PHB Races:
The player races presented in the D&D 4e Player's Handbook are the first ones I want to tackle for the setting, and honestly the easiest to work with given the familiarity everyone has with them. Backwoods elves, Dragonborn privateers and emo Tieflings are all appealing to me right now, and I think they'll be a lot of fun to play with.
Human- The most common folk in the world are humans, found
everywhere and tending to be easily cowed by powerful entities, many claim they
were formed by the Gods to serve the needs of their betters. A claim often
violently refuted by humans themselves.
Dwarf- The closest allies to humans, the dwarf race are
powerfully built and tend to be gruff of manner. At one time they lived in the
mountains, but many years of war with giant-kin have seen the majority migrate
to the lowlands.
Elf- Long lived, beautiful of body and naturally drawn to
the woodlands, elves also have a tendency to bear grudges and answer insults
with violence, even as they feel free to speak their minds to any and all
without answer.
Eladrin- The ancestral rulers of elvenkind, the eladrin hail
from the ‘Far Isles’ across the sea. Their ability to warp space is but an
outward sign of their alien nature, these immortals are inscrutable to many and
their manipulative games have doomed entire nations.
Half-Elf- Outcasts from the woods, half-elves find
themselves as homeless wanderers or destitute street dwellers in the cities of
the coast. Despised by elves, pitied by men, few of them aspire to anything
more than a simple life.
Halfling- Found wherever humans and dwarves dwell, common
lore holds that they are a halfbreed race of folk, though the halflings have
their own legends in which they are gifted to the world by the goddess Avandra.
Wily, nimble and courageous to a fault, many halflings make a living as
couriers and messengers between villages in the wilds.
Dragonborn- Scions of the Dragons who rule over the southern
desert kingdoms, the dragonborn are seneschals, courtiers and favoured servants
of those powerful and ancient beasts. They are the public face of dragonkind,
whether walking the streets clad in their finery, or sailing as privateers
against the infernal church led city states of the northern coast.
Tiefling- Born servants, natural rebels, the tieflings are a
living sign of mortal corruption by the Nine Hells. The result of pacts between
the Archdevils and mortal men, they are mistrusted and feared in the north, seen
as dangerous criminals in the south and rarely given the chance to prove their
individual worth before being judged for their very nature.