Post by Brynden Trevelyan on Sept 27, 2015 3:16:57 GMT
Humans
Restrictions: None
Humans are the most numerous, yet also the most contentious of all the races of Thedas. Only four times have they ever united beneath a single banner, the last being centuries ago. The monotheistic faith of the Chant of Light plays a major role in human society. The majority of humanity in Thedas descended from numerous human tribes.
Elves
Restrictions: None
A humanoid race, elves are typically shorter than humans (though this has been mitigated slightly since Dragon Age: Origins) and have a slender, lithe build and pointed ears. Long ago, the elves were the dominant race on Thedas, and their advanced civilization was based on nature and magic. After the fall of their great city of Arlathan to the Tevinter Imperium and the subsequent generations of slavery, the elves lost most of their cultural heritage and identity. They attempted to rebuild their society in the Dales, but after four centuries they fell to the Chantry's Exalted Marches. Since then, their few numbers have been scattered all over Thedas in either forests as primitive nomads, the Dalish, or in cities as impoverished outcasts, with little hope of recovery for their culture or their race. They're now a people associated with poverty, crime, barbarism, and are often used as scapegoats for humanity's difficulties. In Ancient Tevinter elves were called "rattus". Modern humans use the terms "knife ears," "slant-eared" or, less cruelly, "rabbit" or "halla rider" (this may in fact be meant admiringly by some), as a racial slur. Though most of the elven language has been lost, they once referred to themselves as "elvhen" or "the people".
Dwarves
Restrictions: Can not be mages
The dwarves, or dwarva, as the dwarves refer to themselves, are one of the major humanoid races of the Dragon Age setting. Strong, stocky, and shorter than any other humanoid race, the dwarves are skilled builders and boast a long tradition of courage and martial skill that has served them well in their millennia-long battle against the darkspawn. They are a race in decline, once developed a huge, great empire which spread across vast underground networks of twelve great thaigs that spanned the breadth of Thedas. However their world was all but destroyed during the First Blight.
In addition to the loss of nearly all thaigs and the majority of the Deep Roads to darkspawn, dwarves are known to be increasingly infertile due to their proximity to the darkspawn taint, a situation which has given rise to anxiety for the future of the race, as well as the invention of noble hunters to bolster the children born to noble houses.
Unlike elves and humans, dwarves do not naturally enter the Fade, as they do not dream and lack magical ability. However, they are not completely barred and may enter it in exceptional circumstances. This is reflected in their resistance to magic, and accounts for their high tolerance to lyrium exposure. Dwarves who live on the surface for a long time (or who were born there) appear to gradually lose this resistance - however, there is still no recorded exception to their inability to learn spellcasting.
A unique dwarven ability is "Stone sense", a talent for subterranean navigation derived from the race's progenitor, the Stone. Stone sense is described as the ability to hear the distant song of lyrium. This connection allows dwarves to sense a passageway before reaching it and can navigate the Deep Roads without getting hopelessly lost. However in the games, this talent is not implemented neither as a game mechanic nor as a plot device. The stone sense of dwarves as well as their magic resistance is slowly lost the longer they are on the surface.
Qunari
Restrictions: None
The Qunari (literally, "People of the Qun") is the name most commonly known for the white-haired, metallic-skinned, gigantic race and their society that governs the island nations of Par Vollen and Seheron, and the settlements of Kont-Aar and Qundalon in northern Rivain and Anderfels respectively.
Members of any other race who adheres to the teachings of the Qun (humans, elves and even dwarves) are called Viddathari.
Humans of Rivain and elven slaves of Tevinter are especially susceptible to conversion, although it is not unknown for members of other groups to embrace the Qun.
Those not born of the Qun are not to be described as Qunari. They are Vashoth, "grey ones"; likewise those who abandon the Qun willinglly are known as Tal-Vashoth, "true grey ones". Most Tal-Vashoth are former soldiers and become mercenaries, and are considered by Qunari to be worse than bas.
Restrictions: None
Humans are the most numerous, yet also the most contentious of all the races of Thedas. Only four times have they ever united beneath a single banner, the last being centuries ago. The monotheistic faith of the Chant of Light plays a major role in human society. The majority of humanity in Thedas descended from numerous human tribes.
Elves
Restrictions: None
A humanoid race, elves are typically shorter than humans (though this has been mitigated slightly since Dragon Age: Origins) and have a slender, lithe build and pointed ears. Long ago, the elves were the dominant race on Thedas, and their advanced civilization was based on nature and magic. After the fall of their great city of Arlathan to the Tevinter Imperium and the subsequent generations of slavery, the elves lost most of their cultural heritage and identity. They attempted to rebuild their society in the Dales, but after four centuries they fell to the Chantry's Exalted Marches. Since then, their few numbers have been scattered all over Thedas in either forests as primitive nomads, the Dalish, or in cities as impoverished outcasts, with little hope of recovery for their culture or their race. They're now a people associated with poverty, crime, barbarism, and are often used as scapegoats for humanity's difficulties. In Ancient Tevinter elves were called "rattus". Modern humans use the terms "knife ears," "slant-eared" or, less cruelly, "rabbit" or "halla rider" (this may in fact be meant admiringly by some), as a racial slur. Though most of the elven language has been lost, they once referred to themselves as "elvhen" or "the people".
Dwarves
Restrictions: Can not be mages
The dwarves, or dwarva, as the dwarves refer to themselves, are one of the major humanoid races of the Dragon Age setting. Strong, stocky, and shorter than any other humanoid race, the dwarves are skilled builders and boast a long tradition of courage and martial skill that has served them well in their millennia-long battle against the darkspawn. They are a race in decline, once developed a huge, great empire which spread across vast underground networks of twelve great thaigs that spanned the breadth of Thedas. However their world was all but destroyed during the First Blight.
In addition to the loss of nearly all thaigs and the majority of the Deep Roads to darkspawn, dwarves are known to be increasingly infertile due to their proximity to the darkspawn taint, a situation which has given rise to anxiety for the future of the race, as well as the invention of noble hunters to bolster the children born to noble houses.
Unlike elves and humans, dwarves do not naturally enter the Fade, as they do not dream and lack magical ability. However, they are not completely barred and may enter it in exceptional circumstances. This is reflected in their resistance to magic, and accounts for their high tolerance to lyrium exposure. Dwarves who live on the surface for a long time (or who were born there) appear to gradually lose this resistance - however, there is still no recorded exception to their inability to learn spellcasting.
A unique dwarven ability is "Stone sense", a talent for subterranean navigation derived from the race's progenitor, the Stone. Stone sense is described as the ability to hear the distant song of lyrium. This connection allows dwarves to sense a passageway before reaching it and can navigate the Deep Roads without getting hopelessly lost. However in the games, this talent is not implemented neither as a game mechanic nor as a plot device. The stone sense of dwarves as well as their magic resistance is slowly lost the longer they are on the surface.
Qunari
Restrictions: None
The Qunari (literally, "People of the Qun") is the name most commonly known for the white-haired, metallic-skinned, gigantic race and their society that governs the island nations of Par Vollen and Seheron, and the settlements of Kont-Aar and Qundalon in northern Rivain and Anderfels respectively.
Members of any other race who adheres to the teachings of the Qun (humans, elves and even dwarves) are called Viddathari.
Humans of Rivain and elven slaves of Tevinter are especially susceptible to conversion, although it is not unknown for members of other groups to embrace the Qun.
Those not born of the Qun are not to be described as Qunari. They are Vashoth, "grey ones"; likewise those who abandon the Qun willinglly are known as Tal-Vashoth, "true grey ones". Most Tal-Vashoth are former soldiers and become mercenaries, and are considered by Qunari to be worse than bas.
From the Dragon Age Wikia