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Ancestries and Species

Every Pathfinder 2e ancestry listed on the Archives of Nethys exists somewhere in Thesalon.

Some have large populations distributed across several continents. Others are concentrated in particular environments, cities, courts, island systems, or hidden communities. Rare ancestries may consist of several established enclaves, a small number of related households, or individuals created through unusual magical, planar, spiritual, or historical circumstances.

Ancestry does not determine culture, nationality, language, religion, profession, class, morality, or political allegiance.

A dwarf may be Maritheli, Suthrani, Veyrskoldic, Caerlonian, Ilyrian, Vorrak-born, or part of a culture that spans several continents. An orc may come from Estenmark, a Marcher town, a Maritheli private fleet, a Veyrskoldic rescue settlement, or one of many distinct Vorrakian societies. A leshy raised in a Highharbor household may share little culture with a leshy steward from Namarra.

The distributions in this chapter identify established communities and plausible character origins. They do not restrict where a character can be born, raised, adopted, awakened, constructed, transformed, or resettled.

On This Page

• Using This Page
• Ancestry, Heritage, and Species
• Rarity and Player Access
• Ancestry Distribution at a Glance
• Common Ancestries
• Uncommon Ancestries
• Rare Ancestries
• Versatile Heritages
• Ancestries by Continent
• Bodies, Infrastructure, and Accessibility
• Vorrak-Associated and Monster-Associated Ancestries
• Choosing an Ancestry for the Campaign
• Starting in Windrider Freeport
• What Most People Know
• Related Pages

Using This Page

Each ancestry entry provides:

• Access: its default availability for a Thesalon player character;
• Primary concentrations: regions containing substantial populations;
• Established enclaves: named districts or communities outside those concentrations;
• Distribution: how and why the ancestry spread;
• Character origins: ready-to-use starting concepts;
• Local considerations: circumstances that may affect travel, housing, law, or social recognition.

“Primary concentration” does not mean ancestral ownership of a region. Most large cities contain multigenerational populations from many ancestries, and migration has connected every continent.

Ancestry, Heritage, and Species

Ancestry

Ancestry is the Pathfinder 2e rules category representing a character’s broad inherited or embodied people. It provides ancestry statistics and access to ancestry feats.

Heritage

A heritage represents a more specific expression within an ancestry. It may reflect physical adaptation, inherited magic, environment, body form, family lineage, or another defining condition.

Heritage does not determine upbringing. Two characters with the same heritage can belong to different cultures and continents.

Versatile Heritage

A versatile heritage can be applied across multiple ancestries. It may reflect mixed ancestry, planar influence, divine power, elemental inheritance, undeath, transformation, or another unusual lineage.

Versatile heritages are covered separately because they do not form population distributions in the same way as full ancestries.

Species

“Species” is used in ordinary Thesalon scholarship when discussing bodily form, reproduction, magical creation, constructed life, ecology, or relationships among living beings.

It is not a separate Pathfinder character-building choice. In game rules, players select an ancestry and heritage.

Some peoples do not fit simple biological categories. Leshies contain nature spirits in plant bodies. Automatons and poppets are constructed. Awakened animals begin as nonsapient animals. Yaoguai may begin as animals, plants, or objects. Fleshwarps may have been transformed from another ancestry. Skeletons are sapient undead.

Thesalon law and culture therefore place more weight on personhood, recognition, memory, relationship, and self-determination than on one universal biological definition.

Rarity and Player Access

Pathfinder rarity describes how automatically available an option is, not its intelligence, morality, social worth, or total population.

Access	Campaign meaning
Common	Available without a special explanation beyond an ordinary character origin
Uncommon	Available with an origin connected to an established region, enclave, family, institution, or migration history
Rare	Requires a specific origin and GM approval because it carries unusual setting implications
Unique	Normally tied to one individual or campaign event

A mechanically rare ancestry may have a visible community. Fleshwarps, for example, are rare as a character option because their origins vary greatly, but postwar Thesalon contains several recognized fleshwarp communities.

Rarity can also vary locally. Merfolk are uncommon as a global character option but ordinary within many Maritheli underwater communities.

Ancestry Distribution at a Glance

Ancestry	Default access	Strongest concentrations
Dwarf	Common	Silveredge, Veyrskold, Kharad-Sur, major engineering districts
Elf	Common	Ilyr, Verdant Principalities, Blackwood, major cities
Gnome	Common	Marithel, Ilyr, Suthrane, Selvarin, Emberdeep
Goblin	Common	Marithel, Caerlon, Vorrak, trade and reconstruction settlements
Halfling	Common	Heart Plains, Suthrani rivers, Torin, Maritheli markets
Human	Common	Every continent
Leshy	Common	Ilyr, Blackwood, Verdant regions, temple and reef gardens
Orc	Common	Vorrak, eastern Caerlon, Marithel, Veyrskold
Athamaru	Uncommon	Marithel reefs, Ilyrian coast, Suthrani Inner Sea
Azarketi	Uncommon	Marithel, Broken Chain, submerged coastal ruins
Catfolk	Uncommon	Ilyr, Suthrane, Marithel, Selvarin
Centaur	Uncommon	Heart Plains, Red Waste, Ivory Floodplain, Emerald Crown
Fetchling	Uncommon	Shadow-touched districts, Varkul regions, Mistwell
Hobgoblin	Uncommon	Vorrak, Estenmark, Stormgate, military settlements
Kholo	Uncommon	Red Waste, Sunroad, Heart Plains, Marches
Kitsune	Uncommon	Ilyr, Suthrane, Verdant regions, freeports
Kobold	Uncommon	Veyrskold, Silveredge, Marithel, Ashen territories
Lizardfolk	Uncommon	Saren-Tel, Suthrani rivers, Ilyrian coast, Gaping Coast
Merfolk	Uncommon	Marithel, Inner Sea, Ilyrian coast, Sunset Gulf
Minotaur	Uncommon	Kharad-Sur, Drakkar-Grim, Silveredge, Stormgate
Nagaji	Uncommon	Suthrane, Ilyr, Selvarin
Ratfolk	Uncommon	Major ports, trade cities, caravanserais, bridge towns
Samsaran	Uncommon	Suthrane, Verdant regions, Selvarin, Varkul-linked diasporas
Tanuki	Uncommon	Marithel, Suthrane, Ilyr, Highharbor
Tengu	Uncommon	Marithel, Highharbor, Hrafnvik, Inner Sea
Tripkee	Uncommon	Ilyr and Suthrane wetlands
Vanara	Uncommon	Ilyr, southern Suthrane, tropical Marithel
Wayang	Uncommon	Shadow-touched communities, Varkul, Mistwell, Sirenward
Anadi	Rare	Ilyr, Blackwood, Suthrane, small Maritheli communities
Android	Rare	Ancient ruins, sealed sites, archive protection
Automaton	Rare	Veyrskold, Silveredge, Crownward, ancient ruins
Awakened Animal	Rare	Ilyr, Verdant regions, Blackwood, sanctuaries
Conrasu	Rare	Planar observatories, Selvarin, sealed sites
Dragonet	Rare	Veyrskold, Silveredge, Marithel, Drakkar-Grim
Fleshwarp	Rare	Vorrak, Scoured Marches, Highharbor, Windrider, Namarra
Ghoran	Rare	Ilyr, Verdant Principalities, Blackwood, sacred gardens
Goloma	Rare	Ilyrian interior, Blackwood, hidden valleys
Jotunborn	Rare	Veyrskold, Grimspine, Kharad-Sur, Silveredge
Kashrishi	Rare	Ilyr, Suthrani spiritual communities, remote holds
Poppet	Rare	Workshops, households, temples, ships, adoption networks
Sarangay	Rare	Ilyrian plateaus, Maritheli islands, Suthrani farms
Shisk	Rare	Silveredge, Veyrskold, Kharad-Sur, mountain archives
Shoony	Rare	Heart Plains, Suthrani rivers, Maritheli islands, Marches
Skeleton	Rare	Varkul, funerary communities, sanctuary and Return Houses
Sprite	Rare	Ilyr, Verdant regions, Blackwood, enchanted islands
Strix	Rare	Veyrskold cliffs, Dreadshore, Highfall, mountain regions
Surki	Rare	Veyrskold, Silveredge, Ashen territories, deep settlements
Vishkanya	Rare	Suthrane, Ilyr, Selvarin, Windrider
Yaksha	Rare	Ilyr, Suthrane, Verdant regions, sacred islands
Yaoguai	Rare	Scattered across all continents, especially old settlements

Common Ancestries

Dwarf

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Silveredge Holds, Emberdeep, Dromgard, Kharad-Sur, the Sundered Mountains, and several Ilyrian mountain settlements.

Established enclaves:

• Stoneward Quarter, Crownward Seat;
• Deepkeel Ward, Highharbor;
• Nine-Hammer Row, Coinmast Harbor;
• Warmstone District, Anuth-Selai;
• Scalevent Forge Ward, Emberdeep;
• mixed quarry and engineering houses near Stormgate.

Dwarven communities have spread through mining, masonry, bridge construction, harbor engineering, metalworking, ruin containment, banking, surveying, and military infrastructure. Many urban dwarven quarters began as worker districts but now contain families in every profession.

There is no single dwarven culture. A Silveredge hold family, Coinmast banking household, Suthrani flood engineer, Veyrskoldic ruin warden, and Maritheli shipwright may share ancestry while holding different languages, faiths, laws, and social customs.

Character origins:

• Silveredge hold resident;
• Highharbor shipwright family;
• Kharad-Sur gate engineer;
• Emberdeep forge household;
• Crownward archivist from Stoneward Quarter;
• adopted member of a Maritheli ship crew.

Local considerations: Dwarves are ordinary in most large cities. Assumptions about mining, stonework, alcohol, or clan loyalty are local stereotypes rather than universal truths.

Elf

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Aelora, the Emerald Crown, the Verdant Principalities, the Blackwood Covenants, Mistwell, and old forest or garden communities throughout Thesalon.

Established enclaves:

• Ellisar Gardens, Crownward Seat;
• Green Sail Ward, Windrider Freeport;
• Willow Court, Anuth-Selai;
• Long Memory Houses, Selvarin;
• mixed archive and diplomatic households in Highharbor.

Elven populations have existed across Thesalon since before many present political borders. Long life can preserve family memory, but elves are not automatically historians, forest dwellers, mages, or followers of old traditions.

An elf raised in a Maritheli harbor may identify through ship, harbor, and convoy history. An Ilyrian elf may belong to a canopy or stewardship community. A Blackwood elf may understand protection through covenant and negotiated boundaries. A Crownward elf may descend from several generations of civil servants.

Character origins:

• Aeloran bridge household;
• Verdant court family;
• Blackwood covenant community;
• Selvarin diplomatic household;
• Highharbor refugee descendant;
• Veyrskoldic seal warden.

Local considerations: Long-lived characters may have older relatives who witnessed important events, but they do not automatically possess those memories.

Gnome

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Whiteglass Harbor, Windrider Freeport, Namarra, Selvarin, the Grand Temple Precincts, and Emberdeep.

Established enclaves:

• Prism Alley, Whiteglass Harbor;
• Turning Step, Windrider Freeport;
• Brightroot Court, Namarra;
• Little Furnace Ward, Emberdeep;
• lens, clock, signal, and archive workshops in Crownward.

Gnomes are widely represented in technical, artistic, magical, medical, theatrical, scholarly, and navigational communities. Those professions do not define the ancestry as a whole.

Marithel contains large gnome populations around lensmaking, lighthouse maintenance, pilotage, signal design, and ship instruments. Ilyrian communities include healers, gardeners, magical ecologists, and researchers. Suthrani gnome families are common in temple schools and caravan markets.

Character origins:

• Whiteglass lens family;
• Namarra medical garden;
• Selvarin translator household;
• Emberdeep geothermal workshop;
• Windrider performer or pilot;
• Suthrani temple scholar.

Local considerations: Gnomes are common in major trade and scholarly centers but less visible in isolated rural settlements.

Goblin

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Marithel, Caerlon, Vorrak, major trade routes, salvage communities, and reconstruction settlements.

Established enclaves:

• Sparkmarket, Highharbor;
• Low Rigging, Ropefall Harbor;
• Clatterbank, Torinbridge;
• Red Cart Ward, New Bellweather;
• Ash-Scrap Quarter, Emberdeep;
• mixed dock and caravan districts throughout Suthrane.

Goblin communities are common around ports, repair yards, roads, markets, military camps, mobile settlements, salvage sites, and rebuilding projects. Some communities descend from Vorrakian subject peoples or defectors; many have no connection to Vorrak.

Goblin cultural identity can be Caerlonian, Maritheli, Suthrani, Veyrskoldic, Ilyrian, Vorrakian, or mixed.

Character origins:

• Ropefall sail and rigging family;
• Highharbor salvage household;
• Heartplain farming village;
• Marcher reconstruction settlement;
• Emberdeep scrap engineer;
• Vorrak-born Hidden Lantern family.

Local considerations: Goblins may encounter outdated assumptions connecting them to fire, theft, military service, or Vorrak. These attitudes are strongest where local institutions have little experience with established goblin communities.

Halfling

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Heart Plains, Torin Freeholds, Valenic river communities, Suthrani floodplains, Maritheli markets, and agricultural settlements throughout Caerlon.

Established enclaves:

• Underbridge Ward, Torinbridge;
• Seven Kitchens, Grainwake Harbor;
• Lowbank Houses, Anuth-Selai;
• West Furrow Quarter, Highharbor;
• caravan and food-market districts in Osseran.

Halfling communities are prominent in agriculture, food storage, domestic trade, river transport, hospitality, brokerage, civic administration, and mutual-aid networks. They are also sailors, soldiers, scholars, priests, mages, and adventurers.

Character origins:

• Heartplain granary household;
• Torin bridge family;
• Suthrani river village;
• Grainwake warehouse community;
• Valenic barge family;
• Highharbor refugee descendant.

Local considerations: Halfling neighborhoods often possess dense family and mutual-aid networks, but no character is required to remain within them.

Human

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Every continent, polity, route system, and major city.

Humans possess no single ancestral homeland or culturally neutral identity. Human populations are deeply integrated into every major society of Thesalon.

A Caerlonian human raised in Estenmark may have more in common with an orc neighbor than with a human from Suthrane. A Blackwood human may share covenant customs with elves and leshies. A Maritheli human may belong to a ship household containing several ancestries.

Character origins: Any established culture or location in Thesalon.

Local considerations: Human ancestry should not be used as shorthand for “ordinary,” “local,” or “without culture.”

Leshy

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Ilyr, the Blackwood Covenants, Verdant Principalities, Suthrani temple gardens, Maritheli monastery islands, and reef gardens.

Established enclaves:

• Root-and-Bowl Houses, Namarra;
• Green Court Beds, the Verdant Principalities;
• Saltroot Garden, Lanternhold;
• Floodflower Ward, Anuth-Selai;
• cultivated shipboard gardens in Marithel.

Leshies are nature spirits inhabiting plant bodies. Their bodies may be cultivated, invited, discovered, regrown, or formed through local spiritual practice. Some communities treat the body as a temporary vessel; others emphasize continuity of form.

Leshies can belong to urban, maritime, temple, agricultural, frontier, or industrial communities. They are not automatically druids or stewards.

Character origins:

• Namarra Root-and-Bowl household;
• Lanternhold monastery garden;
• Maritheli ship garden;
• Blackwood covenant grove;
• Verdant estate community;
• awakened urban garden in Crownward.

Local considerations: Fire law, water access, climate, body replacement, and local definitions of death may matter.

Orc

Access: Common.

Primary concentrations: Vorrak, Estenmark, the Scoured Marches, Highharbor, Veyrskoldic maritime settlements, and Maritheli fleets.

Established enclaves:

• Eastern Shield Ward, Estenwatch;
• Blackwake Barracks, Highharbor;
• Iron Oar Quarter, Hrafnvik;
• Broken Spear Row, Windrider Freeport;
• Marchgate, West Hearthvale.

Orcs are one of the most politically visible ancestries of the Crownless Age. Some descend from long-established Caerlonian families. Others arrived as soldiers, prisoners, defectors, foreign volunteers, sailors, workers, or refugees.

Vorrakian orcs belong to many different societies, including Great Seat courts, subject towns, Red Waste communities, Blackwood-linked settlements, mobile road populations, and resistance networks.

Character origins:

• Estenmark military family;
• Marcher civic household;
• Hrafnvik rescue crew;
• Windrider free company;
• Red Waste Kharruk;
• Vorrak-born defector family.

Local considerations: Postwar suspicion exists in some Caerlonian communities but varies by location. Orc ancestry does not prove Vorrakian allegiance.

Uncommon Ancestries

Athamaru

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Drowned Reef Cantons, Pearlglass waters, Ilyrian coastal settlements, and parts of the Suthrani Inner Sea.

Established enclaves:

• submerged Coral Ward beneath Pearlglass Harbor;
• Drowned Reef village networks;
• water-lock households at Mereth-Kai;
• small coastal stewardship communities in Ilyr.

Athamaru communities cultivate sea gardens, maintain eel routes, build coral structures, and participate in reef law. Their settlements may be fully submerged or connected to surface harbors through water chambers, docks, lifts, and interpreter houses.

Character origins:

• Drowned Reef village;
• Pearlglass Coral Ward;
• Mereth-Kai sea farm;
• Ilyrian coastal stewardship;
• mixed surface–undersea household.

Local considerations: Extended travel inland requires reliable water access and appropriate equipment or magic.

Azarketi

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Marithel, submerged Broken Chain ruins, Suthrani Inner Sea settlements, and the western Ilyrian coast.

Azarketi communities preserve histories connected to drowned settlements, magical destruction, coastal collapse, and submerged ruins. Their Thesalon origins are independent of Golarion’s Azlant history.

Some families are isolationist. Others work as salvagers, ruin custodians, pilots, historians, and undersea diplomats.

Character origins:

• submerged Maritheli ruin community;
• Broken Chain settlement;
• Inner Sea archive diver;
• Ilyrian coastal family;
• Highharbor pilot household.

Local considerations: Azarketi may dispute surface claims over wrecks, drowned buildings, and underwater salvage.

Catfolk

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Ilyr, Suthrani caravan systems, Windrider Freeport, Selvarin, and Highharbor.

Established enclaves:

• Softstep Ward, Windrider Freeport;
• canopy courier households in Aelora;
• Sunroad caravan families;
• Selvarin translator and envoy communities.

Catfolk populations have spread through travel, courier work, performance, diplomacy, exploration, trade, and migration. They are especially common in multilingual cities and mobile communities.

Character origins:

• Aeloran bridge runner;
• Windrider information broker;
• Sunroad caravan family;
• Selvarin diplomatic household;
• Highharbor merchant district.

Centaur

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Heart Plains, Red Waste Kharruk, Ivory Floodplain margins, Emerald Crown, and open southern Veyrskold.

Centaur cultures vary from settled farming communities to mobile route peoples, plateau stewards, military patrols, herding communities, and caravan escorts.

Character origins:

• Heartplain road community;
• Red Waste Kharruk;
• Ivory Floodplain settlement;
• Emerald Crown stewardship;
• Veyrskoldic open-range household.

Local considerations: Inns, ships, narrow stairs, ladders, and dense urban buildings may not accommodate a centaur without planning. Major routes and cities generally maintain at least some large-bodied facilities.

Fetchling

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Long Shadow Court in Crownward, Varkul-linked regions, Mistwell, Sirenward-adjacent communities, and Veyrskoldic thin places.

Fetchlings descend from communities shaped by prolonged proximity to Thesalon’s shadow plane. Some emerged from planar shelters or crossings during ancient conflicts. Others descend from populations living near stable shadow boundaries.

Character origins:

• Long Shadow Court;
• Mistwell boundary family;
• Varkul exile household;
• Veyrskoldic sealed-site community;
• Sirenward survivor lineage.

Local considerations: Fetchlings are sometimes incorrectly assumed to possess Varkulian knowledge or shadow magic.

Hobgoblin

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Urgath-Korr, Estenmark, Scoured Marches, Stormgate, Highharbor, and Veyrskoldic fortress settlements.

Hobgoblin populations include military families, civil engineers, road administrators, caravan protectors, dock guards, defectors, and people with no military profession.

There is no universal hobgoblin military culture. Estenmark hobgoblins, Stormgate pilots, Iron Tribute road households, and Marcher farmers possess different traditions.

Character origins:

• Estenmark officer household;
• Stormgate passage guard;
• Highharbor marine family;
• Iron Tribute road community;
• Marcher settlement;
• Veyrskoldic fortress worker.

Kholo

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Red Waste, Osseran and the Sunroad, Heart Plains, Marcher frontier settlements, and Maritheli freeports.

Kholos are prominent in mobile trade, livestock management, route scouting, survival, caravan organization, and practical diplomacy. Some communities are highly settled.

Established enclave: Nine-Well Yard, Osseran.

Character origins:

• Red Waste Kharruk;
• Nine-Well caravan family;
• Heartplain livestock settlement;
• Marcher patrol community;
• Windrider merchant household.

Kitsune

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Mistwell, Ilyrian spiritual communities, Suthrani temple districts, Windrider Freeport, Selvarin, Verdant regions, and the Blackwood.

Kitsune may live openly or maintain several public identities. Their shapechanging is interpreted through Thesalon’s spirit world, local magic, and family traditions rather than Golarion’s regional history.

Character origins:

• Mistwell guide family;
• Suthrani temple household;
• Verdant court;
• Windrider performer;
• Blackwood spirit mediator;
• Selvarin translator.

Local considerations: Concealed appearance is not automatically criminal, but using another identity to evade a lawful obligation may be.

Kobold

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Veyrskold, Silveredge, Ashen territories, Maritheli lighthouse and ship-repair districts, and Ilyrian cave settlements.

Established enclaves:

• Scalevent, Emberdeep;
• Lower Lens Ward, Whiteglass Harbor;
• Copper Burrows, Silveredge;
• Keel-Crawl, Highharbor.

Kobold communities have relationships with dragons, elemental powers, mines, machinery, ships, and underground structures, but no single connection is universal.

Character origins:

• Scalevent forge family;
• Whiteglass lens technician;
• Silveredge tunnel community;
• Highharbor repair household;
• Drakkar-Grim subject community;
• Ilyrian cave stewardship.

Lizardfolk

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Saren-Tel, Anointed River communities, Ilyrian coast, Drowned Reef islands, Gaping Coast, and Heartplain flood districts.

Many lizardfolk communities predate the modern polities around them. Their relationships with rivers, wetlands, coasts, flood seasons, fishing grounds, and communal memory differ by region.

Character origins:

• Saren-Tel channel household;
• Anuth-Selai river community;
• Gaping Coast defector family;
• Drowned Reef islander;
• Heartplain irrigation settlement;
• Ilyrian coastal steward.

Merfolk

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Marithel, Suthrani Inner Sea, Ilyrian coast, Sunset Gulf, Broken Chain, and smaller Veyrskoldic fjord communities.

Merfolk possess independent underwater settlements, courts, temples, family networks, and political interests. They should not be treated merely as residents of surface harbors.

Character origins:

• Maritheli open-water polity;
• Drowned Reef community;
• Mereth-Kai underwater district;
• Ilyrian coastal kingdom;
• Broken Chain settlement;
• Highharbor diplomatic household.

Local considerations: Land travel requires accessibility support, magical assistance, or an appropriate heritage and equipment.

Minotaur

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Kharad-Sur, Drakkar-Grim, Silveredge, Stormgate, ancient Ilyrian structures, and Crownward.

Established enclave: The Turning Halls, Crownward Seat.

Minotaur communities are prominent in architecture, masonry, spatial planning, defense, archive construction, puzzles, ritual routes, and mountain settlements. Their Thesalon history is not defined by one universal divine curse.

Character origins:

• Kharad-Sur gate household;
• Drakkar-Grim fortress community;
• Crownward archive architect;
• Silveredge hold;
• Stormgate engineer;
• Ilyrian ruin custodian.

Local considerations: Minotaurs are Large and require suitable housing, transport, and equipment.

Nagaji

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Grand Temple Precincts, Anuth-Selai, Ilyrian sacred communities, Selvarin, and Maritheli shrine districts.

Nagaji communities often participate in temple custodianship, sacred law, diplomacy, healing, philosophy, and pilgrimage. They are not universally servants of nagas in Thesalon.

Character origins:

• Grand Temple household;
• Anuth-Selai river court;
• Ilyrian sacred steward;
• Selvarin envoy family;
• Maritheli shrine community.

Ratfolk

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Nearly every major harbor, trade city, caravanserai, river market, and bridge settlement.

Established enclaves:

• Ledgerburrow, Coinmast Harbor;
• Underquay Market, Highharbor;
• warehouse and tunnel districts in Torinbridge;
• caravan compounds in Osseran;
• subject markets throughout Vorrak.

Ratfolk communities are especially skilled at maintaining dense networks of information, exchange, storage, kinship, and mutual assistance. They are not automatically thieves or subterranean residents.

Character origins:

• Coinmast ledger household;
• Highharbor warehouse family;
• Torin market community;
• Osseran caravan network;
• Selvarin merchant house;
• Vorrakian subject market.

Samsaran

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Suthrani resurrection centers, Verdant Principalities, Selvarin, Ilyrian spiritual communities, and Varkul-linked diaspora populations.

Samsaran reincarnation is integrated into Thesalon’s cosmology, death law, and pantheon. Their communities maintain methods for distinguishing past-life memory from dreams, possession, inherited story, and magical influence.

Character origins:

• Suthrani reincarnation court;
• Verdant succession family;
• Selvarin spiritual household;
• Ilyrian memory community;
• Varkul exile family.

Local considerations: Past-life claims do not automatically restore property, marriage, office, or debt.

Tanuki

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Windrider Freeport, Suthrani caravan towns, Ilyrian forest markets, Highharbor, Selvarin, and Maritheli festival communities.

Established enclave: Kettle Lane, Windrider Freeport.

Tanuki communities are associated with trade, hospitality, shapechanging, performance, craft, food, and mobile social networks, though individual lives vary widely.

Character origins:

• Kettle Lane household;
• Sunroad caravan;
• Ilyrian forest market;
• Highharbor tavern family;
• Selvarin entertainer or broker.

Tengu

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Marithel, Highharbor, Hrafnvik, Suthrani Inner Sea ports, Selvarin, and Dreadshore defector communities.

Tengu are one of the major maritime ancestries of Thesalon. They are prominent as sailors, navigators, collectors, craftspeople, diplomats, scholars, and harbor residents.

Character origins:

• Maritheli ship household;
• Hrafnvik rescue crew;
• Highharbor dock family;
• Mereth-Kai sailor;
• Dreadshore defector household;
• Selvarin collector.

Tripkee

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Saren-Tel, Namarra, Ilyrian wetlands, Anuth-Selai flood districts, Heartplain irrigation settlements, and wet islands of the Drowned Reef.

Tripkee communities are shaped by rain, wetlands, canals, river agriculture, flood response, and amphibious movement.

Character origins:

• Saren-Tel channel family;
• Namarra garden household;
• Anuth-Selai flood ward;
• Heartplain irrigation village;
• Drowned Reef island community.

Vanara

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Aelora, Ilyrian canopy settlements, southern Suthrane, tropical Marithel, Blackwood margins, and Selvarin.

Vanara are especially visible in vertical settlements where climbing and canopy movement shape ordinary life.

Character origins:

• Aeloran canopy household;
• Ilyrian courier family;
• Suthrani forest river settlement;
• Maritheli tropical island;
• Blackwood boundary community;
• Selvarin traveler.

Wayang

Access: Uncommon.

Primary concentrations: Varkul-adjacent settlements, Long Shadow Court, Mistwell, Sirenward-related communities, Veyrskoldic thin places, and hidden Selvarin districts.

Wayangs originate from Thesalon’s shadow plane and from mortal communities altered by long residence near it. Their history is independent of Golarion’s Earthfall.

Character origins:

• Varkul exile community;
• Long Shadow Court;
• Mistwell boundary circle;
• Sirenward survivor household;
• Veyrskoldic planar watch;
• Selvarin hidden district.

Rare Ancestries

Anadi

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Protected Ilyrian forests, Aelora, Namarra, Blackwood, Suthrani textile districts, and a small Windrider community.

Anadi have established communities rather than existing only as isolated shapeshifters. Their architecture may include web-supported structures inaccessible to most outsiders.

Character origins:

• Aeloran upper-canopy household;
• Namarra scholar;
• Blackwood protected settlement;
• Suthrani textile family;
• Windrider webhouse.

Android

Access: Rare.

Androids are discovered in ancient ruins, planar wreckage, sealed chambers, and lost structures. No large android nation is presently known.

Known androids often receive protection or study through Crownward archives, Silveredge holds, Veyrskoldic wardens, Selvarin scholars, or Ilyrian stewards.

Character origins:

• awakened beneath Crownward;
• recovered from a Silveredge chamber;
• found at a Never Name site;
• sheltered in Selvarin;
• revived from an Ilyrian ruin.

Automaton

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Stonewake, Silveredge, Crownward, ancient Suthrani vaults, Ilyrian ruins, and some Ashen research sites.

Established enclave: Stillfire House, Crownward Seat.

Automatons are constructed beings containing souls or persistent personhood. Their Thesalon origins vary and are not tied to one fallen Golarion empire.

Character origins:

• Stillfire House resident;
• Stonewake guardian;
• Silveredge recovered construct;
• Suthrani temple custodian;
• escaped Ashen research subject.

Awakened Animal

Access: Rare.

Awakened animals can originate anywhere, but established support is strongest in Ilyr, Verdant regions, Blackwood, temple sanctuaries, magical academies, and Maritheli ship households.

Awakening can occur through magic, divine intervention, fey influence, stewardship practice, planar exposure, or unknown causes.

Character origins:

• Ilyrian stewardship household;
• Verdant estate;
• Blackwood community;
• temple sanctuary;
• awakened ship animal;
• urban magical accident.

Local considerations: Equipment, buildings, speech, writing, and legal recognition depend heavily on body form.

Conrasu

Access: Rare.

Conrasus appear near planar observatories, cosmic disturbances, sealed sites, Selvarin, Stonewake, Ilyrian stewardship centers, and Suthrani temple precincts.

They are understood as conscious cosmic forces constructing bodies through which to act in the mortal world.

Character origins:

• planar observatory manifestation;
• Stonewake sealed-site witness;
• Selvarin protected arrival;
• Ilyrian cosmic stewardship;
• Suthrani temple manifestation.

Dragonet

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Veyrskold, Silveredge, Drakkar-Grim, Saltglass Principalities, Whiteglass Harbor, and Ilyrian plateaus.

Dragonets are independent people, not pets, familiars, or lesser property of larger dragons. Some live in dragon-associated communities; others reject such relationships.

Character origins:

• Veyrskoldic cliff settlement;
• Silveredge hold;
• Drakkar-Grim exile;
• Saltglass court;
• Whiteglass lens house;
• Ilyrian plateau family.

Local considerations: Flight access, doorways, furniture, and equipment may require adjustment.

Fleshwarp

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Ashen territories, Varkul, Scoured Marches, Sirenward survivor communities, Namarra Recovery Houses, Highharbor, and Windrider.

Fleshwarps include people transformed through magic, alchemy, Warglass, planar exposure, environmental corruption, forced experimentation, and deliberate self-alteration.

No single physical form, origin, or community defines them.

Character origins:

• Ashen escapee;
• Scoured March survivor;
• Sirenward-altered traveler;
• Namarra patient;
• Windrider sanctuary resident;
• Highharbor war-camp descendant.

Local considerations: Medical needs and public reactions vary by individual body.

Ghoran

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Namarra, Aelora, Emerald Crown, Blackwood, Verdant Principalities, and Suthrani sacred gardens.

Ghorans preserve identity through seed-body continuity. Thesalon law disagrees over whether each body is a continuation, succession, reincarnation, or new legal expression.

Character origins:

• Namarra seed house;
• Verdant garden court;
• Blackwood community;
• Aeloran living platform;
• Suthrani sacred garden.

Goloma

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Protected Ilyrian interior settlements, Blackwood, remote Veyrskoldic valleys, hidden Vorrakian subject communities, and a sheltered Windrider diaspora.

Goloma communities often limit outside access because of historical predation and persecution. Their guardedness is political and historical, not an inherent inability to participate in wider society.

Character origins:

• protected Ilyrian settlement;
• Blackwood refuge;
• remote northern valley;
• Vorrakian escapee;
• Windrider protected enclave.

Jotunborn

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Dromgard, Veyrskoldic giant roads, Grimspine, Kharad-Sur, Silveredge, and ancient Ilyrian mountain sites.

Jotunborn possess cultural and historical relationships with giants but are not automatically members of one giant society.

Character origins:

• Dromgard mixed household;
• Veyrskoldic giant-road family;
• Grimspine exile;
• Kharad-Sur gate community;
• Silveredge hold;
• Ilyrian mountain custodian.

Kashrishi

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Remote Ilyrian settlements, Suthrani contemplative communities, Selvarin, isolated Veyrskoldic holds, and Blackwood sanctuaries.

Kashrishi communities often develop customs for privacy, emotional boundaries, and crowded spaces because of their empathic abilities.

Character origins:

• Ilyrian quiet settlement;
• Suthrani meditation house;
• Selvarin diplomatic support community;
• remote Veyrskoldic hold;
• Blackwood sanctuary.

Poppet

Access: Rare.

Poppets awaken in households, workshops, temples, ships, schools, nurseries, theaters, military camps, and magical institutions across every continent.

Their personhood may emerge from accumulated care, protection, grief, enchantment, divine influence, or unknown magic.

Character origins:

• Crownward artisan household;
• Suthrani adoption house;
• Maritheli ship;
• Veyrskoldic workshop;
• Ilyrian magical garden;
• refugee child’s protective companion.

Local considerations: Tiny equipment, housing, repair, ownership history, and proof of independent personhood may matter.

Sarangay

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Ilyrian plateaus and islands, Maritheli island principalities, Suthrani agricultural communities, Heart Plains, and smaller Red Waste settlements.

Sarangay forehead gems are integrated into Thesalon’s soul, burial, inheritance, theft, and resurrection law.

Character origins:

• Emerald Crown plateau;
• Saltglass island;
• Ivory Floodplain farm;
• Heartplain livestock community;
• Red Waste settlement.

Shisk

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Silveredge, Veyrskoldic underground settlements, Kharad-Sur, Ilyrian mountain archives, and ancient Vorrakian tunnels.

Established enclave: Quilldeep, beneath a principal Silveredge archive hold.

Shisk communities preserve knowledge through guarded archives, oral memory, bone-feather records, and hidden libraries.

Character origins:

• Quilldeep archivist;
• Veyrskoldic tunnel community;
• Kharad-Sur scholar;
• Ilyrian mountain archive;
• Vorrakian hidden settlement.

Shoony

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Heart Plains, Maritheli island villages, Suthrani rivers, Torin Freeholds, and Marcher reconstruction settlements.

Shoony communities are prominent in cooperative civic work, agriculture, diplomacy, local administration, mutual aid, and rebuilding.

Character origins:

• Heartplain village;
• Grainwake farming island;
• Suthrani river settlement;
• Torin civic household;
• Marcher reconstruction community.

Skeleton

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Varkul, Suthrani funerary communities, Crownward Return Houses, Verdant resurrection courts, Windrider sanctuary, and the Scoured Marches.

Sapient skeletons may retain memory and personhood after death, awaken independently, escape necromantic control, or be restored through unusual funerary practices.

Character origins:

• Varkul escapee;
• Suthrani funerary household;
• Crownward returnee;
• Verdant court claimant;
• Windrider sanctuary resident;
• Marcher battlefield awakening.

Local considerations: Death law, healing, public fear, body maintenance, burial claims, and Varkul attention may be significant.

Sprite

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Ilyr, Blackwood, Verdant Principalities, enchanted Maritheli islands, Suthrani temple gardens, and Veyrskoldic aurora sites.

Sprites originate through Thesalon’s fey plane and through long-standing mortal–fey communities.

Character origins:

• Ilyrian fey settlement;
• Blackwood covenant;
• Verdant garden;
• Maritheli enchanted island;
• Suthrani temple garden;
• northern aurora community.

Local considerations: Tiny bodies, flight, equipment, and public spaces require practical adaptation.

Strix

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Veyrskoldic cliffs, Dreadshore Eyries, Highfall, Maritheli storm islands, Ilyrian plateau cliffs, and the Sundered Mountains.

Strix cultures include independent cliff communities, rescue settlements, Dreadshore subject peoples, military eyries, lighthouse communities, and inland mountain families.

Character origins:

• Veyrskoldic cliff settlement;
• Dreadshore defector family;
• Highfall watch household;
• Maritheli storm island;
• Ilyrian plateau;
• Sundered Mountain community.

Surki

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Veyrskoldic underground systems, Silveredge deep works, Ashen territories, Kharad-Sur, and subterranean Ilyr.

Surki are emerging from deep magical environments in increasing numbers. Their appearance may be connected to growing underground magical pressure and sealed-site disturbances.

Character origins:

• Emberdeep emergence community;
• Silveredge deep settlement;
• escaped Ashen excavation;
• Kharad-Sur tunnel family;
• Ilyrian subterranean stewardship.

Vishkanya

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Suthrane, Namarra, Ilyrian cities, Windrider Freeport, Selvarin, and Varkulian court-service diasporas.

Vishkanya communities include healers, alchemists, diplomats, performers, scholars, priests, and ordinary families. They should not be reduced to assumptions about poison or assassination.

Character origins:

• Suthrani medical household;
• Namarra healer;
• Windrider diplomatic family;
• Selvarin performer;
• Varkul court exile;
• Ilyrian city resident.

Yaksha

Access: Rare.

Primary concentrations: Ilyrian sacred regions, Suthrani temple precincts, Verdant Principalities, Blackwood, enchanted Maritheli islands, and spiritual urban households.

Yakshas are divine or fey-adjacent spirits whose relationship to Thesalon’s pantheon varies. Some serve gods or sacred places. Others live independently.

Character origins:

• Ilyrian sacred grove;
• Suthrani temple household;
• Verdant court;
• Blackwood covenant;
• Maritheli sacred island;
• urban shrine community.

Yaoguai

Access: Rare.

Yaoguai can arise anywhere an animal, plant, object, structure, tool, vessel, or other thing develops sapience and transformed personhood through cultivation or accumulated magic.

They are most frequently recognized in Ilyr, Suthrane, Marithel, old Crownward districts, Blackwood, and ancient Veyrskoldic sites.

Character origins:

• awakened ship;
• cultivated tree or garden object;
• temple statue;
• household tool;
• battlefield weapon;
• ancient ruin fixture;
• city gate or bridge object given mobile form.

Local considerations: A yaoguai may have former owners, custodians, worshippers, debts, physical attachments, or legal disputes connected to their earlier form.

Versatile Heritages

Versatile heritages overlay an ancestry. They do not replace the character’s ancestry or culture.

Aiuvarin

Access: Common.

Aiuvarin characters possess both elven and another ancestral lineage. They can be found anywhere elves and other peoples have lived together, especially Ilyr, Verdant regions, Selvarin, Crownward, Highharbor, and Marithel.

Aiuvarin is a heritage, not a culture. A character may identify strongly with either, both, or neither side of their family ancestry.

Dromaar

Access: Common.

Dromaar characters possess orc and another ancestral lineage. They are common in eastern Caerlon, the Marches, Highharbor, Marithel, Veyrskold, and many Vorrakian border or mixed communities.

They should not be assumed to have divided allegiance or an automatic connection to Vorrak.

Aphorite

Access: Uncommon.

Aphorites carry influence from Thesalon’s plane of cosmic order. They are more visible near Selvarin treaty institutions, Crownward law houses, Suthrani courts, Veyrskoldic oath centers, and planar observatories.

They are not compelled to support rigid law or institutional authority.

Ardande

Access: Uncommon.

Ardandes carry strong plant or wood elemental influence. They appear most often in Ilyr, Blackwood, Verdant regions, Namarra, and sacred gardens.

They are distinct from leshies and ghorans, though communities may overlap.

Changeling

Access: Uncommon.

Changelings descend from hags or comparable occult beings. They may be found near Mistwell, Blackwood, Sirenward, Varkul, isolated settlements, and occult urban communities.

The Call is treated as an occult influence, not proof of future evil or allegiance.

Dhampir

Access: Uncommon.

Dhampirs are associated with undead lineage or influence. They are more visible near Varkul, Suthrani funerary centers, Crownward Return Houses, Verdant resurrection courts, and protected Maritheli communities.

They are living people and do not automatically belong to undead authorities.

Dragonblood

Access: Uncommon.

Dragonblood characters are most visible in Veyrskold, Drakkar-Grim, Silveredge, Whiteglass, Saltglass territories, and Ilyrian plateau settlements.

Dragonblood may result from lineage, blessing, magical exposure, or a family compact with dragons.

Duskwalker

Access: Uncommon.

Duskwalkers manifest near places closely connected to death. Common locations include Suthrani funerary centers, major Caerlonian battlefields, Varkul borders, Return Houses, White Cord Houses, and ancient burial sites.

They have no automatic obligation to one temple or god, though many religious institutions take interest in them.

Ganzi

Access: Uncommon.

Ganzis carry influence from Thesalon’s plane of chaos and creation. They appear near unstable thin places, freeports, magical disaster zones, fey regions, and planar research communities.

They are not compelled to oppose law or behave unpredictably.

Hungerseed

Access: Uncommon.

Hungerseeds descend from oni or comparable hunger-shaped spirits. They are most visible in Ilyr, Suthrane, Blackwood, Vorrak, and communities near spirit crossings.

Their lineage does not determine appetite, violence, or morality.

Ifrit

Access: Uncommon.

Ifrits possess fire elemental influence. They are commonest around Emberdeep, Ashen regions, volcanic Marithel, Suthrani desert communities, forge districts, and elemental sites.

Nephilim

Access: Uncommon.

Nephilim carry influence from Thesalon’s outer planes, including powers commonly understood as celestial, fiendish, or aligned with cosmic judgment and balance.

Their traits do not dictate faith, morality, or loyalty to a planar power.

Oread

Access: Uncommon.

Oreads possess earth elemental influence and are most visible in Silveredge, Kharad-Sur, Veyrskold, Ilyrian mountain regions, and major stoneworking communities.

Suli

Access: Uncommon.

Sulis carry mixed elemental influence. They are especially visible in major trade cities, planar crossings, Marithel, Suthrane, Ilyr, and communities where several elemental traditions meet.

Sylph

Access: Uncommon.

Sylphs possess air elemental influence. They are commonest around Veyrskoldic cliffs, Highfall, Maritheli storm islands, Ilyrian canopy settlements, and Suthrani high routes.

Talos

Access: Uncommon.

Taloses possess metal elemental influence. They appear around Silveredge, Emberdeep, Ashen regions, Kharad-Sur, shipyards, and major forge settlements.

Undine

Access: Uncommon.

Undines possess water elemental influence. They are commonest in Marithel, the Suthrani river and Inner Sea systems, Ilyrian coasts and wetlands, and Highharbor.

Beastkin

Access: Rare.

Beastkin possess inherited or transformative relationships with animals. They are found throughout Thesalon, especially in Ilyr, Blackwood, Verdant regions, Veyrskold, and mobile or stewardship communities.

A beastkin’s animal form does not automatically determine culture, temperament, or profession.

Reflection

Access: Rare.

Reflections are magically created duplicates or derivative people. They may originate through failed rituals, artifacts, planar disturbances, Varkul identity work, Crownward archive magic, Sirenward phenomena, or ancient ruins.

A reflection is an independent person even when another person’s appearance, memories, or magical pattern contributed to their creation.

Ancestries by Continent

Caerlon

Broad populations

• human;
• dwarf;
• elf;
• gnome;
• goblin;
• halfling;
• leshy;
• orc;
• hobgoblin;
• kobold;
• ratfolk;
• tengu;
• lizardfolk;
• catfolk.

Strong regional concentrations

• centaurs and shoonies in the Heart Plains;
• dwarves, kobolds, shisks, surkis, minotaurs, and jotunborn in Silveredge;
• elves, leshies, ghorans, sprites, and awakened animals in the Verdant Principalities;
• orcs, hobgoblins, goblins, kholos, fleshwarps, and mixed war-camp descendants in the Marches;
• fetchlings and wayangs in Crownward’s shadow-touched communities;
• tengu, ratfolk, goblins, dwarves, and aquatic visitors in Highharbor.

Rare but established

• automatons;
• androids;
• skeletons;
• dragonets;
• poppets;
• yaoguai;
• conrasus;
• vishkanyas;
• sarangays.

Vorrak

Broad populations

• human;
• orc;
• hobgoblin;
• goblin;
• kholo;
• kobold;
• minotaur;
• ratfolk;
• fleshwarp;
• fetchling;
• wayang.

Great Seat concentrations

• Kharzug-Maul: orcs, kholos, minotaurs, goblins, humans, hobgoblins, centaurs;
• Varkul Neth-Kharn: skeletons, fetchlings, wayangs, samsarans, fleshwarps, humans, ratfolk;
• Drakkar-Grim: jotunborn, strix, kobolds, minotaurs, orcs, hobgoblins, dragonets;
• Varkhûl-Ashak: dwarves, kobolds, goblins, fleshwarps, surkis, automatons, humans;
• Urgath-Korr: hobgoblins, orcs, humans, goblins, kholos, ratfolk, centaurs;
• Blackwood: elves, leshies, anadi, ghorans, golomas, awakened animals;
• Red Waste: kholos, centaurs, orcs, humans, goblins, sarangays;
• Dreadshore: strix, tengu, orcs, hobgoblins, kobolds, humans;
• Gaping Coast: lizardfolk, athamaru, azarketi, merfolk, fleshwarps, and mixed brood peoples.

Suthrane

Broad populations

• human;
• halfling;
• dwarf;
• lizardfolk;
• nagaji;
• tripkee;
• ratfolk;
• kholo;
• catfolk;
• tengu.

Strong regional concentrations

• samsarans, nagaji, vishkanyas, poppets, skeletons, and yakshas in temple regions;
• lizardfolk, tripkees, shoonies, centaurs, and sarangays in floodplains;
• tengu, merfolk, azarketi, and ratfolk around the Inner Sea;
• kholos, catfolk, tanuki, and ratfolk along the Sunroad;
• dwarves, minotaurs, kobolds, shisks, and jotunborn in Kharad-Sur.

Veyrskold

Broad populations

• human;
• dwarf;
• kobold;
• jotunborn;
• strix;
• gnome;
• orc;
• goblin.

Strong regional concentrations

• surkis, automatons, dwarves, kobolds, and gnomes in Emberdeep;
• jotunborn and minotaurs in Dromgard;
• automatons, androids, conrasus, fetchlings, and wayangs near Stonewake;
• tengu, strix, orcs, and dwarves in Hrafnvik;
• dragonets and strix in high cliff settlements.

Marithel

Broad populations

• human;
• tengu;
• goblin;
• ratfolk;
• gnome;
• kobold;
• catfolk;
• tanuki;
• dwarf;
• halfling.

Strong regional concentrations

• athamaru, azarketi, merfolk, lizardfolk, and tripkees in reef and underwater communities;
• strix and dragonets around Highfall and storm islands;
• goblins, dwarves, kobolds, and ratfolk in shipyard harbors;
• elves, anadi, fetchlings, wayangs, and mixed refugees in Windrider;
• leshies, sprites, poppets, and awakened animals around monastery and enchanted islands.

Ilyr

Broad populations

• human;
• elf;
• leshy;
• catfolk;
• vanara;
• lizardfolk;
• tripkee;
• ghoran;
• anadi;
• awakened animal.

Strong regional concentrations

• elves, vanaras, anadi, leshies, catfolk, sprites, and yakshas in Aelora;
• lizardfolk, tripkees, nagaji, shoonies, and ratfolk in Saren-Tel;
• leshies, ghorans, vishkanyas, samsarans, and awakened animals in Namarra;
• centaurs, sarangays, elves, leshies, and yakshas in the Emerald Crown;
• kitsune, wayangs, fetchlings, golomas, and kashrishis around Mistwell;
• aquatic ancestries along the coast.

Selvarin

Selvarin contains established populations from nearly every ancestry due to diplomacy, trade, exile, legal study, translation, and treaty work.

Its most distinctive communities include:

• mixed envoy households;
• ratfolk and dwarf commercial families;
• catfolk, tengu, kitsune, and tanuki travelers;
• samsaran and nagaji spiritual communities;
• fetchling and wayang districts;
• conrasu and android protected residents;
• vishkanya diplomatic families;
• diaspora councils from every continent.

Broken Chain

The Broken Chain contains:

• aquatic athamaru, azarketi, merfolk, and lizardfolk communities;
• Dreadshore strix and tengu;
• Vorrakian military and subject populations;
• Caerlonian prisoner descendants;
• fleshwarp survivors;
• hidden camps;
• smugglers;
• salvage settlements;
• mixed communities outside recognized state control.

Bodies, Infrastructure, and Accessibility

Thesalon’s settlements are not designed for one universal body, but accessibility varies greatly.

Aquatic and Amphibious People

Major Maritheli, Suthrani, Ilyrian, and Highharbor ports may provide:

• submerged entrances;
• water chambers;
• wet lodging;
• tide pools;
• water-filled meeting rooms;
• aquatic medical care;
• undersea cargo transfer;
• interpreters familiar with underwater communication.

Inland access is less consistent.

Flying and Gliding People

Cliff settlements, lighthouse towers, canopy cities, and some major ports provide:

• aerial landings;
• open balconies;
• roosting space;
• roof entrances;
• elevated cargo platforms.

Flight inside crowded cities remains restricted where it creates safety or security risks.

Tiny People

Sprites, poppets, and some awakened animals may require:

• smaller equipment;
• protected walkways;
• lift access;
• secure sleeping spaces;
• scaled tools;
• visibility accommodations in crowds.

Large and Quadrupedal People

Minotaurs, centaurs, and other Large or differently shaped characters may require:

• reinforced floors;
• broad doors;
• ramps;
• ground-level lodging;
• large transport berths;
• specialized armor and clothing;
• adequate turning space.

Constructed People

Androids, automatons, poppets, and some yaoguai may need repair, specialized materials, magical maintenance, or technicians instead of ordinary biological care.

They remain persons, not equipment.

Plant-Bodied People

Leshies, ghorans, ardandes, and plant-origin yaoguai may have particular needs regarding:

• sunlight;
• soil;
• water;
• temperature;
• body replacement;
• seed protection;
• fire safety.

Undead and Death-Adjacent People

Skeletons, dhampirs, duskwalkers, and some fleshwarps may interact differently with healing, funerary law, temples, and Varkul claims.

Specific Pathfinder rules remain authoritative for mechanical effects.

Vorrak-Associated and Monster-Associated Ancestries

Many ancestries have substantial populations in Vorrak. This does not make them inherently Vorrakian, hostile, monstrous, or loyal to a Great Seat.

The invasion forces contained many ancestries. Caerlon’s defenders did as well. The betrayal that enabled the invasion was committed by the Ashen Banner Brigade, a Caerlonian institution.

Vorrak itself contains:

• rulers;
• subject peoples;
• independent peoples;
• court clients;
• prisoners;
• mobile communities;
• resistance networks;
• hidden settlements;
• defectors;
• families crossing several court boundaries.

Orcs, hobgoblins, goblins, kholos, kobolds, minotaurs, strix, lizardfolk, fleshwarps, skeletons, fetchlings, wayangs, and other people may encounter ancestry-based suspicion in parts of Caerlon.

That suspicion should be tied to local history and actual symbols of allegiance. A court mark, uniform, military title, or known service record carries more evidentiary weight than ancestry.

Choosing an Ancestry for the Campaign

Use the following process.

1. Select the Pathfinder Ancestry

Choose the mechanics and bodily experience that interest you.

2. Check Default Access

Common ancestries require no special approval. Uncommon ancestries should use an established community or plausible migration origin. Rare ancestries require a specific explanation and GM approval.

3. Choose a Population Context

Your character may come from:

• a major regional population;
• a named urban enclave;
• a mixed city household;
• a diaspora community;
• a refugee settlement;
• an adoptive family;
• a ship or caravan household;
• a hidden or isolated community;
• an unusual magical or planar origin.

4. Choose Culture Separately

Ancestry does not determine cultural identity.

5. Choose Languages Separately

A character may know an ancestry-associated language, a regional language, a trade language, or another language learned through life.

6. Identify Practical Considerations

Consider whether body, rarity, papers, refuge, public visibility, or unusual history affects ordinary life.

7. Choose Why the Character Is in Marithel

Possible reasons include:

• birth in a Maritheli community;
• trade;
• ship service;
• pilgrimage;
• study;
• exile;
• refuge;
• investigation;
• military employment;
• prisoner recovery;
• debt;
• family reunion;
• return from another continent;
• curiosity and adventure.

Starting in Windrider Freeport

Windrider Freeport is one of the easiest places to begin with an unusual ancestry.

The city contains:

• Blue Lantern sanctuary;
• Low Lantern Refuge;
• ship households;
• foreign enclaves;
• mixed neighborhoods;
• temporary names;
• diplomatic missions;
• unusual-body lodging;
• aquatic access;
• planar and magical specialists;
• communities from every continent.

Common and uncommon ancestries can generally begin in Windrider with a straightforward household, ship, neighborhood, or migration history.

Rare ancestries still require a specific origin, but the Freeport provides plausible protection and community support.

Useful starting origins include:

• Low Lantern resident;
• mixed ship household;
• Softstep Ward family;
• Kettle Lane household;
• Green Sail Ward resident;
• Broken Spear Row family;
• Webhouse Platform resident;
• aquatic visitor attached to Pearlglass;
• foreign student or healer;
• protected witness;
• refugee using a recognized sanctuary name.

What Most People Know

Most people know that Thesalon contains far more ancestries than any one region displays.

Humans, dwarves, elves, goblins, halflings, gnomes, orcs, leshies, kobolds, ratfolk, tengu, lizardfolk, catfolk, and hobgoblins are familiar across major routes and cities.

Aquatic peoples are ordinary in much of Marithel and along important coasts. Plant, awakened, fey-adjacent, and ecological ancestries are especially visible in Ilyr. Giant-, dragon-, cliff-, underground-, and construct-associated peoples are more visible in Veyrskold. River, temple, floodplain, caravan, and resurrection-linked communities are prominent in Suthrane. Vorrak contains many peoples divided among courts, subject communities, resistance groups, and mobile societies.

Rare does not mean unknown, forbidden, evil, or unique.

It means a character requires a more specific explanation.

Ancestry establishes one part of a character’s embodied identity. Culture, household, language, faith, profession, polity, history, and choice establish the rest.

Related Pages

• Culture Is Not Ancestry
• Peoples and Cultural Identity
• Diaspora and Mixed Communities
• Refugees, Exiles, and Displaced Peoples
• Names, Identity, and Belonging
• Languages of Thesalon
• Regional Languages and Dialects
• Migration, Exile, and Reconstruction
• Planes, Demiplanes, and Planar Powers
• The Crownless Age