Humans

Humans are the most plentiful of the humanoid peoples and live across the whole of the known world. Most cluster in towns, cities and villages along the coasts, but tribes and clans of them turn up even in the remotest parts of the interior.

No single look defines the race. Skin runs from very pale to a deep blue-black, and hair may be white, blond, red, brown or black. The spread of humankind is usually credited to its knack for adjusting to almost any climate or landscape. Individual humans do not live long beside the elder races, but they breed faster than any other humanoid people, and big families are common.

Humans are on reasonable terms with most other races, though many harbor a strong dislike of the Nethermen, and some regard the Druas with superstitious dread. The other races generally return human goodwill; bigotry, the book observes, is almost entirely a human failing. What puzzles the other peoples most is how volatile and unpredictable human emotions can be.

In play, humans are the unrestricted choice. They have no special racial abilities, but every attribute can reach 18 and every profession is open to them. A human carries up to 10 lb per point of STR and speaks the tongue of his or her homeland, Atlantean (or Mediterranean) being the most widely known in the Second Age. Human lives pass quickly: young adulthood runs from 14 to 25, and old age begins at 66.