Cold Steppers

Basic Information

Biological Traits

The cold steppers, having larger bodies with less natural definition then their cousins, the Abesante. They are able to store more heat than their counterparts.

Cold Steppers are able to control their heat output, able to move their blood flow to their extremities. This allows them to melt and absorb nutrients from the snow faster and more effectively.

It's rare for a Cold Stepper inside of the cold to become fat during the cold as their bodies work hard burning calories in order to stay functional.

The sweat a Cold-Stepper produces is extremely nutritional. It can be collected in a special sap of a Grey Bark Tree, which is often turned into jewelry., This, when full, turns blue but once used up goes back to grey.

Growth Rate & Stages

Cold Steppers, just like the Abesante will form a birth pit where the child is dropped to grow on their own until they surpass all the levels of escape from the pit and find their parents. There's never a guarantee they will make it out alive.

Before a baby is dropped in they will be given a body painting, the paint consisting of Black Air Raider wax, melted to make a nutritional base to help them sustain them until they can move. This is to compensate for the challenge of the extreme cold.

Natural instinct for a cold stepper and all Abesante is to leave, regain their bearings and move out in groups, their place of birth being a physic tether. Cold Steppers will work harder, not for a sense of freedom, but to buy land and build upon their homes, even if they’re not there.

Additional Information

Social Structure

It is not unusual for a cold stepper city to b quiet despite being very large.

It is considered an extreme taboo to never look for your parents. It's a sad thing. It's a tragedy if you die before you meet them.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They like all Abesante have the ability to telepathically communicate as they have no mouths.

Control of their telepathic abilities is extremely complicated. It is an involved process to block out one’s own thoughts.

Then putting out the thoughts is difficult to control. That is just to the people around them. To put it out to an individual while another is in the room is a nightmare, the best thing to do just put it out as a whisper and let whomever you're talking to move closer. Only the base of the best are capable of such and only through the most difficult of regimens.

Civilization and Culture

History

They have a history of slow growth and development. But their times of war were constant. This forced them into a position of weakness and their tribes expanded, breaking apart instead of holding strong. This brought changes upon the groups, but it was the Cold Steppers who achieved the most change, evolving their biological features over generations.

They started as a small tribe caught in the cold. They were stuck hunted for an offense they were not guilty of and forced to survive in unnatural harshness. To even their surprise, they did.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• The Abesante People

Lifespan

75 years