Man
The race of Men are human-like people originating on the planet Equus. They are subdivided into three interbreeding genetic subspecies known as 'tribes' each with unique thaumatic and phyisical distinctions. Mankind is prolific within the bounds of its environmental constraints, highly social, naturally curious, and expansionist. They are moderately to highly intelligent and innovative, as well as thaumatically inclined, able to directly access the thaumatic energy of the Lifestream.
They are not particularly strong, about average relative to many galactic races. They have a moderate lifespan, approaching one century, and are viable into old age. When in tribally unified groups, they generate the force of Harmony. Due to their generally agreeable disposition, Men tend to come under attack by hostile forces fairly often. Hostiles making use of chaos and disharmony have the greatest chance of success against them.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The race of Men is human-like in most respects, with major differences existing along tribal lines. Specifically, Amurans are marked with black thaumatic sigils representing their skills, Valkyr have feathered wings, and Polkans have superior athleticism.
Biological Traits
Man is thaumatically active. This means their biology is capable of absorbing thaumatic energy directly from the Lifestream and then utilizing it either through their innate tribal capabilities or by casting spells. The extent to which an individual is thaumatically capable varies by tribe, personal traits, and skill.
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Genetics and Reproduction
Mankind's reproduction follows the patterns of most sapient mammals, with the male (a man) typically courting the female (a woman) to initiate a romantic relationship. Preference varies with the individual in terms of family-focused versus casual mating habits. Men are often monogamous, though polygyny is not uncommon in certain subcultures or in dire periods of history such as when rapid recovery of population was necessary. Mating is common, taking place at any time of the year. Women gestate their young for three quarters of a year prior to giving birth to one or two offspring.
The three primary tribes of Men are fully compatible for breeding, though offspring always express the physical and thaumatic traits of only one tribe, that of the dominant tribal gene. A five-percent variation exists, creating some randomness to which the tribal gene is expressed in the child. For example, if a pure Valkyr and pure Amuran are mated, their child has a chance of being a Valkyr or Amuran, though at maturity, that person's children will be given the same proportion of tribal genes as the parent has. This creates scenarios where tribal consistency is very likely if both parents are of the same tribe, as well as a high degree of unpredictability when it comes to mixed families, especially after several generations.
A special situation occurs when a child is born with tribal genetics representing all three tribes evenly. In this extremely rare case, an Arion is born, having the physical and thaumatic abilities of all three tribes but also to a significantly greater degree than either parent. This means an arion child will be far stronger than his peers as he grows. Additionally, all arions go through significant changes in power and morality at full maturity unless his Virtue of Harmony is found in advance.
Growth Rate & Stages
Generally, very young children are fully dependent on their mother until around the age of five, when they can be sent off to play with other children. Boys and girls tend to naturally look after the youngest of the group, choosing activities that are less likely to create a dangerous situation, though it is not unheard of for troublemakers to buck this instinct.
Around the age of eight to ten, children can typically be trusted to independently play on their own, returning home when hungry, tired, or in need of parental companionship.
Teenagers, particularly the age of fifteen to sixteen become sexually mature for the first time. Girls of this age must be prepared ahead of time so they understand what to expect when the desire to mate suddenly overwhelms them. Good parenting is critical at this stage, to avoid significant embarrasment on the part of the girl. Boys reaching this age become far more bold and adventurous, sometimes getting themselves into serious trouble if tempted to go places that are far too dangerous for children.
Thaumatic abilities of children normally do not manifest at all until the age of three or four, where the first hints of their abilities begin to show up. The exception is arions, who will exhibit some form of thaumatic reactions even as newborns. As such, arion children can be extremely challenging for the parents and community. Full thaumatic prowess progresses at about the same rate as physical strength in a child, growing on into adulthood, though to become a master at the craft, significant training is required, regardless of tribe.
For arions, between the age of eighteen and twenty-six, the final stage of maturity will begin. For arions not prepared to discover their Virtue, the irreversible transition will complete, resulting in an arion of unimaginable power and risk to the entire world of mortals.
After adulthood is reached, human physiology and capability remains largely unchanged throughout life. Thaumatic prowess will continue to increase, even into old age. Though reflexes slow and wisdom increases, Men do not become notably feeble, remaining able-bodied to nearly the end of life, when illness inevitably comes and physical condition deteriorates to death within months. Elderly Men are less motivated to engage in rigorous activities, though their physical appearance is not unattractive even nearing the end of life.
Ecology and Habitats
Man thrives in all climates, though they prefer temperate and seasonal. When living in perpetually frigid or sunbaked conditions, the skin can become weatherbeaten and coarse.
Variations exist between the tribes, as Polkans are far stronger, able to handle planets with more intense gravity. Valkyr tend to prefer coastal and mountainous regions, especially with cliffs they can build onto for a sense of safety. A wet climate gives Valkyr a great deal of flexibility, considering their ability to manipulate precipitation. Amurans can live just about anywhere, though they prefer indoor settings if given the choice.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Men are extremely social, forming bonds and friendships readily. This is mostly due to the ethics provided by Equinox in the form of the forty Traits of Harmony early in their history.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Griffins consider Mankind a delicacy and will hunt them for food, given the opportunity.
The Alcora exploit Mankind for their natural ability to produce the force of Harmony, for use in their war against the Wendigo.
The Wendigo will harvest Men as a rich food source, due to their significant Lifestream presence.
Facial characteristics
Women are predisposed to a more gentle curving of the facial features, whereas men have a slightly more sharp jawline and cheekbones.
Average Intelligence
Mankind is quite intelligent, capable of doing science and engineering, given adequate training. With sufficient resources, they eventually become a spacefaring race, designing a wide variety of starships and weapon systems as well as terraforming stations and mass energy production.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Men have full tri-chromatic vision, able to perceive the color spectrum from red to violet. Their sensitive hearing is stereoscopic. Smell is generally not as sensitive as various other species, though some have been able to identify known individuals as well as general species present nearby.
While all tribes of Men can sense the thaumatic energy levels of the local Lifestream, certain tribes are more specialized. Through training, most are able to increase their sensitivity to certain thaumatic conditions.
Depending on training and tribe, every man is able to practice applied thaumaturgy to manipulate certain matter and energy in ways that are critical in order for their race to build complex and advanced civilizations.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Mankind has a symbiotic relationship with the race of Horses. This began early in the history of Equus, when Man journeyed overseas to discover the large continent of Tymera. Horses were uniquely capable of forming a cooperative bond with Men, quickly becoming the thematic focal point of their culture. A horse that is bonded with Man is known as that person's cavalian. They have an intuitive understanding of what their counterpart needs, from travel to companionship, or from work to war.
The invasive species known to Mankind as fluffins is capable of rapidly depleting the local Lifestream of thaumatic energy, which in turn prevents humans from recharging. This can range from an annoyance to a serious situation, as a depletion of one's energy can cause a medical emergency. As such, Mankind has quickly learned how to neuter fluffins to seriously limit their thaumatic absorption tendencies.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Most names are related to natural objects and phenomena, with numerous exceptions. Generally, children are given highly unique names at birth and go through a series of informal names or aliases as they grow, until one sticks.
History
Man's history is filled with hardship due to the exploitation from other races as well as the natural yet rare occurrance of Arions. Most of their history has been a struggle to survive despite these hardships until one Arion, Helios, stopped the cycle. Under his leadership, mankind grew from a desperately small and fragile beginning to become an advanced spacefaring civilization, reaching across the galaxy.
Scientific Name
Life classification: Mortal
Origin/Ancestry
Created by the Eternal 'Equinox'
Lifespan
95 years
Average Height
1.5-2.1 meters, varying by tribe and sex
Average Weight
40-150kg varying by tribe and sex
Average Physique
Males are generally about thirty to fifty percent larger than females by mass, with all being mostly fit apart from a few outlying examples of obesity, and even that is only in cases of extreme laziness.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Varies significantly by tribe:
- Hair color ranges from blondes for Valkyr to dark brown and black for Amurans, while Polkans have varying shades of red.
- Bone density is lightest in Valkyr and heaviest in Polkans.
- Muscle mass is lightest in Amurans and heaviest in Polkans.
- Skin hue ranges from pale in Amurans to ruddy in Polkans.
- Black thaumatic sigils adorn an Amuran's body depending on thaumatic aptitude.
- Valkyr wings are feathered and range from all white to all black, with various shades of brown in between. Feathers can be uniformly colored or striped and alternating similar to many species of birds. Additionally, Valkyr are unique in having downy feathers in the pubic area.
Geographic Distribution
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