Humans are one of the most widespread and adaptable Folk of Arcainia, born from the union of Solis, God of the Sun, Grain, and Harvest, and Gaia, Goddess of Life and Fertility. Created upon the fertile lands of Midgard, humanity inherited both the warmth of the sun and the restless abundance of life itself.

Unlike the older races, humans were not defined by a single ancient kingdom, rigid tradition, or divine mandate. They began as scattered tribes, surviving through wit, invention, cooperation, and stubbornness. Where other Folk endured through long memory or raw strength, humans endured through change. That gift became their greatest weapon.

Midgard is the ancestral homeland of humanity, a vast and varied land of fertile plains, river valleys, forests, coastlines, and fortified cities. Its geography helped shape humanity into a people of many cultures rather than one unified identity. One human kingdom might prize agriculture and trade, while another may be built on military discipline, scholarship, seafaring, or divine devotion.

Because of this, humans are often considered the “middle people” of Arcainia: neither ancient like the elves, nor stone-rooted like the dwarves, nor brutal like the orcs, but capable of learning from all of them.

Before the rise of crowns and borders, humans lived in small tribes across Midgard. They hunted, gathered, farmed, and crafted simple tools, adapting quickly to whatever land they called home.

These early humans were vulnerable, but never helpless. They learned fire, shelter, agriculture, weapons, medicine, and trade not through divine command, but through necessity. A human left alone in the wilderness might not be the strongest creature there, but give them time, and they will build a spear, a fence, a road, and eventually a kingdom.

That is humanity in one sentence: fragile alone, terrifying together.

The Age of Kings began when human settlements grew into established nations. Walls rose. Roads connected distant villages. Nobles claimed bloodlines. Farmers became citizens. Warriors became armies. But civilization brought conflict.

Human kingdoms fought one another for land, resources, and legitimacy. At the same time, they clashed with the Orcs, who contested territory through raids and warfare, and with the Chromatic Dragons, who saw Midgard as a prize worthy of conquest.

Humans and Orcs share more similarities than either side likes to admit. Both are passionate, ambitious, tribal in origin, and fiercely loyal to their own. Both value strength, survival, and legacy.

The difference lies in philosophy. Humans found strength in cunning, cooperation, numbers, invention, and fortification. Orcs believed survival belonged only to the strong, and that weakness invited death. To humans, civilization was proof of greatness. To Orcs, civilization often looked like fear dressed in stone walls.

This ideological divide fueled centuries of violence. Human settlements built defenses. Orcs raided them. Humans retaliated. Orcs answered in kind. The cycle became so old that many forgot who struck first.

Roughly 300 years into the Age of Kings, the Draconic Incursion began. The chromatic dragons, commanded by Vaelthryssa, Mother of Dragons, sought to claim Midgard for themselves.

At first, the human kingdoms were divided. Rival kings guarded their own borders while dragons burned their neighbors. But Vaelthryssa’s ambition threatened all of Midgard, and that danger forced humanity to do what it does best when cornered: unite.

With the aid of the metallic dragons of Drakzuriel, the Platinum Dragon, the human kingdoms formed a united front. Together, they drove back the chromatic dragons and ultimately banished Vaelthryssa to the Maw.

The victory became one of humanity’s defining myths: proof that rival kingdoms could become one shield when the world demanded it.

In 414 AK, disaster struck again. In the southern region of Falenfas, a rift to the Maw tore open. This wound in the world became known as Hellgate, and from it poured demons and devils in what would become the First Demon Blight.

Falenfas was so scarred by the invasion that it was later renamed Helthas, meaning “Land Claimed by Hell.”

Two years later, in 416 AK, the legendary human hero Agonis helped forge an alliance between the northern nations of Midgard, Baragorn, and Vaelithar. Humans, dwarves, and elves fought together, pushing back the infernal hordes and sealing Hellgate.

In the aftermath, the Northern Alliance Trade Company, or NATC, was founded to preserve cooperation between the allied nations. Agonis ascended to godhood, becoming one of humanity’s greatest divine figures.

By 756 AK, Midgard had grown beyond a collection of kingdoms. Under King Augustus Baelish II, Midgard was declared an empire, and Augustus became its first emperor.

This marked a turning point in human history. The old rival kingdoms were no longer merely allies of convenience. They were now provinces beneath a single imperial banner.

Under Augustus’s reign, the Orc Wars began: coordinated military campaigns designed to push the Orcs southward into the desert of Grash’Sharim. To many humans, these wars were seen as justice, security, and the final taming of Midgard. To the Orcs, they were conquest, exile, and proof that humans hid cruelty beneath crowns and laws.

Neither side is entirely wrong. That is what makes the wound fester.

Human culture is diverse, practical, and ambitious. Humans build quickly, organize fiercely, and adapt faster than most other Folk expect. Their cities often become centers of trade, religion, law, military power, and scholarship.

Common human values include:

• Ambition: Humans rarely accept the world as it is. They expand, invent, conquer, rebuild, and dream beyond their station.

• Community: Though individual humans may be fragile compared to many races, their societies are powerful. Guilds, armies, churches, noble houses, and trade companies are central to human success.

• Faith: Humans often worship Solis, Gaia, Agonis, and other gods tied to survival, harvest, war, justice, and legacy.

• Legacy: Human lives are short compared to elves or dragons, which gives their cultures a sense of urgency. Humans build monuments because they know they will not last forever.

Humans tend to see themselves as the rightful stewards of Midgard, especially after surviving the Draconic Incursion and the First Demon Blight. This belief can inspire heroism, unity, and sacrifice. It can also become arrogance.

Other races may view humans as bold, adaptable, and inspiring, but also expansionist, impatient, and dangerously convinced that history favors them. The human empire is not evil by nature, but it is powerful, and power always casts a long shadow.

Human adventurers are among the most common in Arcainia. Some seek glory, others wealth, redemption, divine purpose, forbidden knowledge, or escape from imperial expectations.

A human adventurer might be:

• A knight descended from soldiers of the Draconic Incursion.

• A farmer’s child blessed by Solis or Gaia.

• A scholar investigating Hellgate and the legacy of Helthas.

• A soldier questioning the morality of the Orc Wars.

• A merchant-agent of the NATC.

• A rebel from a conquered province.

• A descendant of Agonis’s companions, chasing a legacy too large for mortal shoulders.