The Slave Races

Everyone knows the world used to belong to many peoples. That was before order.

Now there are the useful races—the ones that work—and that’s what matters.

Humans, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes are called slave races not as an insult, but as a description. They breed fast enough, learn quickly enough, and break predictably enough to be worth keeping alive. That’s what the overseers say, and no one argues.

Each has their place.

Humans are everywhere. They lift, haul, march, and die in numbers large enough to be counted instead of remembered. Humans are adaptable, which makes them useful—and dangerous if not watched. Overseers say that’s why humans need the closest supervision.

There’s a rumor, whispered but never encouraged, that some humans carry elvish blood. They’re called elfbloods in Dunmorr. Supposedly sharper-eyed. Quicker to learn. Too quiet when they should be tired. The hobgoblins insist elves are extinct, so elfbloods are explained away as sickly humans with strange features. Most people don’t press the point. Asking questions about elves is a good way to disappear.

Dwarves are built for the mines. Everyone knows that. They endure stone, darkness, and pain better than the rest. Hobgoblins like to say dwarves belong underground anyway, and many dwarves stop arguing after a few years of breathing dust. They’re stubborn, though. Even broken dwarves are hard to truly tame, which is why punishments for them are public and severe.

Halflings are valued because they survive. They slip through cracks. They stretch rations. They keep families alive longer than they should. Hobgoblins say halflings are happiest when told what to do, close to hearth and kin, and most guards believe it. The fact that halflings endure where others die is treated as proof that they don’t suffer as much.

Gnomes are clever. That’s said like a warning. They remember things they shouldn’t, notice patterns, and ask the wrong kind of questions. Hobgoblins tolerate gnomes because clever hands fix tools and keep systems running. But when something goes wrong, gnomes are often blamed first—cleverness looks too much like intent.

What ties the slave races together isn’t blood or culture. It’s position.

They work.
They obey.
They endure.

The hobgoblins say this is mercy. Better to live under order than die in chaos like the races that are gone. Most people repeat that lesson because it’s safer than wondering who decided which lives were useful.

And everyone understands one last, unspoken rule:

A slave race is only tolerated as long as it remains a tool.
The moment it starts acting like a people again,
it becomes something else entirely.