So these are the dominant races within Elementum. Those that are playable will be in bold, while non-playable will be in italic.
Humans: Humanity is considered both a weak and a strong race. While not as physically strong as the Golems or the Merfolk, or as magically powerful as the Sidhe, humanity is viewed with respect for their resourcefulness, ability to adapt, and overcoming obstacles through sheer willpower. While they have claimed dominion over the fifth world of Elementorum, they have spread to the other four worlds with varying levels of concentration. The ruling power for humanity for the past 500 years has been the Fortes Kingdom. Like most races (with the exception of the Sidhe and Merfolk) not all humans are born with magic. While not rare, it is certainly uncommon and it is a generally held belief that those who are born with magic were blessed by the gods. That said humans, alongside the Lupine, have the least number of mages alive. Only a couple hundred (anywhere between 160-230 for example) out of the hundreds of thousands of humans alive, are capable of working magic. Even with the small numbers though, human mages are still capable of being very powerful, though that level of skill and power takes decades of study and commitment.
Lupine: Laying claim to no single world and instead sharing three of the five, the Lupine are a race of humanoids who look very much like normal humans, however they have long, furry ears on the sides of their heads, long bushy tails, and longer canines. They are also, despite their intelligence, prone to being more animalistic, as there is still the wolf side of their nature. However, when not hunting or antagonized, they are generally quite peaceful, even friendly (if not wary). As a people, they are highly spiritual and hold a great respect for the natural world, seeing themselves as a combination between mortals and nature herself, believing in their goddess Larentia. Like Merfolk, they have the ability to commune and control animals though they can only control those that are on land, and even then they can't control animals that are rabid or whose minds have been snared by magic. Thanks to their animal half, they are faster, more graceful, and have far better senses than a human. Their culture revolves around the tribe, or "pack." Each member works as a piece of the whole, strengthening it through unity and cooperation. They are among the most loyal of any race, both to the tribe and to their mate, which they stay with for life. And they are also the most proud, submitting to no one unless they deem them worthy, in this case the Alpha Male and Female. They are also the only other race that can safely breed with humans, but there are limits. The parents must have had the union during a full moon, and even then the odds of a successful conception are low. And should a child be born to the parents, such unions have a cost; when one is successful in creating a child, the child and its human parent are shunned by the rest of human society. However, the pack of the Lupine parent will still welcome both the child, and the human parent, into the fold though there will usually be some tension between the human and the pack. Products of such unions are called Werewolves, and are seen by the Lupine as another example of their goddess power, Larentia showing how she can create beauty from two different beings. Finally, due to the wolf half of the entire Lupine race (including the Werewolves), on full moons their animalistic nature, in terms of behavior, becomes more dominant. It makes them stronger and faster, but less capable of reasoning. However, because a Werewolf has an extra amount of human in them, it is not as extreme for them, both the benefits and costs, as it is for a true Lupine. Magic among the Lupine is, like with the humans, uncommon among their kind. Normally, those with magic become either the Shaman (High Priestess/Alpha Female if female) or if a Shaman is already alive, then they become a healer. While they are fully capable of using combat magic, they are generally trained first and foremost in healing magic.
Sidhe: The Sidhe rule over Aeris, and are considered by humans to be amongst the more beautiful of the races. They appear very much like a human, albeit with naturally pointed ears, canted eyes, and all of their features more naturally beautiful than any human can ever achieve. One unique feature about them, is their wings. Resembling those of a hummingbird, the wings of the Sidhe, despite their size, are capable of lifting them into the air and flying with the grace of a hummingbird, and with greater speed. Due to their ability to fly, and their dominion over the flying islands, they are an arrogant race who look down (quite literally) on other races. They live and rule from the floating islands of Aeris, their capital being a collection of islands brought together to form what they call the "Chandelier." As a race, the Sidhe are all born with magic but that does not automatically make them the most powerful race in terms of magic. Rather, they are the most skilled with magic, each of them fully capable of understanding the "Art," as they call it, in a way few other mages outside the Sidhe ever will. Picture this; a Sidhe wizard, while lacking in raw power and brute force (like say a Basilisk mage), has greater skill and focus, and is better able to effectively counter the brute force magic attack, with a spell that uses less energy to achieve the same, if not a greater effect. They don't need to be more powerful (even if the extra power helps) to beat an opponent.
Basilisks: Basilisks are a race of humanoid lizards, bipedal and taller than the average human by a foot. More muscled than humans and far more aggressive, they have a large kingdom in the world of fire (Ignis). Like the element, it is in their nature to expand, grow, and consume. It does not make them evil really. Many of them have managed to overcome their nature and as a result are those in control, even managing to form treaties (albeit fragile ones) with human settlers who seek to build towns within Ignis. However, those same settlements often come under attack by raiding Basilisks, who have given into their nature and attack the humans for food, slaves, or valuables. These are also one of the few groups who eat other races. Even certain, high standing members of the Basilisk society buy captured slaves for food. As an entire race though, the one thing they cannot overcome is there animosity towards the Merfolk, and the rest of Aqua. It is in their nature as creatures of fire to oppose water, which is ironic given that they are fully capable of breathing underwater. However, this animosity is why they are on the brink of war with Aqua. And to add to the tensions between Ignis and Aqua, there is growing tension between Ignis and the Fortes Kingdom; while they have allowed humans to move into Ignis and form settlements, they view humans as weak beings who do not deserve to be protected, so as part of their treaty with humans they do not step in when human settlements or villages come under attack. These attacks have happened often enough that now most of Fortes has demanded that action be taken for the security of their people. Finally like humans, mages among the Basilisks is uncommon, with the numbers being within the hundreds compared to the vast majority of their race. Basilisks attribute magic in their race as a gift from the gods, and thus their mages have a great deal of power and influence in the dynasty. Typically, mages of the Basilisks are very overt, focused more on raw power than any actual skill or finesse. They can form walls of fire sure, but they can't create focused streams of heat to cut through precise targets.
Golems: A race of beings made purely of stone, golems are unique in that they are not alive in the traditional sense. They do not need to breathe, nor do they need to eat. Their society is broken up into a number of different castes, and each caste has a different size. Workers, miners, scholars, mages, and even their leadership castes, stand around six and a half feet tall. The warrior caste, devoted solely to the protection of the Golem empire, stand at an imposing eight feet in height. All Golems are made of the same type of rock though, called "Lifestone." It is located only in Terra, and even then only deep underground. It is the only type of rock that can give life to a Golem, and is thus highly valuable to Golems as a society, and guarded above all else. Lifestone deposits that contain crystals are the only sources that can create Mage caste Golems, the crystals serving as a source of magic in addition to the magically charged Lifestones. Like humans, it takes time, study, and training, for their magical talents to become powerful, but since they benefit from a lack of stamina and a need to sleep, they can train longer even the Sidhe, and thus are considered the real powerhouses among magic users.
Merfolk: Rulers of Aqua, the Merfolk actually live in giant cities beneath the ocean, ancient magic holding back the water in domes. Amphibious in nature, they resemble humans but with smooth scales covering most of their body. Also, they have webbed hands and feet to help them swim, and gills for breathing underwater. As a race, the Merfolk can all use magic, however the power and potential any individual either has or can attain is determined by rate. Even with decades of practice, a Merfolk born to the lowest caste will never be as powerful as one born to the highest caste. It has less to do with available teachers and teaching methods, and more with actual bloodlines. In essence, it truly is the strongest bloodlines and breeds, that have the highest amount of magical power among the Merfolk.One universal trait they all share though, is an ability to control sea creatures, but like the magic, it varies. A member of the higher tier could command the leviathans, while a lower class member could only ever control a shark.
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