Golinae

Basic Information

Anatomy

Golinae are bipedal mammals that stand on their hind-legs with a heavily hunched forward stature. Both pairs of their limbs are ~30cm long, with the forelimbs being ~3cm longer on average if you do not count their claws which make them ~8cm longer instead. Their hindlimbs are underneath their body while their forelimbs are on the sides but their front limbs bent inwards making them practically under their bodies as well. Besides their more usual legs and arms Golinae also have a long and wide prehensile tail which is just under the same length as their body and that they can wrap around objects to help with climbing, but lacked the dexterity for advanced manipulation, and which they could wrap around themselves to form a wheel-like shape and shield themselves from damage.
The entire body of a Golinae, excluding the belly and armpits, is completely covered in sharp, thick, keratin, overlapping scales which serve as a natural armor for the animal. These plates are rather weak when the Golinae is young but become harder and stronger over age, culminating when the Golinae becomes around 80 years old when the scales become strong enough to shield the Golinae from draconic claws and acid. These scales are aimed backwards, make up well over 30% of the Golinae body weight, and are distanced from one another just enough to allow the Golinae to roll up into a wheel-like shape.
The Golinae skull is long and thin, lacks teeth, and has the small and beady eyes on the side. This skull was also home to the signature Golinae tongue, oft called the 6th limb of the Golinae this tongue is dexterous enough to allow the Golinae to write and manipulate objects with it, but is, sadly, not strong enough to lift objects like a sword or shield. It is roughly the same size as the Golinae's own body and is actually rather rough instead of wet like those of most other animals.
Lastly, Golinae have 5, sharp, needle-like claws on both of their forelimbs which they use to root through insect colonies and are also oft used in self-defense or to fight over mates.

Biological Traits

The main differences between individual Golinae comes from their ancestry and gender. 
Across the board, Golinae males are about twice as big as females, which allows for the, if you'll permit me, adorable sight of a female adult on the back of a male adult with their child on her back, with longer nails and tongue to go along with it, with, n contrast, females actually having a larger tail, proportionally, and sharper scales than males.

Genetics and Reproduction

Golinae are a mammalian species divided into two genders, male and female. The male will, during coitus, insert his genitalia into that of the female and inseminate her. After about a day of the seed travelling through the body of the female it will bond to the egg-cells and the gestation can truly begin. After 5-7 months the mother will give birth to a single child, with two at a time being exceedingly rare, let alone 3 or more.

Growth Rate & Stages

Newborn Golinae are very small, ranging in size from 12 to 17 centimetres, are white-colored, and exceedingly weak. They will quickly grow out of this weakened state, however, and will be their adult size after just 4 years of growth, although their scales will continue to grow stronger over their entire life, and they will turn brown, gray, or dark orange, depending on the ancestry, even quicker, after only 2 years. 
Mentally, their development is also very quick compared to other species, especially the more long-lived species such as elves and humans. They grow to mental maturity in just 6 years and will continue to quickly absorb any information they are exposed to.

Ecology and Habitats

Golinae are a wide-spread species and lived in almost every biome on Bator before the Collision. They are a generalist species and can quickly adapt to most environments, though do poorly in tundras and other colder habitats. In contrast to that, Golinae do rather well in jungles, swamps, and deserts, hotter environments in general, making their homes either in burrows they dug themselves or hollow trees and feeding on the various insect colonies that can be found in such areas.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Golinae are, mainly, insectivores. While certain ancestries, such as the Drakenhuid ordes, can, and do, eat large amounts of meat an vegetables these are outliers that oft focused generations on making this a viable diet for themselves. Besides those certain groups, Golinae will get their sustenance from eating various species of ant, termite, and bee which they can simply eat right out of their colonies using their long tongue and claws. Its a common tactic for Golinae farmers to go directly to the queen of any wild nest and grab it with their tongue, deliberately not swallowing and instead placing it in a container, such as a stone box, to grow a personal supply of food they carry with them, a way of doing that goes back to ancient times.

Additional Information

Social Structure

In nature, Golinae are a very personal species, meaning they tend to stay by themselves a lot and only meet up to breed and raise their child. They are also very territorial and wild Golinae will use their tail to club their rivals to death if they intrude on their territories. Needless to say, this kind of lifestyle leaves little reason to have advanced, or any, social structures.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Golinae are one of the few species on Bator that you can reliably find anywhere. No matter where you go, be it the Shadowmists, the Flying City, the Mansion City, and even on Donkerlucht, you will be likely to encounter at least 1 of them searching for anything to sell or eat. The largest pockets of Golfachtige population lie around their ancient emporikpoleis where many still search for ancient relics and take shelter in ship-hulls and ruins. The Draakachtige, on the other hand, reside around sites of ancient Draconic activity, such as volcanoes and burial mounds, where they continue their ancient rites and use the body parts they manage to locate for their tools and clothing. Lastly, the Schaduwachtige, mostly, reside within the Shadowfell, especially around the Tarpit where they have a population much, much larger than any other ancestry anywhere else.

Average Intelligence

Golinae are a highly intelligent species. They are eager to learn information and have a universal photographic memory meaning they can recall every moment of their life in perfect clarity. Many Golinae are also very adept at various sciences, such as math and chemistry, and many more are always willing to learn something, meaning they are likely to eventually be anyway.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Golinae, for all their physical defense, have incredibly poor senses. They are colorblind and hard of hearing. They compensate for this, mostly, via their strong sense of smell and by feeling around but this is not exactly a complete replacement and many Golinae will trot through life slowly and methodically to ensure they do not fall into every hole they come across.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

In Golinae society, one's name is important as it directly translates to their family lineage, their profession, their homeland, and even whom they choose to associate with. 
For starters, their first names are more oft than not the same as a historical figure. The intention of this is to give the child a bit of a starting position in any social circles they will become a part off. For example, a man named Abraham is more likely to be seen as honest and humble due to the reputation of the ancient Golinae prophet Abraham den Smid inspiring honesty into his followers while someone named Johannes is easily seen as intelligent due to him sharing a name with the ancient engineer Johannes den Tovenaar. 
Second off, Golinae names, like those of Tarrasqueborn and Humans, have whats known as a Tussenvoegsel. This can be really anything but more oft than not is either the words de, van, die, or te. Unlike with other species, Golinae tussenvoegsels are not capitalized as they are not really considered separate enough from the first name to do so. They are important to the meaning of a last name, however, and grammatical rules apply to them as much as they do to, say, general conversation. De is used when a last name is in reference to the profession of the Golinae, e.g de Smid means The Smith, van is in reference to where the Golinae is from, so if someone is from Voorstede they are called van Voorstede, die is similar to de but is more oft used as beginning of a title, so a knight would be called die Ridder for example, and lastly te comes from an action associated with the person and is mostly dying out, a sailor would be called te Water, which means to the water, for example. 
Lastly, Golinae do not really use family names which can be inherited via lineage. Instead, it is gotten via one's life and career and will change because of important life events, such as a change of job or by receiving an important title. Because of this, many children and unemployed, or those who see no need to change it, are oft just called van (wherever they came from).

Major Organizations

Within Golinae society the most powerful organizations are the 4 Great Guilds. 3 of these companies are ancient institutions that were integral to Golinae society before The Collision and were absolutely obliterated because of it, only to be rebuild within a century by a collective effort of the entire species with the fourth having made its way into it after The Collision to replace the ancient Theologian Tetriarchy, which was the priesthood of the Baronian religion. These 4 Great Guilds now make up every facet of Golinae society and ensure the safety and comfort of its members, making it a very appealing option to join them for most Golinae and many people of other species.
These 4 Great Guilds are;
The United North-salt-basin Company: The last remaining of the ancient Gulden Companies, this quasi-nation is oft called the ''Guild of merchants'' as it is the largest of all merchant guilds and is where most traders and entrepreneurs, young and old, go to search for their fortune. It has stocks in every business, from mining expeditions to adventuring parties, and has build up a fair amount of trading posts over the last 5 centuries. While it has suffered drawbacks, as did everyone after The Collision, it has none the less served as the backbone for the Golinae economy and ensured safe commerce for all who wish for its services. The UNC also served as an important factor in maintaining the Batorian Platinum-Standard did not waiver and, as such, ensured that pre-Collision currencies remained valuable and in use.
The Colonial Expedition Front: More oft referred to as the CEF, members of the Colonial Expedition Front, also known as Ceffers, are the front liners in Golinae exploration and always searching for new wonders of the world. Ceffers have stood ahead whenever a new part of the map was to be drawn, leaving with red fire in their eyes, gold in their hands, and a giddy giggle only to return covered in blood, a new beast on their leash, more gold in their pockets, and blue fire coming from their mouths and eyes ablaze with passion to tell their tales. 
Less concerned with profit and wealth than the other Great Guilds, the currency of the CEF is experience and knowledge, a currency very much valued in the modern era as so much has been lost. They are the ones that mapped out all the Abandoned Realm and its quirks, they are the ones that recovered the Tomes of Hariet from the Librarian, and most adventurers will have encountered at least a single Ceffer on their travels. 
The Plantation Owner's Association: Many of you may wonder how a species so focused on personal lucre could ever sustain large populations without constantly stabbing each other in the backs for a single copper-piece. To ensure this... possibility does not come to pass the POA was formed. Originally a coalition of farmers and live-stock owners, the POA took on a new purpose after The Collision; to be a safety net. In Golinae society the POA is the closest thing to a charity, providing food and water to anyone who asks for a vastly lower cost than any other farmer could possibly afford to all the while providing funds and resources to down on their luck farmers so they do not suffer from its actions.
While the POA is by no means comparable to organizations of other societies with similar purposes, the POA is a perfect compromise for the Golinae attitude. It does not ''pander'' to those it helps but still supports those who need it with loans and subsidies, it keeps its distance but always holds and open door for those who need to talk with their psychiatrists, and while it does still do what it does for profit, it, usually, puts the needs of the lower rungs of Golinae society before its bank vault.
The Raven's Cult: The single largest religious order in all of Golinae society, the Cult has, in essence, supplanted the worship of Baronie in everything but official documents. The Cult has had its tendrils in the minds of Golinae since it first appeared, with its tenants of personal glory and the accumulation of a mighty reputation allured to the destitute people which needed some kind of hope after that which they had gathered over countless millennia was destroyed by The Collision. The Golinae now make up the majority of the Cult and, although most are simply peaceful merchants that simply see the Cult as a way for them to improve the lives of themselves and their friends, many have taken the more... radical teachings of it to heart and grown aggressive in the spread of their enlightenment.

Beauty Ideals

In Golinae society, what is considered important is largely based around how expensive something is. Many forms of make-up, fashion, and body modification are not considered beautiful because they are easy on the eyes but because they costed a lot to acquire. This means that the standards of beauty can change rapidly, as a resource for a certain make-up becomes abundant, as a dress pattern becomes available to the common man, and a surgeon teaches her skill to so many students that its no longer a luxury. It will never happen instantly and everyone has their own taste but in Golinae society, it is more oft than not a lightning in a bottle moment when a dress stays in taste longer than a few years.

Gender Ideals

Golinae do not care about someone's gender. Their culture is based on personal merit and, to them, the idea that women and men should somehow be ''different'' is ludicrous. If someone wants to make money or make art, what does it matter if they make someone pregnant or become pregnant?

Courtship Ideals

In Golinae society, someone's value is based on their wealth and acumen. Because of this, when a Golinae wishes to court another it is common for it to be a form of ''pea-cocking'' where they will continuously flaunt their accomplishments in an effort to be either seen as superior to other possible suitors or as simply a profitable investment. 
In the past, it was common to simply remain as simple as bringing the one you wish to court to your home and show off your wealth but as time went on it became more and more... romantic in a way. After the Love Revolution of -3200, more and more Golinae began gifting their wealth to their lovers instead of simply showing it, and just as many began using their money to take their lovers out on dates and events.

Relationship Ideals

In Golinae culture, a relationship is just as much a business investment as an emotional one, this is due to their mercantile and individual ideals and, as such, the ideal Golinae relationship is one that is very profitable. If two, or more, Golinae both can draw wealth and influence out of their lover to increase their own, all the while the other party/parties can do the same to them, the relationship is considered worthwhile.

Average Technological Level

The Golinae people are an odd group in this particular field. You see, they have not actually ''invented'' anything themselves. Golinae do not invent, they improve or buy. Any technology they ever needed they would just buy the blueprints for and have created for them, and no Golinae ever saw the need in inventing something themselves and actually went through with it. That is not to say no Golinae ever tried toying with machinery, that is, many of them are prized engineers and Verbeteraars, which literally translates into ''improvers'', but whenever there was a need for something, they would outsource their problem or simply take what they had and make it more efficient. If a Spelljammer engine had to high fuel costs, for example, a Golinae would not invent an engine that did not require that kind of fuel, they would simply make it so it needed LESS fuel, or if a sword was not strong enough they would not search for a new style of forging or alloy, they would simply reinforce it with something until it was. 
This makes it so that, when talking about their technological accomplishments, you will inevitably be talking about other species and their inventions instead of Golinae achievements. They still reached as high as any other sapient species on Bator, but they never got so high alone.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Golinae speak Schubbig. This language is oft considered closely related to the Elvish language family, if not actually an offshoot of it, and consists of a large amount of guttural throat noises, rolling r's, and harsh s'. It is also one of the most widespread languages in the Abandoned Realm, with various worlds and locations having Schubbige names and many merchants B.C speaking it due to the fact that Golinae were found all over Bator to trade and learn, making it important to learn if you wanted to be involved in the higher echelons of mercantile society. It was never as common as, well, Common and Under-common but it was none-the-less a Lingua Franca for many nations and states on Bator and beyond.

Common Etiquette Rules

Golinae are a very accepting people. They always seek for an opportunity to make a profit or learn and many will therefore gladly accept and learn the customs of other cultures if that makes it easier to deal with them. It is considered rude for a Golinae to insist their own culture upon others, speak first in a conversation, or to try and bring one's own food for a dinner unless specifically and literally asked to.
Between Golinae, there are similar rules which have simply arisen from a force of habit after dealing with other cultures for so long. Golinae will consider it rude to refuse gifts offered to themselves or others, and will gladly give one whenever meeting with others, and love to share stories just as readily simply because they enjoy learning and believe most others do so as well.

Common Dress Code

Golinae dress is oft based around the fabrics, and not the pattern as those of other species. Golinae always enjoy flaunting their wealth and status, so what they wear is highly dependent on how much they actually have, with poorer Golinae most oft dressing in leathers and furs due to their abundance and cheapness while richer ones will prefer metals and paper, with the latter being especially common among the elite because they cost a lot to make and replace and will oft have to be replaced due to their fragility. 
In modern times, Golinae will oft dress in little, but none-the-less expensive than before the Collision, where they would oft wear entire suits made up of the most extravagant and expensive fabrics, and will oft forego draping their entire body, usually leaving their backs exposed while draping their lower bodies in skirts and covering their heads with a large hat or cap.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The Golinae culture can best be shown in just what their biggest contribution to Batorian culture entailed; currency and the Black-powder Trail. Golinae were the first people on Bator to use advanced forms of currency, which they called Tjips, for trade with themselves and other cultures, a practice that quickly caught on due to the personal freedom it allowed and the way that it allowed tribes to specialize more since they would no longer need to produce everything for themselves to be sustainable. Along side currency, the Black-powder Trail, a long line of markets and merchant connections that spanned multiple continents from Marlo Set to Ower Hog, is their biggest accomplishment. It was based around a constant exchange of Black-powder which would be harvested along it in many minor and major deposits and then exchanged for diverse goods and resources which would then be traded along it again for others, allowing for easy business for merchants across Bator, although it were mainly Golinae merchants due to them having set it up in the first place.
This kind of personal freedom to explore and trade, specialization allowing for exceptionalism, and emphasis on trade that improved both sides of the trade had been a staple in Golinae culture long before they minted their first Tjips and had been integral to how they interacted with, not just others but also with, themselves. Golinae hate the idea of letting others define their fate and lives to any significant extent and are very antagonistic to those who try and interfere with their lives if it does not explicitly involve them, but hold a strong outward and inviting charm that allowed them to be so successful in the first place. This attitude is oft considered a form of sudden rudeness by many other cultures, and Golinae have had to deal with a stereotype of having a hard to ignite but short fuse for a long period of history because of it.
Simply put, Golinae are individualists. Their culture revolves around the accomplishments of oneself and of what one actually does, not around sharing or intimate coordination. They are willing to learn, are kind and proud, and can make great companions but they consider their own lives and existence a sensitive and private matter that is for them to shape and decide on how to live through.

Common Taboos

Golinae society has few taboos, as anything that does not actually harm others is considered acceptable, but that only invigorates the hate for the taboos they do believe in. For example, the refusal of gifts is seen as a horrid thing to do as you are denying to increase your own wealth and denying the giver the right to share theirs, and doing so will oft be punished by disassociation with the offender. Other examples of common taboos include; Speaking first in a negotiation, bringing food when not asked, and involving oneself in the personal matters of other people.

Scientific Name

Scherpe huid

Origin/Ancestry

Golfachtige, Draakachtige, Schaduwachtige

Lifespan

40 years

Conservation Status

Currently, the Golinae are in a stable, if not near endangered, state and are slowly increasing their population.

Average Height

~90 centimetres

Average Weight

~30 kg

Average Length

~360 cm when including the tongue and tail

Average Physique

Most Golinae are rather lean, for their kind, due to their active lifestyle, but to anyone but a Golinae they are likely to seem chubby, cramped, and with a terribly hunched posture. They are a wide species by nature and no amount of physical activity can change this without making them close to starvation.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The coloring of a Golinae depends on its ancestry more than anything. The Golfachtige are mostly dark browns and oranges, with dark orange being considered the most physically appealing, with some being marble-white in color. Draakachtige are the most diverse in their coloration due to generations of breeding, with colors ranging from reds to blues to greens to whites. Lastly, the Schaduwachtige are the most uniform in color as the energies of the Shadowfell have slowly changed their coloration from the blues and golds of their ancient ancestors to the purples they are now.
Many Golinae also choose to engrave their scales with runes and symbols of sea-faring, making many of them a living piece of art if they take enough time with it.

Geographic Distribution

• Bator
• Shadespace
• The Abandoned Realm