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Five Places to Visit in the Human Capital

Visitors to the Human Kingdom will want to spend some time in its capital, appropriately named the Human Capital.

Some travelers say the name lacks imagination. The Humans find this baffling. It is the capital city of the Human Kingdom, inhabited primarily by members of the Human Lineage. What, precisely, is confusing about that?

Here are five attractions not to be missed.

1. The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace has been home to generations of Human monarchs. Visitors from other Lineages are sometimes surprised by the Humans' enthusiasm for hereditary monarchy, particularly given their long history of disagreement over which Humans ought to inherit the throne. That ended only when the royal line was formally declared to descend from the High Paladins of the Void War.

The palace itself is an impressive achievement, although Ogre visitors have complained about the ceiling heights.

2. The Human University

The Human University is among the Kingdoms' distinguished institutions of higher learning, offering instruction in history, philosophy, Alchemy, and more. Its scholars are known for their curiosity, rigorous debate, and occasionally spectacular disagreements.

Visitors interested in Alchemy should ask about the University's research traditions. It is considered impolite, however, to ask how many of its most important discoveries were made by scholars who were subsequently expelled.

3. The Grand Marketplace

The marketplace offers goods from across the five Kingdoms: Elven craftsmanship, Goblin scholarship, Ogre metalwork, and Naga Alchemy. Human merchants take particular pride in gathering the finest products of the other Lineages and selling them at a modest profit.

Visitors are encouraged to bargain, although Goblins may find the Humans' definition of "modest" somewhat flexible.

4. The Temple of the Sacred Flame

The Temple of the Sacred Flame honors the Humans' patron deity. Its priests maintain ancient traditions of worship, contemplation, and service. Visitors of all Lineages are welcome, provided they observe the appropriate customs and respect the sacred ceremonies.

Those unfamiliar with Human religious practices should understand that the Sacred Flame is not merely a particularly impressive fireplace; it is a literal manifestation of the Sacred Flame in the physical realm.

Attempts to roast marshmallows are strongly discouraged.

5. The Harbor District

The Harbor District is the gateway to the capital, where ships from all five Kingdoms arrive bearing goods, travelers, and occasionally questionable cargo bound for the Grand Marketplace.

Human architects prize order, symmetry, and carefully planned streets, but the Harbor District has stubbornly resisted every attempt to impose them. Its crowded wharves, sprawling warehouses, and winding alleys have grown organically over centuries of trade, much to the frustration of generations of city planners.

Here, Ogre merchants haggle with Goblin traders, Elven sailors mingle with Naga travelers, and Human dockworkers attempt to maintain some semblance of order amid the cheerful chaos.

The Humans are immensely proud of their harbor. They simply wish everyone would stop rearranging it.


The Human Capital is a wonderful destination. Its inhabitants are welcoming, industrious, and remarkably adaptable, despite a tendency to regard their own customs as universal.

Humans are neither more nor less remarkable than the other peoples of the Kingdoms. It is probably best not to tell them so.

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