Vegetian

Physically near identical to humans, vegetian’s major natural differences are mostly only in their build. Compared to humans, vegetians are usually a bit taller, with slightly narrow and heavy builds, and tend to be fairer of skin.   The largest differences that make modern vegetians notable from humans however, are the artificial differences that their ancestors inflicted on themselves. During he Valnik Golden Age, when magical development and understanding was accelerating rapidly, they found ways to permanently etch changes into a beings genetic code, and cause permanent mutations. These are the Golden Genes.   Since this discovery, some 1,200 years ago, a large range of unusual features can be seen in vegetians. These can range from color changes to parts of their body, to actual additional body parts (though often malformed and removed at birth). Most commonly, hair and eye hues are vibrant, and skin patterns or spots decorate their bodies.   Though the practice of introducing these genes has long been banned, they do not seem to be washing out, leading many experts to believe that vegetians will, in the far future, begin to have a more unified look as these various traits become more and more mixed.

Though found across the globe, like all sapient species, vegetians are least distributed of the Imperial Races. The vast majority of vegetians are located in Alanosa and Jial, specifically in Denjia.

While vegetian perception is equivalent to humans, a natural byproduct to their development in the arcane-rich environments of Alanosa is a strong arcane sense.   Though far weaker than what is observed in many animals in the wild, most vegetians can feel arcane fluctuations "in the air". Many can get sickened in the presence of magic generators or some industrial "wet tech" that uses unshielded arcane energy as a major power source.

Common vegetian naming follows a formula of: firstname, secondname, bloodname, and housename.   It is common for vegetians living outside of Alanosa and Denjia to hyphenate their names on marriage to keep a familiar structure.

Alanosa and Denjia are commonly considered "vegetian nations" due to their high vegetian population.   Vegetians live across the globe however, and have been raised to positions of political power in nearly all nations on the planet.

Ilgan dialects (Vorkun, Dalvano, Ajaval) and Vikul are the primarily languages found in Alanosa and Denjia

Culturally, vegetians are often viewed as xenophobic, though this is often simply a cultural mismatch. In both Alanosa and Denjia, a caste system exists, enforced by law, and the communal living habits in both areas are often at odds with the more individual-emphasized races the the world.   Biologically, humans and vegetians can breed, with difficulty, resulting in what is often known colloquially as "vumans" or "vegmans". Golden Genes can pass to the hybrid child, but the child cannot pass these genes further.   Vegetians and elves can also breed, though an offspring is exceedingly rare and has always been infertile. As with humans, golden genes can pass on to these children. Unfortunately, vegetian-elven children have a high risk of malformed torsos, extreme height, and other deformities.