Gérouns

Despite being spread on one vast continent, Gérouns are among the most closely-bonded people in our world. From singing during workdays to spending their evenings playing games with their neighbors, Gérouns are taught to not stay alone.
Their curiosity is only matched by the effort they put in whatever sparked their interest. The only halt to their thirst for the unknown is their paradoxical fear of it.

Gérouns are the only sapient species native from Menicea. They are mostly found there or in small groups exploring the world.

Appearance

Gérouns are felinefolk in between cats, tigers, and lions. Their sizes range from 1.5m to 1.8m for the tallest of their kind.
Every Géroun is covered by a layer of fur that can either be long, short, thick or thin, depending on the current season and the individual's origins and lineage. Fur patterns and colors are generally meaningless to commoners, whereas nobles see it as a criterion when choosing a mate.
Sharp retractable claws are hidden within each of their fingers. Gérouns naturally use them in their everyday life, cutting paper, ropes, plants... or defending themselves.
On top of their heads, perky ears instinctively rise, fall, and turn, depicting emotions and wariness. Their large eyes harbor long yet thin pupils that also widen or narrow, depending on the circumstances and luminosity.
One last part of a géroun's body that reflects their emotions is their tail. Whenever gérouns get excited or emotional, their tail starts flickering around. All this natural body language is a challenge for politicians to overcome, as keeping their bodies from reacting demands lots of conscious efforts.
Tails also play a vital part in helping gérouns balance in all circumstances, making them excellent at helping around on boats.

Forest scenery (Official art) by Boskoop

Culture

The vast majority of gérouns hail from Ménicéa. Aside from the fact that the rest of the world was only unveiled to them a century ago, their culture also prevents them from spreading overseas.
That same culture was entirely reinvented 250 years ago by Nelandra Aigleran, who brought the current golden age that gérouns still thrive in. Everyday life in Menicea is rhythmed by Nelandreist values and instructions, taught to young gérouns by Doves.

Conservatism against Curiosity

After the world opened up to Ménicéa, its inhabitants split between two sides. Some wanted to explore every bit of it, while others tried to keep its door shut and sealed.
Gérouns face heavy restrictions when it comes to leaving the continent. Each departure comes with a time to go back, like a reversed visa. Not respecting that date can lead to punishment from a few weeks of commonwork to a permanent ban from the continent.

To foreigners, Menicea can sometimes be a weird place. Since there is no way for them to ever get out of Irisport without the right authorization, few are the foreigners in rural Menicea. Travelers will either be greeted with enthusiasm and curiosity, or fear and disdain.
One bad experience is often all a village needs to turn its back on Humans and Morknars for a long time.

Hey, don't get me wrong, little gérouns are darn cute. But having a dozen crashing into my cart, my wares, and sometimes even myself when they are excited because they never saw a human before can get tiring.

Yet, knowing how hard it can be to let strangers in their home, Gérouns are often extremely respectful when visiting others'. They mostly travel in small groups, silently observing the world around them and buying the most eccentric souvenirs. When it comes to travels, gérouns work with words of mouth. If a place treats its géroun visitors well, many other groups are likely to show up a few years later, and vice-versa.

Happiness

Gérouns' religion teaches them to put their well-being first from a very young age. Menicean culture is all about sharing and helping each other, something built through decades of hard work by those who ended the neverending wars.
This belief tends to make gérouns one of the most open-minded civilizations of the world, at least among themselves.
People are generally welcome to be whoever they want to be with whoever they'd like to be.

Pride

When taught to love their homeland and values so fiercely, one cannot avoid developing a great pride around it at the same time. As much as they yearn for discovering new things, gérouns also enjoy spreading their culture to the world.
The Menicean savoir-vivre and taste for good things is something now renowned over the whole world.

Many people come to Menicea to enjoy its food, public baths, alcohol, and curiosities.

History

Many Gérouns say that their true History started 250 years ago. In fact, almost nothing remains from before that age.
The only thing Gérouns remember about their past is the Clan Wars. A time where wars and conflicts were part of everyday life. A neverending cycle of blood, conquests, revolts, and uncertainty... Until Nelandra Aigleran came along.
She was the first living geroun to ever unite enough Clans so that she wouldn't get overthrown by a temporary alliance of a few others. Not only did she conquer vasts territories, but she also managed to keep people's loyalty along the way. A feat that would prove vital to uniting Menicea, which she did.
The year 0 marks the surrender of the last surviving clan, followed by the unification of Menicea under the Aigleran crown.
As the former Aigleran Clan was conquering new lands, a shared culture emerged in the pacified territories. That same culture later expanded to every newly acquired land, blending with local customs.
After the unification, Meniceans thrived like they never did. With peace came technological progress, art, and trade. Gérouns took Nelandra's words as laws and made her a goddess. They built their identity around their pride, their newly gained chauvinistic instincts, and a deep-rooted fear of the seas. A seemingly flawless recipe for stability, as long as Gérouns thought they were alone in the world.
Yet, that stability was short lived. In the year 155, sails appeared on the horizon at Irisport. Humanity just discovered Menicea, forcing Gérouns into the new and current age of political instability and reforms as old beliefs and traditions were challenged by the mere existence of foreigners.

Lifespan

70 years

Average Height

1.5-1.8m

Average Weight

60kg

Vafrun Greshorio (Official Art) by Garnouille

I don't know how, but information about us foreigners circulates quickly among gérouns.
If one of us does anything nasty, you can be sure that every town in the region from the largest port to the tiniest hamlet will know about it within a week.

Kelyeran Asturac (Official Art) by Sinlaire

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