Humans

Hailing from a land now unknown, humans are the main sentient inhabitants of the world. Once completely dominant, after the Fog's arrival their spot has been contested by all sorts of duendes and other things. Varied in hue, size and speak, humans are both their best allies and their greatest enemies. Their ability to modify their enviroment and their incredible resistance to completely die out from whatever natural and unnatural forces would throw at them makes them a constant presence in most of the world. Although most humans today are a mix of the many original so-called races that populated the Earth, differences can still be seen between the fair skinned and haired descendants of the men of Urop, the slick-haired, bronze men descended from the men that inhabited the known landmass since millenia before the fog, the pale, narrow-eyed men of the far East and the brown-skinned, curly-haired Brasukas. Jewish merchants from Salt Point claim to have crossed the Great Sea and having traded with an empire of coal-skinned men, but most are unaware.
The average human on the known world has skin of varying hues from dark to light brown, with eyes ranging between brown, hazel and green, and hair through black to light brown. However, as previously described, men with lighter or darker features do exist.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

Before the Fog, mankind was said to produce all sorts of wonders. Constructs like chariots that moved with no horses, metal birds that flew around the world and into the stars, glass tablets used to speak to people thousands of kilometers away, metal tubes that spat lead, medicine that cured most ailments, spheres of light that burned with no smoke, and great lances of fire, created by men and weilded by the legendary giants Marag, Sen, Ras, Norker and the thieving dwarf Brit, that had the ability to rend the world into flame. All these wonders were lost as mankind collapsed in fear and madness when the Fog arrived. After millenia passed, mankind began picking agriculture and metal smelting back up, with most polities relying on bronze and iron smelting for their weapons and tools. Some human realms produced complex aqueduct systems and closed sewage systems, but those are rarities. The appearence of rare humans capable of communicating with Duendes and having them lend some of their power also meant changes in technology in places where these people ruled, like the moving mountain-kingdoms of the Des mountains.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Most human languages spoken in the known world descend from two languages, attributed by some peoples as the language spoken by the giantess Shpañ and the giant Tupau. Other languages are spoken, however, descended from the speak of the dwarf Brit or older languages, spoken by the people that inhabited the known world long before those three.

History

Today it is unknown where mankind came from exactly. Some scholars believe mankind arose from the plains of Vonayres. Some believe the gods sculpted them from the monkeys at the northern rainforests. Others yet believe they emerged from a now destroyed underground realm in the Des Mountains. The Bordeños commonly believed they arrived from Noah's Ark directly descending in the Freshwater Sea's coast, while Jewish and Papal scholars say that mankind's original homeland, the long lost Garden of Eden, is placed somewhere beyond the Great Sea... Perhaps the land of coal-skinned men the Salt Point trader found?

Common Myths and Legends

Most humans have a myth based around the Fog, with localized myths and legends based on culture, ethnicity and religion. Some of the myths and legends that have analogues in most known human cultures include the legend of the war fought between the giants Chin, Nork and Rusk against the giant Murk, the dwarf Brit and the Frog. This war was suppousedly fought with lances of fire that reached around the world, but the war was quickly ended after the deaths of Nork and the Frog. This suppousedly happened 100 years before the Fog.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Mankind's relationship with the Duendes varies wildly from community to community. From worship, to mutual agreements of protection in exchange for offerings, to a more "kill it with fire approach" that, in some cases, is pushed by a particularily megalomaniacal Duende at the head of a monotheistic cult or, in the worst case for duendes, by people practicing religions from before the Fog.

Scientific Name

Homo Sapiens Sapiens

Lifespan

65-70 years

Conservation Status

Mankind went through a severe population crisis after the Fog's arrival, with up to 95% of the population dying out in some places. However, humanity managed to hold on to dear life, persevered through the crisis and eventually managed to cast What Hid in the Fog away, much to Its suprise. Today, humans are reclaiming many lands that were once theirs, their population isn't anywhere near the one before the Fog, but they are growing nonetheless.

Average Height

1.6 meters (some humans communities are as short as 1.4, while others reach heights of even 2.1)

Related Ethnicities

• Arawarenses
• Bordeño Shoremen
• Yorug People