Humans
| HUMANS | |
 Human |
Genus: Homo Sapiens Sapiens Central Authority: The Terran Government, The New Russian Imperium, independent states across known space Quote: "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for Capitalism." |
| Homeworld: | Earth |
| Language: | Galactic Common, Terran Uncommon, Interslavic, Yangyu, Plutonian, Xerxian, innumerable other spacer tongues and colloquialisms |
| System: | Sol |
| Average Height: | 180cm (~70.9 in) |
| Lifespan: | 90 years |
| Breathes: | Oxygen |
Basic Description
Humans originate from Earth in the Sol system. They evolved from Primates and founded the United Nations of Earth (now the United Terran Systems under GalFed), the NRI, and many other minor organizations. After a turbulent history, Earth was absorbed into the Galactic Federation, and humanity went along with it.
While most humans reside within GalFed in the current age, a large portion has migrated to every corner of the Known Galaxy, save for nations outwardly hostile to them, and even then some make do as nomads, bandits, and pirates. The human stereotype of adaptability holds true even in space.Humans entered space around when many other species did, fully-entering into the space age in the mid 2040s. UNE erupted with massive growth, sprawling many star systems and colonizing hundreds of planets. Around the 2080s UNE encountered the Alliance, the predecessors to GalFed, and engaged in a long-standing rivalry with them until 2140. During this period, Sol found itself in 9 wars with the Alliance, winning 5 and losing 4. The last of these wars were a crushing defeat, and left UNE under the influence of the Alliance. Around this time, the NRI had made its roots in a collection of far-colonies, establishing the second, and eventually the largest Human-led nation in the Known Galaxy. When UNE was absorbed into the Galactic Federation during its founding, the NRI exploded in population and started a rivalry with GalFed that spanned longer than Sol and the Alliance’s rivalry by a long shot.In the current day and age, the NRI is still the largest Human primary nation, though even they have taken on a massive population of non-humans. What remains of Sol is the United Terran Systems, otherwise known by its governing body's name TerraGov, and it is a bustling state of commerce and military advancement. Human thriftiness is often considered the reason for GalFed’s economic explosion and current dominance over markets across the entirety of the Known Galaxy.
Biology
The Humans are a divided species with great psionic, mutagenic and cybernetic potential. Known as the most adaptable peoples of the galaxy, this has led to their proliferation among many lethal biomes. Humans are found just about everywhere in the Known Galaxy as a result. Humans tend to make good spacers (many would say second only to Mothmen), and many have taken the role of nomads traveling the Known Galaxy.
Humans differ from most other mammalian species for the fact that they have exposed skin, which has allowed them to withstand climates with higher temperatures. Their propensity for using the coats of other species as clothing have, in turn, also allowed them to conquer extremely cold climates as well. Modern gene therapy and cybernetic enhancements, as well as modern equipment have made few, if any, worlds truly safe from human settlement.
Humans are generally one point five to two meters tall, with skin pigmentation ranging from light to dark naturally, and hair pigmentation ranging wildly. They breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, with a robust digestive system that can handle dairy, vegetables, fruit, meat and grain without any issue. As robust omnivores, Humans are known to be absurdly brave trying new food. The only organic foods that humans are known to struggle with (outside of personal preference) are raw meats and body parts.
Earth is a mild planet which has allowed humans to evolve comfortably without violent environmental factors, and they feel most at home when they have soil beneath their jackboots. Being in space for extended periods of time leads to “space madness” as the human inherently knows they do not belong in the void, and that their presence will inevitably lead to their messy end. Lifelong orbital and naval personnel must continually train their bodies and minds to resist this.
Communication and Language
Humans communicate via many languages, with possibly the widest variety of languages of any species having survived the transition to an interstellar society. English still survives but does not dominate as it once did, and is mostly passed down by parents to their children. Russian is another language that refused to die out, as the Slavic peoples settled the stars they had a traditional hardy stubbornness that was hard to overwhelm by any means at hand. Old Arabic is sometimes used in the Outer Solar System and periphery worlds. However, in general use, these three languages are eclipsed by more modern ones.
Galactic Common: When the Galactic Federation finally united, a linguistics council compiled the twenty most widespread languages to form the basis of their new common tongue. Galactic Common was the result, and it incorporates a fair amount of English structure alongside Yangyu phrasing, though this is still a small part of the pie compared to the large number of alien influences in Galactic Common.
Terran Uncommon: Humanity, stubborn as it was, did not entirely accept the subversion of its traditional lingua franca, and those so disillusioned came up with their own pidgin language. Being a pidgin of English, Mandarin and Hindi, Terran Uncommon is similar to, but decisively distinct from Galactic Common, as it is consisted only of Human linguistics, and takes no cues from alien sources. Terran Uncommon has spread like wildfire to become the second most spoken language by Humans, only behind Galactic Common.
Interslavic: Interslavic is a zonal auxiliary language (a partial constructed language) dating back to the year 2006. Its purpose is to facilitate communication between speakers of various Slavic languages, as well as to allow people who do not speak a Slavic language to communicate with Slavic speakers by being mutually intelligible with most, if not all, Slavic languages. Interslavic has gone through many reforms during the years, especially after the slavic exodus from Earth and Sol. In the times of the NRI, it has also had components from Slavicized species that exist in the NRI adopted into the language, though the main components derive from Russian, Serbian, and Belarussian.
Yangyu: Also popularly known as "Konjin", this language group formally regarded as Orbital Sino-Tibetan is a result of a genetic relationship between Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, and other Human languages of similar characteristics that was first proposed in the early 19th century and is extremely popular even in the space age. Originating from Asia, this group of tongues is the third most spoken by Human and Human-derived populations since the birth of Terran Uncommon - and was a primary contender to be the Terran Federation's official language. Many loanwords, idioms, and cultural relics of Japanese, Ryukyuan, Korean, and other societies have managed to persist within it, especially in the daily lives of speakers coming from Martian cities.
Plutonian: Plutonian Franco-Castilian is a constructed Romance language that was developed early on in the Sol Federation's colonization history out of necessity for communication between its first Plutonian colonists. It heavily borrows from Spanish and French, with minor influence from other tongues the likes of Italian and Portuguese, despite coming off as elegant it carries a heavy amount of slang and idioms correlated to certain criminal groups. Today, it stands heavily engrained in the planet's culture - and almost every citizen will speak at least some of it on top of Galactic Common. Plutonian speakers are generally noted for their affinity and empathy towards each other, to the disdain of Inner System residents.
Xerxian: An evolved, streamlined form of Semitic tongues that come from the Middle East - primarily Arabic. Despite its ancient origins, it's still spoken by many cultures and colonies that came from the Arab League and general Middle Eastern regions. Largely overshadowed, Xerxian primarily survives in the modern era due to the influence of major manufacturing concerns Akhter Frontier Equipment and Kahraman (K-A-S) which have become the premier suppliers of colonization equipment in the modern day.
Spacer: Spacer tongues are a wide group of rough, informal tongues used as a last resort when attempts to establish dialogue in more proper languages fail and no automatic translators are available. It relies heavily on tone, body language, signing, and a multitude of creole loanwords. While its use has fallen severely over the years, it's still practiced by a quantity of Frontier crews and favored by the Free Trade Union. Realistically, as long as interstellar nomads exist, these forms of language will continue to persist.
