WRETCHED
Every being that is known as Mankind is inherently evil from birth. Humans, Dwarves, Mosquitans, etc. The difference between what separates Humanity (Humans and Demi-Humans) from Wretched Beings, is how they seek to rectify this inherent evil. Humanity will typically feel remorse for an act committed which causes harm to themselves or others. Wretched beings are simply not hardwired to think this way. They are more akin to beasts, feeling zero remorse for their actions. There are a very rare few wretched beings who are born with a conscience and the ability to feel remorse and make amends, but the vast majority simply act without caring for the consequences.
HIGHDONIAN ELVES
A lanky, spindly race of humanoids with pale grey or purplish bodies and long, pointed ears.
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True Elves are from a distant continent to the far west known as Aelith. Eons ago, before recorded history, a migration of true elves traversed the vast oceans and landed on the continent central to this setting, Highdonia. After thousands of years and generations, the story of elves' homeland faded from fact to fiction, as did their cultural identity. Highdonian Elves, as they are known now, are just like any other human, born into a region or kingdom and adopting human culture. Highly ostracized for their appearance, Highdonian elves have succumbed to the same lack of remorse for the inherent sin of Humanity that defines other wretched beings such as Blemmyae or Mosquitans. Though very rarely, some Highdonian Elves may be born with a conscience and seek forgiveness for the sinful acts they commit through life, this is rare, and most simply commit evil deeds without feeling what they have done is wrong.
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Highdonian Elves are slender to the point of being bony. They often have black, grey, pale, white or purple eyes, and have pure white, silver or light grey hair. This is seen by scholars as a symptom of exposure to the Atribyss, a twisted and evil realm from which some believe Highdonan Elves are from -and as a result, generations of humoral imbalance of Black Bile.
MOSQUITANS
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“Where there’s mud, there’s Mosquitans.”
Mosquitans inhabit every continent and every nation in Oddegar. They are ubiquitous and almost synonymous with the word “mud.” They are inherently evil by nature, but an exceedingly rare few are known to be friendly and can even speak coherent Common Highdonian with their wings. Mosquitans are mostly found in swamps, wetlands, bogs, marshes and anywhere else which is naturally wet and muddy.
A wretched race of hairy mosquito humanoids which capture livestock and humans alike to be harvested as living blood bags. Mosquitan spawn are laid as eggs in mud, sucking nutrients from the soil until they emerge as a fully-grown adult with an insatiable desire for blood. Most Mosquitans are born male with disheveled and malformed wings that cannot be used for flight. In their primitive society wings are a status symbol, with larger and stronger wings correlating directly to one’s position in the hierarchy of Mosquitan clans. A rare few are born with functional wings that give the ability to “hop-fly” a distance of about 10 meters before landing again. These Mosquitan Hopflies are highly respected by their own people, often given the first pick of food and looted armaments. They tend to wear heavier armour and wield lances or spears to impale their victims from above (far right image). Female Mosquitans are exceedingly rare, and are seen as queens and regents in the matriarchal Mosquitan society. These females do little during the day, as servants bring them food and tend to their needs so they can focus on laying as many eggs as possible. The lowest and most wretched of these servants are relegated to the role of Mudwalkers and given the thankless task of planting the thousands and thousands of eggs laid by female Mosquitans into the mud to incubate. Mudwalkers are bound with organic cordage to long wooden stilts that help them traverse the mucky fields in which they sew the young.
Mosquitans tend to camouflage themselves in order to ambush their unwitting prey. While it is believed that most Mosquitan warbands will seek only livestock such as cows, goats, sheep and swine for their primary sustenance, far too many of these wretched beings thirst for the higher quality blood found within the good races of humankind. It can be difficult to hear a hunting pack of Mosquitans as they use the humming of their frail wings to communicate with each other. The high pitched whining forms a primitive language that cannot be understood by any other race.
Mosquitans are known to scavenge for arms, armour and equipment, but are capable of rudimentary crafting when needed. They possess basic knowledge on smelting and smithing, crafting weapons and armour from a material known as bog iron, which has little use when compared to forged iron or steel. They have also created a more commonly used material known as mudglass, a brown and brittle obsidian-like material which is used extensively in the creation of low end weapons and weapon components such as spearheads, blades, war dart tips and arrowheads.
The life of a single Mosquitan is considered worthless, even to their own kind, but a group of Mosquitans can be incredibly deadly. Do not think you will have the good fortune of facing one in single combat, which would be an assured victory, for there is never only one. What they lack in constitution they make up for in numbers.
BLEMMYAE
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“Wet dog with a foul, moldy undertone. The unmistakable stench of Blemmyae.”
Blemmyae are native to the untamed wildernesses, often hiding in the darkness of a cave, or a particularly dense copse of trees. They are too stupid to know of morality, but their actions are undeniably evil. Unwitting travelers heed caution, lest you find yourself bludgeoned to death by a pack of headless men, then roasted over a fire and eaten.
A contemptible race of headless men with foul visages protruding from their breast, known to wander the wilderness until they find any living creature to cook and eat. A coarse coat of matted hair covers their upper arms, torso, and thighs, barely concealing inhumanly strong muscles. Barrel chested and with arms like tree trunks, these creatures are capable of ripping a man cleanly in half with their bare hands. Fortunately, their lack of head seems to indicate a lack of brain as well. Blemmyae are not known for their ability to plot and plan and most can barely formulate words beyond the simplest of Common Highdonian known by toddlers. They are rarely observed in groups of more than five, seemingly preferring to live together in small parties rather than large communities. They make their dwellings in the many caves and caverns found within the dense wooded areas in the untamed wilderness of the Highdonian continent and prefer to hunt and gather in the woods during the day.
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Most Blemmyae are known for using large rocks or tree branches as makeshift weapons to incapacitate or kill travelers. They are too simple minded to have mastered the craft of metalsmithing and tend to scavenge and loot for arms and armor, though they know not how to make proper use of it. It has been rumored, however, that packs of dangerous Blemmyae that frequent the edges of the wilderness have been successful in their attempts to modify and wear human armor.
FALLEN
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Angels who grew resentful of the gods during the Great Dragon War and were cast out of Heaven, forced to live in the subterranean shadows of Oddegar for fear of being turned into a pillar of salt at the touch of sunlight. These creatures resemble angels in vague silhouette, but it is there where the similarities end. Their wings are black and mottled with a patchwork of ragged feathers barely capable of flight.
URCHEONS
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A mysterious race of men whose hair and body hair has grown into oversized quills. They are very antisocial, so much so that as soon as they are of age they leave their families often to never speak to them again.
NEOTOMANS
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A wretched race of humanoid rat men, created in the festering sewers of the city of Gillesport, the Capital of Valeria. They are about knee height and very agile.
CURSED
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A cursed, irreversible plague spread through contact with money causes the afflicted to slowly grow obsessed with gold as well as many coloured scales, often black and a tail. No person is ever born cursed but it is something gained afterwards.