Hhrar

The header depicts a jackal from the Halo universe. I did not make the image, I do not own it and I do not remember where I downloaded it from, but credit goes not to me, but the artist who made it. Whoever you are Mr. Artist, wherever you live, this is a great picture. Thank you.

Humans share the known world with another species called the Hhrar. Known to outsiders as "coldbloods" and "vultures" and "lizards", the Hhrar are - not surprisingly - a cold-blooded, reptilian looking race with avian features who originally hail (at least according to their legends) from the dry savannahs south of the Hammer.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Hhrar are anatomically similar to Humans, they have a pair of arms and legs, and an upright posture, but their bones are lighter, their bodies more lightly built. They have four instead of five fingers and toes. Due to them being ambush predators, they can stand still for extended periods of time at will. This can make witnessing Humans feel very uncomfortable and Hhrar deliberately use this to their advantage or amusement.

Genetics and Reproduction

Hhrar reproduce by laying eggs which develop inside the female. The female will lay her eggs around about four months after impregnation. The layed eggs - usually 2-4 - will then be cared for by the mother for another 5-6 months thorughout which the eggs grow themselves with the developing embryo inside (the eggs do not have a hard shell but instead a thick layer of skin). The hatched babies will instinctively search for their mother and remain in very close physical contact with her. Hhrar females produce a substance similar to Human milk. The babies feed on this substance for a few months before they eat their first actual meal.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Hhrar in their basest form are omnivorous pack hunters who hunt by ambushing their large prey. There are such feral communities living in the savannahs south of the Hammer to this day. Surviving on such a harsh land requires living beings to use every abailable resource so Hhrar are able consume everything others would find distasteful and/or highly toxic, for example, rotten meat. This plentifullness led to Hhrar cuisine being vast and varied, which in turn affected how that food is served. Any good Hhrarish meal is made up of several, wildly different dishes with bread, water and large toothpicks (Hhrar have huge teeth compared to Humans!) in between so the previous dish's taste can go away. These pauses in the process of eating are when the social aspect of the meal come into play. To speak when actually eating is considered barbaric.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Hhrar live in large groups of several families, a relic of their tribal past. This group will usually share a name.

Average Intelligence

Comparable to a Human at room temperature, but varies greatly in colder or hotter environments.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Hhrar have exceptionally good smell and eyesight, but lack the fine hearing Humans possess. This translated into their culture in many ways. A Hhrar community is filled with many odors, that is most often used to convey meaning. The air of a marketplace is always heavy smoke, incense and the smells of tasteful and foul things Hhrar offer as food. Their eyesight made their clothings, body paints, everyday products, tools and many other things being made with the finest details, they often bear symbols or writings a Human wouldn't even recognize because it's too small.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

A Hhrar will have a first name, a family name and a family group/tribe name, in reverse order. Hhrar may recieve honorific names which reflect the greatest accomplishment - or worst crime - they have ever done. A general may be given a name after a decisive battle he won, for example. In formal circles, the honorific name always comes first.

Average Technological Level

The Hhrar have access to the same technologies found throughout the known world. They know how to work iron into steel, can build large stone buildings, but also excell at animal husbandry. Crystalsmiths also settled in the region and the Hammer became a center of their work.

Common Dress Code

Hrar cultures make extensive use of body paints to mark social or marital status or achievements among others. Because of this, they wear as little clothing as possible to showcase more skin and therefore more paint and therefore more of their status. In the northern regions, where they must wear closed, warm clothing, the clothes replace the skin in this regard.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Hhrar make extensive use of body paints to denote ancestry, achievments, family, et cetera. Usually the scales are painted individually to create a larger images. Sometimes the paint is simply that, paint over the body, but on other occasions (rituals, marriages, etc) in can be overly elaborate with only the keen Hhrarish eyesight being able to understand their meaning. For more personal markings, Hhrar carve into their scales instead of using paint to make it permanent.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Before a battle, Hhrar will perform rythmic songs over wardrums playing. This serves a three purpouses. First, to frighten the enemy. Second, to give all Hhrar a chance to warm up before the battle, literally. Because they are cold blooded, they need time fasten their metabolic rate for the battle. Lastly, because everyone performs, from grunt to general, it gives a sense of unity into the battleline and reinforces morale.

Common Taboos

Displaying a paint on the body that turns out to be a fraud, that the person in particular doesn't actually deserve it to be worn is considered a crime comparable to killing and treachery. During a formal meeting, a Hhrar's honorific name must be used over the actual name. To not do so is considered a great offense, or if the name is a punishment, rather than an honor, a sign of cowardice for trying to hide the person's misdeed.

History

In ancient times, the Hrar lived as simple pack hunters, ambushing large animals and living off what the land could provide which, considering the dry climate, was not much. As the wildlife became larger and more aggressive in this distant time period, the Hhrar communities migrated north to the lands where they live today.
Through events lost to time, the descendants of these Hhrarish eventually learned agriculture and began building cities and towns. It is unknown if the Yerban buildings in the region were already abandoned by this point, but the Hhrarish evidently discovered and settled the two largest pyramids of the Hammer peninsula and were writing about it on clay tablets. Eventually, an alliance of these two pyramids became the most powerful force in the region and an empire was born. This was the Karakian Empire with Karakor's twin pyramids as it's capital and in it's heyday it stretched all along the coastlines and rivers of the Hammer and the surrounding areas. This was also the time from where the first written records exist about interactions between Humans and Hhrar. There were brutal wars between the highly militaristic Karakian Empire and it's overly religious neighbour. With time however, the dust settled, empires collapsed, settled again and trade flourished. Hhrarish traders became common on the World Sea. Almost a thousand years later, the legendary Asturians began their conquest of the known world. It is said that they used Manifestations, enormous magical beasts to destroy entire cities in but a day. The once great Karakian Empire fell just like the rest. Millions were killed or sold to slavery in distant lands. In the colder north, Hhrar's metabolism slows down which greatly affects their intellect. Their Asturian masters knew this very well and used it to keep the slave population in check. Hhrar were forbidden to wear warm clothes. As the generations passed, Hhrar in the north slowly lost their identity, while Hhrar in the south became productive - if resentful - subjects of the Asturian Empire.
But with every empire, the time for the Asturians' fall came eventually. It wasn't a single event. It was a centuries long culmination of decline. The Hhrarish provinces to the south rebelled and were crushed, time and time again until the Asturians no longer had any strength left to recapture the territory. But their struggle did not end their there. Another cycle of brutal conflicts began with the Asturian settlers living in the Hhrar homeland. At the height of the bloodbath, facing the rising Akkanid Empire's vast armies a compromise was reached. All the former southern provinces were united into a complex state ruled by the Senate and the Council. The name of this new political entity is the Covenant.
With the withering of the Akkanid Empire, the Covenant took the opportunity to secure new frontiers. Once again, the Hhrarish became the dominant power of the southern coasts.

Common Myths and Legends

The Hhrarish have many - often contradictory - myths and legends connecting them to the Yerbans, a mysterious people who left behind only their buildings for us to wander.

Lifespan

70-100 years

Average Height

2-2.5 meters

Average Weight

70-100 kg

Average Physique

Tall and slim, with scales covering the entire body. The back of the long head is covered in long, fleshly "hair".

Albinos, defects and rare conditions
The Hhrars are a proud race no matter where they hail from. Babies with birth defects or mental illnesses are routinely euthanized as they are seen as a disgrace to the purity of the parents. There are exceptions, of course, but a Hhrar with a disability is shunned and ignored by society. This is not the case with those who were crippled "honorably" such as in battle or during a construction or a hunt. Their status in society changes not from the loss of a limb or an eye, but due the loss of precious scars depicting their past deeds.
Albinos, those born completely white with red eyes are seen as chosen by the supernatural. They are often distrusted and shunned by society but not because they are hated, but because they are expected ti face the trials of the gods, whatever those might be. In other words, they are champions of the people and are supposed to embody the best qualities of the Hhrar, without assistance from others. Interestingly, Human albinos are viewed the same way, despite coming from another race.
There is a rare genetic trait among the Hhrar called the serpentine. Those born with this trait have a special pair of teeth and venom glands. They can bite and inject a deadly venom into their opponents that makes them loose control of their muscles and die of asphyxiation under a minute. They are feared and respected among the general populace, sometimes used to scare infants. Many of the best assassins, spies, even politicians and warriors are secretly or openly serpentines.
Being cold-blooded
As the saying goes, "the Hhrar belong with the sun". They are woefully unsuited for the colder northern regions of the continent. In the past, the only Hhrar found there were daring mechants and adventurers. This changed when the Asturians took a great many of them as slaves. The cold slows down the Hhrar metabolism which affects their speed of thought. For millennia, the vast majority of Hhrars in the north lived in a reduced state of mind because they were only allowed to wear just enough clothing to avoid "colding". Colding is a condition when there is no longer enough body heat needed for the muscles and thus, to move and eventually, breathe. During the slave rebellions in Jordush, the nordic Hhrars started wearing tight clothes made of layers of leather and fur known as the "goodcloth" or (later) urutki. An especially cruel form of torture is to tie a Hhrar naked to a pole and leave him/her there to the wind and snow.