Schlukä (She-loo-k-aa)
Nekoan-born Tieflings and Casoh of Urro, typically of Demodand descent. Like all of the Cosmic Races, their apperance and abilities can vary wildly, but they often have misshapen, malformed heads, and a supernatually charming way with words.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Most Schlukä speak Neko, Urrok Common, and Abyssal.
Culture and cultural heritage
Most Schlukä live in small rural communities and try to avoid the direct attention of the demodands, as life directly underneath them is intensely brutal. Most are pressed into service mining or fighting demons, but are otherwise left alone. Some Schlukä attempt to lead a resistance against the demodands, but have a hard time recruiting due to the demodands overwhelming power and anger when aroused.
Average technological level
The Schlukä have access to a huge mine of cold iron and are excellent demon hunters, thus they have perfected the art of crafting items that can reveal hidden demons and demonic-slaying weapons
Common Etiquette rules
The Schlukä speak little and carefully, as they are often paranoid and afraid of drawing the ire of the demodands. Thus, they find it hard to be around those who speak often and with little substance.
Common Dress code
The Schlukä often wear colored clothing aligning with whichever Titan their family primarily venerates, which is usually black for Dandar or pale for Hecaton. Those not under the direct subservience of demodands often try to wear greenish and brown clothes to attempt to blend in to the forest and avoid attention.
Art & Architecture
Since the Demodands don't build much in the way of architecture beyond their mines and fortresses, the Schlukä usually build just simple wooden dwellings. Such dwellings are usually kept farther apart from each other and there are little rules around them.
Foods & Cuisine
Demodand blood is often used as oil to cook meals. This often causes the food to take on an extremally bitter taste, which many non-Schlukä dislike. This also as a secondary effect of causing addiction to said food, which help to keep the Schlukä from fleeing to other countries, as blood-oil withdrawal, while not fatal, is an extremely uncomfortable and painful process.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
Schlukä nobles always attempt to birth their kits in litters, utilizing fertility drugs and magic whenever able. They do this so that they can anoint their first-born with Black Blood, the blood of Dandar and the Demodands. This generally causes either death or the warping of the newborn into some sort of monstrosity, but sometimes the young simply grows up with some sort of mental affliction. The Schlukä view this as a sacrifice to prove their devotion to Dandar and the Titans, and a great honor to have their children transformed this way.
Lower tier Schlukä who can't afford such a precious substance as Black Blood usually draw some of the newborns blood and offer it to their local lord as an offering to whichever demodand "protects" their territory.
Coming of Age Rites
Most Schlukä enter the military service when they come of age, either as patrol guards on the borders of Vaguun or as fodder troops under Demodand commanders who enter the Pit in search of demonic slaves. Those that aren't pressed into service or born into bondage generally help aid their family in farming or other rural activities.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Many Schlukä serve, either willingly or not, under brutal demodand masters, and are often consumed by their masters upon their death. Since many Schlukä are thrown onto the battlefield against demons, they are often slain in battle and their bodies either left to rot in the pit or even unfortunately transformed into demons themselves by the Pits warping magic. Those who manage to avoid death at the hands of their masters are often burried deep in the woods near their family home.
Common Taboos
The Schlukä disavow divine rule, and place the Titans as the true creatures worthy of worship. Thus, any who practice religion outside of Titan-worship are quickly hunted down and destroyed.
Common Myths and Legends
Most Schlukä worship Dandar and/or one of the many Titans, but Hecaton is among the most wildly venerated of them. The Schlukä are taught that the Titans where justified in rebelling against the gods, that it was the gods themselves who first betrayed them, and it was the Titans that brought various gifts to the mortals to help them control their own destinies that angered the gods and caused them to lock them away.
Much of the history of Vaguun was lost when Hecaton was imprisoned and Dandar emerged to take over, and thus some tribes of Schlukä attempt to avoid and fight the Demodands and preserve what history they have left.
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
The Schlukä find normal concepts of beauty standards laughable, due to their mishappen heads and their primary source of standards passed down by the horrendous demodands.
Gender Ideals
Due to their scattered nature, the gender ideals of the Schlukä varies wildly between different families, with some dominated by males and others ruled solely by whoever is strongest or smartest.
Courtship Ideals
Like normal Neko, Schlukä are have very open families and relationships, not often remaining with one single partner. The Schlukä often attempt to charm each other with words and small gifts in the hopes of attracting a mate.
Relationship Ideals
The Schlukä often have close ties with their families, but struggle to bond with those outside of their family or tribe. They often are inflicted with intense bouts of paranoia, both as a fear response to the potential of upsetting a demodand and as a byproduct of blood-oil.
Major organizations
Most Schlukä dwell in the nation of Vagunn, under the rule of the demodands, although the demodands are very light-handed with their rulership. Most Schlukä areas are governed very little, with the only major areas of of governmental control being the military control and the cold iron mines.
Instead of rolling for their Otherworldly Trait and Physical Feature, a Schlukä can select the following traits:
Charming Voice: A Schlukä gains a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks.
Malformed Head: A Schlukä's head is mishappen and lumpy, although this has no detrimental effects of the Schlukä's mental faculties.
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