Human

From Mizahar Lore

Revision as of 18:17, 18 May 2014

"Humans have had divine stewards, protectors, caretakers, yet no god has stepped forward to be our father. Among all of creation, we alone stand unclaimed. Simple logic therefore mandates that we claim all." - Rutiger Odalah, Suvan Emperor ca. 400 BV

Human

Height	5'-7'
Weight	Varies wildly
Lifespan	40-100 years depending on environment and subrace
Abilities	Can survive in most environments
Population	150,000
Most common in	All regions, mainly Sylira and Cyphrus
Reputation	Ambitious, bold, resourceful
Racial gods	They worship all the gods
Racial bonus	+15 in any one skill of choice
Subraces	Benshira, Drykas, Inarta, Svefra, Vantha

Humans are the most prolific race on the continent of Mizahar, accounting for about 60% of the total population of 250,000. They are also considered the oldest race, since many of the current races have only existed since the Valterrian and others were modeled after them. Humans are believed not to be native to Mizahar, and to have come from another place, though they have changed much over the millennia as they received various gifts from the gods. In the post-Valterrian age, Humans are trying to form a new world order, or trying to keep that from happening.

History

Curiously, the past of the most widespread race is one of the more mysterious because it stretches into times when writing did not exist yet. Myths from all over Mizahar, shared by independent cultures, do indicate that Humans are not native to Mizahar, though their homeland differs depending on which version one is listening to - some place it elsewhere on the planet, others say they came from the stars, or another world entirely. If the legends are to be believed, they reached Mizahar at the whim of a powerful deity, possibly because their homeland had been utterly destroyed. Most versions of the myth hint that men were the cause of their own destruction, and the few survivors were seeking to start over elsewhere.

These early Humans are generally called Protohumans. They resembled today's man but were taller and more heavily built, mostly because their early days on Mizahar were one battle after another, and the weak were not allowed to live. While Humans had been granted their wish for a new land, it did not come to them in wrapping paper. The continent was a wild thing, dominated by monsters the likes of which are rarely witnessed today except in the most abyssal corners of the land. Each day was a day stolen from death. Hatchets and crude arrows fought against poisonous claws, strange magical powers and giant beasts.

Still, the Humans persisted. It is said that the gods were impressed with their determination in the face of desperate odds, and it was then that they started walking among mortals, dispensing gifts in exchange for worship. Lore, knowledge, magic, craft were imparted to the people, until they were capable of fending off their enemies. The major turning point was Qalaya, goddess of memory, gifting mankind with writing. It was then that the true history of Humans began.

Within a few millennia, they had conquered a majority of Mizahar, and the threat from vicious monsters had vastly decreased. With no overwhelming common enemy to band against, however, the unity of men slowly weakened as particular interests and personal ambitions emerged. The very help that the gods had provided, requiring worship in return, had fragmented them into factions, cults and brotherhoods. Before long, this stateless society collapsed and turned into a multitude of independent territories, tribes, fiefdoms and city-states. The war against the monsters was over, only to be replaced by a new war against each other.

Slowly, century after century, the lesser states were crushed or annexed by the greater. Two mighty nations emerged several millennia before the Valterrian - Suvan in the west and Alahea in the east. Suvan conquered with military might, violence and effective if brutal leadership. Alahea imposed itself with cultural dominance and propaganda, using espionage and magic to get other nations to surrender without fighting. As soon as the two Empires got rid of the competition, they turned to each other and started an endless war for final supremacy over the continent. This war would rage, with varying intensity, over thousands of years. It would finally escalate into the cataclysmic Valterrian which almost destroyed Mizahar. The colonization-destruction cycle that had claimed mankind's previous homeland - and maybe others before it - came very close to a repeat, and the world has not been safe ever since.

Biology

Physical Appearance

A ruin is a lesson learned.

Human adaptability to even the harshest environments is unmatched. They are found everywhere, from the glaciers of Taldera to the deserts of Eyktol. Because of their range of habitats and the isolated nature of many such regions, they are also much more likely to form 'subraces' than any other species on Mizahar. The main human subraces are:

• the Benshira, desert people of Eyktol;

• the Drykas, horseclans of Cyphrus;

• the Inarta, eagle riders of Wind Reach;

• the Svefra, ocean-dwellers of the Suvan Sea;

• the Vantha, winter folk of Avanthal.

Several of these used to be small, isolated minorities in pre-Valterrian times and just turned out to be highly competitive in the new world. Others were born with the Valterrian itself.

Belonging to a human subrace means much more than just a peculiar eye color or ritual tattoos. It is an ensemble of physical features, upbringing, secret lore, tradition as well as an intricate alliance network. Subrace members have a tremendous advantage over regular humans in their native environment. Indeed, in many cases the subrace decides who lives and who dies on their turf. Even outside their regions, these humans often share a deep sense of comraderie towards one another. If post-Valterrian Mizahar had nations, these groups might be the best candidates.

By contrast, regular humans have very little shared heritage. They come from the cultural hodgepodge of the late Suvan and Alahean nations and have not had enough time and opportunity to form their own closed circles, though several cities and communities are well on their way. These humans band together behind walls and gates, but bear little resemblance to one another.

Common Traits

Height varies wildly, as do hair color and physical build. Due to malnutrition, most males are less than 6' tall and females rarely exceed 5'5" except in the wealthiest regions. Fat individuals are rare. Life expectancy is likewise brutally short due to the dangerous environment they live in. Despite Rak'keli's Healing gifts, child mortality is especially high, and childbirth is quite dangerous for the mother.

There is significant variance among humans. While children usually resemble the parents, they often differ more from their sires than the offspring of most races with normal reproductive traits (that is, excluding the Konti, Akalak and Kelvic races.) Also, humans are the only race who can breed with certain non-humans to generate Mixed Blood individuals who rarely enjoy easy lives. While other races can breed outside their race, the offspring always firmly belongs to a single race, even in the case of the rare Akontak.

Psychology

The average human who's not part of a subrace culture tends to live a quiet and nondescript life in one of Mizahar's remaining cities. These humans are nevertheless crafty and competitive; what they do not learn in terms of racial lore and ties, they make up for with individual skill. Regular humans exhibit great willingness to learn, and are often exposed to more and more varied skillsets than racially isolated groups. As such, they receive broader training and are able to forge more opportunities for themselves, everything else being equal.

Regular humans make great merchants, explorers, diplomats and travelers. With not as much traditional duties and obligations keeping them in one place, they are free to roam. These humans are generally more open-minded than most, especially if they didn't grow up in the same place. Unsurprisingly, traveling humans are also more likely to know and accept magic than mostly anyone. City dwellers have had enough time to sit down and develop more prejudice, but city allegiances can at least be severed. You can leave Syliras and quit being a Syliran, but when you are a Drykas, you are a Drykas for life.

Out of character note: Regular humans get 15 points towards any skill of their choosing, whereas most human subraces only get 10 towards specific skills. This evens out a subrace's advantage in terms of status and character connections.

Society

No matter how far you go, look down and you'll see our footprints.

The age of nations is long over. For millennia, Suvan and Alahea embodied the dual spirit of mankind, and people viewed themselves as citizens first, humans second. It is surprising how little time it took for all that to crumble. A mere three generations after the Valterrian, the very thought of a Mizahar-wide state sounded like a jest, something inconceivable as well as undesirable. The modern Mizaharian would be appalled at the thought of an external ruler, living in a palace three thousand miles away and imposing taxes, appointing officials, changing laws on a whim, drafting young men into legions, taking them to die in distant wars. Modern humans will bow to one of their own, someone they know, someone who will fight by their side should their home be attacked by monsters.

Modern societies vary tremendously. Some are very orderly, such as the city of Syliras. By contrast, Sunberth is based on anarchy. What they all have in common is that they rarely extend beyond the walls of one particular settlement. Only the most influential communities control more than immediate area around their physical borders, and even then such lands are far from secure. If there is one underlying maxim behind all societies in this age, it is to 'never sleep alone, even if you don't overly like your bedfellows.' Societies are preoccupied with their immediate survival, and will commonly employ draconian measures to ensure that.

Social Structure

Modern human society is extremely practical. There is a noted lack of nobility in their cultures; in fact, nobility was already waning in the late pre-Valterrian period, when feudal ties had been non-existent for millennia. The Empires were run by an immense bureaucratic apparatus of officials and officers in which birth was but one factor - an ironic fact given that both nations were ruled by near-immortal dynasties. It was generally acknowledged that nobles were a thing for Eypharians, and that pretty much holds true even today.

Social status depends largely on how useful one is to the community. In such a dangerous time, defenders of the peace usually occupy the highest tiers in society. The Syliran Knights, the Black Sun in Ravok and the monks in Nyka all make perfect examples. Next come specialized craftsmen, artisans whose skills are not easily replaced. Priests are usually in high standing due to their ties to the divine. Unskilled labor is valued much less. Unproductive members have very few rights, if any at all, and definitely no say in the running of the community.

Depending on the city, there may be a single leader or a council, who often serve for life. In some cases, a god or goddess will rule a city in person, surrounded by mortal advisors. Regardless, politicians are almost unheard of. Ruling is not considered a profession, but a duty of those who are strong. Powerful mages rarely occupy positions of direct power. Given a rather general distrust of these arts, it is often wiser for them to advise the ruler than to rule themselves. Still, rulers will try to win the favor of powerful magic users whenever possible, if only because of their potential for trouble.

Language

The common tongue is a direct descendant of a trade language spoken, albeit with important regional variations, in both Suvan and Alahea. The two nations were not at war all the time, and their populations were known to mingle in times of peace. A common tongue speaker could expect to be understood across the whole continent, though perhaps only by the more educated. Territories often had their own languages. Human subraces still speak those local tongues which are not mutually intelligible with the common tongue, though many of them know common as a second language. The more trade takes place in a region, the more widespread the common tongue will be. Regular city-bred humans usually learn common as their first language.

Even so, dialects have gained more prominence as travel decreased. The cities in Sylira speak the closest to the old Alahean accent, whereas Denval has largely retained the official Suvan diction. Elsewhere a plethora of regional variations can be witnessed, usually attributed to loans from local racial languages. The result is still intelligible by foreign speakers of the common tongue, though it may take them a little while to adjust to the new accent and loanwords.

As for the ancient tongue, it was already a dead tongue before the Valterrian, only studied proficiently by mages and scholars but never as a first language. If not for these categories it would have disappeared altogether with the cataclysm. Perhaps one human in a hundred retains enough knowledge to form a complete sentence. Some people may remember a smattering of famous words such as 'Djed' or 'Alvina', but usually ignore their true meaning and etymology.

Names

Anecdotical evidence suggests that Protohumans only had one name, though it would be more appropriately described as a nickname. Translated into common they would sound like 'Swiftaxe' or 'Twentysons'. Such names stuck when people started using them; children went probably unnamed at birth. When humanity settled down and it became important to know who was who and who was one's father, people started taking names in the modern sense of the term. Indeed, to be remembered by first name alone was the mark of a great personage such as Queen Avakalashi.

Late pre-Valterrian names and surnames came in the thousands. Even though many were quite boring, deriving simply from professions ('Hunter', 'Fletcher', 'Smith') or patronymics ('Steisson', 'Petrianus', 'Juliovsen'), others - especially the names of royalty - were quite elaborate. Scholars think most of those names are forever lost. Many post-Valterrian surnames are probably self-attributed or fake, either to discard previous identities or to sound less commonplace. With civilization collapsing, many thought nobody would mind if 'Johnson' became 'Ragewater'. There is simply not enough control to keep people from calling themselves what they want and throwing it away when no longer convenient.

Family Life

Human families are often large and tight-knit, especially among the lower classes which find strength in numbers. A number of societies are patriarchal, though some are egalitarian or matriarchal. A family is pretty much the only safeguard for an old person to receive care when they are no longer self-sufficient, as city governments cannot afford the luxury to spend resources on unproductive community members. As virtually everyone resides within the confines of city walls, houses are generally small and crowded. Living spaces are shared and families know little in the way of privacy. Being able to gift a home to a son or daughter upon marriage is considered a mark of great wealth.

Children work from a very early age, first taking care of their younger siblings and then performing chores until they are ready to start an apprenticeship. Few are lucky enough to receive a proper education. Discipline is the key to survival. Just as clothes are passed down from older children to the younger, many people cannot afford to choose their profession, or even their spouse. Family life entails many sacrifices, yet it is easy to put them into perspective by simply considering the alternative. A lone wolf can rely on no-one: such people often die young as soon as they fall ill and are unable to support themselves. Those who survive, as well as the outcasts who cannot conform to family life, often become travelers and adventurers, and live perhaps the most intense and exciting lives in all of Mizahar.

Art and Industry

Humans are not universally gifted at art like the Akvatari or skilled at manual labor like the Isur, but they can reach the pinnacle of pretty much any skill if they have the talent and dedication to do so. Pretty much anything of practical value has a market. A skilled blacksmith or fletcher can spell the difference between survival and death, and even a basketweaver enjoys respect for the results and usefulness of his or her work.

Many Humans also have a genuine appreciation of art. Indeed, given the troubled times they live in, people of wealth often seek relief in aesthetics. Humans have eclectic tastes and enjoy the products of other races' art (much more so than the other way around.) They engage in all art forms, but if there is one they dominate, it is writing. Humans have treasured Qalaya's gift more than any other race, and even though the Jamoura may be more scholarly inclined, the sheer output of fiction and non-fiction by humans surpasses that of all other races combined, sometimes rising to pinnacles of great quality. Unfortunately, a great many books were lost in the Valterrian and modern Mizahar lacks any form of mass printing technology. Because of their newfound rarity, books have suddenly become much more powerful than before. Entire factions exist whose only purpose is to recover tomes from oblivion - and not necessarily tomes of forbidden magical lore, either. To some people, bringing back the Great Suvan Novel would be just as important.

Religion

Religion is perhaps the most powerful driving force to guide a desperate humanity through their hardships and into an age of rebuilding. Humans are unique among the races in that they don't have a specific racial god, not even a first among equals. They don't know who created them. They don't even know where they came from. It is possible that their creator may be long dead, or forever changed beyond their understanding. As such, they can worship anyone freely. Subraces have their own guardian deities they worship fervently above all others: that would be Yahal for the Benshira or Laviku for the Svefra, for example. A generic human outside the subraces is only limited by personal taste and inner drive. Most humans worship at least one god and bestow extra reverence to a few more. Some don't care for the gods at all, but still recognize their existence.

True priests are among the most welcome people to join a community, both for their spiritual guidance and because of the gnosis powers they usually possess. The other side of the coin is that humans are also fond of forming and joining sects and underground societies, especially when their religion is not one most people would approve of.

Human PC's

The Varied Children of Humanity
	Annalisa Marin	Human Wizard, Chaon of Rhysol, Wizard of the Sahovan Citadel.