Breeds

I should make a note here about what I term ‘breeds’: the term refers to a group of sapient beings which can only reproduce within the group without outside assistance; I prefer this term over ‘races’ because that term feels tainted, and over ‘species’ because that term feels too academic. Breeds commonly encountered in the Saga and other stories set in Cadriharetha are:

• Near-Humans: Humans and humans with odd hair, arms, etc who can generally reproduce with one another freely.
• Bunnies: bunnies that talk.
• Slinkers: rats that talk.
• Centaurs: these come in many varieties, such as camel, zebra, deer, moose, and even oxen.
• Satyroids: satyrs are goat-men; fauns are deer-men (who dislike deer-centaurs and woolies can anyone think of a better name, please? are sheep-men
• Giants: not beasts or trolls, but ridiculously oversized versions of near-humans; they speak at ultrasonic pitches
• Dragons: non-dinosaurian giant reptiles

Individuals from other breeds might be mentioned in passing, but they’re not native to the world of the Realm.

If individuals from incompatible breeds wish to join their lives, one or both eat a special Apple from one of the Trees from the Realm, which transforms the eater(s) into compatibility (a slinker into a bunny, etc this has sparked various debates about the how and why among the learned, but it remains unexplained.