Zerrani
"Cultureless swine!"
"Son of a pig!"
"Disgusting waste of space!"
Dhorsh do Gairo was fed up with the name-calling that he got back in the Lorian military academy. What, was it his fault that his mother was an urukani? Did he make his father lay with her? Short of ripping them from his jaw, he couldn't get rid of his tusks. Short of peeling it off, he couldn't erase the golden colour of his skin.
All this made today even better. While they sat in the audience and clapped politely, he was about to become a captain. He strode across the stage, head held high. Instead of trying to keep them hidden underneath his lips, he showed his tusks off to the world in the crowded square of Lorina. Instead of covering it with whatever he could find, his golden skin was clearly visible.
It didn't erase the jeers or the hate, but it made it a heck of a lot more bearable if he could throw them in jail for it.
Appearance
The zerrani have a mixture of urukan and tepilar features, having a slight brown or golden skin tone. Their bones and muscular structure are more reminiscent of the chiseled urukan physique, but they are much more likely to have softer features like their tepilar parent. Most notably, they have the distictive urukan tusks, although these rarely grow more than a couple of inches from beneath their lips and only begin to appear when they reach maturity at the age of 16.Vision and Senses
Due to their urukan heritage, the zerrani have the ability to see very well in dim and dark light, although most things appear in shades of brown. They also have the urukan dulled sense of taste, although not quite to the same degree. They can develop magic much like other sapient races, and may become sensitive to its presence in a similar fashion.Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
Many of the zerrani are afraid of the growing might of the Cult of Galkhkora, with some impressionable members of their race being brought into that religion. Others have joined the armies of the major nations of Sedesta and a few have done very well in those organizations.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Their cultural traditions are heavily dependent on the region where they live and the human/urukan culture they are descended from. Even then, many of them purposefully turn away from one culture to be fully a part of the other, or even leave both behind to find their own way in the world.
History
The zerrani were born of the first peaceful contact between the native Sedestan tepilar and the warlike urukani following the Arrival. However, it took a long time for their very existence to be recognized by many races, especially the xenophobic caldilar. As such, they were very often persecuted and denied the ability to hold office, join many guilds or even live within certain towns (the West Bank area of Redbridge was built from one such ghetto). As the centuries passed, this kind of discrimination became far less common, but many people of high rank still look down on the zerrani and their urukan parents as violent and unintelligent.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The urukani race does not treat them well in many cases, with the word zorani (from which zerrani originated) meaning "half-blood" in a very derogatory manner. While they are rarely thrown out of urukan society, it is even rarer to be completed accepted.
The various societies of the tepilar (and other races in all likelihood) are very unlikely to meet many zerrani, and so they tend to regard them, along with the urukani, as a barbaric people. Places where the urukani and zerrani live are often ghettos on the edges of major cities, or they are even shunned altogether.
Lifespan
60-70 years.
Average Height
A little taller than the average tepilar at an average of 5.5 to 6.5 feet tall.
Average Weight
A little bulkier than the average human with an average of 200 pounds of weight.
Languages
The zerrani that grow up with their urukan parent will likely learn Urukan, while those who grew up with their tepilar parent will learn that language.Naming Traditions
The zerrani chose between urukan and tepilar naming traditions or might even mix the two.Geographic Distribution
Wherever urukani and tepilar live together, there are undoubtedly zerrani living among them. Very significant numbers of them live in Redbridge in the Republic of De’ari-Bomsi, as well as in Jiralhold in the Empire of Quempo.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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