Monsterkind

Summary

Upon Veltrona three families of sapient beings cohabitate: the dragons, humanity, and finally, what colloquial speech refers to as 'monsters'. These ones being the 'youngest' of the three, they emerged after humanity, taking upon themselves human and bestial form in the Third Dawn.
Neither animal nor human, they exist in a comfortable in between. Willed to life in the ancient times in their desires for love, their ancestors learned most of all from humanity. As humans are, and want to be, social creatures, these manners imprinted deeply into the emerging monsters. Species that might otherwise have been solitary came together, loosely or tight-knit, creating their own civilizations and cultures. While the individual species vary wildly, there are three foundational rules that unify them:
The first is their hybrid appearance. A fusion of beast and humanoid nature, with anything from 'near-human' to the bizarrely alien. For example, the jiuweihu and nebusah are exceedingly close to human-like, while the rachtoh maintains very arachnid-like sensibilities. Some of the more extreme beings, like lindwurms and harpies, make enormous concessions for their unique manners of living. They are all bound by the humanoid concept, however, and are often very compatible with humanity and each other as a result.
The second is their mana constitution. Often stronger, bulkier, or more overly powerful than a human at a one-to-one ratio, their incredible prowess is only possible due to their naturally high mana. This is also notable for the increased consumption of mana for a monster normally correlates to increased power or healthiness. Hence, they also have strong appetites.
The third trait is the sensual desires of monsters. Because mana is so very needed for everything they are, many of the monster species have adapted toward the usage of sex and romance as part of their arsenal. An intersection of natural needs, versus human inherited sentiments resulted in a very powerful engine that drives many monster species.
To understand the third matter requires looking at their ecosystems. While foodstuffs and other sources of mana can suffice, successful sexual encounters engenders its own source of mana creation. That is, two or more willing participants causes a reaction of willpower that creates mana, and then can be absorbed by the participants. The more consenting, involved, and coherent these partners, the more intense the reaction (ergo, greater purity). Thus, achieving stable relationships leads to direct benefits in this area, as well as others (social standing, resources, protection, etc). Monsters have simply adapted to utilizing this paradigm far more extremely than humans have. While arguably selfish, their commitment to fostering their partner(s) can border on the fanatical. Conversely, dying of a ‘broken heart’ is also a literal problem for closely bonded partners (more so monsters than humans).
Further specifics tend to break down into species-related aspects, more than general trends. The mussuba have adapted in the extreme to require intimacy, while the likes of dragons may not "need" it, it is vitally important for them to be successful. The aspiring scholar takes care to learn which species they're dealing with and how they handle their affairs.