Editing Hackmaster (section)

===Demihumans===
[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] of Tellene are pretty standard; short, stoic, subterranean, conservative, bearded axe-wielding warriors. They don't like elves, but reserve their true hatred for [[orc]]s, [[goblinoid]]s and humanoids in general. Tellene dwarf women make up only 25% of the population and are basically dudes with vagoos; bearded, breastless, gruff-voiced and ugly as their menfolk. (And yes: Hackmaster got fem-dwarf miniatures, complete with those beards.) Add to it that a dwarven pregnancy takes 3 years, and there are not a lot of new dwarflings coming into the world. Weirdly, dwarf women are supposedly completely liberated and many don't even bother to get married or have kids at all... which some would argue makes absolutely no fucking sense.

[[Elf|Elves]] are, once again, rooted in the basic mold laid out by old-school D&D. Described as the biggest, most human-like of the [[fey]] races, they are short (5ft tall), magical, incredibly long-lived, and massively skilled in the arts of beauty, craftsmanship, and anything related to design, if only because they live so damn long they learn to get good at stuff. Most elves are either [[wizard]]s or engaging in mage-based [[multiclassing]]. Elf kids are rare, but it's because elven women are usually more focused on their careers than any direct fertility issues, which combines with their incredibly long-view term on the world (a 50-60 year marriage with humans and five kids is a "dalliance" in elfin terms) to make them not really consider reproducing that important. The default elf race are the ''High Elves'', with the other major elfin subraces being the seafaring, reclusive ''Gray Elves'' and the somewhat more feral ''Wood Elves''.

[[Gnome]]s on Tellene combine elements of D&D's rock and forest gnomes, resembling short, long-bearded dwarves who dwell in subterranean forest homes, gather gems, tinker with engineering, and practice practical jokes. Tellenish gnomes are distinguished by their dark sense of humor, with a particular tendency towards pessimism and sarcasm. Unlike dwarves, gnome women are clearly distinguished from their menfolk and quite abundant (50% of the population). However, between the fact females are only fertile for a 30 year period after their first century, and gnomes of both sexes have an almost panda-like disinterest in sex, and the race is about as reproductively screwed as the dwarves are.

[[Halfling]]s on Tellene are [[hobbits]]. Much like AD&D, they don't try to hide it. They're small, peaceful, food-loving folk largely concerned with a comfortable, easy life in a pastoral environment and very much wanting the world to leave them along, thank you. They are the most fertile of the demihuman peoples; female halflings are about as common as males (actually slightly more common -55%- by adulthood, since [[Kender|males tend to get themselves killed]] in hunting or farming accidents), gestate for 10 months, and have no weird biological or psychological hangups about making kids - in fact, female halflings tend to be very happy homemakers, and halflings have large families.

In addition to the above, Tellene is home to two other distinctive demi-human races.

'''Grel''' are an elf subrace, also known as ''Grunge Elves'', who hail from the great civil war. But whereas the dark elves fled underground, the grel remained on the surface, and have continued their vendetta against the high elves ever since. Having interbred with [[human]]s and [[hobgoblin]]s, they are more robust, aggressive and powerfully built than the standard elf. Unlike other demi-humans, they are largely evil, with the standard grel society being a nomadic warband that ravages the land of all they can use before moving on to fresh territory. They consider themselves proud, mighty warriors. There is a distinct dearth of womenfolk amongst their ranks, largely because they treat them like shit and tend to kill them as babies - females make up 51% of births, but only 35% of adults.

'''Pixie-Faeries''' are your standard "little winged elf with antennae" type [[fey]]. They are small, magical, benevolent folk who largely avoid the human settlements and live quiet lives in the wilderness. They are explicitly stated to be a result of ancient crossbreeding between pixies and fairies, which are a separate think in Tellene, but are now a truebreeding race.