Leaffoots

The Leaffoots (Pumilo natruapedi) were an ancient group of native forest Dwarves, who's existence allegedly predate the human colonizations of Rathnir. Though they've been known for their technological and magical prowess, as well as their discriminatory conquering nature with their Empire, the species has been nearly eradicated. As of now, only one Leaffoot still lives (in Spectrum).

Appearance
While Leaffoots are similar to their cousins, the Dwarves, their appearance is fastly different, thanks to their evolutions. Their time in the forests of Rathnir have given them a similar physique, but with spiky fur that covers most of their bodies (that can grow in a range of different colors), and skin that covers their muzzles and the insides of their ears. Those ears (on top of their heads) would be small and triangular, and a varying number of long quills on the back of their head. They also have a varying number of spines protruding from their backs behind their shoulders, and a (typically) short tail.

Origins
From what has been found in the historical records (in ancient text and artifacts), it is known that the Leaffoots were originally a sibling tribe to the Dwarves. Both tribes seemed to stick together for a long period of time at the beginning of time for Rathnir, until the Leaffoots broke away to fend for their own (for a currently undiscovered reason). They eventually settled down in prehistoric forests, where they micro-evolved to better survive the harsh landscape (with has been theorized to be the result of their ancestor's, the Pumilo habilis, evolutions, due to their exposures to magical forces).

Renaissance
As the millennia pasted by, it seems as though the Leaffoots entered a "scientific renaissance." They were obsessed with the supernatural and magical aspects of Rathnir, and so they built their architecture around them. They built temples and shrines dedicated to studying the celestial forces in the sky, homes outfitted with artifacts from other cultures, as well as powerful magic tools and weapons.

The weapons especially are important, as once they were seemingly "perfected," they were used for one purpose: conquest.

Leaffoot Empire
Based on (what are assumed to be) a few personal Leaffoot journals that have been unearthed, it's been revealed that they used their technological and magical prowess to conquer the rest of Rathnir. And they were successful; with minimal resistance. We don't know when they picked this ideology up, but according to those same journals, it seems as though the Leaffoots had a distaste for other races of beings besides their own. Maybe for their weaker bodies, or their weak definitions of morality. Which explains the treatment of their captivates listed in other unearthed accounts. For what is estimated by scholars to be nearly hundreds of years, the Leaffoots ruled Rathnir with an iron fist, enslaving its free races physically and mentally. They accomplished this with magical implants (as discovered in more lab journals and the ruins that house them) that they received at birth, and would give them the ability to read minds and, more notably, to control them. These implants could only allow the user to control one specific species, which was useful for slave drivers of a specific group of people, but the royal Leaffoots that were born to rule the empire when they got older would be given with implants that allowed them to control virtually all species. Or, at least, that's what they had planned (according to more unearthed journals).

During this period, their technology and understandings of the universe expanded, with them even starting to discover how to manipulate time and space (as suggested in more personal Leaffoot logs that have excavated). They had even gotten to a point where they no longer required intercourse to create new Leaffoots. New Leaffoots appeared to have been grown in labs, and were the basis for new forms of implants, including the ones for the aforementioned royal family members.

Extinction
It is after the age of the Leaffoots' empire that certain aspects of certain events become "scarce." At the end of what is estimated to be 500 years, the Leaffoots were all massacred. It appears that those who managed to not have their minds enslaved by the Leaffoots formed a rebellion and fought their captors from within (which was a recently confirmed theory by scholars, thanks to more recently unearthed journals).

Needless to say, the free races of Rathnir were once again free after 500 years. And by the time the first humans first appeared in Rathnir, what remained of the Leaffoots' history has been watered down by the elements over the millennia, their great technology has been lost to time, and the memory of their terror (and even their very existence) had all but left the minds of the descending generations.

Today
Today, more mysteries about the Leaffoots keep appearing for us to question. Somehow, after over a millennia, one Leaffoot has appeared. Going by the name "Spectrum," this Leaffoot has no memory of who his race was, or how he's appeared in Rathnir. He's currently residing in the Greatwhite Isles; though he has felt lonely, believing there's probably not another Leaffoot besides him in Rathnir today. He still doesn't know much about his people, but he hopes to discover the truth eventually. He recently discovered some Leaffoot building ruins that were unearthed on the outskirts of Raskara, and found a journal addressed to him with some kind of ciphered code. He hopes to get it translated, but consider it was at a Leaffoot site, that might not be a good thing...