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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 736379" data-attributes="member: 63">Orcs do rule my world.  They die faster, and breed faster, and are stronger, so they had the manpower, willpower, and drive to band together and overcome their lower technology level, to conquer the world.  Most of the Elves opposed them, and got killed, but the smart Elves realized that a few hundred years under Orc rule isn't that bad, so they formed alliances with the Orcs like they'd had with some humans before.  Other Elves who found the Orcs morally repugnant fled to the only safe place they could, underground.The halflings were all killed.  They're always mucking things up, so good riddance!  *spits on the scorched lands once home to the wee folk*Gnomes ran like hell and hid in the hills, using illusions to protect themselves.  This worked well for a while until Orcish magic-users developed their inquisitorial tradition, focusing on anti-magic and counterspelling, and then the only gnomes who survived are those in extremely distant areas beyond the Orcs' desire to go hunting.  A few gnomes still live as slaves or jesters, or as test subjects for inquisitors and biomancers who want to know how to best thwart illusion magic or infuse second-sight into other living creatures.I never had Dwarves in the first place, so we can ignore them.Humans did what they've always done: fight for a little while, then get assimilated and start trying to outdo their conquerers at their own game.  At least they generally don't suffer as much as the other races, as long as they fulfill their role and are nice serfs.The few Dragons that were alive were smart enough not to take sides.  Thus it was easier for the Orcs to track them down and kill them.Most monsters alive now have been created as warbeasts or novelties by Orcish biomancers.  There are only two academies of human magical knowledge, Yen-Ching and the Lyceum.  Yen-Ching is loosely allied with the Orcish Empire, while Lyceum is distantly neutral, too small and too far away to be a threat.So no, Elves don't rule the world because of their great lifespans.  The huge amounts of conflict that was required to conquer the world guaranteed that those who survived were supremely skilled at warfare and combat, meaning the average military soldier is at least 4th level.  The leaders of each sub-kingdom within the empire are all at least 15th level, with the Emperor himself possessing such great power and experience that he seems to have transcended the brief life of his Orcish blood, and has lived for over 200 years.Those Elves who did survive the great purge became great warriors from the experience, but there are only perhaps twenty thousand Elves still in the world, so they go to great lengths to make sure they don't get themselves killed.  Though they do go on missions for the Empire, they travel in groups of at least 15, and more commonly 100 to 1000.  They've had 200 years to perfect their tactics, so even the grunts of their soldiers are 5th level.Sadly, in my game last night, they learned that humans do indeed learn faster than Elves.  A small scouting party of 15 Elves were overconfident and took on the PCs (4 PCs and 6 NPCs).  The battle ended with 10 dying Elves and 5 in retreat, but only 3 PCs left alive (the PC illusionist was supremely convincing in his illusion of arriving reinforcements, which drove off the rest of the Elves).  Now the Elves are feeling vengeful that they lost 10 of their kind and did not actually manage to kill any of their opponents (though dang they came close).  When they go to take their revenge, they'll attack with a hundred warriors or more.</blockquote>

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