Human

The stars of the night sky.

"The most boring, idiotic, pitiful thing to ever exist. Just when you think you've made friends with one they'll do something stupid and ruin everything! Usually it's because they can't take a joke."

— Ekketay Treefall, Wirven Goblin Reckoner.

Humans are one of Oszmorthorn's oldest, adaptable, and diverse races. Their ancestors travelled far and wide, settling in wildly different climates and environments. Little else is known about their true ancestry, such as how and why each ethnicity under the spectrum of humankind carries different genetic traits; most Humans attribute their origins to their own cultural beliefs, the most popular mode being religion. Humans can have dark or light skin, and hair of different shades that grow primarily on their head. Although males are usually the only ones to be able to grow hair on different parts of their face, there is a very small chance that some females will be born with 'Dwarf Face Syndrome' and be unable to stop growing beards and moustaches.
Humans were one of the first races to be visited by Wyld Goblins⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ when the Wyldinglands opened. Humans developed close relations with the Wyld Goblins, trading goods and services in exchange for training in the art of magic and spellweaving. Some time later, as the Wyld Goblins retreated back to the Wyldinglands, many Humans began to disappear as well. Though many Human countries and nations could not find any answers or reasons why, it was the nation of Krezmany that held council with the Cilithorian Elves and Erd-Honn Dwarves and found that their people had also disappeared. The Elves rallied the Dwarves and Humans to seek revenge for what many have since decided were kidnappings. Since then, there are few Humans who do not regard Goblinkind as enemies, or do not harbour suspicion and caution when in the presence of them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

As human body shapes can vary between short and stocky, tall and slender, and in between, they are seen as a modest representation of the average bipedal sentient. They have two arms and two legs, with various joints that allow them to stretch and contort in ways other races would consider uncomfortable (with the exception of Elves). However, many humans are also susceptible to birth mutations, and are sometimes born with unique oddities.

Biological Traits

Common Human traits vary between ethnicities and countries. Humankind commonly see changes in their own kind, ranging from their heights and weights being wildly over or under the recorded global averages.
Humans also grow hair on different parts of their bodies, but some not as much as others. Male Humans (and rarely females) grow hair on their faces, which they cut and trim. The style in which they trim this hair to (if they do not cut it all off) varies between countries and cultures. Irnnen are seen as the 'hairiest', growing large clumps of hair on their scalps and on their faces which they then style. Tietans and Pyyckeric are the least hairy, with the former styling their facial hair into 'Huzi', and the latter outright outlawing facial hair on common people.

Genetics and Reproduction

A Human's pregnancy often lasts ten to twelve months. When a Human is born, it is considered an 'infant' (translation: a very young child in early stages of development) between one to three years old, a child between four to eleven years, an adolescent between twelve to sixteen, and a young adult between seventeen to twenty-one.

Ecology and Habitats

Early Human ancestors have imparted knowledge - both through practice and memetic developments - to their descendants on how to live in even the harshest climates. However, the Human body cannot tolerate prolonged exposures to 'extreme' cold or hot temperatures, such as boiling lava or magma, or ice-cold waters or snow.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Humans require a varied diet of meat, vegetables, and water to sustain themselves. The nutrients they require are found in . They have also been observed creating artificial foods such as 'cheese'. Common foods made by Humans are products of milling wheat - a process that turns cut wheat into flour - and include 'bread', 'noodles', or 'cereal'.
Humans also use a science-based practice called 'chemistry' to create other consumable goods. Salt, often used in the preservation of meats or consumed by higher castes of Humans as part of shared meals, is a well-kept secret and a delicacy among other races.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Human societies follow different socio-political structures entirely dependant on what country or culture they are a part of. Almost all Human political structures appoint single leaders, or 'nobility', to govern entire populations. To assist with this endeavour, the nobility appoint lesser nobility and liaisons to run important affairs within the country (for example: Ealdfold nobility appoint 'lords' or 'ladies' to govern large territories or 'folds'). Beneath the lesser nobility are the nobility's champions, who protect the common, low-class masses of workers.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Humans are well-known explorers and will travel between entire continents for all sorts of reasons. They generally congregate around larger cities, even settling in small camps and settlements and later forming towns around them. Statistically, the largest populations of Humans recorded are in Nishati and Tieti.

Average Intelligence

A Human's intelligence varies between social and economic classes, but they are generally regarded as insightful and creative thinkers. Some races, such as Elves, believe their genius is 'crippled' by their reliance on emotion, seeing significant meaning where 'there is none'.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Humans are one of the few species of Oszmorthorn that can use magic. Though all can learn it, some are born with a stronger inherent ability to harness it.
Humans are not hugely reliant on magic to compensate for special weaknesses. When one of a Human's senses has been disabled, temporarily or otherwise, they have been observed to hone their other senses to compensate (for example, a Human that cannot rely on sight will almost always find ways to improve their hearing). There are also some schools of tradition and theory that teach how to temporarily and voluntarily remove one's reliance on a sense to improve others.
Some Humans can also 'trick' their bodies into triggering certain functions without relying on external sources of stress. The name of this effect varies from culture to culture, but common uses include self-healing and the ability to sense danger.

Civilization and Culture

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Humans often speak a language closely tied to their ethnicity or culture, but many speak either Ealden or Krezmanic as a second language.

History

Although the history of humankind is very diverse, what confuses their heritage is how their history is subject to change depending on the source. Historically, many sources of information deviate from a what other races once considered factual; just as any and all information pertaining to them has been compiled, new and conflicting information could potentially surface at any given moment. Typically, this is because notorious Human leaders (political, religious, scientific, military, etc.) will often attempt to change facts in regards to how their people came to be to better suit their philosophy. Human history, therefore, is unreliable and should be taken lightly. What follows are records of the most reliably agreed upon information pertaining to the major geographical locations of Human populations.

Early History

The roots of Humankind evolution is largely contested by various demographics across the known world. Scientific and theological research and evidence often conflict in more ways than one. Again, this is often the result of conflicting opinions bearing significant cultural ideals, rather than factual information - a disagreement many other races find confusing.

Theory One: The Homunculi Theory

The Homunculi theory, developed by Irnnen scholars, suggest that early Humans evolved from primal plantlife, most notably the wild Homunculi plants. As Homunculi are an ancient species of plant that can thrive in densely populated wildlands, it is believed that their feeding on other species created the first genetic material for the first plant-based humans. Further changes, such as turning plant material into muscle and bone, occurred over the course of decades, as these plant-based humans continued to absorb genetic traits from their prey. Eventually, the amount of plant material in the composition of Humans steadily decreased until it was fully replaced by flesh, muscle, and bone.
The primary argument against this theory is that Homunculi plants grow in lands with dense populations of flora, most notably in areas with plenty of herbage and trees; there are many continents where Homunculi plants could not grow, such as in the far northern and southern cold climates of Oszmorthorn. Furthermore, water travel was not possible, and any attempts to 'simply swim over' these vast bodies of water have been met with skepticism (although not impossible, as the product of Homunculi plants do not require air to breathe in the same way other species do).

Theory Two: The Vitalian Belief

Humans who have joined the Lux Vitalian church are taught that Humans are descendants of the immortal Thrones of the Lux Vitalia, that all of Humankind were once thralls of The Ancient One, sent to prepare Earth for an unknown purpose. The priests of the churches claim that they will be contacted by the Thrones of the Lux Vitalia to initiate their grand scale mission, and that they should prepare as many Humans as they possibly can.
Theological scholars and radicalists suggest that although worship and contact with the thrones of the Vitalian pantheon is possible, the evolution theory is not probable as if the Thrones had indeed birthed Humankind, then they could have made all mortal Humans loyal to them. Since Vitalian teachings are not nearly as widespread, this does not account for the other Humans who do not worship the Lux Vitalia.

Theory Three: The Descendant Theory

The Descendant theory is one of the far lesser popular ones, and relates Humankind's existence to a distant evolutionary relative; that Humans descended from another animal entirely. The theory has yet to gain traction, and many Humans are dismissing the theory as little more than fiction based on the fact that Elves evolved from reptiles.

Post Evolution

Regardless of these disputes, Humans have since migrated across Oszmorthorn at an alarming rate; the number of Humankind ethnicities far outnumbers many, if not all, other sentient species in the world. This is perhaps due to Humanity’s need to prioritise ‘exceptionalism’, a coin termed by fifth century Nishatan philosopher and priest Kbati Nengato:
"We see many Humans travel from the safety of home to worlds beyond understanding. So what is the meaning of this? I believe this is because we as Humans feel the need to define who we are with action. When we face disagreement, we distance ourselves. When we are proud of who we are, we expand. [Liken it to] the Nishatan tribes outside the city. They are different. They fight. They help each other. But they do not come together. They have no reason to. So they do not go inward. They go outward."
Despite disagreements put up by other Human philosophers, many other races accept this as fact, and refer to Kbati as a prophet of Humanity. He remains the defining figure in interspecies research and development, despite other Human philosophers attempting to disprove his theories while posing similar ones.

Central Settlers

The Humans who settled in the central parts of Oszmorthorn are culturally the most different from one another. The primary ethnic groups are the Nishati, Tietans, as well as some Krezmanic and Ealden colonies.
Central Oszmorthorn is, despite contrary beliefs, where many races believe Humankind first evolved. Many outspoken Humans, specifically supporters of the evolution theories, disagree with this belief, but it is none-the-less the most popular; Irnnen scholars argue that Homunculi plants could not survive the hot weather of Central Oszmorthorn, while Lux Vitalian theologists refer to the distinct lack of Vitalian churches and followers within that part of the world. However, this implies that other aforementioned theories are better suited.
That the Nishati spawned the progeny that would later become the other Humankind ethnicities explains how balanced Humankind’s presence is across the world, according to censuses taken between the second and tenth centuries. Researchers have yet to determine why many Humans evolved differently and spawned numerous ethnicities.

North/North-Western Migrations

The northern migrations of Humankind, seen primarily in Dwarven research, correlate specific facts and evidence that suggest that the first expeditions outward from Central Oszmorthorn went north. Those that did, the Krezmanic, Pyyckeric, and Ealden people, each travelled to seperate locations.
The Krezmanic people travelled north-west and established the Kingdom of Krezmany, continuing to expand along the north west reaches of the continent of Krezmany. The Pyyckeric people travelled further north, close to Sin-Hallodri, and founded the Pyyckeric capital of Nostikta. Finally, the Ealden people settled on the archipelago of Ealdfold, later migrating further west to create Irnnfold. Despite the heritage ties Ealdfold and Irnnfold share, they continue to war with each other and have been doing so for centuries.
It is worth noting that the northerly Humans are considered having a 'medium sized' population to other Human countries and nations, ranking first in their own censuses, but far less than that (based on rumour, heresay, and patriotism alone) in other countries.

South/South-Eastern Migrations

The humans that went south, the Casilians, Changaturans, and some Ealden and Krezmanic settlers, each settled on different continents.
The Casilians, like other Human ethnicities, named themselves after discovering and claiming the large continent of Casilia. They are considered the pinnacle of beauty to the Cilithorian Elves for their seaside and mountain cities, and it is not uncommon to feel Elven influence across Casilia.
The Ealden and Krezmanic colonies that spread south created the colonies reluctantly united under the Libertia banner, for fear that the continent they both settled on was not only a large hotspot for Weirdings, but also, as a result of that, Aberration Metamorphosis was also highly likely and witnessed frequently enough to consider a close alliance.
The Changaturans, forming nomadic parties, formed mountain-side monasteries and towns, in an attempt to deter and hide from Tietan surveillance. Although many Changaturans are wary of outsiders, they are the second group of Humans to openly welcome races others would consider dangerous or exotic such as Guirens (see Changeling Curse for further information).

Scientific Name

(Elven: Ho'es'roenen)

Lifespan

Average expectancy is between 40 and 100 years. Some Humans can live far beyond that, with the oldest recorded Human being nearly 200.

Average Height

1.5m - 2m.

Average Weight

55kgs - 125kgs.

Average Physique

The physique of Humans can be wildly different, again mostly due to their socio-political environments. The average weight, as seen between the workers and the soldiers, is muscular for males and some females. It is commonly known that some Humans can be lithe and Elven-like, or fat and round like a Dwarf.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

A Human's skin colour is often between creamy pink or darker brown. Although this is dependant on the heritage of the human's parents and ancestry, should two Humans with different skin colours conceive a baby, the baby will often have a hue that is between the parent's.
Interestingly, some Humans, such as the Changaturans and Irnnen, can be born with facial markings that often resemble basic symbols of a sort. The former king of Irnnfold, Arthurias, had symmetrical dragonwings on his face that stretched from his brow down his cheeks. Those born with grafted markings in Changaturi are believed to become blessed warrior-priests and are sent to isolated temples to study philosophy and martial arts.