Name: Padoof

Race: Donkey, or more accurately, asinus loqui, or literally donkey speaking.

Appearance: Padoof stands at a moderate thirteen hands tall, right at the withers, with his head and ridiculously long ears reaching sixteen hands at their zenith. He is covered, from his soft grey nose, to his pitch black hooves in rough grey fur, with a single dark brown stripe running along his spine. Padoof’s mane and scruffy tail are of a similar dark brown, and are ragged and unkempt. The only difference between himself and the typical donkey, one might notice by a mere glance, are his highly intelligent eyes. Their black, shining pupils betraying his concealed intellect.



Characteristics: Although the typical donkeyish traits leak through into his attitude and personality, most evidently his stubbornness and laziness, Padoof proves to be is a curious, and gentlehearted beast of burden. On occasion, and when aroused by cause or whip he can shed his less favorable traits and become the toughest and most hardworking animal around, surefooted and loyal. He’s a simple soul at heart and despises being alone without a herd or master to belong too. That being said he is easily pleased, and it doesn’t take much to make him content and happy. He relishes in the simple things in life, whether that be a handful of sweet oats or a good brushing by a stable boy. As a young healthy male donkey he is strong and able to carry heavy loads over treacherous terrain, and he can deliver a powerful kick from his hind hooves as well. Alternatively he can use his power of speech to bewilder those who do not expect such things from a beast. He loves puzzles to solve, even if he’s not very good at them, and learning new words to say is his favorite pastime.

Background: Sired in the barn of an aged farmer and destined to a life at the plough and cart Padoof’s story was a unique case in terms of donkeys to say the least. The farmer who owned him didn’t know of his lucky strike, thinking only that he happened to come into the possession of the most intelligent donkey in the world. Padoof learned fast even for an ass, soon finding himself hitched to a plough and taken out into the fields to work. Beset constantly by the farmer’s curses and whip, those foul expletives were the first words Padoof learned. One day, while tilling the cabbage patches Padoof proudly unleashed a plethora of obscenities fit to cause a drunken sailor to blush. The ancient farmer, caught unawares by this miracle perished straight away from a heart attack. Grief stricken by this dreadful occurrence, and helpless to give aid Padoof was forced to sit and wait, tethered to the plough. Presently a gypsy carrying a heavy load passed by, and upon seeing Padoof and the deceased old farmer set to work creating a suitable grave. Once that was done he loaded his pack upon Padoof’s back and continued along on his journey. Poor Padoof was very confused, but he went along peacefully, not daring to speak again lest this new master toppled over like the first. For another year Padoof was bought and sold again and again, from owner to owner until at last he’d learned how to speak fairly well, only to himself of course, and came into the care of a young stable slave. This boy, mistreated by his owners found comfort tending to the animals, especially Padoof who always seemed to understand. Padoof desperately wished to talk to him, and then one night, he did.

Their conversation started out much the way you might expect, with a cry of shock leaving the boy’s mouth and a whinny of fear escaping Padoof’s. In time however they became more confident, and with patience, began understanding each other. The boy teaching, and Padoof learning all the ways of sentences, and verbs, and syllables. At first their talks were of minor things, small talk as the boy described it, but then it turned to serious, secretive whispers of rebellion, and escape. The boy hated the place, and while it seemed quite alright to Padoof he loathed seeing his friend in discomfort, and vowed to help in their flight in any way he could. Finally, one evening when the moon was all but gone from the sky they made good their schemes, stealing away likes thieves in the night. Their escape was foiled however, by the watchful overseer who noticed a slave was missing from his cot. Riding out he gave chase to the fleeing duo and proved that even a donkey with fear biting at his heels could not outrun a horse. By the morning’s hour the overseer caught them, and struck the boy from his saddle with a club. Spooked and kicked by the horse Padoof fled, deserting the boy to his fate and hating himself all the while. When at last he dared look back Padoof discovered he had gotten himself hopelessly lost. Steeling himself up Padoof set off into the wilds, determined to find his lost boy, somehow. His wanderings brought him unwillingly to Yggdrasil, harnessed by a horse merchant who’d captured him days before. The man dragged the ass along with the rest of his stock, hopping to garner a few extra pennies form the stubborn beast.

Names: Donkeys, asses, jackass, jenny, cuddy, and burro. asinus loqui.

Appearance: All donkeys, even the talking kind, are four legged furred mammals, with closed hooves, manes and tails. They resemble horses, though they are typically smaller and more surefooted then their equine cousins. They come in a multitude of colorings, from brown, to grey, and blonde. And they are typically used as draft animals, though well trained ones can be saddled and ridden. The speaking donkeys have unique features that are not perceivable to the naked eye. For instance more complex brains and vocal chords.

Characteristics: Donkeys are very well known for their stubbornness, and agitating laziness to those who wish to see a hard day’s work done. These universal traits cross over into their rarer talking kin. Due to their obscure nature and limited exposure, and typical bondage to a human masters, speaking donkeys have no culture of their own, and usually are subservient to whomever they happen to be owned by. They aren’t usually particularly intelligent and never really get many opportunities to learn. Often times they are killed for superstitious reasons the moment they dare utter a word, so most go throughout their entire lives without speaking at all.

Background: Speaking donkeys came about in a most unusual fashion several thousand years ago. A greedy king, whose title has long been forgotten once imposed his will upon a decrepit old village, demanding the people be killed and their homes razed. His violent act brought to bear the wrath of a powerful witch who lived there. She cursed the evil king and all his kin. Her curse cast upon the king’s family turned each and every one of them into an ass, and act that was supposed to end in their destruction. Her spell was incomplete however, and many of the king’s family could still speak, and think for themselves. Alas they were captured, and interbred with the donkey herds from across the kingdom, prized for their intelligence and amusing history, if not so much for their talking back. Their speech proved to be something of a recessive trait however, which soon was nearly bred out of existence. Their kind became rare indeed and was nearly all but forgotten.

Name/s
Bruni, "Longshanks"

Race
Dwarf

Appearance
Bruni is tall for a dwarf and has a wiry and muscular body, covered in tattoos. Her hairline has begun receding with old age, but her beard is still big and bushy, albeit grey. Her face, once smooth, has become haggard and wrinkled. She dresses in durable leather clothes and carries a pig mining pick for protection.

Characteristics
Honor and personal integrity is everything to Bruni. She must always look after her honor, and vigorously defend it if it is slighted. In her eyes, failing to respond to false accusations and slander is the same as admitting guilt. She is also struck with the gold sickness of the dwarves, having a hard time looking the other way when precious metal and stones are in sight. Bruni has had a long life and lots of experience as a prospector, and is as such very competent. She knows much about geology, metallurgy and smithing, as well as being fairly handy in a fight.

Background
Bruni was raised in the far away mountain hall of Fjallsaal, where she lived a mostly normal life. In her two hundredth year, however, adventure came calling and swept her away. The dragon Vondur, and old foe of the Fjallsaal dwarves and thief of the legendary hammer Hnefa, had finally been marked for death by the elders. The eldest of every family was rounded up to go into the world and complete this task, and so Bruni was sent along a pack of other greybeards. Their journey took them over hills and across lakes and had them fighting all sorts of creatures, but ultimately led to the cursed forest. Inside, the brave band of dwarves came upon a challenge even they could not master. As the first day of magic imprisonment ended, and night crept upon the party, the dwarves sought refuge in a nearby cave. Little did they know that the cave was already inhabited by a most vile and deadly creature; a basilisk. One by one her friends were turned to stone by the vicious gaze of the snake-beast and, to her shame, Bruni fled. She found her way to Yggdrasil in the days that followed, vowing revenge for the basilisk and release for her brethren.

Name/s
Okkur, Dwarf (okkuri, dwarves)

Appearance
The dwarves are a subterranean humanoid species originating from the mountains around the world. They share many characteristics with humans (two eyes and ears, a nose, a mouth, two arms and two legs) but there are many features that tell them apart. Dwarves are normally no taller than 100cm (roughly 3 feet). They are hairier than humans, and all dwarves grow big beards. It is very hard, if not impossible, for humans to tell dwarven males from females. The dwarves themselves say it’s a matter of scent.

Characteristics
These subterranean creatures have a long lifespan of around 300 years, but are considered old at 100. They can see perfectly even in complete darkness, because their eyes can register heat down to fractions of a degree. Dwarves are very sensitive to sunlight and prefer to stay indoors if possible. If not, they usually garb themselves with heavy clothes, covering as much as possible of their skin.

Dwarves are renowned for their supreme stonemasonry and blacksmithing. It is said that dwarven strongholds are carved from the rock of the mountains itself, and that dwarf-made steel never bends, breaks or dulls.

The dwarves are a traditional and superstitious lot. They are all about preservation. They do not like to do things on a whim and will think the matter through thoroughly and then discuss it with their brethren before coming to a conclusion. Honor and honesty is also very important to dwarves. Losing face and bringing shame onto ones family is the greatest fear of any dwarf.

Dwarves are superstitious but not very religious. They do not worship any gods but take a keen interest in interpreting signs and omens from their environment. Many of these signs are attributed to their ancestors. The dwarves revere their ancestors and do their best to preserve their memory. It is expected of a dwarf to know the names of the ones that came before it, and dwarven homes are covered from top to bottom with stone tablets containing runes that tell of the lives of dead family members.

Another tradition of the dwarves is their musicality. Songs and tunes are a great way of remembering old friends and deeds, and so almost every dwarf is taught to sing and play an instrument. Common instruments among the dwarves are bagpipes, horns, fiddles, flutes and drums.

Greed is the greatest enemy of the dwarven people. Whenever confronted by the rumor or visage of wealth, a dwarf simply cannot help itself. The greed isn’t about spending the treasure on resources or using it to gain influence, it is simply about having it. Dwarves like to look at gold, they like to feel its weight in their hands and shudder when it slides through their fingers. They all have it, in various degrees, but they all fight it. It is their greatest shame, but also their greatest driving force.

The dwarves don’t know much about what’s outside of their mountain halls. They are generally reclusive and only ever hear of the rest of the world on the rare occasions when travelers are let in and choose to share their stories with the dwarves. As such what little information they have is either strongly influenced by the person sharing it or completely untrue.

Background
It is not known when the dwarves first took to living in the mountains. In dwarven tradition they were born from stone and carved their way out to the outside world. This first breach is referred to as Bilunin, the point where the dwarves realized they were not alone. They have remained a isolated people throughout their history, only ever engaging in the outside world is absolutely necessary.

Name/s: Sir Helbronn, knight of the Lady

Race: Hard to define; sort of 'human', but really a walking fairytale figure, an 'amalgam'

Appearance:

An armored giant standing at seven feet, perpetually covered by steel-plates and speaking with a naturally cold, ugly voice regardless of subject-matter, coupled with a way of moving close to being doll-like for one moment, before rapidly switching to a strange, primal fluidity belying his sheer bulk, all combining to appear eerie at best, downright creepy at worst.

Not a single flash of clothing let alone flesh other than metal would be visible even from up close, the material apparently simple steel. No ornament, no decoration, no marks of any known smiths. A careful eye might have noticed a number of spots betraying the wear and tear of the elements, as well as traces where weapons had clearly penetrated, all covered up with careful maintenance and repair. Though conventional and featureless, the way the individual plates were each adjusted perfectly to the knight's form like a second skin did not allow for a derogatory term like 'simple' to fit, but rather matched the definition of efficient.

Characteristics: A bizarre being embodying several unfitting extremes. Voice cold and harsh, actions precise and calculated, while preaching of idealism and "goodness" that is far beyond what any sane being could realistically hope to achieve.

All in all, his mentality can appear as detached at best, delusional at worst, while also giving sight to a secondary, far darker set of beliefs that comes frighteningly close to outright nihilism, referring to himself as a tool for use, a ploy for the "tale" to continue and reach its ultimate conclusion, making it possible to assume that all his actions are constrained by a strange understanding of the "common" laws of fairytales. The one who he refers to as the "Lady" would be the primary focal point of his striving, believing her to be the only one capable of granting him his deepest desire.

Despite his usual conduct, he is not exempt from the simple emotion called "boredom", him citing it as the primary reason for why he took up playing the fiddle and tried himself at dancing, a measure to kill time while on the endless march.



Background: Several years ago he simply seemed to appear, devoid of fame and tales. The self-proclaimed knight would approach random travellers, villages, cities, anyone that appeared in need of aid and - no matter the triviality of the task, ranging from saving kittens on trees to launching attacks upon bands of brigands - the knight would serve, in return only asking if any of those he aided had seen his Lady.

When asked for a description of the one he sought, the knight would always be quick to praise his Lady's wit, beauty and compassion, but never would he actually give any sort of details. As a result, his inquiries were only ever met with puzzled shaking of heads, prompting his ever-unchanging continuation of the search for his Lady.

Truthfully enough, the Lady does not exist. The knight chases after an empty dream, a neverending task that will never find fulfillment, the delusion of success serving as a sole attempt at retaining his sanity. Perhaps he is aware of the impossibility of his task, or perhaps not.

Name/s: Walking Fairytale Figure, 'Amalgam'



Appearance/Backstory: Not really a race perse, but rather a very broad assortment of phenomena occurring in a world so upfilled with magic, and increasing in frequency the farther one goes into the Cursed Forest. They are not natural, but not quite artificial either, ranging from being maddened and corrupted mixtures of beasts from legend fueled by stray thoughts and dreams of sentient beings all over the world to the souls of ancient things that faded from existence, but suddenly found themselves reinvigorated by strands of chaotic magic running wild in the darkest depths of the forest.

Fairytale Figures springing to apparent life are only one of the many subsets of these chaotic and nonsensical occurrences. To be clear, they aren't quite original beings that jumped out of a tale, but rather bases that had the messages, emotions and thoughts of a number of stories thrust upon them, thus earning them another name, 'amalgam'. Their origin-stories usually follow certain themes, such as hope, despair, apathy and bravery, whatever emotion and messages the tales are meant to convey. Most of these things are mixtures of many legends spanning the many different races, mortal souls robbed of identity, feeding off the many different sentient fantasies found in dreams in a mindless attempt to attain sanity, to fill the gaping void of their own existence.

Characteristics: Theirs is a horrid reputation, with the maddened sort often claiming many lives before they are put down, while the saner kind, often endowed with inhuman attributes, seek to shape reality more towards their fairytale-like perception of the world, usually ending with causing great devastation to cities and even cultures. The saner sort can be hard to spot, their mentality often betraying them only when it is too late.

Few become old after springing into existence, most die of infection and sickness following self-injury, being unused to having to struggle with the laws of physics. Common amongst them are sanity-defying capabilities, such as strength so overwhelming that it tears their own muscles apart, speed so blinding that it rips their sinews in full run, for often they are the kind that was made to battle dragons, keep armies at bay or even charm the coldest sort.

Name/s
Salena "Zara"

Race
Camboian

Apperance
Salena is 5'11, an average height for her race, and has built up some muscle over the past few years. Her age is unknown to many, but she claims to be 78 years old. Her skin is ashy brown with patches of grey around her face and body. Her eyes are a bright yellow-orange that seem to glow under torchlight. Salena's hair is black at the roots and slowly fades to red. She has eight small horns around her head that almost look like a crown.


Characteristics
Salena is a person that tends to be relaxed, peaceful, quiet, and easy-going. They are sympathetic and care about others, yet try to hide their emotions. She also is good at generalizing ideas or problems to the world and making compromises with others. She tries to approach everyone with good intentions and tends to stay neautral to situations or problems arise.

Background
From a young age, Salena was praised for her beauty and unique features amongst Cambions. She was raised in a strict home where all of the hours of the day were spent studying art, music, dance, and literature. Later on, she learned to use magic after completing her training in the Temple of Mireyela at the age of 42. Her training thought her all about the magics that Cambions would easily use; nature-based magic. She lived happily for 15 more years until she was promised to a young man. Unhappy with this, Salena tried to convince her parents to cancel the wedding, but they refused and forced her into it. A week into her marriage her husband began to abuse her. It took her ten years to plan a concrete plan to escape and leave her life behind. Now she roams the forest and keeps away from any stream with white flowers on it. She has been wondering the forest for years now, making her home out of nature and using her magic to fend off anyone who gets too close to her and goes by the name of Zara.

Name
Cambion (half-demon, horned ones, devil children)

Apperance
Appearance: The first thing that someone notices of a Cambion is the horns and the skin. Cambion have horns growing out of their heads, a trait inherited from their ancestors. Horns can vary from family to family. Some are long and twist up; others twist down. A few Cambions have small horns, but that seems to be rarer and concentrated in certain families that have been breeding with humans. Skin tones within the Cambion race can also vary, but the most common colors are red, purple, blue, orange and grey(with lots of hues in between). Cambions also have tails that are as varied as the horns. All of these extra digits are the same color as the Cambion's skin color. Eye colors, on the other hand, can be even more colorful than their skin. The most common are red, purple, blue, green, black, and white. Most of the population have no irises, all of their eyes are filled in with the color of their eyes. Cambions can live longs lives, the oldest reaching 200 years old.




Characteristics/Culture
Cambions are very close to human cultures, although they are not as varied and wide spread as humans are. Cambions are very creative creatures. They dwell in a lot of arts; music, dancing, visual art, literature. They have learned from the humans they have seen pass around their city. They are very friendly creatures that crave social interactions with themselves and with other races. They often try to trade with other known cities inside of the forest they call their home. Cambions are very colorful creatures that appreciate color and the beauty of nature. They are often in tune with nature and the magic in the air. Magic is a large part of their culture, as it is as natural for them as breathing.

Brief History
Although their looks make them seem like half-demons, Cambions are the children of a goddess called Mireyela. She is the goddess of creativity and natural magic. She created the Cambion by taking the heart of a succubus and the heart of a human who had fallen in love and mixed the two races as an act of love and mercy after they were killed by cruel humans. Since then, Cambions have populated a small part of the forest, staying together in one city for their protection. Not many of them set out to the world, but those who do are gifted the ability to control nature around them for a limited time. It is something only the priests can give.

Name
Aki'adh

Apperance
Aki'adh is a large city located in an ancient cavern with large holes in the roof that let the sunshine peek through the canopy of the forest. Inside, there is a large pool of water with an island in the middle, where the city of Aki'adh is located. Aki'adh has a large statue of the goddess Mireyela in the middle that overlooks the whole island, and it serves as the temple for her as well. The Temple is surrounded by the many buildings and homes of the Cambions. Since the population of this race has been slowly increasing so, they have started to build on the cavern walls to accommodate


Inhabitants
Those who inhabit the city of Aki'adh are the majority Cambions who had grown up and lived all their lives within the walls of the city and the caverns. Not many of them travel outside, but they do welcome many travelers into the city to learn about the outside.

Tokens
To reach the city of Aki'adh a person just have to follow a river or stream that carries white flowers. They will lead to the mouth of a very large cavern with two statues of Mireyela looking down at them. Past them, the river continues into the cavern. The river is the only way to reach the city safely.

Brief History
Aki'adh was settled by the first children of Mireyela. With her help, they were able to make such a beautiful and colorful city where Cambions could be safe and happy. They have had a bad reputation with certain humans who believe that Cambions are born from demons and do not believe the claims that they were created by the goddess Mireyela. The city is ruled by the Queen and the King, where they both rule as equals and do their best to protect their home.