Human

Ambitious, creative, and endlessly curious, humans have shown more drive to explore the galaxy and the universe beyond than any of their neighbor races—for better and for worse. They’ve helped usher in a new era of system-wide communication and organization and are admired for their passion and tenacity, but their tendency to shoot first and think about the consequences later can make them a liability for those races otherwise inclined to work with them.
As far as humans go, they are still the least numerous of all of the Heir species. But they have lost their divine powers for the most part. The blood of the Shining Ones got too thin over tens of thousands of years. Very, very rarely, however, a human is still born with divine powers, but it's nearly one in 100 million.
Humans have a wide range of inherited traits, such as body type, skin color, and facial features, yet these minor differences of heredity and genetics hold little significance in modern human society. Instead, humans’ tendency to adapt to their environments means that more extreme differences, such as cybernetic augmentations, alien implants, and the elongated limbs of zero-g asteroid miners, are seen as far more important than ancient geography or skin color when defining modern ethnic groups.
Humans first arose on Edras as a result of ancient ritual conducted by a now-forgotten Shining One, yet even before the disappearance of their home world, they had begun to spread out onto the other planets of that system. In the wake of Edras' vanishing, however, this group of explorers became inadvertent emigrants. Today, Edras Station is the undisputed center of human culture, yet humans can be found on nearly every planet in the alliance, either integrated into alien societies or creating colonies and homesteads on new worlds.
Of all the common races in the Alliance Worlds, humans were perhaps the hardest hit by the Gap. Due to Edras' disappearance, humans were left with relatively little evidence with which to puzzle out and reconstruct their society. While Edras Station and other worlds with large human populations contain documents related to the ancient history of humanity, how much relevance this should have to modern human society is a hotly debated topic. For some, these ancient documents offer a chance to connect with their origin, pulling everything from names and philosophies to ancient factions forward into the modern era. To the majority, however, this approach is seen as backward—who cares about the dusty past on a vanished world when it’s the future that will make you or break you?
In some ways, humans are the glue that holds the rest of the alliance together. Their seemingly endless desire to explore and settle any habitable environment has positioned them perfectly to act as traders and mediators between other races, and their lack of their own planet often makes integrating into other cultures attractive to them. At the same time, not every race appreciates their accelerating and viruslike spread. Vesk in particular keep a wary eye on humans—if only because humans’ tendency toward expansionism and violence track too closely to their own.
Ambition and desire for action are hallmarks of humanity, and countless humans leave home in search of wealth, fame, knowledge, excitement, or other means of bettering their situations. Since the discovery of the Drift and convenient interstellar travel, humans have led the charge in exploring and settling new worlds, driven by economic opportunity and ambition. Due to their versatility and adaptability, humans can fill any role in an adventuring party, from heavily armed soldier to charming envoy ambassador.

Origin/Ancestry

Heir of Edras

Lifespan

80+2d20 years

Average Height

5-7 ft.

Average Weight

100-300 lbs.