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As Robin sighs wearily, feeling her age not for the first time, there's a squeal of excitement and she turns to see Templeton staring up at a bemused Ohkwari, who is leaning heavily on her spear for support. While Templeton's face is hidden behind her mask, Robin can't help but chuckle at the usually-reserved woman's barely-repressed delight. "Sorry, she's got a thing for bears." Templeton turns to "Hmph!" at her indignantly before going right back to examining the bear-goddess, the lenses of her mask sparkling. "Of course..." Ohkwari rumbles, her ears flitting in annoyance. "My people are dead, my village destroyed... what else is left for me other than to be gawked at?" "Ah...! I'm sorry." Templeton flinches, her body language ashamed. "I just... I didn't know." Clearing her throat, she turns to look at Robin again. "I leave for ten years and find this place in ruins, and you slugging it out with the effing King of Mount Olympus. What the Tartarus happened here, Robin?!" "Heck if

Demihumans are a broad category of beings, essentially being a pejorative term used by the Holy Order to refer to any bipedal and/or humanoid species that are neither fully human or fae in nature. While elves are classified as fae, dwarves are categorized as demihumans, but I have chosen to discuss them separately as their origins lie outside Telluris. Some demihumans closely resemble humans in appearance, while others possess traits deemed bestial or monstrous. During the Age of Heroes, demihumans could be encountered throughout the Holy Empire and even lived more-or-less peacefully alongside humans, but during the reign of War-King Alaric the Paladin laws persecuting demihumans — even those that kept to themselves and desired only to be left in peace — were passed, and it did not take long for the genocides to begin — entire communities being razed, with men, women, and children alike being butchered or enslaved. Giants are a species of fully-humanoid omnivorous demihumans that

Fae are an interesting subject — not taboo to discuss, per sae, but rare enough in the Holy Empire that genuine belief in their existence is considered superstitious at best and heresy at worst. But while the Temple of the Ruling Pantheon has been all-too quick to assure the Holy Empire's populace that the fae are only found in heretical legends and myths from bygone eras, they are very real and very dangerous if angered. As my opportunities to travel beyond the ever-expanding borders of the Holy Empire have been limited, so too is my knowledge of fae is limited... but I have made numerous excuses over the years to foray into the rural provinces bordering the Wildlands in order to record as much folklore as I have been able to, and to converse with travellers from foreign lands beyond the Holy Empire's borders. How much of it holds true, however, I do not know for certain. Fae are immortal in that they cannot die from old age or disease, though they can be slain and several species

I will not disclose my name. To do so would be to place not only myself and my apprentice, but everyone I have interacted with over the last few years in danger of being arrested by the Holy Order's Inquisitorial Squad and tried for my so-called sins — guilt through association at its finest. When I first arrived here, I was alone, lost, admittedly even a little afraid. A stranger in a strange land, as it were. Fortuitously, I have always been a resourceful person and was eventually able to obtain work as a scribe, earning my keep and working my way up to my current position. Over the years I have met with people from all walks of life — nobles, knights, soldiers, yeomen, burghers, artisans, merchants, peasants, priests, monks, mercenaries, paladins, saints, sorcerers, other scholars, thieves, even those the Holy Order has deemed demihumans and monsters. My apprentice has been a godsend and provided me with insight into the workings of this world that I would've otherwise remained

As humans are among the most-populous and widespread species on Telluris, they are perhaps the least-studied. It is said by the Temple of the Ruling Pantheon that humans are the most-beloved creations of the gods, but I have yet to see any definitive evidence that the gods — assuming that they even are gods — played any significant role in the origin of humans or see humans as anything more than playthings. As records of pre-human civilizations and archeological evidence of human evolution being scarce to non-existent, I can only speculate on the evolution of humans and their relation to so-called "demihumans" such as the woodwose, ogres, giants, and halflings — which I will cover in a separate treatise. From a taxonomical standpoint, humans are a species of primate characterized by bipedalism, with a life cycle that can last upwards of ninety years depending on conditions such as environment, diet, physical activity, and sanitation. Humans undergo significant physical and cognitive