=Races=
==Introduction==
===Humans===
The most prolific of all the races, mankind inhabits nearly ninety nine percent of all inhabited shards. They are the most diverse, posessing members of thousands of variations; they are the most adaptable, existing in the deserts, tundras, forests, even oceans; and they are the most ruthless.
*'''Imperials:''' The Palantium Empire is comprised of hundreds of races from all corners of the Void, but they all defer to the Sumil-Teten, the Imperials. Graceful, collected, and aloof, the Sumil stand out among others for their pale skin, dark hair and eyes and slender build. Bred forcefully though accidently through dozens of bloody wars and united by a powerful Queen, they have become known to be the best of the best-skilled warriors and learned scholars, potent mages and charismatic leaders.
Humans from Helsinsid are virtually identical to Imperials, leading the Empire to regard that shard as Palantium's sister. Helsinsi are usually kinder and are more charitable, however.
*'''Manes:''' The Maunu-Teten, humans not born on Palantium or of Imperial stock are considered lesser beings. They might be dark skinned savages from [[Legacy of Darkness (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Geography/Sayatai|Sayatai]], the pale blond giant-men of [[Legacy of Darkness (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Geography/Senulia|Senulia]] or industrious farm folk from [[Legacy of Darkness (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Geography/Emilios|Emilios]]. Among the Empire, Manes are considered second-class citizens, fit only for use as laborers or low-ranking soldiers.
While Imperials and Manes are cross-fertile, mixed offspring are considered Mane, although they might still be allowed to attend Imperial conventions and colleges.
The term "Mane" comes from a bastardization of the Othir word Maunu, which means "child". This moniker was given in reference to the reactions of humans brought to Palantium by explorers, awed as if children by the technologies of the Empire.
*'''Gaebs:''' The Gaebeus-Teten are the lowest class of humans in the Empire. Crossbreeds of elves, orcs, giants, outsiders; lycanthropes, undead-those who were born or who are no longer of pure human blood are condemned to live either as slaves or serfs to the Imperials, or as outcasts scrounging life on the outskirts. Indeed, as proven in the case of a certain thri-kreen warrior, non-humans may hold greater rank than the impure.
*'''Korusc-Teten:''' It is said that there are exceptions to every rule, and the breeding of men is one such case. In the Empire, the child of an angel and an Imperial is considered something of a higher being, capable of becoming a lord in his own right. Half-celestials are fawned upon at an early age, given the best of schooling and training in the hopes of joining either the military or the Union.
The most notable half-angel is Ferren Cantyle, an Old Imperial Knight and advisor to Exarch Baenes. The child of a planetar, he towers over other men and adorns his gigantic wings with gray paint to dull their appearance.
===Giants===
{{Sidebar
|The Uil Ertyol
|The Aurumari and Nephratim Empires were once the greatest power of Eliol, their kingdoms, while based in Vendes and the Nephratim Spine respectively, spanned thousands of miles, thanks to the creation of the conterminous demiplane [[Shanala, The Infinite Road (3.5e Environment)|Shanala]]. Through the Road, they could travel to the farthest corners of the world. In each instance of contact with other cultures, the giants conquered and enslaved the populace (With a few exceptions. For example, lizardfolk were deemed animals, and disregarded). A few races came willingly: like the centaurs, who revered the Aurumari to the extent of suicidal fanaticism that exists today in the customs of the Yuirefolk of Rhaeddia.
These were known as the Uil Ertyol, the children of the giant empires.
}}
The largest of the races, the giants ruled the old world before it shattered. The Aurumari and Nephratim Empires fell about three centuries before the Shattering, allowing races they had kept as slaves (like humans, raptorans and goblins) to spread and eventually control certain areas. Those giants displaced by the destruction of their civilization roamed the world, eventually settling in small tight-knit communities. With the Shattering (the ''Dam'e'ne Yhluiol'', in Ayrtol), shard ecosystems simply couldn't support these communities' needs and most died out.
The Aurumari possessed an intense karmic belief in the power of the soul. In their eyes, one's soul was something of a record of every experience that happened during each lifetime. Where one had traveled, battles fought, even lovers taken-for those who believed, these experiences could be recalled to memory. While there were no known meldshapers during the Empire's reign, every giant inherited some small amount of incarnum from their ancestors. '''DM's note:''' True giants now possess the incarnum subtype.
*'''Fire Giants:''' The fire giants of Nephratim built colonies in the deepest recesses of the earth and the highest mountain peaks. They were master smiths and craftsmen, possessed of an incredible drive to better their talent, no matter the cost or obstacle. In some sense, their motivation became their undoing.
As a testament to their achievement, the fire giants agreed to devote thousands of smiths and craftsmen, and several decades of time to build a massive demiplane that would snake through the world, creating shortcuts from one point to another. With creation of [[Shanala, The Infinite Road (3.5e Environment)|Shanala]], the Nephratim began mining operations on several other planes, using the Plane of Shadow as a way point to bring ore and gems into the Eliolan end of Shanala. God-Emperor Bethioon (the final ruler of Nephratim) guided his people in a massive stockpiling of weapons and wealth, while his warblades honed their skills terrorizing their way through the Plane of Shadow. He set up dozens of new enclaves throughout the settled realms, and he began slowing filling them with warriors and weaponry.
The Stonefall War, as he named it, was less of a war and more of mass genocide. After nearly erasing the stone giants from the world, thousands of unsettled fire giants rebelled against their leader. Bethioon and his loyalists fled to the Plane of Shadow ahead of the rebels, and to this day, their status is still unknown.
The remaining fire giants scattered, settling in the deserts and plains, where they reverted back into a nomadic tribal stage, slowly evolving into sand giants.
*'''Sand Giants:''' One small tribe of sand giants survived the Shattering in the desert known as the Chormar. The bronze skinned giants of Helsinsid have evolved into a highly spiritual society based around their warriors and an intense connection with the desert. They live by raising [[Noa, Helinsae (3.5e Monster)|noas]] for meat and clothing, collecting dew from ''haluu'' (condensation net fields that dot the shard), forging vessels out of glass for trade.
A few centuries ago, the giant goddess Amurali rose, building the first city from a ruined town she discovered buried in the sand. Amurali united the human and giant tribes of Helsinsid into a society that rivaled the Empire in political power. With the murder of Amurali, the sand giants have been once again displaced-returning to the desert to form new tribes lead by the remnants of the Il'noa, her sacred knights. These tribes hate the Empire with an undying passion, but they wait amid the sand for the right time to strike.
*'''Stone Giants:'''
===Fey===
The fey are everywhere. From the depths of Ael'Terinsin to the forests of Amone Faer, the Forlorn Folk wander each shard, keeping the balance as it was. They came from somewhere even they don't quite recall, some dark, antediluvian world of terrific proportions. Bäilhl, the fair folk call it. Hundreds of years before the rise of the giants, the fey migrated here en masse, settling the forests and plains. They were feral then, little more than beasts, hunting and slaughtering each other mercilessly.
