The Lore of Treias

These dark elves are called so due to most of them being some dark shade of color ranging in hues of violet to blue. Some are paler, even to the point of matching a noon time sky, but the majority can easily blend into the night. While there are non Otii elves with very dark skin, it's likely that Otii are given the title also due to the fact that they live in a land of eternal night, cause by a magical atmosphere that blocks out the majority of sunlight, as well as the massive treetop canopies that cover the entire land. The Otii are built for life in darkness.

Aside from their dark purple-black skin, most Otii are also either born with or develop dark markings on their face, usually near the eyes. No two Otii have perfectly matching markings, though blood relations might have similar shapes or placements. They can live upwards of 2,000 years, though they also have a magical means of peacefully ending their current cycle by giving their spirit back to The Source, a ritual usually used only with the elderly, sick, and disabled (usually in such a way that is terminal). The Otii have zero qualms with death as a natural part of the cycle of life.

These berry goats average around 3 to 4 feet tall when full grown. Their bodies are covered in the leaves of whatever berry they grow, except for their neck, face, and legs. They typically have a small bunch of much larger leaves on the top of their head (usually between the horns) that do not grow fruit and are solely for collecting sunlight. The "fur" beneath the leafy growth is more akin to moss, which helps keep the creatures well hydrated and cool in the heat, but will become more dry and act like insulating wool in colder climates. It's not impossible to create fibers for weaving/yarn/etc with the leaves and moss, but the process is tedious and labor intensive, so most farmers only use it for compost and tinder.

Both male and female bessbok grow horns, but males typically do not produce fruit at all. There are rare cases where berries will grow on a male, but the crop yield is sparse at best and the berries usually get unnoticed in their dense leafy coats or get knocked off and trampled during mating displays. Female bessbok will produce fruit in abundance once they're kids are old enough to wean from milk. Moreover, the milk of bessbok always has a slight fruity flavoring to it, matching the type of berry that grows on its body. The type of berry that grows in a herd is largely dependent on the lineage of the location. While they can travel to other climates and still produce with the right care, berry goats thrive in the climates where their berries would also typically thrive.

The miracle of magic that these creatures are, it still amazes even modern scholars that berry goats can reproduce at all. By all measurable metrics, they operate just like any other domestic livestock. Aside from the photosynthesis, they also eat and drink like a typical goat. They will often eat the leaves and berries off each other's coats, but can also be happy with other types of vegan feed and even vegan composts. Feeding them with other types of food allows for collecting more of the berries for personal or commercial use. While there are no truly wild berry goats in the world, there are occasional colonies of strays in favorable climates.

Across the world, berry goats produce many different types of berries. Most are true berries, with only two varieties being aggregate fruits; the cloudberry and the salmonberry. It's unknown if any new fruits could be produced without the use of dubious magical experimentation, so the calculated total seems to be somewhere around 15 to 18 types of berries. The different types by latest census is as thus:

They are built strong and aggressive and most importantly vibrant in every emotion. They consider themselves protectors of their ways. They honor strength above all else, but not just the physical. Strength of body, mind, and spirit are all equally revered and celebrated in orcish cultures. If one can't embody all three, that doesn't make them weak, that just means they're strength lies elsewhere.

Orcs are typically very large, with tusks and rough skin and can build muscle very easily. The tend to live in scattered villages and strongholds even in modern times, though the structures and technologies themselves can differ from tribe to tribe and between nationalities. They don't live quite as long as most other races, maybe as far as 70 to 80 years in modern and more peaceful times (90 if they're lucky, maybe more if they're magically inclined), while the average for the more adventurous runs about 50 years.

Orcs as a whole are less likely to inherit natural magics than even humans (humans are 50/50), and so don't have a huge appreciation or understanding of it on a societal scale, but do elevate their own mages as touched by the ethereal and often as more wise in spiritual dealings. Orcs vary in appearance across natural biomes, with the most well known groups being: greenland, rust, ashen, and sea orcs. The most common are greenland, also known as green skin orcs, though they range from green to grayish to brown. They're what one first thinks of when you think of orcs.

Rust orcs, typically mountainous, range in red skin tones and are even larger than most, some as tall as 12 feet. Not many ever meet a red orc, but those that do say they seem to be much more calm than the typical orc. Maybe their sheer size is enough deterrent without aggression

Ashen orcs are smaller in size, more swift and lean, and skin tones range in grayscale. Even being smaller than greenland orcs, they're still typically as tall or taller than adult humans. They're known to inhabit deserts and tundras around the world.

Sea orcs are just that, orcs of the sea. The most rare of all, they are amphibious and inhabit coastlines and islands. Skin range in blues and deep greens, and sometimes with the most colorful hair and eyes, like various corals. They're typically master sailors and fishers.

While outside of their own cultures orcs may seem standoffish and mean, get to know them and they are incredibly vibrant and strong in emotional intelligence. They do nothing halfway, everything is all or nothing, including battle, loyalty and devotion, and celebration. Orcs are loud, orcs are blunt, orcs don't dance around things and say what they mean. They fight hard and love strong and take every day as if it could be the last. While not all orcs have tattoos, they are VERY culturally significant. Different tattoos and different colors mean different things, and to insult an orcs tattoos is to insult them, their people, and their traditions. Bone jewelry is also fairly significant in more traditionally structured orc tribes.

A couple new additional things I’ve recently thought to make canon:

A very large percentage of orcs are allergic to cats. No one really knows why, as it doesn’t seem to be directly hereditary, but it’s so incredibly common that they have sayings and metaphors about it. This is also why orcs largely raise wolves and hogs as pets instead of any kind of feline large or small. Like any allergies, it can be very mild to severe so an individual’s tolerance can still allow them to be around cats. Allergy remedies in modern times can basically negate it.

Orcs often eat bones and eggs with the shell on due to their powerful jaws and strong teeth. They can eat raw eggs without getting sick (very strong immune systems and immunity to many diseases other peoples are vulnerable to) and it's kind of like a crunchy gusher. They drink a LOT of milk cause their beasts of burden produce a lot of excess milk and it's good for their tusks.

(The center of the pic is a half-orc and my own orcsona c:)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Dec. 21 2025:

Orcs are the people that are closest to nature. As a whole, they tend to be most in tune with nature. Hunting, gathering, ethical farming, cooking, building, orcs are extremely grateful for the abundance of resources in nature and much of their lifestyle is dictated by living in harmony with nature.

Work ethic and natural conservation are huge aspects of most orcish cultures, which is in part why many still live mostly or solely off of the land even in modern times. Some modern technologies are accepted as part of their lifestyles as long as it doesn't pollute or disrupt the natural ways, though what constitutes as natural way can be hotly debated.

The term Brownie is the accepted Trade Common Language term for them, but they tend to prefer to be called by their full family name and title, as a sign of respect. It’s a common way to refer to gnomes of any nationality/society/lineage in general (as opposed to other societies where it's usually only used in formal occasions/nobility). To say "these are the brownies that live in my house" is considered highly disrespectful as it's a shared home. Many in modern times don't mind calling them neighbors or roommates instead of lengthy titles, but it's still rude to declare a home shared with brownies to be the home of JUST the larger dwellers. Brownies take pride in their craftsmanship, and often trade their skills for a space they can call their own.

They’re typically very warm hearted, helpful, and highly magical as all fae are. They require very little of their neighbors, being very resourceful and skilled in many trades, but to require some type of trade of goods or services if they’re are to help beyond their own needs.

Brownies usually don’t grow taller than about 12 inches tall, but can be as tiny as 3 inches in height. Their tails are partially prehensile but seem to mostly aid in balancing while carrying many things. Despite their diminutive size, they can easily care 2 or 3 times their weight.

Brownies love gifts from their neighbors, but a gift of clothing usually is a sign of goodbye. If a brownie family is moving out, or their neighbors are moving away, a gift of clothing is a final going away gift. It started as a brownie tradition, and continued on with neighbors after learning this aspect of their culture. Many neighbors can misunderstand the importance of gifting clothing, so usually proper manners dictate that the brownie family refuses the offer at least once if their neighbors are unaware (and explain of course).

Brownies also love stories of all kinds. Their perspective of being very small and somewhat fragile fae doesn’t usually offer much in terms of adventure and so they fuel their imaginations with the stories of others. A good story is great for trade with a brownie.

The varokka'baz, sometimes just shortened to varokka or varok (depending on location and culture) is a massive creature that stands about 7-9 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs around 3000 to 5000 pounds. It's a very dense animal, having been selectively bred for more muscle over the centuries, and does not naturally shed its fibrous coat, meaning that it needs to be manually sheared. The wild variety it typically smaller in mass with naturally shedding seasonal coats and seasonal migration patterns.

The domestic varokka'baz is typically fairly docile compared to its wild counterpart. Their cows grow much larger than the bulls, and typically outnumber bulls 2:1. This is assumed to be so that mothers can better protect their young by forming a thick wall around them, while bulls more actively attack predators with a wider range of movement. It's also been noted that bulls can get overly aggressive with calves at times, and so the much larger cows create a much more intimidating barrier than their smaller counterparts.

While both males and females have the same sturdy coiled horns, they are usually used in different ways. Mothers don't typically fight each other, but can easily fend off predators by headbutting them full force. Bulls can do the same, but additionally they will fight each other in displays of power to impress the cows during mating season.

Calves typically are born with very short coats that grow shaggy and long within four to seven months. In those first few months, they stay very close to their mothers not only for milk, but also the warmth of their fully grown out coats. Domesticated varok are typically kept indoors during harsher conditions to minimize mortality rates, and they don't start getting shorn until at least their third or fourth summer.

(Above example farthest right in front is half elemental and has power over fire.)

HOWEVER, this doesn't mean they can't use ANY magic.

Dwarves can use enchanted items and even harness natural energies of the world with their technology. A dwarven mage is very different from an elven mage, as they really a lot more on science, physics, and engineering for just about everything in their societies.

Through all history, dwarves were at the forefront of engineering and trade, learning to use the resources of their lands and strength of their hands to create large scale trade empires, exchanging their labor and expertise for enchantments and other foreign goods.

They aren't at all insular peoples and make up a very large portion of all big time world traders and business leaders.

Trade Common, the most universally used language in-world, relies heavily on Dwarvish Trade, with some human and elvish trade language mixed in.

Dwarvish technology is the most advanced non-magical tech known across the entire planet. While magictech is abundant on Treias, dwarven tech is regarded as very high end and impressive due to its LACK of magic use. Dwarves have made great strides in providing for those who are magically inert, and enjoy pushing the envelope as far as possible to match or exceed the possibilities of magictech.

They're very open to information and hardware trade, though some traditionalists get overly proud and stubborn if one tries to "improve" their work with magic.

They originate from mountainous and ore rich lands and are known as the people of the stone, or stone speakers. Gems, ores, metals, minerals of most any kind are ever present in their history, society, and iconography through all of recorded history. Dwarves are typically great at discovering resource heavy mining areas all over the world and are heavily relied on for gathering and shipping construction materials in just about every society.

They are typically short and extremely hardy, normally growing lots of facial and body hair no matter their gender. Treatment of said hair and what it says about a dwarf differs among different societies, but typically a great beard is well appreciated.

Common belief about dwarvish people is that they aren't very fashionable and stick much more to practical clothing over anything else, which is wildly untrue. Dwarven fashion is taken very seriously and typically tries to merge durability and practicality with a sort of art deco beauty. Maybe a hint of brutalism. And when access to pure unrefined minerals of all kind, there's no shortage of sparkly stones for expertly crafted jewelry. Like the people themselves, everything they produce is sturdy and long lasting.

Spiritually, not many dwarves pray to gods. Maternal ancestry is the strongest bond in most dwarven cultures. The mothers, grandmothers, eldest sisters, etc. of dwarven families are often seen as the matriarchs, strong and unyielding, kind and caring. Passing traits and lessons through one's maternal line is very important to dwarves. It's more lax in modern times with the understanding that not everyone has a mother or other matronly family in their life.

Dwarves, on average, live to around 500-600 years. They can have rather large families with siblings born MANY years apart, and most planned families do space their children some 10, 20, even 40 years or more apart. They're in no rush. They also have no legally established marriage system, and just one family can have several mothers that guide them.

Notes:

While humans as a whole may seem fairly average among all the different peoples, they do have a couple of notable traits that set them apart: their ambitious drive and their ability to make friends of anyone and anything.

Barring individual differing personalities and habits, humans as a whole are seen as strong willed and fast learning, and more importantly to some, steadfast bonding. Sapient beings, wild and domestic animals, even inanimate objects, humans bond emotionally with everything.

On average, humans live from 150 to 180 years, putting them as being longer lived than Orcs but shorter lived than elves. Even without as long a lifespan as the latter or as robust a body as the former, humans achieve more, faster, than most others.

Elves of all kind are second only to certain fae in terms of magical ability, and are not themselves considered fae but possibly fae adjacent/descendant.

Their natural ties to magic energy means most are born with innate ability, usually aligned with one or two of the primary elements (fire, water, earth, air), and possibly secondary elements that bridge between them (lightning, plant, ice, etc).

Occasionally, an elf's ability may align with supernatural elements (light, healing, darkness, shadow, mind, physicality) that are usually associated with otherworldly beings. It's theorized these abilities come from fae ancestry and the types of relations fae had with others.

It's rare for any elf to be able to manipulate more than 2 elements naturally (not counting dark elves, that's a different thread), though they may later learn as many as their individual capacity and drive allows. Even more rare, but possible, is an elf born magically inert.

As a whole, elves make up largest population by race in the world. They live 300-400 years on average, their lifespans longer than humans but shorter than dwarves.

There are many different beliefs among elves on anything from their origins to their appearances to their connections to nature, but some of the most common are these:

1. An elf with longer ears and/or less body hair is closer, genetically, to their probable fae ancestors.

2. Elves have been around much longer than most other sapient races, excluding fae races.

3. While much of who and what they are has a very probable connection to fae ancestry, they are not themselves actually fae.

There's legend of the first elves springing forth from something-probably-fae as opposed to a natural evolution line. Actual evidence has ancient elven remains that date back much farther than most other sapient races.

While not universal, common perception of elves from a non-elven perspective is that they can be a bit self righteous as a people. They make up a majority of the world's political leaders, and a good chunk of important religious leaders. A lot of their moral doctrine comes from a belief in The Four (actual name for them varies around the world) and the balance of elements that each of the four represents. Depending on location, there's a lot of different meanings but a mostly universal respect for The Four.

Like with dwarves and humans, Elvish Trade language makes up some part of Universal Trade Common. Though their contribution isn't the biggest factor (compared to dwarves), they tend to hold pride in the fact that most of the world relies on some aspect of elvish culture in some way.

Additional information:

It's a common practice for transgender elves to choose a name that is a palindrome. While the parameters for transness are a bit different due to elven understanding of gender, there are still those that do change from what is typically assigned at birth.

Even so, they are openly accepted in every known elven culture, and the palindrome naming convention was something that just became popular among trans elves.

Examples: Irori, Massam, Kenek, Lakokal, Jasaj.

Extra notes:

Treias has two moons, technically, with one being far smaller and further away, estimated to breach orbit after roughly 16,000 years (relatively short time on a galactic scale). It has very little effect on tides, if any, and zooms across the sky at a much faster rate than its larger companion. The larger moon is to scale with Earth's moon, though a bit closer than ours. It behaves exactly the same, too, being rotation locked to that only one side is ever facing the planet.

While most of Treias is located on the planet's surface and within its oceans, there is a small section of the planet that floats high above the ground and, as far as anyone knows, always has. The Celestial Sky Islands mostly stay in place, with a small amount of movement due to some kind of combination of weather, gravitational pull, magnetic field influence, and just straight up magic. The archipelago known as Falter sits just barely above the ocean and seems to be occasionally pushed around by stormy weather, making it the most mobile of the sky islands.

The magic of the world seems to have two poles, much like thethe planet's magnetic field, but in a different location. The Core Pole is thought to be the source of all magic of the world, and is also from where the enigmatic Otii people originate. The highest concentration of magic and magical ability is centralized here. On the opposite end, the Null Pole is situated on largely Dwarven land, at which the very center is completely devoid of magic. No one is sure why this is. Many think that magic skulls just flow naturally everywhere, but the Dwarven nations in the Null Pole have adapted very well to the lack of magic and magical ability.