[@Eneui] I don't want to spoil anything, but believe me regardless of your choice in race you'll have a chance to play with being a "monster". As for magic it basically works on a scale. It is rare that people don't have any magic within them at all (though it exists), but one's propensity towards it varies greatly on a sort of spectrum. Average people cannot tap into the magic they might possess, only those with a higher-than-average affinity towards the arcane really can ever pursue it. However, this explains why any person could be used, in say, a dark ritual.

Minerva, a Goddess of the human pantheon, is the Patron God of most holds in Vicelles -she is the Goddess of Arcane Wisdom. However, there is a deep fear and resentment of magic in Vicelles. It is seen as a tool to expel various horrors in the fogs, but those same horrors often wield that magic or were created by it. Minerva is seen as a protector. To summarize, magic is complicated for Vicellens, and attitudes can vary from family to family. 

As for racial tension, there was a "world war" of sorts in the last era (The War of Splitting Branches). Basically it was: Dwarves & humans vs. Brith (cat people), Orcs, and Elves (the high-elves specifically). So there is lasting tension there. Some fantastically racist people think that Elves cursed the land before being defeated.