Humans are one of five dominant - and by far more hated - lifeforms inhabiting Aileron and make up most of the world's inhabitants. They are resilient, adaptive and social creatures of the Primate family and are considered to be the dominant lifeforms of Aileron, a position they gained with much bloodshed and betrayal. Many humans live normal and adequate lives and function in ordinary societies where they work, manage families and participate in recreational activities. However, their capacity for teamwork, great evolution and technological development is greatly outweighed by their potential for selfishness, greed, corruption and great violence.
Physical description
Humans stand at varying heights, on average between five to six feet, though there are some variations. Skin tones range between light, dark and tan and hair and eye colors vary across the entire color spectrum.
Culture and society
Human culture and society is typically focused on social groups, social interaction and the exchange of ideas all for the purpose of continued evolution and growth. However, as much capacity as humans have for love and compassion, they have just as much for greed, corruption and violence. Many world leaders and those in authority are well-known for being corrupted and always calling on the employment of the seven bands of mercenaries to do their dirty work. Despite the main focus being placed on societal development and survival, many humans show tendencies for selfishness, acting for their own needs rather than the needs of the whole society, even if their needs become hindrances to others. In addition to this, humans are shown to be driven by the desire to understand everything in their universe. Despite their best efforts, when humans encounter something they are simply unable to understand, they often write it off as non-existent or fake.
Humans are also well-known for being highly racists and prejudice against non-humans, in particular the other two races of Aileron: the mantodea and lepori. Expressions like "bug-eye" or "cottontail" are common racial slurs towards the mantodea and lepori, respectively. In addition to this, humans show a particular dislike for anything new or unfamiliar to them that they cannot control. Throughout their history, anything they were unable to control, they attempted to destroy, as was the case with the mantodea.
Background
Humans were the last of the five main races on Aileron to appear, after dragons, guardian spirits, the mantodea and the lepori and by far the weakest and least developed. However, over time they showed a great capacity to evolve and adapt to their environments and any changes they faced. Though they did not have the speed and strength other races possessed, they made up for their shortcomings with their ingenuity, creativity and ability to use tools to accomplish similar tasks.
As humans continued to grow, they developed friendly ties with the other races, in particular the dragons. With the mantodea and lepori, humans received the gift of magic from guardian spirits, which gave rise to Wizards of Vigil, humanity's organization of those gifted in magic. However, greed, corruption and violence were introduced to humankind and they began turning on those they once called friends. The actions of humanity resulted in the deaths of many dragons, which eventually led to an event known as the Dragon Exodus, in which the remaining dragons on Aileron left for a new world. With the absence of one of Aileron's most powerful races, guardian spirits chose to go into hiding, for fear of suffering a similar fate as the dragons - near extinction - but not before taking back their gift of magic from the humans, stripping them of the art entirely for fear of the damage they would cause with it. Eventually, humankind forgot about the existence of guardian spirits altogether.
Now, with Aileron's two most powerful races essentially gone, humanity was able to grow and eventually grew to inhabit and control six of Aileron's major continents: Commune, Monolith, Peren, Spiral, Torunn, and Vigil. In time, humankind developed each of these continents into thriving lands with large buildings, technology and a bustling economy.
However, despite their growth, humanity could never seem to get enough. In hopes of acquiring the resources of the mantodea's lush and fertile land, they launched an invasion of their home continent, Mantodeos. The war lasted several years with no sign of the humans winning due to the mantodea's home field advantage despite their primitive technology compared to the humans. Eventually, the humans decided to completely destroy Mantodeos in a scorched earth strategy. This led to the complete destruction of Mantodeos (now better known as the Sand Coffin) and the near extinction of the mantodea as well as the death of their sovereign, An'assa Formo'sana.
Before they could turn their attentions to the lepori, both tribes - fearing that they would suffer the same fate as the mantodea - retreated to the Northern and Southern Aurora and erected large walls of ice to keep out intruders. Though humans considered conquering the Valley of Broken Spirits, they decided against that course of action due to the number of hostile and harsh creatures and the rumors surrounding the mysterious forest continent.
Throughout their history, humanity has shown the ability to form strong bonds with those around them, human or not. However, when greed, corruption and violence were introduced to their species, they became hostile and cruel to non-humans, eventually becoming selfish and taking whatever they wanted regardless of what they actions did to those around them. At one time, humans had strong alliances and ties with dragons, guardian spirits, the mantodea and the lepori, but through the violence and greed, they managed to either destroy or push away those they had once called friends.
Nowadays, humans live in a peaceful bliss, seemingly unconcerned and unaware with anything beyond their territories.
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