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The Kulshedra

Started by Draconian, April 04, 2017, 08:52:06 PM

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Draconian

If you make one, send me their profile when you're done so I can make a list eventually.  Also, don't hesitant to give me suggestions for these guys <3 I'll take full credit Uuuuuh I meeeaaan. >_>

Kulshedra

>>>>Quick Overview<<<<
Please send me PM's with questions of things I may have not answered here! I can't think of most things to write about them. :B
Also, most of this only refers to if you want to play them as part of a tribe but most, if not all Kulshedra, unless born somewhere else, would have grown up with these rules.

The Kulshedra are a digitigrade bipedal species with a fat tail for balance, distantly related to both humans and, perhaps, dragons. While they can appear human they're different enough by appearance that they would be unable to be mistaken for either.


.Base Info.

Kulshedra are a matriarchal society and they live in small tribes all over the land. They are led by an Elder ( appropriately named because they are the eldest ) and their place within the tribe is decided by the colour of their scales. The more common the colour, the more common the role in the tribe. They worship the First Fire and should that go out all is lost. ( but not really 'cause it's just a fire ) They are also very superstitious and very traditional.

.Stuff.

Age
Kulshedra can live to be about 300. They reach sexual maturity at about 30 and they reach their peak physical maturity at about 100-150, they visibly grow older from 170 and on. Their scales get harder and they do general old people things. Like shrink. But not actually.

Colours
They can be all colours. The common colours are shades of yellow, blue and red. These individuals are given the common jobs. Guards, Farmers. Trackers. Caretakers. The more unique colours are treated differently, being more desirable to the eye and thus, more desirable to the Fire. The more unique the colour of the scales the more desirable as a mate or to fill a job in the tribe. The more 'rare' colours are white and black, and mixes of colours - purple, teal, green, pink and so on.

Roles
Beside's the elder there are numerous roles towards the care taking of the Fire. It depends on the tribe whether there is a shaman or a priestess. Perhaps a single Watcher. One tribe could watch the fire in shifts twenty-four hours a day and another could have a single person whose life is devoted to keeping it burning.

Names
When a Kulshedra is born they are given a title. This title will be their designated calling. It usually refers to the colour of their scales. A red Kulshedra would be Ruby, Red, Garnet, Scarlet, so on and so forth. These are all titles and should they prove themselves, either by having young or coming home with a kill from a fight, something worthy of note, they gain a true name. The true name is usually something the parents or Elder enjoy the sound of, they are then referred to by that name. Being born a unique colour is warrant for a name because they are destined for great things.

The Fire
A common belief through all tribes of Kulshedra is the Fire. Superstitious as a whole, they believe that the common fire among them came from The First Flame. Given to dragons from the heavens, and given to them from the dragons, they separated it and believe that as long as least one tribe has a piece of this fire burning the world is safe from darkness. As such, should the tribe's fire go out, it's a heavy cost to take fire from another tribe. There is also rivalry between some, believing that there is one true Fire and go to great lengths to extinguish all others.

.General Appearance.

As a race that value's strength, size and appearance the Kulshedra are... Large. Please note, these are not concrete and they come in all shapes or sizes. These numbers are just a kinda... Average and what would be deemed 'desirable'. (though none of y'alls have to think that)

General All
Height: 5'8" - 6'7"
Scale Colours: Most Common is Yellow, Red and Blue. Variances of these colours are still counted as these colours. A sky blue is still blue, pink is still red and a soft pastel yellow is still yellow. These are considered more beautiful ( to some ) but they are still those base colours. The more uncommon colours are mixes of these and finally, incomplete mixes ( Opals for instance ) black and whites.

Commonly, the scales rest on their cheeks or cheekbones, along their forehead, their neck and at the base, right in the collar bone is a 'gem'. It, however is not a gem, but an interesting cluster of scales. It's deep rooted and to remove it is usually a death sentence because the one it was removed from would bleed out. The scales are along their back, rib cage and belly, the outside of their thighs and finally, along their legs to their strange clawed feet.

There are many variables for the rest of their appearance. Commonly, their hair is black streaked with their scale colour though occasionally it is entirely one or the other. Depending on how bright or dark their gem is, they can have varying shades of hair, from brown to white. An opal would usually have white hair, versus another that would commonly have black or brown hair. The eye colours range from yellow to blue, with blue being very uncommon and either a sign of good or bad, depending on the tribe.

Spikes, the occasional fin and spots are odd but not weird.

General Males
Roles: Guards, Warriors, Trackers. (though not always)
The males are greater in number than females to a degree, being about 65% more of the population in most tribes.
They are bigger than the females (mostly) , their ears are a little smaller and aside from the front teeth which are smooth, their mouths are generally full of razor sharp chompers. They are hunters and protectors. Their sense of smell is heightened and they can track for miles. They are also the soldiers because there are more and thus, are little more expendable.
A key note to them is they are capable of opening their mouth not unlike a snake, they do not eat like this ( though they probably try ) and mostly use it to hunt larger prey to bite down on a delicate place like a neck.

General Females
Roles: Farmers, Guards, Weavers. (again, not always)
The only major difference between the sexes is that females have larger ears. They are mammals and give birth to life young. A female with the snake-like-jaw-mouth thing is more rare, it requires the right cocktail of recessive genes and thus, does not show up often.

.Specific Males.

Height: 6'0- 6'8"

Kulshedra men are big. They were bred to protect and fight and hunt. The males, while not aggressive to each other physically, do have a hierarchy of their own and some are more 'alpha' than others. They are allowed to fight ( as deemed by the Elder ) but are not allowed to draw blood. The sight of blood on another of your brethren is a sign that you cannot control yourself and are unable to lead.

Most males have a heightened sense of smell, being able to scent things and follow. They are good trackers and quick on their feet. Quick to pounce. Quick to kill (unless of course they were following a wandering lost child or something).

Sometimes, the males become very attached to a scent of another to the point of being unable to live without it. There is no word for this because it is discouraged from happening in most tribes, being seen as selfish and wrong. They do not live for themselves but for the whole tribe and if a male is allowed to live exclusively with another, it may create jealousy. They can ignore it and only become attached if they let themselves be. They would have to want it to let it happen to them.

When it comes to a females 'mating season', the males wait for dusk for her to choose one of them. If fighting begins they are punished. If they coerce or force during the Choosing, they are punished. She makes her choice and they move on until she makes her second choice, and so on.

The scent doesn't drive them mad with lust, its just a simple indicator that the female is capable of holding young safely.

.Specific Females.

Height: 5'6-6'3"

The females run the town. While they are not the biggest and most can't open their mouths overly wide to bite things and people that bother them. The Elder is always the eldest female and they gain a few more privileges. The thing they do not do often is leave the tribe to fight - they are deemed more useful because they can carry young and keeping the tribe alive to keep the Fire alive is an important duty that only them and their baby-making ways are capable of continuing on.

However for both male and female, fertility is very low. The females ovulate about as frequently as once a year to as infrequently as once every five. It lasts about two weeks and aside from a slight change in scent, there is no physical difference in her. She does not go crazy with lust but is encouraged to take different partners in order to beget a child to keep the Fire of the Future alive. More often than not this does nothing.

Females run the tribe. They give people jobs to do and along with the recent fathers, rear the children. They portion food, tend the Fire, assign jobs.

.Childrens.

The average birthrate is maybe two or three children a year or so.

When she is not 'viable', she can still become pregnant. However, the two week window is when it's healthy and safe for her to become pregnant. 'Out of season' pregnancies are dangerous and while not frowned upon, are discouraged because it only puts mother and child in danger.

Should a female have many partners during her two week window, they can tell who the father is by scent, even in the womb as soon as a few weeks after conception. When the child is born, both parents raise it for a time, though the birth of a child is joyous occasion and everyone has a hand in raising them. Children are a give from Heaven's Fire and are well loved... They're almost more well loved if they're uniquely coloured.

TL;DR: Being selfish is bad for the group and you get more stuff if you're pretty 'cause they're all shallow.

.Pregnancy.

A healthy pregnancy occurs during the two (or so) week 'season' that begins sometime after reaching sexual maturity ( around the age of 30 ) and it happens between once a year to once every five years.  The odds are very low but it's during this 'season' that the females body is prepared to nurture young. Should a child be produced, she is then pregnant for 19-23 months, growth is slow but these are hardy pregnancies and it's very rare for them to end in miscarriages or still births.

A female Kulshedra can expect to show very little for the first 75% of the pregnancy. She's given a special diet and checked on daily ( usually by tribe members), the father of the young is expected to help the mother in all things - Even childbirth. The elder is present for every birth and the midwife is usually the 'second' elder - or the one that is second eldest in age.

An unhealthy pregnancy, or 'out of season' one occurs outside of the two week season. These are usually always unintended and always dangerous. Instead of the lengthy time period for a healthy one it's cut down to a short 9 to 12 months. This is hard on the mother's body, needing almost constant bed rest - which is difficult for a nomadic tribe - and usually a much larger amount of food. The child is born small and weak, having not had the full time to grow - or being forced to mature too quickly in the womb. These pregnancies are considered selfish, it takes a heavy toll on all members of the tribe and the child is born weak and these ones tend not to live.

Of course, should they live, they are loved as well as any other.

As adults, these children are a little more obvious. They're shorter and slimmer than average.


.Children.
For the first few years of the childs life, a female and her chosen are permitted to share a living space to raise the child for the first year or two of its life. Both parents are expected to rear the child and while the whole community plays a part in raising them, the parents are the main caregivers. As the child grows, they are taught most basic things from everyone, but as maturity happens, depending on their colour, they branch off and away to their designated role.

If a violet child has an orange mother and a blue father, the child will be taught their role by neither parent. They will have a mentor who is the same colour, because that is the role they were made for.


.Ceremonies.

Fires Night
The longest day of the year. No matter where Kulshedra live, they recognize this day as the day they were given Heaven's Fire. It is, basically, a big ol' party. The first part is The Dance, The Song and then The Greeting to Fire. And then it's party time. This is also the night they recognize the Tribesmen and women who've earned their name throughout the year. 

The Choosing
When a female Kulshedra is in her season, the Choosing is... Well, quite literal. At dusk, after the first or second day she begins her season, she makes a hut comfortable and, well. Starts to choose her boyos. This also is because she chooses to. Sometimes, not all the time, she can keep the same male with her for the whole time. This is usually discouraged unless a viable pregnancy had occurred before and doubly discouraged if she is of a high rank and a rare colour.

Deciding not to partake in this is seen as selfish and curious - why wouldn't you want to honor the Fire with new life? - but it's honored.

Name Day
When a Kulshedra does something noteworthy within the tribe they gain their True Name. This name is chosen by the Elder and some input is given by the parents... Sometimes the name has meaning, sometimes it's just a word they associate with the named and... Sometimes it's just a pretty sounding word. This, sometimes, ends up with some pretty silly out of context names.
'Something noteworthy'  includes
- Having a Child
- Saving a tribesmember
- being born pretty ( Opal, for example )
-... Sooomething noteworthy.
- because also stealing from another tribe is noteworthy.
- So this is mostly up to you

8D Mooooore eventually. Probably some sort of gift day. or something


.Relationships.

Kulshedra in a tribe are not monogamous. Of course, this changes from tribe to tribe but the base personalities of both sexes make monogamous relationships for them violent ( don't forget, they are lethal scaled creatures, as civilized as they appear they are still part animal). They are possessive instinctual creatures when things are theirs and as such, monogamy is discouraged because it has always lead to infighting.

For instant, a female see's another female talking with Her male or female. She, overcome with possessive jealous rage, would attack the other female or try to display dominance in an angry violent manner - Only one of these two would get in trouble for this and it would be the attacker.

One of the greatest sins to Kulshedra - Besides anything to do with the Fire - is fighting with your tribemates. It creates distrust and anger.

When they are not in a tribe ( either outcasted, exiled or they simply ran away ) most of them try to find a new 'family.' Without the laws of the tribe to govern them, usually, they form strong bonds with few people.


.Gender and Sexes.
They have, at base, two genders, Male or Female. Of course, as with any living creatures, things can go different inside the womb and sometimes things are a little muddled. An intersex child would be treated as any other, and allowed to live as they choose. Usually, the Elder oversees their growth the most - for they are the eldest and most wise. Usually they live their life without issue from other Kulshedra - for they are family and they are loved.

Should the child be born with regular genitalia, a female for instance, but decide to be a male, when he displays seasons he is given a choice of doing his duty to the Fire by bearing children ( which is a heavy request, for the Fire is their most treasured loved one). He may decline - the tribe has had many years to accept that could be an answer and it is not pushed. Usually. The same goes for males that are actually females, they may choose to be Chosen - though the request is not as heavy on them, as, while they help carry on the Fire, they aren't going to be full of baby for like... Two years. Potentially.

All laws apply to these Kulshedra as well, they are not treated any differently.

They have no form of external changes aside from, perhaps, removing breasts from the males that do not want them - though this is dangerous and most just make do with tight bindings.


.Magic.
Though rare, magic does sometimes show up in them. This is the only thing that sets them apart from their colour. However, it's mostly light coloured Kulshedra that can perform such feats. Most of the Kulshedra tribes were once around fell and the curse affected mages, as such, the magic in their blood died a long time ago and it pops up as a sort of strange blip. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Mostly, it's fire related, though hardly useful. Kulshedra do not make powerful mages for the most part - usually having no one to teach them in the tribe.

Psychic abilities are just as rare and just as venerated. Fire Seers are desired in all tribes, while mages are usually Fire Keepers. (Ones who tend the fire) no matter the colour.

The Roster So far.
This is not a list of who's in what tribe, if at all. This is just a list of characters that are of this species so y'all can take a peek-see at who's made what and how different they are. Also for me because I wanna knooooow.
can you show me?
I wanna know about the strangers like me...

The Girls.  6
Minala The Opal
Beryl The Turquoise
Ruby The Red
Sand The Sand
Azalea The Pink
Lavender The Uhhh. Purple? Kinda?


The Boys   9
Matada The Indigo
Red The Red
Sapphire The Blue
Kartok The Teal
Roland The Topaz
Citrine The Citrine
Blue The Sapphire
Slate The Slate
Raze The Amythest

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