The Six Origins
Languages and Scripts

ANCIENT RACES
Dwarves
Elves
Orcs

OTHER RACES
Men
Fey
Goblinoids
Giants
Dragons
The Gith Errant Outsiders

Primordial is a language derived from beings native to the transitive Astral, Spectral, and Elemental planes of existence. These planes have existed for all of known time. The dwarves were the first among Edion ancients to encounter the language and document it, and consequently the dwarven script uses the Primordial alphabet.

Draconic is the ancient language spoken by the Eternal Dragons and adopted by their lesser relatives, the chromatic dragons of Edion. Said to be the language spoken by the Artifex to the dragons, it is fundamentally the language of arcane magic.

Some dwarves linger in Edion as spectres, though their material essence is fading rapidly, dissolving into temporal dust with each passing day.

Sebrilia, the last of the everqueens, was slain in battle in 894 A.L., bringing an end to the Age of Elves. The elves of Edion then departed the manifest world and took the long journey to Istalion, the Dragon Throne, where they took up eternal residence in the Mansions of Aldoril. Some of these elves, led by Princess Padrielindë, now attempt to return to Edion to wage war with the orcs.

Portrayal

Elves are immortal and do not die unless they are slain or waste to grief. Neither does age subdue their strength, and dying they are transformed into stars and set upon the sky, faint and far, to endure beyond all count of years. Elven parents can give life to children, but they typically do so only once in the great span of their lives.

Mythic History

It is told that Grandal, the Tree-Father, appeared to the elves and led them across the sea, away from Istalion into the Hither Lands. For their passage, Lóliévar, the beaked dragon, offered his shell, upon which a gently-domed island was elevated (Vela-Andúin). The elves departed Istalion with great store of the World Shards, coming at length to the Hither Lands, a place of twilight and brooding quiet. As yet, no flower had bloomed nor any bird had sung in the wide lands of Edion, and no beast had walked in the shadows of the woods, for these things waited there time to the coming of the elves. All things were young and new-made green beneath their footsteps, and the waiting world was a garden for their delight.

Being wearied and content with his journey, Grandal sank his roots into the ground, and the elves established their rightful home beneath his canopy. From his branches spilled a golden dew upon the earth, and a raiment of leaves shimmered from silver down into shadows of green upon the earth. A wide forest sprung from his seed, spanning the walls of the Thundaril mountains: Ithiltaen it is named, the Old Wood, fairest of all places in the world. The elves called their land Fil-Garil, meaning "treehome." Chief among their enclaves was Isil-Gäde, meaning "handsome trees."

Grandal was a lover of things that grew in the earth, from the trees of the forest to the moss upon stones, and all the countless forms of flowers and moulds that thrived in his shade. He taught the elves to revere nature and advocate life, both in their song and poetry, but most solemnly in their deeds. Then Grandal instructed them in the speech that he had devised for them, Eärnóna, the elven tongue, to watch over and protect the Elemental Nodes, called Alardwë, which lay upon the land and give shape to the world. And he commanded them to use their gifts in harmony, and seek Balance, Amydh, for the preservation of Edion and all its abundant wonders. Already the oldest living things had arisen: the great trees; the dwarves and their kin; and dark creatures old and strong, of kinds that would long trouble the world. The long spring of Fil-Garil would turn inevitably to summer, and thence to fall and death. And one day the orcs would come to reclaim all that they had created and fought to protect.

Thus a council of druids came into being, and a fraternity of Stormbringers was commissioned to marshal the elves in times of war. The world in this time shone alternately with the sun, and with the silver illumination of the moon, but the night was a black veil unpierced by the stars of heaven. Great lamps were set on pillars across Fil-Garil, and white blazes shone forth across the realm in light. Druid songs tell of the shadow-shapes first seen walking the hills above Ithiltaen: the children of Magrud, scourges of death that in Edion are called Orcs. The beauty of Fil-Garil in its spring filled them with hate. Green things fell sick and rotted in their wake, and rivers were choked with weeds and slime, and fens were made, rank and poisonous. The orcs came forth suddenly like swarms of flies, and brought war to Fil-Garil. In the confusion and the darkness of that war, Grandal was slain. But the victory of the elves, led by the Stormbringer Pórthion, was swift, and the children of Magrud fled back to Thard-Harr, the Orc Home, and were pursued by elves and destroyed in their pits. The gates of Thard-Harr were broken and the uplands cleared of evil things, but the elven spring had ended. The bitterness of night had also ended, for the spirits of slain elves strode up to the sky, and gathered together and set signs in the heavens, as a challenge to Magrud. The stars filled her and her children with dread, and they retreated into the nethermost pits of Thard-Harr, and fled to waste spaces, awaiting a more sinister hour. Great clouds hung black in the East above the ruins of war, and the stars in that region were hidden.

The elf maid Sabirine wept inconsolably for Grandal. Among all her people there were none more beautiful than Sabirine, nor more wise, nor more skilled in songs of enchantment. Her tears fell upon the Tree-Father's acorn and hatched the Heart of Sabirine, a jewel of perfect beauty. Sabirine became the first Everqueen, and took responsibility for her people upon a throne of silver and woven boughs. The Heart would pass from Everqueen to daughter, she decreed, until the day of its destruction, when all elves would abandon Fil-Garil and return to Istalion, the Dragon Throne, to wait the doom of the world. When the Elves were occasioned to war, the Heart passed to her champion as a talisman of hope. Grandal's lifeless boughs were woven into the everqueen's throne, and his heartwood was worked into a remarkable staff, atop which an extraordinary jewel was set: Pelimë, largest of the World Shards.

Sabirine gave the staff to Llómydien, son of Talmo and Tilaryon. When he gazed into the gem upon its apex, Llómydien saw further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. He was named Farseer, and his thought passed over the universe. He could discern the fabric of Amydh, the ley lines of reality, and he marveled at the perfect balance of the universe. Llómydien constructed a monument to the Balance, a tower grown from the roots of the earth and upheld by the very structure of reality. The Tower of Llómydien, as others called it, was a place of taut and mysterious forces. He labored for centuries on its intricate carvings, and when the work was done, he entered the vast sky-reaching structure and abided there.

Sabirine succumbed to grief over Grandal's death and perished. Her daughter Arvoreen became queen and presided over a realm befallen by war. For the orcs had mastered their fear of the stars and renewed their assault, sending great forces against Fil-Garil. Stormbringers were called in defense, and Thard-Harr was cleared, but the children of Magrud were full of labour, and ever returned and issued forth to war in multitudes such as the elves had never before seen or imagined. For Magrud long swelled her forces in secret and desired not only to end her foes but to defile the lands that the elves had made fair. Llómydien, watching from his tower, appealed to the World Dragons for aid. In answer, Praxis the Golden came in full fire and descended upon Thard-Harr. The orcs were terrified and scattered in amaze. Thard-Harr became a burned and desolate waste, full of choking dust; and lifeless, save for the orcs themselves, and they were but emissaries of the Swollen One, the dead Mother, whose children were only mockeries of the living. The unbrood of Magrud was again defeated, and the land had semblance of peace yet for a while.

Nematranée was third among the everqueens, and though Magrud did not sleep or rest from her designs, the orcs gave no war during her time. It was an age of building and exploration. Llómydien sent the elves far across Edion in search of the Doombrammor: eight crystals, or lenses, that reflected the divine purpose of creation, which Llómydien descried from his tower. They shone with light, a light that inspired admiration and emulation even from afar. To the elven spirit, self and selfishness were foreign experiences, and good and evil were something outside of their nature. They were drawn to the Doombrammor by the lure of the unknown, by the spiritual bliss that lay beyond the pale of their world. Long and slow was their search, for the leagues of Edion were uncounted and pathless. Their journeys filled them with wonder and awe, and the elves left behind great cities and harbors, and abided by many lands and rivers. Forests stretched in song from Fil-Garil to the farthest regions, bearing fruit and flower, and many beasts. White ships covered the ocean in search of the Doombrammor, and one by one they were brought back and given to Llómydien, until at last all eight were recovered. The farseer erected a new pinnacle above the topmost story of the Tower, with eight culminations and eight bays, into which the Doombrammor were set like jewels in a crown. They appeared as windows to the elves, and shown forth with light, and darkness, and all the dimensions of spirit which were hitherto denied them.

War of Sundering

Nematranée was a fair and artful administrator, and she directed the elven expansion without dint of war. Her people enjoyed a congress with the dwarves, and many of the bearded kin labored in friendship amid her white cities. Nematranée and the King Drymdail, Lord of Soulearth, formed an alliance against the orcs, and the days of Fil-Garil were yet full of joy and peace. The King sent his runesmiths to Thard-Harr, and they raised mountains against Magrud and shut her down in the deep trenches of Shargol-Bogra. Locked away forever, the dead Mother and her unbrood would wait the world's doom in exile. Drymdail kept the key to Shargol-Bogra, and it was passed down from king to son.

Llómydien stayed in the Tower amid the highest stories, for he dwelt closest to the Doombrammor and was offered insight into and affinity with all the realms of the spirit. The physical world became lowly to him, for the balancing calm of the Doombrammor was both sublime and spiritual, and awakened in him a deeper purpose. Atop the tower, the conflicting perceptions of the soul existed side by side and were constructively applied in unison. Llómydien reached a point of detached superiority among his kin. He withdrew to a life of seclusion, aloof from the coarseness and mundanity of the Manifest World, and in the midst of isolation he evolved and metamorphosed, in many stages and steps, into a being utterly abstract and intangible: the Astral Savant, Pilgrim of the Silver Void, a being supernal and ephemeral beyond all reckoning. Like a husk emptied of its fruit, his mind departed and all management of the Tower passed to Llómydien's apprentice: Anadrieldur.

Anadrieldur was solemn in his meditations. But the farseer was not content with his tranquil work, or the disinvolved achievements of his people. The Doombrammor spoke to Anadrieldur, and long was their dialog. A great debate festered in his heart: the elven spirit was devoid of anything negative or unholy, why too should it be bereft of goodness and holiness? Where Grandal had instructed the elves to seek Balance, Anadrieldur wanted choice. He wanted the freedom to choose between good and evil, between fulfillment of a divine will and its defiance. If he was to keep the garden that Grandal had left them, he would cultivate the inherent goodness of his spirit, and fan the great flame that was drawing sparks in his soul from the farthest reaches of creation. He would annihilate evil not by surmounting it and disdaining it as Llómydien had done, but by engaging it and combating it. And he would lead others to the glory of goodness.

Many sided with Anadrieldur, and given the choice his disciples chose knowledge over peace, involvement over perfection, and struggle over tranquility. Divinity infiltrated their flesh, entwined itself in their souls, and grafted onto their most basic drives and desires. No longer perceived as the tranquil cultivation of good, under Anadrieldur elven life was redefined as a war with evil: a world where anything of value was achieved only through toil, struggle, and pain.

Others opposed the farseer. Anadrieldur's intimacy with good and evil, they argued, had corrupted him beyond what was inevitable, or even natural. Elves were spectral beings, and their role in the refinement of creation was to cultivate life, not to champion good against evil. What started as a debate escalated over many centuries into conflict. When the everqueen Nematranée returned to Fil-Garil from her many travels, she found her people sharply divided by war.

Anadrieldur and his dissenters controlled the Tower of Llómydien and the queen's court at Isil-Gäde. Nematranée still controlled the druids, and among her many allies she counted the dwarves. The sprites too remained loyal, and the treants, and many more of the fair folk that lived in the wood. But Anadrieldur had waited long upon the working of oaths and lies: friendships were sundered, brother fought against brother, and elves that had dwelt in peace among the Hither Lands now marched against their queen. All Fil-Garil went aflame with war, the Great War, of which few songs are intoned.

Of the deeds and desperate valour that were done, very little is told, for the elves care naught to remember it. Those elves who disdained Anadrieldur looked to Nematranée for leading and courage. She arrayed her forces first at Legendannor, and called upon the druid Caladon, whom she named Stormbringer, to retake Isil-Gäde. Caladon retook the throne-city in battle, but Nematranée's forces were defeated at the Battle of Five Dales and scattered. The everqueen retreated to the Wych Wood, and there she was slain by Cimestil, her shieldmaiden, whom Anadrieldur had promised valor. The queen's daughter Tinédë was hidden by the sprites to wait for victory or ruin. Beleaguered without hope, Caladon called upon King Drymdail, and the seven lords of Soulearth, to fulfill their oaths to the queen, and he summoned them to battle.

Of the march of Drymdail's host out of the north, much is recorded by the dwarves, for among them went Drymdail himself and the whole power of the Throne of Karak-Az. When at last they joined the Battle of the Tower, and the challenge of their trumpets filled the sky, Fil-Garil was ablaze with smoke and ruin. Praxis the Golden joined the battle, and Caladon now claimed him as steed, but few remained of Caladon's forces beneath the walls of Llómydien. Anadrieldur loosed upon his foes a final assault, and there issued from the Tower servants of the Eäril, the Elder Gods, whom the farseer had awakened and called forth from the Doombrammor. And so sudden and ruinous was the onset of that assault, that the elves were driven back. But the dwarves did not tarry in their wrath, and pressed on with their armament, for they were the Keepers of Time and did not fear the Eäril. The servants of Anadrieldur were hewn down and sent back to the divine planes, and the elves that had joined Anadrieldur in his divinity were made humble and sued for peace and pardon.

Then, seeing that his hosts were overthrown and his power dispersed, Anadrieldur called upon the Doombrammor, and started a last desperate ceremony. The sky was darkened. Lightnings crowned the Tower and slew many upon the fields; and the spire was wreathed in flames; but the Tower was unshaken, and Anadrieldur stood upon the pinnacle and defied the lightning and was unharmed. And in that hour the Eäril did his command and drew the Tower, like a ship to mooring, into the center of the balanced universe, called Cordis Pondus (Concordant Opposition in human texts) where hostilities are voided and passions dimmed.

Wheeling in haste, Caladon and Praxis assaulted Anadrieldur upon the Tower. There Anadrieldur stood at bay, and yet unvaliant: the ritual was not complete, and ere the farseer had attained his goal, he was struck down, and the Tower foundered between the Manifest World and the Divine. Thus an end was made of Anadrieldur and the War of Sundering, and ever after the peacefulness of Concordant Opposition hung like a shroud over Fil-Garil, subduing all. The farseer was thwarted in the fulfillment of his designs, and all that remained of his office lay the gnarled farseer staff, smoldering upon the stone beneath his departed feet.

Coming of the Cáladain

Fulfilling the prophecy of Caladon's decree, a new race appeared in Edion during the reign of Elrilmadien, seventh in the line of everqueens. They called themselves Men and they were well-versed in the lore of the Doombrammor. Eärithrarion called them Cáladain and awarded to them the eight nodes of divinity, on the condition that they be taken beyond the borders of Fil-Garil and never returned. During the long imprisonment of the Doombrammor, the lenses underwent remarkable transformations. Each had taken a new shape and purpose; the node of Solaris, for instance, became a great, golden sword forged by the god Elai. The node of Palatum bore the aspect of a mighty hammer. And so on.

The Cáladain took the reshaped nodes and departed, but Eärithrarion invited ambassadors to stay and dwell under the protection of the Farseer and in the friendship of the elves, for he understood that eventually the Doombrammor would bring ruin to the Cáladain. Few accepted his invitation, for the Cáladain were created by Elai and given great longings by their creator: the quest for spirituality, the craving for gods, and the passion for empire thrilled in the hearts of Men. Those few who remained were taken into the White Tower and befriended by Eärithrarion. The guests of Eärithrarion were given wisdom and power and life more enduring than any others of mortal race had possessed, but they did not thus escape from their mortality, and their numbers increased only slowly in Fil-Garil. Eärithrarion instructed them in the secrets of magic and dweomercraft, and entrusted them with a great duty: to one day bring a diplomatic end to the Godswar, an inevitable conflict that would result from the passion and partiality inherent to the Doombrammor. These men were called the Abnoctim. Many tales have been told of their kind, for they are great wizards, scholars, and diplomats.

Little is known of the early wanderings of the Cáladain: some, it is said, dwelt long in the fields of Aenor, and yet others went north into the wintry lands of Kandor. Some dwelt on the Eavon ocean, while others passed like a wind over the mountains. In Edion in those days, they drove off all creatures who contested them, for the Cáladain were mighty in crafts, so that they rivaled and even surpassed the elves in the making of war and the forging of weapons. The Doombrammor were taken far and wide, and many wonders were worked. Thus the years passed, and while the Evercourt went backward and light and wisdom faded, the Cáladain grew in power and peace. The long prosperity of the Cáladain lasted many ages of elves, until eventually the Cáladain began to murmur, at first in their hearts, and then in open words, against each other. A great jealousy surrounded the Doombrammor, each one being linked to a divine realm philosophically opposed by the others. The Doombrammor fractured and dwindled the Cáladain into smaller and smaller groups, claiming each in thrall, until they could no longer be called Cáladain at all, but Tribes of Men.

The Everqueens

I.		Sabirine
II.		Arvoreen
III.		Nematranée
IV.		Tinédë
V.		Fadrieniel
VI.		Legithraviel
VII.		Elrilmadien
VIII.		Ibidia
IX.		Sebrilia
X.		Princess Padrielindë (uninstated)

Because of their labors and their long sorrow, each everqueen surrendered to grief and perished in death. Two were slain in battle (Nematranée and Sebrilia). Following the death of Sebrilia, rulership did not pass to Padrielindë, the queen's daughter, for the Heart of Sabirine was broken and the doom of the elves had come. The long exodus to Istalion and the emptying of Fil-Garil happened over many decades, until at last all were gone. The elves dwell now in the mansions of Aldoril, which the dragons have made for them at the base of Mount Istalion.

The everqueens still live in the heavens: their spirits are gathered in the Constellation of Sabirine at the rim of the world.

The Elven Doom

At the onset of SOS1, Padrielindë's armada is stationed at the barrier island of Essares-Luminar, but the high elves are effectively hedged from returning to Edion due to powerful magics unfurled by destroying the Shards of Thariom (SOT6).

The fate of the wood elves of Arithras remains uncertain. It is presumed that these creatures are suffering the same fate as the spectral dwarves, their material essences fading quickly for all eternity, but the situation is anything but resolved.

Elven Racial Abilities

Wood elves follow the rules for elves.

Known Breeds

Orc Marauder: This is the name given to ordinary orc warriors, the kind that lived in the world at the dawn of Edion. The majority of orc regulars are, in fact, ordinary orcs spawned "naturally" by Magrud. Most are strong, aggressive, and driven by a need to slaughter their enemies, broadly defined. Their presence weakly corrupts living things, especially plants, but no more than the same things would pick up to a passing elf. At worse, this aura is unsettling to humans, but not damaging.

Orc Prowler: Vicious, quadrupedal orcs of exceptional speed, size, and intelligence. These doglike monsters reconnoiter ahead of the main orc columns, serving as spies, assassins, and elite shock troops. At the Battle of Four Tribes, prowlers were deployed by the githyanki captain in solid cavalry lines, a tactic which broke the sturdy Mulcibim columns. Prowlers are fast enough to keep pace with light cavalry. A trio of prowlers are known to have pursued the Fellowship of Atân all the way to the distant forests of M'bol Tan. [View Miniature]

Orc Ravener: These towering brutes serve as captains for large squads of marauders, though occasionally they have been encountered ranked up in their own elite units. The manipulation of the Ravener breed seems to have intensified the connection between the orc spectre and the Plane of Negative Energy. Their weapons radiate a crippling, necrotic power that few have withstood. (Indeed, Neren's mother Calais fell victim to such a weapon in SOT2.) Raveners are also exceptionally fast for their size, able to keep pace with a fully armored warhorse. Light cavalry can outflank them, but such forces are woefully outclassed by the superior raveners. [View Miniature]

Orc Mauler: Lumbering engines of muscle pierced through with vicious spikes, the maulers are deployed primarily as living siege weapons. Their reaving blades are capable of slicing through fortifications as easily as flesh, and their spiked fists can send armored horses flying through the air. Where raveners bring fear to the Cáladain, maulers bring utter terror. True monsters in every sense, a single mauler can obliterate an entire unit of hardened soldiers. At the Siege of Galantir, maulers were used primarily to destroy fortifications and penetrate the outer walls. At the Siege of Llómydien, maulers infiltrated the base of the elven tower and devastated the root structure, making the structure susceptible to subsidence by Vela-Shiven, the Death Node, which perched atop it. [View Miniature]

Orc Colossi: These broad-backed, quadrupedal orcs are massive beyond measure, several orders larger than elephants! Where they have been encountered (primarily at Galantir), they have been used as reptilelike draft beasts, supporting mobile weapons platforms, siege towers, and other structures upon their gargantuan backs. The githyanki commander at Galantir was believed to operate from a mobile "war-room" carried upon a colossus. All traditional war machines used by the orcs for protracted sieges (ballistae, catapults, and the like), have been hauled into the theater by colossi. Maulers are generally more effective than war machinery, though their numbers are mercifully limited.

Other Breeds: The sprites have reported winged orcs (they call them "dracorcs") used as fast strikers at the Forest of Calais, where skirmishes often take place amid the treetops. No doubt, there are many other breeds waiting to be unleashed upon Edion by the abominable craft of Thameera.

Orc Bloodlust

The nine subraces of the Cáladain are:

Mulcibim, the pious advocates of Virtus (LG).
Fatarim, the proud worshippers of Elai (NG).
Erroim, the nomadic wanderers of Ozian (CG).
Azalim, the industrious servants of Felish (LN).
Abnoctim, the enlightened followers of Esus (N).
Idreshim, the frenzied warriors of Furis (CN).
Abishaim, the wearied slaves of Nilzabar (LE).
Barathrim, the furtive agents of Majubastis (NE).
Hezroim, the tortured minions of Yôzar (CE).

Mulcibim

Mulcibim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Large size
• Reach 2
• +2 Strength, +2 Constitution (instead of the normal +2 Any bonus)
• Great Resilience: You have a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage. Also, when you make a death saving throw, you can take the better result of your die roll or 10.
• No bonus feat for being human.
• No bonus skill for being human.
• Skill Bonuses: +4 Athletics.

The Mulcibim typically speak Common, though their ancestral language is a dialect of Celestial. The liturgical language is Celestial.

Fatarim

Fatarim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Purity of E'li: You have resistance to necrotic damage and radiant damage equal to 5 + one-half your level.
• Well of Life: Your healing surge value is +2 greater than normal.

The Fatarim typically speak Common, though their ancestral language is a dialect of Celestial. Many devout Fatarim speak perfect Celestial.

Erroim

Erroim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Evasive Harrier: You cannot be marked.
• Windwalker: You ignore the first 10 feet fallen when calculating falling damage.

The Erroim traditionally speak a dialect of Celestial. "Common" is an uncommon second language.

Azalim

Azalim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Imperial Majesty: You have a +1 racial bonus to all defenses against attacks made by bloodied creatures.
• Industrious: Pick a skill. You gain a +2 racial bonus with that skill.

Azalim commoners typically speak Common. The sacred Endict language is still used for official communication.

Abnoctim

Abnoctim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Skill Bonuses: +4 Arcana.
• Spellpool: Abnoctim wizards gain the use of a reservoir of magical energy that is bound to a special matrix. Using his shardstone, an Abnoctim wizard can "call" spells from this common resource at need.
  Calling a spell from the spellpool can be done at any distance on the Material Plane. Choose an at-will power, or unusued encounter or daily wizard power of any level you can cast. As a standard action, you may swap this for any other wizard power of the same type (at-will, ecnounter, or daily) of the same or lower level that you cannot normally cast.
  Make an Arcana check equal to 15 + 1/2 level of the spell desired, rounded up. Success indicates that you can cast the swapped spell before your next short rest (after which time, it is lost). Failure indicates that you cannot use the wagered at-will power or encounter power until after your next short rest. In the case of a wagered daily power, you must wait until your next extended rest to regain its use, as normal.
  Example: The wizard Nimlinor can cast the 9th level daily wizard attack power Face of Death. During a battle, Nimlinor wishes the use of the 9th level daily wizard attack power Animate Dead, which he cannot normally cast. He attempts to access the Spellpool, wagering his Faces of Death power. As a standard action, he makes an Arcana check against DC 20 (15 + 1/2 of 9th level = 20). He rolls a 23 on the check and gains the use of Animate Dead, but loses the use of Faces of Death. He may cast Animate Dead any time before his next short rest. If he does not, he loses the power. Since Animate Dead happens to be cast as a minor action, he chooses to cast it right away during the same turn.

The Abnoctim often speak Elvish and Draconic as well as Common or other tribal languages.

Idreshim

Idreshim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Bloodhunt: You gain a +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against bloodied foes.
• Frenzy: You gain a +2 racial bonus to all defenses while you are bloodied.

The Idreshim speak a language called Clanspeak, which is itself broken among the clans.

Abishaim

Abishaim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Always on Death's Door: Whenever you drop to 0 hit points or fewer, you are dying but you can choose to remain conscious until you attempt your first death saving throw. If you remain conscious, you can take only one standard action before you attempt your first death saving throw.
• Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional: You gain a +2 racial bonus to your Fortitude defense.

Abishaim typically speak Common, though some communities still speak a dialect of Infernal.

Barathrim

Barathrim function as normal humans in Edion, except...

• Vision: Low-light vision.
• Barathrim Disguise: You have the Barathrim Disguise power.

Barathrim Disguise	Barathrim Racial Power
You alter your form to look like another person.
At-Will • Polymorph Minor Action, Personal
Effect: You alter your physical form to take on the appearance of any Medium humanoid. You retain your statistics in your new form, and your clothing, armor, and possessions do not change. The new form lasts until you change form again. Any creature that attempts to see through your ruse makes an Insight check opposed by your Bluff check, and you gain a +5 bonus to your check.

The Barathrim typically speak the language of Pernoctare, called Nocturnal.

Hezroim

It may be that the so-called sahuagin are in actuality Hezroim, or derived from the ancestral Hezroim stock, but this has not been substantiated. The seemingly nonhuman sahuagin maintain a massive underwater kingdom below the Archipelago of Azalan, lending some credence to this idea. But sahuagin biology is very alien by human standards, and many scholars now believe that sahuagin are in fact mutant fish species spawned by wandering unbidden into the sunken Chamber of Unwisdom.

What modern Hezroim culture might entail, if it even exists, is anybody's guess. Even the Minister Septych, an avowed ally of the Cáladain, has little to say on the subject.

Noteworthy among the fey are the Solarian gnomes, who fled Edion in the years following the undoing of the Curse of Belkuzagan and now range the Encircling Sea atop the back of Lóliévar.

Goblinoids live in all parts of Edion, but are most abundant in Aenor and Enoreth. The militaristic hobgoblins, especially, have occasionally waged significant wars with elves and humans, but for the most part goblinoids are encountered in the wild parts of the world. The largest hobgoblin nation is located in Enoreth, in the formidable valley of Rastelde (near the lowest reaches of the River Ruin). Bugbears are most common in the Volde Forest near Kandor.

Goblinoids often ally themselves with other monsters of the wilderness, and even take to worshipping their gods. The Hill Giant King Snigeus, for instance, counts many goblin and hobgoblin tribes among his followers.

Each of the giant subraces are ruled by a single, all-powerful Giant King, a legendary, godlike figure that stands as the overseer of the entire race.

There are eight types of giants in Edion, as follows.

Cloud Giants: These handsome, Huge giants live among the clouds in elaborate floating citadels. They are creative beings, connoisseurs of fine things, lovers of music, and when called to war they are highly organized and capable of elaborate strategies. Of all the giants, their culture is the most unified. It is centered on the floating city of Punam’brii, where the Cloud Giant King Ixilak formerly held court. Ixilak entered into compact with the Travesty Thameera, who promised the cloud giants a haven in the "Fourth World" of Odion.

Ixilak was defeated by the Fellowship of Atân aboard the imperial airship Noblesse (SOT6). At the onset of SOS1, the corpse of the godling lies in repose with that company as it travels north into the frozen reaches of the Hjelmelands. Though Ixilak is destroyed, the cloud giants have a robust government and likely still consider themselves allied to Thameera. Cloud giants are known to ally with giant eagles and thunderbirds, among other aerial creatures. These intelligent avians seem to appreciate the company of cloud giants more than usual.

Fire Giants: Led by their belligerent king Akerbelz, the Fire Giants are concentrated in Aenor, where they inhabit numerous volcanic strongholds within the mountainous Spine of Ghori. Fire giants have warred with the Fatarim and Mulcibim on more than one occasion, most notably during the Elemental Wars as allies of the Efreet. Some fire giants range the Dune Sea as nomads. Perhaps the most ruthless of all giants, those under Akerbelz are highly militaristic, laboring endlessly in volcanic forges to produce immense weapons of war for some upcoming apocalypse.

Frost Giants: Native to the frozen lands of Kandor, the frost giants have long maintained supremacy over the dwarves and, more recently, the Idreshim. Their king, the Jarl Kjord, was obsessed with the Idreshim node, the so-called Crow Father (or Beast), and labored unsuccessfully for centuries to hunt it. When the Azalim Emperor Toum defeated the Beast in mortal combat, he scattered the teeth among the Idreshim clans. Kjord found it easier to subjugate the leaderless Idreshim, and collected the teeth as trophies, amassing all of them except for one carried by the wandering Idreshim Yngvarr of the Horsgald clan. At the onset of SOS1, that tooth is possessed by the Abishaim warlord Mabul, who intends to hunt Kjord in hopes of recovering the Beast's teeth and resocketing them in the sundered jawbone (also in his possession). This, Mabul believes, will revive the Beast and liberate the Idreshim from their frost giant oppressors. The hero Yngvarr died destroying the Shards of Thariom atop the Anvil of Creation, and this quest was taken up by his friend Mabul.

Many of the ruined dwarfholds are occupied by frost giant chieftains. Kjord himself resides in the fabled Cave with Blue Pillars, high above the Hjelmelands where he lords over the subjugated Idreshim at Koperkoping and forces many to work in the the deplorable Hagbotten Copper Mine.

Frost giants are brutal and wantonly destructive raiders. They share many cultural similarities with the Idreshim, and indeed some Idreshim revere frost giants as beings of valor.

Hill Giants and Ogres: Selfish and brutish, hill giants are the least organized and least intelligent of giantkind. Their king Snigeus maintains a stronghold in the distant Badlands. Small gangs of hill giants are interspersed across Edion, and many individuals are known to live within the territory of Sol-Fatara.

Ogres are akin to hill giants. The two races share similar habits and often live in proximity. Most ogre clans have made oaths to King Snigeus, whose reputation as the Mercenary King is well-deserved. Ogres have swollen the ranks of armies on both sides of many great battles in Edion's history!

Mountain Giants: Immense and strong, these titanic beings live deep below ground in the mountain roots. Rarely, if ever, are they encountered by mortals. Very little is known about them. King Polos is revered even by many humans as a deific personification of strength and valor.

Ocean Giants: The pernicious ocean giants dwell beneath the waves of the Eavon Ocean, where they maintain great underwater fortresses. Solitary beings, ocean giants rarely band together, as they are all vicious rivals and frequent opponents. Notorious raiders of shipping lanes, especially in the Crowded Sea of the Azalim Archipelago, their predominant interest in humans is seizing property. As greedy as giants come, some ocean giants are known to hold accounts in imperial banks, even holding deeds to imperial lands. More than a few ocean giants support pirate cartels, thieving rings, and other criminal syndicates. So regarded are the strongest and most aggressive of ocean giants that whole islands, currents, and weather cycles are named after them, and the most feared even collect duties or customs on overseas shipments through their territories. Of course, the Azalim have accounted for all of this in their efficient cultural model, and it's all just part of doing business in the world of Edion for many.

Many ocean giants enslave sahuagin and other sea creatures. Each giant is able to mobilize a significant underwater army, if need be. And there is often need, for their most dangerous aggressor is often another ocean giant, bent on plunder!

Stone Giants: Far more common than mountain giants, stone giants resemble lean, muscular humans with hard, hairless flesh. They typically dwell in temperate mountain areas, and often maintain fairly productive relationships with humans. Indeed, many stone giants are recruited each year by the Imperial armies of Azalan. Stone giants have a deeply personal relationship with their Queen Iada (the only feminine monarch among giantkind), who is revered as a type of "Earth Mother" by many humans, especially druids and rangers. Consequently, many stone giants live as druids, including Iada herself who, in the absence of the elves is the greatest surviving steward of the Nodes of Edion. Iada roams the world, an occasional guest in any given stone giant community.

Although stone giants have a global reach, the largest population is found in Enoreth, among the Limekiln Mountains.

Storm Giants: The enormous storm giants are reclusive beings. Where they lair, few can say, for they only make their presence felt when angered, and then with a violence that none can match. At least one storm giant is known to lair in the warm hills of Sol-Fatara, below Mt. Astiel. The storm giant king Ilophos is a legendary figure whose existence has never been confirmed by mortals. In general, storm giants are not known to form communities, and the few that are known to exist at all are solitary beings.

The chromatic dragons represent an entirely different group of creatures. When the world was being made, giants frequently unearthed dragon eggs in the natural course of their terrain-building. How or why these eggs were deposited is a mystery. The dragons have many myths they believe in, and scholars suggest that primitive dragon eggs were actually living nodes, a byproduct of the world-building process. Whatever the case, these eggs were allowed to incubate in the elemental nodes and eventually hatched the first dragons. Of these firstborn, only two survive to the present day, the great red dragons Alcimer and Klypss. The firstborn dragons of other colors have either died or been slain over the long history of Edion, but their progeny remain. Last of the firstborn to perish was Obadactus, most ancient of the black dragons (COB5), slain by the elf hero Khraelyn Steelmoon during the Assault on Bogongroon.

There are five types of chromatic dragons: red, black, green, blue, and white. Many famous stories surround each type, though the red dragons are probably the best known and most feared. They are also the greediest, and their compulsive addiction to wealth and possessions is unrivaled by any other being in all the multiverse. Not even the ocean giants nor Matravus Himself can match the rapacious desire of a typical red dragon. Alcimer, atop all others, is so fat with covetousness that she cannot leave her lair in the Spine of Ghori. Both her body and her living space are simply grown to the outer limits of possibility. Klypss, her rival and occasional mate, is a leaner but more terrible specimen. He lairs on the aptly named Isle of Klypss near the Boiling Sea, where his lustful appetites run the gamut from nymphs to giants. He has fathered more aberrant monsters in Edion than any single entity. For that, the Azalim call him the Miscreator.

Errant Rakshasa

An errant rakshasa player character uses the normal rules for Shadar-kai, with the following exceptions...

• Vision: Darkvision.
• Languages: Choice of one language, Nocturnal
• Astral Origin: Your ancestors were native to the Plane of Pernoctare, so you are considered an immortal for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin.
• Skill Bonuses: +2 Bluff, +2 Stealth.
• Barathrim Disguise: You have the Barathrim Disguise power in place of the Winterkin power.