Humans

"Archmage Duralin III"

Humans are by far the most numerous of the races that currently inhabit Athelon, populating almost all of the land between that of the Kla'drada, Faevale Forest and the Wilderwoods.

They're not the strongest, fairest or even the most intelligent race that exists within the realm of Athelon, they're in fact widely regarded to be a force of nature that leave behind a wake of destruction and death and are almost universally disliked by every other race. That's not to say however that they're bad or evil. Humans just have shorter lifespans than that of most other races and as a result, care little for the consequences of their actions.

Despite their tendencies to make enemies of nearly everybody around them, including other humans, when the need is truly great, they have the remarkable ability to put aside their destructive tendencies and unite in a way that few others can. Though rare, the honour of humanity is one of the strongest and most notable features of the human race.

The Ages.
According to the human religion of Eldarism, the First Age was an age ruled by their Elder-Gods and the war they fought against the Dark-Gods. Unfortunately, very little, if anything has survived from those times. It is believed that the human race evolved from a Primal Race of creatures called the Titans.

The Second Age began when the Elder-Gods left Athelon and lasted until the first humans arrived in the Northern Realms. Any ancient ruins found are assumed to have been from this period, though it is unknown how many thousands of years may have elapsed during this age.

Though it's not entirely certain when humans first appeared, surviving documents stored in the Library of Eldraza have given a reasonably accurate estimate of being some 1,643 years ago. The arrival of humans in the Northern Realms is largely regarded by scholars as being the dawn of the Third Age and is the basis for the numerical value assigned to the current year.

The Great Settler Expansion.
It is believed that a small band of humans somehow managed to cross the vast Kla'drada desert in the southern part of the Northern Realms and settled in what is now known as Al-Kra'sil. They stayed within this small kingdom for a rather long time as they built up the great city of Eldraza and though many humans wanted to travel further, progress was made difficult due to the sheer abundance of wild creatures that enjoyed picking them off as they attempted to progress further into the untamed wilds.

The humans slowly managed to expand their presence over the course of many hundreds of years and settled further and further northwards, claiming lands and building the foundations of new kingdoms as they went until, finally, they reached the land that would eventually become Raelic. A vast forest of dangerous creatures and extremely turbulent weather halted their progress any further and they were forced to finally cease their progress north.

Some of the explorers weren't content with stopping however and decided to travel east and west instead, expanding their lands even further. Those that journeyed west passed through a narrow pass in the mountains and it was here that they encountered the elven race for the first time. First-contact, unfortunately, didn't go quite as hoped as when coming face to face with what appeared to be a human, but taller and with blue skin, many of the explorers were understandably apprehensive and wary.

The tension quickly built between the two races as they stood facing one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The elves attempted to communicate but their words were foreign and impossible to understand. It is unclear exactly what happened next, but it is believed that one of the elves made a sudden movement which caused some of the humans to panic. The human leader of the expedition tried to warn the elves by shouting at them to run but the elves seem to have taken this to be a war-cry of some sort and attacked. Miscommunication, coupled with panic inevitably resulted in a devastating first encounter for both parties. This event would later be called The Battle of the Rhun.

After the bloody battle finally ended, the humans retreated and decided against going through the pass again and steer clear of accidentally trespassing into their territory. The elves evidently did likewise as it was over one hundred years before the humans and elves attempted to converse once more.

The humans that had decided to travel east instead also encountered unforeseen problems in the form of the fae; Living tree-like creatures that killed humans on sight with poison-tipped darts. The forests to the north and east of Raelic were full of them and they cared little for anything the humans had to say. Merciless and remorseless, the fae killed anybody who stepped inside one of their forests and the humans quickly learned not to stray too close.

The Londaran War.
From around the years Y3A-700 to Y3A-1000, relations between the humans and elves seemed to be reasonably strong, the elves welcomed the humans with open arms and were allowed to enter and exit the elven country freely. Many humans even decided to live within the elven communities and started families. The Battle of the Rhun was all but forgotten and to both elves and humans alike, their alliance appeared to be solid.

Things started to take a turn for the worse, however, in the middle years of Y3A-1000 when the elves began to realise that the human birthrate was substantially higher than their own and that there may be a very real possibility that the human population within Londar would soon begin to outnumber them if it hadn't done so already. Suddenly seeing what a precarious position they were in if the humans decided to turn against them, they began to recede back and close off certain aspects of their society. The ability to freely enter and exit Hyvern City was restricted and many of the elves began to talk about pushing the humans out.

This went on for a few years with tensions steadily rising until it culminated in the disastrous event dubbed the Hyvern Uprising. Thanks in part to their own actions, the elves' fears came to fruition and the humans finally rebelled. This is what would officially become the beginning of the First War of the North. Hundreds of both humans and elves were slaughtered in the streets of Hyvern, including the High Priestess of Londar.

The humans soon claimed the city and declared their rebellion leader, Renoveld Borea as their king. The elves that survived the uprising fled the city and attempted to find refuge wherever they could but were soon hunted down and slaughtered in droves. Some made it through the cracks and banded together, forming small guerilla forces that hid within the forests of Londar while a few others somehow managed to reach the coast and made it back to Elhaíg where they reported what had happened.

Although the humans expected some form of retaliation from the elven homeland, nothing happened. For five years, the payback they had been anticipating failed to materialise. Although it seemed unlikely, perhaps the elves had simply done what they had done after the Battle of the Rhun and cut their losses.

Instead, another surprise occurred. Just a few short years after Londar had been claimed, a band of dwarves emerged from beyond the Crown Mountains. The humans were initially wary, thinking that this was some part of the elven revenge but after many long talks and discussions, an alliance between the two races was established.

The humans learned that the reason the dwarves had come south, out of the mountains, was because they were searching for a new mining city to establish in more favourable conditions on the western edge of the continent and would be willing to trade for access to a specific mountain just south of Hyvern City. The humans rejected this out of hand but saw the deal as potential leverage to use at a later date and so told the dwarves that they would think it over.

When the elves finally did retaliate in Y3A-1130, they did so with such devastation that it left most of the Lowlands in smouldering ruins. Two thousand elves emerged from the night's mists and set fire to every village and town they came across, killing everyone and everything that crossed them. The human peasants, terrified for their lives, fled to Hyvern City where they told stories of the Night Hunters.

Although the humans were totally unprepared for such an attack, they scrambled to build a defensive army to hold the walls of Hyvern City and as more peasants fled to the safety of the walls, their defensive force grew to a rather substantial size. They weren't trained or equipped, but so long as they held the walls, they would not fall. A plea for aid was sent to the dwarves, offering in return, access to the mountain they wished to build a city within. But it would be days before they heard a reply.

Six days of constant assaults on the city walls drained morale. Each attack they fended off expended more of their finite resources and left them exhausted. Each attack brought them closer to being overwhelmed and destroyed. On the sixth night of assaults, bells tolled in the city, signalling a royal death. Confused, the men looked for their king and found him still fighting on the battlements. When the news finally broke that the king's entire family and the council of elders had been killed by elven assassins, the defenders broke.

King Renoveld Borea stood atop the walls with the last of his guard and held the wall long enough to allow the remaining humans to flee the city before it was totally overrun. Without much hope, they made their way north to another fortress in the mountains, Mistward Keep. For almost ten days the survivors journeyed north, barely sleeping, barely pausing for breaks, knowing that the elves were trailing them and mercilessly killing all who lagged or fell behind.

When the humans finally reached Mistward Keep, very few soldiers remained alive. Of the four hundred people who remained, most were women and children. Everybody who was able was given a spear and stood along the walls of the keep, knowing that they had nowhere else to go but refusing to give in.

For twelve hours the humans fought for their survival. Wave after wave, the elves kept coming. Then, when all seemed lost, the dwarves emerged from the south and within minutes, had blanketed the valley with fire that melted the stone. It wasn't long before the elves broke off their assault and fled for their lives.

Times were tough in Londar following the war, much of the population had been killed, including most of the royal family and many of the farms that fed the kingdom had been burnt to cinders. Next in line to the throne was a 9-month-old baby who had nobody to counsel him on how to rule a house, let alone a kingdom and food was rapidly running out. When the king of Raelic offered assistance in return for Londar becoming a vassal, Londar accepted without a moment's hesitation.

For the next three hundred years, Londar survived in servitude to Raelic, slowly trying to build up enough resources to break free.

Second War of the North.
The Second War of the North was almost entirely a human affair that occurred between Raelic, Ti'hanka and to a lesser extent, Londar.

Raelic wished to subjugate Ti'hanka and claim its lands but the defenders of Ti'hanka were surprisingly resilient. They'd been able to hold the river for almost six years and the council of Raelic was beginning to think that the long war effort might be a waste of time and money and that they should break off the siege.

Determined to prove his council wrong, Tarnel Eurus acted hastily and took advantage of an opening, resulting in almost 4,000 of his own men being killed in the ambush that Ti'hanka had set. In order to recover quickly and efficiently, Raelic suddenly increased the taxes in Londar and subsequently caused them to begin rebelling.

Infighting with the Council and Tarnel resulted in Tarnel attempting to assassinate the council but was foiled shortly before he could act. Tarnel pulled all of his garrisoned units in Londar and added them back to his primary army in order to try to rush Ti'hanka again.

Without the Raelic guards, Londar was able to establish a secret army named the Mistborne High Guard. Londar went behind Raelic's back and requested aid from Ti'hanka but were refused thanks to the reputation they had.

Notable Humans
Over the 1,600 or so years since the arrival of the humans in the northern realms, there have been a great many people of note that have shaped how the human race has come to be. While some names have been lost or their deeds confused and embellished, below is a list of some of the more exceptional human rulers and leaders of note.