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Language
Name
The human race goes by the name of Cirath, or the Cirath. This is because their original continent of origin is Ciratha, and when they landed on Komadas, the indigenous Aoru learned from them that they came from Ciratha, so they called them the Cirath. The name stuck.
Epithets
Other races refer to the Cirath as the Cirath. Mainly this is because it was originally coined by the Aoru and other island folks, and the humans eventually just adopted it as their own.
Spoken Language
The Cirath speak Cirathian, the native language of their original homeland. However, like all the races of the islands, there is a general common "islander" language that all have adopted for cross-cultural use.
Written Language
The written language is called Cirathian also. There is, of course, the common written islander language that all cultures recognize as well.
Cirathian written language is based on a phonetic character set.
Foreign Languages
Recognizing themselves as the true outsiders to the archipelago, the Cirath made every attempt to learn other languages. Ultimately, with physiological differences in the ability to make sounds , trade leaders and various representatives of the races created a common, islander language that was easy for all to recognize and speak. Over time, this has become more the universal language of the archipelago in the primary towns, especially in cross-cultural relations and trade.
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Appearance
Physical Appearance
Adult human females tend to range between 5' and 6'2" tall and ninety and 250 pounds in weight. Males range from around 5'3" to 6'6" tall and 110 and 350 pounds in weight. There are exceptions both on the low and high ends, though they are seldom. Male and female skin color ranges from very dark brown to almost pure white, and all shades in between. There are variations of reddish tan, and yellowish tan as well. Hair color can be anywhere from jet black to very light blond, with all shades of brown in between. A smaller segment of the population has red hair, or various shades and combinations thereof. Eye color can be blue, green, brown, gray, or hazel.
Environmental Adaptation
Human appearance is generally based on chance. The initial group of humans that sailed to Komadas was diverse in appearance. On Ciratha, it is assumed that variations in human skin and hair color were originally an adaptation to the climate, but on Komadas, with a general temperate climate, the range in human appearance is purely by chance.
Lifespan
Humans live between 70 and 90 years of age.
Home Environment
Humans concentrate on the southern half of Komadas, although because of their generally amicable relationships with the other races, they live almost anywhere except for the highly elevated regions of Adu. Komadas is generally temperate and warm, and because of their relatively short stay on the island, humans would never have had the time to adapt to the climate anyway.
Views on Nature
Humans neither defile nor overly revere nature. As is their general disposition, they view nature as a means to an end as far as resources go. They attempt to protect nature from the standpoint of assuring there are always animals to hunt for food, crops to eat, and wood and resources to harvest. Humans enjoy spending time in nature, exploring it, and discovering things that are new. They do not worship it or have any particular religious ties to it.
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Home Life
Dwellings
Humans live in homes made from wood, stone, and plaster. These can be single-unit dwellings, or apartments of many small homes together in one building. Their residential areas tend to exclude business zones, and consist primarily of homes or apartments in neighborhoods. The size of homes depends on the family’s wealth and available resources.
Humans are very adaptable, and build their homes out of the surrounding resources. On Komadas, humans have built cities and towns in a number of different environments, including coastal zones, forests, mountains and volcanic plains. In the southern coastal forests, humans build primarily one- and two-story wood structures, with wood-shingled or clay-tiled roofs. In the mountains, low, single-story structures are built of wood and stone. In the volcanic plains near Mount Omatsu, humans constructed the town of Deng directly from volcanic rock and ash. Primarily, the structures are built with volcanic rock, and then plastered over with a layer of mud and ash for insulation. There are few, if any, windows, and the buildings themselves have a rounded dome shape to them.
Family Homes
Humans live in single-family dwellings. Although extended family may live in the same household, families of different relations do not.
Family Organization
Humans are a monogamous race. They tend to have a fairly limited amount of offspring, because they are conscious of keeping their use of resources under control. Human families have between one and four children, if they have any at all. When they settled on Komadas, humans had more offspring in order to maintain and expand the population, but nowadays they limit their numbers.
Attitude Towards Children
Humans see children as a means to extend their race. Since they are not indigenous, they have always had an attitude of "fighting for survival," even when not threatened. Children are treated well, and cared for until mid to late adolescence. They are expected to begin learning basic defense skills, and some sort of trade, when they enter adolescence. Children are generally kept from dangerous activities, such as hunting and warfare, until their late teens.
Attitude Towards the Elderly
Elderly humans are looked upon as wise, and their expected function in society is to teach the young. When humans become too old to continue adventuring, supporting the family, their crafts, they pass on their knowledge to the young in a continual cycle.
Kinship Ties
Kinship ties are important for maintaining family structure, and for the purposes of inheritance. Since trade, commerce, and wealth are important to humans, kinship ties are important for keeping track of a family’s wealth. Human society and governance structures are not based on kinship.
Extended Family
The extended family is important to humans simply from a relationship standpoint. Because of their background of coming to a new world, humans have very close ties with one another, and their relations most of all.
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Nourishment
Food
Humans generally adapt to whatever food source they settle near. However, traditionally they are omnivores, preferring muscle meats, including beef, pork, lamb, domestic and wild fowl, as well as fresh and saltwater fish, eggs, and dairy for protein. They also enjoy grains such as rice and wheat, soybeans and other beans, and a range of land and sea vegetables, including daikon radishes, carrots, and other roots, spinach, cabbage, and other leafy greens, plums, cherries, pears, and other fruits that grow in their temperate climates. Humans grow crops of fruits, vegetables, and grains and tend livestock for food purposes. Humans also enjoy food from the sea, which is plentiful around Saotan especially.
Food Production
Humans primarily farm and hunt. They grow their own crops, and in larger towns some farmers grow crops for the population at large, and sell or trade their wares. Humans also raise cows and goats for meat and milk, although those in more remote areas rely on hunting more than on domesticated animals for meat. Humans also fish the sea, lakes, and rivers, and capture seafood on the coast as a prime part of their diet.
Special Dishes
Special dishes are mostly regional in nature.
Fish prepared in various ways is eaten in coast and river towns. Raw fish served with sweet rice, and whole fish cooked in a spicy sauce, are particularly popular. Mountain and forest towns are known for special dishes containing beef, goat, or game fowl.
Rice dishes are common. Noodles are made from rice, as well as wheat and other grains, and soybeans and other beans are well-liked.
The human palate is very fond of salty foods, and flavorings include salt, sauces made from soy and fish, miso (fermented soybean paste), seaweed, mustard, horseradish, and ginger. Mint and a sweet red sauce made from citrus fruit are also popular.
Unpalatable Dishes
Perhaps originating from their original continent, humans tend to avoid the more exotic parts of animals, such as organ meats.
Tool Use in Eating
Humans eat most everything with chopsticks, or spoons, knives, and forks. Their utensils are made from metal, wood, and occasionally ceramic. They eat some foods with bare hands, if the food is suitable for it. They use plates and bowls to hold food while eating, and cups and mugs for drinking.
Family Dinners
Humans eat with whomever is around. They enjoy eating with immediate family, extended family, or even with many families if there is cause for celebration. Humans also like to eat out socially if money permits, in restaurants, inns, and bars.
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Personal Adornment
Clothing
Human clothing is primarily made from cotton, wool, and leather. Silk is worn for special occasions and by the wealthy.
Males generally wear full-length, loose trousers, which are straight-legged, with moderately wide ankles. Their long-sleeved shirts or tunics are often of unbleached cotton, although they may be dyed in dark colors as well.
Women wear a similar outfit to men, or long-sleeved, ankle-length dresses.
They always wear shoes or other foot covering, as their skin is quite thin. These include leather sandals, slippers, and boots, cotton slippers, reed sandals, and wooden clogs.
They may or may not wear hats or headgear, which range from a cotton kerchief tied around the head, to wide-brimmed reed or leather hats. Women often carry paper or reed sunshades in the summer.
Human clothing is usually full-body covering, except for hands and head. They like to accessorize (mainly the women), depending on the situation. For colder weather, they add outerwear, such as vests, jackets, coats, cloaks, scarves, and hoods.
Symbolic Clothing
None, except for those of religious orders.
Clothing Reflecting Status
Human clothing is indicative of status, in the sense that the wealthier the person, the nicer and better kept their clothing is. The rich are more likely to wear clothing dyed in various colors, although dark brown, dark blue, black, beige, and white clothing are quite common among even poorer folk. Women of the upper classes are much more likely to wear tight, fitted sheath dresses, while women of the lower class usually wear loose, flowing dresses that are easy to move in and care for.
Accessories and jewelry especially are indicative of status. Since humans work so hard at maintaining trade and commerce, they are not shy about wearing clothing to match their success if they have earned it. Jewelry made of silver, gold, and semi-precious, or very rarely, precious gems might be worn by the upper class; while jewelry made of wood, horn, fur, and inexpensive, decorative stones like quartz and tiger’s eye adorns the women of middle and lower classes.
Social Status
Human status is gained either through financial success, leadership in government or battle, or knowledge and wisdom.
Social Stratification
There is generally a lower, middle, and upper class. Humans tend to look out for one another, going back to their settlement origins, so there is not much in the way of absolute poverty. Even humans of lesser wealth still have basic shelter, clothing, and food on the table.
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Men and Women
Primary Caregiver
The primary caregiver in a family can be either male or female. The mother and father of a family unit are the income earners and caregivers. The elderly teach and oversee the children while parents do work.
Gender Relations
The relationship between men and women is generally even. The early days on Komadas were difficult, and both males and females worked together to assure the survival of the race and the development of relationships with the other races. Women and men are equally suited to battle, farming, hunting, teaching, and crafts.
Roles of Men
Men’s roles and professions include whatever is necessarily to look after themselves and/or their families, and to earn money.
Roles of Women
Women’s roles and professions include whatever is necessarily to look after themselves and/or their families, and to earn money.
Marriage
Humans may marry whomever they wish. No marriages are arranged. Because the race was originally very limited on the island, they have taken great pains to keep track of all lineages and family ties to see that no inbreeding occurs, accidental or otherwise. Humans usually marry for life. If one spouse dies, it is acceptable for the surviving spouse to remarry. Separation from the marriage is generally frowned upon, and happens only seldom, although it is tolerated, especially if either spouse is abusive to the other, which can often bring about the wrath of many humans, since they look after one another closely.
Marriage Ceremonies
Human marriages are elaborate or not, depending on the wealth and status of the individuals involved.
The proposal may come from either party. The parents are ordinarily told of the engagement as a formality, and while some may wish to secure the parents’ permission and good wishes, it is not strictly required in human culture. There are no arranged marriages. Humans normally observe an engagement period of one month to a year, although this varies, and some choose to wed immediately. The couple often wears engagement rings during this period.
The basic wedding ceremony is a civic affair conducted before an official from the local magistrate’s office or a cleric. Religion does not play a part in marriage unless both parties wish it. Both religious and civic marriages are equally binding.
Religious weddings take place at temples, and civil ceremonies take place in the magistrate’s office. For both types of ceremonies, it is traditional for the bride to wear a bright yellow dress, which may be very elaborate if her family is wealthy, and for the groom to wear a dark blue outfit. While many relatives and friends may be in attendance at temple ceremonies, civic ceremonies are often attended by just the bride and groom, or they may invite just their parents or a few close friends.
The ceremony itself consists of the declaration of vows and an exchange of wedding rings. After the party, the family often celebrates with a party or feast, although some couples observe their weddings more quietly.
Visible Signs of Marital Status
Fairly simple gold bands are worn on the left-hand ring finger to indicate that a person is married.
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Education
Education
Education of humans is primarily handled by the elders. Some humans keep education only among the immediate families, with grandparents or great aunts and uncles tutoring the little ones in all basic subjects, but usually schools are set up, with different elders, proficient in various trades, doing the teaching. Other races are welcome to join in the schools if they so desire, as long as they expect the same treatment as human children. Many guilds have rooms set aside for education, whether profession, craft, religious, or militaristic in nature.
Because humans worked so hard and for so long to adapt to the other cultures, to establish relations and trade with them, they pride themselves on their knowledge of the customs and histories of the other races. While originally seen as a means of survival, the tradition continues. Humans also are very focused on knowledge education, with the elders teaching the young in various guilds and homes. Religious education is left to personal choice. If a person wishes to learn, there are places to find it.
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The Arts
Art
Art is primarily viewed as a way to turn a profit and establish trade. Jewelry is important, as many humans wear it if they have attained wealth. Humans do appreciate art, but more for money's sake than for art's sake.
Artisans
Artisans are considered the lifeblood of the human race because they are the ones creating the income and trade. Since human culture derives around a primitive capitalism, artisans are the ones keeping the money moving between humans and with other races as well. Human craftsmen and women are highly valued throughout the isles because they are known to strive for perfection. This is another holdover from the early days, when humans felt the best way to establish trade and relations with other cultures was to create practical, well-made, or beautiful items to trade with.
Music
Humans enjoy music. It is one of the things that helped keep them sane on the long voyage to Komadas from Ciratha, and they have many songs of the early days of survival. Human instrument makers are renowned throughout the isles for these reasons.
Traditional instruments are mainly strings. One instrument is similar to a banjo, and has bone tuning keys, three silk strings, a long, hardwood neck that can be broken into three pieces, and a square box at the base made of hide. The strings are struck with a wooden hammer. A similar, smaller instrument is made of wood and paper, and is plucked with the fingers. Another instrument is a six-foot long hollow zither, with thirteen silk strings stretched across bridges. This is played when kneeling on the floor, and the bridges can be moved to change the base pitch. The strings are plucked with claws attached to the fingers of the right hand, while the fingers of the left hand press on the strings to change the pitch. Several kinds of bamboo flutes are also played.
Crafts
Humans specialize in woodcraft, and craft using items from the sea. Papermaking, and items made from paper, originated with the humans. Obsidian is also used both for decoration on wooden items, and as material for the more expensive items.
Human woodworkers are especially known for their pipes and musical instruments, which are often intricately carved. Figurines and statuary produced for trade are not religious, but often utilize exquisite detail. Figurines, toys, puzzles, games, and dolls often involve moving parts, pieces that fit inside one another, and intricate detail. The decorative touches on architecture and furniture are often ornately carved, or use wooden lattices.
The humans are well known for their skill in building ships. Human shipwrights are highly sought after throughout the archipelago. Related crafts, such as rope and sail making, and the construction of large masts and specially designed oarlocks, all play a part in the nautical crafts practiced in human port cities.
While silk is expensive, and does not play a large role in human trade, it is produced as a luxury item. Humans practice silk cultivation and weaving both on Komadas and in their colony on Sumil Kai.
Commodities
Anything that is used in crafts is important. Good hardwood, obsidian, and cotton, play a large role. The humans originated paper craft, and it has always been an important material for them. They make many items out of paper, which they trade to other races.
Wealth
Humans view wealth as a means of survival. Their culture is derived around trade, commerce, and building capital. Since there are fewer humans on the isles than any other race, they sometimes see their leverage in survival from their ability to trade with the other races and have a strong commerce.
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Social Issues
Physical Impediments
Physical impediments are not considered a hindrance to humans unless it keeps them from doing their normal tasks, crafts, or art. Even then, humans try to learn something new that they can do in order to be useful. Since humans tend to look out for one another, they work hard to find a suitable place for the individual to be useful.
Mental Disease
They work with any individuals to assure that there is something for them to do.
Slavery
Slavery is not tolerated. Humans are too close to one another, and there are not enough of them anyway.
Murder
A human committing murder would be ostracized. However, if murder occurs outside of lawful areas, they tend to not pay much attention.
Infanticide
Humans frown upon infanticide, since they do not have many children, and humans tend to care for and coddle their young in order to raise them strongly and increase the population.
War
Humans are not a warrior race, per se. They help their allies fight, and they do not like their trade routes encroached upon. They are a capable fighting race, however, and fight with extreme determination if the need arises. In the early days, humans had to fend of invasions of other races so they would not be wiped out completely.
Taboos
Murder of another human (except in cases of defense)
incest
slavery
bestiality
Punishment
The punishments for breaking taboos can be social ostracism or legal penalties. The legal system is completely separate from religion, and tied in with the government of the city-state. Typically, government officials decide upon the guilt of people accused of crimes, and also decide upon their punishment. Legal penalties may range from fines and conscripted service, to exile on Mubleair Xan or elsewhere.
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Politics
Political Organization
Humans organize their culture into local territories and city-states. A governor oversees each city-state, and each has a group of advisors called magistrates. City-states might have any number of magistrates, depending on their size and influence. Examples are the Trade Magistrate, Defense Magistrate, Legal Magistrate, etc. Each magistrate is in charge of an organization that does day to day operations in that area. The Legal Magistrate oversees judicial proceedings, justice, policing, etc. The Trade Magistrate oversees trade guilds, commerce, interracial trade, etc. All governors and magistrates are publicly elected officials, and serve from two to six years, depending on the parameters of the position.
Governors are usually former magistrates, or well-known military commanders, diplomats, or explorers.
There is no particular ruling body over all the human city-states, but in matters of racial importance, human governors convene a council and decide by majority vote.
Political Figures
In order of rank:
Governor of a city-state
City-state magistrate
Religion in Politics
Religion does not play into politics.
Wealth in Politics
Wealth can play into politics, as many wealthy individuals run for magistrate offices because they can afford to.
Kinship in Politics
Kinship can play into politics, but leaders are not based on succession.
Caste
There is no caste system.
Attitude Towards Other Races
Humans are perhaps the most open of all races, simply because of their need to survive. They helped establish trade between all other races, and were the primary developers of the Common Island language, which enabled the races to communicate better. Their livelihood is based upon commerce and trade, chiefly with the other races.
By and large, humans like and are friendly with aoru, giants, and megi. They admire the wisdom and level of civilization that each of these cultures has attained, and sense the openness and interest they meet from many individuals of these races. They maintain a respect for the dwarves, whom they regard as their equals and appreciate for their fine metal and stonework and dedication to their mountain homes. They feel that the qurshan and naktul are rather hostile, and may be uneasy with them, although they admire the former for their prowess in war, and the latter for their wealth and skill in trade.
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Cities and Towns
Cities
Humans favor no particular style or pattern to their city building. There is no standard layout for a human town. The construction of cities varies, depending on the environment in which they are built. They build near resources, primarily wood, water, and stone. Towns or neighborhoods built in flat areas may be grid-like or less structured, depending on whether the development of the town was planned or more spontaneous, and if necessary, land on steep hillsides is terraced to better make use of space. Dirt, gravel, and wood-plank roads run though most parts of a town, with buildings on either side. Depending on geography, and the types of neighbors, humans may or may not build walls around a city.
Public Works
Humans value public works, especially for tourism and morale. Humans like other races to visit their towns in order to generate trade. Since humans are a tightly knit race, they enjoy works that bond them as a culture. Larger towns which are more accessible to visitors, such as Saotan, are big on public works, while more isolated towns like Deng are not. Public works may include government buildings, wooden gates, and statuary. Humans are particularly fond of trees and gardens, and incorporate them heavily into their residential neighborhoods.
Public works are built through volunteer labor. Heavy work is often done by younger folks still learning a trade, or for those humans who are better suited for it and chose not to pursue a craft or trade. In some cases, many humans from all walks volunteer to help out, free of charge.
Despite the emphasis on building wealth, the humans treat one another kindly. Humans of increased wealth are viewed as those who worked hard and had a successful business or product, and are respected for it. But the public works built are for everyone.
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