Humans

Though not the oldest or longest lived of the mortal races, humans are probably the most prolific, multiplying and spreading out across Vastoria to an unmatched degree. Over the years, human settlements have been founded across almost all regions of the world, encountering a huge variety of environments and other beings in the process - as a results, human society is tremendously varied, with vastly different customs, values and relationships with the other races between different areas.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The humans of Vastoria have the same basic morphology as those on our world, with a similar diversity of appearances present across different human cultures. However, as over the years individuals have formed families with members of other races, such as elves, fey and orcs, some traits associated with these races have entered human family lines, and are known to appear occasionally in their descendants. For example, humans with elven ancestors may have greenish hair or silvery skin, while those with orcish ancestors may have a greenish tint to their skin or more prominent incisors.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Though humans have spread to many different lands across Vastoria, they originated in the southern half of the continent of Sologai, and as such are most common here.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

Though various technologies have been developed by different human cultures, the most notorious development was part of the Corvallish empire, whose magical research pioneered the art of Necromancy. While the practice is now less common in the empire, and rare outside of their territories, some imperial cities still practice this magic openly, using it to extend the lives of their rulers or ressurect the dead for manual labour as a means of settling outstanding debts.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Views on the other races vary greatly between different human cultures - however, a common feature underlying their societies is that humans tend to be acutely aware of their own mortality, recognising themselves as being the shortest lived of the sentient species. This often provokes some kind of drive among human cultures to overcome this low lifespan in some way. Some seek this literally by pursuing advances in technology and medicine to increase survival, or in more extreme cases to develop necromantic magic to try and cheat death - however, sometimes this will mean a drive to leave lasting legacies or achievements as a way of being remembered after death, and thus surviving in others memories to some degree.

Lifespan

Typically around 60-80 years