Please do not post in this thread.

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

Your friendly neighborhood Loremaster, DM Kyree here to offer information on all of the racial options we have on Dalelands Beyond, so that you can make informed choices on what you would like to play. This thread will include information on a race, a brief view of each group, and the general outlook of that race. It will also have the physical descriptions of each race, so that we don't end up with a purple skinned dwarf, or a flourescent green haired gnome.

If you have any questions concerning a race, please feel free to PM me, and I will offer as much insight as I can to you.

And on that note ... away we go!

[OOC Note] : All information will be taken from the Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Accessory Forgotten Realms : Races of Faerun. While there are other subraces that exist, only the ones supported by Dalelands Beyond will be covered in this thread.

Please do not post in this thread.

Race : Gold Dwarf
Regions : Dragon Coast, Dwarf (gold), Unther, Western Heartlands. Gold dwarves native to the Great Rift should select the gold dwarf region.

Found largely in the South in the immediate vicinity of the Great Rift, gold dwarves are the dominant southern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned not only for their smithwork and craftsmanship but also for their military prowess and legendary wealth, gold dwarves have maintained their empire for millenia, unbowed by the passage of time.

For generations, the Deep Kingdom of the gold dwarves has stood unconquered, dominating the surface lands un subterranean caverns that surround the Great Rift. As their numbers never declined in the face of endless warfare like their northern cousins, the Thunder Blessing has actually filled the great caverns of the Deep Kingdom beyond their capacity. As a result, for the first time in many years, large numbers of gold dwarves are setting out to establish new strongholds across the South and the rest of Faerûn, including the Smoking Mountains of Unther and the Giant's Run Mountains of the Shining Path.

Like their northern kin, gold dwarves harbor a great deal of pride, both in their own accomplishments and those of their ancestors. They also share a philosophy that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and that the natural world is but raw material to be worked into objects of great beauty. Unlike the long-beleagured shield dwarves, gold dwarves have not faced a serious challenge to their way of life for thousands of years. Confident and secure in their isolated realm, gold dwarves do not share the pessimism of fatalism of their shield dwarven brethren. To the contrary, having seen the rise and fall of countless elven, human, and shield dwarven empires, their endurance has fostered a deep-seated belief that their traditions and culture are superior to those of all other races.

Physical description
Averaging 4 feet tall and weighing as much as an adult human, gold dwarves are stocky and muscular. The skin of a gold dwarf is light brown or deeply tanned, and her eyes are usually brown or hazel. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and some females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from black to gray to brown, with all shades fading to light gray as time progresses. Gold dwarves have the life expectancy, age categories, height and weight defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook.

Outlook
Gold dwarves measure others by how much honor and wealth each individual garners as well as the status of his or her bloodline and clan. To gold dwarves, life is best lived through adherence to the ancient traditions of the Deep Realm. The very persistance of their own way of life indicates that other short-lived cultures are inherently flawed. As such, those who lack a meaningful cultural tradition or reject their elders' dictates are untrustworthy and possibly dangerous.

From birth, gold dwarves are taught to conform to the traditional strictures of their society. Every important decision, from choice of profession to their mate, is dictated by the circimstances of their birth. Those who do not act honorably in their dealings are shunned from an early age, breeding a tremendous societal pressure to fit in.

Gold dwarves lack the longstanding tradition of adventuring found in their shield dwarf cousins in the north. However, population pressures including the Thunder Blessing have given birth to a new generation of gold dwarf adventurers. Most gold dwarves who wander beyond the familiar confines of the Deep Realm do so in order to found new strongholds of their own, but many find the lure of adventuring hard to ignore once it has entered their blood.

Relations with Other Races
Confident and secure in their remote home, gold dwarves have a well-deserved reputation for haughtiness and pride. They look down on all other dwarves, even shield dwarves and gray dwarves whose achievements and kingdoms have matched the glory of their own. Gold dwarves regard elves and half-elves with suspicion after generations spent battling their deep-dwelling cousins. Gnomes, particularly deep gnomes, are well regarded and welcomed as trading partners. Their impression of halflings is shaped by the strongheart inhabitants of Lurien, whom gold dwarves find to be suitably industrious and forthright.

Gold dwarves know little of half-orcs, but usually lump them in with the rest of orc and goblinoin scum. Gold dwarves are very cautious in their dealings with humans, having found great variability in their dealings with Chondathans, the folk of Dambrath, Durpari, Mulan, Shaarans, and halruaans. Planetouched are almost unknown but are usually viewed in the same light as the Mulan, since most planetouched the gold dwarves encounter are either Mulan aasimar or earth genasi followers of Geb.

Race : Gray Dwarf
Regions : Dwarf (gray), The North, Turmish, Vaasa, Vilhon Reach. Most duergar characters have little contact with other cultures and choose the gray dwarf region.

Dwelling in great subterranean cities in the Underdark, the gray dwarves are deep-dwelling cousins of shield dwarves, known for their cruelty and bitterness. Like their surface-dwelling kin, gray dwarves are famed for their smithwork and craftsmanship, but unlike their brethren in the Realms Above, the duergar are grim and cheerless, living lives of endless toil. Like their gold and shield dwarf kin, the duergar have forged great empires, founding such realms as the Deepkingdom of Gracklstugh and the Steel Kingdom of Dunspeirrin in the endless darkness of the Realms Below.

Gray dwarves are consumed with bitterness, feeling their race has forever been denied what was rightfully theirs. The duergar expect and live lives of never-ending drudgery. While their work rivals that of shield and gold dwarves, they are relentless perfectionists who take no pleasure in their craftsmanship. Only cruel jokes and petty torments bring a moment's smile to most gray dwarves, and they delight in tormenting the weak and the helpless.

Physical description:
Averaging 4 feet tall, gray dwarves weigh as much as an adult human. While other dwarves tend to be round-bodied and stoutly muscled, duergar are wide of shoulder but wiry and lean, their limbs corded with tough muscles. The skin of a gray dwarf is light or dark gray, and his eyes are dull black. Both genders are usually bald, with males having long gray beards and mustaches. Gray dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those.

Gray dwarf, male 3'9" +2d4 110lb. x (2d4) lb.
Gray dwarf, female 3'7" +2d4 80lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
Gray dwarves view the world with bitterness, convinced family, clan, other dwarves, and the rest of the world have cheated them of their birthright and their due. They see life as nothing more than endless backbreaking labor, a torment from birth through death. The duergar evince little mercy for the helpless or the weak and enjoy tormenting those they can prey upon. From a young age, gray dwarves are quickly schooled in the harshness of the world, taught that their lot in life is nothing more than never-ending labor accompanied by betrayal and then death.

Gray dwarves rarely adventure out of choice. Those who are exiled or flee imminent banishment often gravitate to the life of an adventure simply in hopes of surviving. Adventuresom duergar are usually focused on the acquisition of material wealth, caring little for the plight of others.

Relations with Other Races
Dour and suspicious of outsiders, grat dwarves have uniformly bad relations with all other races, including other dwarven subraces. The duergar regard their shield dwarf cousins with particular bitterness, dating back to the shield dwarves' failure to succor Clan Duergar during the Mindstalker Wars. The Kin Clashes forever cemented the mutual animosity between the two dwarven subraces, a hatred that continues today. Gray dwarves regard their gold dwarf cousins as arrogant rivals and potential threats, but trade is possible between the two groups.

Gray dwarves view the surface-dwelling races - elves and half-elves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs and planetouched - with suspicion but willingly trade with those who are foolhardy enough to venture into the depths. The duergar harbor a longstanding hatred of their subterranean rivals, the drow and the svirfneblin. Nevertheless, they regularly trade with both groups, pitting them against one another whenever possible.

Race : Shield Dwarf
Origins : Damara, Dwarf (shield), Impiltur, The North, Silverymoon, Vaasa, the Vast, and Western Heartlands.

Found largely in the northern reaches of western and central Faerûn, shield dwarves are the dominant northern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned for their smithwork and craftsmanship, shield dwarves have endured a centuries-long decline in the face of never-ending wars with orcs, goblins, giants, and trolls.

Shield dwarves are descended from the founders of Shanatar, a legendary dwarven empire that once ruled the caverns beneath modern day Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan. After Shanatar fell, the shield dwarves migrated north, founding kindgoms such as Ammarindar, Delzoun, Gharraghaur, Haunghdannar, Oghrann, and Sarbreen. Although those kingdoms have largely fallen, the Stout Folk of the North endure. The Thunder Blessing has served as a welcome reprieve for the beleagured shield dwarves, giving hope that the descendants of ancient Shanatar may one day reclaim the glory of their forebears.

Shield dwarves keep to their word, whatever the cost, and are incredibly stubborn, unwilling to concede an inch unless there is absolutely no alternative. Such intransigence has enabled dwindling shield dwarf populations to hang on to ancient strongholds with just a fraction of their original defenders. However, it has also led to clan fueds and long-standing misunderstandings with other races that have sapped the strength of the Stout Folk. Shield dwarves love worked beauty, seeing the world as raw material to be forged and shaped into something more than the original.

Physical appearance
Taller by half a foot than their gold dwarf cousins, shield dwarves average 4 1/2 feet tall and weigh as much as an adult human. The skin of a shield dwarf is fair or lightly tanned, and her eyes are usually green or silvered blue. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and a very few females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from light brown to red, with all shades fading to silver or white as time progresses. Shield dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described.

Shield dwarf, male 4'2" +2d4 145 lb. x (2d6) lb.
Shield dwarf, female 4'0" +2d4 110 lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
Despite thier centuries-long decline and deserved reputation for dourness and cynicism, shield dwarves have never succumbed to fatalism. Shield dwarves have traditionally been divided into two camps - the Hidden and the Wanderers - although such divisions have begun to fade since the Thunder Blessing. While members of the former group have literally hidden themselves away from the outside world, content to pursue their traditional way of life, members of the latter group have gone out into the world, unbowed by their race's relentless decline.

Shield dwarves are traditionally slow to trust and slow to forget slights, but a dawning realization of their race's plight has left many willing to seek out new ways of doing things unconstrained by traditional prejudices or practices. Shield dwarves have a long and proud tradition of adventuring, and many shield dwarves follow this route simply in hopes of equaling or exceeding the deeds of thise who have come before. Others seek to recover long-lost strongholds and treasures that have fallen to orcs or other beasts. Since the Thunder Blessing, the question for many young shield dwarves is not why they should become adventurers, but why they should not.

Relations with Other Races
Shield dwarves get along well with most other dwarven subraces, although they regard gold dwarven arrogance as naive and have little understanding for their barbaric wild and arctic dwarven kin. Shield dwarves have a longstanding enmity wfor the descendants of Clan Duergar, dating back to the Kin Clashes that marked Shanatar's final chapter, and they attack duergar on sight.

Despite centuries of squabbling with elves and half-elves, shield dwarves have always managed to put aside their differences with the Tel'quessir in the face of outside threats. Shield dwarves have always gotten along well with gnomes, particularly rock gnomes and deep gnomes. Colored by their experience with lightfoots, shield dwarves find halflings to be somewhat unreliable but easy to get along with. Shield dwarves get along with most humans, particularly Illuskans, Tethyrians, Chondathans, and Damarans.

Shield dwarves see half-orcs as letter better than their hated brethren, although exceptions do exist. The Stout Folk of the North associate most planetouched with the horrors of Hellgate Keep and view them with suspicion. Earth genasi are a notable exception and are commonly welcomed in dwarven delves across the North.

Race : Drow Elf (Dark Elf) Ssri'Tel'Quessir, Dhaerow
Regions : Elf (drow), Cormanthor

Of the various elven subraces, none are more notorious than the drow. Descended by the original dark-skinned elven subrace called the Ssri'tel'quessir, the drow were cursed into their present appearance by the good elven deities for following the goddess Lloth down the path to evil and corruption.

Though divided by endless fueds and schisms, the drow are united in one terrible desire : they seethe with a hatred for the surface elves. By their way of recokoning, they proved themselves the superior race in the Fourth Crown War, and the fact that the Seldarine (and Corellon in particular) punished them for their success is a poison that churns in their hearts and minds eternally. They burn with hatred for the Seldarine and their coddled children, and want nothing more than to return to the surface and bring the elves there suffering a thousand times greater than that which the drow have been forced to endure for over the past ten thousand years.

Physical appearance
Also called dark elves, the drow have black skin that resembles polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have blood-red eyes, although pale eyes (so pale as to be often mistaken for white) in shades of pale lilac, silver, pink, and blue are not unknown. They also tend to be smaller and thinner than most Faerûnian elves. Most drow on the surface are evil and worship Vhaeraun, but some outcasts and renegades have a more neutral attitude, and there are even groups of good drow who worshi Eilistraee or other deities not of the traditional drow pantheon.

Drow have the life expectancy, age categories, and height and weight characteristics defined for elves.

Outlook
Drow are, on the whole, sadistic, destructive, and treacherous. They view themselves as the rightful heirs to Faerûn and still remember the perceived injustice of their exile into the Underdark. They hate other races and either wish to make war upon them or view those others with contempt and tolerate them only as necessary for trade or temporary military alliances. Even among their own kind, drow are cruel and suspicious. There is little room for love and friendship in drow society. They may value alliances with other family members or acquaintances, but no drow truly trusts another. Drow forge alliances only when they are more powerful than an 'ally', possess blackmail-worthy knowledge, or have a common enemy that overrides their mutual hatred. Even then, they keep their eyes and ears primed for the slightest hint of treachery. The mottoe for the drow may well be 'Do unto others first so that cannot do unto you.'

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. A fair number of drow have come to value their position in the Underdark and now think of themselves as true natives of their dark realm. They have little desire to return to the surface and would rather rule in the depths than strugle to regain a realm they no longer hold any interest in ruling. Even more rare are those few drow who have atoned for their evil ways and think of their fellows as monsters that need to be stopped. These drow are either surface dwellers who are struggling to become accepted into new societies, or fugitives dwelling in out-of-the-way caverns deep underground. With the new expansion into the surface, more drow than ever before are being exposed to the truth of the surface, and many are realizing that life on the surface is much nicer than they were led to believe by agents of Lolth and her kin. It is possible, with proper acceptance and encouragement, that the numders of neutral or even good drow on the surface of Faerûn could skyrocket in the coming years. The priesthood of Eilistraee is in the forefront of this movement, desperately trying to divert the drow war on the surface into a mass conversion from the dark elves' dreadful ways.

Relations with Other Races
The drow do not interact well with the various other sentient races of Faerûn. At best, the drow think of other races as merely laughable or contemptible. They hold low opinions even of their erstwhile allies, such as the kuo-toa. Against most other races, the only way the drow know to react is with hatred and outright war. They have built up powerful city-states on the north that the path to power lies in the subjugation of lesser races and the eradication of those who pose a threat to their new homes.

Prisoners captured in drow raids and battles are usually brought back to the cities to serve out the remainder of their lives as slaves. Orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and other savage humanoids are common slaves. Most drow housebholds have two to three such slaves for every drow in the house. The breeding and selling of slaves is a thriving business in drow cities, because these hapless thralls perform all menial and unskilled labor for a drow city.

The true focus of drow hatred, though, is reserved for the surface elves. They act quickly and cruelly to sieve any chance to bring pain, suffering, and death to other elves they encounter. Even the few evil surface elves are seen as enemies. Drow sometimes enter into truces with other races or individuals if doing so helps them to realize their sinister goals, but these truces are by their nature temporary affairs. It's only a matter of time until the drow turn on their allies.

Race : Moon Elf (Silver Elf) Teu'Tel'Quessir
Regions : The Dalelands, Elf (moon), Evermeet, the High Forest, the North, Silverymoon, the Western Heartlands.

Although the moon elves were not the first elves to migrate to Faerûn, they comprised the largest migration. Even in the ancient past their joy of travel seems to have been present, for they came to Faerûn in great numbers indeed. The moon elves wanted to explore this new world rather than settle down, and so did not establish nations of their own for some time, preferring to settle in other elven nations, such as Othreier and Keltormir.

Moon elves prefer to dress in rustic clothes of simple cuts and fashions that are nevertheless of fine and exquisite make. They adorn their dress with embroidered patterns, beads, and similar trappings, preferring earthen colors for everyday wear, hues that make it easy to conceal themselves in foliage. In places of safety or in times of revelry, moon elves enjoy dressing in bold colors - the more brightly colored, the better. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twined with wires or beads. Moon elves sometimes wear body paint or tattoos in mystic patters, although not to the extent the wild elves do.

Physical appearance
The most common of the elven subraces on Faerûn are the moon elves. The teu'tel'quessir. They have fair skin, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair of silver-white, black, or blue; humanlike colors are somewhat rare. Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks. As far as the elves of Faerûn go, moon elves are most like the elves presented in the Player's Handbook. Moon elves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for elves, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described.

Moon elf, male 4'10" +2d10 90 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Moon elf, female 4'5" +2d10 70 lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
Moon elves are more impulsive than the other elves, and dislike remaining on one place for any significant amount of time. Most moon elves are happiest when traveling, especially across the expanses of untrodden wilderness that still survive in Faerûn. This is probably the single greatest reason why they are so much more friendly and accommodating to other races than many other elves. They do not isolate themselves from the human lands behind impervious defenses. Moon elves have watched humankind for much longer than their sun or wood elf kin, and they know that nonelves aren't as foolish and unimportant as most other elves think. They feel that engaging promising human realms such as Silverymoon and instilling elven values and culture in these young lands is a better way for the elven race to survive and thrive than hiding away and avoiding all contact with ambitious, grasping humans.

Moon elves are drawn to adventure through sheer wanderlust. They desire to see and do everything possible during their long lives. Like their allies, the Harpers, moon elves believe that a single person of good heart who stands up to injustice or evil can make a big difference. The typical moon elf adventurer tends to be a wandering protector of the common folk, not a dungeon-plundering slayer of monsters.

Relations with other races
Of the elven subraces, moon elves are the most tolerant of nonelves. They travel extensively, and a moon elf can expect to interact with hundreds of different races throughout her life. Moon elves find the diversity of Faerûn's races to be intoxicating and forever surprising, and they especially value the insights of other races because they often think of things no elf would ever consider. This openness and willingness to accept new ideas is regarded as foolish and dangerous by other elves, so ironically their own kin often give moon elves the coolest receptions.

Despite their open minds, moon elves have little patience or interest in the various evil beings, and they hold orcs and gnolls in particular contempt. They avoid regions where such cultures hold sway, although moon elf adventurers often infiltrate these areas to spy on them. The moon elves share with the other elven subraces a hatred and loathing for the drow. They name them dhaerow. Traitor.

Race : Sun Elf (Gold Elf) Ar'Tel'Quessir
Regions : Elf (sun), Evermeet, The North, Silverymoon, Western Heartlands

The majority of Faerûn's sun elves live on Evermeet, having abandoned what remained of their ancient realms during the centuries following the falls of Illefarn and Cormanthyr. They are only now returning to the mainland to reestablish their presence there. The sun elves are famed for their command of both arcane and divine magic, which exceeds that of any other living race. Works of elven high magic thousands of years old still survive in the hidden refuges of the sun elves.

Sun elves are responsible for the majority of the great elven cities of legend, although other elven subraces aided in the construction of these cities. Myth Drannor is perhaps their most famous creation, although probably not their most magnificent. Sun elf realms are the stuff legends are made of, an integral part of the history of Faerûn for thousands of years. The sun elves certainly know this, for they distance themselves from nonelf races and often won't let such 'lesser beings' into their lands.

Sun elves dress in clothing that is at the same time magnificent and understated, favoring cool colors such as blue and green. They decorate their clothes with intricate gold or mithril thread embroidery in exacting patterns whose subtle designs are easy to miss at first. Jewelry is simple but painstakingly crafted.

Of all the elven subraces, sun elves are the most arrogant and haughty - even more so than the avariels, whose haughtiness is rooted in pity for the landbound races. Sun elves believe that they are they true elven race, the builders and the leaders of the elven realms, and they the other elven subraces fail to live up to the solemnity and dignity of their ancient stock.

Physical appearance
Sun elves have bronze skin, hair of golden blond, copper, or black, and eyes of green or gold. They favor contemplation, lore, and study over the quick games and light-hearted songs of other elves, but seem to embody the unearthly beauty, grace, and presence of the elves.

Sun elves are unusually long-lived, even for elves, and use the following aging effect chracteristics.

Elf, sun 210 315 420 +6d%years

Like most other Faerûnian elves, sun elves are comparitively tall and thin, and they use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described.

Sun elf, male 4'10" +2d10 90 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Sun elf, female 4'5" +2d10 70 lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
The sun elves believe that they were selected by Corellon Larethian to be the defenders of elven tradition and history. They are also the most patient of the elven races, and they devote their time to perfecting a task rather than just merely completing the task. To a sun elf, rushing a job or finishing a project in anything less than perfection is betraying the elven ideal. As a result, they tend to have a much narrower range of skills than other elves, but they are the unrivaled masters of the skill, art, or crafted to which they turn their efforts. The only exception to this rule is combat. Sun elves have no love for combat, but they are nevertheless well trained in its ways. They view combat as a necessary evil, and one that should be resolved quickly so the task can be done and one can return to more pleasant and constructive pursuits.

Sun elves are the least likely of the elven subraces to take up the adventurer's path. They see little point in roaming around the world and meeting other peoples, especially when any sun elf can enjoy as much comfort, study, and contemplation as she likes by remaining in one of the hidden sun elf realms. Most sun elf adventurers are more properly thought of as spies, dutiful scouts who make it their lifelong task to observe the other peoples of Faerûn and keep a vigilant watch for the rise of any threats to the elven homelands. A few sun elves are also drawn to the mystery of ancient power and seek to add to the lore of their people by exploring ruins of ancient empires all across Faerûn.

Relations with other races

The sun elves feel affection for the moon elves, although this affection is often unintentionally patronizing. They fear that their moon elf cousins are too flightly and irreverent, and they strive to help them return to the proper elven path with stern lectures and fatherly advice. They admire the wood elves and feel that they embody the elven spirit of nature. Relations are good between sun elf and wood elf, although the reclusive nature of the wood elves makes direct contact rare. Sun elves are a bit puzzled by the wild elves, and hope to one day civilize them. Aquatic elves are thought of as near-equals, and the sun elves believe that their water-breathing kin were placed in the world to bring to the seas what the sun elves bring to the lands above. The sun elves deeply regret the sufferings of the avariels, and occasionally send out explorers to seek out avariel aeries and offer them a place in Evermeet.

Sun elf prejudice toward other races, (humans in particular) can be quite severe. Many sun elves won't even deign to speak to a human and would rather leave a dying man to meet his fate than to save him. This attitude is somewhat understandable, given the way humans have historically treated the sun elves and their lands, but it wins the sun elves few friends among their human neighbors.

If there is one race that the sun elves hold in absolute contempt, and that is the drow. They view the dark elves as abominations and insults to the Seldarine, and often attack these hated enemies on sight. As word of the drow invation of Cormanthor begins to spread through Evermeet, it is likely that more and more sun elves will return to the mainland, if only to bring war to the drow and force them from the ruins of what sun elves still consider their lands.

Race : Wild Elf (Green Elf) Sy'Tel'Quessir
Regions : Chondalwood, Chjessenta, Chult, Elf (wild), or the Shaar.

The wild elves of Faerûn are insular and savage, and as a result are rarely seen outside their forest homes. In ages past the wild elves (or green elves as they were more commonly known) raised great kingdoms in the forest and fielded armies to defend their homes, but with the mark of time they have abandoned the trappings of civilization, becoming a furtive, reclusive race. The wild elves were always close to nature, but they have forgotten many of the high arts and lore of their people, choosing stealth and survival over building and book learning.

Physical appearance
Wild elves are stocky and strongly built for elves. Their skin tends to be dark brown, and their hair ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age. They are quiet around anyone except their own kind, and quickly become hostile in these uncomfortable situations. Clothing is kept to a minimum among the wild elves, although they make up for this with body decoration of all sorts - tattoos, war paint, feathers, and beaded jewelry that shows a surprising streak of complex and beautiful artistry.

Wild elves share the height of their moon and sun elf kin but are more heavily built. They have standard aging characteristics, but use the following random height and weight options instead.

Wild elf, male 4'10 +2d10 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wild elf, female 4'5" +2d10 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
The tragic history of the wild elves has left them untrusting of outsiders. Their tactics for dealing with intruders vary from tribe to tribe. Some simply hide and allow the trespassers to go by unknowing, while others attack to capture such interlopers. They rarely kill those they capture, preferring to use magic to alter their memories and carry them far away before releasing them. They make friends slowly, and most nonelves simply don't have the lifespans required to gain the trust of a tribe of green elves. They excel in combat and often revel in its chaos and primal fury. Little can match the fury of an enraged tribe of green elves.

Relations with other races
The green elves do not seek out relations with others, and they do their best to remain unseen and unknown. Nevertheless, wild elves have been known to interact with adventurers, explorers, and lost travelers. Usually, those people are captured, their memories magically erased, and then let go somewhere far from the tribal lands. Rarely, the elves allow a wanderer to visit their camp, usually in times of dire peril when they are forced to call upon outside aid. Those who manage to impress and even befriend a tribe of wild elves find that their friendship is strong and loyal, and such individuals are often gifted with wild elf tattoos or spirit animals.

Race : Wood Elf (Copper Elf) Or'Tel'Quessir
Regions : The Dalelands, Elf (wood), Great Dale, High Forest, the North, Tethyr, Western Heartlands.

The wood elves are among the most numerous of Faerûn's elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Heirs to the second generation of elven nations, the wood elves see their realms as the natural successors to lands such as Eaerlann and Cormanthyr. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Faerûn; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the humans, dwarves, and halflings around them.

Physical appearance
Also known as copper elves or sylvan elves, these people have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or coppery-red. Wood elves prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the moon elves but not so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs. They are particularly fond of leasther armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearance with jewelry or similar accessories.

Wood elves are as tal as most other Faerûnian elves but more heavily built. They have standard aging characteristics, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described.

Wood elf, male 4'10" +2d10 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wood elf, female 4'5" +2d10 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.

Outlook
Wood elves are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities build by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the wood elves. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result wood elves find it hard to understand anyone who isn't a wood elf.

Relations with other races
In the five hundred years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have been forgotten by most of the other peoples of Faerûn. Only those humans and dwarves native to the North and familiar with the borders of the High Forest have seen copper elves, and even then they most likely met a solitary hunter or ranger. While the wood elves shelder deep inside forbidding forests and are therefore inaccessible to their neighbors, they are ironically among the more compassionate and understanding of the elven subraces. Like the moon elves, they accept the power of humankind and seek to live alongside their human neighbors and guide their expansion instead of seeking ways to deter or intimidate the human lands.

Wood elves have a long history of cooperation with the shield dwarves, whose ream of Ammarindar stood alongside their own realm of Eaerlann for many centuries in the vale of the Delimbyr River. By extension, they look favorably on most other dwarves, too. Gnomes and halflings are both greeted as friends and potential allies. On the other hand, the wood elves have a cold place in their hearts for creatures such as orcs and gnolls, who bring axes, fire, and slaughter to the forests the wood elves have sworn to preserve.

Note : The Star Elf is not an entry in Races of Faerun but instead is in Unapproachable East, and therefore is not quite as in depth.

Race Star Elf (Mithral Elf), Daoin'Tel'Quessir
Regions : Star elves live in the extraplanar realm of Sildëuir. A small number live quietly among the people of Aglarond, and choose that region.

The green depths of the Yuirwood hide an ancient secret long forgotten by folk beyond Aglarond's borders, and not widely known even within - the star elves, an elven subrace that retreated from Faerûn to an extraplanar refuged known as Sildëuyuir. Sometimes referred to in ancient texts as mithral elves, the star elves concealed the existance of their hidden kingdom for almost two thousand years, leaving behind nothing but mysterious ruins and old, strong magic in the stone circles of the Yuirwood.

While the star elves have kept themselves apart from the rest of Faerûn for many centuries, their isolation is coming to an end. Besieged by an insidious peril from beyond the circles of the world, they face the possibility of being driven from Sildëyuir back to their ancient abode in the Yuirwood.

Most star elves prefer not to involve themselves in the world's troubles. Star elf society valgues individual accomplishment and rights over collective effort.

Physical appearance
Of all the elven subraces, star elves most closely resemble moon elves. They have pale skin that sometimes takes on a pearly gray or faintly violet tinge, and hair of gold, red, or silver-white. Their eyes are grat or violet; sometimes with gold flecks. Like the sun elves or moon elves, star elves are tall and slender; males average between 5 1/2 and 6 feet in height and weigh around 140 pounds, while women are about half a foot shorter and weigh around 100 pounds. In their homes they favor elegant, embroidered tunics but dress in neutral colors with dappled gray-green cloaks to remain unseen in woodlands. Star elves are graceful and strikingly handsome by human standards.

Outlook
Star elves are cautious and aloof, keeping an emotional distance from events. They can be judgemental, although they take their time and consider many factors before passing juddment on a creature or action. Once won, a star elf's friendship (and enmity) is deep and long lasting. Star elves love beauty in any form and have a knack for perceiving inner beauty rather than outward appearance and actions. Among their own kind, star elves delight in song, dance, and works of magic, but away from their homeland they are slow to bestow the gift of their voice or artistry.

Relations with other races
Most star elves have removed themselves from the everyday life of Faerûn and therefore have little understanding of humans, dwarves, and other races. They think of humans as aggresive expansionists who readily take up blade and spell to get what they want, and they regard humans with caution. They get along well with other elves, especially sun and wood elves, but fear trouble from the moon elves' unguarded generosity and engagement of human realms.

Race : Painted Elf

This race is not one that has been featured in any Forgotten Realms sourcebook, so there is little information to be had.

More closely related to wild elves than high elves, painted elves commonly dwell in petrified forests - which in ages past, they claim, were their ancestral homes. The painted elves take their name from the nature of the wastes in which they dwell, but also from their habit of camouflaging themselves with pigments derived from the mineral deposits found in such places. Though they rarely see visitors - since painted deserts and petrified forests offer little in the way of treasure - painted elves are extremely distrustful of outsiders, and can turn on guests at the slightest provocation. They prefer a druidic and nomadic lifestyle.

Race : Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin)
Regions : Gnome (deep), the North, Silverymoon

The deep gnomes are the closest thing the gnome family has to 'black sheep.' Many surface dwellers count the deep gnomes along with their evil neighbors, the drow and the duergar, believing them to be little more than dark reflections of the friendly rock gnomes with whom they are more familiar. In fact, the svirfneblin are just as good-hearted as their sunnier kin. However, after centuries of dealing with the everyday perils of living in the Underdark, they have become understandably distrustful of all outsiders.

Compared to their better-known kin, the rock gnomes, the deep gnomes are as gray and lifeless as the subterranean caverns in which they choose to make their homes. They keep to themselves out of fear of outsiders - a fear born from numerous poor experiences with such people. To a deep gnome, the only people you can trust are other deep gnomes from your village, and preferably from your family. All others are best avoided.

With strangers, most deep gnomes are sullen, reserved, and suspicious, almost to a fault. However, when they are along with their own kind, they are friendly and respectful to each other. Few people from outside a svirfneblin community have ever seen this more pleasant side of the deep gnomes. For their part, the deep gnomes would be horrified to find themselves observed by outsiders, and they find such a person staring at them - or even looking directly at them - quite rude.

Physical appearance
Deep gnomes are a gnarled and callused folk, with little fat at all on their bodies. Theyr skin is the color of the rocks among which they live, almost as if they sprang directluy from the stones themselves. They have dark gray eyes, tending toward black. Their hair is a similar color, although it's only seen on the women, as the men and entirely bald and beardless.

Deep gnomes are short-lived and reach adulthood at an age of 20 years. Use the following aging effect characteristics instead of those provided.

Gnome, deep 80 120 160 +2d% years

Like their lives, svirfneblin are also short and hard. They stand between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall on average. They are thinner than their surface cousins, but they weigh just as much - about 40 to 45 pounds - due to the density of their muscles. Tey are little more than wiry sinews and rocklike bones.

Outlook
Dour and cynical, deep gnomes are resigned to their lot in life. They spend their days scratching out a living in the subterranean passages near their home. The males mostly mine for precious gems while the females - who are rarely seen outside their villages - gather food, care for the children, and keep house. Few aspider to do anything other than live out their lives quietly focusing on doing their jobs as best they can.

The svirfneblin literally have little or no light in their lives. To avoid detection by others in the Underdark, they often refuse to use fire for cooking or warmth whenever possible. Instead, they rely on their darkvision, seeing the world only in black and white. The deep gnomes live and work in the eternal darkness out of their overwhelming love for gems. Most males spend almost their entire lives trying to chip precious stones out of the earth. They favor rubies most of all.

Outsides often think of deep gnomes as irredeemably sullen and suspicious. While there is some basic for this, these are the outward results of survival techniques that these gnomes have had to adopt to endure their harsh and unforgiving envorionment. Sounds of any kind - especially voices - travel in strange ways in the Underdark, and they have a tendency to attract visitors. In the experience of most deep gnomes, such outsiders have only the worst intentions, so when a svirfneblin encounters a stranger who is actually friendly, she is normally to suspicious to even consider responding in a like manner. She may eventually warm to a svirfneblin from another town, but even this can take time.

While deep gnome adventurers are rare, some deep gnomes succumb to gnomish curiosity about the world outside the caverns and mine shadts of their daily lives. This is especially true for those deep gnome illusionists who crave to learn more about the nature of their chosen school of magic, but who lack for instruction in the insular villages in which they live. Svirfneblin prospectors are also occasionally encountered in the Underdark far from their homes, questing for promising new veins to mine for their beloved rubies.

Relations with other races
Insular and suspicious, deep gnomes do not get along well with any other races. If forced to pick with whom they would rather keep company (outside other deep gnomes or no one at all), most deep gnomes would choose to associat with forest gnomes, and then rock gnomes. Beyond that, they might not mind gold dwarves or shield dwarves, or the occasional elf.

Svifrneblin do not have much feeling about any of the other standard character races, other than a general aversion to all of them. However, they have a deep and abiding hatred for drow and duergar. These two races, with whom the deep gnomes share the Underdark, have long been a thorn in the side of a people who would much rather just be left alone. Also, the evil tendencies of these races have lef many surface dwellers to think that all who live in the Undersark are unrepentantly evil, a prejudice that frequently causes deep gnomes grief when they first encounter an ingorant intruder from the surface.

Race : Rock Gnome
Regions : The Dalelands, Gnome (rock), Great Dale, Lantan, Thesk, Western Heartlands

Rock gnomes are the gnomes that most people are familiar with, so much so that when someone says 'a gnome', he or she is almost always speaking of a rock gnome. Unlike their reclusive cousins, the deep gnomes and the forest gnomes, the rock gnomes are an inquisitive and loquacious people. They are renowned throughout Faerûn as technicians, alchemists, and inventors, as well as illusionists of the highest order. They do not care much for living in larger cities, where their talents are in high demand, and prefer the rolling hills of the countryside. But anywhere they find themselves, they display an amazing zest for life and all the pleasures it holds.

Rock gnomes are far friendlier and more outgoing than the other gnome kindreds. They are well known for their love of jokes and pranks, as well as their fondness for finely made things. As with all gnomes, they adore gems of all kinds, but rock gnomes have a particular passion for the purity and perfection of the diamond.

From a rock gnomes's point of view, life is meant to be enjoyed in all its facets : work, play, and otherwise. Again, it's the process that is important, not the goal, even if those goals - like, say, finely cut gems - do end up being valuable on their own. This shows in just about everything a rock gnome does, from making a meal to working a mine to playing a practical joke. The care they put into their actions always shines through.

Young rock gnomes have carefree childhoods. During their adolescence, rock gnomes are expected to learn the basics of a useful trade and to master the basics of self-defense. They are encourage to dabble in all sorts of pastimes until they find something that perfectly fits their temperaments. They come of age at 40, an occasion for the largest party of their lives. From there, the average life expectancy is about 350 years, although some have been known to reach 500 years.

Physical appearance
Rock gnomes average between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, and weigh between 40 and 45 pounds. Their skin comes in many different shades of brown, but is unaffected by exposure to the sun. The hair of young gnomes can vary greatly in color, but in adulthoo they all tend toward gray or white. The males wear their beards neatly trimmed.

Outlook
Rock gnomes are generally optimistic. They view the world as a puzzle that the gods - in their infinite wisdom - have laid out before them as the iltimate challenge, one that cannot ever be fully met. It is their greatest joy to be involved in the unraveling of the mysteries of creation, an act they feel brings them closer to the gods with each passing day.

In their adolescence, rock gnomes are encourage to dabble in as many different things as possible. Eventually, they find something that truly intrigues them, fires their imaginations, and sets them on the path of a career that may last them the rest of their days. Amost every rock gnome enjoys what she does for a living, which is one of the reasons that they have such positive dispositions.

Of course, rock gnomes enjoy their leisure time at least as much as their work. They are known for hosting wild celebrations on the thinnest of pretenses. When they really have a reason to cheer, the parties have been known to last for tendays.

While most gnomes are homebodies at heart, a number simply can't resist the urge to go out into the world to explore. Inquisitive by nature, gnomes often find themselves compelled to do everything they can to learn about anything they want. Others, the greedier ones, set off in search of fame and fortune. Sadly, these are fleeting dreams, as even the most famous of gnomes is usually just another member of her community when she returns home.

Relations with other races
Rock gnomes get along famously with almost all the standard character races. They are particularly fond of dwarves of all kinds, with whom they share a love of finely wrought jewelry and mechanical devices. They also have a great love for halflings who can tell a joke. Their common style of housing and their similar sizes would be bonds enough, but their shared joy for living is what really brings them together.

Rock gnomes are a bit more cautious around the larger peoples, but their reservations usually quickly give way to enthisiasm when someone shows any sort of interest in or knowledge about the gnome's work or other passions.

Orcs, kobolds, and goblinoids find an especially cold place in a rock gnome's heart. Although most rock gnomes find it hard to hate anyone, long experience with these races as told them that it's better to never cut them any breaks. Besides, none of them can take a joke.

Race : Lightfoot Halfling
Regions : Any human region, Lurien, Lightfoot Halfling

The folk of Faerûn are more familiar with the lightfoot hin than with either of the other two subraces, primarily because the lightfoots are the most numerous and wid4ely traveled of all the halflings. Nearly every human community of any size larger than a village has at least a few halfling residents. When most Faerûnians think of halflings, the lightfoots are the people that most often leap to mind.

Physical appearance

Lightfoot halflings use the standard information for halflings based in the Player's Handbook 3.5.

Outlook
Lightfoot halflings may be the most common of all the subraces, but their behavior is also the most varied. It's impossible to describe the 'typical' lightfoot halfling because, much like humans, the race embodies individuals that are the absolute antithesis of one another. This diversity of behavior is mirrored in a diversity of outlooks: some halflings adopt views and beliefs about the world that are very close or even identical to whatever human community they happen to dwell in, while others retain distinctive points of view that separate them from the other races and groups (including other halflings). It's not uncommon to meet halflings who, beacuse they spend the greater part of their lives roaming from place to place, have outlooks that are amalgams of those multiple cultures and evironments.

The aspect of the lightfoot outlook that most nonhalflings notice, however, is that they are they hin subrace that is most likely to wander out of an innate desire. It is not unknown for individual lightfoot halflings or even entire families to decide that, after living in the same place for decades, they want to move on to someplace else. Some learned folk speculate that the lightfoot hin experience a habitual need to see many different places and enjoy a variety of experiences. Other sages and loremasters wonder if the lightfoot penchant for the semi-nomadic lifestyle is socialized behabior, learned from centuries of practice. Those scholars theorize that the lightfoot hin who left Lurien because of the Ghostwar massacres were unable to find a new homeland that suited them as well, so they wandered. After so many hundreds of years of wanderings, the behavior is not natural to the lightfoot hin, or so this school of thought holds. Whatever the case, there's no denying that many lightfoot halflings seem determined to see a greal deal of Faerûn and have many interesting experiences during their lifetimes.

Relations with other races
Halflings tend to get along with everyone else. They are adept at fitting into a community of humans, elves, dwarves or gnomes and making themselves valuable and welcome. Since human societ changes after that the societies of the longer-lived races, it is human society that most frequently offers halflings opportunities to exploit, so halflings are most often found in or around human lands.

Race : Strongheart Halflings
Regions : Lurien, Strongheart Halfling

The strongheart halflings are, like the ghostwise and lightfoot hin, native to Lurien. They trace their ancestry back to the same long-lost days as the other subraces, but unlike their cousins, the stronghearts elected to remain in their homeland following the events of the Hin Ghostwar. The legacy of Chand, the strongheart war chieftain who galvanized his tribe against the threat of the feral ghostwise, lives on today in a nation that both reinforces and defies many of the expectations nonhalflings have of this race.

Physical appearance
Stongheart halflings use the standard information for halflings based in the Player's Handbook 3.5.

Outlook
Prior to the Hin Ghostwar, the stronghearts were, like their brethren, mostly a nomadic hunter-gatherer people. During the centuries that followd that terrible conflict, however, the stronghearts gravitated toward a more agrarian-based lifestyle centered around permanent communities. But if the communities were stationary, the stronghearts were not, moving from established community to established community.

This strange duality of nature, including a desire to move about freely with a liking for permanent structures and settlements, has produced some unudual outlooks among the stronghearts of Lurien. Their viewpoint stresses cooperation above all other traits, and the ability to work as a team is the most valued behavior in their land. Cooperation transcends many boundaries in Lurien, and even strangers of whom the locals are suspicious can earn themselves considerable credit and tolerance by demonstrating a willingness to cooperate.

Relations with other races
Halflings tend to get along with everyone else. They are adept at fitting into a community of humans, elves, dwarves or gnomes and making themselves valuable and welcome. Since human societ changes after that the societies of the longer-lived races, it is human society that most frequently offers halflings opportunities to exploit, so halflings are most often found in or around human lands.