Cyko (Sigh-ko)
Neko that are native to the cold wastes of Vatenrelm, the Cyko resemble coon cats and have much larger and more protective fur. Unlike most neko, the cyko don't shy away from water and swimming. Their natural oils in their fur push water away, making them naturally buoyant and increasing their ability to swim effectively.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Many cyko prioritize learning to speak Aquan, so that they can easily speak with most races in Vatenrelm.
Average technological level
Like most neko, the cyko prefer to live off the land instead of working to make more advanced technologies.
Common Etiquette rules
The cyko love to make deals and bargains. Such bargains are often minor and the cyko care less about exact details and instead prefer to honor the spirit of the deal rather than the exact terms.
Common Dress code
The cyko don't wear much for clothes, due to their large fur helping to inundate them from Vatenrelms intense cold. They often only wear simple garments and fancy jewelry.
Art & Architecture
Many cyko prefer to dwell in the larger cities of other races, acting on the fringes of the socieities of others. Thus they make build little in the way of their own settlements or permanent buildings. Most learn how to construct simple and temporary tents out of hunted game or igloos out of snow.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
For the cyko nomads that still dwell in their ancestral homeland of Köturlend, newborn kits are auctioned off to other families in the tribe, with the whole tribe betting various but overall meaningless trinkets. The act of selling the kit is completely symbolic, due to cyko children being raised communally by the entire tribe, and is more an overall celebration of the kits birth, meant to represent the tribe purchasing new life from Gib.
Coming of Age Rites
Of-age cyko kits must journey together as a group from one end of Köturlend to the other, learning to function as a team and comprise together to survive the harsh land. After a successful journey, most cyko leave Köturlend to explore more of Vatenrelm, often returning to their tribe in their older years.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Cyko shave the fur of their dead, bury the body, and dump the fur of the deceased into the ocean. It is believed that the currents will carry the soul to the afterlife and reform the soul as a divine servant.
Common Taboos
A cyko that completely breaks its word without good reasoning is regarded as a selfish coward, and a cyko never accepts a deal without some sort of haggling.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of cyko worship Gib, the nekoan god Deals and Deception. It is believed that during Neko's ascension, she had to cross the massive ocean that was Yaw's divine realm. Knowing that Yaw would not easily let her pass, she shed her coat and built a replica of herself out of her own fur. When Yaw discovered her intrusion, she demanded payment as recompense for Nekos trespassing, and Neko offered to serve Yaw for 1 year for every droplet displaced. Yaw agreed to her terms, but Neko instead left behind her fur decoy and crept on ahead. When Yaw attempted to bring the double into the depths of her realm, the loose hair came apart and was swept away by the currents. The hair mixed with the divine energies of Yaw's realm, and when Neko ascended to true godhood, the hair washed up on the shores of her newly formed realm, transforming into the deity now known as Gib.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Like all neko, the cyko are immensely proud of their fur and tails and go through great lengths to keep them clean.
Gender Ideals
Like most neko, the cyko have little care over the gender of their tribe members.
Courtship Ideals
Female cykos always court the males with the longest, well groomed, and most impressive fur coats, and thus male cykos often work aggressively to keep up their appearances.
Relationship Ideals
Cyko are highly social, both with their own kind and members of other races.
Major organizations
Many cyko join pirate crews on The Lawless Surf or become guides through dangerous territories in the Frost Hold.
Random Cyko Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-50 | Tundra | Friends in Low Places |
| 51-75 | Coastline or Island | Beachcomber |
| 76-89 | Ship-City | Dirty Fighter |
| 90-96 | Underwater City | Deep Sea Native |
| 95-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
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