Editing Magical Realm Cyoa/Diaspora (section)

== '''The People''' == 

The vast majority of Diasporans live in one of the Seven Great Cities, described above.  These are civilized places, well defended and kept free of monsters.  While Demihumans are welcome, they are often treated as second-class citizens and as such many choose to live elsewhere, or at the outskirts of the great cities.  There are also the group known as the 'Noven'. It is generally hard to tell one of the People from a Noven physically, but mentally there is not a great deal of comparison. A Noven would be considered a natural genius on earth, and many of the greatest genii born as Diasporans are thought to be Noven. While there is some small prejudice for the Noven as a whole among The People, on an individual level they are generally welcomed and well liked, since they tend to be the most skilled individuals in any society. Still, Noven are considered a rarity, because they are nearly always born in one of the lesser realms, or so far into the deep wilds that it takes them half their life to get to civilization.

It is believed that there are significant populations of humans, demihumans and noven in the wilds of all of the realms, even the seven greater realms.  This is difficult to prove however, due to the hostile nature of the wilds and the monsters that tend to infest portals in the lesser realms.

Demihumans are divided into seven major races, and innumerable minor ones which are considered variations. The major races and their most distinctive features are as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Races of Diaspora
|[[File:Diaspora_Merfolk.jpg|200px]]
!Merfolk 
|Those Demihumans who are adapted to live in water, including any amphibians. Whether they are merely humans with gills or half-fish people, any Demihuman who can comfortably live in Lake or Ocean is a Merfolk.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Halflings.jpg|200px]]
!Halflings 
|Any Demihuman who is naturally shorter than four and a half feet tall, but larger than two feet tall. Alternately, any Demihuman who weighs less then fifty pounds when full-grown, including the willowy Reedmen who stand seven foot tall but are so thin they weigh only forty five pounds on average.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Beastfolk.jpg|200px]]
!Beastfolk
|These are the man-sized Demihumans who have mild animalistic features. Fangs, distorted sensory organs (large ears, pigs noses, slit pupils), tails, fur and strange coloration are all considered normal for Beastfolk. Anything more than that gets someone qualified as a Troll.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Trolls.jpg|200px]]
!Trolls 
|Those Demihumans who are at least man-sized and have some kind of obvious animalistic feature. Whether it is goats-horns, digigrade legs, extra arms or wings, anything that is beyond what a normal human could account for with a lot of makeup qualifies a Demihuman as a Troll.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Ogres.jpg|200px]]
!Ogres 
|Any Demihuman who is extremely large or heavy but still in the basic shape of a man. This is a somewhat arguable category, and many debate the difference between Ogres, who are considered Demihumans, and Giants, who are considered Monsters. The common rule of thumb is that if it can fit through a doorway made for a troll, it's an Ogre, and if it can't you should run away screaming.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Fey.jpg|200px]]
!Fey 
|Despite their names Fey are merely the smaller-than-human equivalent of the Troll. Any Demihuman who is both very small and purely human in shape is considered one of the Fey.
|-
|[[File:Diaspora_Demons.jpg|200px]]
!Demons 
|The catch-all classification for a Demihuman who is too strange to qualify even as a Fey or Troll, but is still reasonable enough that the First Generation Diasporans do not immediately flee from them or try to kill them. Demons are heavily discriminated against in the Seven Cities because they are considered little better than Monsters.
|}

[[File:Diaspora_Monsters.jpg]]

Monsters include many intelligent races as well, but unfortunately the monstrous races are too far removed from humanity to interact peacefully.   While some Demihuman races have an easier time getting along with some Monsters, on the whole Monsters do not associate with beings outside their own or similar forms. For example, a Manticore tribe might be willing to negotiate and trade with a group of Griffons or even some Demons, but they would be far more likely to tear apart a group of Demihumans or Beholders who ventured into their territory. Similarly the Giants of the Realms tend to be on good terms with Ogres and some kinds of Trolls, but they feel they are inherently superior to most other kinds of people and as such tend to be vicious and cruel to mere 'human' scale people.

Of course, not all Monsters are intelligent - most of the beasts of the wild, such as Drakes and Dire Wolves, are just animals with extreme biologies and some innate magical ability. Some monsters are significantly more powerful than the more common members of their race. Such monsters tend to be just below the cusp of true sentience, exceptionally clever and capable, and far more dangerous because of this.  These monsters are referred to as 'elites', in the case of intelligent monsters, or 'great' for the non-sentient forms.  The monsters that guard portals are almost always of the 'elite' variety.