the People

in which we meet those beings that populate Lúsis

None who live now can say what shapes the denizens of Lúsis took in the beginning. They ruled over scorched earth and boiling sea. Some say their empires rose and fell a hundred times over, and their bones were crushed into dust and fertilized the soil of Lúsis, and soon not all was desert and tangled fern, but grasslands and and forests and jungles rich with life. What the world looked like for billions of years thereafter, we can only imagine, and in imagining only learn more about ourselves, now, than we can learn about them, then.

In tandem with the motions of the planet Arnendor, the planes of reality themselves moved in their own dances. While the three planes of the Harmony are intimately connected, they are distinct; their eventually chaotic motion often finds them eclipsing, embracing, and colliding with one another. It is said that long ago the Feywild clung to the Prime Material much tighter, and closer, and in this time shadows drew short and splendor was commonplace. With their homes in the Prime Material, dancing between planes, venturing through gateways hidden in the strange and wonderful places of the world, Elves brought between those two worlds many majestic animals and wondrous plants, such that soon Lúsis grew as green as the Feywild itself.

Lúsis was not the Feywild, however. Life was harder, ended faster, and was more dull. Many of the creatures and plants died in the clay soil and sand of the Prime Material, and some of the elves resented the Eladrin, their planar counterparts, who they knew lived lucidly in the Feywild. These elves drew up arms and marched through the hidden passages to make war. How successful they were, few remember, for the planes in their dance have since drifted apart; the doors between planes becoming harder and harder to find. The Eladrin still reside in the Feywild, where they are distinguished in demeanor and appearance by the seasons of their residence.

The Eladrin may change appearance with the seasons but elves, grounded in the Prime Material, do not. Elvish appearances slowly adapt, over many generations, to the climate of their homes. After eons of adaptation, there are many different elvish denominations across the varied climates of Lúsis.

Sun Elves hail from desert, savanna, and chaparral landscapes, but in this age are found across Lúsis. They are the most common elves on the continent.

The term "Wood Elf" refers to the Illadriact, Elves who live in closest tandem with forests. In the lands of Tleth and the Small Kingdoms, communities of these elves tend to be incredibly territorial; in Ardenfoil, they are a gregarious people, who represent a sizable portion of the population and are found most anywhere.

The Snow Elves, or Cerothians, live in the bitter cold of their homeland Cerothe. They have almost snow-white skin and grow taller than normal elves, but have less pronounced ears, often opting to hide their ears altogether with their long hair.

Underelves are nominally grey, muted creatures. Most live peaceful lives as farmers of the Fungal forests and shepherds of the variety of strange creatures the Underdark is home to. Their skin generally resembles the stones of their cavernous homes, some slimy, some sharp, some porous, and some flaking.

Scholars dispute the origins of humans: whether they emerged distinctly from elvenkind, or whether one evolved from the other, or whether humans arose as elves interbred with the other denizens of the world. Humans and elves are nearly indistinguishable to most other creatures; humans can be distinguished by their rounded ears, stouter frame, and shorter lifespans.

Orcs came into being when the elvish champion Grumsh bested Oighear (eye-er), the Primordial of Earth, in a test of strength. Oighear is sometimes represented as a Galeb Duhr with an elephant’s head - they bequeathed Grumsh and his children with their tusks and an affinity with the earth.

Halflings live in small enclaves far from conflict or interspersed within larger communities. Their origins are unknown, but some halflings claim fey ancestry, similar to eladrin and goblins.

Of course, this is nowhere near a complete list of the inhabitants of Lúsis. Goblins, tieflings, aasimar, genasi, kobolds, kenku, firbolgs, tabaxi, tritons, and more populate the continent. To many, their appearance comes as no surprise. To others, they are strange, awesome, or frightening outsiders. In time, they might be appended to this list - for now, they wait.