Humans, Minor Ethnicities
Humans have standard racial traits. However, nighttime and dark places such as dungeons have an extremely debilitating effect on vision. When combined with magic laws and modifications made to spells such as Light, this indirectly causes human night-blindness to be a considerable flaw.
Arkaiun
Arkaiuns are a relatively new ethnicity among humans, a blend of other cultures that have been forced to flee or submit to others for most of their existence. Today, they are scattered throughout the southern coast of Faerûn, though Dambrath is their traditional home. Arkaiuns are generally short and stocky, with dusky skin and dark brown to black hair. Arkaiun culture was formed through the interbreeding of Nar refugees from Shandaular and Illuskan tribes. They're responsible for accidentally tunneling into the Underdark and provoking the drow which would eventually lead to the Arkaiun's Loviatan allies betraying them. The Arkaiuns currently live in subjugation at the hands of the Crinti (half-drow). Arkaiuns who still live in Dambrath are considered second-class citizens, suitable only for menial physical labor, unspecialized commerce work, and service in the military. Outside that nation, Arkaiuns simply blend in with the habits of those around them. Some Arkaiuns live in the wilds beyond the immediate control of the Crinti and still uphold their traditional ways, insisting on observing the nomadic lifestyle and ceremonies they maintained before the coming of the drow. In these cases, Arkaiuns are a savage people, as is evidenced in their occasional veneration of Malar as the master of the hunt.
Bedine
The Bedine are nomads of Anauroch who migrated from Zakhara via a portal shortly after the fall of Netheril in –339 DR and intermingled with a handful of Netherese survivors. The Bedine retained the spoken language of their ancestors, Midani, but lost all knowledge of the written word. Centuries later, traders from the surrounding lands sought them out and introduced the alphabet of Thorass. The Bedine adopted the gods of the Netherese and continue to venerate At’ar (Amaunator, a dead Netherese deity reborn as Lathander), Elah (Selûne), Kozah (Talos), N’asr (some say Cyric, some say Kelemvor), Shaundakul (actually Beshaba), and many little gods as well. The Bedine are found primarily in the southern, sandy reaches of Anauroch known as the Sword.
Chultan
The Jungles of Chult are home to tall, ebony-skinned humans who migrated north to the Chultan peninsula millennia ago from a great island in the southern seas of Abeir-Toril southeast of Maztica and southwest of Zakhara. Two millennia ago, there were many tribes in Chult, although the Chultans and the Eshowe were the most powerful and influential. A bloody war raged between the Chultans and the Eshowe from 1800 years ago to 1500 years ago, ending only after the latter group was wiped out. The Eshowe were destroyed after unleashing a great evil known as the Shadow Giant on their enemies, only to see it turn on them after being repulsed by the Chultan defenders. In the centuries that followed, unchecked by any rivals, the Chultans assimilated most of the remaining tribes of the peninsula into a single Chultan culture, sharing a common language and somewhat uniform social structure.
Chultans, who speak Chultan, adopted the Draconic alphabet before the founding of Mezro and spread it to the other Chultan tribes. The primary god of the Chultans is Ubtao, who is said to have brought their ancestors to the peninsula they now call home thousands of years ago and to have founded the great city of Mezro in –2637 DR. The remnants of the Eshowe venerate Eshowdow, a dark shadow of Ubtao subverted by Shar.
Durpari
The Durpari are the relatively short, dark-skinned inhabitants of Durpar, Estagund, Veldorn, and Var the Golden. The Durpari have dwelt along the shores of the Golden Water since before the rise of the Imaskari empire. The fall of Imaskar precipitated the fall of the Durpari kingdoms and two millennia of barbarism. During this period, the Mulan of Mulhorand often slaughtered or enslaved the Durpari tribes. In –623 DR, the first Durpari kingdoms after the fall of Imaskar arose along the shores of the Golden Water, as Mulan influence over the region ebbed in the face of the burgeoning threat from Narfell and Raumathar. With the exception of Estagund, which was briefly conquered by the armies of Dambrath during the reign of Reinhar I in 551 DR, the Durpari have remained independent ever since, trading among themselves and with their neighbors.
The Durpari speak a language of the same name - derived from a mixture of Draconic, Mulhorandi, and Rauric - and employ the Thorass alphabet brought back from the west. The Durpari venerate a small pantheon of deities known collectively as the Adama, and thought to include Selûne, Oghma, Gond, Torm, and Waukeen.
Ffolk
The native inhabitants of the Moonshae Isles call themselves the Ffolk, although only faint vestiges of the original human tribes who bore that name still remain. Today, the Ffolk are essentially an isolated group of Tethyrians, descended from a large wave of immigration from the Western Heartlands in 467 DR. The original Ffolk had already conceded the northern Moonshae isles to the Illuskans centuries before the arrival of the Tethyrians, yet the Illuskans are still considered the invaders by the Ffolk.
Unlike their mainland cousins, the Tethyrian Ffolk speak Illuskan, but they still employ the Thorass script. They are governed by a strong druidical tradition.
Gur
TDN has its own lore surrounding this ethnic group, as such please refer to the following page for information on them: https://www.dragonsneck.com/wiki/The-Gur-People-of-the-Moon
Halruaan
During the fall of the ancient empire of Netheril, most of the land’s inhabitants fled west from the spells of the phaerimm, settling the North. But some of Netheril’s folk, led by the archwizard Raumark, fled far to the south by means of great flying ships. Raumark’s followers settled the sheltered basin of Halruaa, intermingling with the small population of native Tashalans in the region. There they founded the wizard-ruled realm of Halruaa, determined not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors. Traces of Netherese culture are strong in Halruaa, including the Draconic alphabet once employed by speakers of Netherese and Loross. The Halruaan tongue is simply a modern dialect of ancient Netherese. However, worship of the Netherese pantheon has gradually evolved into the veneration of deities such as Mystra and Azuth, to a much lesser extent Savras, and, recently, Velsharoon.
Early in Halruaa’s history, a small band of dissidents who venerated Leira, goddess of illusions, migrated westward to the distant island of Nimbral. Although the two realms share a love of magic and the Halruaan tongue, interactions between the two peoples are few and far between. The church of Leira was the state religion of Nimbral before the Time of Troubles, but the current state of religious worship in the Land of the Flying Hunt is unknown.
Lantanna
The Lantanna inhabit the isles of Lantan, Suj, and Orlil off the northwest coast of the Chultan peninsula. Known for their large green eyes, copper hair, and parchment-colored skin, the Lantanna are rarely encountered outside their native isles except aboard merchant ships. They trade along the shores of the Trackless Sea as far north as Neverwinter, the Shining Sea as far east as Lapaliiya, and the Great Sea as far east as Halruaa. The homeland of most Lantanna is the nation of Lantan, named for the largest island it claims.
Speakers of Lantanese, the Lantanna employ the Draconic alphabet used by most cultures descended from Netheril. As the Lantanna are not believed to be in any way descended from ancient Netheril, some scholars suspect that early Halruaan or Nimbrali traders introduced this alphabet to the Lantanna. The state religion of Lantan is the faith of Gond, and many believe that the Lantanna introduced the Wondermaker into the Faerûnian pantheon.
Maztican
Maztica is a far-off land that lies west of Faerûn, beyond even fabled Evermeet. Tethyrian explorers from Amn discovered Maztica just over a decade ago, and Maztican immigrants are now found in very small numbers in Amn, Baldur’s Gate, and Waterdeep. Faerûnians lump all inhabitants of Maztica into one group, but in truth there are seven known human ethnicities in that land: the Azuposi, the Dog People, the Green Folk, the Metahel, the Nahopaca, the Nexalans, and the Payits.
The Nexalans are the only group to have journeyed east to Faerûn, so all Faerûn-dwelling Mazticans are speakers of Nexalan, the language of the nations of Pezelac, Huacli, Kultaka, and Nexal. The Nexalan tongue is written using the Draconic alphabet. Nexalans are relatively tall, with long, lean physiques and beardless, angular faces. Nexalans are generally reddishbronze of hue.
Nar
Descended from the survivors of Narfell’s cataclysmic destruction, the Nars consist of twenty or more nomadic tribes that inhabit the dry grasslands east of the Giantspire Mountains and north of the Rawlinswood. Further details of their history may be found in the descriptions of the Damarans and the Rashemi.
Nars are short and stocky, with darkly tanned skin tones and straight, raven black hair, usually worn to the shoulders. They are some of the finest horsemen in Faerûn, and famed breeders of the legendary Nar heavy horse. Although they once spoke Narfelli, a forgotten tongue strongly influenced by Abyssal, the Nars now speak the Damaran tongue common to lands near the Easting Reach as well as a smattering of Common. As most Nars can be considered barbarians, few can read or write, but those that do employ the Dethek runes adopted by speakers of Damaran.
Netherese
Perhaps the best-known and most influential of the humans who built Faerûn’s ancient civilizations were the Netherese of ancient Netheril. Netheril was founded in –3859 DR by darkhaired, fair-skinned humans who dwelt along the shores of the Narrow Sea, a body of water now lost beneath the sands of Anauroch. At its height, Netheril encompassed all the lands now buried beneath Anauroch, with colonies stretching westward to the Trackless Sea, and floating cities high above distant lands. The cities of the Narrow Sea came to be known as Low Netheril, while the civilization of the clouds was known as High Netheril, famous for magic of surpassing power.
Although all Netherese used the Draconic alphabet, the language of Low Netheril, and the commoners of High Netheril was Netherese, while the nobles of High Netheril spoke Loross. Both groups venerated the same pantheon, which included gods such as Amaunator (Lathander), Jannath (Chauntea), Jergal, Kozah (Talos), Moander, Mystryl (Mystra), Selûne, Shar, and Targus (Garagos). The clergy were far more influential in Low Netheril than in the arcanists’ soaring cities.
High Netheril collapsed after Karsus destroyed Mystra in –339 DR, and all but four of High Netheril’s ancient floating cities were destroyed. Three of those - Anauria, Asram, and Hlondath - were saved by the influence of Mystra and landed
safely just west of what are now known as the Desertsedge Mountains, where they founded surface realms of the same names. Asram fell victim to a plague spread by the goddess Talona in –33 DR. Anauria fell to an orc horde in 111 DR, and Hlondath was consumed by the sands of Anauroch and abandoned in 329 DR. Inhabitants of these eastern “Netherese survivor states” eventually migrated south into Cormyr and east into the Moonsea region. Their descendants were largely absorbed into the burgeoning Chondathan culture of the eastern Heartlands and are now accounted as northern Chondathans or Vaasans.
The fall of Low Netheril had less to do with Karsus’s Folly and more to do with the ever-encroaching lifedrain spells of the phaerimm. As the pace of desertification increased, starting around –461 DR, most of the inhabitants of Low Netheril gradually migrated westward. Most scholars divide the westwardbound Netherese migrants into two groups. The southwestern group founded realms in the river valleys of the Winding Water and the River Chionthar, while the northwestern branch formed isolated city-states scattered across the Savage Frontier. Little evidence of Netherese culture remains among the descendants of either branch, for both groups were later subsumed by immigrants from across the sea to the west (the Illuskans) or by the native tribes of the region (the Tethyrians).
Four small groups of pureblooded Netherese are believed to survive in the present day. The Marsh Drovers of the Farsea Marshes are thought to be descendants of Anauria who were never absorbed by the Chondathan inhabitants of Cormyr. The Tunlar barbarians of the Plains of Tun are believed to be descendants of the Rengarth barbarians (cousins of the Low Netherese) of southern Netheril. The nomadic barbarians of the Ride north of the Moonsea are believed to be descendants of the Angardt barbarians of northern Netheril (also cousins of the Low Netherese). Finally, the fourth floating city of High Netheril, known as Shade, survived the fall of Netheril by vanishing into the Plane of Shadow.
Raumviran
Descended from the inhabitants of the great empire of Raumathar, the Raumvirans retain little of their former glory.
In the present day, Raumvirans are concentrated along the shores of the Lake of Mists and the city of Almorel. Physically, Raumvirans bear a close resemblance to the Rashemi, indicative of centuries of close ties between the two groups. Although taller on average than their western neighbors, the Raumvirans are also generally stout and muscular, with dark eyes and thick black hair. Raumvirans are generally of lighter hue than the Rashemi, evidence of significant Sossrim heritage dating back to the height of their long-fallen empire.
Members of this ethnic group speak Raumvira, a tongue closely related to Rashemi, Dwarven, and a northern dialect of Imaskari. Raumvirans employ an alphabet of Dethek runes taught to them before the founding of Raumathar by the Siremun dwarves of the Firepeaks, a range of mountains to the east of the Lake of Mists.
Sharran
The grasslands of the Shaar are home to nomadic tribes of longfaced, yellow-skinned humans. Conquered by the armies of Calimshan at the height of the Shoon Empire, the Shaarans of the eastern grasslands reverted to their nomadic ways once the Shoon Empire collapsed, while those who dwelt along the shores of the Shining Sea and the Lake of Steam settled in cities and founded such realms as Lapaliiya and the ever-changing Border Kingdoms. Today, Shaarans are found as far west as Calimshan and as far north as the Vilhon Reach. The inhabitants of Sespech are largely of Shaaran descent, having been brought north to serve in Jhaamdath’s armies centuries ago.
Speakers of Shaaran employ an alphabet of Dethek runes, adopted from the gold dwarf traders of the Great Rift before the rise of the Shoon Empire. If there ever was a Shaaran pantheon, it was long ago subsumed by the more powerful Jhamdaathan and Calishite cultures. Little record exists of Shaaran culture before it was assimilated by its more powerful neighbors, for the Shaarans have long maintained a nomadic way of life and an oral history
Shou
The Shou are but one of many human ethnic groups in far-off Kara-Tur, albeit the most numerous and powerful. Similar in appearance to the Tuigan, they are yellowish-bronze in hue, with black hair and broad, flat features. At its height, the Shou empire extended as far west as the eastern shore of Brightstar Lake. Today, Shou traders are rarely seen west of Semphar, although their emperor has recently established an embassy in Elversult and made use of a ship-size portal that opens somewhere on the Sea of Fallen Stars. The Shou worship a pantheon of deities known as the Celestial Bureaucracy and employ the Draconic alphabet to represent the Shou language.
Sossrim
The Sossrims are the inhabitants of distant Sossal, a frozen land that lies between the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea. With skin as pallid as snow and hair with the fine, silver tint of an icicle, the Sossrims have completely adapted to their arctic environment. Sossrims speak Damaran and use the Dethek runes. They are believed to venerate the gods of the Faerûnian pantheon, although the worship of a relatively benign aspect of Auril seems to be predominant.
During the Orcgate Wars, the Sossrims fought in the armies of Mulhorand alongside the Raumvirans and the Rashemi. After the followers of Gruumsh were defeated, the Sossrims retreated to their northern lands, where they established the isolated kingdom of Sossal. The Sossrims briefly fell under the sway of Raumathar at the height of that empire, but they have otherwise retained their independence. Before the retreat of the Great Glacier, Sossrim traders were seen as far south as northern Impiltur, but now they rarely venture beyond Vaasa or the northern reaches of Damara, Narfell, and Rashemen.
Talfir
Elven writings dating back to the Crown Wars mention a darkhaired, fair-skinned human tribe in the heart of the great forest of Shantel Othreier. The Talfir were the original human inhabitants of the Chionthar river valley in the Western Heartlands. Speakers of Talfiric, a long-lost human tongue based on the Draconic alphabet, the Talfir gradually disappeared over a thousand years ago, their culture overwhelmed by refugees from Low Netheril, Calishite settlers from the south, and Chondathan settlers from the Dragon Coast. Several deities of the Faerûnian pantheon are believed to have first been worshiped by the Talfir, including Tempus, who vanquished the Netherese god of war.
The Talfir left little in the way of ruins or artifacts, although Irieabor lies atop the ancient crypt of the Talfir monarch known as Verraketh the Shadowking, who mastered shadow magic (different than Shadow Weave magic). Talis, a ruined city of the Talfir, lies in ruins along the banks of the River Reaching in the depths of the Reaching Woods.
Tashalan
Uncounted thousands of years ago, the human tribes of the Chultan peninsula, now known as the Tashalans, were enslaved by the saurian Creator Race. As with all things, the saurian civilization eventually collapsed and their human slaves won their freedom. However, many members of this black-haired, oliveskinned race took to venerating the snakes they once served, leading to the rise of the yuan-ti. Others, however, turned away from their dark masters, seeking to forge their own realms on the peninsula between the Shining Sea and the Great Sea.
Today Tashalan culture is largely confined to the middle of the Chultan peninsula and the isle of Tharsult. Over the centuries the Chultan tribes drove the Tashalans out of the Jungles of Chult, the Halruaans and Dambrathan drow assimilated the native Tashalan cultures of those lands, and the yuan-ti enslaved those Tashalans who contested their control of the Mhair and Black Jungles. Most Tashalans are natives of Tashalar or the realms of Samarach, Thindol, or Tharsult. Tashalan traders may be found in Calimshan, cities on the shore of the Lake of Steam, and Lapaliiya, as well as Halruaa, Dambrath, and Luiren.
Tashalans speak Tashalan and employ the Dethek alphabet. They venerate both the Faerûnian pantheon and the gods of the yuan-ti, with the followers of Talona and Savras being most prominent.
Tuigan
The nomadic tribes of the Endless Wastes and the Quoya Desert are known as the Tuigan, although that name is actually the name of but one of fifteen major tribes who wander the wasteland between Faerûn and Kara-Tur. Closely related to the inhabitants of Kara-Tur, tribal members are yellowish-bronze in hue, with black hair and broad, flat features. Each tribe has its own dialect, derived in varying degrees from the old empires of Shou, Raumvira, and Imaskari, each of which conquered or extended its influence over the Endless Wastes at its height. The tribes of the Endless Wastes adopted the alphabet of Thorass from traders passing eastwards along the Golden Way to Kara-Tur long ago. The tribes are believed to worship Akadi, the elemental deity of air, and Grumbar, the elemental deity of earth, as well as several beast totems (Horse and Tiger).
Since the defeat of the great Tuigan horde in 1360 DR, members of the Tuigan tribe have been found in small numbers in western lands such as Semphar, Thay, Thesk, Narfell, and Rashemen. It is this group of immigrants who are best known to the inhabitants of Faerûn.
Turami
After their gods precipitated the fall of the Imaskari Empire in –2488 DR, the slave-race known as the Mulan migrated westward to the shores of the Alamber Sea. This migration in turn displaced the native Turami, who were driven westward along the southern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars until they reached the coastal basin now known as Turmish. Generally tall and muscular, with dark mahogany skin, flat faces, and curly hair, the Turami are the primary inhabitants of Turmish, although they form minority populations in Chessenta, Unther, and Mulhorand as well.
Speakers of Turmic, the Turami adopted the Thorass alphabet from Calishite and Chondathan traders. No historical evidence exists suggesting the existence of a Turami pantheon distinct from the Faerûnian pantheon commonly venerated today, although that does not mean that one did not exist. Turmish, the homeland of most Turami, dates back to the founding of Alaghôn in –37 DR.
Ulutiun
Although the Ulutiuns have long inhabited the polar reaches of Faerûn, these short, dark-haired, broad-faced humans with lightbrown skin are actually migrants from the northern reaches of Kara-Tur who moved westward across the polar icecap millennia ago. Speakers of Uluik, a tongue that only in recent centuries acquired a written form based on the Thorass alphabet, the Ulutiuns are divided into two major groups.
The Sea of Moving Ice, the Ice Peak, and the Cold Run (as the icy reaches of the northernmost Sword Coast are sometimes known) are home to the Ice Hunters, the westernmost group of Ulutiuns. Believed to predate the arrival of both the Netherese and the Illuskans, the Ice Hunters venerate nature spirits and are led by shamans, not unlike the more warlike Uthgardt tribes and the barbarians of Icewind Dale. In the east, the Great Glacier is home to the majority of Ulutiuns, including the Iulutiuns, the Angulutiuns, and the Nakulutiuns. They favor hide armor and weapons such as battleaxes, garnoks, hand axes, harpoons, iuaks, light picks, nets, ritiiks, shortbows, throwing axes, and tridents.
Vaasan
Vaasans are the descendants of two waves of humanity who settled the Moonsea region. Refugees from the Netherese survivor states of Asram, Anauria, and Hlondath fled east toward the Moonsea to found realms such as Teshar (which was founded in –87 DR and fell in 479 DR) Yûlash, and Northkeep (which fell in 400 DR). In later centuries Chondathan immigrants from Sembia, the Dalelands, and the Vast joined the descendants of these early settlements and established the Moonsea city-states of Zhentil Keep, Hulburg, Melvaunt, Mulmaster, Phlan, and Thentia. Vaasa proper was settled from the Moonsea region after the Great Glacier began its retreat, a couple of hundred years ago. While this ethnic group is sometimes referred to as Tesharans, Tharrans, or Yûls, the name of the last land they settled has become the name by which they are most commonly known in other lands.