Arcanis

Dark-kin are those born with demonic traits. They are usually born from human parents who carry recessive demonic traits. Because of their bloodlines, Dark-kin tend to be marginalized in society. Dark-kin are the results of a period of Onara's history called the Time of Terror, when Demons, Devils, and other Infernals were released from the Hells by the powerful magics of the Myrantian Empire.

Giants were assigned the task of protecting mankind. When they began to lord over man, the king of the gods, Illiir cursed the giants, diminishing them into dwarves. Later, Sarish, the grandson of Illiir and the god of Contracts came to the Dwarves and told them that should they craft the perfect item, their curse would be lifted.

The Dwarves are divided into different groups, called Enclaves. Unlike other humanoids on Onara, dwarves are barred from the afterlife due to their curse. To preserve their souls, each Dwarf carries with him a gem, known as Soul Stone to which their soul is trapped following their death, to be released when the Curse has been lifted.

Elves in Arcanis are called Elorii. Made of the traditional Greek elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, the Elorii are immortal. Elorii are divided into different sub-races based on their elemental ancestry, adding another subrace known as the Life Elorii, or Ardekenes.

The Elorii were created by four very powerful elementals in conjunction with a "life spirit" called Belisarda, who imbued elemental energies and life force into bioconstructed orc-like creature known as a Gar. Because of this, Elorii do not look like traditional Elves, having distinct fangs as well as other minor differences. These elemental spirits were worshipped by the Elorii as gods; they despise humanity because four of the human gods "absorbed" the four Elemental Lords, leaving only Belisarda. They eventually rebelled against their creators.

Gnomes in Arcanis are ugly, short half-breeds. These Gnomes are not an independent race, but are considered an 'aberration' race, resulting from the unholy breeding between Dwarves and Humans. Gnomes in Arcanis are disgustingly deformed, as the curse applied to dwarves applies equally to the stature of their offspring. However, unlike their Dwarven parents, Gnomes are not barred from the afterlife.

Humans mirror the traditional Dungeons & Dragons human. Most of humanity are latecomers to the continent of Onara (where most of the current story takes place), but at least one group, the Pengik, predate the Ss'regorean Empire, who have the oldest recorded history. Presently, there are two notable variations of Humanity: The Kio and the Undir. These subraces of Human have been attuned to the elements of air and water, respectively, and display several differences including longer life (Kio) and more elven traits (Undir).

Ss'ressen are lizard-men and a major component of the Ssethregoran Empire. This empire consists of many races, many of them serpentine such as Naga and Ssanu snake-men (who replaced the Yuan-ti after the latter were removed from the Open Gaming License content). The Ssethregorans are the oldest civilized group on the continent of Onara and at one point had conquered most of it. They are well known for their strange magics and were responsible for the creation of the Elorii. Originally, they worshiped the gods Kassegore and Yig, but with the rise of the Naga to a ruling position, they now worship vile gods known as the Varn. (Originally, they worshiped slaadi, but with the removal of these beings from the Open Gaming License content, Paradigm Concepts was forced to change this.)

The Black Talon ss'ressen rebelled against the Ssethregoran Empire and fled. They had come to worship a god known as The Fire Dragon. They live in a swampy area of the nation of Milandir. The Ghost Scale are descendants of a splinter group of Black Talons who came upon an artifact in the sewers of Grand Coryan that radiates a magical aura (which so happens to also radiate heat enough to support a ss'eressen clutch) and took to worshiping it as a god by the name of Herka. The Ashen Hide ss'ressen broke off from the Black Talons, deciding that the Fire Dragon was actually the human god of fire and war, Nier. The Ashen Hide Clutch now resides in the nation of Canceri.

Val were created during the God War as the elite warriors of the Gods and thereafter, as the caretakers of Mankind. In their stead, every god sent his servants, the Valinor, to mingle with the populace, and create a semi-divine family capable of aiding mankind. Every Val has a bloodline, which is tied to a specific god; they have divine powers which they may improve; these are related to their bloodline. For example, val'Ossan are tied to Yarris, god of the sea, and can gain Bloodline Powers such as walking on water and controlling sea creatures.

Val are also the only psionic humans in Arcanis. Val always have steel grey eyes, unless they are psionically active; in psions, the iris turns clear, leaving the eye almost entirely white.

The Mother Church of the Pantheon of Man once held all the gods in equal worship, until a schism occurred which drove followers of Neroth, Sarish and Nier to form an independent church, the Dark Triumvirate in Canceri. The Mother Church and the Dark Triumvirate differ in several ways, primarily in that the Dark Triumvirate approves of activities the Mother Church fears: the creation of Undead and the summoning of demons and devils for the most part.

The Fire Dragon is the god worshiped by the Black Talon ss'ressen. The Ashen Hide split off from this group, believing that Fire Dragon was actually the human god, Nier.

The Ssethregoran Empire once worshiped the gods Kassegore and Yig. With the ascension of the Naga to a ruling position in the Empire, they have begun to worship a pantheon of beings from another plane known as the Varn.

The Elorii follow the Elemental Lords that created them, despite the destruction of four of them. The remaining Elemental Lord, the life spirit Belisarda, was believed to have been destroyed by The Other (or Umor, as the Elorii knew him), until the arrival of a Prophet who claimed this was not true.

• Belisarda – Goddess of Life and Healing
• Keleos – God of Fire
• Mârok – God of Earth
• Osalían – God of Air
• Beröe – Goddess of Water

A somewhat common movement among Elorii has been the practice of identifying elemental lords with one of the human gods that supposedly absorbed those elemental lords powers. For instance, some Elorii followers of the Lord of Air consider Hurrian, the Storm Lord in the Pantheon of Man, to be their God. To other Elorii this seems to be heresy and is considered to be so, although the Mother Church (and the Dark Triumvirate in the case of Nier) has little or no issues for Elorii who choose this path.

The ancient Myrantian Hegemony had its own pantheon of gods, although much information about them has been lost to the ages. The Mother Church of Coryan considers worship of the Myrantian deities heresy, but allows the worship of traditional Pantheon of Man deities under the names of Myrantian gods. The Myrantian Pantheon seems primarily based on the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, though not entirely. Tzizhet is considered a combination of Sarish and Neroth. Shu is a god of storms, sky, and magic, considered an amalgam of Hurrian and Sarish.