The merchants look perfectly human, but us? Not so much. Taller, non-human skin colors exclusively, and with some hair color options that don't exist in nature, it seems that the player character isn't exactly human. Sure, it could be that the world of Vintage Story is like other fantasy worlds in that humans just naturally aren't the only sapient, humanoid race, but that would be boring. Especially considering how unique the lore of Vintage Story is coming out to be so far, with drifters, locusts, and elements of temporal displacement.
So far, I have 3 hypotheses:
1.) The player character was thrown sideways in time, and is from a place where their race is present instead of humans. This would make sense, and could make it so that the story premise is along the lines of "get back home". However, I feel like it could be a waste of potential; the lore so far leaves so many questions and unknowns, and being an ordinary, random person from an alternate timeline/dimension/universe would just be kind of plain.
2.) The player character is a human altered by temporal instabilities. This one would also make sense, and wouldn't be as boring as being from another time/place. It opens up the questions of how the temporal elements altered the player character in the way that they did, if the change bring benefits or drawbacks, and if the player character wants to revert the change or progress it. It might not be a plot twist really, but it does have some degree of potential.
3.) The player character was sent by a higher power. Obviously, temporal instability is a big thing. We can't say for sure why it's there, but it is, and it makes sense for some higher power or higher being would somehow be involved. This hypothesis, if true, would open up all manner of different avenues that the devs could take the story through. Tons of potential in this route. What do you guys think?