Tortle

"Am I humany enough for the human club?"

Tortles are intelligent humanoid tortoises. They live a nomadic lifestyle and rarely build anything that can't easily be assembled and disassembled within two hours. Tortles are generally very peaceful and reclusive, and they like to interact with people who hold similar habits and personalities.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tortles are reptilian creatures with a leathery, diamond scaled skin. The skin of a Tortle is mostly olive or blue-green, although many different muted colours like red clay and sunflower yellow can also be found. They have a enormous shells made out of fused ribs and spines that cover their entire middle body. These shells are capable of containing their limbs and heads, providing the entire body with ample protection against danger. Their back shells are usually glossier and darker than their skin, while their front shells tend to be of a more vivid colour.
Their bodies are stocky, but most of their weight comes from their shells, so they tend to remain at the same weight throughout their adult lives, never growing fat or thin. These stocky bodies provide them with a ponderous, rolling gait. Their arms and hands are shaped like those of an ape, but thicker and with sharp claws attached to them. Some Tortles have mouths that are beak-like and toothless while others have mouths filled with razor sharp teeth.

Growth Rate & Stages

Tortle children mature at a rate twice as long as that of a humans child. Not reaching adulthood until the age of 40, but they live almost four times longer, living from 150 to 180 years. They can mate well into their 140th year, without sign of encroaching infertility. Mating takes place every four years in the Season of the Goat, laying eggs during the Season of the Serpent. Each female lays between four to twenty four eggs, which hatch in roughly 176 days. When their young (called younglings) hatch from their eggs they instinctively spent their time nearby elderly Tortles, where they learn about the live experiences and the survival skills that allowed the elder to rich his wise old age. A youngling is expected to be able to fend for themselves in case they might fall behind the group. Those under the age of 8 who can't keep up are are left behind by their original group, but those that survive this abandonment and find their way to any other Tortle group are accepted with open arms as one of their own.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

All females who are ready to produce eggs gather in a specially prepared compound, which the males guard against all attacks. Because of the number of younglings born after mating season the tribe becomes a thousand times larger than before spanning miles upon miles of land, but a big part of these younglings will die off in the next 4 years. The younglings are taught and raised by their grandparents or surviving uncles and aunties, who can provide them with wisdom and knowledge far beyond the youngling's age.

Common Dress Code

Most Tortles believe that because they have their houses on their backs, there is no need to settle down. While this does mean that they rarely feel homesick it also means that they never stick with anything or anyone. Those Tortles that posses large objects like furnaces or supply crates usually move them around in hand-drawn carts. Tortles hate to wear clothes unlike most humanoids, though some may wear cloaks, belts, or harnesses for carrying tools and supplies.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Tortles are adventurous by heart, always eager to learn about new cultures. They love to try out any new customs that they come across on their travels and find beauty in things that locals would see as ordinary. Despite spending much of their lives isolated, they do like to form strong friendships with those that they meet along the way, always expecting that they will meet their new friend again some other day or life.

Lifespan

150 years

Average Height

1.52 to 1.82 meters

Average Weight

205 to 240 kilograms

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