MONSTER RACES

Minosians

The Minosians are described as taller than humans with skin and facial features similar to bovines.  Elven data lists Minosians as calmer than the other races in the Labyrinth and of comparable intelligence.  Often, Minosians form small communities tucked in the small vales of their homeland.  Most Minosians seem satisfied to spend their life in the small agrarian outposts, but not all.  From time to time, Minosians can be Meen amongst the groups assaulting elven fortifications.  Data from those assaults list Minosians with comparable physical abilities to their fellow Orks, but a much crafter and skilled mind.  Elven tactics list the order of threats as: Trolls, Minosians, Goblins, then Orks.

Goblins

If Orks are brutal teens and Trolls are scary children, then Goblins are the sick and twisted sociopathic dredges of society.  Goblins tend to be more nomadic then their counterparts.  In part, this stems from the fact that even Orks don’t trust Goblins.  The other part of the reason is: goblins don’t trust goblins.  An ancient Alean proverb states, “A troll will destroy a wall because an ork told him to, an ork will kill you because only the strong are allowed precious resources, but a goblin will slit your throat while you sleep because it likes the gurgling sound.”

From what can be deduced of goblin society, all goblins are taught to be self-sufficient early on.  They are taught to use stealth to hunt their prey.  They are taught to use a natural chameleon like ability to their advantage.  And they are taught that there is always something willing to hunt you.  Goblin groups never contain extensive families or large groups of teens.  It is supposed that when a goblin hits their teen years, they are forced to go their own way.  Once a goblin separates from his family, the two groups may seek the same resources and become enemies.  It is not unheard of for elves to find an entire family of goblins dead at the hands of their recently expelled teenager.  Other times, the teenager becomes the victim in the power struggle.  Either way, this societal disconnect seems to be designed to breed sociopathic mentalities.  Of course, this term has to be used loosely, since there are no sociological conventions that the goblins recognize.

Due to their sociopathic mentality and omnivorous nature, it is not unusual for humanoids to become the next ‘meal’ for a hungry goblin.  Some goblins even prefer humanoids, enjoying the thrill of the hunt.  Goblins may be smaller than the typical human, but should never be under-estimated.  Alean combat records list more troop deaths to goblins than to any other race, excepting Aleans lost in combat to Net’Aleans.

Orks

Orks are big, green monsters.  Do not let other fantasy works deceive you, these creatures are not to be faced with disdain.  Often averaging over eight feet in height and the mentality of an older child/young teen, Ork society is extremely fluid and brutal.  Tactics change as they learn new strategies and forget old strategies (it is anybody’s guess whether the new strategies will be better or worse than the old strategies).  This unpredictable nature has led to random attacks against heavily fortified Elven strongholds in the past, with significant loss on both sides.  The purpose of these assaults are rarely made clear, leaving many elves to assume that the Orks were drunk and thought it was a ‘good idea’.  Anyone possessing experience with the Orks, clearly sees how this could be construed.

It is unusual to see an old Ork.  The specific reasons are left to the scholars, but most anthropologists propose a violent struggle for leadership that favors the young and strong.  The Labyrinth is a harsh place, there are no extra resources for those who can not contribute

Trolls

If the Orks are big, the trolls are huge.  Trolls often grow to be twice as tall as a man and some have been known to be much taller.  The only solace for the elves that face them in combat is that they seem to generally be very dumb.  Elven Captains often describe Trolls as having the mentality of a three or four year old.  Typical battle strategy to deal with Trolls is to distract and confuse.  Unfortunately, as any parent knows, an angry or determined four year old is still a very difficult thing to handle.  Now make that child twice as tall as an adult and capable of using a pine tree as a club. Yes, very scary.  

Like the Orks, they possess green skin and can usually be found in the Labyrinth.  It is rare to see more than a handful of trolls at a time.  Often, Trolls are found with Orks who utilize them in the same manners that one might use an elephant.  They assist in sieges, they can help harvest resources, they can follow basic building directions, and they can carry enormous amounts of material from one place to another.