Proto-Arumelian Culture

Very little / practically no history exists of the humans living in the Merfates River valley prior to the Arumelian First Era. Many Arumelians consider this to be before the beginning of time itself. This idea was encouraged by several Arumelian regimes throughout its history.
In a time when elves, dragons, and goblins lived in the surrounding forests and hills, humans inhabited the river valley. This is noted in the earliest extant (but very rare) Elven histories in the area.
The spoken language would be incomprehensible to modern Arumelians, though a detailed academic study would find the roots of the modern language in their words. In fact, there were significant differences in dialect from village to village. No evidence exists of a written language.
Few physical remains are left of this culture, bits of broken pottery and primitive stone tools and weapons almost indistinguishable from those of the goblins who have inhabited the region for millennia.