Western Races

The Westlands are populated by Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Halflings.

Humans
The Humans of the Westlands are extremely diverse. They range in appearance from dark to fair skinned with just as many shades of hair and eye color.
 * Humans of Kalamar
 * Kalamarans are proud and patriotic. Everyone else knows they are just puting on airs. Kalamarans are diverse and, despite the way they think of themselves, they are divided by their lust for glory and power. Kalamarans from the North are generally of medium height with fair skin, hair colors ranging from orange to blonde to pale brown, and have blue, green, or hazel colored eyes. They are industrious and cosmopolitan, readily integrating and adapting the customs of other cultures and races. Of all the Northerners, the residents of Kalamar are the most involved in Elven culture, and are crude businessmen and know how to get the job done. Southerners are tough and usually tall. They have darker skin, usually nearing black, dark brown to black curly hair, and dark eyes. They are travellers, explorers, adventurers and are excellent sailors.

Elves
The Elves of the Westlands are native to the expansive temperate rainforests of Manathere in the southwest corner of the continent. Their homeland is a place of majestic beauty with towering, snowcapped mountains forming an natural wall enclosing hundreds of miles of thick coniferous forests. These forests are so vast that elven cities are built into the trees, some nearly a mile above ground.

Elves are proud and imperious. They tend to confuse benevolence and arrogance, and are condescending towards the other, lesser, races. In recent history, the Elven nation grew tired of watching their Human cousins kill eachother over land that could be shared. Realizing they were the only ones who could help the Humans find peace, the Elven nation led armies to their neighboring Human countries, and conquered them in order to harbor in a new age of peace and prosperity for the whole continent.

Halfings
The Halflings of the Westlands originate in the Inlands of Kalamar. Scholars beleive they developed alongside Humans as a race, although the two are distinct species, unlike Humans and Elves. The Halflings of the Inlands are nomadic and extremely humble. Their hospitality is second to none, and tribes of Halflings often take in wanderers while travelling the grassy expanse of the Inlands, inviting them to sleep in their wagons and partake in grand feasts.

Halflings revel in their rich cultural heritage, and are particularily fond of bright, unsettling colors. A Halfling caravan is easily spotted from miles away because of their distinct red, yellow, and dark green wagons(as well as clothes and anything else they can paint) which they use as family homes, cousins and generations living together. These wagons are generally about 4 feet off the ground and around 12 feet high, with a length around 25-30 feet and multiple floors. They lumber along, pulled by oxen native to the region, on massive wheels.

Despite how pleasant Halflings are, most Human settlements look down on Halflings, and consider them outcasts and thieves. Many towns even go as far as to close their gates when they spot a Halfling tribe in the distance.