There are five sentient races in the lands of the Blue Moon: Dwarf, Elf, Goblin, Human, and Ork. These are the only living creatures with culture, with true speech and intelligence; in short, the only creatures with true spirits. Everything else is just a plant, animal, or monster.
The origins of the races is shrouded in mystery. Goblins never existed until quite late in the Blue Moon Empire. Then one night, thousands of dwarves, elves, humans and orks were transformed into goblins, complete with their own language and customs. In similar fashion, centuries before them, dwarves, elves and humans were suddenly transformed into orks. The ordering of the other three races is much more controversial. Elves and humans both claim to be the first race. Dwarves just shrug their shoulders.
Dwarves have skin white as alabaster and have long and wiry hair of blond, reddish blond, or gray. In addition, they tend to have lots of body fuzz and facial hair. Eyes are green or gray.
The 31 dwarven clans started as the dwarven gladiator teams of the old Blue Moon Empire, but are now primarily a familial and political bloc. Clan leaders are responsible for everything above the family level: everything from taxes, craft schools, and retirement homes up to trade alliances with other cities, army maintainence, and even declarations of war. Female dwarves belong to the clan of their mothers. Male dwarves belong to their mothers’ clan until they marry, then they move to their wives’ clan.
At the family level, dwarven custom can be summed up as women own, men manage. Inheritance, descent, clan membership, even occupation, all derive from the female side. Women raise the children if there are any, and are otherwise expected to work towards increasing their own holdings. Men do not own property; they work to increase the holdings of their wives (or closest female relatives, if not married) so that the next generation will be provided for.
| Clan Name | Emblem | Traditional Attributes |
|---|---|---|
| Ankitli | Copper King | Dour, humorless miners |
| Atltipec | Ghost Marauder | Arrogant scholars and physicians |
| Cámazot | Iron Bat | Honest to a fault |
| Coatl | Sky Serpent | Faithful and true forever |
| Élomec | Elk Rider | Friendly and boisterous |
| Ermoc | Stormshadow | Methodical traditionalists |
| Haz | Axe Dancer | Truculent warriors |
| Hoxo | Tunnel Rat | Diligent, but lowclass |
| Hubamba | Skull Drummer | Officious and bureaucratic |
| Huermec | Wyrm Biter | Loud, daring warriors |
| Huitzli | Boneweaver | Justice first, last, and always |
| Lizolotl | Pearl Warrior | Expert soldiers |
| Macún | Diamond Fox | Style over substance |
| Matlá | Crow Maiden | Sly and indirect |
| Miatl | Flame Badger | Clever and creative |
| Mitzlan | Moongazer | Living a life of art |
| Mlilóc | Jade Falcon | Craftmanship is all |
| Nahuatl | Death Rattler | Arrogant wizards |
| Oxolotl | Soulsmith | Poets, diplomats and tricksters |
| Tehuatl | Silver Shark | Hardworking, but dull |
| Tlemoc | Shadow Cat | Faithful, but ambitious |
| Tlihoc | Bloodhawk | Building for the future |
| Tlítlipa | Red Claw | Never forget nor forgive a sleight |
| Tzampoc | Bear Brother | Service with a smile |
| Tzibu | Stone Fist | Will do anything for money |
| Tzítzimec | Dragon King | Arrogant and aloof |
| Xambaru | Smoke Eater | Work hard, play hard |
| Xermoc | Obsidian | Dire, tenacious warriors |
| Ximox | Gold Spider | Gold talks |
| Zomaca | Rainbow Macaw | Outrageous flaunters of tradition |
| Zot | Star Wolf | Quietly competent |
The native language of dwarves is Tetzál. One of its most notable features is a wealth of pronouns indicating such distinctions as gender, number, proximation, inclusiveness, presence, formality, social standing, and animacy. For example, xalbicu means the listener and one other male, different from than the one previously mentioned. Its extensive support for complex relative subclauses, though, can lead to some truly labyrinthine sentences. All words are stressed on the next–to–last syllable unless otherwise noted by an accent mark.
A dwarf’s formal name consists of his clan, his birthday according to the traditional calendar, and a personal identifier picked from a list of about 300 approved words used only for names. The full formal name is chosen so as to be unique among all living dwarves. Example formal names might be Mlilóc Tac Ta Racal (Racal of Jade Falcon clan, born Sword 10) or Haz Tac Cu Xermol (Xermol of Axe Dancer clan, born Sword 2). A casual name consists of the personal identifier by itself or with a nickname. Dwarves often accumulate new nicknames to commemorate significant achievements, personal milestones, career changes, or simply a change in moods. For example, the dwarf Mlilóc Tac Ta Racal might be known as Racal Axemaker while selling his wares, Racal Far–Travelled among his siblings, and Racal the Otter among his friends at the pool.
Use standard Dwarf rules, except as listed below.
Elves have skin color ranging from tan to mahogany and have long, straight hair of yellow or black. They sprout neither body nor facial hair. Eye color is brown or black, and their ears come to a point at the top.
Simboo is the beautiful language of the elves. Its regular rules of grammar, gender–inflected nouns, and simple tenses make it one of the easier languages to learn. Nouns always in end a vowel, the vowel indicating the gender of the noun: -a for male, -e for female, -o for non-living objects, -oo for abstract objects, -i for mixed groups of creatures.
Alas, for all its ease of acquisition, the dubious social standing of elves makes Simboo one of the least popular languages to learn. In practice, it is only spoken among groups consisting exclusively of elves. A pidgin version of Simboo is also used as a slangy argot among the street gangs of Golden Port.
Most names are simple adjectives with the appropriate gender inflection. Common names for males include Vijarja (Handsome), Alooma (Smart), and Niva (Strong). Common names for females are Vijarje (Pretty), Shangare (Sweet–smelling), and Ware (Magical).
Elves will generally choose a soubriquet to cut down on confusion. This nickname will generally indicate the birthplace, current residence, occupation, distinguishing feature, or simple whimsy. Thus, of a group of elves named Nive, one might be known as Nive the Fire Sorceress, another as Nive of Bhara, and the third as Nive Star Sword.
Use standard Elf rules, except as listed below.
Goblins have pale green skin. Their long, straight hair comes in almost every color, as long as it is bright. They otherwise have neither facial nor body hair. Their almond–shaped eyes can be brown or gold or any color in between.
Shangla is the native language of the goblins. Words are formed using a small pool of syllables. Because the set of possible words is so small, most words have several different meanings. Stressing the first syllable of each word, strict word ordering, and semantic context all help listeners figure out which meanings of the words are intended. Shangla can, however, be a confusing language for those not fluent in it.
Shangla is a very polite language as well. There is no imperative tense — commands are simply phrased in the form of a question.
Goblin names are composed of a one–syllable family name and a two–syllable personal name. Personal names are chosen for their descriptive attributes or poetic qualities. Example names for males are Hong Junwei (Tiger of the Hong family) or Li Kungcho (First Son of the Li family). Names for females might be Ma Jinha (Lily of the Ma family) or Li Wucha (Pretty Daughter of the Li family).
Use standard Halfling rules for Goblins, except as listed below.
Human skin color ranges from cream to peach. Their medium–length hair can be straight or curly, and is colored brown, black, blond, reddish blond, gray, or auburn. Human males have some body fuzz and facial hair. Eyes can be brown, black, blue, green, or gray.
Humans speak Common. If it ever had any other name than that, it has long been lost. Optimists claim that the language is so named because since so many people speak it, even non–humans, it gives them all a common bond. Pessimists point out the fact that common also means vulgar.
Human names consist of a personal name and an occupation. Children usually take on the occupation name of their father, but may, if they so choose, change their occupation name to match their own craft. Personal names are either one of a standard set of traditional names whose meanings are lost, or are common, everyday words representing some virtue. Common names for men would be Dag Pilot, Truth Chandler, or Sage Weaver. Common names for women would be Dara Fletcher, Beauty Thatcher, or Harmony Teacher.
Use standard Human rules, except as listed below.
Ork skin color ranges from pale pink to dark brick. They have short, bristly black hair on their heads, but no other body or facial hair. Eye color is black. Orks have slightly elongated lower canines.
Orks speak Orkpa, which means, literally ork talk. It is an agglutinative language whose basics are fairly simple to grasp. Word parts are just concatenated to form new words, phrases, and sentences. What makes Orkpa so difficult for non–orks to learn is that its “rules” of grammar are less rules than traditions and aesthetics. For instance, ork langauge is orkpa (ork talk) and barking is tampa (dog talk), but hooting is pahu (talk owl) rather than hupa (owl talk) because it sounds better.
Ork children don’t have names. They are simply called kid, or hey you, or something similar. If you don’t have a name then evil spirits can’t see you, say the orks.
When the shaman feels that a child is ready, he gives to the child a name and the child becomes an adult. The name chosen by the shaman is one that is appropriate both to the tribe’s totem as well as to the individual in question. For example, orks from the Bear Tribe will have names like Chukaha (Big Bear), Chukawasezi (Dancing Bear) or Tzugash (Swift Claw); orks from the Crow Tribe will have names like Nawha (Black Wing) or Parawe (Far Cry).
When speaking in other languages, it is traditional to translate Orkpa names: it is the meaning of a name that is important, not its sound. Thus, the ork Chukaha will be known as Big Bear among the humans, Gang Wo among the goblins, Tezkakán among the dwarves, and Raj Jmara among the elves. All Orkpa names are translated this way, regardless whether they are names of people, animals, or towns.
Use standard Half-Orc rules for Orks, except as listed below.
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Last modified: Tue May 8 22:29:08 PDT 2001.