The humans of Eredane were once a proud and unified people who shared a rich historical legacy born of invasion, expansion, and grand alliance. Now, the conquest of Izrador has left them a broken and divided people, increasingly suspicious and base. In once-great cities, they live as a people subjugated by the minions of the Shadow, and in the wilderness, they live a brutal and wretched existence. Most live in daily fear for their lives and those of their families. More isolated settlements drive off strangers or kill them outright, as long as they think they can get away with it. Towns and cities are lorded over by human puppet rulers who conspire with the terrible orc warlords and the preening legates who back their authority. Every settlement pays tribute to the armies of the Shadow in food, supplies, and slaves, and citizens live in mortal dread of having Izrador’s soldiers garrisoned in their town. But humans were not always the weak and hopeless beings they are today; they once prided themselves on their noble ancestry, drawn from the Great Houses of the Dorns and the aristocracy of the Sarcosan Empire. The descendants of these lineages have mingled to create a diverse, adaptable, and quick-witted people. This new people, the Erenlanders, are above all survivors. While many have bowed to the Shadow and let go of their proud pasts, some have risen up to fight for something even more important: their futures.

The dwarves are an ancient p people and have a culture as rich as any in Eredane. Dwarven society is structured along familial lines, and as with the Dorns, clan loyalty and honor lie at the center of their lives. Historical records indicate that in the First Age, more than six hundred dwarven clanholds were spread throughout the Kaladrun Mountains. Now there are fewer than two hundred, and this number continues to fall as the Shadow advances. The clan is the basic dwarven social and political unit. The smallest clans may contain as few as one hundred individuals and the largest many thousands. Alliances between the clans are fluid, complicated affffairs, most typically formed by intermarriage or common enemies. In bygone days, skirmishes between the various clans were common, but in the past centuries of war, such hot-bloodedness has instead been exercised against the forces of Izrador. For matttters of governance that affffect all dwarves, great clanmoots were once called where representatives of each clan would meet in raucous assemblies to determine collective courses of action. The cantankerous and aggressive nature of these meetings is a reflection of dwarven clan relations at large.   In addition to the clan structure of dwarven society, there is another important social distinction within typical dwarven culture. Most dwarves, about four out of every fifive clans, live underground in warren-like holdfasts carved out of the hard flesh of the mountains. The remaining clans are called the Kurgun, the "surface dwellers." The Kurgun still live in the old dwarven surface cities of the southern Kaladruns that predate the First Age and the digging out of the holdfasts. Though dwarves were once known as the smiths of Eredane, their work has become a rarity in the surface world. They have grown increasingly isolationist since the end of the Second Age, trading only with the gnomes and only for necessities. Since the fall of Erenland, the clanholds have severed almost all contact with the world beyond their mountains, and all their craftft has now been turned to their people’s continuing survival. The dwarves are master weaponsmiths and armorers and rival the elves in the art of enchanting armaments. Any weapon long used by a dwarf soon earns a name, and its history can become a legacy passed down in the history of the clan. Weapons that have proven themselves are oftften subsequently enchanted by the loremasters of the dwarven clans, and more spells are laid upon the weapon as its glory waxes. Every clan has an armory of hereditary weapons that feature prominently in their legends and their war cries. One of the greatest honors a clan can bestow on one of its kin is to deign them worthy of carrying one of these weapons into battttle.

The elves are more l like the elder fey than any of the other fey peoples of Eredane, both physically and culturally. They are a slight people, lithe, quick, and agile. They are all children of nature, and even with their ancient culture and powerful magic, they still live close to the wilds as part of the Great Forest of Erethor. Most are a unifified people, allied not to clan or family groups but instead to a single royal line that rules over all of Erethor. Their devotion to their Queen, Aradil, is akin to worship, and though there is a large and powerful council in the form of the High Court, it seldom opposes Aradil’s will. The elves of Erethor appear as varied as the woodlands they inhabit, with skin and hair ranging from the rich, dark brown of the ino tree to the pale hues of the alpine yew. Their eyes are universally large and dark, brimming with the weight of their long lives. The humans of Eredane say that the elves are universally beautiful, but it is a strange, ethereal beauty that is just as likely to disquiet as it is to attttract. Despite their greater shared history and society, there remain various distinct cultures of elvenkind, each with its own unique ways of life.

The gnomes are a clever a and resourceful people. Though it is well-known that they share ancient kin with the dwarves, even the Kurgun do not like to claim responsibility for the lineage. Gnomes are barely taller than halflings, with only a slightly stouter build. They are bronze skinned but pale eyed, with jet-black hair that they keep short, as they are constantly in and out of the water.   Though the gnomes have been subjugated along with the halflings, they continue to enjoy a sort of freedom. Even the forces of the Shadow need to transport cargo and soldiers, and the river barges of the gnomes suit this purpose well. Izrador’s orcs and legates suffffer the existence of the gnome barges as long as they move only cargoes in Izrador’s name, while the traitor princes and the false sussars give them free reign as long as they receive the fifirst pick of choice goods from afar. Most other former free peoples see the cost of this semi-freedom as the worst kind of enemy collaboration. What few realize is that the gnomes fifight the fallen god in their own way: as consummate spies and smugglers. It is their secret trade that keeps weapons, magic, and information flowing among the former free peoples of Eredane. Eredane’s gnomes wear loose pants and garish vests marked with the trader seal of their family. Raftfters carry sharp daggers hidden in their belts and use small crossbows to spear pike or to protect their crews from hungry river eels. When they get the odd chance to turn their crossbows on the occasional minion of the Shadow, the weapons prove both stealthy and lethal. Gnomish culture and history reflect their adaptable nature. Their nimble outlook on life allowed them to fifirst move from mountain life to that of the coastal hills of the Ebon Sea, and from there to become adroit seafarers and river runners. Though they were forced to flee before the onslaught of the Dornish invasion, their solicitous demeanors and mercenary hearts allowed them to return to their conquerors bearing little ill will and offffering their services as merchants and guides. The gnomes even welcomed the Sarcosans, knowing that they could stand to make a profifit as the newcomers’ liaisons to the fey. Through all these years and new trading partners, the gnomes always knew that their conquerors longed only for land and goods. With the coming of Izrador, this has not been the case. They cannot fool themselves into believing that the fallen god and his minions will be content to let the survivors of the war live their lives in peace. Whatever the eventual goals of the Shadow, the gnomes know that Eredane cannot survive the heavy-plated burden of his orcs and the dark mantle of his legates. But the river fey’s strength was not in war. So, as always, they bowed before their new masters and offffered to serve. Or so it seemed.

Halflings are a t tiny folk whom some believe descended from the elves. They call themselves the Dunni, or “the people” in their own tongue. They share the same range of skin and hair color as the elves, but their ears are less pointed and their brown or green eyes are not as large and penetrating. Where still free-living, the nomadic tribes dwell on the open plains in large hide tents they share with their extended families. The farming families have almost been wiped out by the advance of the Shadow, but a few groups still remain along the southeastern margins of Erethor. They dwell in cozy sod villages and keep themselves alive through their exceptional horticultural skills and the watchful presence of their wogren companions. Whether farmers or nomads, halflings wear durable clothes of boro leather and fifine, intricately woven wool. They keep their hair long and done up in complex braids that indicate their family and community. Sadly, most halflings now live in slavery, captured and forced to work in the occupied cities or military camps of Izrador’s armies. The free-living halflings feed on their livestock and crops, while the enthralled survive offff what scraps they can scrounge, beg, or steal. The halfling weapon of choice is the spear, with which they protect their flocks, hunt wild boar, and skewer the occasional orc.

The odrendor, or "orcs" as most of the peoples of Eredane call them, were shaped by the malign will of Izrador. Though scholars only suspect it, and every dwarf would savagely deny it, the orcs and the dwarves share a common elder fey lineage. In the prehistory of the Kaladrun Mountains, the dwarves who would become the orcs settttled in the north. Though they did not suspect it, they dwelled too close to the home of Izrador, and over the centuries, he corrupted their people to his cause. Orcs are huge beings, sometimes twice the size of their dwarf ancestors and bigger even than the Dorns. They are heavily muscled, with broad builds and powerful limbs. Their thick hides are tough and range from light flint gray to a deep slate. Their hair is tawny and mane-like, growing over their heads, along their spines, and down their chests to their groins. Their large black eyes are hooded and protected by thick, bony brows. Their jaws are large and strong, with tusklike lower canines. In the lands of the far north, most of orc society has been shaped by the will of Izrador for thousands of years. Instead of communities or families, orcs live in violent warbands known as legions, each ruled by the female priest-leaders known as the kurastch udareen, “the mother-wives of Izrador.” Life in the legions is specififically designed to produce the most bloodthirsty killers for Izrador’s armies. As soon as children are old enough to clutch a rock, they are pitttted against one another in violent blood sports. The strongest ascend to lead gangs of their peers, while the weak are killed. The gangs roam the desolate northlands by night, slaying any animal (or lone orc) that crosses their path. Once they’ve seen their tenth winter, young orcs are taken into the ranks of one of their legion’s many “spears,” squads of roughly ten warriors, where through brutal discipline they are beaten into some semblance of soldiers. Their cultivated aggression is barely held in check by the strength of their superiors, and infifighting and even outright wars against other legions can consume much of a legion’s strength. This suits the Shadow perfectly, as it ensures no one leader emerges amongst the legions who might challenge the rule of the legates or even Izrador himself. And, aftfter all, there are always more orcs to refifill the ranks. In conquered Erenland, orcs have taken over human cities, turning large buildings into meeting halls, communal barracks, and storage depots. They feed and resupply from the tribute they demand of the subjugated peoples around them. Orc forces are garrisoned in cites throughout Erenland, and orc armies war with the elves in the west and the dwarves in the east. Large orc patrols range across the heartland, subjugating their human thralls and hunting spies, smugglers, and insurgents. In short, they are seen by most as the enemies of all other people of Eredane. However, this is not always the case. Some orcs rebel against the lives they lead. Perhaps they harbor a powerful grudge against an orc captain or legate, and that grudge leads them to abandon Izrador’s service. Others may reject being one more disposable pawn in the Shadow’s armies and strike out for themselves. Some orcs see past a lifetime of vicious and merciless conditioning and choose to stand against cruelty and injustice. And a few see Izrador’s plans for what they truly are, and choose to stand against the eventual destruction of all life everywhere. In many cases, these orcs have littttle choice but to obey their leaders or suffffer the same fate as all those who resist Izrador’s will. On some occasions, however, these orcs fifind themselves in a position to escape the army and to try to make a new life elsewhere. Such orcs are oftften turned in by citizens bent on revenge for the mistreatment of their people, but not always. Orc warriors, whether servants of the Shadow or hunted by their own kind, take great pride in their fifighting prowess. Amongst the armies of Izrador, it is traditional to add a scarred mark on their arm for each foe they kill in battttle. The arms of warlords are usually covered in such marks from hand to shoulder, and at least half the marks are for killing other orcs. Orcs favor large spears they can both throw and use as thrusting weapons. They also carry heavy iron swords called vardatches, which have blunt but serrated edges. These weapons are slow but brutal and so heavy that the smaller fey peoples can hardly liftft them.  

Orcs Against the Shadow

Izrador considers those orcs who leave his service to be the greatest threat to his conquest of Eredane. He has commanded his legates to hunt down any orc who leaves the legions. Even more telling is the order that such orcs be quickly and quietly eliminated. While the Shadow is happy to rely on public executions to cow the oppressed populace of Eredane, Izrador fears (if fear is possible for a god) revealing that it is possible for orcs to abandon his service and think for themselves. Too much of his control of occupied Eredane relies on keeping the orc legions and oppressed people locked in eternal and mutual hatred. The legates take to hunting rogue orcs with gusto. Witch takers are oftften pulled away from their duties and dispatched to track down deserters in the legions, and the Conclave of Tender Mercies prowls at the edges of the legion warrens, searching for signs of dissent and dispatching their astirax servants to spy upon the kurasatch udareen. Of course, the legions do not appreciate this suspicion, and unwary legates may end up butchered by vardatches and buried in the warren’s deepest crypts. This infifighting reaches the highest levels of the Shadow’s army; the Night King Sunulael insidiously suggests that his hordes of undead could replace the orc legions, while Othaeron violently objects to the idea and insists his armies are the backbone of the Shadow’s rule. So far, these divisions have been mostly hidden from the enemies of the Shadow. However, littttle escapes the eyes of the Witch Queen. Aradil and her Council are aware of the growing trickle of deserters from the orc legions, even if most elves are not. So far they are unsure as to the best way to exploit this vulnerability, since most orc legionaries remain indoctrinated into the worship of the Shadow. If they learned of the existence of groups like the Followers of the True Mother, perhaps they could reach out to form a secret alliance right in the heart of the enemy.   In the meantime, however, the best chance to spread the word of dissent within the orc legions comes from the individual orc deserters. Unfortunately, they are unreliable ambassadors at best. Many orcs who leave the legions do not do so out of any idealistic motive. They simply want to escape the unrelenting harsh violence of life in Izrador’s armies, where the most they can expect is an early death. These orcs are more likely to form bands of bandits or mercenaries living in the wilds and preying on isolated communities just as oftften as they attttack legion supply convoys. For the peoples of Eredane, these orcs are not much betttter than the orc legionaries who enforce Izrador’s rule. But sometimes isolated farmsteads can work out uneasy truces with these deserter bands to mutual aid, providing food and shelter in exchange for protection against the Fell and marauding slavers. Of course, those orcs who best demonstrate that their people are not simply unthinking killers are those who join the various resistance groups scattered across Eredane. These orcs can become vital allies in the fifight against the Shadow. Most tend to be strong and fifierce warriors, of course. However, their knowledge of the legions’ operations is even more useful, and their ability to infifiltrate the legions can be invaluable for a clever band or resistance fifighters. The smartest resistance leaders know that the sight of an orc killing guards and freeing enslaved captives can start a fifirestorm of rumors and stories across Eredane that no amount of effffort from the legates could stamp out.