Races:
Human: The most well-rounded combatants, and the longest-lived. Aion's environment is tailored for humanity, so humans tend to live long, live healthy, and age much less. Drakengard is the strongest human faction, holding most of the highly coveted southern lands as well as Southaven Tower. Human mages are rare, and the few that exist are highly sought-after.
Elves: This species trades physical strength and lifespan for enhanced senses and magical power. So while their bodies do not age much at all, they die about 30 years earlier than the average human. Their strongest warriors have the physical capacity of an untrained human male. What they lack in physical power, they gain in magical proficiency, and they have that in spades. The mightiest elves could tear up whole cities with their power, and their senses are second to none among humanoids. They cannot breed with humans, but that certainly doesn't stop them from trying...
Dwarves: This species trades lifespan and stature for enhanced durability and hardiness. While they live about half as long as humans (~60 years), they can heal almost any injury, even loss of limbs or organs, and can digest almost anything. They grow a good deal of hair on their bodies, which, combined with their short stature, grants them a degree of stealth. Female dwarves develop most of that hair on their heads instead, and so their head-hair can grow absurdly long.
Orcs: This species trades lifespan for strength and birth rate. Few orcs live past 30, but their muscles do not atrophy, so orcs can grow absurdly strong toward the end of their lives. One mother can give birth to dozens of children, and sometimes whole clans owe their existence to a single matriarch. The species is just as intelligent as humans, but it's often lost on their bloodthirsty, tribal lifestyle. Evil overlords like to use orcs as disposable footsoldiers.
Goblins: Unlike the above four races, this species possesses no human soul, but rather an animalian one. As such, they have an order of magnitude less intelligence than any of the four humanoid races. Diminutive, weak, and somewhat stupid, they should have been little more than a footnote in history had not a certain enterprising sorcerer bred them en masse for his own personal gain. They are a violent species and highly susceptible to Void possession. Possessed goblins are known as hobgoblins, and unlike their ordinary brethren, possess true sapience equal to any humanoid. While it is possible to find a "good goblin," conventional wisdom says that the only good goblin is a dead goblin.
Human: The most well-rounded combatants, and the longest-lived. Aion's environment is tailored for humanity, so humans tend to live long, live healthy, and age much less. Drakengard is the strongest human faction, holding most of the highly coveted southern lands as well as Southaven Tower. Human mages are rare, and the few that exist are highly sought-after.
Elves: This species trades physical strength and lifespan for enhanced senses and magical power. So while their bodies do not age much at all, they die about 30 years earlier than the average human. Their strongest warriors have the physical capacity of an untrained human male. What they lack in physical power, they gain in magical proficiency, and they have that in spades. The mightiest elves could tear up whole cities with their power, and their senses are second to none among humanoids. They cannot breed with humans, but that certainly doesn't stop them from trying...
Dwarves: This species trades lifespan and stature for enhanced durability and hardiness. While they live about half as long as humans (~60 years), they can heal almost any injury, even loss of limbs or organs, and can digest almost anything. They grow a good deal of hair on their bodies, which, combined with their short stature, grants them a degree of stealth. Female dwarves develop most of that hair on their heads instead, and so their head-hair can grow absurdly long.
Orcs: This species trades lifespan for strength and birth rate. Few orcs live past 30, but their muscles do not atrophy, so orcs can grow absurdly strong toward the end of their lives. One mother can give birth to dozens of children, and sometimes whole clans owe their existence to a single matriarch. The species is just as intelligent as humans, but it's often lost on their bloodthirsty, tribal lifestyle. Evil overlords like to use orcs as disposable footsoldiers.
Goblins: Unlike the above four races, this species possesses no human soul, but rather an animalian one. As such, they have an order of magnitude less intelligence than any of the four humanoid races. Diminutive, weak, and somewhat stupid, they should have been little more than a footnote in history had not a certain enterprising sorcerer bred them en masse for his own personal gain. They are a violent species and highly susceptible to Void possession. Possessed goblins are known as hobgoblins, and unlike their ordinary brethren, possess true sapience equal to any humanoid. While it is possible to find a "good goblin," conventional wisdom says that the only good goblin is a dead goblin.