Racial History

This list of expanded racial history is presented as a series of lectures taught at the various colleges, libraries and universities on Cuivienen. This lore is readily available to any character actively seeking the information.

Summary

In summary, our players should understand the general evolution of the races. Sanctuary is in essence a massive melting pot of races from many dimensions. Only those sub-races that arrived en masse have been recorded in history, but it's logical to assume many more arrived in small clans or groups over the millennia. Early arrivals would naturally interbreed and the non-human races tended to have the more dominant genetics.

Racial evolution would change significantly once the Andals arrived and the religion of the Thorn King rose in power -- approximately 2000 years ago. All non-humans would be effectively demonized. Those that could hide among the humans would. Those that could not, would find they had no choice but to inter-breed. Still, others would leave the human civilizations and go feral attacking humans or near humans on sight.

Eventually, the power of the Thorn King is broken and people would finally emerge reclaiming their ancestry and displaying powers once kept hidden, but no true pure-blood from millennia past really exists anymore.

Articles

• History Vol 1: The Muiri-Aelfeyn Debate

• History Vol 1.1: The Aelfeyn of Andus

• History Vol 2: The Muiri from Then to Now

• History Vol 3: Humans

• History Vol 3.1: The Cursed

• History Vol 4: Hoggur

Timeline

While Sanctuary is a melting pot of many cultures from many distinct dimensions it has become a homogenous world over the many millennia. With each new arrival the world would shift, envelop, and change. In fact, it is only our heroes, fresh from their native worlds that are able to identify any distinct element of Sanctuary’s native races and traditions. Yet common cultural tendencies became strengthened as like sought like. Sanctuary today is both familiar and completely new; a stone soup of influence, invasion, and adaptation. Let us review how this fascinating world slowly simmered and matured.

4000 Years Ago

Earliest Time

Cimmerians a human race, the Daeves an Aelfeyn race, and Fomorians a Hoggur race, are already in Sanctuary

The Children of the Forest (Daoine Sídhe) arrive or are native to Sanctuary. Their bloodline would create both witches and cat-based lycanthropy.

Atlanteans arrived to settle on Thule, Cuiveinen’s eastern island off the coast of Raeyithia.

Over the course of the next few centuries

Half-human/half-animal sub-races such as Fauns/Satyrs, Merfolk, Centaurs, Harpies, Sphinx, Chimera, and Minotaurs would evolve on Thule.

The Nemed, a slavic and eastern germanic human race, would arrive and claim most of the kingdom of Kraestrat.

The Rhoynar, a dark skinned people from the far southern continent below the mainland would move into Andus.

3000 Year Ago

1000 years before the rise of the Thorn King three new races of Aelfeyn Arrive

Into the Northeast, Alfar and Jotunn arrive, bringing wolf and ursine lycanthropy to eastern humans.

Into the Northwest, Noldorians, Dúnedain and Orcs would arrive.

Into Raeyithia, the Tuatha De Danann would arrive with a legion of Goblins and fight with the Fomorians, a Hoggur race. The Fomorians would be driven north and many of Children of the Forest (Daoine Sídhe) would be driven our of their mounds and to all four corners of the mainland, even south, where they would interbreed with the Rhoynar.

The Nemeds would inter-breed with a particular clan of Fomorians and a dark dwarven race called the Duergar would be formed.

A number of generations after the arrival of the Alfar

Interbreeding of Alfar and Jotunn would create a race known as the Trow.

The Atlanteans would arrive on the shores of Andus and enslave the Rhoynar they find there. A half-human/half-hoggur race known as the Euresu would develop.

The Alfar race would divide, those of dark nature, the Drokkalfar would stay in Kraestret feeling more at home with the Nemed and the Ljósálfar heading into Midrvegr.

500 years after the Aelfeyn

A new human race, known as the Rohirrim would arrive along the southern coast of Midrvegr and find a shared culture alongside the Alfar.

The Tuatha De Danann (The Gentry) would force even more of Children of the Forest (Daoine Sídhe) out of Raeyithia and into the deep underground. Underhill would form.

Children of the Forest (Daoine Sídhe) who remain among the Tuatha De Danann evolve into what would become the Muiri

The Tuatha De Danann (The Gentry) would move above ground and establish the city of Tarasinau.

The Tuatha De Danann would be renamed as “The Gentry” and those Children of the Forest (Daoine Sídhe) who stayed above ground would become second-class citizens to the new ruling class.

The Nemed would inter-breed again with the Drokkalfar and the half-Aelfyn race of Svartalmane would create.

200 years before the rise of the Thorn King

The Andals arrive in such a large mass that they push into every corner of the mainland and truely begin to establish the cities as we know them now.

The half-breed races of Jot and Alfarian would come into being in the lands of Midrvegr.

The Vampir race would be created by the magical workings of the Svartalmane.

2000 Years Ago

The Era of the Thorn King lasts 2000 years

The Thorn King comes into power

During the age of the Thorn King, scholars postulated quite strongly that the Aelfeyn and the Muiri were not natural beings but were in fact demons summoned to the mortal plane to wreck unholy destruction upon the good works done in the name of The Thorn King, a mostly human God

The blended half-Hoggur race of the Frem and the half-elven race of Peredhil would come into existence as a product of interracial marriage.

Aelfeyn would retreat, with their magic and gold, deep into the forests of Raeyithia, Kraestret and Midrvegr.

The prejudice of the Thorn King followers would force the Hoggur to adapt and crossbreed, becoming more human-like and human-sized. Family generations might tell tales of their Dwarven, Giant or Troll origins, but those that wanted to survive the racial purges kept their history to themselves.

The Muiri develop; smaller, smarter, and skilled in glamour. They manage to hide among the humans, still as second class citizens, and take human mates (An act of survival or revenge?) The human population would name them demons and changelings, hunting them down never realizing how may lived as their cooks and footmen.

The Aldaayiein would develop, a race that would interbreed over time from the Daeves, the Children of the Forest and the Rhoynar.

Current Age

Recently

Power of the Thorn King is broken.

The origin races emerge from hiding. Some never recover from the destruction to their culture, devolving into what would be called ferals. Some would simply never forgive their cousins for “selling out” and interbreeding with the Thorn King Humans. Others would be forgiving and embrace those who changed as a people forced to survive by any means necessary.