Human Lore | Gilda

Humans

Appearance:

There is nothing truly peculiar about Gilda humans which separate them from Earth humans.
Humans which take on a wizard's path acquire purple or pink irises as arcane seems to shine through them.
Skin colour is relative to origins. The main skin colour for Gilda is peach due to the landscape resembling something closer to the West by Earth standards.
- All skin colours are of course able to be played. If your character has fair or dark skin, they can easily have come from a voyager family from a different island. Nowadays, Satha is host to a whole array of different hues.

Origins:

Humans are believed to have been placed on Gilda by dragons to take care of it in their absence.
They are devout worshipers of the winged leathery beasts and have gone to great extents in the past to try and acquire their favours. This has primarily been done through the teaching of magic.
In order to spread their knowledge passed down to them by the dragons, humans crafted boats and sailed to the other islands of Gilda. Settlement upon settlement was made until humans could be found on all corners of the map.
They arrived on Satha precisely 3,000 years ago.

History:

The history of Satha only truly started writing itself in the past 500 years. That is because there was a terrible fire known as the 'Great Burning' which took out two thirds of Satha's forest. Along with it, most of their beloved wooden buildings. Most of the old tomes were destroyed or lost forever.
Starting from the ground up, again, the humans turned to their esteemed wizards to help reestablish themselves. With their incredible arts, they were able to heal the charred earth and make it inhabitable for life once more.
It took some time, but eventually the humans were thriving once again. They erected an impressive stone tower in the middle of a lake to commemorate the resistance against the Great Burning.
That tower became the home of the wizards responsible for the healing of the land. 200 years later it was a prime location for humans to travel to from other islands in order to learn greater wizardry. It is renamed to 'College Veldir' after the head wizard, Archmage Veldir, who lead the rebirth of Satha.
A town was build across a stone bridge from the college, simply named 'Veldir' for all the other humans which couldn't quite grasp the arcane arts. These people may have talents of their own, but socially they will never amount of the greatness of a wizard. The general consensus is that wizards are akin to divinity.
It was discovered by the wizards that they happened to build their college on top of something incredible... something unspeakable. It's an impressive power which is not yet understood. It hides within the lowest level of the tower, protected thoroughly. This power has come to attract the attention of two other races: the elves and the orcs.

Alliances:

The Elves: When the elves arrived 60 years ago, the humans took to them quite well. They were very similar in appearance. The only difference being the ears and the height. Otherwise, they got along like two peas in a pod... until the elves began inquiring about the great power hidden in the college. When they made it clear that they wished to obtain it to feed their 'Wild Gods', the humans pulled back their close relations and kept them at an arms distance.
The Orcs: The orcs arrived a mere 55 years ago, just after the elves did. The humans didn't like the look of them one bit. They were strange; monstrous. However, when they began to explain their magics and demonstrated their ability to safely bring someone back from the dead, the humans realized how valuable they really could be. They, too, were kept at arms length, but only due to the fact that they believed the greater power under the college should be in their 'safe keeping'.
Halflings: The humans are fine with the concept of halflings. A half-elf is respected a bit more than a half-orc, however... simply on terms of beauty. They are not treated worse than a pureblood unless the human has a personal preference. They are welcome in Veldir.
Faunin: What curious little things. The humans have barely known them for long, as they've only been rarely spotted in the last ten years. They don't seem like a threat, and their company is usually very quaint.

Atonements:

Wizards: Beings capable of tapping into their arcane potential in order to craft and wield magic. These people are held in very high honour among most human settlements. They are sent to the Veldir College to refine their abilities so that one day they can lead a settlement of their own on another island potentally.
Shapeshifters: Former wizards which chose to give up their ability to wield magic in order to turn into one or multiple animals. Most human societies shun these people, as they are seen as cowards and offending the great dragons. Most shapeshifters keep their abilities hidden unless they absolutely need to use them.
Undead: Humans which have been risen from the dead. Undeads are generally quite freaky to humans. Depending on the condition of the walking cadaver, they might even be outright forced to leave Veldir. The general rule of thumb is if an undead passes as living, they are more accepted. There are a few methods how someone can become an undead:
- Bitten: All undeads carry the curse of undeath. If their ichor gets into a living person's bloodstream, they will eventually die and rise 3 days later as an undead.
- Risen: A corpse which has been brought back to life through necromancy. A necromancer is a type of dark wizard.
- Redeemed: A being that has been revived by an orcish shaman. They are vastly different from undeads to the point where they barely count as one. All of their vitals return, but they have no connection to arcane. These undeads have a built-in desire to constantly achieve greater things in order to make their second chance of life worth it.

Advanced Lore:

Humans live until 100.
- However, if they are a wizard, they live until 150.
The human language is called 'Drathish'
As a human that came from a different island, you will be able to make up your own lore for the island so long as it isn't too crazy.
Most nearby human islands are aware of Satha and tend to send their arcane-inclined young adults there to study at the college.