Humanity (hue-man-it-tee)

Summary

The second oldest species on Veltrona, the arrival of humanity proved a world-changing event for dragonkind. Having ruled the conceivable world alone since time immemorial, the dragons were befuddled by these strange, scale-less creatures that so vaguely looked dragonoid, but not. It isn't clear where humans came from, how, or even why: they simply appeared, as if out of thin air. Such a thing isn't unheard of–manifested existences are conceivably well-known.
That an entire, largely similar, species manifested across the world is what has ever maddened the dragons. Eventually, most simply disregarded caring about where or how humanity emerged. They had arrived, all the same, and Veltrona was already changing from their presence.
So ended the First Dawn, the time in which dragons ruled alone, and began the Second Dawn. Those familiar with the matter regard it as an 'age of chaos', as humanity challenged everything it came into contact with. The old rules, understandings, and nuanced intrigue that dragons refined so much didn't survive contact with humanity.
Draconic societies at large, after all, emphasized their own safety and long-term prosperity. To see other, presumably intelligent, forms of life commit such utterly insane and often suicidal actions horrified them deeply. Worse, humans reproductive ease meant their numbers, in a handful of centuries, rose to comically absurd heights. It aggravated the Relentless Herds and Packs, whom dragons had formed a comfortable, eternal stalemate against. So it was as the Relentless surged out of control, humanity suffered the most.
That suffering engendered innovation, and a ruthless willingness to push against the world that sought their eradication. Most of the Second Dawn, as far back in history as it is, remains shrouded in mystery. Few humans who achieved immortality remain of the time period, and what dragons lived then are reluctant to speak of it. It would be the end of the Second Dawn that would draw the most interesting details.
After humanity emerged, various monsterkind species began to emerge as well. Given their proximity to being humanoid, it seemed some force drove them to converge on the idea of 'humanity'. The Great Convergence theory is the most popularly understood idea regarding this matter, but even that is not totally certain. The truth of it may, like the rest of the Second Dawn, be buried in time.
A calamitous event, conspicuously absent in historical record and archeological evidence, is widely known to have marked the proper end of the Second Dawn, and the beginning of the Third Dawn–the 'age of monsters'. Thus followed the Wild Times, a period of strife, birth, and downfall of many nations on Veltrona. The out-of-control Relentless ravaged the world, thus birthing the Forsaken en-masse, who only added to the carnage. Most, if not all, ancient civilizations met their end in this time, and humanity was no different.
By the end of the Wild Times, numerous different sapient species dotted Veltrona. The Relentless and Forsaken alike were eventually cut down, paving the way for civilization as a whole to return. The humans of the Third Dawn found themselves surrounded by other peoples, strangers in an even stranger world. It beget their curiosity, and either friendship or rivalry. So it is, humanity fully fractured into many separate identities, never to unify as they had long ago.
As a whole, the history of humanity from here really does depend on which region is examined. However, one last notable event concerns the emergence of the Imperium, and its disastrous effects on the world.
Imperious, who ever sought ultimate foes to defeat, blugeoned many dragons into subservience to her. They built in her name a mighty empire, one to fuel her conquests and reach across Veltrona. These 'imperial dragons' held no love for each other, less so for other species. Conquest and mass enslaving became their norm, and humanity suffered gravely beneath their tyrannical rule. And humans, ever willing to overcome their hardships, turned its determination upon the Imperium.
Rebellious to a fault and constantly trying to tear down imperial rule, humanity plagued the Imperium throughout its lifetime. Aided by the oppressed monsters, like the baarham, urni, and helunae, many friendships were forged in resisting to the bitter end. It would be the rising of one human, Aerintor, whom brought about the end of the Imperium itself.
A legendary fighter in her own right, Aerintor's might drew Imperious' attention. They came to clash in a mighty rebellion Aerintor herself started, two frighteningly titanic powers that sundered Veltrona with every blow they traded. Eventually no one remained in their brawl, driven away or killed, but the aftershocks were felt all across the land. Then, strangely, they stopped–Aerintor and Imperious had both vanished. A curious inspection by both sides never found their bodies, but they were not people to simply 'go quietly'.
Still, with Imperious' fearsome malaise over the world gone, the Imperium itself imploded within hours. Oppressed dragons joined everyone else in rebellion, and so the imperial loyalists were mostly torn asunder. The finale of the Imperium would be forever marked by the destruction of the World Gate. It caused an explosion so powerful it annihilated half of Lophern, the southwestern corner of Aerthen, most of northern Dorvar and Etzli Cuauhtla, and plunged the world into nearly two centuries of sunless darkness from dust-choked skies.
It can easily be said that humanity is, and perhaps always will be, at the center of so many chaotic changes. Whether good or bad depends on who is involved and why, but where others may seek out their own interests, humans might interfere because they 'feel' they must. For better or worse, it has made them heroines and villains alike.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A bipedal, upright walking species with a head, torso, two arms with five-fingered hands, and two legs with five-toed feet. The human face has two eyes, a central nose, a mouth, and two ears on the sides of their head. They may be bald, or have hair of varying sizes, complexity, and textures adorning their scalp. Body hair may grow across their face in the form of a beard, or down their chest, arms, and legs depending on a variety of environmental factors. There is a distinction in the sexes for bodily hair, with females having softer, thinner, and plush hair, while males have thicker/coarser, encompassing hair.
Humans are covered in uniform skin, featuring no special environmental adaptations such as scales, feathers, chitin, or particularly tough hide. They can reasonably be considered a species without natural defenses comparable to the likes of dragonkind, nebusah, rachtoh, and so on. While humans have a strong pain tolerance and healing factor, their vulnerability to damage means they're likely to be incapacitated or killed–but may heal and become active sooner than others if they survive.
Similarly, humans do not have any particular outstanding physiological quirks save perhaps their adaptability and dexterity. When faced with repeated hardships, humans can readily adapt to, and grow to overcome, the problems they're faced with. Physically capable in their range of motions, exertion of strength and force, and overall physique means they are the mistress of nothing, but almost adept at everything. This has resulted in a variety of variant humans, if not entire races, who have adapted to their environments' harsh demands.
As a species, they have a unique interaction with interspecies breeding. Anaxials result from female humans mating with male monsterkind, producing children that are a strong, unique blend of both species. This is in contrast to female monsterkind mating with human males, which produces hybrids of the female's species. These anaxials, by their very name and nature, are wildly divergent from each other, even from the same father. Their unique traits eventually intertwined back into human bloodlines, creating instances of non-standard human growth or changes (e.g, small scales, changed pupils, etc).
This means any sort of monsterkind-esque traits exhibited in humans can be traced back to some sort of anaxial ancestor.
Human skin colors vary between pale, snowy whites to darker, obsidian blacks, with a fair degree of variance in between the two. This is primarily informed by their ancestral homes in relation to the equator of Veltrona–those in hotter, intensely sunny climates took on darker skin tones; those in colder, dimmer or darker climates took on lighter skin tones. Magical accidents (or deliberate intrigue) may result in different skin tones, like blue, red, green, etc. Some anaxials may also inherit in stranger combinations of skin colors, patterns, and other unusual features.
Their eyes have normally white sclera with round pupils, and their irises have a variety of color compositions, material consistency, and luminosity. Of everything, their iris colors vary greatly, so it is easier to say their most common colors tend to be among blues, ambers, browns, and greens. Oranges, strong yellows, and different shades of red are the usual follow up colors. From there, anything goes, though the color purple and its nearest variants is considered the rarest, if not generally impossible through normal means.
Overall, humans are mildly sexually dimorphic, with the females having a softer and plush skin, comfortable features, slender figure shapes, wider hips, and enlarged breasts. Males are broader with sharp features, and display more physical prominence from having tighter skin. Their height and weight profiles are usually equivalent, but some regions may exhibit a difference in males being slightly taller. Both tend to share the same hair textures, minus the difference in bodily hair as mentioned above.

Biological Traits

Versatility – For what humans lack in natural gifts, they make up for in sheer adaptability. They can endure, learn, and overcome a variety of challenges, often outlasting most of their competition in doing so. However, it's difficult to escape the 'constant catching up' they most do when facing those who are more naturally specialized in certain areas.
Social Connectiveness – Of all peoples upon Veltrona, humans exhibit the strongest sense of social empathy, even to those not of their species. Their willingness to help others, even complete strangers or former adversaries, has irrevocably changed Veltrona's civilizations at large. In some respects, humans can be seen as the invisible glue keeping together large, multispecies civilizations.
Determination – A strongheaded will often gives strength to humans to persevere, pushing forward with a determination others sometimes regard as utterly insane.

Civilization and Culture

Relationship Ideals

If you want to find something, check a human's bed first.
-Nebusian proverb.

Humans are, if nothing else, an extraordinarily affectionate species. The ease by which they form bonds, and eventually develop intimacies, makes them pretty adept at connecting with other people. It is something that lets them get on with those like the rachtoh very well, and even highly individualistic people like dragons. Human attentiveness and social networking can create surprising and long lasting relationships with others. In fact, their ability to bond with almost anything quite notably makes them ideal intermediators, social workers, and any job that deals with the complexities of people.
That said, humans are particularly needy with their established partners. While the specifics vary, they do not handle long periods of being ignored or maltreated very well. For those with longer life spans, it can be especially challenging as the regularity of contact a human needs can, at first, be overbearing. Successful relationships form an understanding equilibrium of this process, challenging as it may be.
While typically monogamous, human cultural norms tend to supercede this concern, making equal space for polygamy or otherwise. It is something that becomes a friction point with certain species, such as the nebusah, where larger relationship dynamics are their norm. So long as boundaries and proper understandings are established, humans can usually fit in with these complex dynamics.
Humanity being a deeply romantic species is perhaps their largest interest range by far throughout their lives. Courtship, dating, romancing partners, enjoying time together, developing mutual interests, and so much more fill their cultures. While it's easy to deride them as lustful or lecherous, to them it is a language of intimacy they've almost obsessively developed over the ages. In fact, human romanticism often becomes an informative cultural piece of art others species sometimes take notes from.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Humans are as colorful as they are vindictive.
-Nebusian proverb.

While humanity has spread across Veltrona and taken on all kinds of cultural identities, there are underlying themes to them. Their social connectivity helps to form large social networks, creating many different layers within the same culture. Their complex and nuanced intrigue with all of life's wonders, too, means they can be involved in a lot of different subjects. But, out of everything, their concern for each other and those they like is a central point upon which they pivot.
Motivated by ideals of common decency and good, if not the sanctity of life itself in some form, most human cultures are actively empathetic. This means that when wrongs are done–by them or others–it can motivate a lot of humans to action, even those otherwise uninvolved. Self-interest does play a component, in either preserving themselves from perceived threats, or protecting their own investments. Ultimately, 'why' they become involved is varied, but the end result is a lot of attention going to the matter.
The fact humans, even direct enemies, may often share information and norms means affecting one group in one area will attract the attention of many other groups. Whether or not they will do something does depend, but agitating humans is a risky maneuver for anyone to do. However, it does make them fantastic trading partners, and humans love all sorts of things, making for good business opportunities.
Socially speaking, humanity functions in a very tribal manner, recognizing those within their social group as 'theirs' and everyone else as 'others'. In intrahuman conflicts, many of their political, economical, and societal ideologies can be classified as tribalistic at its heart. A problem arises in that when these (literal or ideological) tribes come into conflict, humans will grind each other apart over the matter. In the worst cases, open discrimination, systematic oppression, or outright warfare.
This same tribalism, however, is what allows for their massive social complexity. Larger and larger tribal identities are established, forming a common point that many other humans attach themselves to. Being deeply socially dependent, humans have a need for connection and social engagement. This is to the extent of their physical health actually deteriorating, such as reduced cognitive function, malnourishment, self-destructive tendencies, and outright insanity. This dependency is where dragons and other species think human social bonding and adaptability became so powerful.
Because of that, for many (if not all) human cultures, betrayal is the worst evil imaginable to them. To deceive and harm one's social group(s) through such an act is so incomprehensibly vile that their worst punishments are reserved for it. The mental dancing required to justify such acts in the realm of politics or otherwise can be quite impressive, to say the least. Humans are ever willing to avenge being wronged, and so they work greatly to justify themselves in what they do.

Inspiration

You get one guess

Lifespan

100 years~

Average Height

5-6ft / 152-182cm

Average Weight

105-200lb / 47-90kg