Ian Thompson
Author's DataHub
The Races Of Emeran
The Callis
"Encircling the food-cloth were the Callis themselves. They were two-legged, all under four feet tall and covered in grey, hairless leathery skin. Callis heads were squat and dominated by the cyclopean disc-eyes set between their upward-jutting ears, under which lay flat fleshy noses and wide mouths of tiny hooked teeth. Their limbs and torsos had a spindly appearance. Legs were short and led to three-toed claw-feet. One set of arms rose up from what would have been a biped’s shoulders, another from hipbone joints – each ending with long skeletal hands. The hands had three fingers, plus upper and lower thumbs."
The Callis are a proud race with strong traditions. They are guilty of the near-genocide of the Veres, whom they hunted for sport and trophies... And are also the bitter enemies of the Humans.
Callis warriors fight using all four arms - lower limbs wielding scimitars, the upper pair slashing with daggers. The size of the Callis should not allow an enemy to underestimate their prowess: they are very agile and deadly. Callis will also use bows and spears when needed. One of their strongest weapons are the mounts of their riders: the huge Dakans, which carry four Callis at a time and can inflict terrible slaughter with their laws and sticker-tongues.
The Callis are predominantly a race of forest-dwellers, living in townships set high amongst the trees.
The Humans
"The most lethal thing in all of Emeran is a Human soldier wielding a sword, pike or bow... And he’s more lethal when protecting his homeland. Ask thirty thousand dead Callis who tried to invade four years ago.”
Fierce enemies of the Callis, the Humans are more technologically advanced than other races. Human armies possess primitive telescopes and even cannon. Their warriors include a wide range of fighters - from swordsmen, archers and pikemen to knights on horseback.
As a race, the Humans tend to believe themselves more civilised than the Callis - but they are capable of terrible cruelty and viciousness.
Humans live in villages, towns and cities, primarily in plains land regions. Their capital is the massive walled city of Tremok - which will face a massive siege during the apocalyptic invasion...
The Graex
"The Graex looked to Roden like a very tall, thickly-set man – a man covered in shell-armour and headless. He was naked, needing no clothing since his purple-blue body-casing protected him from cold and injury. His hands and feet were pincers, the former having more complex segments to allow the grip of awkward objects. Being headless, the man seemed to be blind and deaf – this, however, was untrue. The Graex had a dozen very acute eyes embedded at hidden locations in his armour; his rudimentary sense of hearing came from feeling vibrations via the fine hair that grew in patches over his shell-casing. Although in general the Graex’s shell-armour consisted of shaped pieces between joints, there was a large jagged ‘crack’ running from back to front roughly where a neck might be expected to be.”
Once feared as the most awesome warriors on Emeran, the Graex have become a race of pacifists. They will not fight for any reason...
Having forsaken war, the Graex are devoted to art and beauty. This will do them little good against the threat which approaches.
“In a matter of days, a massive and merciless force will besiege this great city. It is the northernmost of the Graex settlements and an obvious target.”
To the right of Du’xi’toa, one of the councillors blurted: “How can they do this? Do they not realize that violence is utterly against our creed?”
Cu’si’war retorted: “Indeed, Councillor, I believe they would be counting upon it. They clearly relish easy targets... and who could be more of an easy target than a race of pacifists?”
Du’xi’toa considered and asked: “So how do we deal with this threat? What is it they want?”
“I think they want... simply... to annihilate us. To kill every Graex, every Callis, every Human and every other race on Emeran.”
The Veres
"The flap was pulled back slowly to admit a form which dwarfed the four Callis.
Even Tenes, survivor of dozens of bloody battles, found himself awed by the size and visual ferocity of their adversary.
He was at least seven feet in height and stooped due to the six-foot roof of the tent. His build was bipedal and every limb was cross-corded in steely muscle. From the bootless paws of the killer’s feet to his enlarged head, he was covered in ash-grey fur – this and his leather weapon-belt now sprayed in purple Callis blood. The slayer’s head was more daunting than his physique: shaped like an arrowhead; broad at the rear with long, back-curving ears; narrow towards the front, where the feral face grew to a point. If opened to full extent, the intruder’s jaws would have been almost large enough to swallow a Callis’ skull – whilst the teeth filling them resembled banks of cutting discs. Twin tongues flitted between the teeth, licking at thin lips. Set back away from the mouth, on the upper part of his head, the killer possessed two luminous yellow eyes that seemed to burn with molten hatred.
Each of the intruder’s huge fists held the haft of a great, doubled-headed war-axe.
Sahk uttered under his breath: “A Vere...”"
Hunted to near-extinction by the Callis, the Veres are a rare race on Emeran - and their hatred for the Callis is terrible.
Incredibly strong, lightning-fast and deadly combatants, these are beings to be greatly feared. They are also expert hunters, trackers and stealthy scouts.
A Vere would be fantastic to have as an ally... and lethal to have as an enemy.
The Other Races
There are many other races on Emeran.
One of the strangest live in the Ashpareen Marshes: a people so mysterious they are believed to the ghosts. What are these? And are they would-be allies or some hideous threat..?