first of all i have to note that most of my work is in form of sketches, only the world maps have been converted to digital artworks, the rest is directly from the scanner and made with pencils. there are 14 planned playable races. 11 of them belong to four ancient lineages which are as of now, extinct. while the other 3 belong to recent discoveries. lets start with the most familiar ones
-The Human Lineage:one of the most important events in the game's story is the last ice age, which spanned for a larger time than the average due to artificial manipulation, this extra time allowed some of the ancient human races to cover more territories, subsequently with the end of the ice age, some of these races were left isolated from the main landmasses, thriving in small spots out of the homo sapiens migratory routes. allowing them to develop independently.
humans:
evolved in Hesperos during the ice age, expanded to most parts of the planet and founded the first civilizations in this lineage. there's no difference between Antherean humans and Earth humans for that matter anyways.
neandars:
the Neandar race evolved isolated in what is now the isle of Helgard, in the north polar sea, they descend from an ancient race of humans that moved to the island during the ice age via island hoping and land bridges. while their ancestors got extinct in the mainland, they thrived in the cold island, evolving a complex society. the current seat of power of them however is the Skadia, the northern continent, which they colonized during the middle ages. a branch of them, the Vinlandians, reached the new world and formed a small kingdom in the upper parts of Nordalia. they are known for their expertise in metallurgy mostly. having perfected underground construction in a place were trees were practically nonexistant.
floresians:
the Floresian race evolved isolated on the other side of the world, in an unknown small chain of islands in the Ocean of Dawn (Antherean equivalent to the Pacific ocean), limited by resources, the Floresian ancestors developed neoteny in order to remain in a small size. their average estature not reaching even 1.5 meters. althought small in size, their brain capacity remained, floresians are known for being the first race of the new era in forming a multiracial civilization, and serve their mixed society with their cleverness and curiosity.
-The Asadthalanian Lineage:next lineage in the list, the three races derived from a single species, which was artificially created more than 500.000 years ago by the Aescen, one of the most ancient races in the game's universe. the Asadthalanian race was created from biologically enhanced monkeys. their bodies modified to match those of hominids. their brains enhanceds for an increased mental power. their ears modified to get a better equilibrium and auditory sense. and their tails enhanced to serve as a third limb. Asadthalanians were tasked as servitors and helpers. meant to mantain a construct known as "The Astrassil". a gigantic machine/archology which controlled the global climatic conditions. living in an extended interglacial, Asadthalanians thrived for thousands of years until a civil war erupted, mostly caused by the sense of abandonment of a part of the population. the civil war ravaged the machine, and made it malfunction, the climatic cataclysm destroyed the home of the Asadthalanians which had to abandon the sunking island. not all of them were able to make it, and those that didnt manage to escape either drowned or were left stranded in distant islands in the middle of the ocean. those who sailed and survived divided and moved to east and west. eventually landfalling into different corners of the world.
sadharians:
sadharians descend from the asadthalanians which colonized west, they reached what is now the sadharian desert, and expanse of sand and other desertic conditions which connects Etiopa and Hesperos. sadharians are known for creating the most ancient civilization of the new era, with an empire spanning as far as 8000 years. their empire is a theocracy, and their religion is monotheistic, they believe the god A'shir saved them after their original creators abandoned them, and he gifted them the wisdom of magic, for which they were the first ones to discover it. sadharians have a strong sense of sustainability, as they live in an unforgiving place. and as such water and other products are heavily cared with respect.
xelecans:
xelecans descend from those who went to the east, reaching the southern part of Nordalia, they are second in age to sadharians, forming an empire about 5000 years ago. xelecans are politheistic and worship a pantheon of gods from which the moon is the most important to them, their empire is theocratic too, revolved around around a high priest or "Xel'ankan" as they call them. very ritualistic and environmental activist, as they adapted to live in the middle of the jungle without messing around with the habitat.
moari:
the moari belong to the few survivors of the sunken construct. left stranded in an island like the floresians did. the moari didnt became smaller, but they adapted themselves to a marine lifestyle, they were the creators of the first multiracial society, they discovered the floresians during their marine migrations and formed a mutual culture, both races migrated together until reaching Sahunda, an island continent in the Ocean of Dawn, where they created a civilization with the human natives. the moari are naturally gifted for actuatic environments and are very respectful of their surroundings.
-The Grakan Lineage:the grakans belonged to Cea, a brother planet to Antherea in ancient times. this planet once was a harbour of life, until an interplanetary war between the so called "titan races" ravaged it and made it a barren planet. originally the Grakans evolved naturally from the native lifeforms, but were enslaved by the Tartarians, this happened around 700.000 years ago, when the titans roamed both planets, Tartarians sought to invade Antherea with a top secret project, a Transgate, a portal which would allow them to put their forces inside and conquer their neighbors from the inside. this plan was destroyed by a Grakan slave, which was able to contact the Aescen, the dominant race in Antherea in that time, this started the war between worlds. for which the aftermath was the massive exodus of the Grakan race via the transgate, into what is now western Nordalia, their planet however, was depraved of life bearing capabilities via a superweapon. without a place to live the Tartarians had to abandon the system and escape, for which the Aescen would pursuit them later. stranded in an alien planet, the grakans diversified into three different groups.
nuhak:
the nuhak race evolved in Nordalia, they developed a tribal culture about the worship of the spirits and the natural world, during the age of discovery they joined with the xelecans and the vinlandians, along with the native humans against the hesperean conquerors. the aftermath of this was the creation of the nuhak confederation, which spans the west half of central nordalia. while the east belongs to the Republic of Nordalia, a former group of colonies belonging to the Albienan Empire.
valiok:
the grakans migrated from the new world to the world world after their exodus, the group that crossed the landbridge found a continent which reminded their ancestral homeland. and the group splintered in two, the valiok are descendants of one of those splinter groups. they formed a civilization in the central steppes of Hesperos, governed by a Khanate, the valiok are known for their dexterity at the mounted battle and their warmonging tendencies, having invaded both far east and west to get resources. as of now they have abandoned these practices, but their nomadic heritage is still heavily present.
orgruin:
the orgruin are the other splinter group, they developed a more pacific society in the higher peaks of Hesperos, isolated from most of the world they developed a society around illumination. their society is a democratic republic, and their leader is the Lama. they are known for their martial arts and for being the largest non titan descended race.
-The Titans:the last main lineage in the game, and the one who gave rise to many of the current races, titan history spans as far as 1'000.000 years ago. when a race known as the Eiven crash landed in both Antherea and Cea. the Eiven were the last survivors of a dying universe, having used an interversal wormhole in roder to evade extinction. they gave rise to two races separated in the two planets, the Aescen were diplomatics and seekers of knowledge, gifted with an stable planet they developed a highly advanced society, while their brothers, the Tartarians, developed a society around warmongery and seeking of power above the others. both societies clashed when the Aescen first visited Cea, althought the contact was relativately a success, and the Tartarians were lifted of their medieval stage, a political party of nationalistic Tartarians rose up into power and ended the interplanetary bond, seeking instead to dominate. thus the Tartarian Dominion was born. this would eventually lead to the interplanetary war. for which the Tartarians lost. escaping to the unknown space, the Aescen abandoned Antherea in a massive exodus in order to put an end to the menace. be it by diplomacy or by extermination.
the two lineages of this line are descendants of splinter groups in both societies, one was planetborn, the other was spaceborn.
vaelim:
the vaelim evolved from an splintter group of Aescen who decided not to go with the rest of the race, by that time the titans had reached inmortality via technological enhancement, replacing their organic bodies with cybernetic ones via infomorphism. the ancestors of the vaelim did the opposite, they returned to their biological life and preferred to stay in their homeworld. with the coming of the ice age the vaelim ancestors faced the advance of the ice in Austrartica, and had to abandon their cities in order to survive, living in the northernmost parts of the continent. without technology to back them, they returned to a more archaic stage, giving rise to vaelim society.
na'madi:
the na'madi are the only remaining ancient race in the planet, they are an splintter group of the Tartarians, a resistances against the nationalistic forces of their culture, the na'madi were obligued to return to their organic stage and were sent to exile due to their oposition against the government. for thousands of years they thrived in nomadic caravans around the galaxy, using the few resources they could recycle. even when the other civilizations disappeared from history they remained living in the vast void. until they found the Antherean system, a haven for them, as all the worlds the found were unhabitable.
The Others:automacci:
originally created by a human inventor, the automacci designs was based in several sources, modern machinery, arcanotechnical devices and reverse engineered titan technology (of the few that could be understanded), supposed to be the perfect servitors, the automacci awaked with a modified neural web, caused by a malfunction in the machine that created them, the explosion destroyed half of the city were the first model was created, but this gave birth to the first automaton with a free will and a humanoid personality. automacci are versatile people, as they can modify their bodies to cover different functions, the automacci are very social and fraternal, no automaci is better than the other, all are the same, an automacci can be either male or female at will, since they dont reproduce biologically.
xenoarg:
the xenoarg along with the next race come from Paradoxia, an island in the middle of the Ocean of Dusk (Antherean equivalent to the Atlantic), the isle was undiscovered until recent times due to a malfunctioning force field. the first explorers came with reports of an island inhabited by unique and bizarre creatures, organisms that didnt seem to cover any page in the rest of the known fossil record. the xenoarg and their neighbors were found later, xenoarg are at its core, a race of colonial insectoids, which mutated from contact with human DNA thousands of years ago, be it from a lost explorer or a corpse. the xenoarg are capable or rapid mutation, allowing them to cover different functions in their society. but requiring a permanent form in order to excel at certain jobs. they can be male or female, xenoarg society is based around a community without castes, with a strong emphasis in personal contribution to the others.
mandragor:
the mandragor are neighbors to the xenoarg, but live in the wilds. evolved from a mix of plant and animal which entered in contact too with humand DNA, mandragor are the ultimate ambientalists, trying to make part of the environment as much as possible, they are strictly vegetarian, but can and will eat other creatures if there is a serious need for it. for the most part they cover their energy needs via photosynthesis and eating vegetables.
