Humans are one of the major intelligent races of the world and one of the principal populations of Muxuu.
Although their individual appearance may seem ordinary compared to many other races, Humanity possesses an unusual advantage: extraordinary compatibility with the lineages of other intelligent races.
Through generations of interbreeding, foreign racial traits can gradually become assimilated into Humanity while portions of the original lineage remain within their descendants.
Overview
Humans are native inhabitants of Muxuu, where they share the continent with the Bararos.
Over the course of their history, Humans have encountered races from beyond the divine barriers separating the continents.
These encounters had lasting consequences for Human bloodlines, culture, legends, and their understanding of the wider world.
Classification
Humans constitute their own racial group.
They are distinct from Devilhumans, Demihumans, Semihumans, Beastkin, Bararos, and the many other intelligent races inhabiting the world.
Appearance
Humans possess ordinary humanoid anatomy without the inherent animal characteristics of Semihumans or Beastkin.
Physical characteristics such as skin tone, hair color, eye color, height, and body structure naturally vary between individuals.
Mana
Humans naturally possess Mana.
Mana has become an important part of Human power and civilization, although an individual's potential depends on factors such as talent, training, knowledge, and available resources.
Lineage Assimilation
One of Humanity's greatest racial advantages is its extraordinary compatibility with other intelligent races.
Humans can produce descendants with numerous different races. The first generations of such unions may form recognizable mixed populations with characteristics inherited from both parents.
However, something particularly unusual can occur when those descendants continue reproducing with Humans over many generations.
The foreign lineage can gradually become assimilated into Humanity.
Eventually, the descendants are once again considered Humans rather than members of the original mixed race, even though traces of the foreign lineage may continue to exist within them.
Inherited Traits
Assimilation does not necessarily erase everything inherited from the non-Human ancestor.
Certain characteristics, affinities, or abilities associated with the foreign lineage can survive across generations and occasionally manifest among Human descendants.
This creates Humans who are fully considered members of Humanity while still carrying an ancient racial lineage.
Elven Lineage
One of the best-known historical examples originates from the Elves.
Ancient contact between Humans and Elves resulted in the creation of Half-Elves.
Not every Half-Elf eventually left Muxuu.
Some remained among the Human population and continued having descendants with Humans.
Across many generations, their descendants became assimilated into Humanity.
As a result, Humans carrying Elven Lineage still exist.
Possible Elven Lineage Traits
Humans carrying Elven Lineage may inherit characteristics associated with their distant Elven ancestry, including:
- Affinity with plants.
- Greater sensitivity toward animals.
- Improved ability to communicate with or understand animals.
- Mana-related aptitude inherited from Elven ancestry.
Possessing Elven Lineage does not make an individual an Elf or a Half-Elf.
Giant Lineage
The same historical process occurred after contact between Humans and Giants.
Human-Giant descendants became known as Semi-Giants.
While a major Semi-Giant population eventually migrated away from Muxuu, not every descendant of this lineage left the continent.
Those who remained and continued reproducing with Humans eventually produced Human descendants carrying Giant Lineage.
Such Humans can inherit characteristics originating from their distant Giant ancestry.
A Human carrying Giant Lineage remains Human rather than becoming a Giant or Semi-Giant.
Lineage and Racial Identity
Lineage and race are not identical concepts.
A distant non-Human ancestor does not automatically change the racial classification of a modern Human descendant.
| Classification | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Elf | Member of the Elven race |
| Half-Elf | Recognizable Human-Elf mixed race |
| Human with Elven Lineage | Human whose distant ancestry contains assimilated Elven lineage |
| Giant | Member of the Giant race |
| Semi-Giant | Recognizable Human-Giant mixed race |
| Human with Giant Lineage | Human whose distant ancestry contains assimilated Giant lineage |
Ancient Arrival of Elves and Giants
Humanity's ancient contact with Elves and Giants began when an expedition belonging to those races successfully crossed the divine barriers and reached Muxuu.
The encounter was far from peaceful and eventually became one of the most consequential events in the ancient history of the continent.
It ultimately contributed to the emergence of Half-Elves and Semi-Giants and permanently introduced foreign lineages into portions of Humanity.
Legends of Other Continents
Knowledge of the ancient visitors did not completely disappear after the original events faded from living memory.
Stories concerning Elves, Giants, and other extraordinary peoples were transmitted through Human generations.
As centuries passed, historical information gradually mixed with oral tradition, exaggeration, misunderstanding, and fiction.
Consequently, some races that truly exist beyond the continental barriers survive within Human culture primarily as creatures and peoples from ancient stories.
History Becoming Myth
Modern Humans do not necessarily know which details within these ancient stories are historically accurate.
A story may preserve the memory of a real race while completely misunderstanding its culture, abilities, appearance, or origin.
Other stories may combine information from several different peoples into a single legendary race.
This means that ancient Human folklore can contain genuine fragments of knowledge about the wider world without providing a reliable description of reality.
Interpreting Unknown Races
These legends influence how Humans interpret races they have never encountered before.
When confronted with an unfamiliar people, Humans may attempt to identify them using descriptions preserved in old stories.
Sometimes this can provide useful clues.
In other cases, similarities between an unknown race and an ancient legend can lead Humans to completely incorrect conclusions.
Half-Elves and Semi-Giants
The history of Half-Elves and Semi-Giants is closely connected to Humanity's ancient encounters with races from beyond Muxuu.
Both populations eventually became involved in the history of the ancient Barrier-Crossing Artifacts.
Major groups later left Muxuu and established themselves beyond its barriers.
The Half-Elves migrated toward Disc, while the Semi-Giants migrated toward Humel.
Their migrations did not remove every trace of their ancestry from Muxuu, however, because some descendants remained and were eventually assimilated into Humanity.
Human Adaptability
Humanity's ability to incorporate foreign lineages gives the race unusual long-term biological diversity.
Two individuals who are both unquestionably Human may possess very different ancestral lineages inherited from events that occurred many generations before their births.
These inherited traces provide Humanity with a way to preserve portions of foreign racial characteristics without changing the descendants' fundamental identity as Humans.
Common Misconceptions
“A Human with Elven Lineage is a Half-Elf.”
Incorrect.
A Half-Elf is a recognizable mixed race, while a Human with Elven Lineage belongs to Humanity after generations of assimilation.
“A Human with Giant Lineage is a Semi-Giant.”
Incorrect.
The same distinction applies to Giant ancestry. A Human can carry Giant Lineage without being classified as a Semi-Giant.
“Human legends about foreign races are entirely fictional.”
Not necessarily.
Some stories preserve fragments of genuine historical encounters, although centuries of retelling may have substantially changed their original meaning.
Trivia
- Humans are one of the principal races of Muxuu.
- Humanity possesses exceptional compatibility with the lineages of numerous other intelligent races.
- Foreign racial traits can remain within Human descendants even after the lineage has been assimilated over many generations.
- Elven Lineage and Giant Lineage are known examples of this phenomenon.
- Half-Elves and Humans with Elven Lineage are not the same racial classification.
- Semi-Giants and Humans with Giant Lineage are likewise distinct.
- Ancient encounters with races from beyond Muxuu survive within Human culture as stories and legends.
- Some apparently mythical races in Human folklore are based on peoples that actually exist elsewhere in the world.