Humans
Humans are the dominant species in broad swaths of Cornakh. They are the most versatile and adaptable species.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Humans reproduce sexually. A female enters fertility sometime after ten years of age - on average around twelve years of age. She will generally remain fertile until her forties, though fertility begins to drop in her mid-thirties.
In most cases, human females bear a single child at a time.
Interspecies Reproduction
Humans have an almost unique ability to interbreed with certain other species, in some cases even producing biologically viable offspring capable of their own reproduction, in turn.
With Sylvans
Humans are fully capable of breeding with sylvans of all types, and their offspring are called half-sylvans. Half-sylvans are capable of producing their own offspring. Half-sylvans that mate with other half-sylvans produce another generation of half-sylvans. When a half-sylvan mates with a sylvan, their offspring is of the same species as their sylvan parent. Half-sylvans that mate with humans produce human children.
With Orcs
Humans are also capable of producing offspring with orcs. Their children are Half-Orcs. These creatures can breed with orcs, other half-orcs, and humans. Each successive generation takes on the characteristics of its immediate parents. In most cases, this means the progressive dilution of either the orcish or the human side until it is essentially undetectable.
Growth Rate & Stages
Due to the size of their brains, humans are born much more helpless than most other mammals. They are unable to feed themselves, support their heads, or stand at birth and take several years to develop those basic skills, which are usually in place by about three years of age. This period is called infancy.
Following infancy, humans entery childhood. This is a period of rapid growth and social development. Intellectual learning is facilitated by the fact that the brain is still extremely plastic and forms new neural connections constantly. This period lasts until puberty, which begins around twelve years of age, on average.
During puberty, intellectual development continues. Socially, the pubescent human begins to differentiate itself from its family group and form its unique personality. During the same period, sexual development is underway. Secondary sexual characteristics begin to manifest and fertility begins.
By late adolescence, around ages fifteen to eighteen, sexual maturity has taken hold. Cognitive development continues as the adolescent brain finalizes the most complex wiring and the human gains its ability to comprehend the most abstract concepts. Impulsivity begins to decline as the late adolescent approaches physical maturity around the mid twenties.
Maturity lasts until early middle age, which is mostly characterized by the beginnings of degeneration in the joints, and a decline in fertility.
Old age begins in the fifties or sixties, depending upon the individual. Cognitive decline begins, and biological systems begin to degrade. Musculoskeletal degeneration often accelerates. Old age lasts until death at around seventy years of age, on average, though there are very rare extreme examples of individuals living up to one hundred twenty years of age.
Additional Information
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Humans, of all the sapient species, demonstrate the widest array of colorations. They may have transluscent, pink, tan, light brow, dark brown, or even black skin. Their hair may be straight, wavy, curly, or kinky, and it varies in coloration to include white, gray, blonde, light brown, auburn, copper, flaming red, brown, dark brown, and black.
Comments