Races (updated 2008/10/22)

  Alorns (Northmen)    Alu    Avathars    Baal (Dragon Lords)    Baalist (servants of the Baal, ...    Dwur (Gnomes)    Eldar (Ithilrhi, Ithil'Rhi)    Karrocks    Kith (Kyth, Baersarks, Northmen)    Southmarens    Vozen 

Ambar is an ancient world with many unique cultures, but some have become more dominant than others. Depending on the campaign story nearly any race could make a suitable character, but the following racial combinations are the most consistent with their cultural history. Consider them when creating your party of characters, or when adding a character to an existing group of adventurers. However, this is a game, and characters do not need to limit themselves by their racial stereotypes.

• Southmarens are the mostly widely varied of all humans. While typically of smaller stature and dusky complexion, there are hundreds of different ethnic groups. Southmarens are well traveled and can get along with any culture, although they tend to be a bit mercenary.
• Alorns and Kith are humans who dwell in the north, taller and fairer than Southmarens. They tend to be idealistic and devoutly religious, and get along well with races who share their views, particularly the Eldar, Dwur, and Karrocks. They are bitter foes of any who have wronged them or spread evil, such as the Baal, Avathars, Wyrms, and Goblyns.
• Avathars are a heterogeneous society composed of many individuals and ethnic groups who have gathered in the shadowy region known as Nan-Avathar. While they vary widely in appearance due to their varied bloodlines, they have been thoroughly assimilated into the Avathar culture and serve the Vampire Lords either through religious devotion or fear. Those who fully embrace the faith and gain favor are transformed into demi-vampires known as Kurgans. In Alorn, Baal and Eldar lands they are often slain as spies and servants of evil whenever they are found, although given their varied appearance they can be difficult to spot. Avathars and Kurgans must be willing to renounce their culture to earn the trust of any party members who do not serve the forces of darkness. However, this touch of darkness allows them to get along with some of the darker races such as Goblyns.
• Alu are well respected for their fighting skills, making them a welcome addition to any band of warriors, particularly Guldurine wizards. However, their mysterious, aloof nature makes most comrades wonder if Alu wouldn't prefer to work alone, and some are unnerved by the cold-blooded ease at which the masked warriors kill their foes. Alu always wear concealing garb and veil their faces, causing many to wonder what lies beneath their masks. The intensity of their discipline earns respect from Karrocks and Baal.
• Baal are arrogant and see other races only in terms of their usefulness. They once enslaved all of the realms around the Dragon Sea, and most cultures have bitter memories of those times. They get along best with Southmarens, who allied with the Baal rather than becoming conquered by them, gladly serving the Draconian Empire for chests of dragon gold.

Alorns (Northmen) (updated 2003/06/24)

  Alglonds (Alorns of Alglondor)    Alhanians (Alorns of Alahan)    Belerions    Dorthons (half-eldar of Dorthonien)    Kitanians (Southern Alorns)    Lyonese (Lothians)    Order of the Cruciform Sword    gallery: Alorns 

The bright Alorns draw from the strengths of many cultures and intermingled bloodlines. They are thought to be descended from Belerions and Lothians of the north, commingled with Rochir tribes to the south, but there are traces of Kith and even Ithilrhi blood in their ancestry as well. Their location at the center of the continent make their young kingdoms hubs for trade and culture much like Aquila, but with more restrictions and less corruption than the fabled "City of Thieves". They have a formidable force of knights renowned for their sophisticated techniques of warfare drawn from cultures all over the "Dragon Isles". [ more... ]

Alu (updated 2006/05/15)

  Guldurine'Sen (Alu Warlocks)    Manticora    Syhar (Alu of the Syhar Desert)    Tengu (Mountain Alu)    Traditional Alu Weapons (Yin'ein and ...    Way of the Sohei    gallery: Alu 

The sight of a black-robed Alu is enough to clear a busy street in any city. While quiet and slight of stature, their red-gold eyes show their unshakable warrior spirit. Only the foolish or confident choose to hold their gaze, for their mysterious kind is notorious for their skill in the deadly arts and ritualistic honor that does not allow for any challenge or slight to go unanswered. Once drawn, an Alu blade must taste blood before it may be sheathed. [ more... ]

Avathars (updated 2005/04/09)

  Baal'Gharros (Blood Scorpions)    Drow (Baal Avathars)    Kurgans (Demi-Vampires)    Life in the Shadows    Nisi (Alu Avathars)    Shadow Rose    gallery: Avathars 

Avathars are a beautiful, dark and deadly people. Descendants of the Lothians, the Avathars stand tall and strong, but also move with supernatural grade. Their fine features give voice to the stolen Ithilrhi blood in their lineage.

Since the dawn of their kind, the Avathar have shown a devotion to Necroalchemy and Blood Magic, stealing energy from both the living and the dead. Due to the Avathar penchant for conquest, this was a frequent necessity for their armies. Their alchemists and metalworkers are as talented as the Baal, and the Avathar are renowned for constructing powerful elixirs and cunning devices to aid them in battle. Avathars are universally feared and hated by other races for good cause, but most feared are the Avathar Kurgans who have mastered blood magic and serve as acolytes to the dread Vampire Lords.

While their stolen bloodlines make them strong, they have also cursed the Avathars to continually dwell in the shadows. Avathars hate the sun and must stay cloaked or masked to protect themselves from its searing rays, which seem to seek to purge the land of their kind. They seek lands that are perpetually cloaked with cloud, fog, or other shadows, trapped by tall crags or deep ravines. Dwelling in the shadows without light, Avathars are often born the color of death or darkness. Some are albinos with pallid skin, white hair, and hellish red eyes, while others are ebon-skinned and dark as night, but their features are fine and give strong voice to the Ithilrhi blood in their lineage. Due to these and other traits, Avathars are widely believed to be a form of demi-vampire. [ more... ]

Baal (Dragon Lords) (updated 2003/10/30)

  Baal Arms and Armor    Baal'Seta (Dragon Scarred)    gallery: Baal    names: Baal 

Baal (literally "dragon lord") are a race of ancient Dragon worshipers from the "Draconian Empire" of Urulokidor, and along with Wardum are oft called "Draconians". Baal are extraordinarily beautiful, but have a touch of the Draconic. Their skin is ash-like gray or black, and they sometimes have small horns, bony ridges, and sharp nails that set them apart from softer races.

Haughty, cruel, and greedy as Dragons, Baal are looked upon with fear and loathing by most people. Human life has little value in their immortal eyes, and everyone has heard tales of the age when the Draconian empire stretched from sea to sea, enslaving all those within their reach. Their rituals of dragon worship call for burnt offerings of many kinds, which are horrifying and repugnant to many human faiths. However, the Baal care not that they are misunderstood by mortals, for they are burning with a deeper, holy purpose and the rare strength to carry it out. Long ago the Baal were tasked by the Dragon Gods to serve honorable dragons and destroy the Kaeden-corrupted Wyrms that plague Ambar. The pitiful cries of mortal men trampled during the struggles of immortals and dragons truly fall upon deaf ears. [ more... ]

Baalist (servants of the Baal, Draconians) (updated 2008/11/05)

  gallery: Baalist 

The Baalist are the mortal, worker caste of the Draconian Empire who serve the Baal. They are not immortal Baal, but rather an amalgam of dragon-worshiping human races whose ancestors first chose to serve the Baal over five-thousand years ago. Some Baalist societies worship the Baal, some serve them with great honor, and some as warrior-slaves.

The Baalist who serve a Baal are his Wardum, which means "worker" in the hal'Baal language. [ more... ]

Dwur (Gnomes) (updated 2004/05/02)

  Gargoyles (Dwur Guardians)    Zuhls (Dark Dwur)    gallery: Dwur    names: Dwur 

Dwur are diminutive gnomes who live in lofty mountain peaks and guard the earth's treasures from the Deep Ones beneath. They resemble wizened, grotesque dwarfs, and live for hundreds of years. Sometimes they are confused with Goblyns, but Dwur are usually good-natured, hard-working and reliable whereas Goblyns are malevolent. Dwur do tend to be sad however, because they rule in cold places. Indeed, they build their cities in high, defensible, mountain peaks where light and air can be readily admitted rather than tunneling down into dark, smelly holes like Goblyns do. They spend most of their long lives in mountain tunnels or climbing the mountain summit itself, and average a very muscular three feet tall.

To humans, Dwur are very wise. It is said that they know the exact location of precious metals, and can dissolve into stone to hide from their foes. Humans typically depict them as wearing tight-fitting brown clothes and monastic hoods [ more... ]

Eldar (Ithilrhi, Ithil'Rhi) (updated 2008/08/31)

  Illythiiri (Forest Witches, Witchwood ...    Ithilrhi Names    Renowned Ithilrhi    gallery: Ithilrhi    lost Eldar 

The Eldar (a.k.a. Ithil'Rhi, literally "most high" or "high elves", but also Ithilrhi "silver kings") are the most beautiful of all races, and the most wise, yet they are nearly gone from our world. [ more... ]

Karrocks

  gallery: Karrocks 

Karrocks were created by the Dwur using ancient Runes of power to be the perfect shock troops of the Baal dragon armies. Constructed of stone they needed no armor, being naturally resistant to blades, fire and necromantic magics, and their fists were equally effective crushing walls or men. They were incredible machines of war, instrumental in achieving the many conquests of the Draconian Empire. But the Karrocks far exceeded their makers' expectations--once mere automatons, they have grown to become truly living beings with the capacity to think, feel, and have children just like other creatures.

Karrocks have a chiseled stone appearance like fine statues, reflecting the great skill of the Dwur craftsmen. They are incredibly strong and hardy, making formidable adversaries in battle. Karrocks traditionally follow the Exemplar Way, a monastic path to self-perfection. Thus, their personalities are austere and strangely gentle with a quiet wisdom as patient as the earth itself. [ more... ]

Kith (Kyth, Baersarks, Northmen) (updated 2004/05/09)

  Arngrim Wyrmskrol    Brotherhood of the Shield    Druids    Drunes (Kith of the Wendigo)    Kith Names    Kornunnos (Kith Berserkers)    Ulfhedinn (Kith wolf-souls)    gallery: Kith 

Kith are rarest and grimmest of warriors feared the world over for their inhuman strength, savage tempers, and complete lack of fear. Kith cling fiercely to life in the lands of the midnight sun, which they call Hrivlyggdor. The cold mountains, tundra, forests and rivers of the north are teeming with wildlife for the hunt. The arctic weather alone can kill, but they must also share this land with foes such as the dreadful ice Wyrms. Even the Baal fear the Kith and their savage tempers.

Kith are often depicted as murderous savages naked or clad in animal skins, berserk and howling into battle, immune to weapons, and often appearing more like animals than men. However, that concept reflects not ordinary Kith warriors, but a description of a special group of fighters known as baersark or berserkers. [ more... ]

Southmarens (updated 2003/06/24)

  Aquilans    Droog (Laborers)    Haradjinn (Desert Tribesmen)    Harns (Harnendorians)    Rochir (Horse Nomads of the Rochir ...    Southmaren Names    Tulnites (Canal Rats)    gallery: Southmarens 

Southmarens form a broad category of swarthy humans from the southern lands. They are small of stature and generally have olive colored skin and dark hair. Southmarens are amazingly quick--both of body and mind--and are renowned for many highly evolved forms of swordsmanship. Most Southmarens in positions of wealth are Harns, whose ancestors founded the Southmaren Empire of Harnendor. The Rochir are horse nomads of the vast Rochir Plain and deserts.

Vozen (updated 2003/09/29)

  gallery: Vôzen 

Deep within the primeval coastal jungles of the Dragon's Tail live an unctuous race who call themselves Vôzen. The Vôzen are a race of shape shifting, adaptable, semi-aquatic jungle hunters. They are sacs of oily protoplasms without bones, able to assume any shape. [ more... ]