Writings on the History of Race in Malnova

Antiquity

The First Humans

While there is not a consistent consensus between historians on the exact date, most scholars agree that humans first began leaving traces of their existence roughly 10,000 years ago. Historians are still unclear of where humans originated. Mysteriously, the fossil record for them suddenly appear, almost out of nowhere. There is debate on whether geological events might have erased this piece of the record, or perhaps they developed in another area. This remains as one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in Malnovan anthropology.

The first humans slowly began to expand, populating area both south and north of their original area. It is believed they were looking for mountain passes in an attempt to find more food. This split of humans is an important piece to our history, as it explains the development of the different races later in time. At this point, only humans existed as a single race - the other races wouldn't begin to split until later.

As the first humans continued their northern expansion, some guesswork must be introduced the explain what anthropologists have discovered. According to popular theory, when the first humans reached the northeastern edge of Malnova, now the coast of the Kingdom of Cleyith, there was a culture that actually crossed the Meza Passage. This led to a fundamental shift in the racial development of Malnova, as the first men that crossed the Meza Passage would expand both south, settling Gaspe and not long after Hellas, as well as north, continuing up the spine of Falkland, which we will detail later. The first humans still on Malnova would continue westward, finding passage through the Atlas Mountains, leading them to their first major discovery.

As the first humans cleared the rolling Atlas Mountains, the found themselves in lush land - the Gaia Valley. Created by the nutrients brought with Vio River, the Gaia Valley became a cradle of civilization for Malnova as the first humans began to settle its fertile soil. For the first time in recorded history, permanent settlements began to be constructed and populated, laying the framework for cultures and societies that still exist today. While many of the first humans ended their migration here, another group of people continued westward, hoping to find a land to carve out for themselves.

Due to the geography of Malnova, the first humans that continued to migrate were forced to stay on the northern side of the island. The passages between the Plato Mountains and the Dragonback Ridge wouldn't be discovered for many more centuries, bringing these peoples to the Plains of Ruliganta, where many settled. Because of the flat land, agriculture and farmland was naturally suited. While not as many stayed on the plains, pockets of humanity lingered everywhere the migration went, leaving behind the seeds of civilization across Malnova. Migration didn't truly end until the first humans reach the western expanse of Goron Mountains, allowing the settlers to follow the coast around to the other side of the continent. This is where the last of the first humans felt they could finally call home, and began to settle the land now called Aborria.

The Southern Humans

At this point, we will introduce a new term for a different group of people, the southern humans, who did not go north to find passage, but instead south.

It is important to note, the migrations of these two distinct peoples happened simultaneously, and at the time of division and in present day, all three groups of Humans were racially identical. As time has passed, subraces of Human have developed by the names we know them today - first humans, Meza Passage people, and southern humans. But historically, these terms are used to indicate geographic designation only, not to demonstrate the subraces of Human that exist today - Professor Adlus Huxley.

As time would show, this route would be far easier for the southern humans than the first humans, and would bring them to the Fae Delta, another one of the cradles of civilization of Malnova. One of the oldest cities in Malnova, Ocharia, would be built during this time, named after a flower that blooms there. Thanks to the Tibir River that flows from the mountains, this entire region enjoys fertile soil, mild climate, and linked ecosystems. While populations began to settle the area, a number of southern humans still continued west.

While nothing of note was found as they continued westward in the southern shadows of the Dragonback Ridge, pockets of peoples were left as they crossed the vast stretches of land, similar to the first humans. The ever-continuing southern people continued their expansion until they founded the Grand Delta, ironically very similar to the Fae Delta discovered centuries before. The lifeblood of the Grand Delta, the Monto River flows from deep within the northern mountains, providing the southern people with everything they could need to construct societies. The location of this region brought them close the first humans that were settling Aborria, and records indicate that trade might have even occurred between these two civilizations. The southern people did not continue expansion west after settling in the Grand Delta, instead deciding, for reasons unknown to anthropologists, to ground their roots.

For more information on Humans, please click here.

Hellas, Falkland, and Gaspe

Once bands of the first humans crossed the Meza Passage, historians agree that this created a monumental shift in the way race would continue in Malnova. These Passage People, as they are now referred to as, split once again, some to expand to the south, and others to the north. Those who explored south would eventually become the first of the people of Hellas, a uniquely isolated culture of Malnova unlike any other. As it was not an island during the time of the first men, men freely migrated to the end of the peninsula, settling it and founding the ancient city of Ateno. Over time as the sea level rose, Hellas became an island like it is today. This isolation has led the people of Hellas to develop their own unique society and religion, based on the primary deity known as Zeus.

For more information on the Hellenics, please visit their specific cultural article.

A separate group of Passage People continued north, settling the lands of both Falkland and Gaspe. Not as rich in fertility or as accommodating in elevation or climate, the people of Falkland and Gaspe had more difficult living conditions which led to slower expansion and settlement. Not until they reached the lands now encompassing the Great State of Ushus did large societies begin to flourish. The Levita River provided much needed vitality to the people, and this is where society began to highly develop.

Despite this stability, the Passage People were restless. They began to fish off the northern shores of Falkland, venturing deeper into what is now known as the Uksita Passage. Rumors of a land past the passage began to spread, until finally man made it onto Miksita, and then not long after Enano to the farthest northern reaches. Settlements began to grow, societies began to develop, and changes began to happen.

Elves

The first men who settled in Aborria found their belief system began to change over time. Primarily living within the forests and woods of Aborria, they developed a particular kinship and intimacy with the nature that surrounded them. They slowly began to abandon the god of their ancestors, and felt approached by new deities of nature. The most primary of these gods being Ilargiaren, the goddess of life and longevity. As a testament to her new followers, she rose from the ground the Ilargia ("moon lily" in Common), a small, ethereal flower that connects the Elves to the gods.

As the first man worshipped these new deities, over the centuries they began to change, both physiologically and behaviorally. This change occurred both because the Elves used magic to intentionally change themselves to match Ilargiaren and the other gods' images, and because of magic outside of their control conducted by the gods themselves. Their ears sharpened, and their limbs elongated. Their skin became pearly and moonlit. They began to develop their own language and culture, continuing to interact with the southern people and later this first humans but embracing a sense of separation and new identity. Both due to their new culture and their geographic isolation from the other humans, these new people began to emerge as the Sylvae, the name for themselves, better known as the Elves in Common. The Sylvae and the southern people maintained good relations over the next millennia. Factions would war, others would trade, and both kept a careful degree of separation from the other.
For more information on the Sylvae, click here.

Dwarves

The develop of the Dwarven race isn't far different from that of the Sylvae. Settlers reached the major islands of Miksita and Enano late in antiquity, only 4,000 years ago. The humans slowly acclimated to the drastically higher altitudes and cold climates of the Miksita and Enano, developing a culture that was adept in survival, fishing, and mountaineering. The people also gradually changed - due to the lack of nutrients and oxygen in the high mountains, the average size of a man shrunk. They thickened to help prevent heat escape from their bodies, and after a millennia it became normal for the mountain people. Like the Sylvae, the humans of Miksita and Enano slowly began to feel abandoned by their gods of old and seeked new ones. We have ancient writings of writings of the mountain people adopting a god named Balma, and his brother Møthra, a few hundred years after their arrival, Balma being the god of the sea and Møthra being the god of the volcano. Their new religion centered around these two juxtaposed brothers, and like the Sylvae, the humans xslowly took the image of their gods, the changes they had developed sharpened as they became shorter and stouter.
Through their gods, they learned how to master the high seas and tame the molten rock of their islands. They began to also develop their own language, and named their race the Balmasønn ("children of Balma" in Common). Through their isolation, the humans weren't aware of their existence until hundreds of years after their arrival on Miksita and Enano through fishing vessels encountering one another. The Balmasønn are a generally united people, not truly believing in the idea of nation-states and allowing free travel throughout Miksita and Enano, while still interacting with their neighbors to the southern seas. Through isolation, the Balmasønn have achieved relative peace.
For more information on the Balmasønn, please click here.

Halflings

It wasn't until the modern era that Halflings gained recognition as a separate race of peoples, which is continued to be debated today. The most recent race to develop in Malnova, unlike the others they do not have an ancestral homeland. The halfling is presumed to have come from the exchange of Dwarven and Human interracial breeding or many millennia. As they generally find themselves most accepted by Dwarven culture, Halflings tend to reside in Miksita and Enano, but can be found all over Malnova.
For more information on Halflings, please visit their specific racial article.
For more information on the politics behind Halfling recognition, please visit here.

Conclusion and Thoughts

It is apparent through archaeological evidence that humans were the sole race of Malnova throughout early antiquity, although it should be emphasized that anthropologists are unclear of whether humans evolved on the continent of Malnova or arrived from a different land yet to be discovered. Regardless, the first humans began expansion and settlement from the eastern coasts of the Greka Sea, splitting into nomadic groups that simultaneously traveled north and south in seek of passage through the Atlas Mountains.
The northern group split once again, with one society crossing the Meza Passage and the other continuing west. The original culture of the first humans settled deeply into the Gaia Valley, beginning the roots of now historic civilizations. Throughout exploration and expansion, pockets of tribes and cultures settled while also continuing west until reaching the crest of the Goron Mountains, finally allowing the settlers to change direction southward and discover the Aborrian forests.
After centuries in Aborria, the people began to seek new deities that better fit their new culture and lifestyle, abandoning those of their human ancestors. They unearthed the goddess Ilargiaren, who took these people as her followers and began to craft them in her image. Over a millennia, the people of Aborria became unrecognizable of those humans who originally settled there, and renamed themselves the Sylvae, or Elves in Common. They began to spread and develop their own Sylvic culture, and became the second race of Malnova.
The Passage People settled the now-island of Hellas and also continued north through Falkland and Gaspe, pursuing better lands for agriculture and settlement. After centuries on the fertile banks of the Levita River, the Passage People discovered the island of Miksita, and not long after Enano and began settlement. Much like the Elves of Aborria, the mountain people of Miksita and Enano no longer felt connected to the god of the humans and began the worship of the Brothers, Balma and Møthra. These two gods, with time, forged the mountain people into the Balmasønn, or Dwarves in Common.

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Race seems to be a construct that is heavily influenced by the deities you worship. While I didn't dive into the religion of man, it can be implied that the gods of man also shaped them in their image, as can be seen with the other races that emerged in Malnova over time. One can wonder how far the transformations induced by religion can go with enough time, and how we will see our own races proceed.

Prof. S.A.