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Aserra's human races and elemental races share a common genetic base and are mostly capable of reproducing with each other. Only Asath and Eain'Idayn are completely incapable of reproducing with races other than their own due to their composite nature. Mariel, while similar to the Asath, are able to reproduce with other races due to their once-in-a-lifetime ability to transform into a bipedal form. Interracial individuals are generally rare as most races tend to keep to themselves sexually and romantically, but there are some exceptions to this rule. The Shaolaon, Ery'Idyan, Ur'Idayn, and Fayl'Idayn have highly hybridized origins, and the Forsaken Land is home to a large population of human and Danaij hybrids.

Interracial offspring may possess some magic and special abilities from their parent races, and certain traits will remain prominent in them, marking them as different to both races. Other traits may be blended, such as ear shape and lifespan differences. In many places, interracial individuals often feel out of place and are sometimes ostracized for their differences.

The term “half-elf” is often erroneously applied to many interracial individuals, as the term “elf” has been assigned to many of Aserra’s Idayn and Nafod races by humans. The concept of elves originates with a race of fae that was known to live alongside the gods. The Idayn bore a resemblance to the elves which some humans were already familiar with, and the term became wide-spread. Some Idayn simply accept this and shrug it off, but none of the races have made much of a campaign to teach humans to address them properly. In societies where the “elf” term is widely used, the word is applied to anyone with tapered ears and no other distinguishing features. As a result, “half-elf” is commonly used and adopted by mixed race individuals.

In many of Aserra's societies, hybrids can face hardship and struggle to find a place in either culture. Even if they are accepted socially, they may still feel out of place, or must deal with the realities of living longer or shorter lifespans than those they love.

Human Hybrids

Humans are the most wide-spread and diverse race in Aserra, inhabiting every continent except Athok and with a curiosity that can often lead to intimate relationships with other races. Despite the fact that they are at odds with nearly every other race in Aserra, humans are involved in the majority if interracial mixes and some of the Idayn sub-races are saturated with human ancestry.

Some of the most common pairings with humans are Danaij in the Forsaken Land, Shaolaon in northwestern Thiskel, Ery’Idayn in the Great Desert of Thiskel, Fayl’Idayn in eastern Kalesten, and Ochae’nafod and Dra’nafod all over the world. Humans are also a common choice of partner in the rarer cases of other interracial unions.

Physical Appearance

With a wide variety of shapes and sizes, the outcome of interracial offspring is hard to define solely on behalf of a human. The one physical trait that sets humans apart from other races is their small, rounded ears which are only shared with their cousins; the kiar and iengi. When reproducing with a member of an elemental race, the long, tapered ears indicative of those races are halved in length in their offspring. In successive generations of human breeding, the ears halve in length again for a quarter-blood, leaving the third generation child with pointed and possibly only slightly elongated ears, while the fourth or fifth generation is unmistakable for pure-blooded human.

Magical Abilities

Humans have no inherent magic, though some individuals may have unique psychic abilities or a higher capacity for spiritual power that can be passed on to their offspring. If a human fathers a child with a mother of an elemental race, the child will inherit the mother’s magic, but if born to a human mother and elemental father, the child will not inherit elementalism. Those with elementalism may be slightly less capable of the magic than their pure-blooded peers due to their human traits.

Lifespan

Humans have one of the shorter lifespans of Aserrans. They have the potential to live for about 100 years, though few reach that age. Generally, the lifespan of an interracial child is a median between the potential of the two parent races. In the case of the elemental races, many of which live for hundreds of years, the child will usually outlive their human peers. Though, in the cases of half-kiar and half-kuzo, the child may stand to live a shorter life than a human, but longer than their other parent’s race.