Races and sub races of Nosiroth

The elves of Nosiroth are very diverse. While most elves possess the ability to use different types of magic, most have not undergone any training to utilize this ability and therefore they are unable to use their magic. The god they worship, Lladnar, is believed to be a cold and indifferent being. He is believed to have immense power but rarely uses it, but to stop worshiping him would bring his wrath down on all elf kind. All depictions of him show him as an elf of great beauty, traditionally an Empathic elf with a pale lavender skin and deep blue hair.

Empathic Elf: Skin tone: All skin tones. The Empathic Elves are the oldest race of Elf still alive today. They were so in touch with the world around them that they could tap into any magic they were near. Like the Null Elf, the Empathic Elf possess no magic of their own, however, they can absorb the manna and magical abilities of other magic users. They can also sense and change the emotions of others. The powers they absorb return to the original user as their manna builds back up. It is believed that the first of these elves were unable to return the powers they absorbed and became the first of the other races of elves.

Null Elf: Skin tone: All skin tones. Soon after the Empathic Elves showed up, the Null Elves came about to challenge them. They believed that magic was an abomination and that Lladnar had given them the power to eliminate magic. They consider themselves the purest race of elf and they are believed to be the leaders of the anti-magic activists. They possess no form of magic, but they have the ability to drain and dissipate a magic user’s manna at will as well as being the best blacksmiths in the Elven races. The effects of their abilities are temporary and magic will restore like normal after they leave the area.

Shadow Elf: Skin tone: White. Devoid of pigmentation aside from eye color, due to spending most of their lives in shadows. They are experts in controlling the darkness as well as conjuring/reading the dreams of others. They have a unique ability to read the fears of others. They hid in the shadows of Nosiroth while the Null elves hunted them and they learned to control the shadows and darkness for their own benefit.

Floronic Elf: Skin tone: Tan - dark brown. Usually darker brown pigments to blend in with the trees and plant life. They can control plant life, communicate with animals, and create plant-based creatures to do their bidding. They value the life of the forest above all else. Immune to most poisons.

Melodic Elf: Skin tone: Yellow – Orange. These elves use music and vibrational magic. They can hypnotize using sound, use sonic waves as a weapon and heal using vibrational magic.

Cryonic Elf: Skin tone: Bluish grey – Dark Blue. These elves specialize in ice, snow and all forms of cold magic. They are very skilled in hiding their emotions. They believe that focus is the way to harness the most power and emotions are a distraction. Immune to most plant based attacks.

Hydro Elf: Skin tone: Purple or Teal. After the Null Elves began fighting all forms of magic, the Hydro Elves took refuge by building ships and taking to the seas. These elves have given up on living on dry land and have essentially become pirates. They value the life of the oceans above all else. They can control, use and manipulate water as well as wind currents. They have no issues stealing what they need or pillaging. Immune to most fire based attacks.

Geo Elf: Skin tone: Greenish brown – Reddish brown. Nomadic elves that roam the deserts in tribes and hunted to near extinction by the Null elves and the anti-magic activists. They can control rocks, the ground and all forms of geologic material. They are very resistant to heat and fire based attacks. They are in touch with the planet itself and can create rock creatures to do their bidding

Crystalline Elf: Skin tone: Pale tones. Though technically a sub-race of the Geo Elf, the Crystalline Elves were driven underground when the Null elves began trying to eradicate magic and hunted the Geo Elf tribes nearly to extinction. They have found a way to channel their power into crystals and use them as weapons. They power they store in the crystals can be discharged like an energy weapon as well, something normal Geo Elves can't do.

Volt Elf Skin tone: Yellow - Gold. Like many of the other elf races, Volt Elves were hunted by the Null elves. They retreated into the mountains where they could practice their magic in peace. Volt Elves can control electricity and are adept with two-handed weaponry.

The Silent Knights: Not actually a race, but a specialized group of mercenaries. They work in secret and are trained in the most deadly forms of elvin martial arts. They are stealth and cunning like ninjas and never make a sound. Frequently Shadow Elves are known to join for their natural stealth abilities. They stick to a very strict code of honor and have taken up a side against the Null Elves and their attempts to eliminate magic. Little is known about the inner workings of their brotherhood, but most know not to cross them.

The Orcs, the savage race, the wild folk, the dark people. These creatures are each as varied from each other as they are the other races, each of their peoples different in a myriad of ways and makes each and every one of them stand out clear as day. They are tall, far taller than elf or man, nary a one standing below six foot with a few notable exceptions and they are rarely less than two foot broad at the shoulders they are great beings of strength and muscle that few beings dare to contend with.

Their patron God is the Dar Harvin, a grim being of merciless disposition even to his own children. There are many depictions of this being, from a great and powerful Orc with gnashing teeth and great talons, to an oddly beautiful being, reminiscent of an Elf with braided silver hair running down his back. All of the depictions of the Dar Harvin however all boil down to the same truth, their God is cynical, quick to anger and quicker still to grow to boredom.


Great Orcs - The first and eldest race of Orcs. These ancient beings are giants, far taller and broader than any of their descendant races they tower over nearly all living beings. Heavily built and with a deadly cunning belying their size these massive brutes were able to form vicious clans in ages past that terroried all they came across. In recent years they have vanished from the world and aside from one or two sporadic and rare sightings are believed to be all but extinct from the world.

Black Orcs - The first descendant of the Great Orcs, the Black Orcs were tall, dark of skin and cruel in nature. Once the slaves of their Great Orc cousins they eventually broke away to form their own independant empire which spanned for league upon endless league. Legends say that the Black Orcs were the first true Necromancers and Warlocks, dabbling in dark and powerful magics in a less enlightened time. Whatever the legends say none now can confirm for there are no more Black Orcs and none can say for why.

Grey Orcs - None now remember a time before the terror of the Grey Orcs. They may not be the most savage of their races but they are both the most numerous and the most widespread, with ashen skin and savage tribal traditions, these Orcs search far and wide for battle, plunder and conflict. All across the stretch of what was once the Empire of the Black Orcs can these beasts be found in dozens upon dozens of conflicting tribes, once or twice a century rising up behind a promising leader to bring their wrath upon the other races.

Demi Orcs - As their name suggests these Orcs are smaller than they Grey forefathers and whilst they still hold a great deal of their strength despite being the shortest of the Orc races they posses a fair deal amount of cunning. It is no wonder then that Demi Orcs find themselves perfectly at home in the cities of the other races, having no true home of their own. Oddly enough a good deal of Demi Orcs become magic users of no small skill and are often taken in by Grey Orc tribes to supplement their far weaker magicians.

Kings Orcs - Whilst they are the descendants of the Black Orcs they have none of their cruelty, their lost for power or their ambition to dominate. Instead, beating beneath their orange flesh is a proud heart and a need to serve. They are warriors for a cause that is never their own, feeling compelled to serve those who would lead them. Oftentimes they serve as the warriors and guards of temples or vaults of wealth, serving openly and willingly

Crimson Waste Orcs - Once, long ago, these Orcs were a part of a company of mercenaries who were dispatched into the Blasted Wastes to destroy a gathering host of Grey Orcs. They succeeded in their mission against all odds and yet, rather than return to society they instead headed deeper within the sands and ruined dirt of the Wastes, hunting down the Grey Orcs that lurked within. Now their descendants lurk within those dunes, skin turned a deep scarlet from their long exposure to the sun, the few resources turning them primal, savage and hostile to all outsiders. They rarely escape from the prison has become their home in any great number, but when they do it is with fire and steel and anger that cannot be contained.

Blasted Orcs - By comparison, these are the most pitiful of all the Orc races, they are thin, hunched over and a pale green from poor nutrition. These disgraced beings dwell within caves and hidden ravines within the Blasted Waste, eking a living out of what they can scavenge and scrape from those that have yet to fall to the wrath of the larger and more powerful Crimson Waste Orcs. One advantage they do have over their aggressors is their mages, though rare they are usually far more powerful than any of the Orcish peoples. Were it not for their physical frailty they would no doubt have long reclaimed their desert home.

Fair Orcs - Though they can claim their descent from the Grey Orcs, little remains for any to truly see a lineage. They are thinner and weaker than their southern cousins and white of skin, living high in the northern parts of the world, enduring the cold and the wind of the endless winter. They are rangers, mountaineers and soothsayers and only come south for trade, never for war. They are a rare sight indeed to see south of the northern snows outside of winter.

High Orcs - The youngest and perhaps most arrogant of the Orcish people. They, like the Fair Orcs, are too children of the Grey Orcs though they seem to have broken away from their forebears entirely, their blue skin marking them out clearly. Where their progenitors praise strength the High Orcs praise magic. Each of their kind is born with an innate skill in the magical arts, meaning all but a select unlucky few are spell wielders of some form or another. Though all Orcs are indeed hardy people, needing little in the way of eat or sleep, the High Orcs are something different. By their inborn connection to magic they can siphon it away from sources of mana, using it instead to sustain themselves meaning they can survive for weeks on end without food or sleep should they have enough of a supply of mana.