Human

Humans are the most common and plentiful inhabitants on the continent, making up almost ninety-five percent of the total population. In the present age, humans have built great nations, realms, and empires stretching across the continent. The most well-known monarchs, religious figureheads, archmages, military commanders, and villains throughout history have all been humans. With a small number of exceptions across the entire continent, human citizenry make up the majority of every major city, village, and town. The full breadth and diversity of human body types, features, eye, hair and skin colors, and genders are found mixed throughout each nation in the continent. People have many religious customs with ancient roots, but the majority today keep faith in the Sacred Flame. Beyond this shared religion, humans take up a wide variety of fashions, traditions, and social norms which vary mostly based on geographic location, and tend to regard wherever they were born as home. As a result, many humans treasure their personal origins, and those living in the nations of Elyria, Caspia, Westemär, and beyond possess a strong sense for their national identities. The people of these nations communicate, travel, and trade readily between their borders, though just as frequently develop rivalries, feuds, and full-blown conflicts with their neighbors over disputed land claims and political disagreements, or all too often for much more trivial reasons

Origins of Humanity

The early history of humanity is the subject of myth and legend; there are no agreed historical facts concerning human origins. The Faith of the Sacred Flame teaches that humans are incomplete beings of light and shadow, who must become whole by living a righteous life. However, its religious texts say little about how life itself came to be. On the other hand, the varied tales of the Old Gods speak of humans emerging from sea-foam at the behest of Nodens the Tempest, or sprouting from seeds sown by Danu the Mother and cultivated by Lugh the Sun. Others speak of how Gaibhne the Smith shaped their bodies from clay, dust, and rock, or that humans lived as beasts in thrall to Kromac the Ravager until Arwyn the Moon Hunter tamed and taught them. Just as mysterious and unknown is how magic first came to early humans — humans could cast spells long before they wrote history. One legend tells of a time when a great winter that lasted centuries fell upon the entire world. Desperate to survive, humans cried out to the cosmos for help, offering anything for the magic they needed to live through the endless sleet and snow. Humanity got their wish, but accounts differ on whether it came as a curse laid by Morrigan the Witch, a gift from Ogham the Sage, or a jest by Shegorach the Trickster. Far more say it was not the Old Gods, but something far darker and more terrible that answered humanity’s call. Whoever or whatever it was that sealed this pact with ancient humans, the power of magic has flowed in their blood ever since. Exactly what they gave up in exchange for this power differs, but all the stories have one detail in common: humanity’s debt was never paid in full. Yet centuries later, humans continued bargaining with eldritch beings to grow their control over magic. They mingled their bloodlines with many otherworldly and supernatural creatures, and from these unions came dragonborn, tieflings, and other half-human lineages. For the most part, these people are seen for their shared human ancestries, and regarded as part of the diverse makeup of humanity as a whole. Humanity’s greatest empire was also its greatest folly; the sorcerer-kings of the old Arcane Empire ruled the continent as tyrants for a thousand years. Yet from these dark times came humanity’s redemption, when Saint Tarna brought the light of the Sacred Flame to the people of the continent. In the world today, humans remain at the center of all great conflicts and upheavals. Indeed, the world of Drakkenheim is a very human place, one where all humanity’s faults and facets are writ large.

Creating Human Characters

Humans occupy every corner of the continent and populate every nation. Your human character can come from anywhere you wish. Prominent human adventurers might hail from the lands of Caspia, where strong knights or sly bards journey far to test their might and earn renown for their houses back home. Elyrian humans are often devout worshippers of the Faith of the Sacred Flame, and clerics and paladins of the religion often embark on quests to bring light and righteousness throughout the world. Perhaps instead your character is among the rugged rangers, rogues, and other war-torn survivors hailing from the broken kingdoms of Westemär, hoping to rebuild their home, or gain power amongst the constant dispute between noble houses. Your character may be a sorcerer or wizard taken in at a young age by the Amethyst Academy, and thus not know exactly where you were born, instead being raised within one of their fantastical magical schools. From the primal druids in the deep of Terene to the barbarian warriors of Netherwind, a human character can be just about any type of adventurer, support any faction or nation, and come from anywhere.

Related Organizations

• Jackson
• Von-Kessel