Muurun (muu-run)
Summary
A versatile, hunting-minded species believed to have its origins in Immensio. Ancient muurun spread across the plains, then to the surrounding lands of Nemma, Lophern, and Sa-kemet. Some are theorized to have crossed the mountains of Mount Skyreach, eventually settling inside of Jerhegn. Because of their wide roaming ability and self-sufficient nature, the muurun eventually spread to all corners of Veltrona. Their adaptability brought on useful traits in different climates. Colder climates meant thicker fur and fat, while hotter ones saw leaner, more exothermic properties. Over time they naturally developed their own identities, but the ancestral origin of 'muurun' belonged to those within Sa-Kemet. Theirs, more than many others, drew the eyes of world history. It would be by their hand that Veltrona forever changed. The desert dwelling muurun were virtually unrivaled in their domain. What problems nature threw at them, they solved through group cooperation. For the likes of other peoples, like the mertakan, diplomacy or strength sufficed. The only ones to give them true trouble were the nebusah, who had both the guts and ability to stand against the muurun. Much of their history in the deserts is drawn against the two of them, struggling or cooperating again and again. Eventually, the muurun families coalesced into various tribal groups: the Sa-kemet Tribes. History followed in the form of improved technologies, better social relations, and the rise of nascent civilization. Many centuries later, all the different factors gathered together. A warlady emerged, and one-by-one she bludgeoned the tribes until they submitted beneath her banner. Whether through arms or political machination, her success swept across the vast deserts. So it is the muurun tribes, led by their Great Khanum, took form. Historians and contemporaries of the time described it as 'the muurun horde', so depending on whose history is being told, their namesake changes. The Great Khanum possessed a dream: ruling over Veltrona. She believed in unifying the muurun, shepherding the 'weak peoples' of other species beneath them, and establishing an everlasting nation. For how insane her vision sounded, her charismatic prowess enamored countless people. Some wondered how she even dreamt up such an idea in the first place, but these became tiny footnotes. The tribes moved together, sweeping across Sa-Kemet. Only Atenkhet and the greatest nations of the time managed to avoid being swallowed up by them. They spread out, taking Akpahm, Temu, Immensio, and further beyond. Such conquest took decades to do, and the muurun tribes grew great in size and power. For better or worse, the Great Khanum's vision took form with fire and steel or word and deed. Even dragonkind, divided and solitary as they were, couldn't stand against them. The once-unbeatable mistresses of the world were humiliated over and over, too incapable against such odds. Their success came to a spine-shattering halt when the Great Khanum encountered Imperious. The hence-unknown dragon stood against the tribes' advance in deep Lophern, her overwhelming power defying description. Supposedly, even goddesses of the time were horrified at how strong she actually was. Imperious took everyone on, breaking them across miles of Veltrona in brutal combat. It is around that time the Great Khanum vanished, her sudden disappearance assuring her death. Without their unifying leader, internal politics erupted and the tribes soon went at each others' throats. However, Imperious yet remained. Seemingly inspired by the Great Khanum's vision, she herself took it up, albeit with some modification. Imperious fashioned together her Imperium by beating every dragon she met into bloody submission. The once disparate dragonkind was forced together by sheer overwhelming might, creating the most dangerous power on Veltrona at the time. Imperious set them loose upon the crumbling muurun tribes, satiating their wounded egos with unbridled vengeance. So it was the gains of the muurun tribes fell apart in scores, taken by the ascendant Imperium and its insurmountable power. Completely falling apart, those who held strong ties to Sa-Kemet retreated back to it with all haste. There they fortified themselves in their final home, joining hands with Atenkhet itself when the Imperium came. For centuries they stood against incursion after incursion, Imperious herself too busy invading other places to truly bother with them. When the World Gate exploded, the endless war against the Imperium finally came to a close. In the aftermath of the Great Darkness, the Sa-kemet Tribes huddled in their ancestral homelands. When the skies finally cleared, they set out once again, relearning the world that had changed around them. They found each other, Atenkhet, and more. Although the years had separated them, they'd all persevered through terrible odds together. Time's ceaseless work eventually splintered these old alliances, turning friends into strangers once again. Though they shared much, in the end, they went back to looking out for their own first. Despite their 'downfall', the muurun remain undaunted, proud, and hardy. Dreams of their once dragon-feared glory inspire them generations and generations later, stirring their spirits to achieve remarkable feats of their own in turn. It can be of no surprise many look back upon the time of the Great Khanum, sanitized of reality, infused with dreams and folktale. They dream of another great leader, someone worthy enough to bring the tribes together once again. A thought that terrifies all their neighbors, understandably so.Basic Information
Anatomy
Muurun are bipedal humanoids with strong feline characteristics. They're a world-spanning species, and so are adapted toward all sorts of climates. Generally, these adapations are in physique and fur: colder areas are fatter and thicker furred, hotter are leaner, finer furred. One can tell their lineage clearly by the nature of their fur. The below details are based on the principle desert-dwelling muurun of Sa-kemet.
They have two fluffy, triangular ears atop their heads, capable of swiveling and hearing with accuracy. Their head hair is usually thick, wavy, and of a different thread texture than their main body fur. Two large, expressive eyes house slitted pupils. They have generally broad or sturdy noses, and their mouths are a tiny bit larger than a human's. Enlarged canines and powerful neck muscles let them use their teeth as very capable flesh-rending weapons if they wish. Some lineages have larger canines that protude out of the mouth, though only by a few inches at best.
Their faces are animated and expressive, easily matching all of a human range with an edge of 'ferocity'. They're are nominally bare skinned, having only decorative stripes of fur adorning the cheeks and/or forehead. If a lineage has a 'beard', it is present on both sexes, and exhibits their respective fur tendencies.
A collar of loose, soft fur surrounds their neck, collar, and solar plexus. It can grow to encompass their shoulders, depending on environmental factors. Two strips of stouter, shorter body fur shoot out down from their necks to their arms, where it winds across them toward their forearms. These strips are present on the legs as well, beginning from the base of their tail, then winding across the thighs toward the shins. Speaking of, they have a tail that juts out of their buttocks, often being floor-reaching in length. What kind of fur it has varies on lineage, it can be anything from fluffy to firm, etc.
The forearms and hands, as well as shins and feet, are completely covered in their main body fur. They have paw-like hands with padded palms and fingers, but with human-like structure. While they can wield and utilize tools, the large size of their fingers hampers their dexterity. Their feet are also padded, and generally aimed at being capable jumpers and runners. They have incredibly thick, sturdy claws as natural weapons on their hands and feet.
They're sexually dimorphic, with the women being larger and more muscular in overall physique than the men. They have enlarged breasts and wider hips, and sport wilder fur that is usually very fluffy in nature, soft to the touch, etc. Men are leaner, more athletic, and generally agile while sporting firmer and denser fur. Women's fur colors trend toward being two-tone, while males are multicolored or patterned more extensively. However these traits are more suspectible to bloodlines than others, and so change frequently.
Their color ranges are typically adapted to serve predatory roles in their environments. Desert muurun are usually dark-to-black skinned, and have furs in the browns, yellows, reds, and golds. Tundra and alpine muurun, by contrast, are usually pale-to-snowy skinned, with furs in the whites, grays, blacks, blues, and darker browns. Their eye colors are broad and encompass the entire known spectrum, usually exhibiting high clarity, glass-like beauty to them.
Generally speaking, those who are adapted toward colder climates have more fur growing across their body as a whole. The 'maximum density' of said fur covers the 'cold' areas of the body, while leaving the 'hot' ones exposed. For example, the outsides of the thighs are covered, while the inside remain bare skinned. It is a thermal adaptation that regulates their heat, so clothing is required but not as much as other species.
Hybrids readily adopt their father's characteristics, and those with scales may themselves grow erratic scale patterns. Colors, patterns, and other traits are heavily influenced by the father as a result.
Biological Traits
Apex Huntresses – Running, jumping, stalking, planning: the muurun are naturally adept at them all. They possess a physical awareness of their space that makes out smarting them a daunting prospect. In many ways, they're naturally born to be at the top of nature.
Active Lifestyle – Muurun require physical activity much more than say, a human, would. Maintaining their bodies is important as sedentary living can wreck them with much harsher consequences. Hybrids tend to be much more resistent to this problem.
Purring – They can purr.
Cleanliness Is Mandatory – Muurun have deep psychological ticks about filth, and hate being dirty themselves. It could be charitably described as 'deeply uncomfortable', and so they make a lot of accommodations toward cleanliness.
Like their nebusian contemporaries, the muurun have erogenous zones around their ears and the base of their tails. All sorts of cultural ideas are attached to them, so doing anything involving those areas has serious weight. While not as extreme as the baarham and their horns, one must be exceedingly cautious when touching a muurun.
Civilization and Culture
Relationship Ideals
Having been sculpted by the harshness of Sa-kemet, a layer of pragmatism lays over everything they do. Capable spouses need to be able to keep up, do work, and take care of the family. In many ways, their overall family structure is not that different from the nebusah poly-amorous ideas. However, the muurun are much more strict on a 'definitive leader' and her 'subordinate spouses'. Cooperation is not strictly necessary, but a harmonious household is something everyone understands.
Hence, the norm is usually for the prospective leader to pick and choose her spouses. What they look for can change depending on the home's situation. For one needing more help, capable people will be much more attention grabbing. Conversely, someone wanting more sociable entertainment will look for someone charismatic. Once someone is found, they'll usually be introduced to the other spouses (if any are present). It's only once things seem like they'll work well do they become much more serious.
That is for long term relationships, though.
Muurun seeking companionship and simpler affairs will be guided by their tastes and the opportunities life gives. Casual romance and non-committal affections are much more the norm for them as a consequence. Since so much can pull one's life in opposing directions, the flow of things may eventually pull them apart. No end of people rage against this, however, trying to turn the world upside down when their heart calls for it. Muurun are passionate, after all, as lively and energetic as the lifestyles they live.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Natural born predators, insatiably curious, and utterly willing to fight, the muurun on their surface look insanely combative. They put stock by words with deeds behind them, and so someone talking big must be able to do something big.
Arrogance is a bonfire that draws challengers, and so such people do not last long in their various cultures. Since other peoples tend to have a lot of arrogant loudmouthes, the muurun's willingness to throw down and shut them up gives them a bad reputation.
Once one gets past that cultural hump, the muurun's very direct manner of living makes more sense. Having little time or energy to waste on nonsense, they live loudly and without reservation. Celebrations are grand, luxuries treasured, entertainment deeply captivating, and much more become their norm.
Dishonesty and duplicity are something they revile strongly, which causes no end of friction with other peoples. The muurun, at the end of the day, put stock in one's character with a seriousness of spilling blood.
The particulars of it do change, of course. One tribe's prized warrior traditions is another's scorned and foolish idea. Such values of a person is why the Sa-kemet Tribes live in their largley divisive state in the first place. However, a willingness to take the literal or proverbial blow to the face while trying to bridge differences is, itself, respectable. Successful khanums and other leaders get by because they'll take the hits and rise above them. It is by this outsiders to the tribes are measured to see how willing they are to respect muurun ways.
When their aggressive sentiments aren't being roused, or their social pecking order disrupted, muurun are fairly socialable. Group grooming and bathing are their most common bonding activities. Other things are usually mixed in with this, such as artistic performances, simple games, and other leisures that aren't too strenous. Otherwise, exercise, practice, and physical games all sort of blend together into one idea. There's no end to their sports and the various rules they like to play by.
Gift giving is an important social function of theirs. Generally, being able to acquire something useful, then give it to others, is a tremendous act with layers of meaning. It usually displays competency, the ability to procure better things, and the luxury of being able to give them away. Similarly, there is a nobility in offering up 'sacrificial' gifts one needs, but chooses to give to others. Demanding tribute and other notions of 'taking things' is seriously taboo.
For the most part, practical gifts are the consistently the most useful. Artistic, fluffy, or 'pretty' things take up very valuable, premium space. Such non-functional works need to be truly moving to justify keeping them around. For the muurun, multipurpose items that combine function and beauty together are the best things to receive.
To their friends, the predatory muurun are both honorable and cutthroat, constantly vigilant to misgivings. In the same stroke, they keep a nose out and an ear perked for weakness, preying upon opportunity. In the end, they want to make sure their own and the ones they like win out. Having a muurun for an enemy is to have something always looking, waiting for a chance to make a (proverbial) kill.
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