6. The Venusians

The Venusian immigrants consist primarily of three races of land dwelling humanoids. The dwarves are a primarily subsurface dwelling race. The halflings, though living in well appointed burrows, are primarily a surface dwelling race. The elves most often live in settlements established in or near heavily forested areas.

The dwarves are a race of short stature, but broad build, ranging from 4 to 4 1/2 feet tall and averaging around 170 pounds. Their subsurface lifestyle has led them to become preeminent miners, as well as masters of the forge, as they utilize the proceeds of their mining to develop metalwork that is the envy of all other races. Their magic focuses on this aspect of their lives, allowing them to produce many items, especially arms and armor, that are sought after by other races willing to pay handsomely for these items. Though excellent traders, the dwarves are also clannish, and generally try to avoid political entanglement with other races.

The halflings are a bit shorter than dwarves at around 3 foot tall. They are also of much more slender build, weighing around 90 pounds, though many older halflings have a tendency to get rather portly. They are an agrarian culture, and their magic tends to reflect this by utilizing means to locate and use water, as well as means to increase the crop yields of their lands. They are a friendly people and try to get along whenever possible, but form alliances with other races near them, most commonly elves or humans, as a way to protect themselves from the aggressive species.

The Elves. There are numerous varieties of elf scattered about, but all Share a single attribute that makes them able to achieve many advances, while sadly making them also the most desired of all slaves. While most sentient races have lifespans roughly similar to humans, the elves average eight or nine hundred years, and some have been known to live to twelve hundred years or more. This makes them a target for every slaver on the planet, and while many slaveholders would like to own them, it also makes their value prohibitively high for many buyers. While all elves share in life-magic that fits well with their most common lifestyle of forest dwelling, elves are known to range everywhere from the polar caps to the great central deserts and all habitats in between. Some elves are also seafarers and meet up with other races, for good or ill, on the open ocean or in coastal waters. Elves also possess the strongest healing magic of any race, making them sought after as friends or as slaves for this reason as well. The elves are a large race, averaging 6 1/2 to 7 feet in height, with some reaching near to nine feet. They are lithe and quick, weighing around 200 pounds for a tall average elf, and as much as 225 for larger elves. So, while not lightweights, they are quite slender for their height and with a wiry musculature that makes them very fast runners who are also quite agile.

The elves are a proud and noble people who are diametrically opposed to the brutish denizens from Mars, and were quick to seek alliance with the humans, once they had a feel for the hearts and minds of the other races around them. While not allied with the Harpies, they do maintain relations and trade with them, though barely tolerating their piratical nature. The Dwarves seek no alliances, but do trade with the elves. The elves also consider the halflings as, not so much allies, but as a species that has earned protection because of their pacifist nature.