The following races are found throughout both continents in significant numbers. They represent the majority of Voxana’s population and can be encountered in virtually any settlement.

Humans

Humans are the most numerous and most widely distributed race on Voxana. They occupy every climate, every region, and every economic niche. Their adaptability is their defining trait—humans settled the Frostbourne Wilds alongside orcs, built farming communities in the Verdant Expanse, established maritime traditions on the Golden Shores, and filled every city on both continents with their ambition, creativity, and capacity for both cooperation and conflict.

Human cultures on Voxana are defined by geography rather than ethnicity. A human from Borogrove in the Frostbourne Wilds—raised on wool trade, winter festivals, and oral storytelling—has little in common with a human from Seabreeze on the Golden Shores, whose life revolves around the sea, festival culture, and maritime tradition. The Split scattered human populations so thoroughly that no single human cultural identity emerged. Instead, humans adapted to wherever they landed, absorbing local influences and contributing their own.

Humans hold positions of power across Voxana. The Keswick family rules Volaxia from Runeswick. Human nobles sit on Osan’s Council of Lords. Human farmers feed both continents, human merchants dominate trade, and human soldiers form the backbone of most standing armies. Their ubiquity is both their strength and their vulnerability—humans are everywhere, but they anchor their identity to place and profession rather than race.

Dwarves

Dwarves have one of the most dramatic post-Split histories of any race on Voxana. Before the cataclysm, dwarven civilization was centered in the Iron Mountains, with strongholds on both sides of what would become the rift. When the Split occurred, Nin’Durahl on the Osan side survived largely intact, protected by its mountain fortress construction. But the dwarven outposts on the Volaxia side were devastated. Foundations cracked, tunnels collapsed, and entire communities found themselves in ruins.

The surviving Volaxian dwarves migrated south toward stability. Many settled in Runeswick, where they established the Dwarven District that still anchors the city’s craftsmanship economy. Others dispersed to Silverpeak, Frosthold, and other settlements where their skills in mining, metalwork, and engineering were desperately needed. On Osan, Nin’Durahl remained the heart of dwarven identity—a city carved from living rock, governed by a dwarven king, and proud of an unbroken cultural tradition stretching back before the Split.

The result is a dwarven population split between two distinct identities. The dwarves of Nin’Durahl are traditionalists: deeply connected to the mountain, to mining culture, and to dwarven customs that have been practiced for centuries. The diaspora dwarves of Volaxia are more cosmopolitan, shaped by generations of living alongside humans, elves, and other races. They still value craftsmanship, stone, and the old ways—but they also speak Common as a first language, celebrate local festivals alongside dwarven ones, and have developed traditions their Nin’Durahl cousins would barely recognize.

Elves

Elven cultures on Voxana are defined by adaptation to environment. The Frostpine Elves of the Frostbourne Wilds have developed a deep connection to the icy forest and its ancient magic, building their village within and among the great evergreens. The wood elves of Shimmergrove maintain a careful relationship with the enchanted Glimmerwood. The high elves of Zumora have built a city of extraordinary beauty within the Eldenwood, interweaving architecture with living forest and establishing one of the foremost magical academies on either continent.

Elven diaspora communities exist in most major cities. Runeswick’s Elven Quarter is home to artisans, scholars, and merchants. Duskfall’s elven vintners have transformed the local wine industry. Bloomridge, south of Zumora, represents a blend of elven aesthetics and agricultural practicality. In every case, elven communities maintain their cultural traditions—reverence for nature, long-term thinking, artistic expression—while adapting to the civic context of their adopted homes.

Drow exist on Voxana but are not universally reviled. The world’s post-Split intermixing extended to drow communities, and while drow cultural traditions carry a reputation for secrecy and ambition, individual drow are judged by their actions rather than their heritage in most cosmopolitan cities. In more isolated communities, older prejudices may persist.

Orcs & Half-Orcs

Orcs on Voxana defy the stereotype of the mindless raider. The orcish city of Kruul’Dar—built in and around the ruins of a pre-Split dwarven outpost in the Iron Mountains—is a functioning city-state with a council of clan leaders, a thriving metalwork economy, and surprisingly warm relations with its neighbors, including the goblins of Goblin Glens. Kruul’Dar blends orcish and dwarven architectural traditions, and its smiths produce work that is respected across the Frostbourne Wilds.

Orcish communities exist beyond Kruul’Dar as well. Gruumsh Stormfist, the Elder Sage of Enchantment, hails from the orcish communities of Kargruk on Volaxia—a powerful reminder that orcish culture produces scholars and mages as readily as warriors. Half-orcs are common throughout Voxana, particularly in cities where orcish communities have lived alongside other races for generations. In Runeswick and Runewick, half-orcs face little stigma; in more remote areas, attitudes vary.

Halflings

Halflings are found throughout Voxana but rarely dominate a settlement. Their strength is integration: halfling families embed themselves in communities of other races and become indispensable through a combination of practical skills, social adaptability, and the kind of quiet competence that larger folk tend to underestimate. Halfling bakeries, halfling cobblers, halfling innkeepers, and halfling merchants are fixtures of towns and cities on both continents.

Halfling communities tend to be neighborhood-scale rather than city-scale. A halfling quarter in Runeswick or a halfling fishing village within the larger Sapphire Locke community operates with its own internal culture—close family ties, shared meals, an emphasis on comfort and hospitality—while remaining fully integrated with the broader settlement. Halflings are also disproportionately represented in river and coastal trade, where their small stature and practical skills make them excellent crew on vessels of all sizes.

Gnomes

Gnomes on Voxana are most visibly concentrated in Tinker Town—the gnome-and-goblin settlement on the southern edge of the Grand Desert that has become synonymous with invention and innovation. But gnomes are far from limited to a single town. Gnome scholars study at Zumora, gnome merchants operate in every major market, and gnome artificers are sought after for their ability to blend mechanical ingenuity with arcane understanding.

Daxxie Sparklegem, the Elder Sage of Abjuration, represents the highest achievement of gnomish magical tradition—a reminder that gnomes excel in the arcane arts as readily as in mechanical ones. Gnomish culture values curiosity, experimentation, and the belief that understanding how something works is its own reward. This disposition makes gnomes natural collaborators, and gnome-goblin partnerships—once a novelty—have become a recognizable cultural institution, particularly in Tinker Town.

Goblins

Goblins occupy an unusual position on Voxana. In many settings, goblins are treated as antagonists by default. On Voxana, goblins are a recognized and increasingly respected people—a shift driven largely by two communities. Goblin Glens, in the Frostbourne Wilds, has demonstrated that goblin settlements can coexist peacefully with their neighbors. Tinker Town, on Osan, has proven that goblin ingenuity can drive an entire economy.

Goblin culture on Voxana emphasizes resourcefulness, improvisation, and a pragmatic relationship with risk. Goblins are natural tinkerers, scavengers, and problem-solvers. Their craftsmanship in Goblin Glens is idiosyncratic but effective—mechanical devices and alchemical curiosities that work in ways that shouldn’t make sense but do. In Tinker Town, the collaboration between goblin and gnome artificers has produced innovations that neither community could have achieved alone.

Goblin acceptance varies by location. In cosmopolitan cities like Runeswick and Runewick, goblins are simply another face in the crowd. In rural areas and isolated communities, older prejudices may linger. Goblin player characters should expect a world that is generally welcoming but not uniformly so—which is true of most races on Voxana.

Tieflings

Tieflings on Voxana face the same paradox they face in most settings: their appearance invites suspicion, but their abilities command respect. Voxana’s post-Split intermixing has been kinder to tieflings than many worlds—when every community is a blend of displaced peoples, one more unusual face matters less than it might in a more homogeneous society.

Tiefling communities are small and dispersed rather than concentrated. Notable tieflings in Voxanan society include Ralik Noxx, the Elder Sage of Necromancy from Runewick, whose position on the Elder Sage Council is a powerful statement about tiefling capability. Tieflings are found in every major city, often gravitating toward professions where their natural charisma and arcane affinity are assets: diplomacy, trade, the arcane academies, and—less officially—the kind of work that benefits from being slightly feared.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn are respected on Voxana, though they are less numerous than humans, elves, or dwarves. Their imposing presence, elemental heritage, and cultural emphasis on honor and clan loyalty make them memorable in any community they join. Dragonborn communities are scattered rather than concentrated—no single dragonborn city exists on either continent—but dragonborn families and clans maintain strong internal bonds regardless of where they live.

Mirella D’Saphir, the Elder Sage of Evocation, is a dragonborn of deep blue scales and golden eyes—a figure whose presence on the Elder Sage Council underscores the dragonborn tradition of achieving excellence through discipline and strength of character.

Half-Elves

Half-elves are common on Voxana—an inevitable result of centuries of elven communities living side by side with every other race on both continents. As noted above, ‘half-elf’ on Voxana does not exclusively mean half-human. A half-elf might carry dwarven, orcish, gnomish, or any other heritage alongside their elven blood. They are found in every city and most towns, and they occupy a natural role as bridges between cultures. Half-elves often gravitate toward positions that require navigating between different communities: diplomacy, trade, and institutions that serve diverse populations.

Faren Greycloak, the Elder Sage of Illusion, represents the half-elven capacity to move between worlds. Lady Catelyn Greycloak, an influential advisor in Runeswick, demonstrates the political influence that half-elves have achieved. In Voxana’s intermixed society, half-elves are not caught between two worlds—they belong to the world that the Split created, and they are entirely at home in it.

Genasi

Genasi—those with elemental heritage—are uncommon but not rare on Voxana. Fire genasi appear in communities near volcanic regions, particularly around the Veiled Isles and the southern reaches of both continents. Earth genasi are drawn to mining communities and mountain settlements. Water genasi gravitate toward coastal and river towns. Air genasi are the most dispersed, found wherever the wind carries them.

Genasi are treated as exotic but not threatening in most communities. Their elemental nature is viewed as a gift rather than a curse, and genasi often find employment in roles that suit their heritage: fire genasi as smiths and alchemists, water genasi as sailors and fishermen, earth genasi as miners and builders.