Editing Banestorm (section)

===Old World Races===
=====Dwarves=====

Dwarves of Yrth are the typical fantasy dwarves: squat, stocky, isolationist and expert [[Book of Grudges|grudgebearers]]. Most of them live in the mountainous nation Zarak, where few non-dwarves visit, and even fewer non-dwarves live. They used to live in many more mountain ranges, but the new kids on the block (humans) drove them to settle entirely in Zarak.

Dwarven opinions on elves are... not positive. Their history with the elves has been one where the elves wronged them repeatedly even before the Banestorm. After the Banestorm and its catastrophic aftermath, the dwarves hold an eternal grudge towards the elves, claiming that the elves should have recognized the perils of such a spell sooner. As for humans, they get along with Caithness since Caithness isn't constantly trying to conquer their few remaining lands. The same cannot be said for Megalos, who keep encroaching on dwarven lands. As for orcs... well, no one on Yrth likes orcs.
* Gnomes
Gnomes on Yrth are relatives of dwarves that have lived on the surface long enough to be considered different from dwarves. Though they are biologically similar to dwarves, they don't show much aptitude for mining or forging. They tend to prefer farming, or herding, or general agricultural things. Some of them either live on, rather than under, the mountains of Zarak, but most live among human settlements, and adopt their cultures and religions. 

=====Elves=====

The elves of Yrth are generally pretty standard fantasy elves: tree huggers, dying race, very graceful, beautiful, and intelligent. The Banestorm took a huge toll on their population, and many of them choose to live in forests and stay out of the politics of the newcomers. Despite this, many elves still have high opinions of many humans, though certainly not all of them.

Elves' opinions of the other major races are more mixed. They have a strained relationship with dwarves, due to the dwarves being stubborn grudge-holders who blame the entirety of the elves for the Banestorm. As for orcs, there are very, ''very'' few elves willing to see them as anything but monsters. 

The elves don't reproduce very fast, and the banestorm has left them in a state of a constant downward spiral. Any children they get are thus celebrated and cherished.
* Half Elves
They also cherish the children they have with humans. Half elves have longer life spans than humans but also have shorter lifespans than elves. They are welcome in all elf villages and all but the most intolerant human settlements. 
* Sea Elves
Sea elves live underwater, and rarely bother with the surface world. The Banestorm left them devastated as it is, and most of them have only bronze age technology at best, lagging behind many surface dwellers. They still get along with other elves besides dark elves though.
* Dark Elves
Dark Elves aren't drow in this setting. They're not even a real subrace of elves, but rather a separate faction that lives in the forbidden Blackwoods. The dark elves were the creators of the Banestorm, or the descendants of those elves. They are still extremely bitter over the total failure that was their attempt to destroy the orcs, and they have turned their bitterness towards all other races on Yrth. [[/pol/|The dark elves believe that all other races are disgusting, and should be eradicated.]] They reserve special hatred for Orcs, but also have just as much hatred for half-elves, since they find that [[/pol/|interracial relations with humans are disgusting.]]

=====Orcs=====

Orcs are short, hairy humanoids with pronounced canines, lower intelligence and bad tempers. Orcs have been a thorn in everyone's sides for as long as they have existed. The elves and dwarves have ancient and bitter feuds with orcs, to the point that almost no elves tolerate orcs, and dwarves feel much the same. They were so bad at one point that the elves tried wiping them out entirely, and instead brought the orcs' greatest rivals, the humans, to Yrth. Since that point, the orcs have been beaten back to the Orclands, where they remain in tribal societies and go through cycles of violence and rebirth, occasionally making raids outside of the Orclands.

However, there are still some civilized orcs living in human society. They tend to be mistrusted until they prove themselves, but then they just get by. They dislike tribal orcs as much as anyone else.

* Half-Orcs
Half-orcs in Yrth follow the [[rape|general depiction of how half-orcs are usually conceived.]] They're at least more tolerated than their parents, but still usually looked down upon in human society. Orcs will accept them if they can prove their strength.

* Ogres
Ogres are exceptionally stupid and large. They are the larger cousins to the orcs, and often used as laborers and slaves for work that the orcs don't want to do. Some cities have an ogre, but they are generally closely watched slaves/servants.

=====Dragons=====