Manfolk

Humans are found throughout Tenembria, from the extreme north to the far southlands and are considered among the most adaptable of the races in this manner. In general human dwellings stay close to bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and seas. This marked preference for living closely to waterways extends from the mightiest of Empires even to the most remote mountain tribes.

However, while manfolk have proven capable of expanding to and surviving in even the most extreme conditions, they can be said to thrive best along rivers, lakes, seasides and oceans. Almost all mannish civilization is centered on a waterway. Whether it is utilized for irrigation, for sating thirsty cattle, for fishing or for trade.

Manfolk express great variety in dwelling types, but most commonly construct them free-standing from local materials, showing no preference for stone, brick, adobe, waddle, or wood, except what is best suited for their environment. These dwellings are usually contain separate family units or else are built separately over the space of a farm hold or village. Some cultures prefer multi-family or multi-generational dwellings, but the typical preference is for singular family spaces.

Human dwellings and villages are almost always fortified, with strong preference given to hilltops, river bends, islands, cliff-faces and other places that maximize defensibility. Where unavailable humans will often even construct their own earthen motte hills to build upon. Humans more than any other race besides the Keldeirim prefer to dwell in larger settlements known as towns or cities. In most of Tenembria human cities are highly cosmopolitan and open to settlement by the other major races.

Humans predominantly interact with their environment through agriculture and animal husbandry, in fact human agriculture represents the single largest economic force on Tenembria by a significant margin. Humans will clear forests, level rocky plains and even drain out swamps in order to expand the land available to them for this purpose. Humans have even established extensive farming of amphibians, fish, shellfish, seaweed and kelp.

Other sources of human interaction with the environment come from their need to cut down trees for building materials, furnishings, weapons and for wood for fires. Humans predominantly use wood in their construction especially for use in furnishing, in addition to firewood, this leads humans to consume large amounts of wood each year. Humans harvest wood both selectively and through clear-cutting, their preference tends to be dependent on whether the area is already considered settled. Unsettled areas tend to be clear-cut, but once established communities tend to care more about the replacement of wood.

Some mannish societies prefer a nomadic, pastoral lifestyle herd animals. These communities tend to be much smaller and less developed, but have developed a reputation for ferocity matched only by the Urokal.

Manfolk have an incredibly varied diet and have proven capable of subsisting on just about any source of food if necessary. In general, humans prefer an omnivorous diet seeking a balance of grains, meat and vegetable food sources. Though, it is often noted that mannish cuisine seems to have a stronger preference for seafood than most other races, eating a variety of fish and sea products that other races tend to refuse. However scholars have concluded there is no physiologically explanation for this preference, it appears to simply be related to their long-standing relationship to waters and ease at swimming and fishing.

Humans are known to cultivate just about every kind of crop that can be grown above ground, but have a strong preference for those that can be grown simply and stored long term such as oats, grains, barley and rice. Bread and rice are major human staple foods and can be found in just about every corner of Tenembria suitable for agriculture.

Of all the races of Tenembria, it can be most said of manfolk that they are "ubiquitous" there are very few regions without at least some manfolk present, and what few places they are not extant now, are often places they have been found before.

However, humans are by far the most concentrated along coastlines and river systems, and are more numerous in temperate and semi-tropical biomes than in places of extreme cold or heat. Though, humans can be found in both the coldest regions (such as the extreme arctic of the Sokhar) and the hottest regions (Such as the extreme heat of the Zerisfal) where few other kindred races could survive.

The differences between man and the other kindred in terms of intellectual capacity is considered to be slight.

Manfolk do however appear to be among the most adaptable in their patterns of learning, easily able to retain information through written word, oral recitation, and mnemonics, and switch between them easily.

However without extensive training they lack the same ability for total recall of the Torva, or the expansive senses of the Keldeylin or the labrynthian-like memory systems of the Zooks.

It is often boasted that "a man may learn in a week what an elf takes a year to master." Yet, the quick apprehension of mankind seems to come at the cost of some degree of mastery.

Spellsense