From the journals of Puffer the Wizard
Dwarves
The Dwarves of the Forbidden forest are unique in a several ways. The first is that they are plants. Each of them is descended from the great vine of their village named Millicent. She grows from the village of Snore’ntootville and pokes out above the roof of the forest.
Millicent has considerable power over the area around her vine, but it is, for the most part, a protective and defensive power. She has little ability to take overt action.
The next defining feature of the dwarves is their pacifism. They do not seek conflict with any other creature and expect the same in return. Unfortunately the world is a dangerous place, so the dwarves do have weapons and the skills to use them. Pacifism means you don’t go looking for trouble, but you can certainly use what you have to protect yourself and others. With that in mind, even when they are forced into some sort of fight, they will always seek to stop the aggressor without killing them. Luckily, being plants, dwarfs are incredibly resilient.
Elves
Elves are so rare in most places that they have become myth rather than reality. They are unique in that they exist simultaneously in the physical world and the spiritual world. They can easily interact with both and this gives them great power over the world around them. Elves, being aware of this power, mostly live a ‘hands off’ lifestyle becoming wardens and protectors of other beings. With the swift passage of years most elves have left the physical world all-together and live in a spiritual, or higher, state.
The one notable exception are the deep elves. As the name implies they live deep underground. Deeper even than the gnomes. Deep elves have a strong connection to the primal energies that created the world and get all the ‘spiritual sustenance’ they need from its proximity. Most of them live in cities near lava flows where that energy is most easily accessible.
Gnomes
Gnomes are one of the most mysterious of all the underground races. They prefer an agrarian lifestyle and trade the bounty of their fields to anyone who wishes it. Even species that are often considered ‘evil’ keep peace with the gnomes. Without their fields, most underground cultures could not survive.
Gnomish communication is incredibly complex, as it takes place on many different levels of reality. To make communication with other races simpler they keep it simple by say only ‘nope’ or ‘yep’.
Anthropomorphic Animals
Roughly a thousand years before the Kiyote tales, a great ‘Event’ took place. This event was a huge magical burst the covered the entire world. The burst affected, mostly, the animal kingdoms. Among different groups of animals a small percentage suddenly changed to have an upright, two legged form and a massively increased intelligence. As time went on some of these groups grew and developed great civilizations, and some hunkered down into small family groups. A very few species, not suited to being intelligent, simply died out or returned to an animalistic lifestyle. It is rumored that smart animals are occasionally born to regular parent animals and vice versa. This could mean that the great ‘Event’ is an ongoing phenomena.
Bugbears
Bugbears are a kind of goblin. All goblins have the same size brain regardless of body size, so since Bugbears are the largest of the goblin species they are the least intelligent. This lack of intellect has also made bugbears the most aggressive of the goblin species. They tend to be ruled by whichever among them is the strongest and/or most dangerous. Their society is built around raiding for what they need rather than produce it themselves, though they will hunt and fish. Caravans will go far out of the way to avoid bugbear territory. Bugbears rarely gather in large groups unless a particularly strong leader arises. Often times this means they are manipulated by other species.
Cats
Cats get a special mention, because in this universe, cats are very special. The cat clan is known for being a bit stand-offish until they accept you as a friend. Then, however, they are still stand-offish. They are playful, sneaky, fuzzy and, most of all, completely confident in themselves as individuals, and as a group. Most other types of beings make a point of not getting on a cat’s bad side. Cats also have the ability to teleport themselves, and sometimes a friend, to another place. Most cats require special preparation, but a few cat species, like tigers, can do it whenever they want.