Human

# Humans

## On Humans

*"I've never met a human I've actually liked."*- Irevera Stormwarrior, minotaur warrior, in greeting to a new human recruit.

*"Humans are remarkably resilient, if short lived, subjects. One can study them for eons and never fully understand them. They have some cultures as savage as the orcs of the Hilllands and others nearly as refined as our own. Nearly. Some practice monogamy, others polygamy. They worship a multitude of Gods, eat a variety of foods and, in general, always make a fascinating mess of everything. They provide me with endless amusement."*- Sarsandoral, elf anthropologist, in a letter to a colleague.

*"My people have served alongside humans for millennia. I've always found them to be an honorable sort."*- Gursira shamris, dragonborn courtier inside the Dragon Empire, on more than one occasion.

*"Human tasty."*- Grug, ogre chef, in his expert opinion.

Humans are a diverse people of many cultures, beliefs and nations that have successfully spread across Apia's surface like maggots across a carcass. Their civilizations range from barely out of the stone ages to monumental achievements in clockwork and magic. Some of the greatest architects and scholars were human. Some of the worst cultists and warlords were human as well. Few peoples have the range of figures that humans do.

Despite varying skin colors, nations and opinions, a few common traits do seem to be present in every human from every corner of Apia. A desperate need to survive and to propagated the species; a human tries to climb that mountain, a human tries to remake the land in his image and a human carries on despite his better judgement. Despite the presence of great dragons, mind flayers, orcs and worse, humans continue to survive, mostly because of their own stubbornness.

## Physical Description:

Humans vary wildly in height and weight, though there are still some common patterns. Few are shorter than five feet and few are taller than six and a half, with weight averaging between 115-275 pounds. Men are notably larger and heavier than women in most cases. Humans are short lived and few aside from the most heavily augmented clockwork monk or powerful wizard rarely live to one hundred. They range in skin tones from very dark, almost coal black, all the way to a pale snow white. Their hair colors range from black to blond and comes in all manners of curl or straightness, with beards to match (for the males). Humans may also have subtle, elf, orc or even elemental heritage that alters their physical appearance further. Dress and body modification is usually a cultural practice and should be referred to in the sub-races section.

## History:

No one is sure exactly when and how humans first came to be, though bards and jesters of all other species tell bawdy jokes about it, with none laughing harder at them than humans themselves. While their are wide ranging theories that suggest everything from elf/dwarf interbreeding to a secret, unknown, God making humanity in his image and then vanishing, the most commonly accepted theory is that humans originated in another plane or on another planet. When the mind flayers arrived to assist the abolaths in the War of Heavens and Earth, they brought along many slaves with them which included humans. With humans attending to mind flayer needs, including as food, across Apia they became widely spread to every portion of the globe. Their subservient status continued beneath the beholders until Latrell the Eyebane's ultimate uprising. With the fall of the beholder empire, humans were free to set up their own empires across Apia. Delorgan remains the oldest, continually surviving human kingdom, itself existing since before the fall of the beholders but it is far from the only one. Today, human kingdoms continue to rise and fall as the definition of what a kingdom actually is ranges greatly from human to human.

## Geography:

While humans can be found in nearly every kingdom (some would call them an infestation), there are a few that are primarily their own. The Kingdom of Latrellus continues to be majority human, with a human king who claims to trace his linage back to Latrell himself. Delorgan's jarls and high kings are majority human though the odd sea gnome has been known to earn the post from time to time. The Dragon Empire remains a bastion of human interest. Druz and Za'icora, though nearly opposite in climate and ideals, both share majority human populations proving that the human drive to survive can power them through the most outrageous conditions. Finally Nuvo-Machanacus and Umgar, while not human exclusive or even human majority do include sizable numbers of humans within them. Human nations tend to shift with new ideas, technologies and policies coming very quickly for non-human sensibilities. They tend to change from generation to generation, fighting bloody civil wars to settle such disputes or, occasionally, ending their arguments with talk. Humans also have varying governmental bodies including tribes, democracies, monarchies and dictatorships.

## Personality:

Humans tend to be friendly and exuberant, looking for new adventures and new ideas. Because their lives are so short, they don't have the time to master as many crafts as an elf or dwarf so a human tends to focus on either one area successfully or multiple ones to lesser success. Still, these are just generalizations as humans are heavily influenced by the culture of their individual nation and the peer groups they surround themselves with. Some other races accuse humans of being flighty or easily swayed because of these traits and there certainly is merit to these accusations. Still, most humans do try to do good, though sometimes they don't seem to actually know what that is.

## Society:

Humans tend to live in tight family units of a mother, father and their children. There are variants, depending on religious and social consideration, some humans live with larger extended family or even alone. Even the solitary humans do seek out company, as humans tend to be social creatures by nature, often needing a good group of friends to help them along through life. Many humans aren't particularly picky about the company they keep either which often makes them good friends will all manner of species. Human societies seem chaotic by the standards of other races, with humans often changing careers and leaders, trying out different methods of economy, government and warfare. Still, this diversity has its advantages and humans are nearly as hard as roaches to exterminate, even though their nations rise and fall like the tides. Each great nation of humans does its society a little differently.

## Religion:

Humans don't have a pantheon in the same way as dwarves, elves or orcs and thus lack a solitary God to rally around in the same way Moradin or Gruumsh inspire their respective peoples. Tetus is the closest, serving as a stand-in for a racial patron and beloved by many humans but there are others who take particular attention in different lands. Bahamut is widely worshiped in the Dragon Empire while Midos and Qhalene have special significance in the Coastal Kingdoms. Vutune does tend to be popular in most human lands as does Rila. Shrines to most of the Gods are found throughout human lands with humans praying in differing amounts of piety. Humans do tend to be, like they are in all manners, widely ranging in opinions, with some being far more devoted to their particular God than others. Some humans only observe feast days and holidays while others tithe, fast and perform religious rites. It depends on the human. Tragically, humans are also prone to worshiping darker things and making darker pacts if they so choose, a reality that has led to great trouble for Apia.

## Alignment:

Humans as a general rule cover the entire spectrum of alignment and can be any alignment. An Imperial is likely lawful and an Umgar barbarian chaotic. A Latrellus man would be good and a bandit evil. Humans remain difficult to pin down even on matters of alignment and morality.

## Relations:

Individually humans tend to get along well with most species. Their grudges tend to be based on national identify rather than ethnicity. Dwarves and elves are among the oldest of the human allies and the Umgar tend to count orcs as their good friends but the average human can probably get along well enough with things as bizarre as keptaurs, thri-kreen and rogue modrons without problem as long as they share common ground.

## Language:

Humans speak common, the trade language that is most well known as the second language of all peoples. Many humans also speak a local, regional tongue, or a more obscure language like draconic or celestial.

## Adventurers:

Humans are one of the most common races to take up the adventuring life. That restless drive to change their lot in life, to seek fortune and glory pushes many to take up the adventurers life. Others are driven by a cause or some personal tragedy that pushes them out into the Apian wilds in search of that mysterious something missing from their lives. The reasons humans adventurer are as numerous as their other features. Sadly for many humans, their greed and lust for adventure dooms many to early graves and dungeons across Apia are filled with the bones of farmers and their sons who believed that fortune was theirs if only they would reach out and take it.

### Names:

Human names come in many wide varieties based on location and culture. Some try to replicate non-human names due to their "exotic" nature with mixed results.

**Example Male names:** Rhett, Brandon, Matze, Ivo, Lysander, Wescott, Alan, Kaiden, Reule, Jochen, Nouel, Alfons, Leonel

**Example Female names:** Halette, Mela, Adele, Elfriede, Litzy, Geri, Angelica, Germain, Brenda, Nancy, Rille, Blossom, Finja, Abagail, Alida

### Racial Traits:

Human racial traits are identical to those found in the Player's Handbook on page 13.

## Human Sub-Races:

Neanderthal

Delorgan

Latrellite

Umgaran

Zamonian

Imperial

Dominion Human

Druzi

Coaster

Za'icoran