Human
By far the most prolific race on the Shattered Continent, in the span of just two thousand years, humans have gone from frightened primitives hiding in the forests to the dominant species on the continent. Today humans span the entire continent, their many cultures and nations have matured and developed, and they have even begun to look across the ocean to the east for new opportunities.
Demographics
Scholars and historians believe that the skin tones, eye shapes, and other such hereditary variations that are present in the human population of The Shattered Continent each developed in a different corner of the ancient pre-cataclysm continent, a theory that seems to be supported by the relatively homogenous appearance of the natives in The Eastern Wastes. One of the regions least impacted by the Serpentfolk due to its inhospitable climate, the population of this region tends towards almond shaped eyes, tanned skin tones, and thick, dark hair.
Regardless of the truth behind this belief, it seems to be hardly relevant for most of the continent today; The serpentfolk moved their slaves from one corner of the continent to the other with no concern for their region of origin, and by the time of the cataclysm a dramatic mix of skin colors and facial features could be found in nearly every human population. In the last two thousand years of human expansion and domination on The Shattered Continent the former slaves of the serpentfolk have had generations of children with little regard for their ancient origins and today humans have perhaps the biggest variety of appearance among themselves than any other race on the continent.
History
Before the Serpentfolk
Little is known of human culture from before the rise of the serpentfolk; even the records of the dwarves move into the territory of myth and legend back that far, and while the elven records may be more complete, they arent sharing.
The Reign of the Serpentfolk
The Adaptability of humans, and the speed at which they mature and breed, made them a favored slave race for the serpentfolk, and whatever civilizations the humans might have had were rapidly destroyed by the serpentfolk. The humans who managed to avoid enslavement largely ended up as primitives hiding in the forests, although some of them escaped into the plane of shadows, becoming Fetchling.
After the Cataclysm
Emergence
When the serpentfolk disappeared, the same attributes which made them a preferred slave race for the serpentfolk allowed them to pour into the vacuum created by the serpentfolk's absence faster than any other race. As they were already spread across the entire continent as slaves, they had a massive headstart on the other races, and took advantage of it.
Expansion
The settlements formed by the humans grew quickly, from villages to cities to kingdoms as they worked to dismantle the ruins of the serpentfolk empire and leave their own mark on the continent. As villages banded together under powerful rulers, secured their territory, and tamed the wilderness into something more fit for human habitation, it was inevitable that conflict would occur.
Conflict
Once the burgeoning kingdoms had secured their own territories, it was only natural that they would push outwards and encounter other kingdoms with similar ideas. The intitial era of expansion transitioned into one of conflict and conquest, with larger kingdoms absorbing their smaller neighbors, and coming into conflict with those which had no intention of being absorbed. Hundreds of years of conflict followed, with borders being redrawn constantly, kingdoms forming and being destroyed, and civil wars being a regular occurrance.
Modern times
Today, the various human nations have matured, boundries have settled, and a somewhat uneasy peace has settled across the continent. Trade has replaced open warfare as the activity of choice, with the powerful Crater Sea Trading Company growing increasing influential. Piracy, banditry, and smuggling are increasing along with trade, and accusations of sponsorship of privateers fly regularly between the major powers. The recent discovery of a new continent in the mysterious east has opened up another potential avenue for trade or conquest, and whet the appetites of the major powers.
Human Society
Human societies are far too diverse and varied to summarize in any kind of meaningful way, but there is one thread that is common in nearly all of the human societies in The Shattered Continent, and that is a aversion to slavery, and anyone who would practice it. This deeply ingrained aversion likely stems from their long enslavement by the serpentfolk, and as a result, slavery by humans is vanishingly rare in The Shattered Continent. The one notable exception to this are the kingdoms of the Eastern Wastes, who have embraced slavery as a core tenant of both their religion and their societies.
Religion
If a god is known in The Shattered Continent, it's likely that at least one of it's worshippers is a human. Just as their cultures are incredibly diverse, so too are their religious practices, and it isn't uncommon for humans who move into a new area to adopt whichever religion is common there. Absurdly adaptable natures aside, the humans of The Shattered Continent do have a few gods that they tend to worship, depending on location.
The Ascended
The newest generation of gods, carried to godhood by a rising humanity, The Ascended were once paragons of humanity whose stars rose at a time when the spiritual void created by the sudden absence of the serpentfolk combined with the exploding human population and the lingering chaotic magics from The Cataclysm to create the unique conditions needed for divine ascension.
The Achaean Pantheon
By the time The Ascended came into being, the people of Achaea had already found their own gods to worship, a diverse pantheon comprised of a number of older gods reimagined as human dieties. The Achaeans imagine and worship these gods in human form, no-matter their origins, something has caused reactions varying from anger to amusement in members of the older races whose worship of them predates the rise of humanity.
The Gods of The Desert
Ancient Deities which have been worshipped in The Eastern Wastes since before recorded history, the Alhat Alsahra' represent the fundemental forces which influence life in the eastern deserts. Each represent or are aligned with an aspect of the cycle of day and night, scorching heat and frigid cold which so deeply shape the daily existance of all who dwell in these harsh lands.
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