Karn
The Karn are a species of sentiant crustacean who live in and around the Thyre Sea Lake in the Elasayn Basin.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Karn are a semi-aquatic species and the only sentiant species on Parllos that can survive both above and below the water. They stand around 4 feet tall (1.2 meters) on six strong spike-like legs that end in small, retractable soft tissue feet that allow them to move across smooth surfaces such as river stones without slipping. Unlike other crustaceans the Karn walk in a forward motion; however, they still retain the lightning fast sideways movement of thier ancestor species. The Karn have three arms, two that extend from shoulders at the top of the torso and end in four-fingered articulating hands and a third that is generally thicker and sprouts from a sub shoulder on the right side, this arm ends in a large pincher claw that is able to cut through all manner of material with extreme pressure. Their chest, back, and flanks are covered in hard interconnecting carapce that a member of the Karn will molt roughly once per year.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Karn proper noun naming usually involves at least one, if not more, of an initial intake of breath and exhale while speaking the word, do to Karn anatomy this makes names, as with most Karn speech, sound scratchy and halting. However in Karn culture it is seen as an honor in that to speak your name someone is giving you a their entire breath. Surnames usually consist of three parts the name of an ancestor or house leader, whether they are a son or daughter, and finally thier tribal affiliation.
History
Karn history began long before the Ash Age with civializtion already blooming into empire when the decades of death and lost history began. It is said that the Karn originated in the waters of Thyre Sea Lake, growing from the sands and the mud to be the dominant and most intelligent crustacean species on the planet. They built cities and nations all across the water bodies of the Elasayn Basin, most of which are lost to history, leaving occasional ruins or lore to be debated over by scholars for eons to come. They continued to grow until an estimated 400 years before the beginning of the Ash Age three great nations of the karn known as the Vosh, Dav, and Hazzat converged to form the first Karn Empire When the skies darkened and the waters of the Thyre became choked with ash the Karn staved along with most of the species on Parllos, cities died and nations crumbled until the remaining Karn abandoned thier homelands for the more flowing waters of the rivers to the east. Here, as they began to awake with life again, the Karn rebuilt with hope that they would one day reinhabit thier ancestral lands. They built a new Imperical City called Pshcholet in the Erynthol forest and new town sprang up through all the waters of the Marsh Coast. The increased presence of the karn, especially in the river mouths near the ocean, led to the displacment of coastal volokatchen and led to the first great war with the cephalopods. The war led to the destruction of the Old Empire and split the now diminished Karn people into factions based on ancient, long defunct tribal ties. As the ash drained from Thyre Lake the karn moved back into the lake and thier original rivier homes, and began to built back to thier former glory. Then another empire is born after a war between the Dav and the Hazzat allowed the Vosh to intervene and defeat both armies. Soon after the Great Karn Empire was founded and touted as a reforging of old glory.
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