Humanity is the predominant sentient
race of Barbarica, though they come in different varieties.
EditBarbaric
The majority of humanity is composed of physically oriented peoples well adapted to harsh and perhaps even savage existences.
Race Package:
- Human (Athletic): the most common "race" by a wide margin in the Realm of Barbarica
Nations:
EditCivilized
Some humans living in more civilized lands are less physical and more learned. Focused less on athletic endeavors and survival, they often are more skilled or better educated but less hardy than humans hailing from more barbaric environs. Civilized humans run the gamut of sizes, coloration, and shapes.
Race Package:
- Human (Skilled): "civilized" city folk and non-warrior humans generally have this package vs the Human (Athletic) one.
Nations:
EditPygmies
Some groups of humans are unusually small. Though quicker than most normal sized humans, they are also less strong. Most pygmies are around four feet tall, and some are sub-four feet. A few exceptionally "tall" pygmies get up to 5 feet. Pygmies tend to have very wiry, compact builds. Pygmies generally represent a distinct strain or subrace of humanity, but its possible that a child born to normal-sized parents might exhibit pygmie-like traits (ie: take the Pygmie Race Package vs a more standard Human Race Package).
Race Package:
Nations:
EditWicta
An devolved race of mankind, Wicta are a dark-skinned and brutish looking with generally sloping brows, longer arms, and heavier bone structure than mainstream humanity.
Race Package:
- Human (Pygmie): to model Wicta, use the Pygmie Package with the Feral, Strong, and Primitive options all applied (GM's permission required).
- Human (Athletic): to model a Wicta Lord, use the Human (Athletic) Package; (GM's permission required).
Nations:
EditOrcs
There is a subrace of more primitive humans, called Orcs in reference to their peoples high point in the long fallen nation of Orcrish, who have scattered throughout the lands of Barbarica. Larger and more hirsute than normal humans, with heavier bones, thick sloping browridges, larger noses, and occasionally protruding tusks, Orcs typically have a dark
olive complexion, and thick and rough black hair (though variations in the black-russet spectrum exist). Orcs are usually tall (ranging between 5'10" and 7'), and heavy (ranging between 180 to 300 lbs) with thick-hewn and bulky muscles.
Race Packages:
- Human (Orc): Barbarica Orcs are a savage subrace of humanity.
- Human (Orcish Heritage): Orcs and normal Humans can interbreed, and Orcish heritage might take a couple of generations to fade out of dominance.
Nations:
*
GM Notes
Orcs are not the green-skinned pig nosed brutes of D&D or the debased goblinized Elves of Tolkein, etc.
Rather they are descendants of another hominid subspecies, similar to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_antecessor. They are more robust and physically stronger than baseline humanity, but are not as advanced in other ways.
Their skin tone is Mediterranean...ie "olive", not "green".
They can interbreed with baseline humanity, though children don't always carry to term.
EditGargants
There is a subrace of humanity found in the hills and remote locales in some of the lands of Barbarica who are much as other men save that they are an exceptionally large people, standing 7 to 9 feet tall and being of proportional girth. Further, several strains of humanity occasionally produce a specimen of similar impressive physical stature (ie: a character might take the Gargant Race Package vs a more standard Human Race Package). Other than their impressive size, Gargants are otherwise as other men in their range of coloring and ethnic traits.
Race Package:
- Gargants: A subrace of humanity that is unusually large and strong.
Nations:
GM Notes
Gargants are just extra big humans, not ogres or trolls or anything like that. They are physically identical, just larger. Most are born to normal humans as a recessive gene, but in some places there are tribes / peoples where it is a dominant gene, with Kymaria being the principal example.
EditHISTORY
Long ago there were earlier predecessors of mankind, several different sub-races. Three dominant ones arose, the Humrish, Garish, and Orcrish.
The Orcrish were the first empire builders and oppressed and enslaved the Humrish and Garish whereever they collided. They also competed directly with the Elves and Dwarves for dominance of the the world. The Humrish and Garish were largely the same, though the Garish had larger frames than the Humrish but were less numerous; often forced together due to the shared threat of the Orcrish they also often interbred and eventually the smaller Garish population was largely absorbed into the larger Humrish population in many regions. The Humrish are effectively identical to "modern" mankind, similar to Cro-Magnon and modern humanity.
The Orcrish bit off more than they could chew and were dealt severe blows by the Elves and Dwarves, though the wars did cost all three peoples dearly. In the vaccuum the emerging Humrish nations of Nemed, Lemurad, and Atlad grew to power. Conceptually, these early Humrish nations were regional and basically break down along dark-skinned, vaguely asiatic, and light-skinned ethnicities respectively. All three achieved High artifice at their peaks, and they all fell around the same time for reason(s) that don't need to be specified but which are assumed to have been catastrophic. Similarly the great Elven-led nation of Sharmut and the Dwarven commonwealth suffered their own disasters. The Orcrish Empire took advantage of the collapses and sought to enslave the survivors of Nemed but the remains of the Orcrish Empire was effectively destroyed after an exceptionally brutal all-out conflict that lasted over a century and also left the remaining Nemedians ruined (see below).
A dark age set in, and the details of earlier times was largely lost, though some Dwarf enclaves have solid history stashed or archived somewhere.
In the modern era, the broken peoples of Atlad spread out and settled what is now Albizia, and the sub-tundra portion of Norizia; the Cymthon, Linnorn, and Anorn peoples are the closest modern decedents from pure Atladians though this knowledge has been lost from their lore. A surviving branch of Atladian families with strong Garish genealogy remained distinct and the Kymarians are their ultimate descendants.
The survivors of offshoots of Nemed remain primarily in the humans of Tropizia. However the main descendants of Nemed are the savage Wicta, who come from the remnants of the Nemedians who were persecuted by the Orcrish Empire and ultimately tore it down. They fell to barbarism and devolved into their current Neanderthalic form over the course of three thousand years; they also migrated heavily, continuously getting pushed out of desirable lands by more advanced civilizations. The pygmies of Stepizia are an offshoot from earlier less degenerate versions of the Wicta.
The survivors of Lemurad were the least ruined of the early empires of mankind, and survive in Silizia primarily in Khem and its tributaries, and in Orizia among the Va-ros. The Kraag are also descended from displaced Lemuradians that interbred with aboriginals.
The humans under elvish rule in Sharmut survive in Civizia; Calamshar and Falcoria are the primary decendents of these peoples, though they have heavily interbred with descendants of the Atladians.
Some peoples with a combined origin include the Tulloc nomads of Stepizia (humans of Sharmutian and Nemedian origin), and Drass (humans of Atladian and Lemuradian descent).
Races