Humanity
Anthropus praesitus, "gifted person", is the fourth sapient species to evolve on Ajjamah. This in and of itself is not an unusual occurrence in the Nebula; many worlds, like Kadaiku or Babylon, have multiple sapient species, coexisting at the same time. The difference in humanity's case is that they are not coming into the world alongside the others per se, but after each has settled into its own routine. The phoenixes have already established an interstellar presence, the behemoths have their cities and lifespans extending into centuries. Even the leviathans have been busy, carefully tending the seas to become a garden of sorts and storing their memories in the flow of water itself. But humanity is still in its "industrious" phase, and has spread at last to every continent.
There are five widely recognized human "races", which over the centuries have intermingled and exist in something of a spectrum; nevertheless, there is adequate division for classification. It is based on the Salvian model of assigning styles of magic to different ethnic groups; whether this is an accurate portrayal is up to debate.
(Physical features like height and weight, as well as matters of intelligence, differ from person to person. Attempts to classify them here would prove counterproductive to the overall task at hand.)
Auguroid
The Auguroid race is found across Pelia, as well as in Potamia and across the Akotoyan Archipelago which connects them, and even in part of Borealia. Skin colour ranges from dark garnet red to a light coppery colour, while eye colour is usually brown, gold, or (in the north) grey. Hair is usually brown or black, fading to grey or white as they age, and ranges from curly to straight depending on locale. Faces—at least "idealized" faces—tend to be slightly wider than the Golden Ratio would suggest, with high eyebrows, relatively weak chins, and somewhat pronounced lips. They tend towards thin, wispy beards, but some groups manifest magnificent moustaches.
The name "auguroid" comes from a local tendency among practitioners of magic to rely on enhancing their senses as a consequence of magic usage, and for an ability to notice patterns in the world around them leading to greater power.
There are six notable language families associated with the Auguroids:
The Poldava family, spoken by local ethnicities in Salvi, Quiram, and Puldu, and across much of Akotoya, as well as in parts of Kusquma.
The Chalic family, spoken in a dialect continuum in the Cenotes and Colonnade regions of Salvi by the Chál.
The Aminta family, spoken in Yurkho, Mechir, Erkul, Basar, Shung, and Bersan, and most prominently by the old Ashenacom Empire.
The Yamatsoki family, spoken by the various pre-colonial states on the western side of Borealia.
The Khatsetso family, spoken in western Tlepcha.
The Kalamaten family, spoken in western Quiram.
Theurgoid
The Theurgoid race is found in Western Pelia, particularly in the Doas and Bushlands regions, as well as both on the western and eastern coasts of Borealia. Skin colour ranges from burnt brown in the tropics to a golden-cream colour near the poles; eye colour likewise ranges from a deep black through brown and into milky blue and mint green. Hair colour shows the most regional specialization, however. In Borealia hair tends to be red, in the Doas proper anything from blonde to auburn, and in the Cumitoc Mountains natural selection has given certain inhabitants snowy-white hair even as children. Like Auguroid humans, Theurgoid humans tend towards faces slightly wider than the Golden Ratio standard, with high eyebrows and somewhat weaker chins; unlike Auguroid humans, Theurgoid faces tend towards more prominent noses, except among the Kaali, and occasionally epicanthic folds are found in certain subgroups. Theurgoids tend to have relatively little facial hair beyond a light covering; the groups deemed the hairiest, the Irthironians, generally have no more than light stubble at best.
The term "theurgoid" relates to the usual (noted) practice among shamans and sorcerers in this group, which is to fuse directly with larger, more powerful spirits and tweak the balance of the world slightly in their favour.
There are nine language families of note among the Theurgoids.
The Qumoric family, found most prominently in the Empire of Kusquma, but also in the neighbouring country of Jebor, now under the protection (so to speak) of Irthiron.
The Gingay-Murra family, spoken around the southern and eastern shores of thr Shallow Sea, as well as in the desert regions trending southwest towards Arumandjee, in states like Tjamowehrl, Kewez, and Girazouw.
The Warru family, found on the islands north of the Shallow Sea, particularly those now part of Irthiron.
The Olheemanic family, found in the western Doas in a dialect continuum, particularly in Arumandjee.
The Bjirna family, spoken in Irthiron, Balleron, Rumhuwr, Sahkúga, Limbir, and Bersan.
The Kaali family, spoken in Aihalos, Qaanujuk, the Eight Together, and in the country of Taanavuu on the western coast of Borealia.
The Gosāri family, spoken on the Bamboo Islands just to the northwest of Quiram.
The Wachtik family, spoken in what is now eastern Quiram.
The Ayaboi family, spoken in the jungles in southern Kusquma and on the eastern coast of Tlepcha.
Vatoid
The Vatoid race is native to Eudnophe, Oria, and the southern reaches of Potamia. Also called the "red men" (although this term is somewhat misleading), their skin runs from a deep red to a light pink even near the South Pole. Eye colour runs from brown through orange, gold, green, and grey, and occasionally manifests in a piercing blue; hair colour likewise runs from black to brown to blond to white-blond to red, but tends to be straight or at best wavy. Epicanthic folds are near-ubiquitous. Vatoid faces are thinner than the Golden Ratio standard, generally with larger noses and prominent foreheads. They are also noted as being the most hirsute of any of the human races, with full beards a sign of masculinity or nobility in a number of cultures.
The name "vatoid" relates to the process by which most magicians appear to have operated for the past several thousand years: by allowing spirits not to work in sync with them, but to possess them wholeheartedly, leading not only to direct divine communion but also to a number of "demigods" renowned in legend.
There are seven language families of note among the Vatoids:
The Nenceic family, one of the largest language families in the world, spoken in all eight countries of Hercua and all ten in Zahng Kwen, as well as across the Chom Mountains and by the secretive and nomadic Kagamai.
The Niō family, also quite large, spoken in Ghibak, the Idamdesi, Nù-Tāh, and Bimparja, as well as by the nomadic Ndarampalgara people.
The Poko family, spoken in eastern and southern Akotoya.
The Kwehnu family, spoken largely in Omiria and in the Threefold City, as well as by a substantial portion of the Army of the Dead.
The Ur-Motzálac family, spoken in Mujara, Shewamiko, Rukana, and Favushi.
The Atennaa family, spoken largely in Onibdah.
The Qariyyu family, found in Acarios and in minority populations in Hercua and Lewidzia.
Fabroid
The Fabroid race may be the oldest human race, although without genetic testing being possible yet it is difficult to say. Certainly their physique seems best suited for the ancestral environment on the high plains of Eastern Potamia, though they now live across the continent, in parts of Hemeraea, and even on the archipelagos of Thalassia, the only landmass not technically part of a continental crust. Their skin is on average much darker than any of the other races, from a purply black to at lightest an olive colour in the temperate zone. Eyes are brown, orange, or golden; hair is black or brown, going grey or white with age, and often frizzy. Fabroid faces tend to be wider than the Golden Ratio standard, wider than Auguroid or Theurgoid faces, with more pronounced lips and eyebrows slightly higher than the mask (and with tips at the end). Fabroids also tend towards full facial hair, although their beards tend to be a little thin (and quite long).
"Fabroids" received their designation because of the preference for fabrication and soul-sharing—binding part of themselves or others into objects or even locations as a nexus for power. These objects are often extremely valuable to a specific community or family.
There are five language families of note among the Fabroids:
The Malehi-Treezh family, most prominent in the archipelago of Malehi, which stretches across most of the Draconic Ocean, but is also found in the western provinces of Rukana.
The Omgoyan family, found in Ijamji, northern Ben Gui, and southern Dubal.
The Gykkuri family, found in Lantar, Quk, and Om.
The Banshi family, found on Akotoya and in certain states of Zahng Kwen.
The maSanyo family, found across northern Potamia but particularly in Dubal.
Lamioid
The Lamioid race is found primarily in Hemereaea, particularly the temperate and polar regions. They tend towards skin from an olive colour to peach to beige, and brown, blue, or grey eyes and (almost universally) straight black hair. Like Vatoids, Lamioid faces are slightly thinner than the Golden Ratio standard, with relatively large noses and (unlike Vatoids) quite thin lips. Rather like Theurgoids in turn, Lamioids don't ever grow much in the way of beards, although down south moustaches are often in vogue.
"Lamioid" refers to the phenomenon that elsewhere in the world is termed chimerism—drawing power from a symbiosis with a particular species of animal or plant, and in exchange becoming inextricably linked to that species.
Four language families among the Lamioids have had a dominant role in Ajjamah's history:
The Naimm-Qikhnyric family, spoken in parts of Qoldishtar, as well as in southern Hercua and Lewidzia in the past.
The Truzitha-Veisaric family, spoken in Lewidzia and nearby countries, in parts of Coluega, and in the old Truzithan city-states in modern Hercua.
The Teshmuric family, spoken mainly in Qoldishtar, but also in Lantar and Gashtar.
The Ashino family, spoken in the Zanguenese factories and Hercuan missions in Western Potamia, as well as on the island of Ekueso in Akotoya. There is some debate as to whether this group represents a direct descendant of the original Lamioid clade, or just an early offshoot.
Near-Human Races: Yetis and Corrigans
There are other ononcentaurids (tailless apes) on Ajjamah. The lascar (petaurista nauta) is the most prominent example of one of humanity's distant kin living close by; common across the archipelago of Akotoya, the lascar is recognizable by its orange-brown coat of fur, long arms, solitary nature, and tendency to pick up crafts quite well indeed. And yet even then it is not the closest relative of humanity to survive; two others of the genus anthropus surived the changes in climate all the way to the modern day.
In the mountain caves and secret valleys of Chomu, yetis (anthropus villosus) make their abode. White-haired with flecks of gold, leathery-skinned, golden-eyed, these gentle giants hunt flocks of mountain ibexes and marsupial hyraxes, and gather mushrooms and mosses for the long winters. They aren't quite at a human level of thought--fire and simple tools are all they've managed so far--but they definitely have the magical potential. The Gifts of the Yetis are linked to life, as with all anthropoids; the four "tribes" or subraces observed can shapeshift, heal, levitate, and become shadows respectively. They are held as sacred messengers by the Chom-Trin, and hunted as abominations by the Hercuans.
Meanwhile, across the far islands of Malehi and in the forests of Mujara, corrigans (anthropus parvus) hide themselves around fountains and springs, and hunt small beasts of their own. But unlike the eight-foot-tall yetis, corrigans are at best four feet high, and usually much shorter than that. They have language, of a sort; chattering sounds, complex but repeated when the corrigan is alone as much as when around others, suggesting a not-quite-language. They have two known Gifts. The ones around Mujara have a mild form of prediction, being able to avoid disasters through an as-of-yet unknown method. The ones in Malehi are a little more well-known, given their Gift is the ability to turn themselves into eighteen-foot-long magical-fire-breathing black dragons. An alliance with these is what allowed the Great Chief of Tehapu to unite first his island and then the Archipelago into the Malehinese Empire in the first place.