A most prolific, prosperous, and prestigious race of people found primarily on the continent of Galotte in its numerous kingdoms and regions. Renown for their adaptability, variance in capabilities, and unquenchable ambition, humans quickly rose to become the most widespread and numerous race on their continent. Their very early history is somewhat foggy, as even the earliest mention of them by ancient eladrin scholars declares ignorance as to how long humans had been a part of Galotte, and these writings predate any human-made documentation by centuries. Whether humans arose on Galotte or elsewhere and migrated is up to scholarly debate, though no solid evidence to support either side has ever been presented. What is known is that the earliest discovered human writings on Galotte are dated to around -3200 GC, more than 4500 years ago.

Though the oldest human writings date the race’s ascendancy to civilization four and a half millennia past, the oldest known state is the ancient city known as Dorr in present-day Aglaeas, which was presumably founded sometime around -3100 GC. The actual history of this early city is very vague, as the few records that exist of it are primarily agricultural accounts. Despite numerous archaeological expeditions into the Aglaean desert by the Royal Historical Society, very little of this inaugural human city has been found, and it is thought that its reign was short-lived.

After the rise and fall of Dorr, a great many other city-states began to dot the expanse of Galotte as a great many kings and princes began to accumulate power and influence and create a true aristocracy. By -2500 IC, no fewer than two dozen human kingdoms had risen and fallen across the continent. During this time, wars were fought for dominance of the land and its resources. The first true human empire arose around -2300 IC, and it was called Haelgadria. The span of this nation was relatively small compared to the empires that followed, though it was important as the first held by the race of humans. It was during the reign of Haelgadria that the humans first met the elves occupying the forests of Galotte, and initial hostilities between the two people were brutal. After the fall of Haelgadria around -2050 IC, tensions between the two races eased, and trade and active communication became possible.

Around -1800 IC, the empire of Dhejarm rose to power, and it was soon after this that the dwarves began emerging from their subterranean homes to explore the surface lands and the two races met. Unlike the initial meetings with elves, the first contact between the cautious dwarves and curious humans went fairly well, and the millennia-spanning friendship between the two races began. With allies in both dwarves and elves, the human nations thrived, though due to their territorial inclinations, war between human civilizations was common and only the few major empires held any period of relative peace over the next two thousand years.

In 1036 IC, the Alcadian Empire was founded, and so began humanity’s true rise to grandeur in the world around them. Alcadia was to date the greatest civilization in the history of the human race. Its borders stretched from the Sea of Ghosts to the Great Sea, and most cities on Galotte flew the scarlet, black, and gold of Alcadia. Active, long-distant trade with the continents of Tazarin and Karoa were established and maintained, and ancient relics of Galotte’s past were uncovered with the discovery of the first Emkari ruins, leading to technological advances beyond anywhere else in the world. Despite the glory and power of Alcadia, the empire fell in 1482 IC after a brutal war with the orcs of the Kohl Khan Horde, and after a brutal civil war the once-mighty empire had fallen into numerous smaller kingdoms and city-states.

If the history of humanity tells us anything, it is that ambition and resourcefulness are in that race’s blood. A new great nation is surely somewhere in the future, and perhaps one of the current states carries the seeds of tomorrow’s great empire.


Eos: the New Age Jondowner