Elements of Life

Az-Mozeth's servants were bound to the elements when they were created -- the mountains and hills, deserts and plains, rivers and seas, forests and jungles. This binding persists down through the hierarchy, including the least of those servants, humans. The bond between a human and their element confers certain physical traits, such as pigmentation, and also certain abilities.
Humans, no matter their bonded element, are bilaterally symmetrical, with two eyes, ears, and nostrils in their head, two lower appendages used for locomotion, and two upper limbs for manipulating objects. They have fine, sparse hair on their legs and arms, and some have a bit more hair on their torsos. Most have thicker and longer hair atop their heads, though many males lose much of this hair in adulthood.
The elemental bond is never a recessive trait. The offspring of a sahr (bound to deserts) and a koger (bound to jungles) will either be a sahr or a koger, without mixing any phenotypical traits. Such offspring will have either the multi-hued coloring of a koger, or the yellows and browns of a sahr. Further, a sahr born from the union of a sahr and a koger will never have a child who is a koger (unless the other parent is a koger).
Generally speaking, people prefer to live near the ecology to which they are bound. When humans arrived on the south continent, they tended to settle in environments similar to the one they left in the north. Of the few who didn’t, most of their choices in mates did. Thus, over time, the majority of a population is bonded to the local environment.
Scholars claim that while personalities are not dictated by their elemental bond, that personality, and especially their mood, will be influenced by the conditions and state of the closest manifestation of that ecology. The most obvious example is that degats (bound to the ocean) become agitated, passionate, angry, or excited when the local sea conditions are stormy. These influences are are mitigated by distance and size of the ecology. A small copse will have less influence on a skog (bound to forests) than a major forest, even if the major forest is more distant.
These elements are categorized in groups with two elements each: highlands, lowlands, waters, and woodlands.
The following descriptions should be taken as broad strokes, and not as strict definitions of every representative of each bond.

Highlands

Ghor - Mountain Born

Ghors are bound to the mountains, and this is reflected in their physical strength and endurance. Even those weak by ghor standards are among the strongest in other populations.
They are loyal and patient, but stubborn. "Firm as a ghor" is a saying in Azmoth that can either be praise for one's steadfastness, or an expression of frustration with someone obstinate. Ghors are the first to lend aid to a comrade, and such strong loyalty is long and hard won. Fortunately, when a ghor feels they are no longer being antagonized, they are quick to release grudges.
The deliberate minds and simple philosophies of ghors have spawned a stereotype that ghors are weak-minded and slow. However, some of the greatest aesthetic thinkers in history have been ghors.
The hair and eyes of ghors are gray, white, or black. Their skin is reddish-brown to dark gray. They are tall and muscular in stature.

Phiri - People of the Hills

Their bond with hills have made phiri the most diverse humans in terms of appearance. Phiri display a broad range of coloring in skin, hair, and eyes, and an equally wide variety in height. Anything between 1.2 and 2.4 meters is a normal height for a phiri.
In addition, phiri have the ability to make small changes to their pigments as well as the size and shape of their features. Those intimately familiar with a phiri can readily identify them, even when they have altered their features. However, such shifting can easily fool those less familiar.
There are legends of phiri who were able to add feathers, scales, or gills to their body, but no reliable witness has ever related such a change.
Phiri are known as quick thinkers with adaptive behavior in intense situations. This trait has led to many phiri becoming spies, con men, and ambassadors. The wealthy often send to foreign lands to employ phiri in similar roles.
Phiri prefer the company of those with similar personalities and beliefs, which often results in insular phiri cliques. However, some phiri simply adapt to the situation, and allow their own ideas to be superseded by dominant personalities around them, which makes them comfortable nearly anywhere.

Lowlands

Sahr - Children of the Desert

The bond sahrs have with the desert has given many the perception that they have hard lives, the deprivation giving them focus and discipline. Whether that is the cause is questionable, but it is true that sahrs have great intelligence and are pioneers in technology and scholarship.
Sahrs are natural problem solvers, and even those who are not formally educated are skilled at methodically solving logic and technical problems. They have a reputation for not having great spiritual faith, but also for willingly accepting rational evidence that contradicts their current beliefs. This does not mean that they are not religious, but the religion of sahrs tends to be more focused on practice and action, rather than doctrine and spirituality.
Sahrs have subtle variations of yellow to light brown in their eyes, skin, and hair, and rarely red as well. They are short, lithe, and tough. They enjoy high temperatures and don't suffer ill effects from long exposure to direct sunlight. They find even temperate climates frigid.

Yav - Plains Wanderers

Yavs lean toward the shorter side of human averages, with green and gold coloring in their hair, eyes, and even skin. Their bond to the plains grants them improved insight and perception, rarely extending even to minor telepathic abilities.
They also have a reputation for saying what is in their head before considering it. While this makes them honest, it also makes them blunt and come across as insensitive. It is even more difficult to be associate with a telepathic yav, who may accidentally learn something from mere thoughts and then blurt it to those around them.
The yav capacity for intuition does not typically make them scholarly, but despite their reputation, it has made them passionate about individual value and independence.
Yavs are most concentrated in The Free Cities and The Nomad Plains, but they are hardly rare in Bregtoran and Silkur. Many have blamed yav independence for the fragmented nature of these latter regions.

Waters

Degat - Sea Spawn

Degats are bound to the ocean. Azmoth has but one ocean, but it is central to Azmothian life, so degats can be found most everywhere in the world, though most rarely in The Nomad Plains. Yet degat personalities are the least consistent across the species of all the elements. The frequent sea storms excite all degats, of course, but in different ways. Some are agitated or even furious, while others become more passionate or energetic.
Wanderlust is common among degats, who experience a desire to connect to everything. This can cause problems in the families of Basker nobility and royalty when the head of a house sets out to see the world, but it also may be the why Bask is so eager to do business with every people.
Physically, degats are have gray and blue features and skin, and it is frequent for even young adult degats to have thoroughly gray hair. The typical degat is more heavy set than other humans, but their extra body fat is distributed through their bodies and they do not appear obese.
Commonly, but not always, degats have functional gills and can breathe underwater as well as in the air. Degats feel physical discomfort when they are dry for long periods, making it common for them to take multiple baths in a day. Salt water is preferred, of course, but fresh water works in a pinch.
Degats can hydrate by drinking ocean water, and some even prefer their water straight from the ocean. Their bond to the sea also grants them higher resistance to many toxins.

Lumi - Scions of Mother River

The eyes and hair of lumis, and sometimes even their skin, are green- or brown-tinted. They are built lean, wiry, and strong. Their bond to rivers and freshwater grants many lumis webbed fingers or toes. Their digits, even if not webbed, are elongated compared to other humans.
Lumis never have gills like degats, but they are capable of holding their breath for ten minutes or so without suffering from oxygen depletion. Even without webbed digits, lumis are capable of swimming upstream with ease and speed, giving them a mobility that matches many river craft.
Lumis are determined and committed to their decisions, but not stubborn about it. There is a stereotype that paints them as lazy people, for they most often chose the simplest paths or actions, but the truth is that lumis prefer to work with the forces around them and harness that power for their needs. However, when they do work against the status quo, they are relentless.

Woodlands

Koger - Bright as the Jungle

A riot of bright colors -- red, green, blue, yellow -- appear in patterns that stripe across the hair and skin of kogers. Their eyes are usually brown, from hazel to orange to umber. Despite this, many kogers are quite adept at hiding among the trees of their native jungle, blending in with the ubiquitous fruit and flowers.
Their arms are a little longer than most humans, and their overall height is generally shorter. They have quick reactions and are quite nimble, moving with a gymnast's finesse and agility through the close branches of the jungle. Many suffer from minor agoraphobia when in more open places, including cities.
Kogers are curious and impulsive. They love exploring, but aren't concerned about being thorough. Rather than make guess about what is at the bottom of that ravine, they immediately start climbing down. The experience is more important than the knowledge gained. Put more flatteringly, they love the journey more than the destination.
On the whole, kogers are a cheerful people. They love the celebrations and community and movement. They are also, however, very territorial. They love guests, but such guests are expected to understand the dispensation of the region, city, or even home.

Skog - Forest Bound

There are skogs who claim that the trees speak to them. While this is an uncommon claim, most skogs claim a deep personal and spiritual relationship to their forests, and sometimes to individual trees. As a whole, skogs are prone to superstitious thought and mystical beliefs. They believe spirits are bound to local areas or landmarks, and that they may choose to appear and speak with anyone. Strangely, this is common even with skogs who are raised with other religious dogma and are unconnected to skog communities.
Skog perception is legendary, both with personal insight and observations. It is difficult both to deceive a skog or to hide objects from them. Skogs are more aware of the situation they find themselves in than others do, even if others believe they are also tagging on extra voices or ghosts.
Most people in the world believe most skogs are insane. Yet there are hundreds of anecdotes, many of them well documented, of skogs seeming to know things they had no means of knowing. On the one hand, this may be simple perceptiveness, but few people will outright ignore anything a skog says they see.
Skogs are tall and willowy, and they sway as if blown by the wind when passive or in thought, which can be disconcerting for those unused to the behavior. They have brown eyes and light colored hair with a green tint, which contrasts with their deep brown skin.