Elves

The Elven approach to race relations is very segmented, where the more snobbish Elven races look down at everything other than other Elves. Snobbish is an unkind word, but here, I’m sad to say, it isn’t an untruthful one. While other less snobbish groups, particularly Shadow Elves, Wind Elves, Sea Elves and Coast Elves, are very accepting of other races, they still, overall, see all races other than Elves as a rung or two beneath them. I can’t believe the other races have taken that shit as long as they have. Honestly, they probably don’t even know.

The different races of Elves are also constantly infighting with the other races of Elves, though this is more like a sibling rivalry than a civil war. Elves in every society have complete gender equality as they are a society that believes the best should be allowed to excel no matter what. Unless you’re a type of Elf they aren’t fond of. Though with non-Elven races, Elves often look at them as if through a lens of charity and will give to them as one would give hand me downs. Often associated with pitiful looks.   

Originally, the subraces of Elves would often have guest lectures to go speak and teach in all the other societies. Such as Flame Elves giving teachings on battle tactics, the Smith Elves teaching how to forge weapons and other goods, or the Coast Elves teaching forms of agriculture. The Elves were the society that helped all the other races to develop rather quickly before The Big Event. This cultural hegemony between the Elves and the other races of the realms is what laid the groundwork for the Angelves to start their plot against the Tieflings. Sneaky bastards. After The Big Event or, as the Elves call it: ‘The Beginnings’, the Elves stopped publicly helping the other races of the realms, primarily because of a decree from the Angelves. Although, since the Shadow Elves had never stopped helping out the entire realms, they began acting as the facilitators for the other races of Elves to continue helping the other races. Including the Tieflings! The Shadow Elves began to smuggle food, from the Coast Elves, books, from the Sea Elves, and weapons, from the Smith Elves, to the other races of the realms. The Coast Elves have a rather close relationship with the Girallons and are the only race of Elves to visit the Girallon societies regularly. Though most of the Elven society are terrified of facing Girallons in combat, and will retreat if a war between the Elves and Girallons ever breaks out. The Elves have the least respect for all forms humans take, seeing them as one would unruly toddlers. In the past there was an attempted human uprising against the Elves; the Elves sent just one soldier who quickly quashed the uprising with one slap across the face of the leader of humans. Hee Hee Hee.

Humans

The human race is a homogenous one; they pay no mind to race, class, or gender. They pretend to be such saints. However, they are somewhat skeptical of the Kender and somewhat fearful of the Girallons and Tieflings. That doesn’t stop them from maintaining amicable relations though. How sweet, so sweet I want to vomit… almost as much as I do when I eat their food. It really isn’t that bad. Have you tried their thing called quiche? Egh.

Girallon

There is no class among the Girallon and they treat all genders equally. Elders are thought of more highly but they are not believed to be infallible. Girallon want to interact with the other races, but they know that the humans and Kender still fear them. They are willing to restrain their second set of arms or shave down their fangs to appear less intimidating. See, that just isn’t right! People need to adjust. Coming from the man who squashed a Fletz because you didn’t like its tiny little bug teeth. They are scary and grotesque and will take an absolute chunk out of you if you let them.

….moving on.

Amongst the nations of Elves, they have a strong relationship with the Shadow Elves. They have been very helpful with developing a cure for Traveler’s Mania and resolving the Great Mania. Coast Elves also provide some food that the Shadow Elves deliver to supplement their diet.

Some Girallon hold resentment for the Tieflings, but they choose to channel that energy into motivation to study. So they say… They believe in being the bigger race, to show the Tieflings that they can recover from their civilization being destroyed and to show the humans and Kender that they are good.

Kender

As we’ve spoken a bit about, the Kender as a race are not thought very highly of. Their inventions on the other hand are generally revered. This makes Kender tolerable amongst most races. Having said this, Kender are usually not welcome into the territories of the other races. It is preferred that if you need to commission something from the Kender, you go to their places of residence. This can be hard since most Kender move around, not having a home base. 

While the seasonal festivals are open to all, most still look down upon Kender and regard them with wariness. Kender don’t tend to pick up on these thoughts or emotions so they operate as they usually would. Kender have the tendency to find their way into places, whether they are wanted or not, and so there is usually at least a Kender or two at all social gatherings, no matter the race hosting.  

So basically, Kender are not popular and they do not have any strong social ties with any other race, though they tend to be very well informed on the happenings of the races and realms. Nobody wants Kender around. Who’s being mean now?

Gender isn’t really a topic that is thought about in Kender culture and though some do eventually settle down with their own kind, this takes a very long time. There aren’t very many Kender and many believe this is because procreation is extremely rare. Kender aren’t very inclined towards their own people naturally, but they have no concept of a ‘man’s place’ or a ‘woman’s place’. The only reason they haven’t died out yet is because of their extremely long lifespan. Nobody actually knows how long a Kender’s lifespan is because they aren’t paid much attention to, but it is assumed to be at least 300 egos.

Tieflings

Tieflings were brought to life in a realm that was made of dark magic and are inherently beings that have an innate ability to harness that dark magic. They are mischievous and a little chaotic, but they are not necessarily evil. Between the Tieflings and the other races, there has always been some prejudice towards the Tieflings because of their nature. The dark magic… and the occasional unfortunate and unpleasant incidents initiated by Tieflings… has caused hesitations from the other races in relating with them. However, they still had strong enough relations with the other realms due to their economic strengths and agricultural assets. 

This prejudice against the Tieflings and their dark nature made them an easy target for the Elves to use in their ploy for The Big Event. After The Big Event, the Tieflings were no longer to be trusted… Thanks to the stupid Elves. The race relations between them and everyone else were torn apart, aside from their relations with the Shadow Elves. The Shadow Elves have always been great allies to the Tieflings and many even took refuge with the Tieflings in Bordanann. The Shadow Elves helped establish a structure for Tiefling magic after sharing the first Elven spell book with them and they continually helped them develop their magic from there. 

The Tieflings are constantly under fear of an attack and are under preparation for engaging one based on their relations with the other realms and races. There is a plot brewing between the Shadow Elves and Tieflings to expose the truth of The Big Event during the next festival season at the Peace Summit. It is the hope of the Shadow Elves and Tieflings residing in Bordanann to reconcile their relations with the other races by exposing the truth.

Tieflings do not hold any beings up in a religious light but their social relations within their own society are based on strong family relations and input from respected elders within the family and community. Gender and sexuality are typically not a point of contention within Tiefling society. Conception is often magical in nature and does not require specific gender relations. Isn’t that nice? Yes, I guess it is. 

The Tiefling find a lot of strength within their own communities after having been excluded from the greater society. The elders are the most highly regarded Tieflings. Since there is no real concept of material wealth with Tieflings, most of the class relations are associated with the possession of knowledge and/or specific skill sets. Elders often possess the most knowledge and a multitude of specialized skills. The main classes of skills with Tieflings are military, magic, hunting, and agriculture. There are no particular special benefits to belonging to any of these classes.