Segmented Societarian

The societarian, one of the two dominant species of the archipelago, are easily distinguishable by an extraordinary physical trait: Individuals look starkly different from each other even within the same family, with an endless variety of possible features.
They can be divided however into five subspecies based on their skin coverage. These are the featheries, covered in plumage, furries, covered in hair, scalies with rough, sometimes hardened skin, waterland silkies with smooth, moist skin, and the segmented with hardened outsides separated by thin joints.

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Segmented, the least common of societarians, have their bodies divided into distinct segments by their very thin joints, and are usually covered in a hard chitinous shell.

Societarian subspecies

Biology

Physical Characteristics

Distinctive Traits

Segmented as a group are the most unique of societarians regarding their physical structure:
Their joints, as well as their waist, come together in very thin unions and the segments these divide are most times covered by smooth chitinous plates, though sometimes their bodies or part of them are covered in fuzzy hair.
Most have a big section of their body resembling a plump tail, which contains their reproductive organs, part of their gut and houses the female's eggs before she lays them.
This is called the "abdominal segment", though informally people call it the tail segment.

They tend to have abnormally big eyes lacking a distinct pupil or eyelids, mouths that are formed by several segments, sometimes closing horizontally, and may have a pair of sensitive antennae sprouting from between the eyes.
A smaller group of segmented seem adapted for amphibious life, being able to breathe underwater.
These usually have harder chitin covering their segments, and their abdominal segment is sometimes curled forwards and pressed against the body when not in use.
Female segmented are generally bigger than males.

Reproduction

This section contains detailed descriptions of non-human reproductive anatomy and sex. Hover over the text to remove the blur.

Segmented reproduction defies expectations from other societarians.

They mate by connecting the tips of their abdominal sections, with the female or the male (depending on the phenotype) usually grabbing their partner's end with two or four clasper appendages during the act.

After successful intercourse, the female segmented will produce between two and five eggs that she will lay after one month growing them in her abdominal segment.
They will hatch after two to four months of incubation, being born smaller and more fragile than the babies of other societarian subspecies. Usually not all of them hatch or live past the first days.

Geographical distribution

Segmented are native to Larea, Stunveldt and Daltael, all lush areas covered in jungles.
They rarely emigrate from these places, though some can be found in Thaur Island.

Culture

Identity

"So weird... Did you know their tail is actually their private parts? They don't seem to think they are very private though"

— Conversation overheard by a segmented

Segmented tend to feel excluded from the rest of the societarian's culture, being seen as a vey exotic subspecies.

Though Stunveldti segmented are very appreciated by their scaly and waterland silky fellow countryfolk, Stunveldti in general are also considered exotic by the inhabitants of other islands, adding to the alienating feeling.
As such, both Larean and Stunveldti segmented try to avoid too much interaction with people from other nations and feel more comfortable around other segmented.

Clothing

As segmented usually live in dense, humid jungles, their clothing tends to be either minimalistic or hardy and protective.
Larean farmers cover their legs with thick trousers held by two laces that cross from the front and tie behind their mid section. They then place a robe made of light, white fabric to protect from the sun.
Stunveldtis use more elaborate outfits, usually relying a lot on decorative items such as collars, gemstone-embedded bracelets and kercheifs.
As with everyone else in their island, Stunveldti segmented are well known for the Admiration Medleys, a unique outfit each one gets designed for themselves and wears only during their Admiration Day.
Segmented do not cover their abdominal segment, which shocks people of other subspecies.

Notable Individuals

Divina by Naelin

Divina: A quirky Stunveldti living in Thaur, they perform with the The Deep-Throated Auralists, playing instruments such as the organ, the hurdy grande and the aprehension engine.
Other segmented are critical of Divina for "adding to the generalisation of segmented as weird folk".

Distribution of segmented in the archipelago

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Societarians

Geographic Distribution

• Daltael
• Larea
• Stunveldt Island

Related Ethnicities

• Stunveldti

The brutal island

Daltael Island by Naelin

Part of the exotism of segmented is related to their biggest homeland being the island of Daltael, populated by them and waterland silkies.
Encounters with Daltaelians usually end in death or capture for slave trade and few risk crossing the waters close to their island.
This combined with the general distrust of the Stunveldti against outsiders led to people sometimes seeing segmented in general as dangerous people.

Admiration Medley by Naelin