Previously, we have offered an in-depth look at the Feyborn and the elves of Tolmira. A profile of the Illuminated is coming soon. But if you just want to know who's stronger, who's smarter, and who's a bigger pain in the neck, read on!

There are six different racial profiles for characters in The Broken Hourglass. Humans make up the majority of the population in most Tolmiran territories. Mixed in with their society are the Illuminated, the Feyborn (half-elven, half-human), and three different cultural spinoffs of the old Ilvari race: assimilated elves, Cella, and the Verai.

Mechanically, races in The Broken Hourglass are assumed to have a net value of zero—that is, the total magnitude of the positives on a creature's expected challenge should be completely offset by the total magnitude of the negatives. To keep the accounting simpler and more obvious, humans, as the dominant race of the realm, are given no racial bonuses or penalties to any statistic. Most of the other races have a bonus to one of the four primary attributes (Strength, Agility, Toughness, Judgment) as well as a penalty to another, and various modifiers to secondary skills and abilities. Some races receive traits as part of their racial makeup.

Here, then, are the profiles of the five non-human races.

Bonuses:
Agility: Elves are gifted with greater manual dexterity and speed than humans.
Perception: Elves are possessed of generally superior senses.
Sword Precision: Almost all assimilated elves pass down at least some appreciation of and proficiency with a blade to their children. It is a cultural artifact of the long-gone Imperial Ilvari which the assimilated population clings to.

Penalties:
Toughness: Elves lack great stamina, and suffer in the Toughness category.
Brawl Precision: Preferring to keep a fight at least at arm's length, the build and reach of the elves does not lend itself well to bare-knuckle fighting.
Diplomacy: "Assimilated" does not mean "fully integrated." Lingering resentment, discomfort over injuries long past... whatever it is, some people—even other elves—can find dealing with the Ilvari awkward.

Cella: Wanderers, vagabonds, gypsies. The ancestors of these elves took to the plains and the hills when the Ilvari Empire was lost, and haven't looked back. The silver-tongued Cella arguably try even harder than the assimilated to get along with humanity, but not necessarily to noble ends...

Bonuses:
Agility: As per Assimilated.
Peception: As per Assimilated.
Haggling: Unlike the Assimilated, Cella actively work on their social graces and skills, keeping the Cella caravans rolling profitably.
Manipulation: Cella also work on their social engineering skills, and are not above taking advantage as it suits them.
Pickpocket: Some prefer to call it "sleight of hand" but most Cella are honest enough, at least with themselves, to call the ability what it is—a profitable talent, when judiciously employed.

Penalties:
Toughness: As per Assimilated.
Brawl Precision: As per Assimilated.
Tactics: The freewheeling Cella band together to survive... but brilliant tacticians, they are not.

Bonuses:
Agility: Being elves, the Verai enjoy greater agility than the average human. However, the rigorous training of the Verai culture, which emphasizes stamina and power, diminishes this advantage over time—the Verai bonus to Agility is smaller than that of the assimilated or Cella.
Sword Precision: The assimilated play at swordsmanship behind locked doors, where their neighbors cannot see. For the Verai, blades are not a hobby, but a passion, and the Verai bonus to Sword Precision exceeds that of the assimilated.
Tactics: The Verai study combat engagements intensely, and develop keen instincts for the problems of squad maneuvers.
Perception: Verai training doesn't diminish the innate elven ability to spot the unusual.

Penalties:
Toughness: The Verai labor hard to build their natural endurance and resistances to be stronger than their cousins. And they have succeeded in surpassing the assimilated and Cella in this department—but they are still not as resilient as a human.
Mana: The rigors of the Verai military indoctrination have their virtues, but they tend to close the mind to other avenues of thought and expression. The average Verai has no time for or interest in magic—and, as a result, no appreciable potential to wield it.
Diplomacy: All the awkwardness of the Assimilated, compounded with a black-and-white, by-the-book mentality, make for a substantial penalty to Diplomacy.

Bonuses:
Strength: Feyborn are, on average, naturally bigger and stronger than either of their parents.
Toughness: Although shorter-lived than the other races of Rhyth, in their prime Feyborn are extremely hardy and durable.
Mageborn-Fire (trait): All Feyborn have a touch of pyromancy in their blood, and as a result receive the Mageborn-Fire trait, granting them an initial bonus to Fire Magic. Note that this is subtly different than receiving a direct bonus to Fire Magic. Mageborn are found in each of the four major elemental varieties (a trait chosen upon creation only), but no one may be Mageborn in more than one element.

Penalties:
Judgment: Whether you believe that all Feyborn are truly touched by madness, or simply that they don't get the same opportunities afforded their human and assimilated elven peers, the fact remains that on paper and in practice, Feyborn start with limitations in the brainpan.
Diplomacy: Quick to anger, slow to cool, the Feyborn are not natural born negotiators.
Haggling: See Diplomacy.

Bonuses:
Judgment: Their admirers call them "thoughtful." Those who fear the Illuminated call them "plotters." Whatever the case, Illuminated are, if you can pardon the pun, naturally bright.
Mana: The Illuminated are naturally inclined to use and control magic.
Diplomacy: Despite their outward appearance and occasionally off-putting manner, when the time comes, most Illuminated know how to crank up the charm and win a grudging smile.
Haggling: As best as anyone can tell, one of the key mandates of the Illuminated is to set up deep trading roots with the human civilizations of Rhyth. Although sometimes unnerving socially, they are seen as trustworthy in matters of commerce.
Water Magic: Illuminated are strong in the magic of the mind, and receive a bonus to Water Magic. Note that unlike Feyborn this is not considered a "Mageborn" trait—a few Illuminated prodigies are Mageborn in a different element, or even in Water Magic itself.

Penalties:
Pacifist (trait): Violence and killing are not part of the Illuminated makeup—it comes less naturally to them than to the other races of Rhyth. Some have taken this tendency as further proof that the Illuminated are a truly manufactured race, and lack an inbred history of survival through conflict and conquest. All Illuminated carry the Pacifist trait, and as a result receive a penalty to all combat rolls involving melee or missile weapons.
Strength: Illuminated do not, as a rule, develop rippling muscles.
Stealth: The brightly glowing skin tends to inhibit successful sneaking.