Humans
The Origin of the Humans
Scholars often refer to the Svimohzish Isle as the Cradle of Civilization because today's civilized humans descended from the Isle's original inhabitants. The name is a misnomer, however, because millennia before the humans of the Isle ever formed the rudimentary elements of organized society, many great demihuman and humanoid civilizations had risen and fallen on the main continent. Additionally, many sages believe that ample evidence exists of one or more great Dejy (human) empires in several areas of continental Tellene, predating any migration from the Cradle of Civilization.
The early human clans who lived on the Svimohzish Isle practiced simple hunting and gathering of the resources on their bountiful island. They lived on Svimohzia happily until certain tribes migrated away from the Isle. Today, sages disagree as to whether the tribesmen were pushed out over time due to overpopulation or left voluntarily due to food shortages, plague, pestilence, war, fire or some other trouble. In any case, whether it was, in fact, none or all of those catastrophes, whatever plagues had befallen the tribesmen came and went over the course of centuries.
During each of the periodic disturbances, different tribes ventured across what is believed to be a land bridge that once or periodically rose From the waves to connect the Isle of Svimohzia to the main continent. The simple clansmen that crossed the bridge to finally reach the wetlands of the Alubeiok Swamp were certainly greeted with an amazing assortment of plant and animal life. They more than likely found an abundance of wild rice and edible berries growing, large quantities of wild honey and flocks of waterfowl that could be easily captured.
Today
Brandobians
The stereotypical Brandobians have brown hair, brown eyes and fair skin. Today, their hair ranges from sandy blonde to nearly black, and their skin is Fair to medium in tone. Their eyes are still largely the same, ranging only from brown to black. They tend to be shorter and slighter than the other human races.
Brandobians today have the least contact with other races. They have several cultural curiosities not found in other lands. They are not affectionate people in public and generally prefer to keep contact with others to a minimum. Brandobians bury their dead face down or cut off a foot to prevent the dead from rising as undead.
The Brandobian language is used in their lands, colonies, including Miclenon, and many former colonies such as Alnarma, Vrandol and along the Elos coast. (Prompeldians now use Kalamaran or the Merchant's Tongue). The colonies like to accent it with their own spellings, pronunciations, and words, but continental Brandobians resist changing the language in any way. A few demihumans in the Young Kingdoms still understand some Brandobian, but they do not often speak it; after all, over 500 years has passed since the establishment of Eastern Brandobia. Despite the passage of time, there are still a few villages in the Young Kingdoms, especially north of P'Bapar, that speak a dialect of Brandobian because they were bypassed or for some reason never occupied by the Kalamarans.
Dejy
The Dejy are the most varied of the human races. Their division into tribes as small as a single village or the size of Bet Kalamar gave rise to diversity of appearance, tongue, and culture. They do share certain physical traits, but only to a degree. They tend to have dry black hair, deep brown eyes and yellow skin. If they grow any facial hair, it is a small tuft at their chin. Within those guidelines, they vary greatly in appearance. The Chors tribe, for example, are short and squat, grow their hair long, and titter quietly when they laugh. By contrast, the Defohy, currently embroiled in bitter conflict in their home in Ek'Gakel, are tall and narrow of face, with high foreheads and long limbs.
Some Dejy clans have strong traditions that have retarded their technological innovation. The social dominance of their clerics, the prevalence of certain tenets of the Conventicle of the Great Tree (even among those tribes that do not follow the Bear), their nomadic tendencies and centuries of tradition have prevented many tribes From marching the technological advances of other human cultures. Highly skilled tlintworkers, powerful clerics and sorcerers, and raging Barbarian warriors have kept many Dejy tribes from being overwhelmed by their enemies. Tribes of Dejy with little outside contact still live largely apart from time, in pockets oF the stone age of Tellene's past. Yet other clans have evolved into modern nations such as the great Theocracy of Slen, its warring neighbor, Shynabyth, and Thybaj.
The Dejy have a long history of spoken language, and each tribe has its own tongues Scholars might identify patterns or families of these languages, but the Dejy see little point in it. None of the tribes has any written language. The Dejy generally speak their own language among themselves and only those that must deal with outsiders learn to speak another language. With respect to the nomads and tribesmen, when they learn to speak another language, they still see no point in learning to read it. In the various nations and cities descended from Dejy, they have adopted a nearby human or demihuman language for recording history or transactions. For example, the City State ufThygasha uses alternately Reanaarian, Fhokki, Gnome and Merchant's Tongue!
Fhokki
Fhokki have blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Due to sharing land with the Dejy for untold generations, brown eyes and slightly darker skin are now common as well, and blonde is no longer the only hair color. Those who lived in O'Par or Dodera before the Kalamarans drove them out might show some red hair; a reminder of their oppressors. Fhokki rend to be the tallest of the human races, and in areas of pure Fhokki, a man under six and a half feet tall is rare. Men consider beards a mark of adult- The Humans hood and only the very old or certain priests may shave of theirs without inviting ridicule.
Fhokki are a vibrant people. They love to laugh, they love to love, and they love to fight. When this aggressive personality is matched to a large frame, the effect shocks the peace-loving Reanaarians or the cultured Brandobians. Fhokki prefer simple log homes large enough for their extended family. They prefer working with their hands, and many Fhokki distrust wizards or scholars. Fhokki burn their dead on great pyres with the possessions that best represented that person's life and desires.
The Fhokki language is surprisingly intact from ancient days, despite only recent adoption of quill and paper. Loremasters among the people painted onto stone or tree bark and have only used ink for the last hundred years or so. Fhokki is spoken in the lands of Jorakk, along the banks of the Jorakk River and in Skarrna, although its runes appear across the Wild Lands and as far South as Dodera.
Kalamaran
The ancient Kalamarans had red hair, with occasional browns and blondes. Their skin was olive in color, and their eyes were blue, hazel, or gray. Today, however, because the mighty Kalamaran Empire touched all human races, the diversity among them is great. Every combination of skin tone, hair and eye coloration, as well as build, can be found among the Kalamaran populace. Only the nobility, who marry chiefly among themselves, retain the classic red hair with any frequency. Their size varies greatly, with the tallest people in the north and the shortest to the west.
The Kalamaran language is spoken throughout Kalamar and the remaining elements of the former Empire. It is the native tongue of the inhabitants of the Young Kingdoms, even those who might be of Brandobian lineage or otherwise. Because of the many other peoples conquered and assimilated by the Kalamarans and the great size of the former empire, the dialects are many and varied. Natives of different regions have difficulty understanding each other's speech, although at this point in time, their written words are still nearly identical.
Reanaarian
Reanaarians have brown hair and eyes and their skin ranges from olive to darker tan. Hair spans the Full range short of black—from blonde to red to brown, with medium brown being most common. The people are often shorter than Kalamarans (and much shorter than their Fhokki neighbors to the north), but their frames are strong, unlike the slender Brandobians.
Reanaarians live the closest to the demihumans of Tellene. Gnomes, Halflings, Dwarves, and even Elves share their towns and cities. Reanaarians prefer to live in villages and govern themselves; a network of hundreds of these villages covers the Bay where they live. The Reanaarians are fond of crafts and they work hard, but they also like to enjoy themselves. Because they respect many faiths and share their lands with demihuman cultures, the Reanaarians have more holidays than any other people.
For the most part, Reanaarians speak their own language, although through trade it has lost much of its original character. Most Folk speak at least a few words in a demihuman language (any of them) because they associate with these races so often. Those that live in cities tend to speak Merchant's Tongue as a primary language.
Svimohz
The Svimohz actually encompass nearly as many cultures as the widespread Dejy. Their skin is very dark brown when not actually black, and their hair is black as well. Eyes are sometimes gray but few folk ever see anything but black and brown eyes in each other or in the mirror. Height ranges from culture to culture, with the Zazahnii being generally shorter and the Meznams taller than the Ozhvins and Ahznoms.
Svimohzish culture is ancient and rich. The people are Formal and have distinct social rules. Strangers are greeted warmly, and guests are treated like royalty. Bargaining in the marketplace is hard, but both parties are respectful and polite. The tradition of a dowry is still alive and shows no sign of being abandoned soon. The Svimohz bury their dead in catacombs when possible, and of all the human races, save perhaps certain Dejy clans, they are most prone to become obsessed with death or the preservation of their bodies.
The Svimohzish language is spoken across the island. Many native Svimohz speak no other human language. Svimohzish is recognized in major ports because of the importance of Zha-nehzmish as a trading partner. People in port cities often speak the Merchant's Tongue. Among central Svimohzia, the Hobgoblin language is widely understood because of the neighboring hobgoblin kingdom of Ul-Karg.
Civilization and Culture
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Common Myths and Legends
Myth of Creation
In one human myth, the Mother of the Elements was the only intelligent being in the universe, existing when the four elements in their primordial forms combined to create her. Lonely, the Mother wove the energies of the four elements together to try to shape another being. The result was a daughter of undeniable beauty and power. Exhausted from the work, the Mother laid down to rest and tasked her daughter with creating more beings and their dwelling places. Her daughter, The Creator , set to her task with unimaginable zeal, making the universe and the creatures that dwell therein.
Sensing that the Mother was about to awaken from her slumber, the Creator realized in sorrow that her creation was inadequate. Marshalling all her energies, she committed suicide by dividing herself into fifty-three beings of vast power and intense personalities. These beings, known today as the Gods, were the crowning achievement of the Creator, for they display the extremes of the lives and passions of the intelligent creatures of the universe. Saddened at the death of her daughter, the Mother of the Elements refused to show any favoritism towards the other gods, instead turning her attention to the natural world and its building blocks: the four elements.
In this account, humans are the last beings made before the gods, and thus hold themselves closest to the perfection found in the gods. Combined with their superior numbers, culture, and diversity, this attitude contributes toward the current dominance that humans enjoy across Tellene.
