The first race to step onto Krynn were the dragons. Five each were given life by both Paladine and Takhisis. To Paladine were born five metallic daughters, colored Gold, Silver, Brass, Bronze and Copper. To Takhisis were born five chromatic sons, colored Red, Blue, Green, Black and White. The two gods themselves bred with their creations to produce the first set of offspring to later multiply throughout Krynn.

The next three races to set foot on Krynn were the Irda created by Takhisis, humans created by Gilean, and elves created by Paladine. The beautiful Irda were near immortal and powerful enough to dominate the others but their petty greed got the better of them, corrupting them into the hideous ogres of today who live on the mountains. The humans went on to spread all over Krynn, populating her open lands. The elves on the other hand, went on to take over the forests which had been the ancient homes of the dragons.

A group of humans with the potential to create and build were taken aside by the god Reorx to reside in the belly of the mountains, perfecting their art of mining and crafting. Over time, they grew obsessed with their work and became the dwarves.

One day, Reorx was tricked by the other gods into creating the Greystone Gem which was then used to store vast amounts of magical energies. Realising his folly, he tried to keep it safe but it escaped into the world. The dwarves sent 2 parties to try and recover it. They finally cornered it but one group was more obsessed with discovering how it worked while the other was more carefree and saw it as a pretty curiousity. Before escaping once again, the Gem worked its magic on the two groups, turning the former into gnomes and the latter into kender. (Although none of them would willingly admit kinship)

As for the other races, they came about in 2 ways. The first set were a result of the other gods' attempts to duplicate the creations of the 3 main gods. The other set were warped into existence as a result of the rampant magic unleashed by the wandering Gem.