Human, Talfir

Elven writings dating back to the Crown Wars mention a darkhaired, fair-skinned human tribe in the heart of the great forest of Shantel Othreier. The Talfir were the original human inhabitants of the Chionthar river valley in the Western Heartlands.

Speakers of Talfiric, a long-lost human tongue based on the Draconic alphabet, the Talfir gradually disappeared over a thousand years ago, their culture overwhelmed by refugees from Low Netheril, Calishite settlers from the south, and Chondathan settlers from the Dragon Coast. Several deities of the Faerûnian pantheon are believed to have first been worshiped by the Talfir, including Tempus, who vanquished the Netherese god of war.

The Talfir left little in the way of ruins or artifacts, although Irieabor lies atop the ancient crypt of the Talfir monarch known as Verraketh the Shadowking, who mastered shadow magic. Talis, a ruined city of the Talfir, lies in ruins along the banks of the River Reaching in the depths of the Reaching Woods.

Human, Tashalan

Uncounted thousands of years ago, the human tribes of the Chultan peninsula, now known as the Tashalans, were enslaved by the saurian Creator Race. As with all things, the saurian civilization eventually collapsed and their human slaves won their freedom. However, many members of this black-haired, oliveskinned race took to venerating the snakes they once served, leading to the rise of the yuan-ti. Others, however, turned away from their dark masters, seeking to forge their own realms on the peninsula between the Shining Sea and the Great Sea.

Today Tashalan culture is largely confined to the middle of the Chultan peninsula and the isle of Tharsult. Over the centuries the Chultan tribes drove the Tashalans out of the Jungles of Chult, the Halruaans and Dambrathan drow assimilated the native Tashalan cultures of those lands, and the yuan-ti enslaved those Tashalans who contested their control of the Mhair and Black Jungles. Most Tashalans are natives of Tashalar or the realms of Samarach, Thindol, or Tharsult. Tashalan traders may be found in Calimshan, cities on the shore of the Lake of Steam, and Lapaliiya, as well as Halruaa, Dambrath, and Luiren.

Tashalans speak Tashalan and employ the Dethek alphabet. They venerate both the Faerûnian pantheon and the gods of the yuan-ti, with the followers of Talona and Savras being most prominent.

Human, Tuigan

The nomadic tribes of the Endless Wastes and the Quoya Desert are known as the Tuigan, although that name is actually the name of but one of fifteen major tribes who wander the wasteland between Faerûn and Kara-Tur. Closely related to the inhabitants of Kara-Tur, tribal members are yellowish-bronze in hue, with black hair and broad, flat features. Each tribe has its own dialect, derived in varying degrees from the old empires of Shou, Raumvira, and Imaskari, each of which conquered or extended its influence over the Endless Wastes at its height. The tribes of the Endless Wastes adopted the alphabet of Thorass from traders passing eastwards along the Golden Way to Kara-Tur long ago. The tribes are believed to worship Akadi, the elemental deity of air, and Grumbar, the elemental deity of earth, as well as several beast totems (Horse and Tiger).

Since the defeat of the great Tuigan horde in 1360 DR, members of the Tuigan tribe have been found in small numbers in western lands such as Semphar, Thay, Thesk, Narfell, and Rashemen. It is this group of immigrants who are best known to the inhabitants of Faerûn.

Human, Turami

After their gods precipitated the fall of the Imaskari Empire in –2488 DR, the slave-race known as the Mulan migrated westward to the shores of the Alamber Sea. This migration in turn displaced the native Turami, who were driven westward along the southern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars until they reached the coastal basin now known as Turmish. Generally tall and muscular, with dark mahogany skin, flat faces, and curly hair, the Turami are the primary inhabitants of Turmish, although they form minority populations in Chessenta, Unther, and Mulhorand as well.

Speakers of Turmic, the Turami adopted the Thorass alphabet from Calishite and Chondathan traders. No historical evidence exists suggesting the existence of a Turami pantheon distinct from the Faerûnian pantheon commonly venerated today, although that does not mean that one did not exist. Turmish, the homeland of most Turami, dates back to the founding of Alaghôn in –37 DR.

Human, Ulutiun

Although the Ulutiuns have long inhabited the polar reaches of Faerûn, these short, dark-haired, broad-faced humans with lightbrown skin are actually migrants from the northern reaches of

Kara-Tur who moved westward across the polar icecap millennia ago. Speakers of Uluik, a tongue that only in recent centuries acquired a written form based on the Thorass alphabet, the Ulutiuns are divided into two major groups. The Sea of Moving Ice, the Ice Peak, and the Cold Run (as the icy reaches of the northernmost Sword Coast are sometimes known) are home to the Ice Hunters, the westernmost group of Ulutiuns. Believed to predate the arrival of both the Netherese and the Illuskans, the Ice Hunters venerate nature spirits and are led by shamans, not unlike the more warlike Uthgardt tribes and the barbarians of Icewind Dale. In the east, the Great Glacier is home to the majority of Ulutiuns, including the Iulutiuns, the Angulutiuns, and the Nakulutiuns. They favor hide armor and weapons such as battleaxes, garnoks, hand axes, harpoons, iuaks, light picks, nets, ritiiks, shortbows, throwing axes, and tridents.

Human, Vaasan

Vaasans are the descendants of two waves of humanity who settled the Moonsea region. Refugees from the Netherese survivor states of Asram, Anauria, and Hlondath fled east toward the Moonsea to found realms such as Teshar (which was founded in –87 DR and fell in 479 DR) Yûlash, and Northkeep (which fell in 400 DR). 

In later centuries Chondathan immigrants from Sembia, the Dalelands, and the Vast joined the descendants of these early settlements and established the Moonsea city-states of Zhentil Keep, Hulburg, Melvaunt, Mulmaster, Phlan, and Thentia. Vaasa proper was settled from the Moonsea region after the Great Glacier began its retreat, a couple of hundred years ago. While this ethnic group is sometimes referred to as Tesharans, Tharrans, or Yûls, the name of the last land they settled has become the name by which they are most commonly

known in other lands. Vaasans are typically fair to olive-skinned with dark hair and thick beards. They speak Damaran and employ the Dethek alphabet, a legacy of long-standing trade ties with the nations of Impiltur and Damara. Vaasans venerate most gods of the Faerûnian pantheon, although Bane and, to a lesser extent, Cyric and Auril receive the bulk of their prayers.

Human, Zakharan

Far to the south and east of Faerûn, beyond the fabled lands of the Utter East, is Zakhara, the Land of Fate. Zakhara is considered a continent in its own right, not unlike Faerûn or Kara-Tur, although all three continents are physically connected. 

The Land of Fate is home to the Zakharans, relatively short, brownskinned, dark-haired humans who speak Midani. Zakharans born in the Land of Fate are rarely seen outside their homeland, although Zakharan traders are not unknown in the southernmost reaches of Faerûn.