Races

Humans

Most of the population of the world is made up of humans in all shapes and sizes.

Humans were the first to settle the world and the most widespread.

Elves

Elves settled in small enclaves across the land and do not venture out much. Elves are tied closely to Magic, so tend to settle in areas of great natural beauty and other places with higher than average Fairy activity.

Elves tend to be private and withdrawn, but will greet guests gladly, so long as the guest knows not to overstay their welcome.

An adventuresome Elf is considered slightly insane, but Elves can and will leave an enclave for various rare items or to deliver arcane prophecy. Elves also have been known to wander on word of Fairy Storm or to gather information about Magic.

Most towns will see at least one or two Elves a year, usually as independent wanderers, occasionally as part of a small merchant caravan. Larger towns may have Elves resident.

Smaller towns may still greet an Elf as a bizarre rarity.

Dark Elves

The Elves that settled the world mostly came from High Magic planes.

Settling in the Fairy Storm world, some found themselves cut off from their Magic lifeblood.

Those that suffered the worst became Dark Elves. Corrupted by being starved of Magic they mostly were driven to live underground in jewel mines and dimly lighted caverns. In their dank cities, Dark Elves scrape by on what Magic they can find and will often work as a group to create massive structures and art-work to attract what Fairies they can.

Dark Elf raiding parties are frequent but mostly random. Raiding parties will target any source of magic and have been known to kidnap magic users. Any magic item they gather is brought back to the underground city where it will be passed around until utterly drained. Sometimes long dead magic items are still kept with the distant hope the Fairies will re-light it.

Dark Elves tend to be greedy and suspicious of outsiders, but will reluctantly accept those who live in the dark. Sometimes active black markets can be found on the outskirts of Dark Elf cities teeming with the normal assortment of riffraff and underlings. If is thought that these places are tolerated because they also bring a steady flow of magic items for the cities.

Some Dark Elves do venture out. Adventuring Dark Elves can occasionally be found with merchant trains as guards or jewelers. Dark Elf jewelers are often adept at creating the intricate Fairy Cages that can be used to detect Fairy activity. Dark Elf adventurers will be naturally be drawn to magic and will usually be utterly entranced if they spot a Fairy.

A Dark Elf that has chosen to adventure can usually be trusted, but should be watched.

Dwarves

Dwarves are also normally native to High Magic planes, but being drawn to gems and gold, they tend to congregate in places that have a naturally rough beauty so they do not suffer the effects of Magic withdrawal.

Like the Elves, Dwarves tend to be insular as a community, but they do readily adventure out, often as part of a trade caravan.

Dwarf artisans are the source of some of the most prized enchanted gems.

Orcs

People of the valley tend to stick the name "Orc" on any dark or corrupted creature that attacks civilized settlements: from groups of Dark Elves to Dwarves who have left the civilized world.

But like all the other races, Orcs also travelled to the valley and formed colonies.

Orcs mostly stay in small clans. Hunting and pillaging a region before moving on when the land is barren. Brigands and raiders are often drawn to Orc camps as lawless festivals of mayhem. Orcs are very welcoming to outsiders who share the Orc love for violence and chaos and they have been known to even follow a strong outsider who proves his worth to the clan.

Clans can occasionally be brought under one powerful Orc. Orcs are naturally authoritarian and will often blindly follow a leader who will drag mayhem across the countryside.

Individual Orcs are not always just portable chaos party generators and occasionally will adventure outside of their clan. Shunning their normal ways of chaos and mayhem, they may choose to join more civilized groups if for no other reason than to enjoy the fighting all the more after it has been pent up for a while. If an Orc does channel their flair for chaos they can be incredible fighters, master blacksmiths or jewelers or any other usually physical pursuit.

Even more rarely, an Orc may channel all their natural drive for chaos into Magic or art.

Orc art is often starkly beautiful and tends to take the shape of giant carved rocks or intricately worked stone slates. Occasionally runes in ancient languages or unknown maps that came to them in a dream. An Orc artist may obsess over a carving for years tracing tiny lines over every surface or they may find the perfect cut after a single slice. Orc art is usually a very powerful source of attraction to Fairies.

Elves will often bring an Orc artist into their cities and obsessively watch them work and create.

Orc Mages are often the most powerful mage in a region and make very good allies when they can be encouraged to help. They more often will hide by themselves, drawn to small caves or grottoes that teem with Fairies. Orc mages often seem twitchy as they look around for signs of Fairies and alternately distant and distracted as they probe unknown mysteries in their dreams.

Enchantments made my Orc Mages will be powerful but often large and cumbersome.

Fantasy Creatures

Dragons

Dragons in Fairy Storm are not generally intelligent and are normally more like smart, extremely dangerous beasts.

They tend towards the smaller size relative to other fantasy settings. Most are between 2-5 meters due to extreme predation once they get too large to hide easily in wooded or rocky areas.

Dragons are naturally infused with Magic (possibly co-existing between the valley and the magical realm). Dragons manipulate magic like a storm manipulates lightning. It just is what they are. Even large groups of humans are rarely a match for a single small dragon. Luckily, dragons tend to avoid the lesser beings of the valley and most humans and other creatures avoid the main hunting areas of dragons.

The Great Dragons

Over the eons, three great dragons found their way to the valley : Eabuth, Woon, and Yehvren.

Each of the three great dragons lord over lairs filled with dozens of smaller dragons and other beasts who seem naturally drawn to the great dragon and whose every whim they obey like highly trained servants. Occasionally, the great dragons will allow Humans, or other intelligent creatures to join their lair and work as servants and there is rarely a shortage of volunteers who seek to be closer to the powerful creatures.

Dragons can often be seen in the sky like giant hawks, watching all the lands. The great dragons maintain their own private animal herds and hunting areas, so dragon attacks are fairly uncommon, but it is a rare farmer who has not lost a cow to a passing dragon.

On their whim, the great dragons may launch a flight against Human or other settlements. When they strike they are more like forces of nature than normal raids and few cities can survive without major destruction. The purpose of these raids is usually unknown and may serve only to remind the rest of the world that the Dragons are always out there.

Of the three, Eabuth is the most "sociable" of the Dragons. She will allow those who manage to make it to her lair high on the Northern Wall to stay in her extensive cave system and will occasionally entertain guests with lavish banquets. She is an ancient Dragon and enjoys telling stories from the many worlds she has lived in.