Silentbeam
Steka zuhl are generally considered loners and appreciate the ability to survive on their own in the wilds. They are known as a small but hearty creature with a love for painting and climbing. Though some steka zuhl prefer to live on the ground, many live in the treetops or cliff walls. What they lack in speed they make up for in precision with a keen eye for detail and an uncanny ability to blend in. When coupled, these skills can make the steka zuhl impressive ambush hunters. They take the days in stride and do not rush into anything, with the exception of defending their territory. This subrace of kabu is a slow-moving creature and typically do not like interacting with one another.
The males can be aggressive and pushy to other males, especially those they find in their territories that they are not strong-bonded with. The females can work with males but will usually keep them at a distance. Females act this way mostly due to the fact that the presence of the males can wear on them. Females typically feel annoyed or put-off by males, due to their confrontational towards one another. The female's concern is always to the survival of the clad. The females will present skin tones that tell males to leave them alone when not interested, allowing for the two sexes to coexist rather well.
If the steka zuhl are not living on their own then they are residing in a clad. Clads may consist of 60 -70 adults, with any number of children and adolescents. It is believed that the first clads were created by groups of females who sought to protect themselves and their unborn, or their hatchlings. Its this reason that clads are typically governed by females, though there is still male presence. Some females may only join the clad for their pregnancy and during child rearing and then venture off on their own again. Males are more likely to do so, especially if they have territory far from the clad. The males may only come to the clad leading up to the Ravaging and then leave after.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Before the kabu began to work with the other races of the Primal realm they used Draconic to communicate within their tribes as well as with the regari. The two races trace their lineage back to a powerful dragon that helped the lizard god create them and teach them how to speak.
The eventually began to speak primal once the sentient races of their plane required it to allow coexistence.
As the many races of the primal plane formed lines of communication and bonds, they built a language to unite them and allow for broader communication, this was primal language.
As the Primal plane bled out into the prime plane and the beastfolk interacted with its humanoid inhabitants they also adopted Common.
Shared customary codes and values
Many steka zuhl desire space and gravitate towards a more individual lifestyle. They will survive on their own and rarely run into other steka zuhl in the wild. If this does occur they will try to avoid one another, or a challenge may be made if a question of territory arises. A steka zuhl may have three friends in their adult life, not feeling a need to be close to many.
This will change during The Ravaging and most of-age steka zuhl will seek out clads to find mates. The area around clads will have increased traffic with individuals making their way to the these communities. Once in the clad all individuals are expected to respect its purpose: to protect the children. Many of the adults will keep their distance from others, but there are some that quietly socialize and attempt to build up status.
The hatchlings stay with their mother, and possibly father, but are looked after by the group. The entire clad is responsible for showing the hatchlings how to live and survive, these tasks are not taken lightly. Hatchlings learn how to hunt, gather, groom, and paint among other things. All of this is taught by the clad.
Common Etiquette rules
Colors:
| Green | Calm/relaxed |
| Yellow | Irritated |
| Red | Angry/stressed |
| Black | Aggressive |
| Red Spots | Not interested |
| Dark Brown | carrying eggs |
| Black w/ Orange stripes | no intention of mating |
| brown or gray | submissive (males) |
Common Dress code
The kabu, as with the regari, will typically wear little clothing unless needed for some utility. This is mostly because their climates do not require much clothing and they prefer that their decorative skin tones speak for them. Often times steka zuhl will wear animal skins, feathers, and (mostly) plant fibers if they are in their clads. Some steka zuhl will wear more appropriate clothing when in communities of other races. This helps some blend in, something that always makes a steka zuhl feel more comfortable, and can also help hide their emotions if they do not want them broadcast as easily.
There are also times when they are known to paint their bodies, this is usually for rituals or during certain religious holidays.
Art & Architecture
The steka zuhl have built much of their lives around color. This starts at birth with paints and dyes being packed around the eggs before they hatch and they land in a small pool of these colors as well. The children are taught to interpret the world around them by reading its colors and express themselves with colors from their own skin. This naturally carries onto artistic expression and how the steka zuhl see the world and its inhabitants.
Steka zuhl are known for their love of colors, and for many it can become an obsession. They understand the importance of discretion and will typically not use colors that may draw attention to their clads when approaching its borders. This means that they tend towards painting with more subtle colors or may place discrete symbols for members or travelers to notice or follow. Some clads have even worked luminous paints in that can signal travelers while in darkness, or even paint that reacts to color.
Many visitors believed the steka zuhl to be mundane artists who could only replicate the colors around them and thus the race painted in greens, greys, and browns to help conceal them as well as satisfy an artistic itch they had. It is not incorrect to assume that steka zuhl draw from the world around them, but when dealing with a race that can walk around with bright red and blue pigments created by their very skin, that says something for what they can paint. Most every clad you find will have brightly colored squares and the interiors of buildings with swirls of color, as well as Color Gardens that surround the Life Tree. In their communities steka zuhl will work on these intricating designed pieces of art as a group, a family, or individually depending on the location, topic, and space. They see every piece of material as a canvas.
Steka zuhl build simple structures out of mostly wood, thatch, or mud and clay. Some clads build their homes on trees and may help guide the branches as they grow. This does not happen as frequently as the construction of other domiciles. Homes and structures may also be a space dug out of the dirt and earth, or cavities in trees. There are some steka zuhl that also make their home out of dense shrubs and fortify the inner part of the plant with wood and dirt. If the intent of the structure's outside markings is concealment the steka zuhl will often incorporate leaves into the construction as well.
Other structures they may build will resemble tree limbs, be it for decoration or daily use. They also use spiked ridges, horns, and coiling circles as decoration as well. The images that they paint can be abstract or more realist. It is all based on what the artist means to convey. Most works of art will have many bright and contrasting colors
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The steka zuhl will shed their entire lives, but this occurs very frequently as hatchlings. Shedding during this period of their life can be very uncomfortable and so they created salves to ease the discomfort that have
sometimes use paints to help with dryness and to cover some of the shedding
Birth & Baptismal Rites
A surprising trait the steka zuhl have is that they carry their eggs internally. This means that the eggs do not have hard shells and mostly consist of the transparent membrane. The female will carry the eggs to term inside of her abdomen. When the female does birth the eggs she will place them at the Life Tree on one of the branches. They will be secured to the bottom of a large branch, holding in place by an adhesive property of the quickly drying membrane. There is also a mixture of colored proteins packed onto the egg around the surface stuck to the branch. It may take up to 3 weeks for the hatchlings to break from their eggs sacs and fall from five to ten feet to the ground. Beneath the Life Tree are shallow pits of pigments in which the hatchlings land. This is called Birthfall.
family members will wear the same colors for the next month to show love and companionship for the hatchling
Coming of Age Rites
Ebuc: is the rite of Walking and takes place when they reach adulthood. The hatchling will live on their own for four weeks at designated locations near the clads. After the period is up the hatchling may return to the clad for the completion of the rite. The clad will have a celebration and the now adult steka zuhl will be able to stay and help the clad to survive or set out on their own.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Racking: the body is propped up on a post with rope tying it at certain points. The arms of the individual will be in a different position depending on how the individual died or their status in the clad. List ARM ORIENTATIONS. The body is then painted by their kin and those they have strong-bonded with. The paints will help protect the body from the elements and slow decay and the body will be displayed at the Life Tree for three days. The post and corpse will then be taken to an area outside of the clad and be placed so that the steka zuhl may return to the world in which it spent its life being a part of.
Common Taboos
Steka zuhl do not typically display their feelings of attraction for one another. Most female steka zuhl do not have a great desire to commit to long term relationships with males and are genuinely annoyed by their presence when they become too friendly. If a couple does have an intimate relationship they will often not flaunt it openly, as other steka zuhl may seem at worst disgusted and at best indifferent.
Steka zuhl do not discuss their emotions; it seems like a waste of time to them that anyone would. Since they wear their emotions on their skin and immediately know how other steka zuhl around them are feeling, they do feel somewhat uncomfortable when they are surrounded by other races. They feel as though these races hide their intent and feelings, making them untrustworthy and crafty.
Common Myths and Legends
There is a legend of how the kabu and regari came from brothers who both loved a dragon queen. The two brothers ended up fighting for the queen's love and both sired offspring with her. Their struggle lasted millennia and left the dragon queen to teach their offspring how to survive. During a period of peace between the wounded brothers they each found their own offspring and rejoiced, both forgetting about their vendetta. They helped teach their people about survival and worked with the dragon queen. Once the elder brother found out about the dragon queen's betrayal, in that she still cared for his younger brother and his people, he cast her off from his people. She left the kabu as well, as not to cause further damage to her offspring. It was at this point that the regari focused more on survival, with the dragon queen gone and the REGARI GOD leading the charge to fight his younger brother. The kabu were able to hold their own in combat but mostly worked at hiding from their larger cousins. The KABU GOD sought means to impress the dragon queen and express his longing for her. The kabu used various forms of art to depict what their god could not. This is supposedly the origins of their draw to art in its various forms.
Ripping of the world
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
All kabu may be a variety of colors, while the females typically display more muted colors than their male counterparts. Often times the more brightly-colored males receive more attention from the clad in general than those with more subtle tones. This attention is primarily from females for the purposes of mating, but extends to other males in the form of respect. The steka zuhl's ability to change the tones and colors of their skin can make flashy skin tones somewhat common especially when showing off or preceding the Ravaging.
Adult males will have horns above their eyes or on their nose. Those that have longer horns are seen as more desirable by steka zuhl.
Gender Ideals
Males serve as hunters and fighters for the community. They will typically serve as the forces that fight off aggressors or defend the clad. Males are usually not involved in rearing the hatchlings, young children, but will tutor and teach the adolescent males when they are able to start learning what their roles in the clad will be. Females do rear the hatchlings, who will live in the home of the mother and are taken care of by the females of the community during daily tasks. While both males and females with forage or gather, only males will typically do so if it is dangerous territory. These are the main differences between the two sexes as most jobs in the community can be filled by either. The females are also experienced in some defensive combat to protect the clad and its hatchlings.
Courtship Ideals
Though both sexes may use their color changing ability at any time, the males will utilize this ability to impress females, for the purposes of mating, and males, for social standing. Their social standing will increase their likelihood of being chosen by a mate. Males will utilize their ability to change the color of their skin to brighten their skin to impress possible mates. This is typical during the period of Ravaging, a week in which the clad will come together as a community to mate. The weeks leading up to the Ravaging can be very volatile with males constantly attempting to impress females. As the male displays, receptive females will flash blue or blue spots, signaling to the male that they will mate with them. At this point the male may continue seeking mates, typically only seeking three or four at most, but will typically only look for one or two mates. The individuals involved will go about their daily tasks as normal until the week of the Ravaging when the female will initiate the interaction. Afterwards the female will tell the male whether they are interested in maintaining a relationship, which is communicated through the coloring of her skin. If the female is not interested in mating her skin will display black with orange stripes and the males will continue on.
Relationship Ideals
Most steka zuhl live alone in small homes where they will sleep and sometimes eat, but much of their time is spent in the community or on the fringes of it. Though each individual has their own home and space they focus on the needs of the clad. Due to the lack of interest in intimate relationships the clads of steka zuhl are built from many independent domiciles. The steka zuhl are considered more prudish than their other kabu counterparts because they still consider this to be an act meant for two individuals. This is not due to the specific concept of monogamy, but because the female steka zuhl like their space. Most females will tolerate males in public or social settings but rarely look for more intimate long-term companionship. There are some females that allow companionship past that of the fleeting ravagings and these couples may inhabit the same home. These individuals are just considered very good friends, by most race’s standards. The concept of marriage is not present in the steka zuhl communities, but they do refer to close friends in this nature or other similar relationships to be strong-bonded. Even in these relationships the females are typically not interested in physical contact with their partners. Once the hatchlings are born they are the sole responsibility of the female, and the clad will help in rearing them.
Definitions
clad: a kabu community ranging from a couple dozen adults to hundreds. hatchling: what the kabu call their young up until they are able to venture out on their own, reaching adolescence The Ravaging: mating season for kabu strong-bonded: a close relationship between two steka zuhl
The steka zuhl are members of the kabu family.
Steka Zuhl (Silent beam) Traits
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity increases by 2.
Alignment. Kabu are fairly neutral, but may have a draw towards law. These rules are what they put in place to protect their clads.
Hunter's Lore. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Draconic or Primal. You can also speak, read, and write Common.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 20 feet.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution increases by 1.
Telescoping Eyes. You have proficiency on Investigation rolls.
Mask of the Wild. You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
Nimble Digits. Your climbing speed is your walking speed.
Strong Tongue. You can use your tongue as a ranged attack. Range: 15 feet. 1d4-1 +STR or DEX modifier. Bludgeoning damage. You can use this to grab objects, but fragile items may receive damage.
Camouflage. Your skin can blend into its surroundings, rendering you virtually invisible. You have the effect of the Invisibility spell, but this does not count as a magical effect. The effect ends once use movement, make an attack, or attempt another crucial action.
Encompassed species
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