The Human Settler Diffusion phenomenon described the gradual increase of humans in central Balebian demographics. The Diffused people were those humans who lived on Balebu during this time.

Early Diffusion

Humanity first arrived in the area around 2'000 b. OW, when Luche established a colony on Colupan. Now and again, human settlers would set out into the world around them, including to Balebu, a continent inhabited by scattered goblin clans near the coast and orcs further in. No significant colonization effort was made, and the settlers integrated into the local hunter-gatherer and farming communities. With time, there was a small human minority in all central Balebu, wherever goblin and orcish tribes were not or barely federated. In general, these Diffused humans lived on friendly terms with their "savage" neighbors, or even formed closed communities with these races.

In 864 b. OW, the western orcs banded together into the Bonecrunch Alliance, mostly to fight Bromalnor (a goblinoid empire in eastern Balebu). Around 40'000 humans were located in that state. Many lived in majoritarily human farming communities, and swore allegiance to one clan or the other much like an orcish tribe would. They gave proper tithes of food and troops to Bonecrunch hosts, playing their part in orcish society, but rarely embraced orcish traditions and religion, instead preferring some kind of bastardized starquintism. Some fanatic humans were fully immersed in orcish culture, venerating the Gruum'Uruk and participating in orcish battle rites. Central Balebian human communities lived largely on their own, occasionally trading with passing merchants from a variety of polities - including Bonecrunch, Bromalnor, and cling-clang. In the east, finally, some communities were part of smaller orcish clans, and others were fully integrated into Bromalnor society. In fact, 3% of Bromalnor's population was human.

Andan-Orc Wars

Around 830, the Trensandor Empire - which had a significant human minority - began expanding to Balebu. Though very few Andan humans lived on the continent, the Andan presence there somewhat encouraged additional Diffusion, and offered trade in advanced goods that improved living standards in the western part of the continent and further advantaged the human minorities, who often were on good terms with Andan merchants.

Between 830 and 630 b. OW, virtually all of Balebu was under the dominion of large orcish federations, or the Trensandor Empire (the two races repeatedly conquered central Balebu from the other). During that time, the humans who were fanatically attached to other races' culture fully embraced their lifestyles and mostly died without children while fighting as auxiliaries, while the farming settlements did their best to please whichever polity they were currently in. Food was always needed, so the communities - often with their local orc an hobgoblin resident as mediators - typically survived invasion by one state or the other. They paid their tithes to the orcish hosts, and handed over taxes to imperial Andan questors whenever they came by. During this time of conflict, the Diffused human population actually increased, because orcs and goblins tended to kill each other, while Trensandor occasionally used large human auxiliary forces, many of which were untrained and thus tended to desert or be routed in combat.

Diffusion from Drummir-Fjor

Finally, in 633 b. OW, while the entire continent was under orcish rule, the Andan humans founded their city of Drummir-Fjor and began expanding their toehold on the continent. This human settlement grew rapidly, establishing several human-only farming satellites and sending small waves of settlers out into central Balebu. Drummir-Fiorite trade and cultural influence spread very far very quickly, especially as the Drubark-Orcish-Bonecrunch Alliance began collapsing and human farming villages thrived.

Andan Conquest. The centuries of Human Diffusion finally came to a close when Andan armies from Drummir-Fjor invaded central Balebu in 629 b. OW, turning it into the human-ruled Drummir Province. The drastic change between Diffused co-existence and Drummirite culture is notable: whereas Diffused humans by necessity had coexisted peacefully with their multiracial neighbors, Drummirite Settling Policy^[5] took the opposite approach. Non-human communities were tolerated, but the government did not hesitate to use armed force to make space for human settlers. Thousands of orcs were rounded up in "relocation camps", and most goblinoids moved out to the Andan archipelago provinces. In this way, the 30% human population in 629 became 65% in 620, and continued increasing afterward.