Comments about race:

HUMANS

Human characters cannot be created in elven kingdoms. Humans are forbidden in the elvish homelands of the west. Also, there are a few places in the Isles where humans are at a disadvantage... otherwise humans control most of the world.

DWARVES

Dwarves are common in the Isles and certain remote areas of Alusia. Dwarves are forbidden in elvish kingdoms. By choice, no dwarf will set foot on Ardanian soil. Tremendous losses suffered in the Great War have severely reduced the dwarven population -- the dwarves were forced to abandon many of their most profitable holdings in the Isles because they lacked numbers sufficient to hold them against orcs and other interlopers (this weighs heavy on the dwarven psyche...).

ELVES

They originally owned everything. Now they own everything the humans haven't forced them out of... Elves and faerie races are the only races occupying the western lands. Elves are common in the Isles, and have enclaves scattered throughout Alusia. The only group of elves which maintains active relations with humans are the inhabitants of Bowcourt, a Marquisate (and former elvish Kingdom) which is now part of the Confederation of Baronies. Aside from rare noble and royal courtesans, elves do not set foot in Ardania. Elves who remain on Ardanian soil will eventually wither and die -- no elf has survived longer than 100 years there.

HALFLINGS

Halflings are common only in the Isles, and rare elsewhere. The only halflings in Ardania have been imported as jesters and clowns for the Royal Court. There are two distinct groups of halflings in this campaign. The first group, Halflings, are essentially exactly as described in the PHB, and are descendents of halflings which fled the destruction of their homelands in the Isles during the Great War. The second group, Hobbits, use halfling stats in most respects, but have an appearance more in the line of the Tolkien creations. These hobbits were the ones who survived the Great War with their home shires intact... mostly because they lived near powerful Elvish, Dwarvish or Human settlements.

HALF-ORCS

Half-orcs are common in the Isles, and rare elsewhere. Amongst human communities half-orcs are shunned, except in Ardania (where they are killed outright). Tolerance is greater in the Isles. In orc communities, half-orcs are revered (as long as they are hardy enough to survive the brutal orcish childhood). Many half-orcs grow up to become orcish chieftains and shamans.

HALF-ELVES

For reasons unknown to the players, at some point in the distant past the elvish royalty of Bowcourt began offering up elvish maidens with high charisma as courtesans to the human nobility in the region. It is a particular status symbol amongst the Ardanian royalty, as well as the more jaded members of the Ardanian Court. All player characters half-elves originating in either Ardania or Alusia will be the product of such a liason. Half-elves from the Isles are likely to be the product of a more normal relationship. Half-elves that appear human tend to do well... their elvish charisma garners them attention wherever they go. A half-elf that looks too much like the mother isn't likely to survive long in Ardania.