Inoye

Inoye (Saeluva for 'reversed') are hybrids between humans and nagas. As the two species are readily cross-fertile, inoye exist more or less anywhere both parent species occur, though they are most prevelent in southern Korisgana, northern Selatra, and southern Anibat.
The majority of Koris people have partial naga blood, but most are considered humans rather than Inoye, as their ancestry is fairly distant and they lack the typical physical traits of Inoye. Of course, a large number of inoye are culturally Koris, or have a Koris parent, so the distinction can be fuzzy.

Basic Information

Anatomy

As nagas and humans both share the same overall body shape from the hips up, inoye unsurprisingly are similar in overall form. There is however one key feature that gives them their name- inoye are born with two legs like humans, but upon reaching puberty, they gain the natural ability to shift between legs and a snake-like tail, the same process as naga maturation but in the opposite order.
Inoye have faintly reflective copper-like skin on their limbs and back, while the front of their torso and face has slightly paler and less reflective skin more like that of a human, though unlike nagas their skin is smooth all across their body, unless they currently have a serpent tail in which case only that part is scaled. Like a human, inoye have thick hair on their heads in black, brown, and rarely other colors, and almost imperceptibly thin hair across their bodies, though unlike humans it is not sexually dimorphic, and is equally thin everywhere but the head in every individual.
A faint ridge runs along the side of an inoye's head where they hood on a naga is, though they lack any functional structure there. They also have tongues that fork very slightly at the tip, and vertical pupils.

Genetics and Reproduction

Inoye can be born from a human parent and a naga parent, an inoye parent and a human parent, and inoye parent and a naga parent, or two inoye parents. They have a gestation period of around nine months. Inoye traits are relatively consistant regardless of which of their parents are which species, but the more generations there have been without a human parent in the line, the more likely a child will be a naga with a few human-like features rather than a typical inoye, and vice versa for the more generations without a naga parent.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

As nagas and humans both exist in some amount in most regions, inoye can be found in any region, even discounting those that moved there later in life. Nagas however are most heavily concentrated in Selatra and its neighbors, of which both Korisgana to the northeast and Anibat to the direct north have majority-human populations, meaning that the border area between those three regions is where inoye are most prevalent.

Civilization and Culture

History

There have likely been inoye since not long after the first Vira tribes moved into Anibat and Korisgana, but their history can be difficult to trace as inoye are generally members of a mostly non-inoye culture, usually Lenzha naga, Palosi, or Koris, as well as the fact that inoye lines of descent can 'bleed' back into either parent species. However they have certainly existed in all these cultures for as long as they have been in mutual contact.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Human
• Naga

Lifespan

115 years