The Sharatha embrace an ideology that the strong must rule over the weak and that the weak should be culled for the betterment of all. As a part of this belief, they hold the elves to be the natural rulers over all over intelligent creatures. They believe themselves to be above lowly manual labor and as such utilize slaves to do the majority of their work for them. Most of their slaves are either orcs or goblins.
Goblins have been bred by the Sharatha over the course of millennia to be the perfect laborers. They are short and squat, ranging in height from about 4'-4'6" and weighting around 150 pounds. They have thick grayish skin, flat broad noses and and large jaws that give them the appearance of a snout, pointy ears like those of a wolf, and large sharp teeth. Their eyes are small and pure black. These goblins don't have a great deal of intellect, in fact they have been conditioned to obey orders fairly literally and have an almost instinctive knowledge of the manual labor jobs most needed by their Sharatha masters.
The great majority of goblins are females, well over 90%. Those few male goblins are used mostly as breeding studs, only the best are selected for this purpose while the others are dispatched at a young age. Goblins mature in just 5 short years and each goblin female gives birth to 4 goblins with each pregnancy. This is countered in some part by the short lifespan of goblins, because of the intense labor that goblins endure at most die at around the age of 20, though given a more relaxed lifestyle they may live as long as 40-50 years. Goblins do the great majority of work for the Sharatha - including farming, mining, the herding of animals, and construction. Actual Sharatha only do the most skilled labor or oversee the work of slaves.
Orcs are much like goblins. They have similar features though their skin is dark gray, almost black, instead of medium gray. They skin is even thicker than that of goblins, almost scaly in its toughness. They stand about 6'6" tall and have large muscles, they are quite strong and ferocious in combat, which is their purpose - orcs are bred to fight for the Sharatha. There are a higher percentage of orc males than with goblins, the ratio is closer to 50% - the male orcs are sent out to fight while the females are used as breeding stock for the males who show the most promise and success in battle - those that survive the most frequently. Orcs are a bit brighter than goblins, able to understand more complex ideas and orders along with being more able to be trained in a variety of fighting techniques. Unfortunately, it takes orcs longer to mature than goblins, a orc takes 10 years to reach adulthood and their lifespans generally don't exceed those of goblins.
Sharatha is located in a cold region of the world with fierce long winters. This suits the elves of Sharatha well, as they are highly resistant to the cold. They are also more comfortable at night than during the day. The elves of Sharatha, along with orcs and goblins too, have excellent night vision and can see well on even a moonless night. Unfortunately, their eyes are too sensitive or the bright light of day and when the sun is shining brightly they vision is impaired.
The majority of Sharatha is made up of either goblins or orcs, true Sharatha elves are a minority in their own kingdom, though because of the magical manipulation used to create the orc and goblin servants, disloyalty or rebellion is virtually unknown in Sharatha. In fact orcs, who are more dangerous in combat and have more intellectual ability, are generally bound mentally to a Sharatha warrior who they serve in battle.
The Sharatha have a very unusual social structure compared to humans or even to their elven kin. They reach physical maturity at about the age of twenty, growing only slightly more slowly than a human. Though at the age of 20, they aren't considered adults within Sharatha by any means. The roles of young Sharatha are sharply divided by sex. Young male Sharatha are expected to become warriors, while young female Sharatha marry old and powerful males - essentially becoming harem girls for the wealthy men. Sharatha have a propensity for sorcery, though this doesn't really start to show itself until between the ages of 100-200 years of age. Between that time, the young Sharatha must bide their time as either warriors or breeders. When a Sharatha begins to show signs of magical talent, they immediately becomes elevated in station and no longer have to be a warrior or birthing mother. At this point they begin to be recognized in Sharatha society, females get to leave their husband/master if they wish as well. Because of the rigors of combat, many male Sharatha never make it to this stage. As Sharatha age they begin to become even more skills in the arts of magic, those who are most skilled age the more slowly than their kin. Most Sharatha will die of old age between 500-1000 years, though the most powerful live much longer. After becoming full citizens, there is virtually no difference in the gender roles between male and female Sharatha.
The most powerful people in Sharatha are the sorcerers or sorceresses, individuals who have lived for more than 1000 years and whose magic is incredibly powerful. There are 22 families of Sharatha, each ruled by its most powerful sorcerer or sorceress. These families are extremely loyal within the family, but tend to have rivalries and feuds between each other. There is a ruling council over Sharatha, made up of a representative of each of the 22 families.
As Sharatha elves develop their magic abilities, they tend to have an affinity for certain forms of magic, usually they specialize in one of the five schools of magic practiced in Sharatha. The five schools focus on different aspects of magic, but are generally known by their color. The Schools are each headed by the most powerful sorcerer within the school, who is called Patriarch or Matriarch depending upon gender. So the leader of the Black School might be called the Black Matriarch. The schools have political influence of their own and many believe that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are the ones who truly rule Sharatha, not the ruling council. The magical effects described below are all quite rare, most Sharatha elves can only manifest subtle powers.
The Black School is magic associated with death, destruction, concealment, and the night. Its sorcerers, nigrimancers can do a variety of things such as summoning shadowy monsters, cloaking an area in darkness, draining the life force from an enemy, or becoming invisible. One of the most commonly known powers of the nigrimancer is the ability to steal someone's shadow. They will take a slave or prisoner and light a small candle nearby, causing the victim's shadow to be cast against the wall. The nigrimancer then sinks its fingers into the victims shadow and rips it free from the body; this horrible act shreds apart the victim's soul driving them forever insane or leaving them as a drooling vegetable. It is said that the act of having your shadow stolen is the most painful experience that any sensient being can suffer. The nigrimancer can then use the shadow for any number of purposes, such as animating it into an intelligent servant, consuming it to strengthen the nigrimancer's personal powers, or forging it into dark steel. A dark steel weapon is highly prized and quite expensive, its is much stronger than steel and much lighter as well, even when it is damaged it will reform into its natural shape unless it is completely burned away. When a dark steel blade pierces the flesh of a living creature other than an elf of Sharatha, it also chills them to the bone, drawing out the warm and life from their bodies.
The Red School is the school of life and of blood, its sorcerers and called sanguimancers. These sorcerers have the ability to heal as well as to cure illness. More often though, they use their powers to create unwholesome monstrosities to send into battle against enemies or to breed more efficient slaves. Many sanguimancers have the ability to shape flesh as though it were clay, allowing them to change their own shape or that of others. Sanguimancers are highly prized on the battlefield, not only because they can heal the injured, but because many of them can transform themselves into huge monsters. Trolls and wyverns are the creation of sanguimancers.
The Purple School is the magic of the mind. These sorcerers are called animancers. They can strike terror into the hearts of others, manipulate memories or emotions, cloud minds, create illusions, enter dreams, or even turn people into their slaves. Animancers are particularly feared as they can reach into the minds of their enemies to learn their greatest fears and then makes those fears come to life before them. They can cloud the minds of others to gain a form of invisibility. The loyalty of orc slave warriors is insured with the magic of animancers.
The White School is the magic of the sky and weather. Its users caelamancers, an calm or create storms, lower the temperature, create precipitation, or even shoot lightning from their fingertips. Sharatha caelamancers have a greater affinity for the cold and winter than other climates or seasons, so many of their powers relate to cold and ice. More powerful caelamancers can bring a blizzard upon their enemy even in the heat of summer.
Finally there is the Gray School, the magic of time, fate, and destiny. These sorcerers are called fatamancers and their powers are the most subtle of any of the schools. They can see into the future, affect the threads of fate, bring good luck to their friends or bad luck to their enemies.
There are several aspects to the military of Sharatha. The majority of soldiers are the orcs. Orcs are quite strong, significantly more powerful than humans, and what they lack in intellect or finesse they make up for in ferocity, bravery, and power. Orcs have no fear of death and feel no pain, they obey their elven officers with complete loyalty even to the death. Most orc soldiers are not given high quality armor, probably nothing more than a boiled leather breastplate and open faced helm, though sometimes they may receive better armor. Many orcs use great powerful bows, not unlike a Welsh longbow but with even a greater draw for superior orc strength - such units of orc archers are lead by expert elven archers who each carry a bright red banner. The elf will hold up his banner in the direction of the enemy, the angle of the banner indicating the angle at which the orcs are to aim their bows in order to strike the enemy unit. Other units of orcs either receive large round shields along with one handed axes or powerful two handed weapons - these orc melee units rush into the enemy with reckless abandon once they are ordered to do so and as a result, are seldom accompanied by elven officers.
The elven warriors themselves are most often mounted, either as mounted archers or knights. The steeds used by the Sharatha are of the highest quality, bred for strength strength and bravery for heavy warhorses or speed and nimbleness for those ridden by archers. In the case of horse archers, the elven warriors wear light chainmail hauberks and coifs with horses barded with cloth, their bows are finely made composite bows which have both range and accuracy. Sharatha knights are clad in full gothic plate as are their horses, often this is made of darksteel. A minority of Sharatha elven soldiers are pikemen, wearing partial plate armor and using long pikes along with short swords and small round shields. In any case, Sharatha elven warriors are always highly skilled in combat and tactics.
Aside from orcs and elves, sometimes there are other creatures sent into battle on the side of the Sharatha. Certain Sharatha sorcerers can perform a ritual upon an orc to make it grow tremendously in size and physical prowess. This ritual turns the orc into a troll - trolls are large orc-like creatures, towers between 8 and 12 feet tall, with huge jaws full of fangs, razor sharp claws, and thick scaly skin. The ritual is imperfect, making the trolls rather misshapen, sometimes with different sized arms, a curved spin, or other deformities. They vary in shape quite a bit too, some are bloated and fat, others have overgrown arms and tiny legs like an enormous gorilla, others are wiry and thin, some are even covered with sharp spines. Trolls also quickly heal from any injury they receive. The transformation and rapid healing takes its toll on trolls, after only a few months of trollish existence, the creature's body starts to develop growths and tumors, causing it to succumb to cancerous growths within a year. During that time though, the troll is an avatar of death and destruction.
Another creature that are sometimes utilized by the Sharatha are wyverns. These creatures are created by alchemists and sorcerers to serve as riding beasts for high ranking Sharatha sorcerers who go to battle. These are large dragon-like creatures with black scales, a mouth filled with rows of teeth, and sharp talons on its feet. The wyvern cannot breath fire, though its spittle is poisonous and will cause blindness and sickness if spit into the eyes of most creatures. Because creation of a wyvern is such a laborious magical ordeal, they are used by only the most powerful or wealthy members of a Sharatha army - including the general who uses his mount to fly above the battlefield and observe.
In times of necessity, goblins can also be sent into combat as well. They have very little fighting skill, but they have the strength and dexterity of a human and greater endurance. They are resistant to fear and pain, so will fight to the death in defense of their elven masters. They are usually only set into battle with very cheap or basic weapons, frequently just their work tools or farm implements. Goblins are usually only sent into battle in defense of an Sharatha settlement as a last resort or to thin the numbers of goblins if their population has grown too quickly or their is a food shortfall.
There are sometimes other combatants as well, like war sorcerers.
Goblins have been bred by the Sharatha over the course of millennia to be the perfect laborers. They are short and squat, ranging in height from about 4'-4'6" and weighting around 150 pounds. They have thick grayish skin, flat broad noses and and large jaws that give them the appearance of a snout, pointy ears like those of a wolf, and large sharp teeth. Their eyes are small and pure black. These goblins don't have a great deal of intellect, in fact they have been conditioned to obey orders fairly literally and have an almost instinctive knowledge of the manual labor jobs most needed by their Sharatha masters.
The great majority of goblins are females, well over 90%. Those few male goblins are used mostly as breeding studs, only the best are selected for this purpose while the others are dispatched at a young age. Goblins mature in just 5 short years and each goblin female gives birth to 4 goblins with each pregnancy. This is countered in some part by the short lifespan of goblins, because of the intense labor that goblins endure at most die at around the age of 20, though given a more relaxed lifestyle they may live as long as 40-50 years. Goblins do the great majority of work for the Sharatha - including farming, mining, the herding of animals, and construction. Actual Sharatha only do the most skilled labor or oversee the work of slaves.
Orcs are much like goblins. They have similar features though their skin is dark gray, almost black, instead of medium gray. They skin is even thicker than that of goblins, almost scaly in its toughness. They stand about 6'6" tall and have large muscles, they are quite strong and ferocious in combat, which is their purpose - orcs are bred to fight for the Sharatha. There are a higher percentage of orc males than with goblins, the ratio is closer to 50% - the male orcs are sent out to fight while the females are used as breeding stock for the males who show the most promise and success in battle - those that survive the most frequently. Orcs are a bit brighter than goblins, able to understand more complex ideas and orders along with being more able to be trained in a variety of fighting techniques. Unfortunately, it takes orcs longer to mature than goblins, a orc takes 10 years to reach adulthood and their lifespans generally don't exceed those of goblins.
Sharatha is located in a cold region of the world with fierce long winters. This suits the elves of Sharatha well, as they are highly resistant to the cold. They are also more comfortable at night than during the day. The elves of Sharatha, along with orcs and goblins too, have excellent night vision and can see well on even a moonless night. Unfortunately, their eyes are too sensitive or the bright light of day and when the sun is shining brightly they vision is impaired.
The majority of Sharatha is made up of either goblins or orcs, true Sharatha elves are a minority in their own kingdom, though because of the magical manipulation used to create the orc and goblin servants, disloyalty or rebellion is virtually unknown in Sharatha. In fact orcs, who are more dangerous in combat and have more intellectual ability, are generally bound mentally to a Sharatha warrior who they serve in battle.
The Sharatha have a very unusual social structure compared to humans or even to their elven kin. They reach physical maturity at about the age of twenty, growing only slightly more slowly than a human. Though at the age of 20, they aren't considered adults within Sharatha by any means. The roles of young Sharatha are sharply divided by sex. Young male Sharatha are expected to become warriors, while young female Sharatha marry old and powerful males - essentially becoming harem girls for the wealthy men. Sharatha have a propensity for sorcery, though this doesn't really start to show itself until between the ages of 100-200 years of age. Between that time, the young Sharatha must bide their time as either warriors or breeders. When a Sharatha begins to show signs of magical talent, they immediately becomes elevated in station and no longer have to be a warrior or birthing mother. At this point they begin to be recognized in Sharatha society, females get to leave their husband/master if they wish as well. Because of the rigors of combat, many male Sharatha never make it to this stage. As Sharatha age they begin to become even more skills in the arts of magic, those who are most skilled age the more slowly than their kin. Most Sharatha will die of old age between 500-1000 years, though the most powerful live much longer. After becoming full citizens, there is virtually no difference in the gender roles between male and female Sharatha.
The most powerful people in Sharatha are the sorcerers or sorceresses, individuals who have lived for more than 1000 years and whose magic is incredibly powerful. There are 22 families of Sharatha, each ruled by its most powerful sorcerer or sorceress. These families are extremely loyal within the family, but tend to have rivalries and feuds between each other. There is a ruling council over Sharatha, made up of a representative of each of the 22 families.
As Sharatha elves develop their magic abilities, they tend to have an affinity for certain forms of magic, usually they specialize in one of the five schools of magic practiced in Sharatha. The five schools focus on different aspects of magic, but are generally known by their color. The Schools are each headed by the most powerful sorcerer within the school, who is called Patriarch or Matriarch depending upon gender. So the leader of the Black School might be called the Black Matriarch. The schools have political influence of their own and many believe that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are the ones who truly rule Sharatha, not the ruling council. The magical effects described below are all quite rare, most Sharatha elves can only manifest subtle powers.
The Black School is magic associated with death, destruction, concealment, and the night. Its sorcerers, nigrimancers can do a variety of things such as summoning shadowy monsters, cloaking an area in darkness, draining the life force from an enemy, or becoming invisible. One of the most commonly known powers of the nigrimancer is the ability to steal someone's shadow. They will take a slave or prisoner and light a small candle nearby, causing the victim's shadow to be cast against the wall. The nigrimancer then sinks its fingers into the victims shadow and rips it free from the body; this horrible act shreds apart the victim's soul driving them forever insane or leaving them as a drooling vegetable. It is said that the act of having your shadow stolen is the most painful experience that any sensient being can suffer. The nigrimancer can then use the shadow for any number of purposes, such as animating it into an intelligent servant, consuming it to strengthen the nigrimancer's personal powers, or forging it into dark steel. A dark steel weapon is highly prized and quite expensive, its is much stronger than steel and much lighter as well, even when it is damaged it will reform into its natural shape unless it is completely burned away. When a dark steel blade pierces the flesh of a living creature other than an elf of Sharatha, it also chills them to the bone, drawing out the warm and life from their bodies.
The Red School is the school of life and of blood, its sorcerers and called sanguimancers. These sorcerers have the ability to heal as well as to cure illness. More often though, they use their powers to create unwholesome monstrosities to send into battle against enemies or to breed more efficient slaves. Many sanguimancers have the ability to shape flesh as though it were clay, allowing them to change their own shape or that of others. Sanguimancers are highly prized on the battlefield, not only because they can heal the injured, but because many of them can transform themselves into huge monsters. Trolls and wyverns are the creation of sanguimancers.
The Purple School is the magic of the mind. These sorcerers are called animancers. They can strike terror into the hearts of others, manipulate memories or emotions, cloud minds, create illusions, enter dreams, or even turn people into their slaves. Animancers are particularly feared as they can reach into the minds of their enemies to learn their greatest fears and then makes those fears come to life before them. They can cloud the minds of others to gain a form of invisibility. The loyalty of orc slave warriors is insured with the magic of animancers.
The White School is the magic of the sky and weather. Its users caelamancers, an calm or create storms, lower the temperature, create precipitation, or even shoot lightning from their fingertips. Sharatha caelamancers have a greater affinity for the cold and winter than other climates or seasons, so many of their powers relate to cold and ice. More powerful caelamancers can bring a blizzard upon their enemy even in the heat of summer.
Finally there is the Gray School, the magic of time, fate, and destiny. These sorcerers are called fatamancers and their powers are the most subtle of any of the schools. They can see into the future, affect the threads of fate, bring good luck to their friends or bad luck to their enemies.
There are several aspects to the military of Sharatha. The majority of soldiers are the orcs. Orcs are quite strong, significantly more powerful than humans, and what they lack in intellect or finesse they make up for in ferocity, bravery, and power. Orcs have no fear of death and feel no pain, they obey their elven officers with complete loyalty even to the death. Most orc soldiers are not given high quality armor, probably nothing more than a boiled leather breastplate and open faced helm, though sometimes they may receive better armor. Many orcs use great powerful bows, not unlike a Welsh longbow but with even a greater draw for superior orc strength - such units of orc archers are lead by expert elven archers who each carry a bright red banner. The elf will hold up his banner in the direction of the enemy, the angle of the banner indicating the angle at which the orcs are to aim their bows in order to strike the enemy unit. Other units of orcs either receive large round shields along with one handed axes or powerful two handed weapons - these orc melee units rush into the enemy with reckless abandon once they are ordered to do so and as a result, are seldom accompanied by elven officers.
The elven warriors themselves are most often mounted, either as mounted archers or knights. The steeds used by the Sharatha are of the highest quality, bred for strength strength and bravery for heavy warhorses or speed and nimbleness for those ridden by archers. In the case of horse archers, the elven warriors wear light chainmail hauberks and coifs with horses barded with cloth, their bows are finely made composite bows which have both range and accuracy. Sharatha knights are clad in full gothic plate as are their horses, often this is made of darksteel. A minority of Sharatha elven soldiers are pikemen, wearing partial plate armor and using long pikes along with short swords and small round shields. In any case, Sharatha elven warriors are always highly skilled in combat and tactics.
Aside from orcs and elves, sometimes there are other creatures sent into battle on the side of the Sharatha. Certain Sharatha sorcerers can perform a ritual upon an orc to make it grow tremendously in size and physical prowess. This ritual turns the orc into a troll - trolls are large orc-like creatures, towers between 8 and 12 feet tall, with huge jaws full of fangs, razor sharp claws, and thick scaly skin. The ritual is imperfect, making the trolls rather misshapen, sometimes with different sized arms, a curved spin, or other deformities. They vary in shape quite a bit too, some are bloated and fat, others have overgrown arms and tiny legs like an enormous gorilla, others are wiry and thin, some are even covered with sharp spines. Trolls also quickly heal from any injury they receive. The transformation and rapid healing takes its toll on trolls, after only a few months of trollish existence, the creature's body starts to develop growths and tumors, causing it to succumb to cancerous growths within a year. During that time though, the troll is an avatar of death and destruction.
Another creature that are sometimes utilized by the Sharatha are wyverns. These creatures are created by alchemists and sorcerers to serve as riding beasts for high ranking Sharatha sorcerers who go to battle. These are large dragon-like creatures with black scales, a mouth filled with rows of teeth, and sharp talons on its feet. The wyvern cannot breath fire, though its spittle is poisonous and will cause blindness and sickness if spit into the eyes of most creatures. Because creation of a wyvern is such a laborious magical ordeal, they are used by only the most powerful or wealthy members of a Sharatha army - including the general who uses his mount to fly above the battlefield and observe.
In times of necessity, goblins can also be sent into combat as well. They have very little fighting skill, but they have the strength and dexterity of a human and greater endurance. They are resistant to fear and pain, so will fight to the death in defense of their elven masters. They are usually only set into battle with very cheap or basic weapons, frequently just their work tools or farm implements. Goblins are usually only sent into battle in defense of an Sharatha settlement as a last resort or to thin the numbers of goblins if their population has grown too quickly or their is a food shortfall.
There are sometimes other combatants as well, like war sorcerers.
