Post by gamedave on Aug 29, 2014 13:08:14 GMT -5
PEOPLES OF THE SWORD COAST
Humans
Most of the civilized inhabitants of the Sword Coast are humans. As the region has attracted adventurers, treasure hunters, pirates and brigands, and other riff-raff from all over the Savage Kingdoms over the centuries, humans of every variety can be found throughout the region, although they tend towards middling height, brown hair and eyes, and fair to tawny skin.
To the north and east are tribes of human barbarians known as the Hyboreans (sometimes also known as Hyperboreans). Hyboreans tend towards dark hair and eyes, dusky skin, and stout builds. They live in the volcanic Icefire Mountains, and in the tundra and glaciers beyond. Hyboreans are renowned for their toughness, stoicism, and ability to survive in the harshest conditions.
Somewhere to the north and west is a gulf known as the Kraken's Reach, and beyond that the peninsula of Valjara and a chain of islands stretching south and west. This is the land of the Sea Reavers (known as Varangians in their own tongue). These semi-barbaric humans scratch out a modest living farming the volcanic soil at the base of the Icefire Mountains - but their great love is the Ocean Sea. Their great longboats, known as Dragonships, frequently visit coastal settlements along the Sword Coast, and further south, into the Grand Duchy of Arnd and the Kingdom of Colwynn. Sometimes they come to trade - but often it is to raid. Varangians tend to be tall and fair of skin and eyes. Their emotions often swing wildly, from rough humor to burning rage to deep sorrow.
Dwarves
Dwarves can be found throughout the mountainous territory of the Sword Coast. There are a handful of major dwarfholds in the Ironback Mountains and the Icefire Mountains, where most mountain dwarves reside. Hill dwarf settlements are more widely scattered in the hilly lowlands between. Both hill and mountain dwarves can be found throughout the Sword Coast, as prospectors, miners, traders, and smiths.
Elves
The forested lowlands of the Sword Coast are home to several elven courts. Both high elves and wood elves can be encountered outside of their courts, all across the Sword Coast, as hunters, artisans, guides, and scholars.
Drow Elves
Drow are vary rare on the Sword Coast. They are usually viewed with a great deal of fear and suspicion, as likely spies for a raid from the Underdark.
Halflings
There are no purely halfling settlements in the Sword Coast, but halflings live in virtually every human, dwarf, and elf community, sheltering from the dangers of the Sword Coast among their "Big Folk" neighbors. Halfling tinkers and traders also roam up and down the Sword Coast, sometimes attaching themselves to "Big Folk" caravans, sometimes forming their own small caravans, hoping to slip by the brigands and monsters unmolested.
Dragonborn
Dragonborn are a rarity on the Sword Coast. Most of those that do reside in the area are emmigrants from the fabled Dragon Imperium to the east. Some are exiles, some are wandering adventurers, and some have their own mysterious reasons for straying so far from home. The residents of the Sword Coast tend to view dragonborn as exotic and mysterious, but some fear them as spies for the Dragon Imperium.
Gnomes
Both rock and forest gnomes reside on the Sword Coast, but they are few and far between. Like halflings, gnomes often shelter within "Big Folk" settlements, but folklore has it that small gnomish settlements can be found hidden in remote forest glens and hill-country hollows. Adults of the Sword Coast tend to treat gnomes as they do halflings - as vaguely amusing quasi-children. Children, however, tend to flock to them, hoping for a bit of magic or a clever toy.
Half-Elves
The Sword Coast has large populations of both humans and elves, and therefore, not a few half-elves. However, even though and elf and a human can produce a child, such an event is rarer than a normal pregnancy for either race, so half-elves are still a rarity. In the rough and tumble Sword Coast, half-elves rarely encounter any actual prejudice, but elves tend to treat them like humans, and humans tend to treat them like elves. Other races may be mildly curious, or simply treat them as they do whichever parent the half-elf most strongly takes after.
Half-Orcs
Half-orcs are perhaps more numerous on the Sword Coast than they are in most of the Savage Kingdoms, but they are still not common. In the rough pell-mell of the Sword Coast, humans and orcs have many opportunities to cross paths, and births occasionally result from such encounters. The folk of the Sword Coast tend to be wary of half-orcs, but they are common enough that they are rarely mistaken for orcs or subject to outright hostility. Still, enough half-orcs live among orcs that many harbor a lingering suspicion that a half-orc stranger might be a spy scouting their settlement in advance of an orc raid.
Tieflings
Tieflings are quite rare on the Sword Coast. They are just numerous enough that most folks have at least heard of them, and will recognize them for what they are - but they are rare enough that many non-tieflings will have never met one before. As a result, tieflings are very likely to encounter superstitious fear and suspicion rather than outright violence - but a lynch mob is a real danger in some smaller or more remote communities. And even in the most broad-minded communities, a tiefling who happens to be present during a calamity is at risk of being blamed and used as a scape-goat.
Humans
Most of the civilized inhabitants of the Sword Coast are humans. As the region has attracted adventurers, treasure hunters, pirates and brigands, and other riff-raff from all over the Savage Kingdoms over the centuries, humans of every variety can be found throughout the region, although they tend towards middling height, brown hair and eyes, and fair to tawny skin.
To the north and east are tribes of human barbarians known as the Hyboreans (sometimes also known as Hyperboreans). Hyboreans tend towards dark hair and eyes, dusky skin, and stout builds. They live in the volcanic Icefire Mountains, and in the tundra and glaciers beyond. Hyboreans are renowned for their toughness, stoicism, and ability to survive in the harshest conditions.
Somewhere to the north and west is a gulf known as the Kraken's Reach, and beyond that the peninsula of Valjara and a chain of islands stretching south and west. This is the land of the Sea Reavers (known as Varangians in their own tongue). These semi-barbaric humans scratch out a modest living farming the volcanic soil at the base of the Icefire Mountains - but their great love is the Ocean Sea. Their great longboats, known as Dragonships, frequently visit coastal settlements along the Sword Coast, and further south, into the Grand Duchy of Arnd and the Kingdom of Colwynn. Sometimes they come to trade - but often it is to raid. Varangians tend to be tall and fair of skin and eyes. Their emotions often swing wildly, from rough humor to burning rage to deep sorrow.
Dwarves
Dwarves can be found throughout the mountainous territory of the Sword Coast. There are a handful of major dwarfholds in the Ironback Mountains and the Icefire Mountains, where most mountain dwarves reside. Hill dwarf settlements are more widely scattered in the hilly lowlands between. Both hill and mountain dwarves can be found throughout the Sword Coast, as prospectors, miners, traders, and smiths.
Elves
The forested lowlands of the Sword Coast are home to several elven courts. Both high elves and wood elves can be encountered outside of their courts, all across the Sword Coast, as hunters, artisans, guides, and scholars.
Drow Elves
Drow are vary rare on the Sword Coast. They are usually viewed with a great deal of fear and suspicion, as likely spies for a raid from the Underdark.
Halflings
There are no purely halfling settlements in the Sword Coast, but halflings live in virtually every human, dwarf, and elf community, sheltering from the dangers of the Sword Coast among their "Big Folk" neighbors. Halfling tinkers and traders also roam up and down the Sword Coast, sometimes attaching themselves to "Big Folk" caravans, sometimes forming their own small caravans, hoping to slip by the brigands and monsters unmolested.
Dragonborn
Dragonborn are a rarity on the Sword Coast. Most of those that do reside in the area are emmigrants from the fabled Dragon Imperium to the east. Some are exiles, some are wandering adventurers, and some have their own mysterious reasons for straying so far from home. The residents of the Sword Coast tend to view dragonborn as exotic and mysterious, but some fear them as spies for the Dragon Imperium.
Gnomes
Both rock and forest gnomes reside on the Sword Coast, but they are few and far between. Like halflings, gnomes often shelter within "Big Folk" settlements, but folklore has it that small gnomish settlements can be found hidden in remote forest glens and hill-country hollows. Adults of the Sword Coast tend to treat gnomes as they do halflings - as vaguely amusing quasi-children. Children, however, tend to flock to them, hoping for a bit of magic or a clever toy.
Half-Elves
The Sword Coast has large populations of both humans and elves, and therefore, not a few half-elves. However, even though and elf and a human can produce a child, such an event is rarer than a normal pregnancy for either race, so half-elves are still a rarity. In the rough and tumble Sword Coast, half-elves rarely encounter any actual prejudice, but elves tend to treat them like humans, and humans tend to treat them like elves. Other races may be mildly curious, or simply treat them as they do whichever parent the half-elf most strongly takes after.
Half-Orcs
Half-orcs are perhaps more numerous on the Sword Coast than they are in most of the Savage Kingdoms, but they are still not common. In the rough pell-mell of the Sword Coast, humans and orcs have many opportunities to cross paths, and births occasionally result from such encounters. The folk of the Sword Coast tend to be wary of half-orcs, but they are common enough that they are rarely mistaken for orcs or subject to outright hostility. Still, enough half-orcs live among orcs that many harbor a lingering suspicion that a half-orc stranger might be a spy scouting their settlement in advance of an orc raid.
Tieflings
Tieflings are quite rare on the Sword Coast. They are just numerous enough that most folks have at least heard of them, and will recognize them for what they are - but they are rare enough that many non-tieflings will have never met one before. As a result, tieflings are very likely to encounter superstitious fear and suspicion rather than outright violence - but a lynch mob is a real danger in some smaller or more remote communities. And even in the most broad-minded communities, a tiefling who happens to be present during a calamity is at risk of being blamed and used as a scape-goat.