There are five major strains of Humanity; most nations in the Flanaess know some measure of mixture, and few are those countries who boast of a racial purity. Nonetheless, ethnic and cultural origins still play a major role in the politics and society of the present.
Oeridians. Skin tones range from tan to olive; brown and auburn hair are common, though some individuals have hair as light as honey or as dark as coal. Likewise, eye coloration is highly variable; brown and grey are seen most often. Oeridians tend to have square or oval faces and strong jaw lines.
Suloise. The Suel have the lightest coloration of any known Human race of the Flanaess. Their skin is fair, with an atypical proportion of albinos. Eye color is pale blue or violet, sometimes deep blue or grey. Suel hair is often curly or kinky, with fair colors such as yellow, light red, blond, and platinum blond. The Suel tend to be lean, with narrow facial features.
Flan. Pure Flan have a bronze-colored complexion, varying from light copper shades to deepest brown. Flan eyes are usually dark brown, black, or amber. Hair is wavy or curly and typically black or brown, or any shade in between. The Flannae have broad, strong faces and sturdy builds.
Baklunish. The Bakluni have skin of golden tones, and straight, fine-textured hair that is universally dark, ranging from dusky brown to bluish black. Their eyes are usually green or grey-green; hazel and grey eyes are rare. Bakluni tend to be long of limb and facial feature, with high cheekbone.
Rhennee. The complexion of Rhenn-folk ranges from olive to tan; their hair is usually curly and tends to be black or dark brown. Most have eyes of grey, blue, or hazel, but green is known in some families. The Rhennee are generally short but wiry.
The Suel and the Baklunish once ruled great empires which destroyed each other and resulted in the Great Migrations. The Suloise and the Oeridians bore east across the Flanaess, conquering the native lands of the Flan; the Oeridians remain the racial and cultural dominant. The Rhennee, who live almost exclusively on barges which ply the north-central waterways of the Flanaess, are a mystery whose origins remain unknown.
Bissel is a crossroads of many cultures; here is a list of the most prominent:
The Keogh, also called Keoish or Keolanders, are the natives of the Sheldomar Valley, descendants of the original Oeridian and Suloise settlers. The Keogh are generally of a lighter complexion than their Ferrondal rulers. Named for the Kingdom of Keoland, whose dominions once stretched as far north as Ket, the Keogh speak their own language, stubbornly defiant of the foreign lords who unseated the Keoish nobility of Bissel in the Short War. The Keoish are fiercely proud of their culture and history.
The Ferrondal peoples hail from Veluna and Furyondy, to the east. These Oeridians claim descent from the Great Kingdom of Aerdy, but broke with that empire to pursue the worship of the Flannae deity Rao; "Ferrondal" is now synonymous with "Raoist". Since the Short War, Bissel's nobility has been overwhelmingly Ferrondal, much to the resentment and alienation of the native Keogh. Ferrondals tend toward tan skin and darker hair, due to the Flan influence on their heritage, and are generally a reasonable, noble, and valiant people.
The Ketites are, strangely, an Oeridian people in ethnicity, but identify themselves as Baklunish. Indeed, there is a higher presence of Baklunish blood among them, but they uniformly embrace the religion of the Bakluni, and consider themselves the vanguard of their faith, continually pushing against the borders of the Oeridian east in a drive for conquest. They are able horsemen like their more pureblooded neighbors, and while warlike, maintain the same respect for ideals of hospitality and generosity as other Bakluni do. Ketites (and other Baklunish, by cultural association) are often referred to derogatively as "Backlanders."
The Paynims are some of the most savage of Humans known to the Bisselites - they are barbarian horsemen who live in the steppelands beyond the Barrier Peaks. The tribe most familiar to Bisselites are the Uli, who claim to have settled a valley of their own in the near west, which they call Ull. Despite their Baklunish origins, many of the Uli seem willing to fight against the Ketites, and some have even been known to join the Border Companies. Few easterlings know why there is such division between the Baklunish peoples, but the joke among many is that while the Ketites respect and befriend their horses, the Paynims prefer to marry theirs, which is against Ketite law.
The Perrenlanders live to the north, across the Yatils. While they are also protected by mercenary armies, the Oeridian Perrenlanders are isolationists, and offer no aid against Ket.