The Firvulag (e.g. Fitharn Pegleg) are, on the whole, small, dark and less good looking than the Tanu, although this is not always the case and there are some giants among them. Many Firvulag are large enough that they would not look out of place on a present-day street, while the greatest heroes and leaders amongst the Firvulag (ie. Pallol One-Eye, Betularn the Whitehand, Medor Battlemaster, etc.) - who also have the most powerful mental abilities - are true giants, from 8 to 12 feet tall, and massively strong. They live in mountains and caves, far separate from the Tanu, and regard both humans and Tanu with disdain. At the beginning of the series they have a shaky treaty with the 'Lowlife' human escapees of the Tanu regime.

The Firvulag are primarily creative adepts, spinning horrific illusions around themselves in battle to terrify their opponents. They are merciless opponents and when working together are capable of driving a human or weak Tanu mind completely mad with their illusions.

The Firvulag martial tradition is very conservative. They do not ride chalikos into battle, unlike the Tanu and their human cavalry. They wear obsidian armor and fight using obsidian bladed swords and obsidian tipped spears. In battle, they fight like an unorganized mob of infantry. They usually throw their spears in the first rush of battle, then close in using their swords and mindpowers. For the last 40 years, the Firvulag have lost every single one of the grand combats because their unorganized and undisciplined infantry cannot withstand the shock of a heavy cavalry attack. Exiled humans introduced the concept of heavy cavalry to the Tanu and helped them mentally tame the chalikos.

Because of the constant defeats, the Firvulag have been recently growing desperate, and have been willing to take on lowlife humans like Madame Guderian as military advisors. The Firvulag are beginning to adapt more and more of human military tactics and equipment.






The Howlers are a rogue Firvulag faction inhabiting the mountains of the Vosges, who parted with mainstream Firvulag society 800 years before the beginning of the first book in the series, over the issue of the perpetual enmity between Tanu and Firvulag. The Howlers are essentially a peace-loving people, and have long been spiritual, if not actual, allies with the Peace Faction amongst the Tanu, who are also opposed to the battle-religion practiced by the Tanu and Firvulag. After over-exposure to dangerous radiation, they mutated into hideous, deformed entities, filled with self-loathing, who attack anyone who strays into their territory.

Technically they are ruled by the King of the Firvulag, but this is in name only, and they have their own king, Sugoll. Both by Sugoll's own assertion and the attestation of the rest of the Howlers, Sugoll is first among the Howlers in all things - mental power, physical ability, and, most of all, physical deformity. Sugoll, although often robed in an illusory body, is the most hideous and frightening of all the Howlers.

By the end of the series, the Howlers have left their radioactive mountain home and moved to the deserted Firvulag city of Nionel, where they set up a genetic plan to restore their hideously mutated selves to some degree of normality. Interbreeding with humans, to revitalize their genetic stock with uncorrupted aelles, is a major component of this scheme, formulated by a slightly insane gold-torc human named Greg-Donnet Genetics Master (born Gregory Prentice Brown, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., L.H.D.), who had fled the Tanu capital of Muriah. Although the Howlers can create beautiful illusions around themselves to disguise their mutations, these illusions do not work on normal Firvulag. They are very effective for humans, though, which is fortunate for Greg-Donnet's schemes.






The exotics inhabiting the Pliocene Epoch, despite being separated from the appearance of humans on Earth by millions of years, closely resemble the Tuatha De Danann and Firbolg of Celtic Mythology.

The exotics are known as the 'Tanu' and the 'Firvulag', and together constitute a single dimorphic race. The Firvulag are the 'metapsychically operant' [see below] members of that race, and the Tanu are the 'metapsychically latent' half. However, the majority of Firvulag have only weak mental powers, whereas the Tanu use mind-amplifying devices known as 'torcs' to enhance their mental powers. The Tanu are generally much longer lived than the Firvulag. The four books of the Saga of Pilocene Exile abound with Tanu who are more than a thousand years old, who were not born on Earth, and who are called 'first comers' because of the fact. Examples of 'first comers' include King Thagdal, Celadeyr of Afaliah, and Dionket Lord-Healer. The Firvulag are not usually as long lived, although they have a few first-comers of their own (King Yeochee and Palloll One-Eye among them), but are physically hardier and more resistant to Earthly radiation than the Tanu.

Tanu and Firvulag are sworn enemies, with each race routinely attacking the other. The only exceptions to this are in the month before and the month after the ritual Grand Combat, a gladiatorial combat that pits the Tanu against Firvulag. These two months are called The Truce.

Firvulag babies are frequently born to Tanu mothers carrying recessive Firvulag genes. These babies are cared for until they can be handed safely over to the Firvulag. Firvulag never produce Tanu babies.