It's time for the Monday update from Paradox with the next Development Diary for Runemaster. This time the update has more information on the human race.

Dev Diary 19 - Race: Humans

As you know from the previous dev diary we have decided to keep you in suspense over the summer by posting dev diaries every other week up until August 25th, and then we'll return to our usual weekly schedule.

Our upcoming Tactical RPG game Runemaster will feature six different races, and today we will talk about the Humans. Might as well start with the familiar, right?

Inspiration

As could be expected, we've taken much inspiration from Viking culture and society in designing the Humans: their homes and some of their traditions are all fairly similar in style and tone to what we know of the Vikings. We should emphasize, though, that Runemaster is not a Viking game. This is a fantasy game set in Norse mythology; this is a fictional world. Although the Humans are based on the Vikings, don't expect them to be realistic Vikings in every way.

The Mythology: The Creation of Humans

Long ago, Odin was out walking with his brothers Vili and Ve, looking at the world they had created. The more they walked, the more they felt that the world was empty. The other worlds had Jotuns, Dwarfs, Trolls, Light- and Darkelfs, but Midgard lacked something. True, the Trolls visited from time to time, but that made the world feel even more empty. It needed something or someone to give it life and energy. As they walked, they found two pieces of driftwood - one from an ash and one from an elm. The three gods carved the two pieces of wood into their own likeness and made a man from the ash and a woman from the elm. They were named Ask and Embla. Odin gifted them with breath, life and spirit. Vili gave them brains, feelings and sense. Ve gave them hearing, sight and blood. The humans were given Midgard as their domain to protect, use and thrive in.

The Appearances of Humans

Most Humans are between 1.5 and 2 meters tall, with skin that easily reddens in the sun. Humans can be dark haired with brown eyes, but most are red haired or even fair haired. Their clothes are made from cloth, leather and fur, with some metal reinforcements for fastening. They trust their own strength and stamina more than heavy armor ,and so are dressed in flexible chain mail or leather in battle. Humans are fond of wielding swords, axes and spears, often combined with a shield, in battle