Orcrest | Stoutfolk

Stoutfolk

Overview

The Stoutfolk come from a common, but very small, source. When they were first created, they spread themselves out. Some delved under the mountains, others took to the hills, while yet more collected into urban centers. As their cultures and languages separated, and as their bodies adapted to their environs, they each took on names in their local languages. They commonly refer to each other as ‘cousins’, and can still interbreed amongst themselves without issues and with humans with some issues. Offspring typically (but not always) take after their parent of the opposite gender. Don’t ask why, it just happens that way.

"The sharper the knife, the better the soup."

Lore

Halflings, or "hin" as they call themselves, are also known by names like "good folk," "quick folk," and "sly folk." They resemble small humans, typically standing a little over half their size. They have large, leathery-soled feet and typically go barefoot, showing a great interest in nature.

Halflings have lifespans slightly longer than humans, reaching adulthood in their early twenties and sometimes living into their 150s, though most live just over a hundred years. Their communities are small, tight-knit, and often near or inside human settlements. They don't usually recognize kings or nobles, instead looking to family elders for guidance. This focus on family and practical optimism has preserved halfling traditions for over a thousand years.

Halflings have a rich oral tradition, with a fondness for stories and legends. Their care in retelling these stories often means they preserve knowledge about ancient cultures and empires that others have long forgotten. Socially, halflings can be overly familiar, often "borrowing" items without asking and inviting themselves to gatherings, especially where food is involved. However, they are generous in return, rarely minding when others do the same to them.

Quirks

Halflings generally go about barefoot, though this is less common among halflings with closer human relations.
Halfling society values good friends, good food, and a good garden.
Halflings younger than 25 years of age are children and may not be played on Orcrest.

Core Characteristics

Size: Small

Average Lifespan: 120 years

Physical Characteristics:

Any natural skin, hair, and eye colouration
Large, hairy feet
Rounded ears

Common Religions: Children of Sault, Naturalists

"Wait, wait, this sounds official. Let me get my hat."

Lore

Gnomes, also known as the Forgotten Folk, are small humanoids noted for their humor, curiosity, and engineering skills. Although they rarely influence history overtly, their crafty nature often goes unnoticed by those in power.

Gnomes live long lives, often over three centuries, and sometimes up to five. They reach adulthood at forty but show signs of aging after a century, with graying hair and wrinkling skin, though they remain vigorous even in old age.

Gnomish culture values staying out of trouble and avoiding attention. Children's games involve stealth, and drawing attention is seen as impolite. Gnomish heroes are tricksters who use cunning over combat. This stems from their small size and the need to avoid larger enemies like orcs and hobgoblins.

Gnomes love arts, pranks, and grand celebrations. Weddings last a week, and gnomes have a relaxed view of love. Gnomes value creativity, with everyone expected to engage in artistic or inventive pursuits by adulthood.

Gnomes are found in nigh every nation, but they are concentrated among dwarven kingdoms, a mutualistic relationship where gnomes receive protection from darklings, and dwarves received a trusted group that could bypass their caste structure. In merging into dwarven society, gnomes adopted the custom of wearing hats or head coverings during official duties - ones upright and pointed or loose and floppy, depending on their station. Gnome teachers often remove their hats when offering personal opinions or critiques, then replace them to resume their official roles.

Quirks

Gnomes very often wear hats whenever in public or working. This is a reminder of representing their family, faction, or preforming some other official duty and gnomes tend to take their hats seriously.
Nearly every gnome dyes their hair, sometimes to natural but often to unnatural colors. The natural hair of a gnome is considered taboo, and even the parents of young children will dye their children's hair. Aiding a gnome in the dying process is considered one of if not the most intimate thing you can do in gnomish society.
Gnomes younger than 40 years of age are children and may not be played on Orcrest.

Core Characteristics

Size: Small

Average Lifespan: 400 years

Physical Characteristics:

Any natural skin tone
Pointed ears that are not elongated
Typically longer or larger noses
Vivid eyes of any colour.
Dyed hair
- A gnome’s natural hair colour is a closely guarded secret known only by close family and partners

Common Religions: Children of Sault, Sanctified,

Seekers

"Do your business, be respectable, and we will treat you the same."

Lore

Dwarves are numerous but rarely seen on the surface. Their vast underground kingdoms are connected by the Barazorak ("Oathroads"), extensive tunnel works beneath the earth, where the majority of dwarves live out their lives. Those that travel to the surface tend to do so for specific reason, and are most commonly part of the merchant caste who hawk fine dwarven wares to foreign nations.

The Barazorak offer direct routes across the land, bypassing lakes, streams, and mountains for hundreds of miles. However, due to the scarcity of food and clean water, they are not open to random visitors. Those who trespass often end up working in dwarven mines to repay their debt, a task that can take up to seven years. Some never return, while others choose to leave after earning a place in dwarven society. Only those with official business and gifts of gold, gems, or silver can travel without fear of punishment. Even dwarves pay a (much lowered) tax when traveling these roads for pleasure.

Dwarven prisoners are paid for their labour, allowing them to repay their debt to society and leave with coin in their pocket. Dwarves are traditionalists and exceptional craftsmen, stonemasons, smiths, and jewelers. They are also brewers, mushroom farmers, herdsmen, cooks, soldiers, and merchants. However, their caste system and limited resources leave little room for deviation from these trades.

Dwarven society is centered around its caste system, with duties, laws, and privileges being assigned differently depending on a dwarf's caste. This system is not, however, based on birth but rather aptitude, and transitioning castes is not unheard of, while being assigned to a lower caste for a set amount of time is a common punishment. The dwarven castes are, in rough order of preeminence: Noble, Artisan, Merchant, Labour, Slag (a punishment caste for the lowlifes in society). All dwarves, regardless of caste or gender, are trained in warfare, and joining up with city watch, personal guards, a thane's men-at-arms, or a mercenary company is a common path to escape the day-to-day life of a caste a dwarf doesn't like, if they can not qualify for a transfer.

Among surface races, dwarves find the most kinship with humans, with many human cultures and cities owing their inspiration and security to their industrious dwarven neighbors. Dwarven kingdoms often assist each other and their neighbors in warfare, providing reliable alliances for pragmatic reasons.

In dwarven society, the title of "King" is temporary and translates to "the highest authority available". Their society is modular, meaning that if a gate or citadel is cut off from the capital by raiding darklings, an acting Gate Warden from a different clan may take on the role of leadership.

Quirks

Dwarves are well known for their meticulous record keeping, particularly dates, business dealings, grudges and slights, or the deeds of individuals deemed either noteworthy or dishonorable.
Dwarves generally do not practice chattel slavery and frown on the practice as dishonorable. The maximum indenture any debtor can be held to is seven years, and indebted individuals are typically respected as employees and taught as trade apprentices.
Dwarves who have spent most of their lives underground often feel queasy when first looking up at the sky, with some having verbalized a fear they might fall upward into the great chasm above.
Dwarven military outposts have a common nomenclature: citadels are known as known as "Crags" (as in "Cragrimawfyl"), and smaller outposts are "Doks" (as in "Dokduraz").
Dwarves younger than 50 years of age are children and may not be played on Orcrest.

Core Characteristics

Size: Small

Average Lifespan: 300 years

Physical Characteristics:

Any natural skin, hair, and eye colouration
Stocky bodies
Thick beard growth in both genders
- Hair and beards are held up as the highest standards of beauty
- Women in more frequent contact with other races tend to shave their beards down to sideburns

Common Religions: Children of Sault, Sanctified