Goblin: A race of Shadowkin that descended from the lost clans of the Dwarves. Goblins are short, scrawny, potbellied Shadowkin.

Golem: Enchanted automatons originally created by the Scribkin, golems have been refined and adapted to serve many useful purposes across Arth.

Gremlins: A race of Shadowkin with both feline and lizard-like qualities, once known as Clan Remlon, or Moon Gnomes. Gremlins are known for their inquisitive nature, their mastery of bioengineering, and their tenuous grasp of ethics.

Griffin: It is said that a griffin is a lion with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle, but the Zoological Society of Monchester has determined that a griffin is, in actuality, a Giant Eagle with a lion’s butt.

Halfling: Halflings are Gnomes of Clan Haughlin. They have round features, pot bellies, and curly brown hair (even on the tops of their feet.) While generally good-natured, Halflings are averse to manual labor, or indeed anything that isn’t comfortable. Unfortunately, they’re often very comfortable with petty theft.

Hardvaark: A ground-dwelling monster with a long, pig-like snout and a thick, metallic carapace. Its tenacious nature made it the namesake of one of the Freedlands’ most prestigious universities.

Heroes’ Guild: An international organization of professional adventurers who specialize in monster slaying, treasure acquisition, hostage retrieval, and more. The Heroes’ Guild is among the largest and most powerful organizations on Arth. Its wealth rivals that of the city-states of the Freedlands, and even some small countries.

High Magic: The elemental energy woven through the universe, high magic is called the great weave. High magic is divided into two sides—solamancy and noctomancy.

Human: Y’know. Humans. Originally mixed-race men, the first Humans were children of Gnomes and Elves and Sten. In time, they became so common that they married amongst themselves and spread throughout Arth. Now they are the most populous race of Man, outnumbering all of the old races combined.

Issan: A legendary Elven Champion of Tandos in the War of Betrayal, notable for slaying the Dark Prince’s first incarnation.

Kobold: Kobolds are a diminutive breed of Demi-Gnoll, standing just below a Human’s knee in height. They have big eyes, a short muzzle, thin limbs, and a severe case of small dog syndrome.

Lawyer-monks of Adchul: A reclusive sect of monks who believe that discipline, law, and study represent a non-exclusive method to obtain enlightenment, with no guarantee of enlightenment or of any other goods and services made by said monks.

Leviathan: A legendary sea monster said to be born of the ultimate evil.

Liche: A mage that rises from the grave through necromancy and extensive planning. Liches are the most powerful form of undead.

Low Magic: The oldest laws of the universe, the rules of life and death, love and hatred, blood and bone.

Mankind, Man, Races of Man: Legends say the Creator made the four races of Man—the Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, and Sten—to make Arth more interesting, and has regretted it ever since.

Mannon: Malice incarnate, the ancient foe of the Creator who deceived Mankind, created the Shadowkin, and even corrupted some of the gods in ages past. Depending on the temple one visits, it is said that Mannon is either dead, in hiding, or a little bit of him lives in all of our hearts.

Mage: A person able to see and weave high magic, usually through years of dedicated study and social isolation.

Magic: The essential forces of the universe as understood by those who fiddle with them. Magic is divided into high and low magic.

Mercenary: A killer for hire. Specifically, mercenaries are the killers for hire that are not professional heroes. Assassins, soldiers, thugs, goons: they all fall under the general headline of “mercenary.” While more common than professional heroes, mercenaries are less regulated. With some assassins and thugs aside, they’re generally thought to be weaker as well.

Monstrous Races: Humanoids bred for various combat roles by Mannon and Noros to fight in the War of Betrayal, the monstrous races are distinguished from Shadowkin in that they didn’t descend from the races of Man. Examples include Ogres, doppelgangers, and lizardmen.

Musana: Musana is the Elven goddess of light and life. She encourages purity and grace, and honors simple living. Musana’s high ideals make her popular, especially among the Order of the Sun, but many followers often misunderstand her teaching: Musana’s most famous stories depict her humbling those followers who think themselves more pious than others. She is twin sister to Alluna, the Elven goddess of the moon.

Naga: A race of Shadowkin with serpentine traits, Naga were once Clan Nagata, the Iron Gnomes. They resemble scaled men and women from the waist up, but their lower halves are those of serpents.

Necromancer: While all noctomancers can touch the shadowy side of high magic that binds the dead, the word necromancer is reserved for those who have created undead for nefarious purposes.

Noctomancer: A member of the second great order of mages, the Order of the Moon. Noctomancers are Humans and Gnomes that can weave the elements of air, earth, and shadow.

Noros: Once the Gnomish god of dreams, Noros became Mannon’s greatest lieutenant.

NPC: A Noncombatant Paper Carrier is a Shadowkin or monster who has secured noncombatant papers, removing his, her, or its status as a F.O.E. and thereby preventing professional heroes from killing them (legally).

Omnimancer: A mage who wields both solamancy and noctomancy. Omnimancers once comprised the third great order of mages, the Order of Twilight, but they have fallen from grace. Now, omnimancers are the spell casting equivalent of lepers, living on the margins of society.

Orc: A race of Shadowkin, Orcs were once Elves that sided with Mannon. Hulking, bucket-jawed, green-skinned, and ferocious, Orcs have a war-torn history and a legacy of brutality.

Order of the Moon: See noctomancer.

Order of the Sun: See solamancer.

Order of Twilight: See omnimancer.

Owlverine: All the deadly ferocity of an owlbear, packed into a beast no bigger than an owlhound.

Ogre: One of the monstrous races, Ogres are like clubs: big, simple, and made for violence.

Poor Man’s Quiver: An enchanted quiver that always contains exactly one enchanted arrow, no matter how many are pulled from it. After purchasing one, any man would be poor.

Rank (Heroes’ Guild): There’s no way to measure the value of a life, except the life of a professional hero, in which case their rank is an effective metric. As a hero attains ranks in different classes by killing things, it’s essentially a measure of how deadly, and therefore how valuable, a hero is.

Scarg: A vaguely humanoid bat-like creature, the origins of scargs are unknown. Some say they’re naturally occurring monsters, while others say scargs are a monstrous race or a Gremlin experiment gone wrong. They come in many varieties and breeds, most of which are more annoying than threatening to a professional hero.

Scribkin: The Gnomes of Clan Tinkrin, or Scribkin, stand half as tall as most Humans, with stocky builds, bulbous noses, and thick, bushy hair. Industrious and curious, Scribkin are Arth’s most innovative inventors, enchanters, and engineers.

Shadowkin: Legends hold that by the Third Age, many of Arth’s people followed Mannon or the gods loyal to him. Before launching the War of Betrayal, Mannon and Noros corrupted these lost people into more aggressive, poetically ironic shadows of their former selves.

Slaugh: Picture a Gnome-sized frog walking on its haunches. Now imagine it has a foul temperament and a fouler odor. Technically, they’re Shadowkin descended from the Gnomes of Clan Slaughin, but many other Shadowkin are loathe to admit as much.

Solamancer: A member of the first great order of mages, the Order of the Sun. Solamancers are Humans and Elves that can weave the elements of fire, water, and light.

Sten: The great traitors. Legends say that members of the fourth race of Man were long considered aloof and enigmatic before they followed the traitor god Al’Thadan and colluded with Mannon. Gray-skinned and as tall as Elves and as broad as Dwarves, Sten were masters of low magic. The Agekeepers confirm that they were wiped out in the War of Betrayal.

Tandos: The Elven god of war and glory, Tandos is the greatest son of Al’Thadan and Al’Matra. It was he who finally struck down his traitorous father, and it was Tandos’ servants who defeated the Sten. Today, he rules over the pantheon as the divine regent in the place of his mother, who is unfit for rule.

Tinderkin: The Gnomes of Clan Kaedrin, Tinderkin are taller than any other Gnomes, standing a little taller than even a Dwarf. They are lithe, graceful figures with sharp, slender features. Tinderkin are nomadic, traveling in small, familial bands. They take their name from the fires they build for nightly gatherings, which are often elaborate visual spectacles.

Troll: Trolls are massive, apelike creatures, the corrupted remnants of the now-extinct Sten. A Troll is a gray-skinned Shadowkin with a flat, broad-nostrilled face and a shaggy coat of thick fur. They have peerless regenerative abilities and can shrug off mortal blows or regrow limbs within minutes. Originally bred for war and killing, they are regarded as good for little else.

Undead: The bodies and/or spirits of fallen mortals, animated by foul magic to haunt and/or hunt the living. They take many forms, including ghosts, ghouls, liches, skeletons, vampires, wraiths, and zombies.

Ward: A magical barrier, shield, or other protective spell woven by mages.

Wizard: A title given to male mages. Its counterpart, witch, fell into disuse during the Age of Darkness.

Wood Gnome: The most diminutive of Gnomes, members of Clan Fengeld stand just over most men’s ankles. They grow long beards, but all of their hair tends to get lost in the tangle of pelts and scraps they wear. They’re fiercely territorial and will often refuse to surrender land even after another race has built a city atop it. Their squatting habits have led many modern citizens to regard them as a particularly obnoxious form of vermin, and one that is remarkably difficult to get rid of.

Wynspar: The mighty mountain that Andarun is set into. It is riddled with caves, tunnels, dungeons, and various other dark places for monstrous horrors to lurk.