Mankind

**Mankind** is a term that refers to all mammalian species and races that claim to be descendant from the Ancestral Men that rose millions of years ago. They are genetically disparate from, but ultimately share a distant ancestor with, elfkind and gobkind. However, they do not share a genetic relation with beastkind, and are more related to elfkind than with gobkind, thus allowing more man-elf hybridism.

Mankind is the latest clade of evolution from the First People, ancestors to even the Ancestral Men, and has been surmised to have originated from a group of species that broke away from early elves. Although being the latest civilized group, mankind has grown to be the most influential across the various continents of Arka; this is thanks to their balance between aging and reproductive ability, with elfkind adapting the former and gobkind the latter in excesses that often lead to fractious cultures and nations. Mankind in itself, however, can also be split into various races and species with unique biological characteristics and geographic dispersion.

## The Races of Mankind

### Humans

Humans are the most populous member of Mankind. They are also the most physically variant, with many human subraces showing proficiency in different qualities such as strength, endurance, intelligence, or agility. However, humans are also have the lowest age expectancy of only around eighty years old. They have a modest disposition to magick, and are often technologically innovative due to both their brains and the pressures of nearby races.

Humans have controlled most of the known world through grand empires since the Age of Pain, supplanting ancient nations such as the elven Old Erilanthan Empire. However, they were powerful even before the Age of Pain through nations such as the Caelian Empire, a great rival of the Old Erilanthans. To no surprise, they are also the most geographically distributed, present on every continent of the world - this is thanks to their climactic adaptability.

### Dwarves

Dwarves are a major member of Mankind, famous for their hardy physiques and dedication to creation and engineering as a means to complement their natural strength. Although not as numerous as humans (and moreso reflecting elven birth rate and aging), dwarves are nevertheless powerful enough in numbers to establish mighty and long-lasting kingdoms that weathered even the most treacherous of cataclysms.

They are dispersed throughout Isciterra and Hibernalia, with their ancestral hearth located in Brumalia. Dwarven migration to these two northern continents were partly as a result of the global war waged by the Lichdom of Brumalia, which used live dwarves as engineer-slaves in their armies. However, most dwarves immigrated north following the collapse of the Lichdom and the freedom of their clans, who moved to find lands more hospitable to their peoples after Brumalia collapsed into a wasteland of warlord states.

### Hobbits

Hobbits are one of the lesser members of Mankind, being mainly found in northern Isciterra and the continent of Hibernalia. Although not as strong as dwarves nor as reproductively active as humans, hobbits are naturally attuned to nature through their biological dispositions and thus are able to live in both harsh and plentiful areas with ease. Due to these dispositions, however, they are also not technologically innovative, and naturally live in associated clans and tribes through a lack of a need to upgrade their lifestyles.

### Giants

The race of giants are perhaps the rarest form of Mankind and the most physically powerful, only being rivalled by the race of Titans (a distant elven offshoot). The reproduction and growth rate of giants are extremely slow thanks to their large size and metabolism, meaning that giants often resort to reclusiveness within the distant wildlands of civilization.

No giant civilization has ever emerged due to these biological traits, but small clans and tribes have existed in history all throughout Isciterra and Alciterra. They are most often recruited by countries to wage war as shock troops in exchange for living grounds, livestock, or other major resources.