Humans

Driven by their insatiable thirst for adventure and discovery, humans are constantly pushing their boundaries. They are frequently skirmishing with one another, hence their multiple nations on the Southern continent, but generally avoid conflict with the other races. They are called upon to explore regions by the gnomes and elves most often, though occasionally by the dwarfs as well, even though most people agree the humans would seek to explore those regions anyway. The patronage of the other races simply makes it easier for them to meet the expenses and guarantees that the other races share in the humans discoveries.

Humans are enamored by all that is new and unknown, and even though very few of them ever achieve what the other races would call greatness, the greatest of the humans are held in awe, respect, and not a little envy. It was a human who first invented the steam engine (though it was the gnomes who now make expert use of it), and it was a human who first captured a lightning elemental and bound it to a glass bauble (though it is the elves who found they could use those enchanted baubles to power even greater magical wonders. There is disagreement among the races about who first encountered the Xorn, the dwarfs or a human, but many (none of the dwarfs) are happy to point out that Xorn is an ancient human word. Those conversations also tend to bring up the fact that Xorn are only found in the deepest reaches of the earth, and that few dwarfs have ever delved that deep.

It is also, to the shame of most human wizards, a human who first discovered the path to lichdom. It has also been a human, more often than not, who was responsible for summoning/releasing/discovering some great evil that threatened civilization. It is for this reason that the other races keep an interest, if not a close eye, on whatever the humans are doing.