You know what’s more fun than worldbuilding that makes some fantasy races EEEEVIIIIIIILLLLL!!!!?
Worldbuilding that gives the different races cultural differences that help explain why there’s a lot of conflict between them:
Goblin culture doesn’t have a concept of “Property”. A stick on the ground and a tool in a locked shed are equally up for grabs if a thing needs doing. They casually take and leave things all over their communities, eat from communal pots, and genuinely Do Not Understand why the Core Races are so Angry and prone to Violence all the time.
Consequently Goblins who live near Core communities develop a reputation as “Thieves” despite not even having a *word* for that. (The closest word they have is more like “Greedy” and it means a person that hides things so nobody else can use them, and it’s a surefire fight-starter to call a Goblin that)
Common Orc Spiritual beliefs hold that a Soul can only grow stronger by overcoming Challenges in life, and see intruding on another person’s Challenge unasked for as not just Rude, but Deeply Harmful. You’re Stealing their chance to Grow. Asking for help is deeply personal and doing so can be both a way to grow closer with them or a too-personal intrusion, depending on your existing relationship with them. An exception is Children, as far as most Orcs are concerned, all Children are fundamentally the responsibility of the Whole Community, regardless of whose child they are, or even if said child is an Orc at *all*.
This means that Orcs who live near Core neighbors often seem Rude and Standoffish if not outright hostile, because they neither ask for nor offer aid even in times of trouble, and respond to unasked for aid themselves with Anger. There are even rumors that they Steal Children, because if an Orc finds a child lost in the woods they’re pretty much immediately going to start feeding it, and if they can’t find where to bring it back to, or it doesn’t seem to be well cared for, they’re just gonna keep it.
this is so good. someone do dragons & dwarves
Dragons are often portrayed as being greedy and hostile towards humanoid creature. Many dragon myths have them Eating people, hoarding gold, and kidnapping princesses. However dragons aren’t as bad as many people think.
1. Hoarding Gold.
Dragons are, in the simplest terms, lizard crows. They take gold because it’s so shiny, and (similarly to goblins) they’re sense of ownership and personal property is a bit skewed. Dragons understand that if there is a cave with a dragon sitting on a pile of gold the gold is that dragons gold and that they shouldn’t take it because it belongs to that dragon. But humans store their gold in banks or vaults. Dragons see this huge pile of gold and think “oh no one is sitting on this gold, guess it’s free to take” and then they go ahead and take it. They don’t think to consider that these humans are attacking it because of gold, it just thinks that these humans are really mean. (All of this stealing of gold business can be fixed by just having a few people sit on your piles of gold so dragons can realize that the gold is already has an owner.)
2. Eating people/hostility
Dragons are literally giant flying lizards. They are literal animals. They are carnivores and scavengers. They will eat your corpse, even if they didn’t kill you themselves. Also, the reason they attack so many people is because they do have a territorial nature (again, giant fucking lizards) and most of the people they attack are people who come into their caves and steal their gold!
3. Kidnapping princesses
Most princesses wear all this beautiful jewelry and gems and, like I said before, dragons are lizard crows. The appearance of shiny stuff in sunlight is to a dragon like a lazer pointer is to a cat. They will steal it, probably not realizing it’s alive until later. However it should be noted that dragons take great pride in their hoard, so they will definitely take care of the princess!
And lastly it should be said that not all dragons do these things! All the old and wise dragons have realized how humanoids work and so they do better with staying out of they way. It’s all the young and dumb dragons who’re unwittingly stealing your gold. Just take your time to politely explain to your local dragon how banks work and you should be good!
Hope that explains dragons and well enough @smallest-feeblest-boggart ! (Sorry that I don’t have anything for dwarves)
I love the concept of someone being paid to sit on a pile of gold in a bank so a dragon doesn’t steal it.