The Orobai

Physical characteristics: The Orobai are a race descended of dragons and have characteristics reminiscent of elves, being slight of both form and facial features, with average heights of about a taller-than-average human. Their eyes are blank whites, pupil and iris-less like their dragon ancestors, and their skin varies along the blue-spectrum, from darker navy blues or dusky purples to lighter shades of cornflower or lavender, their hide thicker than human or elves. Hair color is primarily black or white with occasional silver-gray variations. Rather than ears, the Orobai sport fin-like protrusions where ears would normally be, and horns. The fins aid in capturing and diverting sound waves to the hollow horns, and the brain then translates these reverberations into individual sound, useful for both hearing as well as a manner of sonar. Orobai are essentially immortal, much like the elves, and will not die unless they are terribly wounded, or made very sick (usually through extremely potent poison).

Abilities: The Orobai have extremely high levels of endurance, more-so than even humans and second only to the dwarves, as well as the flexibility and grace of the elves. But despite their strong physical attributes, the Orobai are not naturally war-like, rather devoting themselves to spiritual and mental achievements, optimizing their latent capability for magic. They have very strong eyesight and can see for long distances in almost all lighting save extremely bright. Their horns, however, give them a sonar-like capability with which they can map out the world around them, compensating for their poor vision in well-lit spaces.

Culture: The Orobai have very little love of war or conflict, and instead prefer to devote their lives to intellectual, artistic and theological pursuits. Despite this, however, they can be very closed minded and do not bend easily, possessing almost none of the adaptability of the humans, steeping themselves in ancient lore and beliefs and keeping removed from the progression of the world. Because of this, they often remain entirely apart from the other races, keeping to themselves in their perilous northern mountain regions, places so deep that not even the brave and rugged men of Thern dare to venture within and higher up than even the dwarves care to go. Their homes are built intricately into the mountains' sides, veritable cities beautifully and intricately carved through the many long years they have devoted to their society. The Orobai government consists of a matriarch elected from within one of the 'Old Families,' the unofficial nobility with the strongest blood ties to their ancient dragon ancestry.

History: Dragons were once the titanic inhabitants of Eascaea, ruling both land and sky as they pleased, reigning over humans, dwarves and elves alike. They enjoyed watching the small, sprightly creatures scurry across the landscape with a kind of superior fascination, but it eventually came to their attention that these tiny, scurrying creatures were almost, if not at least, as intelligent as themselves. With a curiousness that the race eventually lost, the dragons attempted to investigate these growing species. But after years of invoking suspicion at best and terror at worst, the dragons were not met with favorable reactions. So in order to further investigate, the dragons combined their magic to transform a select and more curious few of their kind into a humanoid shape, attempting to copy the little two-legged scurrying creatures. Though these early ancestors of the Orobai were significantly physically different than the humans, elves and dwarves, it was a form more easily accepted by these races and they were therefore allowed, if tentatively, amongst the other cultures. It quickly became apparent that these 'creatures' were more influential in the world at large than the dragons had initially suspected, and they began to commit more and more to their race to join the humans, elves and dwarves. After a few centuries, however, the dragons realized that their numbers were growing thin and human advancement was quickly outpacing their comfort zones. The dragons withdrew, taking their dragon-turned-Orobai with them to recluse themselves up in their highest mountain peaks. The dragons as a beast-like race eventually died out, replacing themselves with their more human-like members, who fell into stagnation in an effort to maintain at least their history, if not their form. They remain to this day hidden in their mountains, practicing old arts and keeping to their ancient ways, with only a curious (and, as they might consider, foolish) few descending to join the other inhabitants of Eascaea as they had so many, many years ago.

Presently: There are few Orobai living amongst the three humanoid races, and those who do are almost all members of the Order of Five Stars. Their rigid ways are often out of place amongst the innovative dwarves, adaptable humans and free-thinking elves, but they are wise with traditional wisdom and prove valuable assets to the Order's purpose of mediation. They often purposefully distance themselves from the other races, but the coming of the Drow has forced all of the Kingdoms together, and they are, however reluctantly, a part of that chain. While the Orobai are certainly powerful enough, their homes remote enough, to fend of the Drow for many, many long years, Drow technology advances like
wildfire and who knows what they may come up with in the centuries to come? The Orobai are an endangered race as it is, and this added threat, therefore, cannot be allowed to persist.
Religion:

Technology: The Orobai have little technology and seem to even possess a kind of fear of progress. Their race is dying, and they cling to their old way in an effort to retain what is slowly being lost. What they lack in technology, however, they make up for in magic, and they often use magic to accomplish the tasks that might otherwise be done with modern tools. Unlike the Drow who use Mana and magical energy to fuel their machines, the Orobai rely on the power of magic alone.