Playable Races - Nonhumans and their Nations
The residents of the Iron Kingdoms are as diverse as any other - from the boisterous Trollkin of the United Kriels, the bitter descendants of the Khardic empire to the north or their neighbours the Rhulic Dwarves and Ogrun, or the cunning Scharde Isle pirates and servants of Toruk in the southwest. While there are many factions, species, and nationalities in the Iron Kingdoms, here are a few you can play:
These clever goblinoids are tougher and more ferocious than their gobber cousins. Able to thrive in the harshest environments, they are a common sight in the Bloodstone Marches, mountains, and forests of the borderlands.
Most citizens of the Iron Kingdoms are only aware of the diminutive people known collectively as gobbers. But the swampies that live in the wilderness beyond Corvis and the settlers in the Bloodstone Marches know there are, in fact, two goblin species. Gobbers are the smaller of the two species. Sneaky and, by human standards, more civilized, gobbers are found throughout the Iron Kingdoms. Bogrin are stronger and much more aggressive but, nonetheless, just as opportunistic.
Bogrin, like many of Dhunia’s children, form tribes and kriels in the wilderness, but some bogrin make a life within the cities of the Iron Kingdoms, most notably in the pirate city Five Fingers. While bogrin are the more aggressive goblin species, forming raiding parties to attack farmsteads and caravans, they will not look for a fight until the numbers are on their side. The centuries of preying on the early nations of humans and claiming lands populated by giant, ferocious beasts have instilled bogrin culture with tenaciousness, teamwork, loyalty, and a keen sense of deception and trickery. Rarely do they attack their targets and enemies head-on, choosing instead to lure them into well-laid traps, bottlenecks, and dead ends. These tribes are still led by the strongest and most devious members, who enjoy the best cuts of meat and have the first choice of the spoils of battle
While outsiders may think of bogrin as savage annoyances to traders traveling the roads of western Immoren, bogrin do have a well-developed society. They are practiced in bushcraft, alchemical arts, and skinning, and they happily trade their wares and trinkets with outsiders. Before the coming of the Orgoth, the bogrin tribes were part of the larger community of Molgur peoples, aiding their larger spiritual cousins in raids upon the Menite pilgrims who were invading the Molgur’s ancestral lands. Despite the collapse of the Molgur alliance, the bogrin still follow their spoken traditions and myths, praying to the Devourer Wurm and Dhunia and looking for their guidance and blessings in acts of bloodshed and healing, respectively. Such is their faith in the Great Mother that bogrin often establish settlements where their mystics find the strongest spiritual connection to the goddess—caves, waterfalls, mines, and natural rock formations. Here, upon stone altars, the bogrin offer up blood and flesh sacrifices to the Devourer Wurm and the Great Mother in raucous rites of fire and feasting.
Like their gobber cousins, bogrin names (see Gobbers below) are a single long name that combines a personal name with their parents’ names and a final descriptive nickname. Bogrin use gobber names but often favor those with harsher consonants.
Even hunched over, farrow stand as tall, if not taller, than humans. Their faces are boar-like, ending in wet snouts from under which curl prominent tusks. Coarse, sparse fur lies flat along their skin and hide, growing longer and wirier at the crown of the head, tips of the ears, chin, and along the back of the neck to almost the middle of the back. With broad hands terminating in just three fingers and legs ending in cloven hoofs, they are built for physical exertion and endurance. These tough boar-men can live in places even trollkin would shy from.
While the farrow are not above eating carrion and rancid offcuts, they are also not just brutish animals (and are even seemingly excellent cooks). The farrow have a society, of sorts, dominated by strength and cunning. Like many of the other peoples in the wilds, the farrow are the children of Dhunia. And while Dhunian shamans exist among the farrow, the farrow have no written history or even oral traditions that explain their origins Farrow villages can be found from the heights of the Dragonspine Peaks to the depths of the Thornwood Forest and across the Bloodstone Marches. Their hovels, and nearly everything of farrow life, is made from the scraps and detritus that the farrow steal, plunder, and dig up. Nothing is wasted, not even their dead—farrow have no taboos regarding cannibalism. Such ingenuity even allows the farrow to fashion crude firearms, and artisans and craftsmen gain elevated status for arming the tribal raiding parties. The very bottom of their society is thus composed of the weak, dimwitted, and ostracized, who toil away while being savagely beaten into submission. Much to the surprise of humans and Iosans, the farrow even have a language known as Grun. Cobbled together from words in ancient Caspian, the odd intelligible Cygnaran verbiage, Molgur-Trul, and even some Gobberish, the language sounds half-garbled, punctuated with grunts and squeals.
Slender and wiry, gobbers are a diminutive people. Their hairless skin is generally a mottled green-grey. This coloration can change drastically—often in response to a gobber’s mood—and some gobbers can even control this hue to a limited degree. They also possess wide-set eyes, big pointed ears, overly large feet, quick hands, and a protrusive mug featuring a wide mouth full of teeth.
Despite being half the size of humans, gobbers have found a niche among the civilizations of the Iron Kingdoms and within the expansive wilderness of western Immoren. Although some face prejudice from intolerant humans, they have still managed to integrate themselves into nearly every human society. Among wilder folk, gobbers often find a place as traders of goods manufactured in cities or sell their skills as tinkerers and bodgers.
Gobbers are one of the three major races that worship the mother-goddess Dhunia, although religion is not a major aspect of their lives. Indeed, they seem irreverent and lacking in solemnity to members of some cultures, but this is merely an extension of their curiosity and general disregard for social barriers. Gobber society has little regimentation or hierarchy, and all gobbers are expected to speak frankly and contribute to the general well-being of their family and closest friends.
Gobbers who work and live together fall into a communal relationship in which ownership of items such as tools and weapons becomes meaningless, a behavior they may also exhibit with friends and colleagues of other races. Although they do not consider taking another’s belongings under such circumstances to be theft, those who live in human society understand human norms and are not allowed to plead ignorance as a means of evading punishment for such crimes. Small in stature and naturally skilled at evading notice, gobbers make exceptional thieves, but their success in this field has led to unfortunate stereotypes. Most gobbers prefer to create things of lasting value by the skill of their hands and equally nimble minds than to survive by pilfering.
That said, they are often exploited in low-paying jobs, with many living in poverty and sometimes turning to criminal professions as an alternative. Others live as seminomadic junkers, a respectable trade among gobbers, and travel from town to town salvaging broken and discarded items to repair and resell.
A gobber’s name is often a long single name that combines a personal name, the mother’s and father’s names, and some nickname or descriptor. These descriptors often hold a double meaning, with positive and negative elements. A gobber’s component names are usually short and seldom longer than a single syllable. When addressing gobbers, members of other cultures often use nicknames or names that are more appropriate for the kingdom’s naming traditions. For example, a male gobber named Az born to parents named Mog and Rala might be named Azralamoggamun but go by “Az” among his non-gobber companions.
Iosans are physically similar to humans, with males and females standing 6 feet tall on average, with long, pointed ears. They tend to have a slenderer build than humans but are nearly as robust. Iosans live considerably longer than most races, which has given rise to a reputation for agelessness. Many enjoy lives over two centuries long, for they are not prone to disease and rarely show the ravages of time, even in their advanced years. Given the imminent doom their race faces, their longevity is not seen as a great advantage. Not many non-Iosans know it, but the few Iosans they encounter are part of a dwindling generation facing the prospect of an extinction that might occur within their lifetimes. This existential crisis has led to xenophobia and extreme secrecy among most Iosans. Outsiders who come to know Iosans soon realize they are an intelligent and skilled people equally well versed in combat and the arcane arts. Iosans are deeply private about religious matters, but when they discuss such topics, they do so with a mixture of deep devotion and great sadness.
Iosans have been reticent for as long as humanity can remember, but their isolationism has taken an extreme turn in the last few decades, during which the nation of Ios has closed its borders and cut off all trade with foreigners. Its forests are a strange and silent place from which no Iosans emerge, and intruders who venture beyond its borders are never seen again. Rumors circulate of some great downfall, perhaps matching the Cataclysm of ancient days, but neither scholars nor treasure hunters have returned to confirm the truth.
Despite all this, a number of Iosans live among the human kingdoms. These tend to be exiles, pilgrims, or well-armed agents serving vital missions. Two Iosan religious sects have specific reasons to be abroad in human lands: the Seekers and the Retribution of Scyrah, with the former tending to be much friendlier to humans than the latter.
Physically, Nyss are somewhat reminiscent of Iosans, but there is no mistaking the two. Nyss are tall—taller than Iosans—with skin to match their snowy realm and stark hair that's either jet black or very pale. Their eyes are like ice, cold and blue or sometimes violet. Nyss mark themselves with intricate tattoos called siyaeric, or “letters of the skin,” which relate to traditions that mark an individual as a member of a particular “shard,” or tribe. Additional modifications to these tattoos express personal convictions, family history, noteworthy deeds, or religious, magical, or spiritual beliefs.
The Nyss were once more similar to the Iosans and lived alongside them, although they were never as xenophobic or insular as their cousins. Centuries ago, they undertook a spiritual exodus to the frozen wilds and adopted a new way of life, forever changing them. They adapted to the frozen peaks of the Shard Spires and became accustomed to snow and ice. They lived in small tribal villages, protecting their mountain homes from the intrusions of northern trollkin, wild human tribes, and opportunistic bogrin.The Nyss are a tribal people who live close to the land as superlative hunters, trackers, archers, and swordsmen.
Inheritors of a long and ancient line, they have mastered the forging of superior weapons and the crafting of supple leather armor. Considered the chosen people of the winter god Nyssor, the Nyss have an affinity for cold. Sorcery is common among them and is seen as a blessing that allows them to manifest the power of cold against their enemies.
The Nyss were traditionally a strongly devout people, but their culture was recently shattered by the arrival of the dragon Everblight, who worked through his minions to enslave most of the Nyss as part of his legion. The few who escaped the dragon’s blight fled south as refugees to eke out livings as mercenaries, hunters, or criminals. Even as they tried to preserve their old ways, they relied on other peoples to ensure their survival. The recovery and return of the god Nyssor to Ios has caused many Nyss to return to their former homeland. They still live as outsiders among the Iosans, gathering in smaller communities in the forests, but some have chosen to see it as a homecoming. Those who have not returned to Ios still live among the kingdoms of humanity, doing what they must to survive.
Ogrun are fierce-looking, formidable creatures who tower over most other races and are capable of remarkable feats of strength. They are also a tremendously honorable people who have earned a place for themselves in the Iron Kingdoms, primarily as laborers and peerless warriors. Ogrun are known for their size. With most standing at least 7 feet tall, their broad frames of burly muscle have given them a reputation as brutal warriors and skilled laborers.
Ogrun skin ranges in color from pale hues to deep black. Many have a ruddy, brownish skin. Their hair is typically dark and bristly, although males typically lack hair on their heads and prefer to wear rugged beards or other facial hair.
Ogrun are one of the major Dhunian races, and they remain a spiritual people despite the changes their society has undergone within Rhul. Traditional ogrun culture is rooted in a simple but effective system of feudalism whereby young warriors called bokurs must eventually find worthy leaders to serve. Elder ogrun in turn hope to prove worthy enough to earn the binding oaths of young bokurs, for whom they then carry a certain responsibility. The ogrun in the leadership position is a korune—a lord—and there can be multiple layers of vassalage in an ogrun tribe, with the leader being whoever boasts the largest chain of subordinates. General obligations are secondary to personal oaths, and even Rhulic ogrun feel the urge to find a worthy korune, generally after an extended period of wandering and self-testing
Scattered tribes of ogrun still exist in isolated pockets, but most have integrated into the cultures of the kingdoms of western Immoren. The largest concentration of ogrun is found in Rhul, where ogrun are counted as full members of the dwarven clans to whom they have sworn fealty. Ogrunloyalty is legendary, and they have a reputation for being among the most dedicated and fiercest bodyguards in western Immoren. Mercenary ogrun are deemed more trustworthy and reliable than other sell-swords and can command a premium wage.
Rhulic ogrun have adopted many of the beliefs and priorities of dwarven society, including taking great pride in their work. While most ogrun choose to master the combat arts, there are many accomplished ogrun smiths, masons, and mechanics who tackle these professions with the same dedication as a bokur mastering his battle-glaive.
Dwarves are equally stalwart in body and demeanor. They have a great lust for life, strong religious convictions, and rich codes of honor and law. Their culture is as distinct and substantial as the mountains they call home. It is common among humans to think of Rhulfolk as fixed and unchanging, but this is not true. They are highly adaptable and have a firm grasp of the changing times. The dwarves of today are much the same as their ancestors, yet very different.
Engineers without peer, Rhulfolk readily embrace the advances of mechanika, the conveniences of steam power, and the improvement of all things manufactured. They once stood alone and isolated in far-flung Rhul, content to disregard the backward races teeming in the south, but the rapacious Orgoth taught them that they could not ignore humanity. Rather than view all humans as encroaching warmongers, however, the pragmatic Rhulfolk somehow accepted that man was every bit as varied and complex as any dwarf.
In time, a new sense of curiosity about the wider world swept the people of Rhul, and recent generations have learned to look outward from their stone halls, even opening their arms in friendship to the kingdoms of mankind. Many dwarves have now settled outside of Rhul to live among the human kingdoms, but today’s dwarves remain wary of ensnaring themselves in the politics of other races. They realize that humanity is always on the brink of a great conflict, and most dwarves are hesitant to be drawn into these disputes.
Dwarven culture defies an easy explanation. Clan rivalry is a way of life. Dwarves apparently enjoy fighting grim duels over minor insults, and bloody feuds have been known to last for generations. Dwarven clans battle openly to resolve their disputes, laying siege to their rivals over such things as the right to build on a plot of land. Yet this bloodshed is meted out alongside strict codes of law passed down through the ages, and clans carry out these campaigns with a sense of honor and propriety that seems alien to the human practice of war. Large numbers of dwarves now live in Cygnar and Khador and have endured the hostilities between these rival nations, as well as the consequences of the Claiming.
Feuding clans have been known to put aside their differences at the first sign of an outside threat, and most dwarves who have been reared outside of Rhul would drop everything in a trice to defend their homeland. The dwarven way is to preserve and build, not destroy. For all their mastery of the art of war and their combat prowess, Rhulfolk strive to leave a legacy that will last through the ages. Sieges are conducted to win territory or prove mettle, never to pillage or plunder. Indeed, some dwarves have been found guilty of such crimes, for dishonor, treachery, banditry, and greed are not altogether unknown to them. Yet the desire to create monuments that long outlast a dwarf’s lifetime is intrinsic to their nature, and even the villains among them are not immune to the urge to be remembered once they are gone.
No one in western Immoren has kept secrets better than the Iosans. They tightly patrol their borders and expel or outright kill any unwanted guests. Thus, little is known of the nation of Ios, much less of their people and ongoing plight. While once a rarity, the soulless are now the majority and one of the darkest secrets kept by the Iosan people. Starting not long after the Rivening and the return of the goddess Scyrah, Iosan births were marred with the unique circumstance of infants born without souls. With the death of the goddess Ayisla, Suzerain of the Fallen, Iosan souls could no longer be reincarnated into a new vessel. The result of which has finally come full circle with the Sundering: the assassination of the remaining Iosan gods, Nyssor and Scyrah. Partnered with their eldritch allies, the soulless are now the only living Iosans within the nation of Ios. Those coming to the edge of the borders of Ios—or worse, beyond its borders—are likely to find the last things they see are a pair of onyx eyes and a blade edge. Prior to the Sundering, Iosans were rarely seen outside of their homeland. Soulless, by comparison, are nearly nonexistent outside of Ios. Those that are living abroad are either agents of the Retribution of Scyrah or former agents of the Retribution that never returned home. Since the Sundering, soulless have been seen more and more as they work tasks their eldritch allies cannot.
Savage trolls once roamed all the forests and plains of Immoren, but as time passed they assembled into tribes, which branched into clan families, and soon enough trolls came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and eating habits. The latter is perhaps the greatest distinction that sets trollkin apart from other trolls, allowing the other races of western Immoren to experience their peculiarities firsthand without fear of becoming their next meal. Trollkin still retain a nighinsatiable hunger and are known for their feasts—which often consist of awfully undercooked foods by human standards—but intelligent races no longer tend to make the menu.
Trollkin are large—very large. The smallest of them are on par with the largest human, and they stand roughly a head shorter than a hefty ogrun, but they cannot be mistaken for either. Their thick, freckled skin is pale gray, touched blue and green in places, and their irises are so pale that their eyes appear stark white. Trollkin have large three-fingered hands, three-toed feet, and spiny protrusions on the backs of their heads and necks, and their sonorous voices are not easily misjudged. Indeed, they are captivating singers, and some are so powerful they can utilize their articulations as actual weapons. Others among them have been born with sorcerous abilities. These “blessed” trollkin sorcerers are easily identified by their smaller size and stark white skin, and they are held in high regard among their people.
For trollkin, the tribal way of life has never faded. Every trollkin is a member of a tightly knit clan called a kith, who are often related by blood, and neighboring kith are considered a kriel, a word in Molgur that essentially translates as “people.” It is believed that as many as two hundred kriels once existed throughout western Immoren. The elder kith of a kriel are called the Circle of Stones, and they regulate and establish trollkin customs, laws, and religion. Indeed, trollkin culture is lavish in its colors and decorations, and every kith has a quitari, a tartan pattern that distinguishes the kith and is sometimes worn as a sash around the waist or over the shoulder and incorporated into banners and pennons. In fact, trollkin are skilled weavers and dyers. They take great pride in complex and elaborate patterns that boggle most viewers, especially non-trollkin, and this skill is certainly one of their inroads into human communities.
Trollkin are unrestrained in their music and dance and just as unrestrained in acting on their belief that all naturalphenomena are born of Dhunia and have souls. Spirits dominate everything they do, and it is customary, in honor of Dhunia, to offer fruits and flowers to others as a token of goodwill or to make amends. Like the soul, blood and bloodline are extremely important to all trollkin, and dismissing or disrespecting either is considered a grave offense. Most trollkin adherents of Dhunia believe that all things come from and return to the earth to be reborn. “Deep and true as blood and bone” is a trollkin vow that literally means “all things” or “all that I am,” which encompasses every life a trollkin has lived, as well as the lives of all relatives and ancestors. It is a somber phrase used only when trollkin speak the truth or make an oath.
Because they are so close-knit, trollkin are sometimes considered aloof, or even hostile, by other races. This may have something to do with their bias against creatures they consider “weak blooded,” but they try not to hold this too personally against those who lack the good fortune to have been born a trollkin. Indeed, some have even been heard to say that some of their associates of other races “must have been trollkin in a former life” or that “there’s always the next life” for their comrades to be reborn as trollkin.
Trollkin have 2 major ethnic and cultural groups: Northkin, and Woodland trollkin. Albino trollkin may be born of either.
Nonhumans of the Iron Kingdoms
Bogrin
(Borderlands & Beyond - p.59)These clever goblinoids are tougher and more ferocious than their gobber cousins. Able to thrive in the harshest environments, they are a common sight in the Bloodstone Marches, mountains, and forests of the borderlands.
Most citizens of the Iron Kingdoms are only aware of the diminutive people known collectively as gobbers. But the swampies that live in the wilderness beyond Corvis and the settlers in the Bloodstone Marches know there are, in fact, two goblin species. Gobbers are the smaller of the two species. Sneaky and, by human standards, more civilized, gobbers are found throughout the Iron Kingdoms. Bogrin are stronger and much more aggressive but, nonetheless, just as opportunistic.
Bogrin, like many of Dhunia’s children, form tribes and kriels in the wilderness, but some bogrin make a life within the cities of the Iron Kingdoms, most notably in the pirate city Five Fingers. While bogrin are the more aggressive goblin species, forming raiding parties to attack farmsteads and caravans, they will not look for a fight until the numbers are on their side. The centuries of preying on the early nations of humans and claiming lands populated by giant, ferocious beasts have instilled bogrin culture with tenaciousness, teamwork, loyalty, and a keen sense of deception and trickery. Rarely do they attack their targets and enemies head-on, choosing instead to lure them into well-laid traps, bottlenecks, and dead ends. These tribes are still led by the strongest and most devious members, who enjoy the best cuts of meat and have the first choice of the spoils of battle
While outsiders may think of bogrin as savage annoyances to traders traveling the roads of western Immoren, bogrin do have a well-developed society. They are practiced in bushcraft, alchemical arts, and skinning, and they happily trade their wares and trinkets with outsiders. Before the coming of the Orgoth, the bogrin tribes were part of the larger community of Molgur peoples, aiding their larger spiritual cousins in raids upon the Menite pilgrims who were invading the Molgur’s ancestral lands. Despite the collapse of the Molgur alliance, the bogrin still follow their spoken traditions and myths, praying to the Devourer Wurm and Dhunia and looking for their guidance and blessings in acts of bloodshed and healing, respectively. Such is their faith in the Great Mother that bogrin often establish settlements where their mystics find the strongest spiritual connection to the goddess—caves, waterfalls, mines, and natural rock formations. Here, upon stone altars, the bogrin offer up blood and flesh sacrifices to the Devourer Wurm and the Great Mother in raucous rites of fire and feasting.
Like their gobber cousins, bogrin names (see Gobbers below) are a single long name that combines a personal name with their parents’ names and a final descriptive nickname. Bogrin use gobber names but often favor those with harsher consonants.
Farrow
(Borderlands & Beyond - p.60) A hardy species of a porcine nature, the farrow have existed at the fringes of the Iron Kingdoms and the more orderly civilizations beyond its borders. Many of their tribes are found in the Bloodstone Marches, where they eke out a life consuming the scraps left by other peoples of western Immoren and lead savage raids upon caravans and isolated communities. While they are hardy and brutal, they are also always looking for opportunity and an easy meal.Even hunched over, farrow stand as tall, if not taller, than humans. Their faces are boar-like, ending in wet snouts from under which curl prominent tusks. Coarse, sparse fur lies flat along their skin and hide, growing longer and wirier at the crown of the head, tips of the ears, chin, and along the back of the neck to almost the middle of the back. With broad hands terminating in just three fingers and legs ending in cloven hoofs, they are built for physical exertion and endurance. These tough boar-men can live in places even trollkin would shy from.
While the farrow are not above eating carrion and rancid offcuts, they are also not just brutish animals (and are even seemingly excellent cooks). The farrow have a society, of sorts, dominated by strength and cunning. Like many of the other peoples in the wilds, the farrow are the children of Dhunia. And while Dhunian shamans exist among the farrow, the farrow have no written history or even oral traditions that explain their origins Farrow villages can be found from the heights of the Dragonspine Peaks to the depths of the Thornwood Forest and across the Bloodstone Marches. Their hovels, and nearly everything of farrow life, is made from the scraps and detritus that the farrow steal, plunder, and dig up. Nothing is wasted, not even their dead—farrow have no taboos regarding cannibalism. Such ingenuity even allows the farrow to fashion crude firearms, and artisans and craftsmen gain elevated status for arming the tribal raiding parties. The very bottom of their society is thus composed of the weak, dimwitted, and ostracized, who toil away while being savagely beaten into submission. Much to the surprise of humans and Iosans, the farrow even have a language known as Grun. Cobbled together from words in ancient Caspian, the odd intelligible Cygnaran verbiage, Molgur-Trul, and even some Gobberish, the language sounds half-garbled, punctuated with grunts and squeals.
Gobbers
(IK:R - p.57) Gobbers are an amiable and curious people inclined to violence only as a last resort, which differentiates them from their wilder cousins, known as bogrin. They have had considerable success integrating into human society in both rural and urban areas. Gobbers find work as astute traders, skilled laborers, and innovative thinkers with a natural affinity for alchemy and engineeringSlender and wiry, gobbers are a diminutive people. Their hairless skin is generally a mottled green-grey. This coloration can change drastically—often in response to a gobber’s mood—and some gobbers can even control this hue to a limited degree. They also possess wide-set eyes, big pointed ears, overly large feet, quick hands, and a protrusive mug featuring a wide mouth full of teeth.
Despite being half the size of humans, gobbers have found a niche among the civilizations of the Iron Kingdoms and within the expansive wilderness of western Immoren. Although some face prejudice from intolerant humans, they have still managed to integrate themselves into nearly every human society. Among wilder folk, gobbers often find a place as traders of goods manufactured in cities or sell their skills as tinkerers and bodgers.
Gobbers are one of the three major races that worship the mother-goddess Dhunia, although religion is not a major aspect of their lives. Indeed, they seem irreverent and lacking in solemnity to members of some cultures, but this is merely an extension of their curiosity and general disregard for social barriers. Gobber society has little regimentation or hierarchy, and all gobbers are expected to speak frankly and contribute to the general well-being of their family and closest friends.
Gobbers who work and live together fall into a communal relationship in which ownership of items such as tools and weapons becomes meaningless, a behavior they may also exhibit with friends and colleagues of other races. Although they do not consider taking another’s belongings under such circumstances to be theft, those who live in human society understand human norms and are not allowed to plead ignorance as a means of evading punishment for such crimes. Small in stature and naturally skilled at evading notice, gobbers make exceptional thieves, but their success in this field has led to unfortunate stereotypes. Most gobbers prefer to create things of lasting value by the skill of their hands and equally nimble minds than to survive by pilfering.
That said, they are often exploited in low-paying jobs, with many living in poverty and sometimes turning to criminal professions as an alternative. Others live as seminomadic junkers, a respectable trade among gobbers, and travel from town to town salvaging broken and discarded items to repair and resell.
A gobber’s name is often a long single name that combines a personal name, the mother’s and father’s names, and some nickname or descriptor. These descriptors often hold a double meaning, with positive and negative elements. A gobber’s component names are usually short and seldom longer than a single syllable. When addressing gobbers, members of other cultures often use nicknames or names that are more appropriate for the kingdom’s naming traditions. For example, a male gobber named Az born to parents named Mog and Rala might be named Azralamoggamun but go by “Az” among his non-gobber companions.
Iosan
(IK:R - p.66) The learned and physically graceful people of Ios are the remnants of a once-vast elven empire that has long since collapsed. For many centuries, their former strength as a nation has dwindled, as have their numbers, leaving their forested cities a twilight kingdom of empty relics and unoccupied streets with only a fraction of their former numbers to inhabit them.Iosans are physically similar to humans, with males and females standing 6 feet tall on average, with long, pointed ears. They tend to have a slenderer build than humans but are nearly as robust. Iosans live considerably longer than most races, which has given rise to a reputation for agelessness. Many enjoy lives over two centuries long, for they are not prone to disease and rarely show the ravages of time, even in their advanced years. Given the imminent doom their race faces, their longevity is not seen as a great advantage. Not many non-Iosans know it, but the few Iosans they encounter are part of a dwindling generation facing the prospect of an extinction that might occur within their lifetimes. This existential crisis has led to xenophobia and extreme secrecy among most Iosans. Outsiders who come to know Iosans soon realize they are an intelligent and skilled people equally well versed in combat and the arcane arts. Iosans are deeply private about religious matters, but when they discuss such topics, they do so with a mixture of deep devotion and great sadness.
Iosans have been reticent for as long as humanity can remember, but their isolationism has taken an extreme turn in the last few decades, during which the nation of Ios has closed its borders and cut off all trade with foreigners. Its forests are a strange and silent place from which no Iosans emerge, and intruders who venture beyond its borders are never seen again. Rumors circulate of some great downfall, perhaps matching the Cataclysm of ancient days, but neither scholars nor treasure hunters have returned to confirm the truth.
Despite all this, a number of Iosans live among the human kingdoms. These tend to be exiles, pilgrims, or well-armed agents serving vital missions. Two Iosan religious sects have specific reasons to be abroad in human lands: the Seekers and the Retribution of Scyrah, with the former tending to be much friendlier to humans than the latter.
The Nyss
(IK:R - p.67) The Nyss are a rugged race of elves that once inhabited the frozen north amid the imposing peaks of the Shard Spires—a region so inhospitable that even the hardy Khadorans ceded it to them. They lived there as seminomadic tribes with permanent structures reserved for houses of worship to their god, Nyssor. Driven from their home by betrayal and corruption by the dragon Everblight, they have been forced to live among the Iron Kingdoms as refugees. Although Nyss walk a difficult road, few others possess their strength of will.Physically, Nyss are somewhat reminiscent of Iosans, but there is no mistaking the two. Nyss are tall—taller than Iosans—with skin to match their snowy realm and stark hair that's either jet black or very pale. Their eyes are like ice, cold and blue or sometimes violet. Nyss mark themselves with intricate tattoos called siyaeric, or “letters of the skin,” which relate to traditions that mark an individual as a member of a particular “shard,” or tribe. Additional modifications to these tattoos express personal convictions, family history, noteworthy deeds, or religious, magical, or spiritual beliefs.
The Nyss were once more similar to the Iosans and lived alongside them, although they were never as xenophobic or insular as their cousins. Centuries ago, they undertook a spiritual exodus to the frozen wilds and adopted a new way of life, forever changing them. They adapted to the frozen peaks of the Shard Spires and became accustomed to snow and ice. They lived in small tribal villages, protecting their mountain homes from the intrusions of northern trollkin, wild human tribes, and opportunistic bogrin.The Nyss are a tribal people who live close to the land as superlative hunters, trackers, archers, and swordsmen.
Inheritors of a long and ancient line, they have mastered the forging of superior weapons and the crafting of supple leather armor. Considered the chosen people of the winter god Nyssor, the Nyss have an affinity for cold. Sorcery is common among them and is seen as a blessing that allows them to manifest the power of cold against their enemies.
The Nyss were traditionally a strongly devout people, but their culture was recently shattered by the arrival of the dragon Everblight, who worked through his minions to enslave most of the Nyss as part of his legion. The few who escaped the dragon’s blight fled south as refugees to eke out livings as mercenaries, hunters, or criminals. Even as they tried to preserve their old ways, they relied on other peoples to ensure their survival. The recovery and return of the god Nyssor to Ios has caused many Nyss to return to their former homeland. They still live as outsiders among the Iosans, gathering in smaller communities in the forests, but some have chosen to see it as a homecoming. Those who have not returned to Ios still live among the kingdoms of humanity, doing what they must to survive.
Ogrun
(IK:R - p.68)Ogrun are fierce-looking, formidable creatures who tower over most other races and are capable of remarkable feats of strength. They are also a tremendously honorable people who have earned a place for themselves in the Iron Kingdoms, primarily as laborers and peerless warriors. Ogrun are known for their size. With most standing at least 7 feet tall, their broad frames of burly muscle have given them a reputation as brutal warriors and skilled laborers.
Ogrun skin ranges in color from pale hues to deep black. Many have a ruddy, brownish skin. Their hair is typically dark and bristly, although males typically lack hair on their heads and prefer to wear rugged beards or other facial hair.
Ogrun are one of the major Dhunian races, and they remain a spiritual people despite the changes their society has undergone within Rhul. Traditional ogrun culture is rooted in a simple but effective system of feudalism whereby young warriors called bokurs must eventually find worthy leaders to serve. Elder ogrun in turn hope to prove worthy enough to earn the binding oaths of young bokurs, for whom they then carry a certain responsibility. The ogrun in the leadership position is a korune—a lord—and there can be multiple layers of vassalage in an ogrun tribe, with the leader being whoever boasts the largest chain of subordinates. General obligations are secondary to personal oaths, and even Rhulic ogrun feel the urge to find a worthy korune, generally after an extended period of wandering and self-testing
Scattered tribes of ogrun still exist in isolated pockets, but most have integrated into the cultures of the kingdoms of western Immoren. The largest concentration of ogrun is found in Rhul, where ogrun are counted as full members of the dwarven clans to whom they have sworn fealty. Ogrunloyalty is legendary, and they have a reputation for being among the most dedicated and fiercest bodyguards in western Immoren. Mercenary ogrun are deemed more trustworthy and reliable than other sell-swords and can command a premium wage.
Rhulic ogrun have adopted many of the beliefs and priorities of dwarven society, including taking great pride in their work. While most ogrun choose to master the combat arts, there are many accomplished ogrun smiths, masons, and mechanics who tackle these professions with the same dedication as a bokur mastering his battle-glaive.
Pygs (Pygmy Trollkin)
(Borderlands & Beyond - p.63) More commonly known as pygs, pygmy trolls are small—very small. Once, they lived on the fringe of the trollkin society, but the recent struggles of the trollkin kriels have allowed pygs to earn a larger place with the trollkin. Their natural talent for scavenging and knack with firearms has garnered them respect and even prestige within the United Kriels. Much like their larger kin, pygs tend toward pale gray skin tinged with blue and green. Pygs have four fingers and toes as well as the typical spiny protrusions on the backs of their heads and necks. Their adaptability and eagerness are allowing pygs to find their own place in the larger world While the trollkin have often lived with their clans, called kith, and neighboring communities, called kriel, these concepts are relatively new to the pygmy trolls. Having lived on the fringes of trollkin society, the pygs had some rudimentary understanding of kith and kriel, but they now are rapidly learning how they fit into those social structures. The United Kriels have rapidly added the adaptable pygs to their armed forces, giving the pygs traditions of their own, such as the bushwhackers and the Northkin lookouts. Like their larger Trollkin cousins, Their ethnic groups consist of Northkin and Woodland trollkin, but the sorcerous albinos rarely if ever manifest in Pygs.Rhulfolk
(IK:R - p.70) Western Immoren has been the home of both men and dwarves since before written history, when only word of mouth and song recorded their deeds. The Rhulfolk—so named after their long-standing kingdom—settled the northern mountains and assembled into a single nation long before mankind had risen from tribal barbarity. They are fittingly chronicled as the first civilization of the west, making theirs the longest unbroken culture of all the settled races. Indeed, when the elves first appeared in western Immoren as the refugees of a shattered empire, the dwarves were already a fixture in the mountains and valleys of Rhul.Dwarves are equally stalwart in body and demeanor. They have a great lust for life, strong religious convictions, and rich codes of honor and law. Their culture is as distinct and substantial as the mountains they call home. It is common among humans to think of Rhulfolk as fixed and unchanging, but this is not true. They are highly adaptable and have a firm grasp of the changing times. The dwarves of today are much the same as their ancestors, yet very different.
Engineers without peer, Rhulfolk readily embrace the advances of mechanika, the conveniences of steam power, and the improvement of all things manufactured. They once stood alone and isolated in far-flung Rhul, content to disregard the backward races teeming in the south, but the rapacious Orgoth taught them that they could not ignore humanity. Rather than view all humans as encroaching warmongers, however, the pragmatic Rhulfolk somehow accepted that man was every bit as varied and complex as any dwarf.
In time, a new sense of curiosity about the wider world swept the people of Rhul, and recent generations have learned to look outward from their stone halls, even opening their arms in friendship to the kingdoms of mankind. Many dwarves have now settled outside of Rhul to live among the human kingdoms, but today’s dwarves remain wary of ensnaring themselves in the politics of other races. They realize that humanity is always on the brink of a great conflict, and most dwarves are hesitant to be drawn into these disputes.
Dwarven culture defies an easy explanation. Clan rivalry is a way of life. Dwarves apparently enjoy fighting grim duels over minor insults, and bloody feuds have been known to last for generations. Dwarven clans battle openly to resolve their disputes, laying siege to their rivals over such things as the right to build on a plot of land. Yet this bloodshed is meted out alongside strict codes of law passed down through the ages, and clans carry out these campaigns with a sense of honor and propriety that seems alien to the human practice of war. Large numbers of dwarves now live in Cygnar and Khador and have endured the hostilities between these rival nations, as well as the consequences of the Claiming.
Feuding clans have been known to put aside their differences at the first sign of an outside threat, and most dwarves who have been reared outside of Rhul would drop everything in a trice to defend their homeland. The dwarven way is to preserve and build, not destroy. For all their mastery of the art of war and their combat prowess, Rhulfolk strive to leave a legacy that will last through the ages. Sieges are conducted to win territory or prove mettle, never to pillage or plunder. Indeed, some dwarves have been found guilty of such crimes, for dishonor, treachery, banditry, and greed are not altogether unknown to them. Yet the desire to create monuments that long outlast a dwarf’s lifetime is intrinsic to their nature, and even the villains among them are not immune to the urge to be remembered once they are gone.
Soulless Iosans
(Borderlands & Beyond - p.65) Much like their soul-having kin, soulless are similar to humans in build, reaching upward of six feet tall. Physically, the soulless are similar to the Iosans: willowy yet vigorous. Soulless generally don’t live as long as their Iosan relatives, typically no more than 100 years. While rumors persist there have been soulless that have lived beyond of 200 years, that has yet to be seen. Soulless are pale like a common Iosan and may have various shades of hair color, but it is not uncommon for them to be bald. Tattoos that cover much of their body are a holdover from their time serving the Retribution of Scyrah. Since the Sundering, it is unknown if those traditions have persisted among the soulless. Unlike the Iosans, all soulless have eyes of pure black that appear as oily pools of nothingness, yet they see as normal Iosans would. The typical xenophobia and secret-keeping of the Iosans applies to the soulless as well. However, after the Sundering, these traits seem magnified or heightened.No one in western Immoren has kept secrets better than the Iosans. They tightly patrol their borders and expel or outright kill any unwanted guests. Thus, little is known of the nation of Ios, much less of their people and ongoing plight. While once a rarity, the soulless are now the majority and one of the darkest secrets kept by the Iosan people. Starting not long after the Rivening and the return of the goddess Scyrah, Iosan births were marred with the unique circumstance of infants born without souls. With the death of the goddess Ayisla, Suzerain of the Fallen, Iosan souls could no longer be reincarnated into a new vessel. The result of which has finally come full circle with the Sundering: the assassination of the remaining Iosan gods, Nyssor and Scyrah. Partnered with their eldritch allies, the soulless are now the only living Iosans within the nation of Ios. Those coming to the edge of the borders of Ios—or worse, beyond its borders—are likely to find the last things they see are a pair of onyx eyes and a blade edge. Prior to the Sundering, Iosans were rarely seen outside of their homeland. Soulless, by comparison, are nearly nonexistent outside of Ios. Those that are living abroad are either agents of the Retribution of Scyrah or former agents of the Retribution that never returned home. Since the Sundering, soulless have been seen more and more as they work tasks their eldritch allies cannot.
Trollkin
(IK:R - p.71)Savage trolls once roamed all the forests and plains of Immoren, but as time passed they assembled into tribes, which branched into clan families, and soon enough trolls came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and eating habits. The latter is perhaps the greatest distinction that sets trollkin apart from other trolls, allowing the other races of western Immoren to experience their peculiarities firsthand without fear of becoming their next meal. Trollkin still retain a nighinsatiable hunger and are known for their feasts—which often consist of awfully undercooked foods by human standards—but intelligent races no longer tend to make the menu.
Trollkin are large—very large. The smallest of them are on par with the largest human, and they stand roughly a head shorter than a hefty ogrun, but they cannot be mistaken for either. Their thick, freckled skin is pale gray, touched blue and green in places, and their irises are so pale that their eyes appear stark white. Trollkin have large three-fingered hands, three-toed feet, and spiny protrusions on the backs of their heads and necks, and their sonorous voices are not easily misjudged. Indeed, they are captivating singers, and some are so powerful they can utilize their articulations as actual weapons. Others among them have been born with sorcerous abilities. These “blessed” trollkin sorcerers are easily identified by their smaller size and stark white skin, and they are held in high regard among their people.
For trollkin, the tribal way of life has never faded. Every trollkin is a member of a tightly knit clan called a kith, who are often related by blood, and neighboring kith are considered a kriel, a word in Molgur that essentially translates as “people.” It is believed that as many as two hundred kriels once existed throughout western Immoren. The elder kith of a kriel are called the Circle of Stones, and they regulate and establish trollkin customs, laws, and religion. Indeed, trollkin culture is lavish in its colors and decorations, and every kith has a quitari, a tartan pattern that distinguishes the kith and is sometimes worn as a sash around the waist or over the shoulder and incorporated into banners and pennons. In fact, trollkin are skilled weavers and dyers. They take great pride in complex and elaborate patterns that boggle most viewers, especially non-trollkin, and this skill is certainly one of their inroads into human communities.
Trollkin are unrestrained in their music and dance and just as unrestrained in acting on their belief that all naturalphenomena are born of Dhunia and have souls. Spirits dominate everything they do, and it is customary, in honor of Dhunia, to offer fruits and flowers to others as a token of goodwill or to make amends. Like the soul, blood and bloodline are extremely important to all trollkin, and dismissing or disrespecting either is considered a grave offense. Most trollkin adherents of Dhunia believe that all things come from and return to the earth to be reborn. “Deep and true as blood and bone” is a trollkin vow that literally means “all things” or “all that I am,” which encompasses every life a trollkin has lived, as well as the lives of all relatives and ancestors. It is a somber phrase used only when trollkin speak the truth or make an oath.
Because they are so close-knit, trollkin are sometimes considered aloof, or even hostile, by other races. This may have something to do with their bias against creatures they consider “weak blooded,” but they try not to hold this too personally against those who lack the good fortune to have been born a trollkin. Indeed, some have even been heard to say that some of their associates of other races “must have been trollkin in a former life” or that “there’s always the next life” for their comrades to be reborn as trollkin.
Trollkin have 2 major ethnic and cultural groups: Northkin, and Woodland trollkin. Albino trollkin may be born of either.
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