Whilst humans are the most commonplace of the Genera (the term used for sentient species) that form the people of Ardora, making up about 70% of the population, there are four others that may be encountered: the Rakfel, Cutani, Ornadi and Dracata.

The different Genera are believed to be descended from different families of creatures. Members of a given Genus vary in the extent to which they appear like these creatures. Some go so far as having tails, whilst some can look very similar to Humans, though whatever the case they will always have a humanoid body.

It should be noted that whilst the various Genera have physical traits in common with some animals, it is generally considered highly offensive to assume that a member of one of these will in any way behave like those animals. Calling a Rakfel a cat or expecting them to act like one, just as calling a Human a deer, is considered highly offensive. There are different opinions on different Genera across the Myriad Nations, and there are occasional nations where Genusism, a prejudice against those of different/a particular Genus, is the typical attitude.

Genera are pointedly not “races” - attempts to procreate between different Genera do not produce offspring. With stark differences between Genera to contend with people are generally less concerned with details like skin, fur or plumage colour, and so racism does not really come up as a thing.

Genera are also not equivalent to real world genera, and may correlate more with higher rank classifications in our world such as families and orders. Moonrise is not a hard-taxonomy game.

All Genera besides Human have a suggested minimum phys-rep which is encouraged if playing a member of that species as a PC. These are not required, though are generally quite minimal. There is no mechanical advantage to playing a member of a different Genus, though there may be social differences and some characters may react differently to members of one species compared to another. Similarly, whilst all senses generally perceive the same things whatever one’s species, there may be role-playing differences in how one responds to certain things. Eg. A Rakfel may be more disquieted by high pitched noises compared to a Human.

The most common Genus, believed to be descended from cervidae (deer). Note that whilst many Humans look like those of the real world, as per the other Genera there are occasional Humans in the Moonrise setting who do have more deer-like features. Notably Humans tend to grow small antlers or horns during puberty, which are usually shed by adulthood, although in some cases they persist for longer.

Recommended minimum Phys-rep: None

A Genus believed to be descended from felines. Their feline traits can range from basically being a Human but with cat ears through to full fur coverage including a tail. Whilst some of them can have firmer nails than a Human, they do not ever have sharp/long/durable enough claws to be usable as a weapon.

Recommended minimum Phys-rep: Cat ears or make-up whiskers

A Genus believed to be descended from canines. Their canine traits can range from basically being a Human with dog ears through to a full-on werewolf-like form. Like Rakfel they do not ever have claws sufficient to serve as a weapon, though some of them have sharp and prominent teeth.

Recommended minimum Phys-rep: Dog/wolf ears or make-up dog-nose

A Genus believed to be descended from birds. Some have beaks, others do not, and whilst some of them have wings none of them are able to so much as glide with them, let alone fly.

Recommended minimum Phys-rep: Traces of feathers on the brow (make-up is fine)

A proud Genus, members of whom often claim to be descended from Dragons, a species of large, winged, fire-breathing reptiles told of in numerous legends but with no confirmed sightings in recent history. Perhaps they are correct, though they are on average no larger than normal, like the Ornadi any wings are generally too small to function and none have been able to do anything akin to breathing fire. Certainly they seem to be descended from some sort of lizard, at least.

Recommended minimum Phys-rep: Traces of scales on the forehead (make-up is fine)