The 14 Races of Achaea

Achaea has 14 playable races. Some are familiar: humans, dwarves, elves (called Tsol’aa here). Others step further out: winged Atavians who hover and fly, amphibious Grooks born of the swamps, fire-breathing Xoran from a world beyond this one, insectoid Horkval who shrug off blows that would split a human in half.

Your race is the first real decision you make about your character. It shapes your base statistics, gives you a handful of unique abilities, and locks in a visual identity that follows you for the rest of your play. It is not a small choice. It is also not a final one. Reincarnation is available, and the first one is free.

What follows is a guide to all 14 races: who they are, where they come from, and what they bring to the table. If you already know the race you want, jump to its page. If you do not, read on.

Why your race choice matters (and where it doesn’t)

In Achaea, race shapes flavour and gives you a small mechanical edge. It does not lock you into a class. Any race can play any class. This is by design. A Horkval Magi is as valid as a Tsol’aa Magi or a Xoran Magi, even if each one will roleplay and look very different doing it.

What race actually changes:

• Base stats. Each race has different starting values for strength, intelligence, constitution, and dexterity. The differences are real but modest.
• Racial abilities. A handful of unique abilities per race. Atavians can fly. Grooks breathe underwater. Xoran exhale fire. Horkval can leap.
• Racial specialisations. At level 10, you pick a specialisation that nudges your stats further toward a role. Four options per race.
• Damage resistances. Some races take less damage from certain types: Trolls shrug off electricity, Xoran ignore most fire.
• Roleplay. This is the bigger one. Race is part of your identity. Other characters will react to it. Some races carry centuries of cultural baggage and your character lives inside it.

What race does not change: which class you can pick, which city you can join, which Houses accept you, or your long-term ceiling as a player. The class you choose and the time you put in will matter more than your starting race by a wide margin.

The 14 races of Sapience

The 14 races group into five rough categories. Use this to scan. Click any race name to read its full page.

Achaea race stats and traits at a glance

Every Achaea race starts with the same total base stats (48 across Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Intelligence), but the distribution and racial traits differ. Class progression then layers on top of these. The table below summarises all 14, sortable by your eye.

Race	Str	Dex	Con	Int	Racial trait	Key resistance
Human	12	12	12	12	Child of Ceylon	None
Dwarf	12	11	13	12	Earthborn	Magic, fire, cold, poison
Mhun	12	13	11	12	Mine Dweller	None
Atavian	11	13	12	12	Winged	None
Tsol’aa	12	12	11	13	Forest Walker	None
Rajamala	12	13	12	11	Feral Spirit	Cold
Satyr	13	12	11	12	Merrymaker	None
Tash’la	12	11	14	11	Terran Will	None
Horkval	12	12	13	11	One of the Great Phalanx	Cutting, blunt (strongest)
Xoran	13	11	12	12	Firekin	Fire
Grook	11	12	12	13	Echo of the Sung Isles	None
Fayad	10	13	12	13	Dualblooded Heritage	None
Siren	11	12	12	13	Vixen	Poison
Troll	13	12	12	11	Descendant of Arn	Electrical

Race origins at a glance

• Human: Descended from Maya, an early divine figure, and a being of Chaos. The dominant race of Sapience.
• Dwarf: Created by Phaestus the Forgegod and given a soul by Proteus.
• Mhun: Distant cousins of humanity, shaped over generations of life in the underground city of Moghedu.
• Atavian: Once human, gifted wings long ago by Vastar the Skylord. Their floating home is Arcadia.
• Tsol’aa: Shaped by Ayar (later Sarapis), among the oldest mortal races in the Achaean cycle.
• Rajamala: Arrived from a distant world; their first major appearance in Achaean history was fighting under the god Agatheis.
• Satyr: Origin uncertain; present in the wilds of Sapience for as long as memory holds.
• Tash’la: Arrived in Sapience in 759 AF along the branches of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
• Horkval: An insectoid race whose ancestral home lies off Sapience. Their largest colony, Kr’kach, sits on Bandar Selam.
• Xoran: Lizardfolk from the distant world of Krenindala. A subspecies of the older ormyrr.
• Grook: Born from magic in Himalia’s fragment of the Sceptre of Divinity, on the continent of Bandar Selat.
• Fayad: Achaea’s youngest race, born of King Oberion and the Dryad Queen Titania in 898 AF.
• Siren: Humanoids of enchantment-touched bloodlines whose otherworldly beauty became their inheritance.
• Troll: Descended from the giant Gruul and a human woman. Their racial home is the swamps south of the Savannah.

The mortal races

The familiar humanoids of Sapience: two-legged, recognisable, and close to the human baseline. The most natural starting point for a new player who wants to focus on learning the game rather than learning their race.

Humans

The most adaptable of the races. No special tricks, just a higher critical strike chance and a slight bonus from health elixirs. The default lens through which Sapience is seen.

Dwarves

Created by Phaestus and given a soul by Proteus. Stout, stubborn, and tough. Resistant to magic, fire, cold, and poison. The hardiest of the standard races.

Mhun

Subterranean cousins of humanity from the ancestral home of Moghedu. They see clearly in low light and move faster than most. Wily, clever, and built for the deep places.

Winged and ancient

Two races that read close to human at first glance, but each carries something the others do not: wings, or a much older history.

Atavians

Winged humans, gifted long ago by Vastar the Skylord. They can fly and hover. The flight ability alone changes how an Atavian moves through the world.

Tsol’aa

The first race created by Ayar, now known as Sarapis. Lithe, ancient-blooded, and slow to trust the hastiness of humans. They swing between branches and hide in jungles and forests. Deep cultural roots, long memories.

Beast-kin

Visibly part-animal. Three races whose forms borrow from tigers, goats, and boars.

Rajamala

Tiger-folk from a distant planet, proud and fierce. They can consume the corpses of fallen foes, dodge more attacks, and resist cold damage. Among the most visually striking races.

Satyrs

Jovial, male-only, half-goat half-human. They regenerate endurance faster than most and can Headstomp an opponent. Often play closer to the lighter end of the roleplay spectrum, but not always.

Tash’la

Boar-like humanoids with crystalline growths along their bodies, arrived in Achaea from a distant world reached through the branches of Yggdrasil. Allied with Elemental Earth. They can Hunch into a defensive stance and squeeze extra duration out of rare minerals.

Carapace, scale, and skin

Three races whose forms step the furthest from the mammalian humanoid baseline. Carapace, scales, and amphibian skin instead of fur and pale flesh.

Horkval

Powerful insect-like humanoids, definitely not from Sapience, possibly not from this world at all. Highly resistant to cutting and blunt damage but unable to wear armour. They can leap. Polarising in roleplay, since many other races find them unsettling.

Xoran

Humanoid lizards from the distant world of Krenindala. They resist fire damage and can breathe fire of their own. A subspecies of ormyrr and lore-framed as the second generation of humanity.

Grook

Highly intelligent amphibian humanoids, born from the magic of a fragment of the Sceptre of Divinity in the jungles of Bandar Selat. They breathe underwater, regenerate health in aquatic environments, and use less mana when other grooks are nearby.

The mythborn

Three races whose origins read like legend: born of fae royalty, descended from a giant, or shaped by enchantment itself.

Fayad

Born of King Oberion and the Dryad Queen Titania, the first fayad were conceived in 898 AF and grew from saplings in the hidden Aerinewild forest. Mana elixirs have a small chance to heal more, and certain herbs convert wasted health to mana. The youngest race on Achaea.

Sirens

Female-only, with otherworldly beauty and a unique brand of magic known as seduction. They resist poison and can Seduce or Beguile other characters. Best known for their enchantment magic.

Trolls

Descended from the legendary giant Gruul and a human woman. Large, slender, and physically formidable, reaching seven feet tall or more. They resist electrical damage and have a chance to stun enemies with blunt attacks. Often the generals of armies.

How to choose your race

The honest answer: pick the one you find coolest.

Race matters less than people new to the game tend to think. The 14 races are designed so that class skill, knowledge of the combat system, and time invested in your character matter far more than your starting stats. There is no race that locks you out of high-level play, no race that is objectively the best, and no race-class combination that is forbidden.

A few practical notes that may help:

• You can reincarnate. The first reincarnation is free. You can change your race once at no cost, then again as many times as you want via a Dagger of Reincarnation purchased with credits. So your first pick is not your last pick.
• Think roleplay first, stats second. Cities and Houses on Achaea are multi-racial, so your race will not gate your political life. Individual characters, on the other hand, often have their own reasons to react to your race in roleplay. A Tsol’aa might recall old grievances, a Mhun might assume kinship with another underground dweller, an old soldier might mistrust a Horkval. If that kind of texture interests you, pick a more distinctive race and lean in. If not, pick something closer to the human baseline.
• Specialisation comes at level 10. Your starting stats are not your forever stats. At level 10, once you have joined a class, you pick a racial specialisation that shifts your stat distribution toward a role. Read the spoke pages for the specialisations available to each race.
• The locked races. Sirens are female-only. Satyrs are male-only. Everything else is open to any character. If gender lock is a deal-breaker for you, pick around it.

If you cannot decide, the safe defaults are Human (least friction, most familiar) or Tsol’aa (deep lore, plays well in any role). Both let you focus on learning the game rather than learning your race’s quirks.

Race is your first decision. Class is your second, and class shapes how you actually play far more than race does. Browse the 21 Achaea classes once you’ve picked your race.

Beyond the 14: Greater Dragons

The 14 races above are what you pick at character creation. There is a 15th form in Achaea, but you don’t choose it: you earn it. At level 99, the mighty Sycaerunax visits and offers you the path to become a Greater Dragon, an endgame transformation with its own skill set, six colour variants, and stats that sit well above any starting race.

Frequently Asked Questions