The DroCh

In their own tongue, they call themselves the DroCh.  “Ch” is used to represent a voiceless uvular fricative, a sound that does not exist in the common trade languages but is common in the language of the DroCh (also known as DroChlaCh).  They are an isolated people that have little contact with other races, but when that contact does occur, they are referred to as either “Dwarfs” or “Dragons”.  As a species, they are an example of extreme sexual dimorphism and a resulting high degree of division of labor along the lines of sex.  

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America: A Nation of Monsters

The early 1600s was a tumultuous time in Europe.  Religious wars tore through the continent, causing many to flee to other parts of the globe as refugees.  No Europeans were affected more strongly in this than the non-human species who hid themselves within the various human populations.  What made matters especially bad for them was the English independence from the Catholic Church.

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The Rise of English Wizardry

In the mid-1500s, the dominant magical tradition in Europe was that of Catholicism.  Priests would use mass prayer as a power source and religious iconography as focusing devices.  These were old methods that dated back to before the Roman Empire in various forms and were well ingrained into the tradition of Europe.  However, the Protestant Reformation threatened to undermine this tradition.

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The Romanian Empire

Vlad Tepes (also known as Dracula) was Voivode of Wallachia in the mid-1400s. During his reign, Wallachia faced expansionist invasions by the Ottoman Empire. Vlad used every strategy available to him to stop the Ottoman invasion. Eventually, he turned to darker methods and allowed himself to be turned into a vampire. This granted him the power to turn the Ottomans back, but it came at a cost.

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Hivemind

About 300 years ago, there was a French fur trapper who lived near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. Unbeknownst to him, when he moved there, he possessed a unique genetic mutation. It was upon the birth of his first child that he noticed the effect, even if he didn’t understand the cause at the time. Everyone with that particular allele had their brains networked together, functioning as a single mind with several bodies. An odd interaction with an unrelated protein code that was closely located to this allele on the chromosome caused it to be Super Dominant in that if present on one Chromosome, it would become duplicated on the other one. Only a tiny fraction of children end up not carrying the allele.

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Vampire Castes

Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, small packs of vampires would stalk the larger tribes of nomadic humans, preying on them at night. When humans began settling into permanent villages and cities, most vampires continued their stalking habits, just with more permanent lairs hidden in the outskirts of smaller settlements or the depths of larger ones. However, one vampire was more enterprising than that.

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