Humans

Humans, you know them and either hate or love them. Humans are one of the most common races among the Onokrin Empire, letting them be known far and wide among all races for better or worse. As a result, humans are highly varied, in both physicality and in body as many humans are considered half breeds or chimerics, making them visually quite unusual in appearance as well as body and mind. All humans share an intrinsic bond to orcs, making them largely interchangeable in many regards. Most consider orcs the brawn and the humans the brains of the empire.

Humanity is an interesting race among all the species of the world. This facet is twofold in that humans are the only known race to be able to mix attributes between other races, whereas under normal circumstance the mixing of species results in a pure member of the father's race with humans they are capable of creating half races or even new races in the case of multiple generations or with the process of weaving. Which is a trait that is attributed to the other factor that humans are peculiar for. Humans are adaptable in ways that marvel and sometimes confuse other races, though a human would never outshine an orc in strength or an ogre in magic or even a goblin in mechanics they can physically adapt to nearly anything.

To say that humans are merely a jack of trades understates their adaptability, thanks to weaving and interbreeding humans can adapt to any locale and any conditions that would readily kill any race not specifically tailored for said conditions. From the inhospitable northern mountains and frozen hells to the coastal regions to the treacherous swamps of the southeastern islands, humans can adapt to live and thrive anywhere above or below. Anyone who can respect humans will find it is their adaptability that is truly worth praise.

A quick-start guide:

• Humans and all chimeric subtypes gain +15 additional points to assign during character creation, increasing the skill point limit to 75, up from 60.

Biology

With a highly modular biology, both through weaving and interbreeding, very little is static among humans or chimerics.

For a list of common chimerics derived from the result of humans pairing with other races, click here.

Culture

Human culture is, in many ways, Onokrin culture as they and orcs were the founding races that began the Onokrin Empire. Onokrin culture places a heavy emphasis on imperialism, refinement, art, and civilization. The approach that the Onokrin has, lead by the current emperor Lucius Aratus, is largely diplomatic with greater powers such as the Steel Legion or Warren Federation and largely indifferent to smaller powers unless they prove a nuisance. Onokrin culture is heavily based upon honor, merit, martial strength, and individuality. As humans and orcs make up the largest portion of individuals within the onokrin, they set the standard of how everyone must behave. Little patience is given to individuals who go against empire culture, with law breakers, tribals, and problematic individuals being swiftly detained, exiled, or in many cases challenged to a duel and killed in combat for offending the honor of another. The imperialist approach by the empire largely begins and ends with their direct propensity to violence, be it placing open bounties on tribal communities or their complex network of dueling.

Honor to humans and orcs is everything and to insult anothers honor is to invite a challenge for a duel. The laws for duels are old, draconian, and kept in place across the Onokrin, though may be subject to changes depending on the ruling lord or direct intervention by the emperor. While the specifics may vary the general rules remain the same. If an individual feels someone has insulted his honor, he may petition the magistrate for the writ of duel, stating his casus belli (the reason for the challenge) and his demands. The challenger decides if the duel is to the death or to yield, but the challenged chooses the time, location, type of duel, and weapons allowed, subject to agreement by the challenger and the overseeing magistrate. If, for whatever reason, the challenger and challenged cannot come to an agreement, then the local lord or magistrate may dictate the terms in the fairest way possible. Duels to the death are considered legally sanctioned executions conducted in honorable standing, thus the winner is exempt from all repercussions. Should the challenged refuse the duel or otherwise miss the appointed date and time, they will be imprisoned indefinitely and their possessions given to the challenger, with the only path to freedom accepting the duel.

While other races may see such ruthless forms of legalized combat as barbaric, this tradition dates back to an older rite from which orcs and later humans used to weed out the worst of their society. Rather than be concerned with lengthy trials, criminal warrants, investigations, potential corruption, and the eventual housing of criminals it was deemed far simpler to just let parties in conflict kill each other and be done with it. A man of terrible repute might, through guile, corruption, intimidation, or wealth avoid conviction for a crime, but within the onokrin, that man will likely have duelists lining up for miles demanding his head mounted on a pike. One way or another, if imperial law does not deal with the worst of their society, the people will do it themselves.

This level of brutality, surprisingly, comes mainly from humans, not orcs. Humans are far more willing to use violence than their orc counter parts, even if the latter is more suited for such. Much of the most aggressive and directly violent methods employed by the empire is a direct result of humans. Factors such as culture, art, and even magic primarily come from orcs, goblins, and ogres respectively. However, humans do contribute in one major way compared to other races and that is with industry. From the primitive beginnings as farmers, to smithing and metal working, to mechanical innovation, to the modern age of magical power grids and mana powered devices, all can be directly said to stem from humans. Not that they created said items, as this is often done by ogres or goblins, but that they created the commerce, industry, and widespread adoption of said advancements. Much of the empires economic success can be said to be the direct result of humans being able to apply and mix all the best traits of other member races. This well known fact is often why ogres researching runic magic or goblins working on innovative technology will often employ a handful of humans. They are innately creative, innately capable of applying existing or new ideas in varied ways, and even if they fail to work out the particulars the more magically or enginerial adept ogres and goblins can make such ideas come to fruition.

Mentality

The mentality of humans is as heavily varied as their appearance, but among all humans and chimerics is a few shared traits that they rarely lose. Innovation, open mindedness, and a direct propensity towards violence mark anyone of human heritage. They are consumed with ambition, able to adapt and yet always looking to improve. Humans are not a race anyone could ever make a slave, because if they cannot find a way to break chains through violence, they will adapt and invent a way to over come. To be human, is to be a master of yourself and everything around you.

Back to Races