People of the Earth

People of the Earth (大地人 daichi-jin, also called "Earthlings" or "People of the Earth") is the term used to describe the Non-Player Characters (NPCs, ノンプレイヤーキャラクター) in Elder Tale. They can be found in cities and safe zones and span a range of professions including aristocrats, shopkeepers, and farmers. They can be found throughout the world and are native to the world, unlike Adventurers.

Overview
People of the Earth can be utilized for a number of things including the purchase of food, items, clothing, and can be spoken to for quests. What forms these types of quests take are up to assumption, but escort and monster hunting quests appear to be present.

Their history has been largely shaped by their wars against the Alvs and the monsters. Several hundred years ago the People of the Earth were on the brink of annihilation at the hands of the demihuman races when the Adventurers appeared. The Adventurers pushed the demihuman races and monster back which allowed the People of the Earth to recover and rebuild their civilization. This was the status quo right up until the Catastrophe.

There are powerful People of the Earth like the Royal Guard and the Ancients, however. Normal People of the Earth can also get stronger and level themselves up. However, the speed at which they level up is a quarter of an adventurer's, which makes their "level cap" around 60 at the highest, since they also cannot kill monsters or learn skills as easily as an Adventurer. Even the strongest of People of the Earth knights are still no match against a single Level 90 Adventurer. Only by donning the Mobile Armor of the Royal Guard is a regular Earthling able to defeat most high-leveled Adventurers with ease. However, due to the armor's restrictions of fighting only within a city's borders and its dependence on the city's magic circle, this is a limited advantage at best.

After the Catastrophe
Following the Catastrophe, the number of People of the Earth increased by five to ten-fold, but they still remained weak compared to players, and if they chose, players could use their superior strength to take their belongings or their lives. Furthermore, instead of just being seen as NPCs, the People of the Earth now have memories, feelings and even their own histories, making them far more human than before.

Earthlings are given fixed settings where they are unable to develop in certain areas, such as knowledge. Before the Magical Engineering revolution, they seemed to be incapable of even considering trying to create items or food without using the menu. Earthlings only have forty-two songs (which are very likely the forty-two tracks in the game) and cannot make any new ones; only Adventurers can. However, even though Earthlings are reliant on Adventurers for new developments, they are capable of learning. Upon the discovery of Overskills like Real Food Preparation and Magical Engineering, many Earthling artisans, blacksmiths, chefs, and other craftsmen migrated to Akiba in order to learn techniques from the Adventurers. A few months of learning is equivalent to a lifetime of study. In Minami, Zeldys and Jered Gan combined forces to accomplish feats beyond even Akiba's, such as creating a steel train and restarting their Intercity Transport Gate.

With the discovery of foods with flavor and the new inventions and products created by the Adventurers, the overall culture of the People of the Earth has greatly changed due to these influences. Foods with actual taste have become overwhelmingly popular among the former NPCs with many domains now seeking out new methods of ingredient procurement, cooking techniques, and transport of goods. Devices previously unheard of are now sought after. New products and industrial methods are welcomed. They now see Adventurers as not only mercenaries for hire and protectors, but as new opportunities for wealth and technology advancement.

At the same time, though, some of the Earthlings, especially the nobles, viewed the Adventurers as a possible threat and did not trust them. Because the Earthlings were aware of how little they knew of Adventurers, this created a huge friction between the two sides. This became evident when the nobles at the Eastal Conference of Lords decided to keep the disappearance of the Knights of Izumo a secret from the Round Table Alliance representatives out of fear that the Adventurers would take advantage of the situation. Unlike the Ancients, the Adventurers were not necessarily obligated to fight for the nobility. As Shiroe noted, it was now possible to overthrow a ruling government; much like in Brigandia's case, Adventurers have full freedom to do whatever they please. In addition, People of the Earth seem to have very little information or understanding about the real origins of Adventurers; Earthlings were oblivious to the fact that Elder Tale was a game, had no knowledge of the real world, and so forth.

Adventurers, Earthlings, Ancients, and Monsters have different soul colors, as seen by Coppelia. In an Earthling's case, their soul would appear orange.