Friday Encounter: Elvish Negotiations

Art by Zara Alfonso

This encounter is, admittedly, a bit specific to the Lunar Lands. It was in part created as a way to introduce players to how I run elves, and to introduce some exposition on what they're like in the setting. But it could also work in a setting where elves are of a similar quality (I make no claims that my take isn't heavily influenced by things like The Elder Scrolls, Dwarf Fortress, and Magic: the Gathering's Llanowar Elves). And it presents an interesting opportunity to use elves as antagonists - something I feel is all too underused.

Plenty of ink has been spilled on the trope of inherently evil races - if it's worth what it brings to the table, if it's too limiting, if it's necessary. But I don't see anyone talking about inherently good races. Let me ask you: when was the last time you've had random encounters where you had to fight elves, dwarves, or halflings? Humans show up as bandits plenty of times, but it seems like many DMs struggle to think of the traditional PC races in roles beyond those of helpful allies. To me, that's a missed opportunity. I think there's room for evil elves just as much as there's room for good orcs. If anything, elves should be antagonistic to the party more often - not only are they traditionally aloof and disdainful of other races, there's plenty of literary precedent in tales of the fair folk, with whims and customs utterly alien to those of humans, to say nothing of the Mirkwood elves in The Hobbit, who are just as dangerous as the goblins of the Misty Mountains. So let's forget about Legolas for a moment, and explore an encounter with elves that might not go so comfortably for the party.

Elvish Negotiations

This encounter is best used in a wilderness setting, preferably in a forest. If you wish to use it in other environments, you may wish to make adjustments to fit the terrain.

The party should come across a clearing where a band of elves is harrassing some human woodcutters. There are three men tied to the tree with animal sinews, surrounded by six elves holding spears to their throats. Another elf, Misleikkuri, stands overseeing them, his arms folded and an imperious glare fixed on the woodsmen.

If questioned, the elves will explain that the woodcutters were caught tresspassing near an elven glade and felled a few trees. The woodcutters insist that they did not know the lands belonged to the elves, but the elves refuse them any mercy. In fact, they are prepared to subject them to a slow and torturous death by sawing them in half with a dull blade, one by one, citing that it is what they did to the trees. After they are dead, they will tan their hides, devour their flesh, and sharpen their bones into knives. The elves show no emotion about this, viewing it as perfectly natural and relating it in as casual and nonchalant a matter as an elf's way of relating anything can be so called.

A DC 10 History or Religion check will reveal that elves commonly view the trees as their gods and ancestors, so killing one is viewed as a grave transgression. A character who grew up around elves (usually if they themselves are an elf, but not always; eg. an elf raised among humans would not necessarily know this) will know this automatically.

If the PCs attempt to bargain for the lives of the woodsmen, Misleikkuri will accept a deal. He will accept their ransom at a rate of 500 GP's value per man - he sees such foolish and short-lived things as humans as little more than commodities, and will barter them as such. However, he will not accept the payment in coinage, as the elves have little use for the shiny metals of humans. Mundane items will be accepted at their value in GP, uncommon magic items at a rate of 100 GP each, rare magic items at 200 GP each, very rare magic items at 300 GP each, legendary magic items at 500 GP each, and artifacts at 1000 GP each.

Additionally, the PCs can attempt to haggle with Misleikkuri to lower the ransom on a given man. A successful DC 15 Persuasion check will cause him to lower that man's ransom by 100 GP; elves have Advantage on this check, as Misleikkuri is more trustful of them than humans. However, if this check is failed, Misleikkuri will grow frustrated with the negotiations, and his attitude will grow more hostile. If any items he is offered are made of wood, or another plant product, he will also be insulted, as their existence is proof that a tree was felled to make them.

If Misleikkuri is insulted three times (either through a failed check, an offer of wood, or if the DM feels such a response is warranted to the PC's conduct - keep in mind, this should be warranted from the perspective of a being who thinks of himself as higher and above human morality, and who sees humans the way we see cattle), he will call off negotiations. Any woodsmen the PCs managed to free before this will be allowed to go, but any that remain will be condemned to death. For folkloric resonance and to give the PCs information to strategize with, Misleikkuri should make it explicitly clear, if the PCs enter negotiations, that he will only let himself be insulted three times. Each time he is insulted, he will remind the party how many attempts they have left.

If the PCs attempt to free the woodcutters by force, or if they continue to try and get Misleikkuri to release them even after he has ended negotiations, he will order the elves to attack. They have the stats of a scout; additionally, Misleikkuri himself has the stats of an archer (see Volo's Guide to Monsters). In addition to the six elves in the open, there are three additional scouts hidden in the trees; they are behind three-quarters cover, and any ranged attacks made at them from the clearing are made at Disadvantage.

Saga of the Ortegids: Races

The settings of the Dragon Quest games tend to be quite humanocentric. Almost all playable characters throughout the series have been human, and the ones that aren't tend to be cursed humans or tamed monsters rather than sapient humanoids. In the entire Erdrick Trilogy, there are only two nonhuman polities (three if you count Charlock), and nonhumans are not found in human realms. However, nonhuman races do appear in the Trilogy, and some play quite a prominent role in certain quests. Thus, there is room for discussion on what role the different playable races fill in The Saga of the Ortegids.

In general, nonhumans have their own kingdoms, and there is little overlap in demographics between them and human states. Mixed settlements are rare to unheard of. This is clearly a world closer to Middle-Earth than Faerun. This doesn't mean that nonhumans should never be found in human settlements - I think there's something to be said for leaning into the Blacksandliness of Ashalam and having some beastmen there, for instance - but this should be rare, and worthy of comment.

• Elves are your typical willowy magically-inclined forest dwellers. From what we see of Elvenham in Dragon Quest III, they don't have much in the way of permanent structures, which may imply a semi-nomadic lifestyle, or else they live in the trees and we can't reach their dwellings. I'd be inclined to rule them as wood elves, rather than high elves, but they do tend to be fiercely xenophobic and look down upon humans. They have one kingdom, Elvenham, located in the forests in the far north of the Romalian Empire. I would give them multiple such realms in wooded areas throughout the worlds. In particular, I think it makes sense for them to have a heavy presence in the Worldforest.

• Hobbits appear a few times in DQ3,mostly as one-off NPCs. Of note, the series consistently uses the term "hobbit" rather than "halfling," and I'm going to be keeping that - this project is already an act of copyright infringement anyway, so Tolkien lawyers can't stop me. Curiously, these hobbits tend to be quite solitary; the only two with significant dialogue both live alone in the wilderness, in contrast to the typical bucolic villages we expect of halflings. For The Saga of the Ortegids, I would run hobbits as typically being loners and hermits dwelling far from civilization, leaning into a more fey vibe. Ironically, more Tom Bombadil than Frodo.

• Dwarves do not actually appear in the Erdrick Trilogy, but it feels weird to have elves and hobbits without them, especially if translating the setting to D&D. I would add dwarven strongholds to the mountainous regions of the worlds, likely as self-sufficient and isolationist holdouts that trade little with the outside world to explain their absence from the games. The fact that the world is hollow does have some interesting implications with a subterranean race. There may be dwarves who maintain tunnels linking Erdland and Torland, allowing for travel between the two worlds - though this would, of course, require gaining the trust of the dwarves involved. There is a considerable overlap with hobbits here; one of the hobbits in DQ3 lives in a cave in the mountains, and some translations of the game use the term "dwarf" instead of "hobbit" for these characters. However, the term "hobbit" is used in the GBC release, which is what I'm most familiar with, and the Japanese script specifically uses the word "hobitto," so I'd like to keep them as halflings.

• Beastmen, also referred to as Orcs, would take the place of orcs, goblins, and other monstrous humanoids, and would be represented by their stats. This is a catch-all term to encompass the various humanoid monsters encountered in the Erdrick Trilogy (at least the ones that don't appear to be actual humans, and there's far more of those in earlier games than one familiar with later entries would expect). The series uses anthropomorphic animals more than it uses humanoids with odd skin tones and bestial features - orcs are consistently pig-faced, for instance. So if the Caves of Chaos exists in Torland, it's inhabited by wolf-men, swine-men, bird-men, ape-men, rat-men, and lizard-men instead of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears - which is quite satisfyingly pulpy anyway. There aren't as many of these sorts of monsters in 3 compared to the first two games, so I'd say that beastmen are native to Torland, but they've no doubt established populations in Erdland as well from past excursions. Beastmen tend to be brutish, barbaric, and degenerate, but in the interests of portraying a more realistic ecology than what's in the video games, they would have some degree of society, with villages and fortifications scattered throughout the worlds.

• Dragonborn, or Dragovians, actually fit pretty nicely into the setting. The Dragon Quest games have a number of NPCs who are dragons capable of taking human form, and having dragonborn be playable would represent similar characters. In the interests of game balance, these would have to be lesser descendants of dragons that cannot take the form of a true dragon, but still possess draconic powers. They look mostly human, but may have horns, patches of scales, unusually-colored eyes, or other such features. Their primary realms are Charlock in Torland, and a small kingdom north of the Worldforest in Erdland.

• Tieflings aren't specifically present in the games either, but I would allow them as a playable race anyway. A number of villains in the series have monstrous features that are never really explained, and the amount of demonic incursions into mortal domains would make it quite believable that some interbreeding would occur. Tieflings would be very rare, appearing only sporadically and often being shunned by society, and would not have much in the way of their own civilizations.

• The Drokkarim are something of my own creation. In DQ3, the villain Baramos looks like some kind of saurian humanoid. He's probably supposed to be some kind of demon, but due to technical limitations, they reuse his sprite a few times, including as a generic monster in Zenithia. And one boss, though portrayed in recent releases as Baramos's ghost due to a mistranslation, is actually supposed to be his brother seeking vengeance. Based on this, I've interpreted Baramos to be a member of an entire race I've called the Drokkarim. These creatures are twice as tall as humans, with dragon-like heads and wings and three-fingered claws. They were originally created through the experimentations of the mad wizards of Old Aliahan by breeding humans, demons, and dragons together, and the knowledge behind their creation is long since lost, but scattered populations of them still live on. Drokkarim would be very rare, solitary creatures and would not be available as PCs.

Wayward Halfling Youth

Art by Pajazet

As a rule, the halflings of the Green Downs are highly community-minded. They shun overt expressions of individuality as being arrogant and pretentious, preferring to focus on the practical matters of life. However, it is natural for the youth of any society to push back against its norms and values, and halflings are no exception.

In Hinnisch society, it is to be expected that young people will try to act out and rebel against society. The halflings have known this paradigm for generations. As such, they do not push back against it - they know it is natural for their sons and daughters to seek out independence when they reach a certain age, and as long as they are not disturbing the peace, they are allowed to do as they please. The wisdom of the elders holds that the wayward youth will return to the ways of their parents sooner or later; until then, it is best to allow them to live as they please. Fighting against their youthful whims will only encourage them more.

When life in the Green Downs is so heavily focused on the hearth and the fields, and it is considered gauche to be too concerned with matters outside of the home, teenage rebellion, in halflings, tends to take the form of leaving their burrows in search of more adventurous activities than they are used to. They may wish to see more of the world, and to deal with the ways of big folk, integrating into society more than is common in the isolated Green Downs. This period of wanderlust is so common and accepted, it has become something of an unwritten rite of passage in halfling society - in some communities, to leave the home and live among big people is a ritual anticipated by everyone in the village at the cusp of their adulthood.

Most commonly, halflings on this excursion will find work in a given trade in human lands, plying the skills they are familiar with from their time on the farm. They may serve as farmhands or shepherds, or they may ply their trade at woodcraft (the Hinnisch are known as great carpenters). However, it is not unheard of for them to find work in less honest trades. Their quick wits and their ability to fit into tight spaces are valued skills for burglars, and many a halfling has found lucrative work among thieves' guilds and roving bands of treasure hunters.

Typically, a halfling's excursion from their society lasts a few years, and ends with them returning to the Green Downs to marry and establish a burrow of their own (men also grow out their sideburns at this time, as a visual marker of their adulthood). The majority of halflings quickly realize that the farming life is a dependable one, and far less risky than one on the road. However, some of them do choose to stay in human society, which has led to many of them integrating into the settlements of big folk. In this way, they have spread far and wide beyond their homeland in the Green Downs, and can be found just about anywhere in the known world.

The Halfling Heartland

Halflings can be found in just about any corner of the known world. Of all the humanoid races, they are the most integrated into human society; although they have their own villages, many of them live alongside humans, and vice versa. Halflings - or Hinnisch, in their native tongue - migrated just as humans did, and although they tend to live comparatively sedentary lifestyles, they still found places to settle across the continent, wherever there was pleasing climates and arable land.

However, all halflings claim descent from their native land, the Green Downs - a fertile region in what is now central Vardessy, where the foothills of the rough Schaderbergen Mountains to the southwest give way to rolling highlands and lush valleys. This area boasted good soil, bountiful woodlands, and was a place of relative safety and peace, sheltered from the outside world. In a sense, it was the perfect place for halflings, and the ancestral culture of these people was shaped by the terrain in which they first settled; a culture that still holds strong to this day.

There are halfling villages across Vardessy and beyond, but the Green Downs boasts the highest halfling population in the Empire. A heavily agrarian region, it has no large cities; the vast majority of its populace live in either small villages or solitary homesteads. This is just as the halflings like it - away from the hustle and bustle of urban life, they prefer to focus on the simple things. As the Hinnisch proverb goes, as long as the sun is shining, there is food in the pantry, the livestock are healthy, and the crops are growing, there is no reason to be concerned about anything.

Of course, the halflings of the Green Downs are not without merriment in their lives. Some travelers hold their taverns to be among the finest in the land (if a bit cramped for big folk), and they gather at weekly communal meetings at each others' burrows, where there is much drinking, singing, and dancing to be had. Ostensibly, these meetings are for the reading of prayers and the offering of sacrifices to the gods (Eostre and Solenna being the most prominent in Hinnisch practice), but they also serve as opportunities for local communities and extended families to reunite, and for news and rumors to be shared.

The Green Downs are not a single province of Vardessy - several duchies and counties claim parts of the land under their jurisdiction. However, in practice, the halflings hardly know their feudal lieges' names. Their relationship with the rest of Vardessy is somewhat of a mutual agreement of isolation - the halflings stay out of Imperial business, and the nobility is content to let them govern themselves. Their lives are so mundane that conflicts rarely come up anyway, and when they do, it is usually a matter uncomplicated enough that the patriarchs of the affected families can come to some settlement. But of course, adventure can be found anywhere, for those who know where to look, and the Green Downs holds wonders of its own.

Elves of the Lunar Lands

It is the deepest and darkest of the forest that the mysterious and inscrutable elves call their home. Ageless and ethereal beings, they are held as creatures of bewitching beauty and great wisdom. However, they are held just as much with fear. Travelers passing through the forest are wise to beware the elves as much as they fear orcs, bandits, and wild beasts, if not more - for it is the elves who know the wilds, and who will fight with an undying fervor to defend it against incursions.

Tradition holds that elves and humans were made in the same vein, but while humans were created by the gods, elves were created by the whim of the fair folk. They still regard the fairies as their forebearers and their masters - and they have abided by the same traditions their ancestors had for untold generations. While humans settled, tilled the land, and built great cities and empires, under the provenance of the gods, the elves stayed in the woods, hunting and gathering. To this day, most still subsist in scattered woodland villages, living off the land. This is not to say they are primitive - they have strong literary traditions, told in poetry and song, with their elders chronicling the tales of bygone ancestors in meticulously memorized verse, and as they grow bored with daily toil over the course of their long lives, they often turn to contemplation of the universe; it is not uncommon for clans to meet to discuss philosophy, often in heated debates.

Art by Terese Nielsen

Elves do not view themselves as something greater than the natural world, but as a part of it. They feel that humans, dwarves, orcs, and other races have abandoned their calling in seeking to defy nature. In the elvish perspective, not only are they nothing more than particularly clever animals, this is not an insult, but a compliment. Humans, the elves hold, are pretentious and cowardly, refusing to accept their destiny as a part of the natural world - their short lifespans have made them short-sighted, and they have no appreciation for the big picture. It is the elves who are more honest and true to themselves. They subsist largely off of hunting, dress in furs, use arrows of bone and antler, and spurn the higher learning of men.

Still, elves are not without spiritual traditions. In fact, they are attuned to the mystic energies of the land - so much so that they are shaped by their environs, taking on the qualities of their homes. Their hair, for instance, may take on the color of leaves, changing with the seasons, and their personalities change with the weather - those in stormy climes are mercurial, while those in more mild regions are placid. They know the languages of beasts and of the earth itself, and their druids hold communion with trees and rivers to determine what the earth wants and to guide themselves in accordance with its whims. So too, they may call upon wild animals to aid them in hunts or in battle as freely as they might call a friend or cousin. Their belief system is most similar to the Old Faith, and indeed, they hold that the druidic ways are a corruption of their own, though obfuscated by the interpretations of meddlesome gods and foolish mortals who do not grasp the truth.

Art by iromonik

In particular, many elven tribes worship the earth as the communal body of their ancestors. As the body decays, they claim, its life force is absorbed into the greater ecosystem, and thus, every tree and beast and blade of grass contains the spirits of all the bygone elders of the elven race. When the druids consult with the spirits of the land, they are also communicating with their forefathers, who watch over the clans. One peculiar way this belief shapes customs is that elves view plants with great reverence, seeing them as living flesh, and it is a great taboo to harm them. Most do not consume vegetable matter or chop down trees unless it is necessary, instead subsisting off of meat. Fruits and berries, however, are okay, as being eaten is a part of their life cycle, as is harvesting materials from dead trees. To an elf, uprooting an herb from the ground and eating it is akin to tearing off a creature's limb and devouring it in front of them as they sputter and die. They do not place as much of a taboo on the consumption of animals, as the animal is killed before it is harvested - and "animals," in this case, includes humanoids, which plays into their burial rituals. Many elves will devour a share of the flesh of slain kinsmen to help sustain themselves, using the rest to fertilize the trees, and hanging their bones from their branches.

The elves are a reclusive people, and fiercely protective of their forest homes. They especially detest settled folk, who they view as threatening the natural order by their presence. Many an unfortunate logger has unknowingly chopped down the trees of an elven grove, and their mutilated corpses have been found hung from the trees as a warning to their people afterward. Humans often regard elves with wonder and fear - they are the creatures lurking in the dark that they warn their children of. And elves, in turn, spurn humans as clumsy, oafish, greedy, and blind to their own nature.

However, occasionally, an elf will be grasped by wanderlust and leave the confines of their tribal lands, perhaps driven by the sense of boredom that comes with immortality. If everyday life becomes too mundane and routine, they may seek out new experiences elsewhere. In human lands, elves are often treated with fear and suspicion. People suspect they will eat them, or steal their children, or place curses upon them - and this is not entirely untrue, but most elves that grow old enough to wish to seek out new lands are wise enough to know that their traditions will not always be welcomed.

In fact, most large cities have an elven quarter of some size, where elves have settled and established communities of their own. Often, these elves strictly do business with one another - humans want little to do with them, and they want little to do with the humans either. Their districts exist as self-sufficient enclaves; a city within a city. But as much as they are cut off from humans, they also share little kinship with their cousins in the woods, who usually view them as having strayed away from their true nature and been blinded by the foolish ways of mankind.

Background: Elven Tribesman

Prerequisites: Must be an elf or half-elf. Optionally, a DM may allow PCs of other races to take this background if they have, for whatever reason, been raised among elves, but this is rare.

Suggested Names: Finnish or Welsh surnames or place names. Some elven societies have a custom of renaming someone after their most shameful deed, in order to remind them to remain humble.

Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival

Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument of your choice.

Languages: Elvish, one other language of your choice, plus see below.

Equipment: A hunting trap, a set of fur clothes, a musical instrument of your choice, and a beast of no greater than Small size.

Feature: Attuned to the Wild. Choose one class of animals or plants. This should be fairly broad, but not so broad as to be overly permissive - "songbirds," "conifers," and "even-toed ungulates" are acceptable; "mammals" and "yellow-bellied sapsuckers" are not. You know the language of these beings and can communicate with them. Whenever you have the option of taking a feat on leveling up, you may instead choose to learn the language of one other category of animal or plant. Additionally, if another member of your party has the option of taking a feat, they may instead learn one language that you know if you spend the time to teach them.

The Castes of Quel'Ahma

Social stratification in Quel'Ahma is set up according to a caste system that reflects how closely one can trace their lineage to the great genies - the more genie blood one has in their veins, the more power they hold in society.

Since time immemorial, the genies have held sway over the Quel'Ahman desert. These magical beings command great power, and they embody the four elements that shaped Quel'Ahma and all other lands, which caused them to come to be seen as emissaries of the cosmic forces and being in some way closer to perfection. But in ancient times, the genies grew content in the power and respect they were afforded - and they saw fit to exert it. They amassed vast harems of humans in an attempt to spread their noble lineage, or merely to slake their baser desires (for even if the genies were more perfect beings, they were just as vulnerable to mortal temptations). Their children were the genasi - those of mixed genie and mortal blood.

As time went on, the population of genasi increased more and more, and the genies began to fear that they were diluting their issue too thoroughly with mortal stock - that the genasi had tarnished the perfection of the genies by mixing it with the follies of mankind. To that end, the genies issued an edict that has been law in Quel'Ahma ever since - the formation of the three castes.

Humans make up the lowest caste of Quel'Ahman society, and are the most numerous in number. They are the common people - the laborers, farmers, soldiers, and slaves. Under the philosophy of Elementalism, it is believed that all earthly creatures, including humans, are composed of all four elements in equal parts - but for this reason, each individual element is impure, making it harder for that being to attain true perfection (humans are believed, under Elementalism, to still be capable of perfecting their beings, but it is harder for them to do so compared to genasi or genies. They are encouraged to strive toward being as perfect as they can be). As the genies care not to risk their magnificent immortal existences in the toils and trifles of everyday life, it is the humans who are tasked with all the dirty work they wish not to sully their hands with. One does not see an almighty djinn engaging in hard labor, after all.

This does not mean that humans in Quel'Ahma are doomed to a life of squalor and poverty. It is, in fact, quite possible for humans to attain wealth and influence, and some of the finest scholars and the most well-traveled merchants have been of human stock. But their lives are fleeting and their powers diminished compared to their masters, giving them less opportunity for advancement, and they are not often trusted with more important positions.

Sample NPC: Mahmoud ibn Yusha is a trader in Hajar, a nexus of several important caravan routes that pass through Al-Riyah. As the city is a cosmopolitan one, with many travelers from foreign ports passing through, he has made great business buying and selling goods from many lands, and he is keen to flaunt his wealth in treasures from foreign lands, trimming his turban with furs from the north and his robes in silks from the City-States, among other things. He is regarded as somewhat of an eccentric; some of his peers argue that he has grown too much like the Northerners he deals with, and has taken to a love of gambling and strong drink. However, he uses his connections well, and has befriended several merchants and their entourages, making him privy to all sorts of information that passes through the city and beyond.

The Genasi - those who can trace their heritage back to mixed mortal and genie parentage -  make up the middle caste of Quel'Ahman society. Though they were descended from the mingling of great and lesser beings, their population grew so great as to earn them recognition as a separate caste, and now it is expected that genasi marry and associate with other genasi to avoid diluting their genie blood any further with that of mere mortals. If mortals are composed of the four elements in equal parts, then the genasi have a greater percentage of one element compared to the others, granting them longer lives and greater attunement to magic - they are thus seen as being closer to the pure, unrefined form of their respective element, but not attaining the purity of a true genie. They can still grow old and die, and their powers are diminished compared to their forefathers, but humans still treat them with awe and respect - if not fear. Generally, genasi of a given type are more commonly found in the emirate corresponding to their element, but exceptions occur, be they well-traveled merchants or simply well-connected officials.

Genasi are the executive class of Quel'Ahma. They are clerks, government officials, and merchant-princes, often overseeing particular towns or businesses for the benefit of their genie masters. Often born into wealth and privilege, the average genasi can expect to not have to deal with the back-breaking manual labor of humans, but they cannot afford the idle luxuries of a true genie either - rather, it is they who must manage the humans on behalf of the genies, to ensure that everything proceeds under the auspices of order. Still, their long lives and relative freedom warrants them plenty of time to themselves, and many are philosophers and scholars, turning their attention to decoding the mysteries of the universe while their underlings take care of the hard labor.

Sample NPC: Zakariah al-Diklah bin Eli al-Su'ud is the administrator of the town of Mesenshah, and an envoy to the Emir who ensures that his word is carried out. He is a loyal servant to the Emir and respects his judgments, but is not without ambition - he has led an initiative to open up relations with the outside world, in particular sending more envoys to Wulin in the hopes of strengthening trade with the far-off land. However, he will not hesitate to back off if convinced that doing so is in the Emir's wishes. When dealing with others, he is strict and businesslike - he finds it unbecoming of a noble genasi like him to be tied up with mistakes and unprofessionalism.

The Genies - djinn, efreet, marids, and dao - are the ruling class of Quel'Ahma. They are immortal beings of the elements, composed of their respective element in its purest and unmixed form, and are thus seen as models of elemental perfection that mortals must strive toward in all regards possible. As beings of great magic, they command power over even the wisest of genasi, and they have lived long enough to master untold knowledge. It is no surprise, then, that genies are treated with awe and reverence, in a matter some foreigners have compared to living gods.

Quel'Ahma is divided into four emirates, and the Emir who rules over each one is a genie with power over the corresponding element. Those these spirits keep the company of genasi courtiers and whatever human envoys are lucky enough to be granted access to their marvelous palaces, they socialize with their own kind, usually comprised of their extended families, which can grow quite large and house many generations beneath one roof. As can be expected, this puts aspirants for the throne (though genies are immortal, they often grow bored of ruling for too long and choose a successor before abdicating) in close contact with one another - and this can cause palaces to turn into hotbeds of intrigue as competing factions jostle with one another for their place in line. The homeland of the genies is the holy city of Tasshen - the dwelling place of the Sultan of all Quel'Ahma, and a flying city that soars above the clouds. No mortal has ever laid eyes upon it, and any who set foot in it would be summarily disintegrated.

Despite the importance of their positions, the genies of Quel'Ahma tend not to be active rulers. They are content to live in splendor and opulence, spending their immortal existences in the pursuit of decadence. After all, they have genasi to worry about the complicated business for them. This hands-off approach to ruling does, however, mean they can easily be swayed by ambitious viziers who tell them what they want to hear while furthering their own schemes, and there have been many times where the disgruntled populace rose up against their genie masters who spent their taxes on their own dalliances - though the power that the genies wield is an effective deterrant to unrest.

Ironically, as creatures of magic, genies may possess great power, but power can be worked on them as well. With the right spells and rituals, it is possible for a genie to be bound into a physical object, such as a lamp or ring, and forced to work its powers for the benefit of its captor - even if that captor is a mere mortal. Much like fairies or demons, they are creatures of their word, and if outwitted they have no choice but to serve those who gained power over them. Of course, binding a genie in such a way is a grave offense and a symbol of insubordination in Quel'Ahma, but it is one way in which mortals have fought back against their masters. If a genie is freed from such imprisonment, it is customary for them to reward their gracious rescuers with three wishes.

Sample NPC: Najii Rafiq Itamar al-Gefen ibn Mahir Amjad is the Emir of Al-Riyah. A powerful djinn known for his skill in magic and his ability to see into the future, he is well respected by his people, who view him as the embodiment of the wind itself. As such, no one dares offend him, lest he call storms against them and strand their ships. Despite such a fearsome reputation, though, the Emir is a jolly soul who spends much of his time drinking, feasting, and laughing in the company of his court. He's quite laid-back and takes little seriously; compared to other genies, he is unusually lenient with letting strangers into his court, and has been known to entertain noted guests with grand spectacles if they are present in the area, merely to enjoy their company. He leaves much of the heavy lifting to his courtiers and officials, allowing himself to enjoy such luxuries, but he is as mercurial as the wind, and it would be unwise to believe that he would not pose a threat if offended.

Note that foreigners - be they those from outside Quel'Ahma, Caravan People, or citizens of the independent cities not under the sway of the Sultan - are not considered to be part of any castes, not even that of humans. This allows them to enjoy more mobility and opportunity than may be limited to human Quel'Ahmans, but also means they cannot depend on the genasi or genies to protect them if they fall back to their authority. 

Orctober!

It's October, and you all know what that means. No, I'm not talking about Halloween - though I have no shortage of love for the harvest season, the changing of the leaves, and of course the celebration of all things spooky. No, this also happens to be the time the old-school gaming blogosphere gets passionate about orcs.

Orctober started out as a tradition in the Oldhammer community, with blogs devoting the month to painting all manner of orcs (and orks) from the glory days of 80s Games Workshop. My current work situation makes it rather unlikely I'll have much time to devote to collecting and painting miniatures - but my homebrew setting of the Lunar Lands is in large part a love letter to the British old school fantasy gaming world (something I posited the existence of as a distinct phenomenon in this Reddit post and which was consequently elaborated on most wonderfully by Uncaring Cosmos), and you can trace just about everything produced in that milieu to Rick Priestly (my previous post on familiars was basically an excuse to stat up all the old-school Chaos Familiar miniatures - yes, I'm coming clean about that now!). To that end, I figured I might as well celebrate Orctober in the best way I can - by describing how I handle orcs in my games and my setting.

Fighting Fantasy

As far as anyone has known, as long as there has been man, there have been orcs. Various legends speak of their origins - some say they were originally humans cursed to become beasts in punishment for their relentless bloodlust; others say they were spawned from the spilled blood of demons, and still more say they were beasts that became intelligent by drinking dragons' blood. The orcs themselves scoff at such silly tales - in fact, they have just as many such stories about humans. But regardless of where they came from, they have come to spread across the lands, and their tribes and villages can be found just about anywhere.

Orcs come in all shapes and sizes; their phenotypic variety has more in common with that of dogs than humans. Some are green, others grey; some have faces like pigs, and others like apes; some have
horns, some have tusks - and everything imaginable in between is possible. The creatures sometimes referred to as goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins are really just different strains of orc, and while some clans are relatively standard in appearance, there are some villages where all these types can be found living alongside one another.

Art by Jerry Boucher

Some scholars have used the term trollkin to include common orcs, goblins, and their respective variations, though this itself is a misnomer as these races do not seem to be related to trolls. Once again, the orcs would just laugh at our foolish obsession with splitting hairs. To them, an uruk is an uruk, or a bigger, smaller, or hairier uruk if the distinction is truly necessary. What to call them means nothing, only their strength.

Orcish cultures vary as much as their appearances, and every tribe practices its own customs - observances that are known around every fire pit and mead hall in some villages would only net blank stares at others. However, a common feature is the value placed upon strength and valor in battle. The most powerful orcs in society are not necessarily the best talkers, or the most learned, but those who are simply strong enough to beat down any dissenting voices. Orcs are well known to raid human villages, not only for food and wealth, but also as an opportunity for the youth to prove their skills and gain clout among their kinsmen through impressing others with their deeds, and duels are a favored way of settling disputes.

This is not to say that orcs are without honor. Quite the opposite, in fact. An orc who has brought down a worthy foe in battle, bearing the scars to prove it, is an accomplished warrior worthy of respect and riches. An orc who has never had his blood spilled because all of his victories have been against unarmed children and the old and infirm is a coward, and would be mocked and shunned by his peers. Taking down lesser foes in the name of honor is, while not exactly considered criminal, frowned upon - not for any moral reasons so much as because it's too easy. That does not preclude orcs from preying upon the weak for more material reasons than social status - pillaging a defenseless village to make off with its gold and livestock is considered no different than hunting game, as long as no one brags about it. Attempting to assign human society's ideas of morality to orcs is, in short, going to be a headache.

On the flip side, the orcs' sense of honor and deference to the pecking order can be exploited. Many an enterprising warlord has assembled an army or a garrison force made up of orcs because they are easily swayed by great deeds of arms, and can be convinced to fall in line under the command of a warrior stronger than they are - though as some of these would-be tyrants have learned, it would be a fatal mistake to assume that they do not care about being paid, or that they would not turn against their masters if they saw the opportunity to do so. Even one who fights orcs may gain their respect in battle - there are many such ballads concerning orcs that become brothers-in-arms with humans when they came to recognize them as equals in strength and bravery.

Types of Orcs

Although every orc tribe is different, their societies can be grouped into a number of distinct cultures that follow similar patterns. It is possible these arose from common ancestors, trade and exchange of ideas between tribes, or a combination of both.

Art by Keith Parkinson

Horse Orcs, or Plains Orcs, are the most numerous, and most infamous, of those in the Lunar Lands. Semi-nomadic in nature, they often set up villages to house their people and graze their animals in grasslands, trading and raiding with whatever neighbors they may have, until their resources run dry and they move on to the next appropriate site. As their name suggests, they raise, breed, and train horses, which they respect for their strength and mobility. Although a typical orcish horse is more comparable to a draft breed, their agility still makes them useful for cavalry charges and migrations alike. Horse Orcs also favor archery, thanks to the far lines of sight provided by the plains. An army of mounted orcs firing arrows from horseback is a terrifying sight indeed.

Aside from war, these orcs also use horses for sport, competing to prove their valor in races and in a peculiar sport involving carrying a dead goat, often liberated from a nearby village as a token of victory, to a goal while being pursued by other riders. Sometimes these games can turn violent - there is a well-attested account of a war between two orcish clans that broke out when the goat split in half during a game, and no one could decide whether the larger part or the part containing the head should count for scoring purposes.

It was an enterprising chieftain among the Horse Orcs that formed the greatest empire orc-kind has ever known, uniting the clans into conquering much of Togarmah in its heyday before being brought down in the series of conflicts known as the Orc Wars.

Down in the Dungeon

Iron Orcs include many of the most technologically sophisticated tribes among their numbers. While other orcs obtain arms and armor either through pillage, cobbling of scrap, or rudimentary blacksmithing, the Iron Orcs are known for their metallurgy, with some even mastering the art of steel. They tend to be more settled than other cultures, owing to their dependence on steady sources of raw materials, and often favor easily defensible locations in mountains to make their homes and house their smoke-belching forges. Some have even formed enduring trade deals with dwarven holds, though it is arguable how much of this is because of mutual benefit and how much is because it is easier to trade with Iron Orcs than to defend a mountain against them. Their armies tend to be more regimented than those of other tribes, and are well-equipped with armor, swords, pikes, and in some cases even war machines.

Art by Verminard

Northborn Orcs are among the largest and burliest of all orcs (use the stats of a bugbear for a common specimen), with many possessing thick coats of fur to provide warmth in the cold regions they inhabit. Because these lands are often poor of soil and scarce in resources, they also tend to be some of the fiercest, something that serves them well in their squabbles over valuable food and territory.

Much like the Northmen, some that dwell on the coasts have taken to building great ships and raiding more temperate areas for gold and supplies. Due to their fearsome fighters and the inhospitable climates they call home, the clans of the Northborn Orcs have only rarely been conquered by their enemies - something they take with pride - and they hold sway over some of the most powerful orcish polities.

Art by John Howe

Cave Orcs encompass all orcs that dwell beneath the ground.
Some do so out of necessity, shunned by their neighbors (orcish or otherwise) and forming their own societies in the wilds, while others favor caves for the strategic opportunities they offer in defense, and still others have delved so far underground as to establish a homeland in the World Beneath. Due to the cramped conditions of their underground homes, these orcs tend to be smaller in stature, if not stooped or stunted, and are most likely to be of the varieties termed goblins - though this is not to say that they can't grow to greater sizes. Tales even speak of eyeless, pallid creatures in the darkest depths where light cannot reach, with some questioning if they can even still be considered orcs at all.

Like Northborn Orcs, Cave Orcs have a hardscrabble life - though some have managed to farm mushrooms and fungi for sustenance, others, particularly those closer to the surface, are more inclined to raid for their resources. Stone tools and weapons are not uncommon among them, and they are well adapted to see in darkness, though some, consequently, may be less adapted to light.

Fighting Fantasy

Civilized Orcs are a point of controversy. Some scholars would argue that such a term is oxymoronic - and some orcs would take offense at the implication they are uncivilized (or that the life their more settled cousins have taken part in is at all comparable to the soft and hypocritical ways of humankind, for that matter). Nevertheless, some of the more larger and cosmopolitan cities of the land have their fair share of orcish inhabitants - be they descended from trading partners who decided to settle, orcs who saw opportunity among the urban setting, or any other reasons they may have. Other times, a fief on the frontier may decide that the nearby orcs make better allies than threats, and over time they may intermix.

With the decree of Matriarch Wilmarina I of Lescatie that orcs do indeed have souls and can carry the favor of the gods, this level of integration has become more common, though there are still those who oppose it. It also varies from place to place - many cities, either by official proclamation or by patterns of settlement over time, boast an Orcish Quarter that functions as a community of its own, while in others, seeing a goblin at the seat beside you in the tavern won't even cause the locals to bat an eye. There are some orcs that have fully adopted local customs, but others still hold ties to their tribal honor pacts, and this often leaves the local magistrates to arbitrate disputes when matters of law run into conflict with the warrior code.

Rat Men!

There are no drow in the Lunar Lands. I don't like using them for a number of reasons - probably most notably, the fact that they've become so intimately associated with the Forgotten Realms that they seem out of place anywhere else to me (even if they originated in Greyhawk, my personal favorite of the TSR settings, I just can't see them fitting in the lore any more). I also don't believe there really need to be six million kinds of elves for every biome in the world, and if one wants to make an elven villain, you can go ahead and make them your average elf - the old stories of the Fair Folk are a bottomless font of inspiration as-is. That, and I just find them overdone in general.

I do, however, enjoy the concept of vast subterranean ecosystems with their own cities and empires beneath the surface. Dwarves are a good solution (and, in my opinion, duergar are woefully underused, probably due to the aforementioned preponderance of drow). But for the other predominant subterranean race of the Lunar Lands, my eye turns to one of my greatest inspirations, Warhammer Fantasy.

Among the denizens of the World Beneath, the Rat Men are perhaps the most numerous, but far from the most formidable. An able-bodied human could easily overcome a single Rat Man - but a single Rat Man is rarely encountered, as they favor strength in numbers and swarming tactics, sending in hordes to deal with incoming threats with claws and knives while others stay on the sidelines to pick off targets with bow and arrow. They know they aren't the sturdiest of beings, and they prefer to travel in darkness beneath the watchful eye of those around them. But if they feel threatened, they can be vicious indeed, and will rarely surrender unless they know they are truly outmatched.

Nearly every large surface city hides a warren of Rat Men beneath it - they are just as aware of what makes an advantageous location for a settlement as those that live above them, and they take advantage of the refuse their surface neighbors produce as sources of food, salvage, and materials. However, few who walk the surface have seen the Rat Men or their maze-like tunnel networks that honeycomb the earth, ranging from vast caverns with dens hollowed into the walls to twisting passages only large enough for a human to traverse on their stomach. Those who have may be brushed off as telling tall tales - the most famous account of the Rat Men comes from the songs of the bard Jeremy of Elbermark, sung by many unaware of their truthfulness - and the reclusive beings are content to squabble among each other and the other denizens of the underground, rarely risking a journey up to the dangerous and unfamiliar surface world. However, every once in a while a raiding party of Rat Men may risk a journey up from the depths to grab shiny valuables - or captives for slave labor.

The Rat Men speak their own tongue, a system of squeaks and hisses that sounds to many like meaningless chittering. However, their language is mutually intelligible with that of the common rat, and they can commune with each other, often using rats as spies to seek ahead and report back their findings, or dire rats as guard animals. They also raise rats as a food source. For delicate human minds, it is perhaps best not to think too deeply about how they can understand the words of their own livestock, but it bothers them not. Life in the shadows is ruthless.

Accustomed to the darkness and the sunless corridors of the World Beneath, Rat Men fare poorly in bright light - some who have braved the underground realms have misinterpreted this as indicative of the ability to see in the dark. In truth, Rat Men do not see very well in darkness or in light. Much like the average rat, a Rat Man possesses a keen sense of smell and hearing, and they use these to navigate instead. However, if plunged into bright light - especially that of the sun - they can often find themselves in unfamiliar territory and panic. After all, they do see, just not well, and a change in lighting is unexpected for them.

Art by haikai13

Of the unusual traits of Rat Men, perhaps the most puzzling one to surface-dwellers is that they seem to have no upper limit to size. Some are born larger than others, but as they gorge themselves on food they can grow greater and greater. In fact, the social hierarchy of the Rat Men is based more on size than anything else, with the larger individuals using their great bulk as leverage to exert their will upon their smaller and weaker kin. While the average Rat Man ranges from the size of a halfling to a stooped five feet, reports speak of truly massive rodents that tower above the heads of mortal men, some so corpulent that they can only squat immobile in their caverns and shout orders to their underlings. These make up the royalty of the Rat Men, whose subjects pay tribute to them with shiny objects and offerings of food that make them grow larger and larger, some even needing to have wider and wider chambers tunneled out of the earth to sustain their growth. Records speak of wars being fought between Rat Men and dwarves or goblins when the expansion of such rooms broke into those of other civilizations. If such constructions are close enough to the surface, they can even risk breaking through to the outside...

Using Rat Men in Games:

For 5e, Rat Men have the stats of a Kenku (both as monsters and should one wish to play as one), with the following changes:

• Rat Men can be Small or Medium (player's choice).
• Instead of the Mimicry and Expert Forgery features, Rat Men instead have Sunlight Sensitivity (as Drow).
• Rat Men have Blindsight to 60 feet. Beyond this, they must rely on their vision.
• Rat Men have Advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell, hearing, or feeling with their whiskers. They have Disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on vision.
• Rat Men can speak and understand the languages of rats and mice, including dire rats, and giant rats.