Humans (Pre-Industrial)

Until the great Occlusion Event, the human race was dominant across the face of the known world. Human cities were known to hold many millions of citizens each; densely populated urban centres connected by thousands of leagues of roads formed of some unknown substance, and connected further still by long stretches of steel tracks running parallel to one another and upon which travelled long carts of iron and steel. According to the few remaining records from the last Dawn Age, humans of that day were tall and dark-skinned. The average height appeared to be roughly six to six and a half feet, and they appeared to weight between 170 and 220 pounds. Their skin ranged from a light nut-brown to almost blue-black; their hair apparently came in all manner of form and fashion, and ranged from golden blonde to charcoal black. Few – if any – had light coloured eyes or pale hair. They were apparently possessed of incredible technology, although there is little evidence they worked with arcane forces in any significant fashion. Several ancient volumes even indicate that mystical energies were thought to be nonexistent!
In the current Night, much has changed. Human height is on average a foot shorter than their forebears, and where the Summer Children’s skin and hair were dark (no doubt as a result of so much exposure to the light), contemporary human skin is much, much more pale. Dark skin is now an unusual development and when it does arise, those humans are often revered as the reincarnations of Summer Children. It is not unheard of for religious orders to spring up around such people.
Human technology is not what it was either. Since the fall of Night human technology has fallen into disrepair, while a much greater emphasis has been placed on mastering arcane forces which, while often difficult to control, produce far more powerful effects.
In the current Age, “Human Culture” is a misnomer; virtually every Great Lamp supports a unique human culture. Some, like the thriving city of Ardrenost are bustling multicultural metropolises with large populations of humans – and even some nonhumans – from other Lamps or communities. Other places, like the much smaller Visinell Sanctuary, are more homogenous, cautious, and concerned more with survival than anything else.