Lodae
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Lodae are short in stature and often thin, rarely growing above three feet tall. They are covered in a light fur that varies in thickness with where they live. Their ears are large and bat-like, and their eyes seem oversized for their face. They walk upright, with two arms, two legs, and bilateral symmetry, making their profile human-like.
Genetics and Reproduction
The Lodae are only fertile at the end of the warm season, as the dragon exhales and the world cools. Their gestation lasts half a year, so they give birth in the time of inhalation, right before the most fertile and magic-heavy period of the year. They bear live young, and have an estrus cycle. Births are almost always singles - twins are rare, though they do exist, and triplets are nearly unheard of.
Growth Rate & Stages
The Lodae finish growing slightly faster than humans, but not significantly so. Babies cling to their parents' fur, and are rarely put down until they've developed the muscle strength needed to move on their own.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Most Lodae primarily eat fruits, seeds, roots, insects, and fish. The Lodae of the wings and other extremities have adapted to better live on milk and meat from herd animals.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The Lodae are extremely social, congregating during the height of inhalation. Expectant mothers and those with small children along the spine and wings also shelter together during exhalation, and children are often raised communally by the entire village.
Facial characteristics
Often narrow and sharp.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The Lodae live all over Kammet, except at the very extremities such as the head and tail-tip.
Average Intelligence
The Lodae are clever, delighting in solving puzzles and word games. Most have high auditory intelligence, easily able to remember sounds and songs, but relatively low visual intelligence - discerning and remembering visual patterns is something most Lodae struggle with.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
They have some amount of infrared vision, enabling them to find plants and animals in the eternal gloom between the stars. They also have keen enough hearing to echolocate. Some are able to sense more things magically, the air whispering to them.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
They have a tremendous variety of naming traditions, but a common theme is sound and breath names. Names in honor of the dragon are also not unknown.
Female names: Anhafi, Baphy, Entoh, Izze, Lahas, Lomris, Meti, Monsea, Onni, Orit, Suref, Thahlus, Tinnath, Uyol, Yahnia
Male names: Aghe, Avrem, Canhoy, Chanass, Deness, Indoss, Kirej, Leithim, Lephrial, Nothrael, Phermith, Sanlath, Sienhan, Umrim, Vohloh
Neutral names: Aersirth, Chukal, Dunil, Eodhu, Talyrei, Tiaseo, Meghoa, Niomay, Rukae, Shulli, Surluth, Unthath, Urialth, Vurliet, Yrmai
Beauty Ideals
Large ears are considered especially beautiful, as is well-groomed fur.
Gender Ideals
Women are expected to do the bulk of the hunting in areas where hunting is common, being taller, stronger, and less noticeable due to their drab coats. Men are expected to do fine detail work in areas with high differentiation of tasks - though most areas have low differentiation, with everyone doing whatever tasks they're best at and the community needs.
Courtship Ideals
Lodae interested in courtship will paint their fur with pigments made from bio-luminescent plants.
Relationship Ideals
The nuclear family doesn't exist in most societies. Instead, children are raised communally by a group of mothers. Men help with village tasks, but have little involvement in childcare, and often don't know for sure which child is theirs. Most relationships are homosocial - friendships and romantic entanglements among women in a community are encouraged and considered common, as are entanglements among men.
Average Technological Level
Most non-magical technology is simple, with shelters made out of woven grass, stretched animal hides, and scale-shed. Tools are made from metal or rock gathered from asteroids, bones, or from scale-shed. Clay doesn't exist in large enough quantities - instead pots are made out of scale-shed, hide, or special large and waxy leaves. Magic is the most advanced technology, with most cultures having a proud tradition of spell-song.
History
The Lodae evolved on dragon-back, descended from the numerous small animals that scurry among the tall grasses. They hold that the dragon-bat is their closest cousin, spiritually if not physically.
Common Myths and Legends
It's commonly known that the world is a living creature that breathes and moves. The mythic origin of the world varies between groups - some hold that they lived elsewhere, once, in a paradise that was destroyed, and Kammet is a god who carried the survivors on its back away from the destruction.
A common belief is that when you die your breath leaves your body and flees into the sky, igniting to become a new star, and that when a star passes out of sight the breath returns and enters a new child. Others believe that when you last breathe out your essence disperses and mingles with others' breaths, to give a part to each new breath.
Lifespan
90
Average Height
2'9" for females, 2'5" for males
Average Physique
Slight and short, the Lodae are built for quick movement rather than strength or endurance.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Their skin beneath their fur is often incredibly pale, though their fur colors vary widely. Children are often drably and darkly colored, as are females, while males have more brightly colored and patterned fur.
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