Human
One of the most widespread species on the planet, humans have thrived in the years since the Concord. Widely believed to be one of the youngest sapient races, the rise of humans as an organized geopolitical force threw the world into upheaval, as human adventurers surged outward in the Age of Heroes, carrying their ambitions and civilizations with them.
Diverse and adaptable, humans can be found across the planet.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Humans are bipedal, tend to stand between five feet tall and slightly over six feet tall, and weigh on average 150-250 pounds.
Genetics and Reproduction
Humans reproduce sexually, gestating their children for roughly nine months and typically giving birth to a single child, though twins (or even triplets) do occasionally occur. Humans are typically monogamous, and a human couple typically produces two to three children during their childrearing years, though couples with a single or even no children are not uncommon, nor are couples with significantly more.
Human opinions on interspecies relationships are varied, and differ by region and culture, but regardless of local opinions, it is apparent humanity's adaptability does not only extend to their social and cultural features.
Humans and Elves or other Fae have been known to hybridize, resulting in half-elves, although the progeny is sometimes sterile. These children often feature characteristics of their human parents, along with the more delicate features and longer-lifespans of their elven parents. Perhaps as a result of the ancestral relationship between Orcs and Elves, Humans and Orcs are also capable of crossbreeding, resulting in half-orcs. These children feature somewhat more muted temperaments than true-orcs, while often still attaining the same stature of their orcish parents and even often developing small tusks of their own.
Beyond elves and orcs, humans have also been known to crossbreed with a number of other powerful entities. Relationships with elemental spirits or djinn under certain circumstances are rare but not unheard of, resulting in the Genasi. Similarly, human relationships with infernal and celestial beings are the origins of the Tieflings, and the Aasimar are humans chosen for divine purpose, descended from celestials, or marked as their avatars or emissaries. While especially rare, some humans have even been known to display draconic traits or ancestries, and while faint, it is possible these originate from long-ago couplings between humans and the hidden dragons who chose to walk among them, and these legacies may still manifest themselves in magical bloodlines.
Finally, although the truth of these legends may be lost to history, there are rumors which exist which trace the origins of the Goliaths to human-giant or half-giant hybrids (although their origins in these stories are generally benign), while more sinister rumors abound of dark powers, unholy unions, or curses which resulted in the first hobgoblins being created from human-goblin hybrids.
Growth Rate & Stages
As babies, humans are almost entirely helpless, producing limited intellectual capabilities and almost no physical capabilities to speak of. They experience a period of intense growth, typically acquiring the ability to walk around a year old, and learning to speak anywhere between a a year and eighteen months. These early years are followed by a period of rapid growth and development in a humans childhood, as the human's cognitive, emotional, and physical faculties further develop and they begin to form social bonds and relationships.
Humans reach adulthood in their late teens or early twenties after an adolescent period, and tend to experience a decline in their physical fitness beginning in their late thirties or early forties. While this decline is slow at first, humans tend to struggle with a loss of mobility, hearing, or sight as they reach old age in their sixties or seventies. A human's average life expectancy is between seventy and eighty years, though particularly long-lived humans have been known to reach their nineties, but the vast majority rarely live a single century.
Ecology and Habitats
Humans can be found in almost every environment on the planet, and are immensely adaptable. Although they prefer temperate climates, lacking any natural insulation or ability to cool themselves beyond sweating, humans can thrive in even the most inhospitable of conditions, and are among the most effective and prolific species at adapting their surroundings to suit their needs. Similarly, Human cultures vary similarly widely, transforming to suit environmental pressures. Humans may build complex permanent settlements with elaborate wood or stone domiciles, or may follow seasonal or natural cycles in nomadic lifestyles, or even alter the environment itself. Humans may insulate themselves with thick layers of clothing or in heat-conserving houses in particularly cold climates, build floating homes or stilted ones in marshes or floodplains, or use only cloth tents and light fabrics in the harshest deserts. Humans also readily domesticate local plants and animals to suit their needs.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Just as humans are adaptable to their environment, human's diets are also similarly varied. Some humans are known to be entirely vegetarian, subsisting on fruits, nuts, legumes, and vegetables, while others are predominantly carnivorous. Most humans fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, being omnivorous. Some humans remain hunter-gatherers, while others have developed agriculture, domesticating various plants and animals.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Worldwide
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Human naming traditions vary widely. Many human cultures have their own specific naming conventions, traditions, and common names. Moreover, humans habitually appropriate names from other cultures and races, or even invent entirely new ones, and as a result human naming conventions tend to be some of the most diverse on the planet.
Major Organizations
Since its rise to the geopolitical forefront during the Age of Heroes, humanity has been one of the dominant forces influencing events on the planet.
In Kethenicaea, the human led Kingdom of Dauphine and the now-united Attikan duchies represent some of the dominant geopolitical forces on the continent, while lesser powers like the fractious Alessian Republics and the Magocracy in Sarcosí compete and serve as their proxies. To the north, the wilder tribes of the Aurora coast engage in seasonal raiding of the realms of Æthling Isles. Across the sea, remnants of ancient human realms like El-Iskanderûn, Sintrum, and the Cyrellian Sultans are forever vying for power and supremacy with one another.
Humanity also boasts an array of prominent religious and international organizations. Religions such as the Twelve, the South Sands Pantheon, and the aurora gods all trace their origins to the elder human pantheons.
Common Dress Code
Human dress code varies widely based on local factors and culture. Some wear thick furs or many layers to account for intense cold, such as on the Aurora Coast, while others may wear only thin sheets of cloth or fabric or nearly nothing at all in particularly hot or damp climates, such as those human societies in the Aesuraq Desert or Dualahei respectively. Many cultures use dress code as a way to distinguish amongst various human social classes or organizations, and humans frequently use their clothing as a means of displaying social status and power.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Human culture is incredibly diverse and ever-evolving. As a result of humans relatively short lifespans, human culture changes and adapts far more rapidly relative to many of the other races, as in the span of a single dwarf's life (roughly two hundred years) as many as eight generations of humans may have come and gone. Syncretism between varying human cultures or even human culture and those of other races they encounter is exceedingly common, and although some humans can be xenophobic, in general their societies are tolerant and inclusive, especially in the wake of the Concordance. Despite this relative malleability and willingness to cross-pollinate with other cultures, human culture and traditions also have an uncanny ability to persist, with some particularly powerful traditions, myths, and organizations tracing their origins back far beyond the memory of any single human's memory, and humans seem to compensate for their relatively brief lives by seeking to found lasting institutions which will remain and ensure their memory long-after they depart the world.
Common Taboos
As members of the Goodfolk, humans are generally bound by the rules of the Concordance, and share many of the same broad taboos with the other members of the Concord. However, certain variations and additional taboos exist from region to region and dependent on local cultures.
History
Humans are thought to be among the youngest of the common races, and were late to arrive on the world scene. However, this has not prevented them from leaving their mark on the world.
Common Myths and Legends
Many human myths originate during the Age of Heroes, a period roughly three millennia ago during which the first human adventurers seem to have spread across the planet, and from which many surviving entities and cultures trace their origins to.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Dwarves. "They're stout folk, stalwart friends, and true to their word. Their greed for gold is their downfall, though."
Elves. "It's best not to wander into elven woods. They don't like intruders, and you'll as likely be bewitched as peppered with arrows. Still, if an elf can get past that damned racial pride and actually treat you like an equal, you can learn a lot from them."
Halflings. "It's hard to beat a meal in a halfling home, as long as you don't crack your head on the ceiling- good food and good stories in front of a nice, warm fire. If halflings had a shred of ambition, they might really amount to something."
Human
ability score increase:
Your ability scores each increase by 1.
age:
Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.
alignment:
Humans tend toward no particular alignment.
Size:
Medium
speed:
30 feet.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Humans typically learn the languages of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, and Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.
Variant Human
ability score increase:
Two different ability scores your choice increase by 1.
age:
Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.
alignment:
Humans tend toward no particular alignment.
Size:
Medium
speed:
30 ft.
Languages:
You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Humans typically learn the language of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.
race features:
Skills. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. Feat. You gain one feat of your choice.
Skills. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. Feat. You gain one feat of your choice.
Lifespan
75 years
Average Height
5 feet to slightly over 6 feet
Average Weight
125 lb. - 250 lb.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Human skin ranges in color from nearly black to very pale.
Their hair colors range from black to blond, and are typically curly, kinky, or straight. Mature and adolescent male humans can grow facial hair that is sparse or thick.
Related Ethnicities
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