Dinna (Dee-nah)
Alka that are native to the primal forests of Usoram, the dinna more resemble dingos and other small canines. Their jaws are much stronger than that of a standard alka, with their teeth capable of shredding the flesh of bite victims. Due to their prolonged inhabitation of the light realm, the dinna lack the ability to see farther in dim lighting, mainly relying on scent to locate prey.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Dinna often learn Sylvan instead of one of the four elemental languages.
Average technological level
The dinna generally eschew advanced technology, instead preferring the simple rural life in the mountains.
Common Etiquette rules
While suspicious and fearful of outsiders, the dinna are very hospitable and friendly to those who earn their trust.
Common Dress code
The dinna often wear simple leathers that are good for hunting. Many have only one or two sets of clothing, with very few having any fancy or well kept outfits.
Art & Architecture
Dinnas rarely build complex structures, instead building simple homes in mountainside caves or on valley crags.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
The dinna perform what they call yipping ceremonies for newborns, in which the members of the family let out loud calls and dance around the newborn vigorously. Such ceremonies often echo around the mountains, and often contribute to the fearful stories others tell of the dinna.
Coming of Age Rites
A dinna youth is expected to help with familial chores and hunting tasks from a fairly early age, and are rarely given time to act as children at all.
Funerary and Memorial customs
The dinna carry their dead deep into the woods. What happens to the corpses after that is unknown, but rumors speculate from ritual cannibalism to Nuri herself descending and taking the body away.
Common Taboos
Leading a stranger back to a dinnas home without permission of the head of the house is frowned upon, as the dinna are supsicious and untrusting of outsiders.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of dinna worship Nuri, the alkan god of dreams and spirituality, but still be found worshiping other members of the alkan pantheon.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Like regular alka, the dinna are partially driven by scent instead of through purely physical beauty.
Gender Ideals
Dinna society is mostly male dominated, with males leading hunting pacts and acting as familial heads.
Courtship Ideals
Like normal alka's, female dinnas enter an annual period of heat. This period of heat is generally the only time when the father of the family steps away from ruling over the female as the head of the family, as dinna women in heat are known to become violent and extremely aggressive when confronted. Many alka of other realms believe the dinnas traits to be the result of extensive inbreeding, but there is little proof to such claims.
Relationship Ideals
The dinna are looked down upon by other members of Usoram, who view them with suspicion and see them as cowardly rogues or backwoods' thief's. Many belive that the dinna often raid and kidnap lone travelers to torture and kill in primal rituals. This treatment causes many dinna to avoid contact with other races and keep to their own kind, thus forming strong family bonds. These family units often form rivalry's with other families nearby, and often celebrate holidays with competitions between them.
Major organizations
While sometimes used as enforcers for the Sika Empire, most dinna have little respect or need for the empire, prefering to live out their days hunting in familial groups in the Ithuli Range.
Random Dinna Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-40 | Primal Mountain | Eyes of the Wild |
| 41-80 | Dinna Village | Unpredictable |
| 81-90 | Primal Forest | Fey-Wise |
| 91-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
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