The Peoples

The Forty-two Isles are home to a dazzling variety of peoples, each with their own customs, societies, and traditions. In this modern age, it’s natural to see people of all kinds wherever you travel.

Humans

Hardworking, curious, and adaptable, humans have spread across all the Forty-two Isles. They’re one of the most open-minded and tolerant races — leading many human settlements to include dwarves, elves, gnomes, and all other kinds of people living side by side. They value community and generally seek to do good.

Elves

Elves are proud, wise, and long-lived. Tradition, ceremony, and artistry are deeply important to them. They are indirect and non-confrontational, and conversations are sometimes intellectual games where they dance around ideas rather than speaking plainly.

Wood Elves — The most common kind. They feel a deep connection to nature et build stunning forest and mountainside cities.
Ash Elves — Cursed by a volcanic eruption laced with dark magic. They have grey skin and volatile fire magic, and are feared by many.
River Elves — Laid-back and jovial. Excellent swimmers who prefer life near lakes and rivers.

Dwarves

Dwarves are bold, industrious, and direct. They build grand cavern cities decorated with the treasures of their mines. Status is earned by merit, and every dwarf is expected to know where they stand and to say what they mean.

Stone Dwarves — Mountain-dwellers, more likely to adventure above ground.
Gem Dwarves — Deeper-dwelling and reclusive, with jewel-toned hair.

Halflings

Simple, down-to-earth folk who appreciate good food, naps, and time with friends and family. They live in rolling hills and green fields and love festivals, storytelling, and a peaceful, farm-to-table life. They rarely see conflict beyond whose apple pie is best.

Gnomes

Quick-witted, inventive, and creative, gnomes value education, novelty, and ambition. They’re master craftspeople and musicians with unusually dexterous fingers.

Green Gnomes — Nature-loving wanderers, performers, and musicians who roam in nomadic clans.
Silver Gnomes — City-based inventors and tinkerers, viewed as overly modern by their green cousins.

Sea-Folk

People who live primarily in the ocean:

Merfolk — Elegant, fish-tailed people who need enchantments to walk on land.
Selkies — Human on land, seal in the sea. Highly mobile.
Sirens — Less human in form, with tentacles, shark tails, or other sea-creature features.

Fae

Human-sized people with insect wings, pointed ears, and innate magic — even without a Magica Bond. They maintain their own sovereign courts in the Eastern Fae Isles, each ruled by a monarch. Dazzling yet politically ruthless.

Wood Fae — Nature-attuned forest dwellers, the most common.
Storm Fae — Wild, crackling with storm magic.
Ice Fae — Pale and powerful in cold climates.
Crystal Fae — Altered by magical crystals growing from their skin. Eerie, powerful, and feared.
Dark Fae — Corrupted by dark magic, capable of stealing lifeforce. Feared across all the Isles.

Pixies

Tiny winged people only six to eight inches tall with insect wings and delicate features. They live in treetop villages and delight in mischief — pranking larger folk is a beloved pastime.

Goblinoids

Clan-based and tight-knit, the three goblinoid races prefer to stay with their own kind:

Orcs — Honourable, sun-loving desert warriors who value strength, loyalty, and family above all.
Trolls — Nocturnal, lanky seafarers guided by wise elders and steeped in spiritualism.
Goblins — Small, hyperactive, fast-healing daredevils who thrive on energy, chaos, and cleverness. They can regenerate limbs and eat almost anything.

Wood-kin

Plant-fused people with innate nature magic, born of wild fae magic:

Treants — Gentle, mobile tree-folk who gain nourishment from sun and soil.
Mycelans — Solitary mushroom people who root into decomposing wood for sustenance.
Leaflings — Small, plant-bodied, the most humanoid of their kind and the most likely to live in cities.

Beast-folk

Humanoids with animal features descended from an ancient curse that fused people with traits of their bonded creatures:

Feather-folk — Birdlike, with functioning wings.
Wee-folk — Mouse- and rabbit-like. Small and quick.
Claw-folk — Feline or canine traits. Predatory and strong.
Scale-folk — Reptilian and sleek.
Hoof-folk — Hooved, like deer or bison. Tall and sturdy.
Wet-folk — Amphibious or fishlike.

Jinn

Immortal beings fused with elemental magic during an ancient experiment. Powerful but bound to objects or locations, most view their undying state as a curse. They rarely form Magica Bonds due to their semi-incorporeal nature.

Strix

Ancient winged humanoids with great feathered wings who resemble elves. They live in lofty mountain cities and prize knowledge, scholarship, and independence. They venture into the wider world mainly for research.