Druids

Homo drocidus or druids were thought to be a near human species that evolved alongside homo sapians. Very similar to humans the main distinction made between the two was homo drocidius's affinity for magic. Exactly how the species disappeared is unclear but many anthropoligists believe that homo drocidius interbred with humans due to their similar anatomy until the druids disappeared. This is supported by the existence of wizards in Eklaran, modern-day magi culture, and the phenomenon whereby magi's powers have grown weaker over time. This would be expected in a scenario where drocidus blood could not be replenished in the general population but would instead fade as it became more diluted. This would also explain why some people show a much higher affinity for learning magic, even as an adult, than others. On the other hand magi have long claimed that anyone can learn magic, meaning that the ability to perform magi was not unique to druids. Nevertheless, leading magi anthropologists commonly note similarities between themselves and druids and it is a widely, although not universally, accepted theory that drocidus blood can amplify one's magical ability.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Physically druids were very similar to humans. They were about the same height, had similar face and body shapes. Though drocidius was lagging slightly in height the difference has not been shown to be significant. Notable differences between the species include the druid's large brain mass and brain to body mass ratio. In both cases druids had about 110% the mass of a human brain. Druids have also been shown to have a rounder face and slightly larger eyes than that of humans. Early stone drawings also suggest that druids had particularly colorful eyes.

Genetics and Reproduction

Sexually, druids reproduced in the same way that humans do, even down to gestation length. However unlike humans, druids showed minimal interest in these activities. It is estimated that druids had children less than half as often as early humans did. This could have helped lead to the druid's demise.

Growth Rate & Stages

Druids lived to be slightly older than humans. Although early stages of life happen at much the same rate in druids as humans as druids got older it is believed that their aging process slowed. There is little evidence for this but very few assistive items such as walking sticks have been found in druid ruins even compared to surviving artifacts from early humans.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Although they similarly formed communities and later societies as a whole the druids were much less social than humans. They lived in smaller groups and did not appear to place much value on family roles or heritage. All young were considered the responsibility of the entire community. This makes sense because Druids had few children. As such any child that could continue the existence of the species was valuable. Druids had few children because they also placed little value on partnerships and sexuality. Druids groups were often small, fewer than 20 people outside permanent settlements, and could be made up of entirely one, or mixed genders. Single gender groups were common enough to suggest that they were not solely made of homosexual individuals. Rather druids had a large percentage of the population that was some form of asexual, having little to no interest in sexual activities. This is a point that is still widely debated because evidence also points to druids having a breeding season where they became much more sexual active in the late summer and fall. At this time smaller groups would gather and form large impermanent communities of several hundred.
Strangely there seems to have been very little conflict between groups of druids. They appear to have lived a very communal lifestyle with every member of a community taking responsibility for children, hunting, cooking, gathering, farming, and otherwise contributing to the community. When groups met they would still evenly split up the workload. There does not even seem to be much difference in the jobs assigned to male and female workers with the exception that newborn children would be the responsibility of their mother. Even so after reaching the age of 5 or so raising children became a communal effort and a child would have no more contact with his/her mother than s/he might with any other adult in the group.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Because of their magical ability druids and later druid halfbreeds were always at the same time feared and revered. Because of this it seems inevitable that their abilities would eventually be exploited. That history is inextricably tied with the history of the magi. Discrimination and exploitation of the magi still continues today and should be looked into as a separate, more complicated, topic.

Facial characteristics

Druids had rather round faces and smaller teeth than their human cousins. In contrast, they had large and often very brightly colored, eyes. Their noses tended to tilt upwards and ears protruded farther outwards than those of humans.

Average Intelligence

Druids were shown to be very intelligent. They had highly advanced tools for the era in which they lived and were frequently using their magic in creative ways. For instance, in one old drocidius ruin there is a public well made from different types of stone melded together. It is believed that this was done so that depending on what part of the well water was taken from it could have the recipients preferred taste. They also were very good problem solvers. They were some of the first people in Najib to build permanent settlements. This was unique to the area because annual flooding made areas close to the necessity of water dangerous for part if the year. Most other people in the area were nomadic or migratory, leaving the river bed when floods came.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Druids had the same five senses that humans do, although perhaps at a slightly heightened state. In addition they were also able to sense and manipulate the rules that governed the natural world around them, such as gravity. It is difficult to learn much about druid magic knowledge but it is believed that by the time the species went extinct they had developed little beyond basic elemental powers.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

The druids appear to not have held to traditional gender roles or indeed gender roles of any kind. Because groups were often composed of only one gender both genders participated fully in every aspect of society. This trend can be seen to continue in groups with multiple genders.

Average Technological Level

In part due to their magical abilities and in part due to their intelligence the druids were very technologically advanced for their time. They built buildings that could withstand extreme weather conditions and adapt to seasonal flooding. They created waterproof containers for storing supplies and ones that allowed supplies to be transported easily. They were among the first people to make use of the wheel and came closer to domesticating the horse than humans would for hundreds of years.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Because they had not developed much before their extinction druids did not have much diversity in their language. Certainly there were dialects of the language but not so many and nnot so significant to be considered a separate language. They spoke a primative form of Rhunic, the language used by magi for spellcasting today. That language is now also extinct but contains the roots of the Rhunic used today which is in itself an archaic language.
Druids also spoke the languages of humans they interacted with although these were varied. Some druid groups kept more to themselves and so did not speak the languages of their human cousins

Common Etiquette Rules

Druids lived in communal societies. They valued the individual little and the well being of the community greatly. This allowed them to complete great projects that involved contributions from many members. Many of these projects were also for the good of the larger group. Despite this druids lived in small groups, organized primarily by individuals' preferred companions. Even so it was not uncommon for druid groups to adopt a lost or abandoned human weather a child or an adult.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Druids had few common customs as for much of their history they stayed in smaller groups. They did tend to gather at the end of each summer and as they began to develop cities this gathering evolved into festivals and celebrations.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Even early in their evolution druids were shown to have some contact with humans. The to groups mostly respected and avoided each other until they became more evolved but some violence of course did break out. As both species became more developed it was not uncommon to see a group with a few members of the other species but groups with equal distribution of both species were incredibly rare. Indeed only one such occurrence has been documented. As time wore on druids started to die out. At the same time they started to become slightly more social, perhaps in response to their decreasing numbers. It was at this time that druids began to integrate into human society. Half breeds between humans and druids became more common and they had children of their own. By the time druids went extinct it is believed that about half of the human population carried some human blood. In some groups this rate was higher, but in others it was undoubtedly lower.

For those knowledgeable of magi culture it is easy to draw connections between the subculture that they inevitably create and the druids. Most obvious is the magi's lack of marriage customs. Like the druids magi generally experience sexual attraction at a much lower rate than the rest of the population. Similarly, magi do not have any unique marriage customs and marriages between magi are very rare. Even rarer are marriages that result in children. Magi children nearly universally come from apprenticeships and adoptions.
Similarly magi do not tend to gather in as large groups or as often as other demographics. Many mages live on their own or with only a few close friends. Some do live in cities and Draoidh Purt is known for being the largest magi city, but even so the permanent population of the city is relatively small and true to their ancestors magi gather in great numbers rarely, choosing instead to have local meetings or keep to themselves.
Magi also exhibit higher average intelligence than the general population across all age groups. Some doubt this because a mage's occupation naturally lends itself to an inquisitive and intelligent mind but even compared to university students magi children of the same age showed a small but significant superiority in intelligence. Magi also exhibit a small but significant difference in their brain to body mass ratio compared to the general population. Though it does not nearly reach the 110% mass shown when comparing druids to early humans it is significantly larger.
Although culture greatly impacts such things magi still tend to drift towards communal living and gender equality. Magi clothing tends to be more androgenous than that of mainstream culture and societies tend to prioritize taking care of members and the society as a whole. This is not to say that gender inequality, discrimination, corruption, and power inequality, but rather there are lower rates of these issues than in larger society. As would be expected, these problems occur more often in nations where the larger country faces the same problems. In contrast magi societies tend to face issues such as suppression of the individual, emotional neglect and abuse, lack of self autonomy, and lack of connection between leaders and subjects. Many cultural and historical events have also shaped the attitudes that magi do and do not hold about themselves. For example in Madria magi have long faced severe and at times violent discrimination. This has led Madric magi to be more accepting of minorities within their ranks because they know what it is like to face discrimination.
It is often difficult to separate what aspects of magi society and culture resulte from drocidius ancestry and what is the natural result of living in a larger society and larger world. This is further complicated by the fact that it is thought that nearly everyone has some drocidius blood as a result of thousands of years of evolution and intermarriage. This means that how our ancestry effects the way in which we choose to live today is subject for great debate among experts. Some of the best studies compare how magi behave across a variety of cultures and nations. However this type of study is difficult to conduct and so few have been done. The result of these studies concludes that some aspects of magi physiology such as their longer lifespans and ability to better separate from parental figures at a young age without trauma are a direct result of a large drocidius heritage. Other aspects of how they live such as living in smaller groups and having low sexual apatite are also though to occur due to drocidius blood. However these studies show little evidence that communal living and acceptance of minority groups occur at any higher rates in those of large drocidius decent than in other populations. They instead attribute these characteristics to how magi interact with mainstream culture and those around them.

EXTINCT

Scientific Name

Homo drocidus

Lifespan

Estimated 70 years

Conservation Status

Though homo-drocidus is long extinct there are those who wish to preserve druid bloodline by encouraging interbreeding among those who show great magical ability. By doing this they wish to restore magi to their former glory. The movement has also gained steam as numbers of magi across Eklaran continue to drop and mages increasingly report difficulties in finding suitable apprentices. Some fear that magi may soon disappear from Eklaran, others rejoice in this truth. Nevertheless the movement has been largely unsuccessful but has produced a few mages of greater power than their parents.

Average Height

5'3" for males 4'9" for females

Average Physique

Druids were largely on the short side and generally had rounded shoulders. They were not particularly muscular compared to their homo sapian cousins but still carried more muscle mass than the modern human. Most of this was in their necks and backs and was used to hold up their large heads. Like humans they walked upright and had opposable thumbs.