Primer - Groetus' Passing

Groetus's Next Passing is due in 7 years. Or maybe now?! If you're in a hurry, then you just have enough time to have a general overview of the classes and races present in this campaign! By that I mean how they are considered by the general world and other classes and common people, and specific peculiarities that may be relevant in this setting.
It is important to know that adventurers are often considered to be vagrants, never-do-wells up to no good, or at best cheap mercenaries. Honest and honorable people find themselves an actual job, they don’t go around accepting money from strangers for dubious pursuits! In case the Passing is actually super-close, go to the Tl;Dr at the end!

The Silence of the Gods

In this campaign setting, the Gods are silent. Nobody knows why, but it's been thousands of years since the last recorded time a god has actually spoken to one of their followers. In the Age of Silence clerics and faithfuls, albeit not deprived of their divine powers, actually received no guidance. Some divine rituals granted no answer. Since the Appearence of Groetus things have changed. While Cevasia must face terrible trials on each of Its Passings, spells like Commune are finally working again, but on the other side there is never the gods themselves, but rather some of their servants, like an angel, a saint, an herald, a devil or whatever they please to use an intermediary. Therefore it is still impossible to have one's god to answer your queries. And intermediaries, while reliable, have not their wealth of knowledge and can sometimes have their own agenda. Many clerics, mystics and theologians have tried, if not to solve this situation, at least to understand its nature. But all have failed untill this day. Even if the Gods are listening, they are silent.

Classes

There is not much to say about Fighters and Rogues that you don't know already: they are amazing in every campaign setting and this one is no exception. They are reliable, useful and widely respected for their skills. The world always need people of these trades. Cavaliers are particularly popular in Brumia, Zalia and other flatlands, while gunslingers are far more rare, almost exclusively in service of the Marinhian Navy or the experimental Thunder Companies of Kinbarag. The best swashbucklers come from Pentaland, Ultramoesia and Neustria, and their fencing schools compete amongst themselves and each other to show their superiority. Swashbucklers have a long-standing rivalry with sword saints (kenseis) to provo to be the best in their fencing. Scouts find more use in the wildlands, such as the Nur Plateau in Brumia or the Kinbarag mountain ranges or the Zalian deserts, or in the military.
Rangers too are widely respected, both in rural and urban areas: regardless of their specialization, Rangers live at the border between civilization and wilderness. Even when they may want to favour one over the other, they are still expert of their trade who provide safety to travellers and pilgrims, and make the world a safer place for the common folk. Rangers are employed by many organizations that deal with their related field of expertise.
Barbarians can be tribal warriors, berserkers or even mystics who find focus in their life through the thrill of battle. Many disciples of Gruumsh think one can only gain a true understanding of their god's will only on the battlefield, where life and death are in constant struggle and the rage can actually give them clarity on their place in the world. Don't be afraid to play this class however you want: Vespria is big enough, and Cevasia is even bigger to host many ways to be a barbarian.
Besides of what you already know of Bards, you should know that in this setting that they are held in high esteem by authorities. That carries both good and bad sides. Bards can be a stone in the boot for the powerful or the best propaganda machine ever invented. Bards should get used to both fake smiles and honest admiration. Nobles may fear them or love them, rich merchants may employ them just to show off how they support the arts, or try to silence them if they speak too loudly against them, kings and magistrates may require that they carry their voice to their subjects, and even tolerate their criticism as it is a long-standing tradition of many freedom-loving countries, as long as they don't push too far. The gods being silent, no one has risen to greater prominence with the Churches than the College of Lore, who provides guidance and even theologians to many faiths on the continent. The College of Glamour uses theaters as temples of art, enterteinment and social reflection. The College of Swords enjoys their secretive status to act as vigilantes in many societies, but in Zalia many Blades are member of the legendary Immortals. The College of Valour often cooperates with the local militaries and are granted many boons for their support. Lastly, the College of Whispers can be the best friends or the worst enemies of any ruler, good or evil they may be. Regardless of the College, every bard know that even in the most oppressive society, they can be free like no other, especially if they get to be loved by the people!
Paladins are either the armed fist of a Church, an holy order of knights or a selected few cavalier who swore an oath to an honourable ruler. The Oath of Devotion is a beloved institution for many religions, especially those of Bahamut and Iomedae, and can act as agents of justice, defending the weak from the powerful, as crusaders against the evil or even as the enforcer for an Inquisition. Paladins devoted to Pelor are those more likely to become Errant Knights and wander the land granting aid to the poor and the meek, granting aid and comfort to those most in need. While many countries try to found a Crown Paladin Order, none can say to have succeeded like Brumia. Regardless of their provenence, Crown Paladins are considered lawbearers and enforcer of justice, but their loyalty to the Crown will be asked to be proved on many occasions. The Oath of the Ancients is popular amongst the fey-touched creatures, such as Elves of all ilks and the rarer gnomes, and amongst Suncalians, who value more than any other human society to live in harmony with the surrounding nature. The Oath of Redemption is the favoured one by the Churches of Sarenrae and, to a lesser degree, Pelor. Zalia employs the best and most respected Redeemers of Vespria, and possibly of the whole Cevasia; Redeemers are loved and respected by any honest Zalian subject. Well less liked than the others, the Oath of Vengeance is a rarer ilk, but there is no way to deny that some wrongs need a severe response. While defiled by the common folk, Vengeance Paladin are feared and therefore often unopposed, but especially feared is the Order of the Wasp, a very secretive order devoted to a mysterious divinity whose approach to justice is quite the opposite to both Bahamut and Sarenrae. To break the oath of a paladin, or to be rejected by the gods, is always a great shame, and no one would trust the word of an oathbreaker. Of course, since the gods are silent, paladins sometimes feel sympathy for their fallen brethren, and allow them to depart from their order without humiliating them, under the pretense that they have simply renounced their vows to live a normal life. A paladin ho wander the land is usually called Errant Knight, and travel indefatiguably to live their oath amongst the common people and to find their own way in their calling. Noblesse oblige is a true notion for many nobles, and many of them would grant rest and solace for at least one night to any Errant Knight who came to their land.
Clerics are proof that the gods exist. While not all of them may worhip an actually recognized god, most of them do. Their status depends on the domain they master and the religion they participate in, but unless the follow a banned deity they enjoy a special protection, since hurting a cleric is widely considered an impious act and warrant of sanction. Because of the Silence of the Gods clerics are used to act on very little sign of their god, and are very prudent when trying to state their god's will. The Gods are Silent and are so for everyone. To claim to have a special relationship with the divine to the point that they actually speak is tantamount to heresy in most of any established Church.
The rarest of them all is the Artificer class. The newest class, Artificers have started appearing in the countries most technologically advanced, like Kinbarag, Neustria and Ultramoesia. Alchemists though are far more widespread, taking on this ancient practice and bringing it to new heights, althoug someone question their recklessness in tampering with well established methods.
The oldest class is probably the Druid. Druidic circles are not as powerful in the old days, but are still influent and widespread in the rural areas, and are the guardians of ancient knowledge and many secrets of the land. Druids often act as local healers or even leaders, but are generally happy to keep on their own. Druids believe in the spiritual potence of the world, both animate or inanimate, and are therefore usually faithful of Melora. Like clerics, druids are versed in divine magic, but unlike them they receive knowledge and powers come from all things natural, and there is both pride and humility in the druid that is in communion with them. Druids act as protectors of the natural order and sometimes as enforcer, but are not known to be violent or dangerous, and are for this reason largely tolerated even in the most urban and controlling of societies. Regardless, many druidic circles feel like their world is dying. Whether they accept, deny or dread this sensation, they usually have a fatalistic attitude towards this perspective. Druids and their circles are most respected and enshrined in Suncalia, Kharia and Zalia, while are the most feared and besieged in Ultramoesia and Neustria.
Monks are known and respected, but the Monasteries where they train work hard to mantain a discreet aura around themselves. Some Monasteries are linked to other organizations, such as Churches or Princedoms, but the majority of them are independent, and there are even some who operate in absolute secret, with the least contact possible with the outside world and any authority. All the Ways are present in Cevasia, their precise location sometimes unknown, but, talking about Vespria, only in Zalia the sword saint (kensei) is found, where they are trained in the Monasteries of the Immortals, and trained to be either elite soldiers of the Empire or agents of the Eyes and Ears of the Everflame Emperor, an organization that includes many rogues and shadow monks as well. The Immortals also are the most known trainers in the Way of the Long Death, albeit they are not only ones.
Talking about arcane magic, the Wizard is a scholar of the arcane arts who trained and studied to achieve his powers. Usually that needs a lot of money, so Wizards are either of rich or noble backgrounds or have gained the patronage of another wizard, or a wealthy individual or ruler paid their tuition to one of the few Magic Schools and Academies present on Cevasia. Wizards are arcane empirists who approach their field and the unknown with prudence and curiosity. Their theories and practices are based on empirical evidence, whose need is the reason Wizards often try to seclude themselves when working on a research: trial and error is best done without possible bystanders who could tamper with an experiment or suffer its failure. For one reason or the other, all Wizards are somehow of high social standing. Because of their birth or of someone else's investment in their capability, a trained Wizard has usually a granted future as a Court Mage, a professor in a magic school or the inheritor of their teacher's tower and tradition. Abjurers and Evokers find easy employment both in the military and in noble courts. Transmuters are often famed alchemists and find employment as such, and consider themselves the most devout researcher of their ilk, not without reason. Conjurers are greatly encouraged in the famed Witchdom of Monteneria, and their powers are coveted and feared by many: teleportation magic is the only link between continents for those who own no Marinhian vessels, while summoning powerful creatures on the battle field with a whim can often mean salvation and victory over death. Talking about death, Necromancers are more feared than loved, but very few can match their knowledge on the nature of life and death. While the creation and mantainance of undeads is banned everywhere except in Monteneria where it is regardless tightely controlled, its other branches are legal and useful even, and a diligent and prudent Necromancer might found themself in the good graces of the Church of Pharasma as a powerful asset against their more reckless brethren. Diviners and Illusionists wage a bloodless war against each other, being their schools so opposed: the first want to know reality in its true form, while the second want to always find new and better ways to hide it and to fool senses, on whom rely the entire arcane method of research for wizards. Both of them are widely respected, albeit Illusionists are most feared. Rulers love both of them and usually try to win their loyalty in any way, to achieve success both on civil and military issues. Illusionists are proud of their tradition but often hide it so to make it more effective when employed. War Mages discards the theoretical aspect of their trade in favour of a more direct application, and Neustrians are trying hard to found their own cadre of War Mages. Finally, Theologians are a comparably recent tradition that stems from the situation many Churches found themselves because of the Silence of the Gods. Because of their scholarly attitudes, some wizards are trained by resourceful churches to aid them in their theological effort to discern what the true will of their silent god is. Wizards who travel the land as adventurer are a rare sight, who favour the road over the roof, and can sometimes be considered failed in their trade to be so reduced to vagrant ways and with no stable employment, or even be feared as ill-intentioned, but it is common for the younger ones to search in many cities while looking for the best employment possible. Regardless, the player should think of a good reason why their wizard prefer travelling over staying inside studying or playing court politics like all the normal kids do!
Sorcerers are born with innate magical powers, although it is said that one can unlock it at a later stage of their life if so inclined and with the proper methods. No other than a sorcerer has a more istinctive understanding of magic, and while they still need studying and training to master their powers, they clearly need less than others. Sorcerers can try to this on their own, or they can be fortunate enough to find a more expert sorcerer who can show them their ways and guide them through this process. Sorcerers are too found in the employ of rulers and militaries, but only the most introspective deem necessary to build a tower for their research. Divine souls enjoy a special status with related churches and cults, as long as they don’t claim to know or directly represent their forebears.
Warlocks state that the best way to learn the ways of magic is from those whose nature is inherently magic. This is why they bind themselves in Pacts with beings far more powerful than themselves. Warlocks often organize in covens, in a fashion similar to that of hags, to bolster their power, share their knowledge and pool their otherwise limited resources. Covens can be found in both rural and urban areas, and face little opposition, even if they struck fiendish pacts. Warlocks are proud of their capability to strike pacts with those who they consider to be the original owner of magic, and covens often work together to promote their members through reaching to more and more powerful beings. Especially the warlocks of the Fiends, who think appropriate and worthy of praise to change patrons anytime their current one has exhausted their usefulness. Warlocks are considered to be some sort of occultists or mystics, depending on their patrons. Their covens usually have access to many ways to improve a pact, deepen their research and train new practicers in their ways. Warlocks can be self-taught like sorcerers, but those who can count on the leadership of a more experienced warlock or even a coven often find themselves advantaged in many ways. Their humble beginnings grant them access to a wide wealth of knowledge and means to survive or even thrive in the difficult world of pact-making with alien and powerful beings. Warlocks can be found as local healers, arcane experts and alchemists, and the best of them can found themselves as Court Mages, competing against sorcerers and wizards, or at the employment of a local ruler or in the military, and celestial warlocks can even be exalted amongst the ranks of some Churches, as long as they are not heretics who claim to be in a direct relationship with a God. Still, warlocks, especially when wandering off from land to land, can still be seen with special suspicion, and hedge warlocks are especially prudent about provoking local churches and rulers. And even when they are coveted for their powers, they evoke special fear by profanes about their trade, and covens can be banned or heavily regulated depending on the laws of the lands. In no place like any other are warlocks free like in the Witchdom of Monteneria, to the point that some warlocks resent the Witch-Queen for bringing a bad reputation for the whole category.
Wizards, sorcerers and warlocks all have pride in having reached power through their own means, but despite the usual professional competition, they have no ill will against each others, and at worst regards the other to be wasting their efforts in a sterile field or to be hacks who deserve none of the patronage they should receive instead. On the other hand, warlock and druids are often at odds. Druidic circles and covens of warlocks compete against themselves in rural areas, but the main reason fir their rivalry is in their opposite views about nature and knowledge. For druids, those who reject their natural surroundings in favour of ultramundane beings are misguided folks at best, polluter of the Material Plane at worst. According to warlocks, druids are complacent and idle, and their fixation with the natural world prevents them from seeing the true nature of the world, which includes far more planes than the little plot of land that they druids find themselves to be sitting on.

Races

Every race is present on Vespria, and even Humans constitute a very diverse population in themselves, with many cultures even radically different from each others and every skin color widely present anywhere, with some sligh difference in distribution, with Halfling being considered an offspring of the human race with a natural talent for farming and any land-tilling work. Being a contiguous landmass, every race can be found everywhere, but there are some countries where some are the majority. And when "we’re talking about populations that have been living around each other for millennia [...] population mixing is a normal event, doesn’t have to be a violent one (and often isn’t), and that the cultures involved would develop practices around it".
For exemple, Elfs are especially present in the Elven Kingdom of Elesa, but many elfs have been living for thousands of years elsewhere. I consider the difference between Wood Elfs and High Elfs to be mostly a cultural difference between rural and urban dwellers. Because of the Silence of the Gods, the influence of certain deities has waned too, so Dark Elfs have been free for many generations from Lolth's plots, which allowed them to turn to other deities or to keep her as the center of their devotion as their progenitor but eschewing the most self-sabotaging aspects of her faith. For this reason the animosity between surface-dwelling Elfs and Drows has been eclipsed by far more pressing issues, and Dark Elfs can be found everywhere as normal subjects, and Elesa even has a couple of noble families of Drows who worship Eilistraee. Dark Elfs often still pay their respects to Lolth, but otherwise lead their life as they will. Eladrin are Elfs who migrated in the Feywild untold millennia ago, and have now very little in common with their Material Plane brethren: true fey beings to the bone, eladrins enjoy living as a firework and because of their cicle of reincarnation enjoy treating any life of theirs as a new role on the stage that is the Feywild, and their polities are the stuff of tales more than that of real politics, and even wars are treated like artwork and drama. They are rare on Cevasia, but not unknown, and the same is true for the Shadar-kais, who come from the Shadowfell where they followed a forgotten goddess in equally forgotten circumstances. Shadar-kais consider this to be a curse that they would very much like to break, to finally be able to know their history in order to understand themselves. Cave Elfs are one of the mystery of Cevasia: no one really know how they came to be, or if they developed from the surface or from the underdark. They live in the Dusk, the narrow space between the surface and the Underdark which is especially deprived of resources and light. It is presumed that their progenitors remained blocked there for thousands of years, unable or unwilling to abandon their subterrean caves, and so developed the habit to let nothing to waste and to resort to cannibalism. Maybe only Cave Elfs know the truth of their origin, but very few of them hesitate before attacking on sight those who trespass in their caves, and even fewer have been reported to speak Common. Used to the capricious nature of the gods in their pantheon, Elfs have taken the Silence as a tragedy, but not as shocking for other races.
Like the Drows, Orcs too somehow benefitted from the Silence, but even more from gaining an homeland and Gruumsh's victory over the previous War God, when he absorbed his power and realigned on a more neutral ground (or at least this is how theologians interpreted the whole thing). Orcs live everywhere in many different fashions, usually preferring countrysides to cities, sometimes amongst other races and sometimes in tribes of their own kin. All of them still feel the cultural urge to prove their strenght and to excell in martial activities, so for those outside of Kharia and the Horde to work as mercenaries.
Elflings (or half-elfs) and Orclings (half-orcs) are usually part of the society they live in, and in case of doubt the usual ay to determine it is to recur to the always reliable "Mater Semper Certa Est": the person of mixed heritage (as this applies to any case of mixed marriage) is considered to be bound to the mother's lineage.
Of similar longevity to the Elfs, Dwarfs are the children of Torag, the Maker. Dwarfs are possibly the earliest continuous civilization in Vespria, since the Kingdom of Elesa broke up and reformed. In their mythological beginnings, Dwarfs were born in the deepest chambers of Cevasia, where Torag called them to the Race for the Sky. Burrowing up, building, mining and fighting, Dwarfs finally reached the surface in the Kinbarag mountain range, itself the ancestral origin of the Suncalian people, and there they built the Sky Citadels to celebrate their Maker and their success. It was one of the defining events of the Golden Age of Cevasia, alongside the foundation of Elesa, which was their favored trading partner and ally. The Dwarfs abandoned the Sky Citadels during the Age of Silence, after centuries of pressure from Dragons, the Horde of Gruumsh and goblinoid clans. Since then, they have lived both within their subterrean holds and in human and elven towns, while some remained on the mountains to act as guardians of sacred grounds. Meanwhile, Dwarfs have mined deeper and deeper, trying to reclaim the mythological chambers where Torag first animated them. Leading this effort are those of Clan Duergar, the vanguard of this never-ending expedition. Coming closer and closer to the warping powers of the Underdark, and deprived of sunlight for millennia, Duergar people have developed their unique physique and magical powers unlike any other dwarf. Nowadays, though, the Dwarfs are in a new expansion phase. They have recovered the Sky Citadels and the Deep Wars are going on, while Duergars are considered a sort of military caste in a perilious but holy quest. It is important to notice that, despite the appearance, and admittedly the general rule, being a dwarf is also an almost religious thing. Dwarven society has several rites of passage that any member must go through, and social norms to always abide to, and a man or gnome who was to find themself in a dwarf society and worshipped Torag, they could be raised as a dwarf and grow a beard as their elders and then be considered as a dwarf by their peers.
Gnomes don't just live long, they may well be immortals. Gnomes who die of old age do so after suffering the Bleaching, a mysterious illness that causes the discoloration of their hair and turn their skin in a dull, ashen grey. The Bleaching happens naturally when a gnome simply tires of living or has nothing more to live for, no more of the strong emotions and thrills that a healthy gnome usually experience and aim for. Before that time comes, the coloration of gnomes varies so wildly that many outsiders assume gnomes commonly use dyes and illusions to change their skin and hair tones. While gnomes are certainly not above cosmetic enhancement (and may wish to change their appearance just to see how outlandish they can look), their natural hues truly range over a rainbow of coloration. Their hair tends toward vibrant colors such as the fiery orange of autumn leaves, the verdant green of forests at springtime, or the deep reds and purples of wildflowers in bloom. Similarly, their flesh tones range from earthy browns to floral pinks, and gnomes with black, pastel blue, or even green skin are not unknown. Gnomes’ coloration has little regard for heredity, with the color of a gnome’s parents and other kin having no apparent bearing on the gnome’s appearance. Gnomes can have the same concerns and motivations as members of other races, but just as often they are driven by passions and desires that non-gnomes see as eccentric at best, and nonsensical at worst. A gnome may risk his life to taste the food at a giant’s table, to reach the bottom of a pit just because it would be the lowest place he’s ever been, or to tell jokes to a dragon—and to the gnome those goals are as worthy as researching a new spell, gaining vast wealth, or putting down a powerful evil force. While such apparently fickle and impulsive acts are not universal among gnomes, they are common enough for the race as a whole to have earned a reputation for being impetuous and at least a little mad. Combined with their diminutive sizes, vibrant coloration, and lack of concern for the opinions of others, these attitudes have caused gnomes to be widely regarded by the other races as alien and strange. Gnomes come from the Feywild and dispersed through the world. They splitted in three main subraces, but each gnome is a world in themself: rock gnomes enjoyed living alongside the Dwarven folk and embraced their ingenuity, reaching new heights that forever impressed Torag's children. Forest gnomes remained close to their ancestral environment and lived in the most verdant wilds, often without even forming communities larger than a single family or group of friends, instead treating every animal as a fellow compatriot. Svirfneblin went to live in the Underdark, and are frankly considered insane for this. Yet they still live there, and claim to have founded a powerful community somewhere deep down, which is somehow connected to the legend of the Scarlet Letters, an old tale from an ancient time. Whatever the truth is, all know that Svirfneblin are often incredible spellcasters, and all gnomes in general are considered gifted in magic in one way or the other [bonus: if you choose to play a gnome, you can add the +2 in Intelligence in Charisma if you so wish]. Gnomes can have the same concerns and motivations as members of other races, but just as often they are driven by passions and desires that non-gnomes see as eccentric at best, and nonsensical at worst. A gnome may risk his life to taste the food at a giant’s table, to reach the bottom of a pit just because it would be the lowest place he’s ever been, or to tell jokes to a dragon—and to the gnome those goals are as worthy as researching a new spell, gaining vast wealth, or putting down a powerful evil force. While such apparently fickle and impulsive acts are not universal among gnomes, they are common enough for the race as a whole to have earned a reputation for being impetuous and at least a little mad. Combined with their diminutive sizes, vibrant coloration, and lack of concern for the opinions of others, these attitudes have caused gnomes to be widely regarded by the other races as alien and strange. Gnomes’ propensity for wanderlust, deep curiosity, and desire to master odd or esoteric skills and languages make them natural adventurers. They often become wanderers to experience new aspects of life, for nothing is as novel as the uncounted dangers facing adventurers. Many gnomes see adventuring as the only worthwhile purpose in life, and seek out adventures for no other motive than to experience them. Other gnomes desire to find some lost lore or material that has ties to their chosen vocation and believe only dragon hoards and ancient ruins can contain the lore they need, which can result in gnomes who think of themselves as bakers or weavers being just as accomplished adventurers as those who declare themselves to be mages or scouts. Gnomes have the lowest birth rate of any race, usually having no more than a couple of children in a possibly millennial life.
Goblinoid races arrived in Vespria as mercenaries for the Horde of Gruumsh, almost a thousand year ago. They came under the leadership of their hobgoblin commanders from the far away Iron Empire, probably using merchant ships rented by the Marinhians, and mostly stayed in Vespria, even after their contracts expired, either by choice or by lack of funding to rent a ship back home. Today it is mostly the hobgoblins who keep alive the proud legacy of the Iron Empire, while goblins and bugbears have less nostalgia. There is some resentment from dwarfs towards goblinoids for their vandalization of some of the Sky Cities during their occupation of the Kinbarag mountains. Nowadays goblinoids are present almost everywhere, usually as scattered communities, but some of them still work as mercenary, and the prestigious Iron Company is possibly the most sought after mercenary band of all Vespria.
Tieflings are the descendants of an old empire of humanoids who stroke a pact with Asmodeus, and now carry the manifestation of this sin in their blood, as their children always will. While this is the origin for most of tieflings, sometimes diabolists and cambions start new tiefling bloodlines with an archdevil's "contribution", but when they do is mostly by mistake. Tieflings are widespread in any country, and generally have no peculiar tradition, unless the few who buy in Ashmodaism, and otherwise are normal members of their community. In the past there have been theological disputes about the possibility for tieflings to have a free will or even a soul because of their ancestors' pact, but those disputes have long resolved in favour of tieflings, and for many churches it is actually heresy to claim otherwise. Since they are a constant presence in Vespria since always, there are not prejudices about them being demons or devil-worshippers or even evil anymore than anyone else. Tieflings are found everywhere, but very rarely in positions of power, since not many nobles look foundly on the idea of having only tiefling children and nothing else for the rest of their line. Tiefling's position in Vespria has somewhat changed since the rise of the Witch-Queen in Monteneria, a tiefling herself, who seems to attract other tieflings in her demesne. This has acted both as beacon for some tiefling looking for something like an homeland-in-the-making, and both as a bad omen in countries neighbouring Monteneria, especially in Neustria, where some anti-Witchdom figures are wondering if their very own tiefling subjects should be suspected of double loyalty. Outside of this very specific circumstances, tiefling lead a largely normal life.
On the opposite side of the specter of divine influence, aasimars are far more rare, since they don't bred true like tieflings do. Aasimar are descendants of good divine beings of any kind. Like tieflings, aasimars cannot truly be said to have an independent society of their own. As an offshoot of humanity, they adopt the societal norms around them, though most find themselves drawn to those elements of society that work for the redress of injustice and the assuagement of suffering. This sometimes puts them on the wrong side of the law in more tyrannical societies, but aasimars can be careful and cunning when necessary, able to put on a dissembling guise to divert the attention of oppressors elsewhere. While corrupt aasimars may be loners or may establish secret societies to conceal their involvement in crime, righteous aasimars are often found congregating in numbers as part of good-aligned organizations, especially (though not always) churches and religious orders. Since the Age of Silence, aasimar and the churches have been struggling with a new kind of problem: some misguided or desperate folks trying to make them act as messengers of the silent gods. This is still a problem in isolated or desperate communities, and aasimar usually hate to or embarassed by finding themselves in the middle of a crowd of people claiming they are the legitimate heir of whatever god they claim they spawned them. Churches are fine about considering them as sign of good omen, but oppose any claim that they may act as vicars to their illustrious progenitors. It is to be noted that Suncalia is ruled by a line of aasimars: they are the descendants of an old goddess of Law who renounced divinity to live as a mortal and birth a child, and their House has still a distinct way to preach the virtues of law and civilization in comparison to the Church of Abadar, still holding on the instincts of the old goddess.
Touched by extra-planar influence, genasi are very rare, and usually boast the blood of some genie noble in their vein. It is not uncommon for many families, noble or not, to marry their scions with genasi of good family, since they are considered an asset in both improving the chance to gain a patent noble and increasing the possibility to produce future sorcerers in the line, a cheap and sure method to have some good social mobility.
Strix [same stats as aarakocra] are another native population of Vespria, albeit an uncommon one to find. White hair, dark skin tones, fingernails sharp as claws and talons for feet, they have large feathery wings to soar the skys. They mostly live between Ultramoesia and the Kinbarag mountain range, but are found in good numbers also in Zalia, Kharia and Suncalia. Strix tend to form clans of distantly related kin, and to establish these clans far enough from one to another so to not have competition over shared resources. This has caused strix to be slowly but surely encroached by Ultramoesian traders and Marinhian colonizers, whose foreign laws and exploitation of natural resources they greatly resent. Elsewhere they live more quiet lifes, according to their local customs, and in Kinbarag they dwell on the mountains and hills and pay tribute to the Low King, in exchange for self-rule and protection, if they ever were to request it. Strix have radically different faiths depending on the community, but their most revered deities are Hei Feng, Melora, Erastil. In the lands of the Ultramoesian Trade Company instances of strix joining en masse the Savored Sting Cult have been reported. Strix and Kenkus have a special relations because of the importance of Hei Feng in their old days. Even non-religious strix pray to Hei Feng before venturing for a long journey by wing, and it is well known that Hei Feng curses those who cause harm on the kenku or even just ignore their plights.
Changeling as a name is used both for shifter changelings and hagspawn changelings, but they’re two radically different races. The first ones are the product of some long-lost arcane experimentation with doppelgängers, and they either adapt to their home society or try to fool it by using their powers. They are sometimes feared for their capability to impersonate anyone, even loved ones, with but a glance of studying, but also sought after by those in need of spys and infiltrator: that alone may be reason sufficient to hide their true nature and powers. The seconds are the daughter of hags, swapped in the cradle with their adoptive parents’ actual child, which is usually consumed by the hag. They receive a potent Call from their mother, but can reject it. Because of the tragic circumstances of their birth, they may experience abuse by their adoptive families (if they find out what happened to their original child) or by suspicious neighbors, but the world is home to many decent and good-spirited folks who won’t blame a daughter they raised as their own for the sins of her actual mother. 
Dragonborn and Goliath are descendant of the ancient opposing Draconic Empire (a claim shared with the Kobolds) and the Giants' Colossal Kingdom (a claim shared with forest dwelling Firbolgs, but they have a rather more negative opinion of that bygone age). The two ancient civilization disappeared, but Dragonborns and Goliaths claim to be their inheritor. They are both proud of this legacy, and have a very stark competition between them, although it is mostly in good spirits, unless they face each other on the battlefield. Dragonborn are proud mercenaries, while Goliaths live in scattered herds across the lands and the mountains. Sometimes goliaths make permanent camps around the few vestigesof their ancient homeland, such as the Giant Towers, acting as custodians and keeping people away from their dangers. Since the Colossal Kingdom was in Estria and Terrania, goliath are rare in Vespria. Dragonborn too are uncommon, but they have a rather high number of related organizations related to them, including paladin orders and mercenary bands.
Tabaxi are free roamers in many of Vespria's flatlands. Traditionally they are tribesmen. They prefer to be led by their most competent members, usually a council of sub-chieftains chosen by their peers, either though consensus or election. The sub-chiefs then choose a chieftain to lead in times of danger and to mediate disputes among the sub-chiefs. The chieftain is the most capable member of the tribe, and is often magically talented. Tabaxi who settle in more urban and civilized areas still cling to a similar tribal structure, but often see friends outside the tribe, even those from other races, as part of their extended tribe. Within adventuring groups, tabaxi who do not consider themselves the obvious choice as chieftain often defer to the person who most resembles their cultural ideal of a chieftain. Many tabaxi see personal growth and development as equally valid avenues of exploration. While most tabaxi are nimble, capable, and often active creatures, there is also a strong tendency among some tabaxi to engage in quiet contemplation and study. Such individuals are interested in finding new solutions to age-old problems and questioning even the most steadfast philosophical certainties of the day. They are curious by nature, and tabaxi culture never discourages inquisitiveness, but rather fosters and encourages it. Many are seen as quirky extroverts by members of other races, but within tabaxi tribes there is no shame attached to minor peculiarities, eccentricities, or foolhardiness. All but the most inwardly focused tabaxi enjoy being the center of attention, but not at the expense of their tribe, whether it’s the one the tabaxi are born into or the tribe they choose through the bonds of friendship with other creatures. Tabaxi tend to be both generous and loyal to their family and friends.
Yuan-ti are a new addition to Vespria. They came recently aboard Marinhian tradeship, while some have arrived through some kind of magical portals. Yuan-ti are still a novelty in many places, and are often confused with odd tiefling or some kind of hybrid dragonborn. Their distant homelands are places of high magics and impressive construction and sophisticated culture, but in Vespria very few know anything about them.

Tl;dr

Divine magic

Clerics: gain power through faith in a divine being, but cannot speak with them (sad).
Druids: gain power through their communion with nature and can channel it to protect the natural order. Users of divine magic are sometimes called hyerophants.

Arcane magic

Wizardry: study and application of magic through formulaic and scholastic approach. They tweak reality in its fringe appendages with care, working hard to achieve an holistic view. Very intensive in its complexity. It takes more than one single human lifespan to learn all of wizardy because of its ever-expanding magnitude.
Sorcery: study and application of magic through intuitive and direct experience. They naturally feel the way in which will their spells into existence, without concerning with the details of its inner working, since they come so natural for sorcerers. Their connection to magic is the strongest, and the rawest as well.
Witchery: study and application of magic through revelation by superior magical beings. They can be scholars of exclusive lore or mystics or mere practicioner of aspects of the unkown. They struggle with tuning the finer parts of their magics, but have access to powers that other practicioner cannot tap into.
Spellsinging: the arcane art of bards. They resonate with the magical nature of the world in ways that are not gained through mere study or practice: it takes both and the tuning of oneself to the world and its most mysterious and unexplicable magics.

Themes

Destiny, mystery and inevitability. Politics, diplomacy and intrigue for those who want them.