Vykelin
Basic Information
Anatomy
Vykelin are fairly humanoid, though with somewhat odd proportions. Generally, they are tall and thin, though somewhat stooped in posture, with long necks. While their legs tend to be somewhat short and bowed, they have incredibly long slender, though quite powerful, arms, allowing them to pick thing off the ground nearly without stooping at all.
Their skin is typically a dark blue-gray, and all their hair jet black, though it often turns grey and then white with age, much like other races. Although they do have hair on their head, tending towards long matted locks, much like other races, they have quite a lot of thick coarse body hair covering the back of their necks, spreading over their shoulders and shoulder blades, then running in a thin band down their spine to their pelvis. From the waist down, the hair grows even thicker and more course, covering them like fur all the way to their ankles.
It grows in a similar fashion starting just above the elbow and covering their elongated forearms to the back of the hand.
Their facial features are quite odd by most standards. They have virtually no brow ridge, their eyes seeming to bulge out. To make them seem even stranger, the pupil of the eye is indiscernible from the rest, the whole eye seemingly one large black glassy orb. However, they still do have eyebrows and eyelashes like other humanoid races.
Between their eyes is a rather large and protruding nose with massive nostrils, each with several cartilaginous ridges. Housed within their nose and adjacent sinus cavities is a special organ that is able to remove all salt from seawater, filtering it out, housing it in specialized glands, then excreting it with regular sweat from two small holes in the chin. Thus, Vykelin can, and often do, drink seawater via their noses.
As if in place of their apparent missing browridge, they have incredibly prominent cheekbones beneath their eyes. Along each runs a thick band of short facial hair, regardless of sex, that is thickest on the ridge and slowly grows thinner as it grows lower on the cheek.
Finally, the Vykelin have only a very minimal external ear, little more than a ridged lump with a hole where an ear might have once been.
Ecology and Habitats
They likely originated near the coast as that is where they seem to thrive, and certainly, on the whole, do not do well in cold weather, even on the coasts.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Immune to most toxins, poisons, diseases, etc.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Typically tribal, leadership equally held between spiritual and "chief" leaders, specialized craftsmen, usually sedentary but still hunter-gatherers.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Found mostly in coastal or southern taiga regions.
Average Intelligence
Though thought for a long time to be unintelligent, it has recently been discovered that the Vykelin simply have a different sort of intelligence. They rarely, if ever, invent something entirely new. However, given technology far above their usual primitive technology, they seem to be able to immediately understand it and are incredibly adept at modifying, improving, or re-purposing it in new and ingenious ways.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
They have incredibly keen senses of smell and taste as well as perhaps the best distance vision of any race, but rather poor hearing.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Most Vykelin tribes are incredibly communal and the idea really of a family separate from the tribe does not exist for them. One's peers are their siblings, one's elders their parents. Thus they simply use given name, but when dealing with outsiders, may give the name of the tribe they are from as well. It is only if they belong to a very special lineage (for instance being a direct descendant of some long-dead hero), will they use any familial names.
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