During the Fiend War, humans lost very few people in combat. We’d love to say this is because humans are awesome but the real reason is the vast majority of the human race was killed by the shock wave that opened the Hell Pit and ushered in the unholy invasion. Once the most numerous folk in the world, the blink of an eye brought nine of the twelve nations to ruin.
The remainder of humanity is regarded with one of two sentiments: The reverence of an endangered species and profound indifference to their plight. Both tend to be insulting to humans but that doesn’t seem to dissuade either from occurring.
Your human character will begin with stats as follows:
| Awareness | 3 |
| Cunning | 4 |
| Endurance | 2 |
| Grace | 2 |
| Power | 2 |
| Resolve | 3 |
| Spirit | 1 |
Human characters can be from any one of the following nations:
The judicious and friendly humans of the East Isles Kingdom have undergone a bit of an identity crisis. Before the Fiend War, they worshiped and were ruled by a sea monster that they called the “True King of East Isles.” When the demon lord Avarice attacked them, they lured it into the ocean where the king ensnared the fiend and dragged it into the ocean — never to be seen again.
Since this event, nobody has seen the king. For centuries, the people of East Isles have longed for for their True King’s return. Every few decades, they continue the tradition of bringing virtuous young men to the ocean, hoping the king will anoint one to be his Sovereign Prince Regent who officiates over the government but every such coronation ceremony is dreadfully silent; leaving successorship unsettled and eventually leading to a succession war that forces the clergy to step in and settle the matter by appointing a regent themselves.
In spite of this, East Isles still has a reputation among the other nations as being a fair and even-tempered people and their princes are often sought out as arbiters for settling legal disputes.
Characters from the East Isles Kingdom start with these skills at level 2:
Equipment granted to starting Islanders includes:
East Isles culture has always held versatility as an ideal. If the clergy summoned a fisherman to serve on the Council of Princes, he was expected to already know the law. If the True King ever expelled a prince, that noble was expected to work somewhere as humble as a lumber mill.
Among the many professions common in islander society, the following stand out as the most frequent among adventurers like yourself:
A large amount of the Kingdom’s economy relies on foreign trade. As trade has slowed in recent years, those Mariners that remain in the trade have become naval warriors defending their ships from merfolk. Though sailing was never an easy life, it’s become much harder than ever before and today’s mariners exhibit tremendous mettle.
The Council of Princes grants license to even-handed, martially capable people to act as enforcers of court rulings as well as arbiters for private legal disputes. Such individuals are called “knights” of the realm and are coveted resources even outside the kingdom because of their reputations for being cool tempered, fair, and unyielding agents of justice.
The East Isles Kingdom has always been a deeply religious society. Priests of the True King have served as spiritual advisers in legal, political and private affairs of all kinds. Although everyone knows that a Tidewill’s god has been silent for centuries, people are seeking the wisdom of priests more than ever before.
Of the twelve human nations that predate the Fiend War, only one stood head-on against the demon invasion. This is also why they left no survivors to be numbered among this conglomerate of refugees.
The devastation that humanity suffered was not just a loss of lives and capital but a loss of spirit. It is widely believed that a supernatural force saps humanity of its will to rebuild their once magnificent civilizations.
People who survive in this environment are tough and wily. To be anything else is to die. Fouled creatures ravage the hovels and slums where refugees congregate. It’s rumored that some devils survived the Fiend War and will capture human refugees, dragging them into the sewers of ancient ruins to be tortured until they die.
Skills that start for refugee characters at level 2:
Refugees begin the game with the following equipment: - Caltrops - Climbing claws - Daggers or an extra 50 coins (choose one) - Firecrackers - Lock picks - A pistol or 20 Coins (choose one) - 40 Coins
Those tough enough to survive life as a refugee will probably have one of the following professions:
Scattered throughout the land are humans who have long since forgotten the name of their nation and everything about their heritage. They have refused to fully integrate into any of the societies they live under. This earns them suspicion and contempt of many of their neighbors.
Such a soul will often travel into the Great Graveyard of Nations to seek out clues of her heritage and will often return with treasure discovered in the ruins of one of the nine dead kingdoms. This does nothing to abate the mistrust they tend to earn.
Those who can afford it both financially and mentally, will settle somewhere in the Grave, building inns or serving as guides for those making their way through region. Most of them are trustworthy people.
While cities are certainly the safest places to live, many find their walls and rules too smothering. They’d much rather accept the dangers of Fouled monsters and lawlessness than live under the thumb of bureaucrats and busybodies huddled into a town.
These people learn by necessity to meet the brutality of the wilderness with equal brutality. They scrounge whatever supplies and money they can from the unfortunate corpses they find on the road. Sometimes, they are the misfortune that created those corpses.
This only had to happen once before all vagrants from out of town became “Ravagers” to city folk. Some wear the moniker with pride while those that don’t are never able to shake the misnomer.
The most misunderstood of the professions, a Warlock is one who has befriended the mystical power of shadows. Sometimes confused for devil worshipers, warlocks are anything but. They have used the power of shadow to keep themselves hidden from the clutches of devils and they delighted in slaying those vile creatures or any of The Fouled they’ve left behind.
The humble and studious people of Vineyard were happy to be ignored by the world but this luxury evaporated as the Fiend War erupted. The world watched in awe as demons rampaged over every other country but silently passed over the Sultan’s land, leaving it unmarred.
The locals claim that their devotion to their religion is why the Enemy made this grave and conclusive tactical error. With the Sultan’s people unmolested, they were able to mount a sizable offensive and bought the other nations enough time to rally their own troops to the fight.
The Sultan’s people have longed to be inconspicuous again but they know it’s impossible to do while obeying the mandate that they help the world recover. Pursuant to this command, subjects of the Sultan start with the following skills at level 2:
Being from the Vineyard Sultanate is a blessing that starts characters with the following equipment:
Although the Sultan’s subjects tend to prefer a quiet life, tending to a farm or winery, there are some called to travel the world, protect it from evil, and to lift people out of the squalor and devastation that still lingers in these centuries since the demons brought it.
Those that heed the Sultan’s call will tend to vary based on how they approach it. The philosophies and techniques of each such servant are found in the following professions…
Among the most widespread of the Sultan’s servants, Guardians are dispatched to evangelize their faith to the world and, should the Sultan have need of them, to serve as protectors of the Sultan’s allies in whatever area they settle. There are many wealthy and powerful people vying for the Sultan’s blessing solely so they can have a Guardian assigned to their protection.
People of the Vineyard sultanate have been blessed with prosperity and many feel the duty to share it with the world by helping cleanse the world of the Fouled and rebuilding impoverished communities through industry and service.
Nary a soul would fail to identify the Sultan’s clerics. They are unique in behavior and dress; adorning themselves in golden chains and silk sashes that are symbols of their oaths of honesty, sobriety and generosity. They’re often hired to accompany bounty hunters as their testimonies lend a lot of weight to bounty claims.
If you don’t know what sorts of names humans give to their babies, two things must be said: 1) Huzzah! This game is being played by non-humans! 2) Here’s a chart to help out our robot, extraterrestrial or post-human players come up with human-sounding names.
Humans tend to have gender specific given names followed by surnames usually inherited from a father’s family. In sparsely populated areas (such as the Great Graveyard of Nations), it’s more common to have only one name that’s a single syllable. Among the Vineyard Sultanate, traditional names appear more frequently but in the more metropolitan parts of the East Isles Kingdom, people feel a greater need to be creative with their names to help themselves stand out.
| Male | Female | Family | |
| 1 | Abdul | Alexandra | Libretto |
| 2 | Alexander | Anne | Caisson |
| 3 | Alfonso | Carlotta | Caprice |
| 4 | Bertol | Caroline | Cantella |
| 5 | Ferdinand | Esther | Fidel |
| 6 | Franz | Irene | Gallant |
| 7 | Gustav | Isabella | Marjor |
| 8 | Joseph | Louise | Nangrom |
| 9 | Leopold | Maria | Sage |
| 10 | Muztef | Millicent | Shallot |
| 11 | Oscar | Naomi | Tarragon |
| 12 | Uberto | Victoria | Virgo |