Without a doubt, humans are very diverse creatures. They are adaptable both physically and socially. The human race is older than any on the planet. They are adaptable and smart; they can be found nearly anywhere. Humans are so prevalent that even regions that are moderately to extremely ethnocentric may have a few humans either as full-fledged members of the community or as slaves. Humans are highly sought-after in the slave market for their tenacity and unwavering sense of hope.

The largest centers of human population are, naturally, the largest cities in the world. The gems of human civilization are Panaecea and Jerusalem. However, Quenecias is a human city which was not built on the smoldering remains of a city that existed before the Apocalypse. This city has waxed and waned over the years and has now become the center of human progress and knowledge in the known world as Panaecea has stagnated in bureaucracy and Jerusalem has been embroiled in civil war.

The Shard that imbued the Gnomes with their abilities, had within it a celestial cunning unparalelled in the world. The Gnomish communities of the world embody this cunniing almost to a fault. More than one experimenting Gnome has perished in an explosion of his own devising. Gnomish society works like one gigantic corporation; it is not militaristic, but it is extremely heirarchial. People on the same level of society usually work well together and have a very strong sense of a common goal.

At the beginning of the Shard War, one deep red Shard was found by a group of people who had sequestered themselves in the bowels of the earth. These people did not fear the deep places, but backed themselves in like badgers. Anything that pierced their defenses was killed. They still stand as the only group of people never overcome by the Dark. When the Shard was found, the energy raced through their crude yet ingenious tunnels like a wave of fire. All within became Dwarves. Early on, the group split. Most stayed, but one small faction ventured onto the surface, swearing never to be cornered in the Underdark again. These became the Gold Dwarves, and the others became Mountain Dwarves. Some creatures have been made in their image, but are slaves to the Dark. These creatures are called Duergar or False Dwarf, as there still has been no true Dwarf sway to the side of the Darkness, at least according to the Dwarves.

The history of Elves also begins with myth. At the time of the Shard War. The first moonbeam to pierce the crack that God left in the Sphere of Darkness struck a Shard. It shone like a diamond and beams arced across the globe. Each person one of those thousand beams struck became an elf.

In the northern regions of the Western continent, the people to become elves had strong ties to the land. Indigenous to the region, they had been persecuted for centuries before the Shard War, but they had been chosen by the Shard to carry on with their love for the earth and give it strength. These were the Wild Elves who are sometimes called Wood Elves or Sylvan Elves by humans. They have an earthy complexion, smooth skin, high cheekbones, and long, black, corn silk hair. They have dark charcoals for eyes and long, graceful ears. They often wear skins and trinkets made from animals and precious and semiprecious stones.

Wild Elves tend to wander in tribal units, never staying in one place for too long, never more than a century. They believe that the land belongs to no one, but they do tolerate the other races and their odd predisposition to think that they own property. Some Wild Elves have taken to raiding farms to teach men a lesson, but in all, this is frowned upon by general Elven society.

Ancestor spirits tied to Gaia guide the Wild Elves, and much like Fae, they allow their dreams to guide them. The believe that the dreamworld is a very real place that can bring great insight. This is fortunate for them, because it is mostly true.

To the south of the Western continent, another kind of Elf entirely emerged. Introspective and often aloof, certainly self-centered, Golden Elves are fountains of power in bodies of flesh. Golden Elves generally believe that they all have great potential rivaling that of any god. Some have broken from this conceit, but it is a quality that describes the race as a whole.

Golden Elves are usually tall and they all have a goldenrod complexion. They have either blond, golden red, or white hair. Their eyes almost glow. Most Golden Elves are very concerned with their looks and wear well-tailored outfits and finely crafted jewelry. They keep their features clean and their hair trimmed. They concern themselves mostly with art, magic, and philosophy and have little need for mundane distractions.

In the early years, these two groups lived in the extreme north and south of the Western continent. Golden Elves built an urban society along the shores of the peninsula with arcing bridges, glittering spires, and finely-wrought, stately homes surrounded by art and magic. They traded with Golden Halflings who lived in the mountains for food and basic materials. In the north, the Wild Elves lived on the land and roamed in their tribes.

Over 1000 years ago, all of their worlds were torn asunder by one event, the coming of Svervnux. He and his legion laid ruin to the Golden Elf cities and scattered Wild Elf tribes. In the north, the Wild Elves escaped to the forests and hid. In the south, the Golden Elves, severely depleted, made a deadly trek north and found themselves at the protected city of Hallow's Breeze. If it were not for the Golden Halflings (who they had previously denounced as backward and stupid), they would never have made it.

The Golden Elves soon became a powerful political force in Hallow's Breeze and they wrestled control from the Dwarves and Thri'kreen. Golden Halflings stood beside them and protected them. Over time, this relationship soured and the Golden Elves began to live apart from the general population of the city.

Wild elves, too, distanced themselves from society. When the nations of the North banded together against the dragons, they did little to help until very recently when Queen Chan Juan and the earthly deity Forwaith united the people of the West together to defeat the forces of Svervnux from Quenecias to Dragonkeep.

In the south, the Hallow's Breeze council and a military commander named Akayay forced Svervnux out and with the help of Quenecias and he was defeated, but raised as a deity. During that battle, the Golden Elves hid in their towers of bent and broken steel and concrete, and they raised their own powerful god into being and named him after an old and powerful dead god named Ra. After the war, the Golden Elves were cast out of Hallow's Breeze and the city's old towers were razed to the ground. A small contingent of Golden Halflings took pity on the Elves and left with them. For months they wandered the deserts of southern Kansas and many died. They walked and walked until they came to a hot jungle where they found, quite by accident, the north most outpost of their ancient territory. The Golden Elves, their spirits raised, began exploring the land immediately. They settled chief city, Tennovar, rebuilding on the millennium-old bones of the one Svervnux ruined. They built ships and began trade with Jerusalem and Castle Island. In 5606, the High Tower of Tennovar was completed, a perfect recreation of the original. The slim, glass-covered tower can be seen from miles away in either direction.

During the Dark Times, there had always been groups of people clinging to the coattails of society. These people dodged and weaved away from the piercing gaze of the Dark's minions. Few were caught and even others were strong enough to deal major blows to the powerful forces of the Dark. Some of these people simply refused to live the life that the Dark had forced on them. Regardless of the lack of sunlight, they lived an honest life tilling the soil under the light of the moon and Jupiter. When their Shard shattered high over the earth, its power streaked to the four corners of the earth in search of those worthy of its power. At first, many of these people thought they had been cursed with their short stature, but they quickly learned their true natures and became a quick thorn in the side of the Dark.

Halflings of all types live amongst each other all over the world. The Halfling race is a bundle of recessive genes piled into a little human-like body. Of all the races, Halflings are the most like humans. They often share the same lands and the same destinies.

Halfbreeds are rather common in Harvest Moon There are several ways a halfbreed might be produced, but most situations favor a pure offspring of one type or another. In a union between two people of different subraces, a child of the dominant subrace is born. For Halflings this is the Stout, Elves the Wood Elf, Gnomes the Rock Gnome, and Dwarves the Mountain Dwarf. Any other subraces are mixed and it's a 50-50 toss-up. There are only a few unions between races that produce offspring. A Wood Elf and a Halfling will produce a Tallfellow Halfling 100 percent of the time. A Rock Gnome and a Mountain Dwarf will produce a Rock Gnome 100 percent of the time.

True half-blooded offspring are much more rare. Any elf that finds itself in a situation where it has mated with an Orc might find herself pregnant with what is called a Green Elf. Humans have very potent blood. A human may mate with any elf, Orc, ogre, giant or goblin and produce a halfbreed. Some of these halfbreeds are more rare than others.