct enough to be considered their own race. Duergar society is rigidly authoritarian and xenophobic, so the only contact most surfacers have with duergar is with criminals and exiles, especially the Cult of the Remaker, who are known to abduct surfacers for horrific experiments.

   

Rare Races

The following races are extremely few in number, and have limited cultural influence. However, awareness of their identity can create unpredictable reactions in common people.  

• Planetouched: Although one in twenty Amaltheans is planetouched, the vast majority of them don't appear too distinct from other members of their race, and therefore are simply treated as such. However, planetouched Exemplars — that is, planetouched with exotic features that make them look like an outsider — are usually either celebrated or ostracized based entirely on how well their appearances fit into the beauty standards of their birth cultures.
 
• Dhampirs: Vampires can remain fertile for up to a decade after turning, during which time they may produce dhampir children. Some dhampirs are also born from pregnant women afflicted with vampirism. While most cultures, especially Sybilite ones, condemn vampires to death without trial, dhampirs are typically spared, but treated with disdain and suspicion. Meanwhile, their living parents are seen as "noble souls" willing to raise such an "unusual" child, or pitied victims of vampiric predation. As a result, dhampirs typically hide their true natures, or turn to a life of crime.
 
• Changelings: Found almost exclusively in Talandra, most people don't know what a changeling is, and simply see them as unique-looking members of their father's race. Those who do know treat a changeling differently depending on their gender. A male changeling is usually treated as a normal person, provided he isn't raised to serve his mother. A female changeling, however, is feared or hated, as she will inevitably hear the Call and be tempted to become a hag.

   

Monstrous Races

Most sapient beings that are non-humanoid or non-bipedal face not simply prejudice, but often lethal hatred from most humanoids. This hatred can sometimes be justified; for instance, all cloakers are innately amoral and alien without exception, and it would be insane to advocate for their rights alongside regular humanoids. However, in other cases, the situation is much more complicated.  

• Giants: The Exalted Empire of the giants was a horrific age for lesser humanoids, who were treated as slaves, lab animals, and possibly even food. The mortal descendants of these giants have largely fallen into barbarism, which, combined with ancient history, makes most humanoids feel perfectly justified in killing giants. Most giants are indeed innately violent, but exceptions do exist, such as the hidden stone giant tribes in the Spine of the World.
 
• Chimeras: Harpies, centaurs, lamias, and similar creatures did not exist naturally. Instead, they were the results of giants grafting different lesser beings together. Many of these chimeras were created for a long forgotten purpose, and today they either live in isolation from civilized humanoids, or predate on them. The exception are the driders, created by drow based on ancient giant rituals, who are criminals sentenced to eternal servitude and an accepted part of drow society.
 
• Dragons: While true dragons are believed extinct in Paracia due to the Draconic Crusade, a few live hidden in humanoid guise. The Draconic Crusade is long over, but the rise of capitalism makes it far easier for these creatures to expand their hoard through business investments, rather than territorial conquest. The lesser kin of dragons, such as drakes and wyverns, are considered beasts despite their sapience, and frequently hunted. Although due to their rarity, some people have began advocating for the preservation of lesser draconic species.
 
• Undead: Believed to be the corrupted progeny of Vanthus, undead are nearly universally hated in Amalthea, and their destruction is mandated by law in most civilized places. Vampires, unique among the undead, sometimes live alongside mortals in civilized society. They form hidden courts that parasitize their host societies, often through alliances with corrupt mortals in positions of power.