Humans

The humans of the Isles have more or less been abandoned to the overworld. Without the structure and academia of the High Elves, most governments have plummeted into corruption and political games, if they even managed to stay in power at all. Unfortunately, this means the largest cities of the Isles suffered most from the Cataclysm. The nobles fought openly for power, while the lower classes mostly fled due to a lack of order and food. It became smarter to live in camps and small villages where everyone knew and trusted each other.

An inadvertent consequence of this mass exodus from the major cities was the sudden loss of academic works. In only a few decades, centuries of history, art and culture were lost. Thanks to the short lifespans of humans, it barely took two generations before even the year itself was lost.

Humans are now generally poorly educated, and won't know much of their world beyond the next town over. They are staunchly loyal to their immediate tribe, but incredibly distrustful of strangers. The leaders of each village, tribe or group are rarely democratically elected, but command their group in high esteem. These leaders may be authoritarian dictators, even abusive to their populace, but retain their power because in the end, they tend to keep their people safe. In this world, food, clean water and protective walls are a luxury, so villagers will accept a lot of punishment just to keep these basic staples of life.