Squidspawn

Basic Information

Anatomy

Squidspawn are shorter than the average human, and have a series of large, somewhat gooey tentacles that run down the sides of their head reminiscent of hair. The size, position and makeup of these tentacles vary quite a bit from member to member, as they can all change their colour and size at will. Squidspawn also have large, innocent-looking eyes from the time they spent as deep-sea creatures.

Genetics and Reproduction

Squidspawn are an unusal species when it comes to reproducing in many ways. One of the most remarkable is that Squidspawn are a majority biologically female society, with about 55% of the population bearing female sexual characteristics. Squidspawn female have the unique trait of being able to store a partner's sexual fluids for latter use in stark contrast to many other species. This along with the relatively unisex appearance of most Squidspawn has given the species a very casual sexual culture with almost no taboos save for the downright criminal (necrophilia, pedophilia and other such activity). Sex is mostly considered as something done for fun and almost entirely separated from reproduction. Most Squidspawn will give birth at least once in their life, often preserving a specific partners fluids for just this purpose, which often come from a near friend or of course a romantic partner. Females and Hermaphrodites among the squidspawn are also capable of inducing parthenogenesis, which some prefer as an alternative to traditional means of reproduction. When a Squidspawn female wants to have a child, she goes into heat, which can only be induced by herself manually. It is only in this stage that she's able to obtain her stored sexual fluids, which much like other humanoid species fertilises an egg within a Squidspawn's reproductive organ. The egg continues to grow until it takes up nearly a third of the Squidspawn's entire weight, often giving them a large, bulging stomach which makes it difficult to perform everyday activites. When the egg has reached a sufficient size, most pregnant Squidspawn will be unable to keep themselves alive without the help of the community and will spend most of their time in specially prepared baths, which helps reduce soreness and pain while being cared for by medical personel, relatives, friends and partners. The gestation period lasts around ten months average, during which the squidspawn will be immoblized for about their two last week.
Needless to say, the labour process itself is rather painful, intesive and exhausting, much like that of female humans. Sparing you of most of the details, once the egg is laid it often takes two more moths until it hatches. Squidspawn use this time to recuperate and rest from the strenuous preceding months, often eating large amounts of sweet and fat foods to regains lost energy and often sleeping for nearly 20 consecutive hours.
Once the egg hatches, the newly hatched Squidspawn is already capable of eating solid foods, as well as swimming and most crucially, being able to switch between their gills and lungs to breathe. The raising of the squidpawn are then often decided upon by the mother, which can include such different methods as involving the whole family or even more relatives, just romantic partners or a combination of both. The surrounding community often plays a large role in the raising of newhatched however, as most Squidspawn are kept in pools with other newly-hatched and tended to and fed collectively until they develop their limbs enough to walk.

Dietary Needs and Habits

As is perhaps obvious, the majority of Squidspawn dishes are made using seafood, with meat, milk and surface grains being a relatively recent addition. Algae nevertheless retains it's place as one of if not the most used staple wares in Squidspawn cooking, with a popular dish being the famous green loaves of bread that are made using a mixture of wheat and algae.
Meat mostly comes from a variety of fish from bass to salmon, especially the large two-meter bass that have their home in the capital, but which have been spread around to many lakes in squidspawn territory. In addition to other schools of fish, the most widely kept livestock on land are chicken and goats, as cows are seen as too large and dangerous for squidspawn to handle.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

The majority of Squidspawn are female, though the near lack of any secondary sexual characteristics does not make this obvious. In additon, a large percentage (roughly around 13%) are hermaphroditic, which among Squidspawn is a healthy genetic variantion than a fringe devation as in other species.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Nearly all Squidspawn are bilingual, speaking both a language consisting mostly of gurgling sounds due to their uniquely shaped throats, as well as Mennsprach, a constructed language made to communicate with other humanoids. Squidspawn have no curse words in Mennsprach (the language used to communicate with other species) to avoid offending other races. If an agitated Squidspawn gurgles during a conversation, it's because it curses in its native tounge.

Common Dress Code

Almost all Squidspawn wear large, poofy and colourful clothes along with large floppy feathered hats. In addition, they love wearing pearls, clams and corals as jewelry. This is often out of necessity as the skin of most Squidspawn require a high amount of moisture to stay healthy, which means that squidspawn clothing often uses textiles of high breathability and that can tolerate water. The textile industry is however adapted for mostly domestic consumption, so most other races must have their clothing tailor-made.

History

Prehistory of the Squidspawn
It is unfortunately almost impossible to date when the first Squidspawn first stepped onto land, but what is know for certain is that the first Squidspawn where only temporarily living on land. Some scholars theorize that a pack of Squidspawn where trapped by a storm or forest fire and where forced to retreat to a nearby cave where likely the first permanent settlers as indicated by findings of sharpened tools made of stone and bone in several well-known cave systems. Over time the Squidspawn grew more and more sophisticated and when they where forced north by the human settlers they where likely forced to create shelters themselves and learn to master fire, something that would prove ironic later down the line.
Tribes and Chiefdoms
The first organized settlements where likely simple tribes and chiefdoms descended from the pack-like hunting structures of early squidspawn and did rarely have authority outside the local area. There is little evidence of conflict between Squidspawn from this period, but findings like burned buildings and more controversially what some claim to be mass graves (though it is also likely that it was simply a local burying tradition, scholars are divided) indicate several human incursions driving the Squidspawn even further north, with the most southern settlements being located at modern-day Knotenstadt. Many suspect there was a real risk of the Squidspawn being driven to extinction, or at least driven from civilization on land.
Kingdoms, city-states and Squidspawn reconquest
By now, Squidspawn settlements had begun surrounding themselves with stone walls and is presumed to have mass-produced iron on some level, leading to a slowdown of human expansion. One of the first recorded dates in Squidspawn history is in 704 BR, when the Grand Chief of the south Sigurd Grenfwelder rallied the chiefdoms of the south to retake what had until just a few hundred years back been inhabited Squidspawn. This unified effort, combined with a drought in the south of the human kingdoms, the site of the majority of human food production, made the campaign a large sucess, with the Squidspawn controlling about two-thirds of the island once their advance slowed down.
Age of the Revolution and fall of the Kingdom of the Red Hand

Banner of the Kingdom of the Red Hand. The red colour along with the hand stands for the dominance of the human race.
Around year 70 BR, the only remaining human state on the island of Titenfisca was the Kingdom of the Red Hand, an infamous absolute monarchy. Like all humans, they where descended from the humans that first crossed the Twin-City strait from what is today Lexidus (though it should be noted that it is not the same people group as those who live in the nation today). It controlled much of the temperate lands of the south, but it's main profit was made from captured Squidspawn. They would be kept as prostitutes in many brothels, as paid shipbuilders or most perhaps most horrifying, as ink-serfs.
Ink-serfs where squidspawn specifically selected because of their large tentacles and were forced to live on special farms where they would go about their day. However, their tentacles would be left purposefully unattended for months, leading to them seriously swelling up and causing the Squidspawn involved terrible pains in the forms of headaches and straining tentacles. Perhaps the best approximation to human anatomy would be the skin on your fingers slowly filling with water with no way to relieve the resulting pressure.
When at a sufficient size, the serfs would be strapped to a special chair with a head-encasing helmet that would be attached. After that, the humans would stick needles into the helmet, literally popping the tentacles like baloons and releasing all the pent-up ink. This horrible practice was only finally ended during the revolution and the subsequent human trials.
The Revolution is perhaps the defining moment in Titenfiscan history. After a violent fire burned down one of the largest ink-farms in the kingdom and killed all the humans involved, the surviving Squidspawn armed themselves with whatever they could find and decided on a brutal revenge for their human overlords. After easily overwhelming a neigboring farm, the guards and administrators where strapped to ink-chairs and stabbed repeatedly with pitchforks with predictable results. The revolt grew like a flame and soon most of the north of the kingdom was in the hands of the Squidspawn Revolutionary Republic.

Flag of the Revolutionary Republic. The red stands for the blood shed for freedom, the purple is a reference to the frequent use of Squidspawn brothel slaves and the blue symbolizes their connection to the sea. The star symbolizes the dream of future freedom.
At this point the neighboring Squidspawn realms begun their assault, the combined revolutionary and regular armies fighting their way to the capital. But when they reached the capital the city was aflame and the revolutionary banner flew over the city. The human king and the city's prominent nobles had been locked in the treasury, leaving them with all the gold they'd gotten from exploiting the Squidspawn but nothing to eat. After a period of instability around roughly the year 2 PR, the human commonfolk where invited to either live in the newly founded Titenfiscan Republic or leave for other human lands, with about half of the population staying while the other half left. This marks the end of human control over Squidspawn affairs and is the political situation on the island until this very day.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Hybrids between Squidspawn and other species do exist, but they are rare due to a variety of factors, such as the often quite complicated and often rather dangerous procedures involved in keeping a hybrid child alive during gestation and after hatching, but most hybrids that survive past this stage (no hybrid deaths have actually been recorded, as Squidspawn midwives are highly skilled and have special experts for delivering hybrids) grow up with no other health complications. Hybrids are accepted in Squidspawn culture and are seen as valuable due to their often different perspective on the world compared to regular squidspawn. The by far most common hybrid squidspawn are those who are a cross between Merfolk and Squidspawn, which are so many that they have formed a small subcommunity within the capital and have built a reputation as excellent underwater labourers due to a variety of factors.

Origin/Ancestry

Amphbious