Mul
Muls are half-dwarves, though you wouldn't think it to look at them. Their body shape and type have the versatility and range of form like a human, with similar agility and mental flexibility. From their dwarf parent, they inherited constitution and resilience of little tough people. Bred in the past by too many kingdoms as slave labor, the term "mul" comes from a corruption of "mule", a term the mul have reclaimed - though for a non-mul to use the term mule is highly offensive. They tend to be bald, even the females. Their faces are stern like a dwarves, with swept back ears. Most muls also have eyes the color of copper or green-gold.
Some emerging Iossean kingdoms some five or six centuries ago were in need of reliable slave labor: strong, tireless and efficient. The result was the union of humans and dwarves, yielding a durable creature of strength and resilience, the perfect pack mule. Rarely were muls born free for several generations - the mass breeding of the new generations led quickly to a taboo of half-dwarf births from genuine unions - thus they were usually bred from birth into slavery. Unfortunate dwarves and human were forced to copulate and produce a steady stream of these slaves, who were usually seen as brutish types that could be abused like cattle. The practice of forced breeding was outlawed in many realms only a century or so ago.
Muls have little racial identity left and are often just the freed slave population in a greater society, or the recent descendants of such. Many mark themselves with tattoos reminiscent of dwarven motifs as some semblance of identity. Muls are now born free and after several generations of slavery, they usually go to make their own fortunes, some becoming mercenaries, and others, ruthless gladiators.
Having grown up either in or hearing tales of a world of brutality and abuse, muls have little use for feelings of compassion. They are usually driven and pragmatic like a dwarf, but lack any good feelings for others, even of their own race. They tend to speak in a blunt and honest manner, despising things like colorful speech and double speaking. Since many were torn from their families at a young age and raised under a lash to toil, they have rarely know of things like love or family until relatively recently. In some cases, not until the current generation. Hardship has scarred their collective psyche and hardened their hearts against friendship. Many are cynical, but being from among the lowest class can teach a thing or two about making alliances when the need arises.
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