The Whole of Humanity

Wyrlde has four broad characterizations of what counts as People. These four groupings are a combination of from whence they are descended and to what degree their existence is able to repeat among those who come after.

The only known settled landmass on Wyrlde is Avilon.

After The Bleak Journey, the remaining Humans began to adapt to the world, and so today they and those who survived the God’s War are known as The People.

For most of Wyrlde’s history, there was only one people – Human. As the God’s War began and the cost in human lives increased, the God’s reshaped other peoples to serve as shock troops and logistical support in their battles, and, in the case of some, to ensure that there would be life that continues.

The first people shaped were the Dwarfs. Intended as logistical support, they tend toward strength, firmness, and resolution, and are well known for being unflappable while also being the best at partying. They often still carry aspects of that era, in part because of people limiting them to those roles still, so we find many Physics, many Drovers and Teamsters, wrights and smiths among them They have resisted this in the years – and produced some of the finest poets, playwrights, and painters in history.

The second peoples shaped were the Elfin. Elfin were shaped to serve as special assignment, shock, and front-line troops. They are fierce, aloof, and disciplined people and for good reason. They are seen by many as tending to temper too quickly, to be deeply emotional and subject to those emotions, though the Elfin themselves resent that line of thinking. They have, nonetheless, worked to use it to their advantage. After them came the Tritons, who remain masters of the sea and stream.

Towards the end of the God’s War, a few of the Powers That Be created the Therians, in a variety, but kept them a secret and separate from the rest – until they began to harass and harry the survivors during the Dark Age as they traveled the Bitter Road in search of a place to call home.

The Dread Powers That Be were not still, themselves, though the timetable of their work is less well known beyond the creation of the Goblins, which predates the God’s War. They shaped the Goblins, Grendels, Imps, Thyrs, Merow, and Kobolds. Of all of them, only the Goblins can interbreed with Imperials – and the effect of it is always fatal for someone, ignoring the way in which it happens.

Heritage	Type	Note	Height	Weight	Life	Trait	Talent	Tell	Coin
Dwarf	Demihuman	Makers, Builders	42 – 54	90 – 200	250	+1 AC	Tremorsense	Cold Weak	25
Elf	Demihuman	Warriors of Yore	48 – 60	65 – 125	250	Resist Charm	Resist Madness	Psychic Weak	25
Triton	Demihuman	Under sea folk	46 – 58	75 – 200	250	Durable	Water Breathing	Fire Weak	25
Fay	Halfling	Half-Elf	54 – 69	90 – 175	125	Resist Charm	Darksight	Necrotic Weak	20
Gnome	Halfling	Half-Dwarf	52 – 64	102 – 250	125	+1 AC	Knowledge	Water Weak	20
Iara	Halfling	Half-Triton	58 – 60	125 – 225	125	Hold Breath	Ripplesense	Earth Weak	20
Ogre	Halfling	Quarter Goblin	72 – 84	150 – 300	100	Menacing	Relentless	Radiant Weak	15
Spright	Halfling	Dwarf-Elf	46 – 58	100 – 200	125	Charm/Poison	Dexterity	Nether Weak	20
Dakoan	Human	Northerners	63 – 75	100 – 275	125	Direction	Horsebow	Manic Weak	25
Exilian	Human	Wandering,	54 – 66	100 – 175	125	+1 Hrt/Vit	Skill	-1 Cha	15
Imperial	Human	Seven Cities	63 – 78	150 – 300	125	+1 Inspo	Default	-1 Persuade	50
Myrmian	Human	Exiles	60 – 75	125 – 275	125	Calm	Persuasion	Shadow Weak	30
Thalasian	Human	Sea Folk	54 – 69	75 – 225	125	Darksight	Windsense	Sun Weak	40
Harrier	Humanoid	Racoon/Badger	33 – 48	20 – 45	100	Determined	+1 Perception	-1 Wis	15
Panther	Humanoid	Cat	34 – 46	35 – 85	100	Fearless	Acrobatics	-1 Mana	15
Serpent	Humanoid	Snake	28 – 36	60 – 140	100	Contortion	Constrict	Speed Limits	15
Swift	Humanoid	Rabbit/Bear	30 – 42	20 – 50	100	Constitution	Leap	Smoke Weak	15
Vulcan	Humanoid	Fox/Wolf	36 – 46	40 – 90	100	Resist Cold	Skills	Weak Charm	15
Whiskers	Humanoid	Weasel/Mongoose	32 – 44	20 – 40	100	Stealthy	Perception	Weak Poison	15
Cambion	Semihuman	Half Infernal	57 – 75	90 – 210	175	Resist Infernal	The Feast	Celestial Weak	20
Faery	Semihuman	Half Fae	23 – 35	19 – 27	250	Dodge	Fairy Dust	Slow Grounded	20
Seraph	Semihuman	Half Celestial	57 – 75	50 – 150	175	Resist Celestial	Heal	Infernal Weak	20
Meka	Construct	Constructs	60 – 66	150 – 230	125	Rageless	Skills	Lightning Weak	10

Each Heritage has capabilities that are drawn from what it means to be of that kindred, that ancestral line. These are something unique to them as a whole people, and something they may share in common with others.

Size

pc Size Categories
Size	Space	Height
Little	18 in by 18 in	1 ½ ft. to 2 ft.
Short	24 in by 24 in	2 ft. to 3 ft.
Small	3 ft. by 3 ft.	3 ft to 6 ft
Medium	6 ft. by 6 ft.	6 ft to 9 ft
Large	9 ft. by 9 ft.	9 ft to 12 ft
Big	12 ft. by 12 ft.	12 ft to 15 ft
Huge	15 ft. by 15 ft.	15 ft to 18 ft

Each creature takes up a different amount of space. On Wyrlde, Player Character’s come from different Heritages, and some heritages are much smaller than others, but most will very from Little to Large.

The Size Category Table shows how much space a creature of a particular size controls in combat. This also applies outside of combat and is used to describe the amount of space that a being takes up.

Objects sometimes use the same size categories. A miniature rabbit might be Minute, a regular rabbit Wee, and a giant rabbit could be Medium.

Demihumans

Demihumans are descended from the Clans, Communes, and Houses that volunteered as tribute during the God’s War and were infused with the faij (Phage – an energetic, protean sort of power derived from ideation, sympathetic forces, associative relation, and practical materiality that makes up a plane) of assorted things to reshape new Peoples who had gifts that were specific for the goals of the War. In the years since, they have mostly been able to blend with Humanity and each other, to varying degrees. Elfin are famously endowed with the faij of the Fairywilde, Dwarfs with the faij of Earth, Tritons with the faij of Water. Tritons are the furthest removed from humans, and their issue only move within one generation. All core Demihuman Heritages (Elf, Dwarf, Triton) were originally created for a purpose – they once existed to fill an extremely specific role, and that role was shaped by the God’s War. Humanoids have a similar background but tend to be too far removed in some way or another – the core measure of demihuman or humanoid is can they reproduce with humans still.

There are many who argue that Goblins are infused with the faij of the Infernal, though others think that more properly belongs to the Imps. Some will say that the Grendels are infused with e Faij of the Fairywilde as well – or perhaps the Dreamscape.

Much of this kind of discussion is considered to be of only academic interest, as the broader concern is still and always about the immense damage that their raiding, scouting, and similar parties cause, pushing up from the underdark to cause havoc and despair.

All of the Demihuman lineages selected 125 great families to be the forebears of each line. This collection oof 375 families, and all the connections between them, is still preserved in some form or other today – though with far fewer in all cases. Of the Dwarfin Clans, only 25 remain, the others having been wiped out and what straggling survivors there may have been absorbed into those that remained.

There are 49 Communes that survive for the Elfin, and if the word is true then there are a mere 50 Grottoes of the mighty Tritons left.

Because of the changes wrought and the way that they were all seen changed after the war, those connections, those bonds of time, tide, and tradition became ever more important for these people, and provided a sense of stability and survival in a world that no longer seemed to need the things they were made for. Thie things they sacrificed themselves for.

There is an undercurrent of bitterness and resentment that can be found shared only privately among these peoples, who all still have to deal and adapt to the things that they were forged into, from the endurance of Dwarfs to the ferocity of Elfs, and the seeming limitless ability of the Tritons to withstand the depths of the seas.

Halflings

Halflings, such as Iaran, Gnomes, Fays, Sprights, and Ogres, are less common than the Elfin and Dwarfs and Therians.

Despite the presence of the Faij in many being, it is sometimes a shock to others that there are as few limits on what can happen as there are. All the peoples, the Whole of Humanity, are all descended from the Ancients, and it does not matter if they served in the god’s War or did not, nor what side on that war they fell upon – they are still filled with the Blood of the Ancients, and it is what binds all the Peoples, Dread or Bright, Shadow or Hidden, beneath everything else.

What is known is that there are fewer of them. In some cases, the mixes and manners aren’t quite possible – no one has ever apparently spent enough time among Kobolds, for example, above and beyond the fact that they have a completely different way of reproducing now from the rest of humanity.

Goblins are oviparous as well, however, so who is to say that there may not be some sort of Halfling descended from a combination of Goblin and Kobold?

Within the civilized world, however, there is no telling what love has to do with anything, for goblins will still run amok, and pillage and plunder, and often the survivors of such may come to a learning that is heart breaking for many.

Love is still love, and those who fought for the Bright are still closer to each other than the Goblins are, or the Imps are. The parasitic nature of Imps is terrifying to many, and to this day, no one knows quite how the Grendels reproduce. They do – of that there is no question – but the manner remains unknown.

All of this feeds into the truth that many struggle with – who we love is not a function of what they are, but who they are. And many people will leave their house, their home, their clan or their hall, and others will join new ones for the sake of the person they love.

For this is what lies beneath all of it – they are all people, and they are all seeking to build families. Those families often face censure and struggle, and that can lead to much, but in the end, they are all still families, and perhaps it is not the greatest challenge for them, for they are filled with a light that is difficult to ever put out, be it a dark light or a bright one, it is a spark that comes from being of more than one heritage, and the path they seek is one that may blend the two or favor one over the other.

The most common Halflings are those called Fay, and in the realm of Sibola they are required to adopt Fay as part of their name owing to a long ago misunderstanding that enraged an old Emperor. Such a rule does not apply beyond the borders of Sibola, but that has never bothered folks such as the Witch Morgana Le Fay.

The River folk, Iaran,

Humans

Humans are the most familiar group. There are five branches of Humanity. As with all other things, they too trace their distinctive natures back to the God’s War.

Humans includes Islanders, Kahokians, Imperials, and Myrmians, and almost includes the Exilian except they passed to the shadow and chose not to fight and sacrifice during the war and did not take The Bitter Road.

Perhaps it is because of their shorter lives that they strive to achieve as much as they can in the years they are given. Or maybe they feel they have something to prove to the other, younger Heritages, and that’s why they build their mighty empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the world.

Humans have great diversity in hair and eye color, though the normative complexions for most are below. Since time began, the humans of Wyrlde have been dark complexioned, and although many of the strange colors found among the Cambions and Seraph can be found for hair and eye colors, their skin tones have rarely changed.

Of note, on Wyrlde, human is a term that can be applied to all the sentient folks who fought in the God’s War, for ultimately they are all descended from the same core stock, which is called Ancients.

The Ancients built massive cities all over the world and created wonders and marvels that now all lie in ruins, save for those that are rumored to persist in the Ancient land.

Most of the time, when someone has cause to say human on Wyrlde, they are using the term in the same way that others use the word people – they do not mean the five particular groups talked about in the following.

Between one half and two thirds of the population is human, of one sort or another, and humans are decidedly not all alike here.

Most of the people that follow are descended from one of several different lineages that trace back to the end of the God’s War (or earlier). Imperials are those who come from the survivors of the Bleak Journey, Dakoans from those who split from that group in the march on that Bitter Road. Thalasians came from those left to fend for themselves in the oceans and seas and islands, the inheritors of sailors and marines. Exilians descend from those who chose to skip the War altogether, and somehow survived the catastrophes.

The exception is the Myrmians, whose appearance is comparatively recent, and comes from those whose lives and fortunes were far more outcast than the others, but in the world after the War. They are also considered to be somewhat less pure, even if for no other reason than they are willing to consort and tolerate those who are the enemies of the people.

Humanoids

Humanoids do not have the ability to blend with others, and in the case of Therians, while they can blend with each other, the issue is always one of the same types. Humanoids will hold true and do not have a link or tie to the history of the people they often live among, among whom they stand out.

There are seven kinds of Therian, who are all Humanoid. One of them vanished, long ago, and has not been seen in so long that the nature of them has been forgotten except in vague hints and stories.

There is much debate in the assorted Imperial realms about the nature of the Dread Peoples, the Thyrs, the Grendels, the Imps, the Goblins, the Merrow, and the Kobolds.

Some argue that at the very least, the Thyrs are a form of Therian, despite their great size, and that the Kobolds are similar. This is strongly denied, and there is some limited anecdotal evidence that the seventh Therian kind cannot be the Thyrs, as they have a strong and abiding nature that is closer to the Harrier, and the Powers were unlikely to duplicate efforts in that way.

As a result, we have set them aside from this section and allowed them their own in the areas underneath their Dread Realms.

Semihumans

Semihumans come from a union involving an extraplanar being (Celestial, Infernal, or Fae) and are the end result of that, and the impact of it extends no more than 2 generations. Semihumans cannot combine, however, as for some reason there cannot be a mingling of Celestial or Infernal with anything else, and Fae only ever produce Faery (which is why the Gods had to use the faij of Fairywilde to create the Elfin). All Semihuman (Cambions, Seraph, Faery) beings are descended from Powers that reside in the planes, such as Angels, Devils, or Fae Lords & Ladies. Semihumans, being deeply infused, tend to live longer lives than others.

There are hundreds of stories of Angels and Demons, Valkyries and Nightmares, Fae and Hags coming into the world and happening on some unsuspecting person and seducing them – or outright falling in love. If nothing else, the universal truth holds true: Love will conquer all. Or at least lead to some place relatively quiet and the eventual issue of progeny.

What arrives isn’t always readily or easily limited in scope: Hags, for example, only ever seem to create more hags, and they never remain to give birth in this dimension (though they may do so in some other.).

The issue of Shadow or Nether beings trends towards things less than people-like, and few would say that the necrotic realm ever produces anything but animated powers.

However, Celestial and Infernal beings are often joined by the Fae in their love and sometimes adoration for those of our dimension, crossing the planes and tearing across the veil – and yes, even Demons and Devils may come for the purity of love, as well as angels and Valkyries coming for the joy of lust itself.

Infernal beings produce Cambions, Celestial ones produce Seraph, and the Fae produce Faery. It is often a shock, because at birth the children appear to be a member of whatever their PA mortal parent heritage may be, but by the time they turn 16, it is apparent without fail that they are not typical, and usually long before that, as horns grow in, as size never changes, as the magical nature of the people manifests, and without fail they become known for what they are – even if only to their family.

It is noteworthy that Ethereal, Astral, and Necrotic beings do not seem to have this capacity to combine mortal and Dimensional lives. The peculiar nature of Shadow and Nether beings, being far more based in chaos and mutability, results in forms that are far less likely to manifest or resemble humans. It is suggested by some Akadian scholars that the are the source of many of the stranger beings that are encountered out in the world, such as the strange things that can change their shape in order to bait the unwary, or the chittering creatures that seem harmless and are instead quite deadly.

Lyonese scholars hold that they are the source of Trolls.