Chronicles of the World of DaoTyr

So it is written;

in the days even before Old Khepathia, the tiefling race had already been long enslaved to its infernal identity and its covetous passion for power long unbridled and unrestrained, threatened to consume its smoldering future lest remedy for their foulness be discovered. Hordes of dwarven and minotaurian slaves then bowed before the tiefling whip and, as they were then called, the Tai Lia Overlords had no capacity or vision for mercy and continued the relentless tyranny. It was in this setting did the Volcano Erythia become manifest then in an effort to mine the stuff known as cathoid, a treasure that preceded gold as currency of the young realm.

Orotyr was dug from under the bones of the volcano as an immense labyrinth that would house the thousands and thousands of slaves of the lesser races that were not permitted to live in the City of Khepathia that grew following the great mountains’ construction nearly five millenia hence prior.

for a thousand years, the reactor core of Erythia pulsed with the energy of a star at the mountain’s center, until finally the slaves rose against their masters and made war with the Tiefling. In this terrible century of fighting, the minotaurs were lost as a people and although existing in sparce numbers, again now just exist not as a coherent extant culture to this day.

The reactor core is lost as technology and in even location. No one knows even where it is, let alone the magics that bind it to its reliability. Should some power attempt to harness or release this ancient magic, the end of things as they are would surely be realized.

The Duergar became a race unto themselves when the Tai Lia tiefling overlords of old Khepathia wished to have their dwarven underlings conscripted to the same infernal pact that they themselves had been submitted to so many thousands of years before. The result was a horned race of savage and ugly dwarves, unable to write runes and unable to join civilization. The Dwarves of Gaulthum behold this race with a mix of sadness and hatred. The lower pits of Orotyr are bereft with a plague of this fecund breed and left unchecked, many fear may one day present a very real threat to the City of Gaulthum.

The Poison Fire Ogres, or the Gargolon, are a wholly evil race of vampiric giants that haunt Orotyr. There is no race of beings that frightens the children of Gaulthum like the Gargolon. Able to cast spells and read Dwarven script and even at times, take Dwarven form and visage, the Gargolon never tire in their search for ways to exploit weakness in the Gaulthamian psyche.

The Goblins of Eyria are known as the Ker Galan. The Ker Galan are a blind race of underworld evil doers. Worshiping a milieu of primitive god forms, the Ker Galan are too clever for their own good. The magic writing of the Ker Galan, runes written in blood, are read by smell and line miles of caverns throughour Orotyr. It is said that before the Duegar, The Ker Galan were made from the blood of the Tai Lia Overlords in the days of Old Khepathia. This is not the history of the proud sages of Gaulthum.

The Dalla Ghesh, or the Hobgoblin, is a race of people that has a little in common with its city dwelling cousins. The Hobgoblin races of Niskantel, or the Dhur Kalla have an old tradition of singing and drumming. The Dalla Ghesh only howl to inspire fear when they fight. Most Dalla Ghesh are archers and their arrows are often poisoned with a mushroom neurotoxin that is particularly lethal.

Hykel are native to Daotyr but are now only found in the deep recesses of Orotyr where few are foolish enough to travel. The Hykel, or more commonly, Gnolls, have forgotten their ancient ancestry and exist now in a savage state of feral piracy and unerring violence. Standing nearly eight feet tall, these towering creatures are often masters of great swaths of under mountain ruins.

The  Gala Koth, or Orcs of the Smoke Blade, as human travelers of the underworld of  OroTyr refer to them share little with their surface-dwelling cousins of Karak or Poolis Fyr. There are no traditions of Druidic worship, there are no alliances at all. The only discipline the Gala Koth understand is the way of the blade. The Gala Koth have a secret warrior blood code that has never been shared with any other group or breed of people.