Shield Space 8 of many

Race relations:


Humans are a chaotic bunch with wildly differing views, aspirations, colors,
and sizes.  Humans tend to have a number of strong sub-cultures based on
descent and beliefs.  No other race worships so many different gods as
humans.  Most races only follow a single god!

There are some groups that bridge some (overlap?) to these sub cultures:

KKK: Among all the strange and different races, some people still have a
major problem with human diversity.  This bunch tends to remain secretive
(as membership has been declared illegal) and focus most of their attention
on Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Blacks and Orientals.  Assault, terror tactics and
murder are the bread and butter of this group.  Though small as a percentage
of human population, they are very committed to their beliefs.  Anyone
convicted of belonging to this group is in danger of being mind wiped!

MDHK Manifest Destiny of Human Kind.  This group believes that Humans have a
divine and moral right to control all the Spheres.  They agree with the
Elvin way of "Peace Keeping" but that Humans should be the ones doing so.
Many in this group also have a problem with half-breed humans but so far
have tried to discourage this in non-violent ways (for the most part).
Members of this group tend to have political ambitions and many hold high
military ranks and seats of power in the government.

PETA:  People for the Ethical Treatment of All.  This bunch believes that
every species would get along in peace and harmony if we all just got rid of
our weapons and armies and shared our technology and resources.  They are
against the Kobold work trade and are always "rescuing" Kobolds.  Note:
Kobolds do not want to be rescued for the most part.  Slogan "Hugs not
Thugs"   Note that many PETA's have been sliced by Kobolds resisting saving.
This fact does not seem to deter this bunch though.  Members of this group
are strict vegans and wear cotton and canvas as wearing leather is wrong
etc.

PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals.  A small group whose secondary interest
or perhaps hobby in life is to piss of and annoy the People for the Ethical
Treatment of All.  They do this by mainly existing and some taunting.  Their
Motto: I love vegetarians, that's all I eat!

Green Peace: This group mostly agrees with the Elvin attitudes with respect
to technology, the environment etc.  These folk really believe that we would
be better off living a more simple life and view the world through
rose-colored glasses.  Though they mean well, some members are not above
vandalism, sabotage, and terrorism.

Black Panthers: Just like the 1960's black activist group of the same name.
This very small group truly believes that all white people are out to get
them and that they need to fight back.  In reality, there are a small number
of people that do not like black (along with other colors and races) but it
is a small segment of the population that has no common support.  The
members of this group are mostly full of hatred and are just as bad as the
KKK.  As with the KKK; membership has been declared illegal.  Most members
are not above vandalism, sabotage, terrorism, and vendettas.  Anyone
convicted of belonging to this group is in danger of being mind wiped!

Isolationists: This group believes that the human race should not allow any
contact with the other species period.  To this end, they have financed a
SpellJamming vessel to look for a new homeland for humans where no other
sentient creatures exist.  Failing this, the total ban of non-humans on
Shield.

Gnomes: There is total harmony.  Gnomes get along in temperament,
aspirations, inventiveness, and spirit.  The Gnomes are more then content to
let Humans be in charge in the big picture, as the Gnomes have no ambition
above ours.  As well, many Gnomes serve in Starfleet.  They tend to fill
non-combat roles and make good engineers.  Gnomes also have an unreasoning
hatred of Drow and will go out of their way to kill them!  A good Drow is a
dead Drow or so the saying goes.  If there is any non-evil Drow about, they
are not going to get much of a chance to prove it to a Gnome.

Elves have a long memory to go with their long life spans.  They remember
the pounding they took and keep a wary eye upon Shield.  There is limited
trade with the Elves and a truce that has lasted about 20 years so far.
Elves hate their half-breed counterparts and will usually shun them.  An Elf
may not kill a half-breed, but he would turn his back on one in need.  There
is a small Elven presence or consulate that is always "protected" by a
special detachment of guardians.

Elves also have a very real problem with Humans in the way we interact with
the environment.  We do not work with nature but rather we change the
environment to suit our needs.  Massive farming, walled barren cities (as an
Elf sees it) logging, smokestacks, industrial parks etc are just not
acceptable and as such we are not much better than the dirty Orcs and
Goblins (the only difference between us and Goblin kind is that we don't eat
Elves, as far as Elves are concerned.)  They are contemptuous of Humans and
hate the fact that we cannot be controlled!  Moreover, we have no culture.
Our cities, ships, and devices are ugly with only utility in mind.

Humans have also caused Elves a great deal of difficulty among other races
as these races have seen that the all-powerful Elves can be beaten.  Many
races have started to ignore Elven rules, argued and even fought back on
occasion, something that had never happened before the Humans of Shield.
The Elves need to dominate Shield in order to create an example.  Elves see
technology such as electricity & engines as evil and/or against nature and
will not partake in such things.  Elves are also against large-scale farming
as it "scars" the land.  A further sticking point is the fact that Shield
has started to sell warships to other races.  As the Elvin ships are no
match against Shield vessels, this is causing a great deal of anguish on the
Elves part.

Though Elves embrace magic, they see Golems, constructs and engines (magic
or mundane, steam or otherwise) as horrors against not only their beliefs
but as affronts to their very god.  As such, most elves will never utilize
these items and even the most liberal Elven society will not allow such
devices to be used within their territories.

Actually, Elven society is extremely regimented with change being unheard
of.  As generations overlap to a major degree, the elders control much of a
young elf's life.  As well, elves have a pronounced instinctual drive; they
are born with much of their behaviour and attitude already established.
This makes elves as a race very inflexible.

Half-Elves are basically Human.  There are over 60,000 (or about 8% of the
population) Half-Elves in Rockport and they fit in quite well.  They tend to
resent Elves but not to any extent that would modify their behaviour as a
species.  As an interesting note, any child from a Half-Elf and Human is
always Half-Elf.

Orcs or Scro, trade openly within Shield, another reason to make the Elves
grind their teeth.  Orcs get into trouble allot and really seem to dig
humans sexually.  There are around 10,000 Orcs or Scro around at any one
time.  They are big and strong and are not always welcome by shopkeepers and
such.  However, the trouble they get into tends to be low level, fighting,
getting drunk, and hitting on humans.  (Both male and female Orcs do this as
females are as aggressive as their male counterparts, think Klingon.)  Fines
and damages are always paid by the Scro Consulate if necessary, thus there
is no strong movement to clear out the Orcs (they are just too profitable
overall).  Orcs and especially the Scro rarely will kill or seriously hurt a
"weaker" species as it is a sign of weakness.  Finally the Scro government
bends over backwards to accommodate the wishes of the Shield government as
they are seeking to curry favour with Shield.

The Scro have been building up their military and have not been honouring
the Elvin imposed peace settlement from the un-human war.  The Scro, along
with most goblin kind, see the elves as a plague that needs to be
eradicated.  As the goblin kind sees it, there will be neither peace nor
prosperity as long as elves exist (and they could well be right).  Finally,
The Scro culture values personal honour above all else. Any Scro not keeping
to his word will be ostracized.

Half-Orcs have a hard time of it.  They tend to be outsiders in Orc society
and in Human.  They do not do well in Orc society as they are just too small
and weak and Orc culture revolves around size and strength.  Moreover, they
are too big, strong, and short tempered to get along well in our culture.
They also have a rather short life span and tend to become fatalistic, thus
do not really make good officers.  Most end up in menial jobs or sign on for
high-risk jobs.

Dwarves are an insular bunch to begin with, but get along well with Gnomes
and openly deal with Humans.  They are not too fond of Elves and seem to
hate Orcs.  There are some Dwarves in Starfleet, mostly as marines, gunners,
engineers, and machinists.  Though the dwarven colony is growing, it is
mostly due to immigration.  As a species, Dwarves are dying faster then they
are being born (except at Shield thus far).  Dwarves can not cross breed.
There are no half-dwarfs.

Lizard Men:  They are in a situation very similar to that of Humans 80 years
ago.  They are everywhere but have no homeland.  They make good soldiers and
frequently hire themselves out as mercenaries to survive.  The Lizard Man
population is dropping faster than that of the Dwarves and without any
changes Lizard Men will probably become extinct within 100 years.  As a
recent development, Shield has established a small-protected colony on Swamp
for Lizard men to see how they will fare.

Arcane: These 14-foot high blue-skinned humanoids are the only source of
strategic SpellJamming technology (aside from the rare methane breather
contribution) for humanoids (Illithids and Beholders can make their own
helms).  No one knows their true agenda and they only withhold their
technology from 2 races, the Neogi and the Illithids.  The Neogi have
attacked Arcane ships a number of times and thus are banned.  Nobody knows
what is going on with the Illithids simply that they hate each other and
have been known to attack each other or have their agents attack each other
when possible.  The Arcane may also be getting nervous as Humans can build
tactical level helms and have even improved upon Arcane design.  As well,
Humans have been able to recreate any device the Arcane have sold them with
the only exceptions of the strategic SpellJamming helm technology and their
energy weapons.  Humans have also devised a few devices that the Arcane
cannot seem to copy such as a series link and helm batteries. (Or at least,
they have not brought them to market)

Because of Human spelljammer creations, the arcane wish to see Shield fall.
To this effect the Arcane have placed a ban on all their merchandise to
shield.  Anyone caught selling such merchandise will be blacklisted as well.
The arcane have also been implicated in activities designed to bring harm to
Shield and are openly backing and encouraging the elves to go to war with
Shield.  The arcane have been caught dealing with the Drow and are
responsible for unleashing the "Carpets" on known space. The Arcane are also
responsible for the Cube currently parked in Shields orbit as this was meant
to slam into Rockport.

Illithids: Also known as mind flayers, these creatures are coldly logical
and look at most other sentient creatures as food.  They will keep their
word, but look for loopholes as well.  Illithids are generally not welcome
and if they do land in Freeport, they are not allowed off their ships
without valid reason and escort.  The Illithids are a very special case.
Though they kill, they supposedly have no choice as only sentient creatures
can provide nourishment, thus Shield allows them landing rights for basic
service (this is a constant matter of debate within the government of Shield
and the population in general).  The Kobolds seem to hate the Illithids but
are scared silly by them.  Kobolds for the most part have no hope of
fighting Illithids as they freeze on sight when they see them.  They don't
fight; run away, nothing, just stare and tremble, waiting?  Perhaps one in a
thousand kobolds will be functional around an Illithid.

Surprisingly the Illithids have been one of the few races to supply the odd
spelljammer helm to Shield.

Neogi: These are foul creatures that slave trade, pirate, kill for pleasure
and are always causing harm somewhere, no other race has such a bad
reputation.  Neogi ships are fired on upon sight and will be chased down and
destroyed with no mercy or quarter.  This is one of the few things many of
the races have in common.  The Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Arcane all act the
same way.  The Scro do not seem to deal with the Neogi and the Lizard Men
cannot afford to fight the Neogi.  Unfortunately, the Neogi ships are very
good.  Second only to Human and Arcane, they have massive firepower, good
speed, very good manoeuvrability and their troops are very very dangerous.
Neogi use Umberhulks as troops and their favourite tactic is to grapple and
board other ships.  No one knows where the Neogi home world is and there is
a huge standing reward for information leading to their world or any of
their bases posted by the Arcane.  (The Arcane are willing to supply an
entire ship or so for this kind of information)

Beholders: As individuals, Beholders are very dangerous, as a group, they
are downright terrifying!  A Beholder ship at close range is death
incarnate.  Fortunately for everything and everybody else Beholders just
can't get along with each other for any length of time and differing sub
species and even same spices clans will almost never work together.  Thus,
their infighting keeps their numbers low and keeps them busy.  Though rare,
Beholder ships have been known to visit Rockport.  Thus far, there have been
no incidents and they always overpay.  Surprisingly, their artwork is
incredible and fetches very high prices.  Paintings, sculptures, and such
are often used as payment.  Beholders also have the ability/technology(?) to
SpellJam in small one beholder size ships. Kind of like a human putting on
plate mail and flying away!  The ramifications of this ability are many and
mostly scary!

Beholder sub-species are as varied as human dogs.  Though of the same race
the variations and even specializations of sub-species is astounding.  Some
beholder species claim that their specific genetic trait has been the result
of strict breeding programs spanning tens of thousands of years.

Drow: Or Dark Elves.  This race is hated by the Elves, Humans, Gnomes (off
the deep end hate here), and Dwarves.  Though wiped out on Shield, they are
still around in other areas and have a very good rapport with their deity
Lolth.  This makes them very dangerous because they see chaos as a good
thing and as a race; they pursue their god's goals relentlessly.

Kobolds: Short, weak, not too bright, Florescent orange and furry.  This
describes a kobold.  They breed quickly and are egg layers.  They are
fanatically loyal to their clan and have no real self worth.  Kobolds will
gladly fight to the death, as this will assure them a place at their gods'
side in the afterlife.  Kobolds have nothing anybody really wants.  They
make poor miners (compared to Gnomes but are better than Humans) and their
finished goods are crude (compared to Human standards).  Thus, Kobolds
mostly export Kobolds.  They can be hired at substandard rates as servants,
labourers; just about anything you would want a Kobold to do.  They tend to
be reliable as the money they earn goes to their clan and for the most part
most Kobolds would rather die than hurt their clan.  Kobolds are everywhere
in Rockport.  They clean, cook, run elevators, are used as butlers,
messengers etc.  Though small, Kobolds can be dangerous, as they tend to
take their duties too seriously and if provoked will attack without any
regard for themselves.  (Fighting to the death to protect a postcard from
thugs, etc)  There are currently about 100,000 Kobolds in Rockport alone.
As a race, they are quite good at designing elaborate defence systems and
are very hard to pry out of their lairs.  Kobolds really hate and fear
Illithids, as they are a favoured food of these creatures.  There is more
than meets the eye about the relationship between Illithids and Kobolds but
they are not talking.

The relationship between Humans and Kobolds is not one sided.  With the
coming of Humans, the kobold way of life has changed dramatically for the
better.  No longer are they hunted and used as labour and food for everyone
else.  The number of kobolds on Shield has actually risen to what the
kobolds consider a comfortable level.  Kobolds being egg layers have a very
easy time of controlling their numbers.  They do not have sex for recreation
and only mate when there is a need for more kobolds, thus they have a true
instinctive self-regulating ability.
As well, for reasons unknown, kobolds seem to suppress the usual xenophobic
tendency and stimulate the human desire to have a non-human companion (i.e.
a pet).  As with dogs, many humans will treat kobolds better then other
humans and will even pet them.  This works out well as kobolds as a rule
like to be petted.  Due to the psychological nature of kobolds, as long as
they are integrated into human culture with responsibilities and purpose
they are content to fill the roles they are suited to.

Minotaurs: Big, dangerous, arrogant, mean and all seem to have chips on
their shoulders.  Minotaurs are true barbarians, ruling each other via
strength.  They have been known to cause problems at Freeport and are in
danger of losing the right to land at Freeport.  Many are known to be
pirates, and of those that are, many seem to have a strange custom of
allowing those victims that they rape to live, while killing or taking as
slaves anyone else.  (Minotaurs don't seem to discriminate too much between
male and female victims.)  The victims that were able to communicate with
their assailants have reported that the Minotaurs seemed to think that this
was as enjoyable to the victim as it was to the Minotaur?  Minotaur's
practicing this quaint act tend to make sure their victims know their names.


Goblins: Nasty small green-skinned humanoid creatures.  There are small
pockets left on Shield and many more on other worlds.  They have a grudge
against Humans (To be fair, genocide is a good reason) and will go out of
their way to kill just cause.

Hippogriffs:



Methane Breathers: There is no real relationship to speak of.  Aside from
the very small amount of trade from one of the methane breather species,
there is no contact whatsoever.  Any attempt at approaching a methane
breather vessel has met with total failure.  They simply change course
and/or leave behind any other ship by accelerating to over five times the
best speed of any known race's ship.  Firing upon the methane breathers has
resulted in a number of different responses.  Some ships have dodged any
projectile weapon fired at them and moved on, some have fired back with
energy weapons of immense power and some have gone to the trouble of
capturing the projectile and placing it back on board the firing ship.
There are known to be at least fifteen methane breather
species/tribes/nations (?) based upon ship design, flight path and such but
only one will trade with Humans. Even this trade is sporadic and any attempt
thus far to entice them to take more or different trade goods has met with
failure.