“We are what remains when the miracles fade.”
Appearance
Humans present no single appearance — the most visually diverse species on Onan, with height, build, and skin tone shaped by the specific elevation, diet, and history of their home city. A Corvath highborn tends pale and lean, adapted to thin air. A valley laborer is sun-darkened and heat-hardened. A Shatterds human is salt-worn, built for heat and squall. The one universal marker is the Aetherbinder — the small filtered device worn at jaw or temple that processes atmospheric toxins. The faint impression it leaves at the skin's contact points is visible on any human who has lived below the sanctified altitude line. Among the poor, a worn secondhand device is a fact of life maintained with careful desperation. Humans trust tools. They have survived by trusting tools for three generations. It shows.
Origin & Lore
Humans are the last heirs of a vanished age — scattered remnants of a civilization that burned too bright and broke the world in the process. Once the architects of the first Empire, the first to refine Essa at industrial scale, the species that raised the Godkiln and laid the Wall's foundations, they are now a minority in a world remade by the consequences of their own ambition. When the Pulse Wars came, surviving populations went underground into engineered warrens — filtration systems, stored food, organized governance under pressure. They industrialized Aetherbinder production and emerged from the Long Night holding the infrastructure everyone else needed to survive. The Empire after the Long Night was not built on conquest. It was built on the argument that humans with artifacts and organization could maintain the Wall. That argument proved correct. The Aetherbinder dependency is the most politically loaded fact about humans in the current era — the Oligarch Houses that control production control the breath of every lowland human on the planet.
Baseline Traits
All Human receive these traits at character creation at no cost.
Expanded Attunement
You can attune to 4 magic items simultaneously rather than the standard 3. Your attunement process takes 30 minutes instead of 1 hour.
Artifact Intuition
You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. When you make an Intelligence (Arcana) check to identify or understand a magical item or Essa artifact, you add double your proficiency bonus instead of your normal proficiency bonus.
Legacy of Magic
You can cast Detect Magic and Identify as rituals without material components. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast Magic Weapon once per Long Rest without material components. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Aetherbinder Dependency
You require a functioning Aetherbinder device to breathe safely outside sanctified environments, sealed spaces, or naturally high-altitude locations. Without one in unfiltered conditions, you begin taking 1d4 Constitution damage per hour, increasing by 1d4 each subsequent hour. Most experienced human adventurers carry a spare.
Conclave Education
You gain proficiency in History and one additional skill of your choice from: Investigation, Persuasion, Medicine, or Insight.
Will to Survive
When you roll a death saving throw, add a bonus equal to the number of magic items you are currently attuned to (maximum +6). After each Long Rest, choose one saving throw type — you have advantage on saving throws of that type until your next Long Rest.
Species Advancement Tree
You earn Species Points at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10. Tier 2 requires at least 1 Tier 1 purchase. Tier 3 requires at least 1 Tier 2 purchase.
Tier 1 Available at levels 1 and 3
Deep Attunement 1 SP
You can attune to 5 magic items simultaneously. Magical effects from attuned items deal +1 damage and DCs set by those items increase by 1.
Essa Scholar 1 SP
You gain Expertise in Arcana. When you first attune to a magic item or Essa artifact, you automatically identify all of its properties, including hidden or command-word functions, without requiring the Identify spell.
Quick Attune 1 SP
You can attune to or break attunement with a magic item as a Bonus Action once per turn. Once per Short Rest, you may instantly swap one attuned item for another without the standard attunement time.
Imperial Network 1 SP
You have advantage on Persuasion and Deception checks when interacting with Imperial citizens or conclave officials. Once per Long Rest, you can invoke a contact within an Imperial city to request a favor: safe passage, information, a temporary safe house, or access to a restricted area.
Operational Precision 1 SP
During a Short Rest, you may spend 10 minutes in tactical assessment. Choose one: (a) gain advantage on your next attack roll or saving throw, (b) identify the most significant threat or opportunity in your environment, or (c) identify one vulnerability in a creature or structure you have observed for at least 1 minute.
Tier 2 Available at levels 5 and 7
Expanded Capacity 1 SP
Requires: Deep Attunement. You can attune to 6 magic items simultaneously. Once per turn, when you activate a magic item's property, you may do so as a Bonus Action rather than an Action.
Pulse Reader 1 SP
Requires: Essa Scholar or any Tier 1. You can sense the presence and general tier of Essa artifacts and magical items within 60 feet, even through solid surfaces. You also have advantage on saving throws against effects originating from magical items and Essa-powered devices.
Conclave Authority 1 SP
Requires: Imperial Network. You have advantage on all Intimidation checks within Imperial territory. When you arrive at a conclave city, you may spend 1 hour establishing your presence — the local population treats you as a person of status for the duration. Once per Long Rest, invoke your authority to requisition supplies, transportation, or temporary legal protection from an Imperial official.
Refined Intelligence 1 SP
Requires: Essa Scholar or Operational Precision. You gain Expertise in History or Investigation. You have advantage on all Intelligence-based saving throws. When you make a skill check using a skill in which you have Expertise, you may treat a roll of 7 or lower as an 8.
Tier 3 Available at level 10
Master Attuner 1 SP
Requires: Expanded Capacity. You can attune to 7 magic items simultaneously. Each attuned item operates at enhanced efficiency: damage dice increase one step, DCs increase by 2, and the range of effect-based items increases by 50%.
The Living Archive 1 SP
Requires: Refined Intelligence or Pulse Reader. You have advantage on all Intelligence and Wisdom checks. Once per Long Rest, when you encounter an Essa artifact or pre-war ruin, you may ask the DM one direct question and receive an accurate answer. You can also perfectly recall any information you have ever learned, seen, or read.
Artifact Sovereign 1 SP
Requires: Master Attuner or The Living Archive. You can attune to 8 magic items simultaneously. Once per Long Rest, when you attune to a magic item for the first time, attempt to unlock a dormant property — make an Intelligence (Arcana) check (DC 18). On a success, the DM reveals a secret function. Additionally, you may activate two magic items in a single turn, using a Bonus Action for the second activation.
Roleplaying a Human
Humans do not think of themselves as the species that kept its toolkit and built walls instead of changing. They think of themselves as the species that paid attention. A human character does not simply enter a room — they assess it. What is here? What is it worth? What could it do? The Aetherbinder is the fact of human existence that most humans have completely normalized. Most do not dwell on it. The ones who do tend toward two responses: resentment of the Houses that profit from the dependency, or quiet determination to accumulate enough artifacts that the dependency becomes, in practice, irrelevant.
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