The Campun Hahn
Hailing from the frigid and isolated lands of the southern pole, the Campun Hahn have evolved into their own branch of hominins. However, their genetic mutations trended toward the opposite of any primate; they gradually lost all the body hair that comes with being humanoid. Eyebrows, head hair, vestigial body hair, all of it gone. It can be quite striking to see if one is unfamiliar with the Campun Hahn.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Lacking any type of body hair whatsoever, these peoples have evolved to withstand great cold, and to metabolize food for storage very efficiently. Their extremeties have evolved to be shorter and somewhat stubbier than our own, making it harder for them to freeze. The pads on these fingers are very soft and pliant, like a well conditioned leather, enabling them to grasp hold of things and manipulate them with micromuscles in the tips of their fingers. Their bodies also store fat much more along the lines of whales, or walruses, than other sapients around the Kingdoms.
Their skin has become white as fresh snow, and their noses retreated to avoid the cold, leaving their nasal openings exposed. The same phenomenon happened with their ears, leaving only slightly oval holes on the sides of their heads. It is quite a striking look.
They are quite susceptible to sunburn and have Bright Light Sensitivity. They have learned to work around that with their own particular spells and technology, but they need gear to be out in the open air while the sun is up.
The centuries of living under the ice and rock of the pole have given them the gift of what some would call 'overlarge' eyes, and lips that seem always to be pouting. But that is due to the fact that they have evolved smaller mouths than we are used to seeing...again, less surface area to freeze.
The Campun Hahn have, also, Heat Sensitivity. The same equipment they use for their Sunlight Sensitivity keeps their bodies at a a steady 48
Genetics and Reproduction
The species reproduces quite unlike other mammals due to their hive mind. It is much more socially acceptable to get down in the middle of the party.
Growth Rate & Stages
They reach sexual maturity at any time after three thousand, five hundred days. Give or take, of course.
Ecology and Habitats
They live, and thrive, in the harshest cold environment on Tellus, the southern pole. It is bitterly cold, even when compared to the northern pole, but these hardy folke adapted, and managed to thrive down there in the rime.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Each Hahn needs to consume between 3% and 6% of its body weight, per day, in meat or seafood. Their diet is very fatty, much more like that of a walrus than that of a humanoid. They create elaborate meals and presentations for their different holidays, revelling in their cuisine as much as any Greynorian. Their culture and etiquette concerning dining are quite proper, emphasizing the savoring of the food and drink over the quantity of the food and drink.
Each Hahn requires a special compound called Hive Jelly that replenishes certain minerals and amino acids necessary to their nervous system. They must consume a pint of it per day, and only the hive's queens can make it.
Alcohol dehydrates the Cunham Hahn terribly, and they suffer the effects of intoxication twice as easily as anyone their equivalent size. The Craysilt ladies would call them "lightweights".
Biological Cycle
Depending on where they come in on the hive's social totem pole, their physiology can change as they attain status. They cannot go "backwards" however; meaning a drone cannot become a laborer, and then revert to a drone. The Hahn will eventually die and be replaced if it does not attain the next level up the ladder, so to speak.
The individual's lifespan is anywhere from twenty to fifty years, with the females and queens living up to twice that long. Natally born females do not change sexes, but the drones and males can become fertile or infertile, or change to female, over the course of twenty eight days, depending on the needs of the hive.
Behaviour
They act, always, in the best interests of their hive. If the interests of their hive come into conflict with those of another, the two most senior queens will either work it out, or duel each other to the death. They do not experience social anxiety, although shame is a very real and terrifying thing for a Hahn. To be shunned, to be alone, to the Cunam Hahn is a worse fate than death.
Additional Information
Social Structure
While rigid, their social structure is also pretty unforgiving. Trying to rise above one's natal station is considered a gods-given right, but it is so very nearly impossible to do so as to make no difference. The penalties for interfering in a station higher than yours are everything from a whipping to banishment, the latter being considered the most hurtful thing one can do to to an individual Hahn.
They do not long survive alone. many of them just lose the will to live.
Their society is arranged in three strata; drone (the only males of the species), worker, and queen. Each strata is organized by seniority, and each Hahn has a particular job to do, depending on the weather, season, time of day, and how many others are performing that job.
Facial characteristics
Their faces and heads are quite round with a layer of warmth-saving blubber between the skin and the skeleton. They also are missing what would traditionally be called a nose or ears-all the better to not have them freeze off in the frigid climate of their homeland. In essence, their heads and faces are round and hairless.
The females of the species have a very 'wasp' like appearance, with mandibles and prehensile antennae adorning a much more triangular face.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
They are exclusively from Kal-Zakath.
Average Intelligence
They are not unitelligent, it is just that all of their intelligence is dedicated to the betterment of the hive, above personal safety or comfort, even.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Darkvision up to 90', Perception -1, athletics -1.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Disregarding the gut biome and everything going on all that blubber, there twenty three possible parasites that can be picked up by the Cunam Hahn, and all of them are from eating sick or contaminated food.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
There are no names.
Major Organizations
There is only the hive.
Beauty Ideals
There is no beauty, only utility.
Gender Ideals
Only the drone Hahns are male, and of those only about 5% are fertile. Worker Hahns are entirely female, yet infertile. The queens are entirely female, and always fertile.
Courtship Ideals
The queen kills and eats the drone she just mated with.
Relationship Ideals
There are no relationships, there is only the hive.
Average Technological Level
Major strides in construction and metal work have been made by these single minded creatures.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
They are silent, and their spells and abilities are designed to be quiet, as well. An errant Thunderwave on the wrong glacier could mean disaster.
Common Etiquette Rules
Politeness counts! Respect your elders. Respect your station. Don't sass anybody, whipper snapper!
Common Dress Code
They only dress for protection while outside of the hive. Within the hive they all share body warmth.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Birth and death rituals.
Common Taboos
Killing and eating the larvae is highly discouraged. Do not mate with a worker, her life is already difficult enough. Suicide or murder is not a concept in the hive mind. Keeping more for oneself than one gives to the hive is seen as deviant.
History
The past does not matter. Growing the Hive is the only thing that does.
Historical Figures
There is no past, there is only now. Grow the hive.
Common Myths and Legends
Myth and legend only serve to heighten curiosity in the impressionable youngsters. Better to avoid fiction of any sort.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
There are no relationships, only the hive.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Frigidapithecus Cora
Origin/Ancestry
Human
Lifespan
20-60 years
Average Height
5'8"-6'
Average Weight
250-350 lbs
Average Physique
They are sporting a thick layer of whale-or-walrus-like blubber, and tend towards folded skin and rounded bodies. There is no beauty ideal; only who they are told to mate with, so there is no competition to 'look better'. Each consumes what they need, plus enough surplus to grow at a slow but steady pace until death.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
They are the palest of pale white; frostbit white, one could call it. Incorrectly, as it turns out, but one could do it.
Geographic Distribution
Discovered by
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