"We're not the strongest, the fastest, or, by my best guess, the smartest. Azlyð wasn't made for us, we didn't inherit it. We survive nonetheless, especially when that's all we can do."
- Soliloquy Runoilija Keeper
Through each permutation of the Cycle of Azlyð, magic leaves the natural world, and the species that emerge are increasingly out of touch with the innate magic of Azlyð. So it is that in the last age of Azlyð, there emerged a people disconnected almost entirely from the wonder of natural arcana: humanity. The world they inhabited was hostile to them: the great empires of the past had long since devolved into feral corruptions of themselves, predators lurking in once-proud ruins. Humans learnt to live humbly. This world did not belong to them, it was not theirs to exploit, but to live within, and to attempt to rise above that station proved a dangerous hubris, however tempting.
There are precious few places a human can call safe in Azlyð: most of those able to follow the Great Walk , placing stock in the wisdom of beasts who have walked these lands far longer than they. Those who cannot, or would choose not to take that journey have congregated in four settlements, known by the names of the seasons the Great Walk passes through them: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn.
Humans on Azlyð have names constituted of three distinct parts. The praenomen (forename) is a personal name that is chosen by the individual to whom it refers. Individuals typically choose names that reflect in some way their vision of their self, and as people are expected to change over time, so too are their names. You would recognise an old friend by their complexion, and ask plainly what name they go by these days - it would be the exception for it to be the same as last you saw them. The rest of a Human name is made up of an inherited familial nomen (surname, effectively) followed by a cognomen related to the individual's profession or role in society - "Forester", "Hunter", "Watcher", "Potter" and others are examples.
To even place the concept of ideals alongside that of gender is a non sequitur to humans on Azlyð. There can be no universal ideal for a gender, which exists almost entirely within the subjective spheres of identification and presentation. To be perfectly explicit, trans people, non-binary people, agender people: those of all genders and none exist on Azlyð, and are free from the discrimination they face in the real world.
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<aside> 📝 Page author: Joe Barraclough
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