Introduction to the species of Nephele

Dwarves
seven dwarvish nations - come from THE SEA originally but really got going from Top Continent (Kirminai)

Elves
Elves originate from the continent of Petheryga, where they evolved alongside dinosaurs (including birds) and reptiles. They are humanoids with a strongly avian cast, including characteristically large and feathery ears, head-plumage where humans or orcs would have hair, and talons on their hands and feet. Female elves are on average larger than male elves, while male elves are on average more colorful than females, but there are otherwise few distinguishing differences between the sexes. Elven cultures are primarily matriarchal and matrilineal, though both sexes generally have equal participation in all activities of life albeit in different roles.

Elves are the longest-lived of Nephele's species, with no known individuals having died of old age. They are oviparous but are very slow to reproduce, with a breeding pair producing a viable egg once every few decades if they are very fortunate. Elf eggs gestate for years at a time and infant elves are precocial, able to walk and speak at a toddler level within hours of birth.

Historically, elves were very involved in the affairs of the "mortal" races, seeing it as their role to protect the innocent and promote justice by helping those in dire need whenever asked. Subsequent attrition due to war put tremendous pressure on their slow-growing population as they realized the possibility of their own extinction. Subsequently, elven society fractured along philosophical lines, with four major groups (each comprising pieces of many elven cultures) arising.

Elven polities include the Shroudwood, populated primarily by shrikes prior to being sacked by the Prince of Locusts, and the Isle of Joy, where the high elves reside. The world-renowned university Asphodel Hall was founded by a deep elf on her line's ancestral estate just outside the human kingdom of Clarent; she remains regent to this day. Significant elven populations live among the Ukonvasara and other Iron Steppes communities (iron elves and shrikes) and in Mitri (ice elves), while wood elves may be found in every nation that permits them entry.

Ice elves
"Ice elves" is a colloquial name for an elven population that settled in Mitri several hundred years after the city-state's founding. While they predate the philosophical split in elven cultures that gave rise to the other elven groups, they are philosophically most aligned with the wood elves, desiring only to be left alone. Some younger ice elves have seasonal plumage reminiscent of ptarmigans, molting to white during Kirminai's long winter.

Iron elves
By the time of the Prince of Locusts, there are a very small number of iron elves remaining, most of them having become shrikes.

Shrikes
Shrikes are a distinct, pillar-touched elven subspecies. In addition to having radically altered appearances, shrikes are much shorter-lived and vastly more fertile than standard elves. Shrikes exist in a fourth dimension of space. They can see "inside" purely three-dimensional objects and maneuver freely in an additional spatial direction, appearing able to walk through walls or manipulate items in closed containers without damaging the containers, among other feats. Shrikes are known to assume monstrous forms under great duress or when raised as undead.

Wood elves
hillfolk!!

Orcs
the Orcish Empire (Petheryga), Orc Persia (Nabea) (needs name) - come from Left Continent (Nabea) originally

Humans
Clarent (Nabea), the Skilled/Ukonvasara (Petheryga), Dragon Isles (Archipelago) - come from the Serpentine Archipelago originally

The Sea People
Nephele's oldest sapient race, the Sea People [stuff goes here]