Hydrurga

Hydrurga, the Cold Ones.
The Hydrurga are descendants of the Aethes culture who have populated the North since the beginning of the Known Era.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

The Hydrurga are the second largest race to have evolved from the Aelvanir, following only the mysterious Fatum. Long-limbed and lean, they are formidable and ominous, not unlike a storm rumbling in the distance. Their bodies are mesomorphic and quick to build muscles - which coincidentally matches their lifestyle of near-constant training. They have large hands and long, slender fingers that lock like a vice grip around anything they can get their hands on, palms equally calloused across generations.

Depending on the family’s lineage, a Hydrurga may or may not have wings. Warriors rarely have their wings due to them being bitten off by the frost, which their feathery appendages are vulnerable to. Those from noble houses tend to retain their wings due to having a warm hearth to come home to; however, these wings are too small to be used for flight due to years of disuse in the frozen climate of the North. There have also been cases of nobles without wings if they spend too much time outside. While their family might think of it as barbaric, warriors tend to favor wingless nobles.

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Average Lifespan: 250 - 400 years
Average Height: 5'5 to 7'9"
Facial Features: Hydrurga facial features are sharp and angular, often with heart-shaped, square-shaped, or rectangular faces. Their jaws are prominent and sharp, their cheekbones high on their skin. Their eyebrows are notably thicker and longer, growing with a natural medium to high arch. While still as pointed as the rest of their race-cousins, their ears are notably shorter than all other Aelvanir and grow closer to the sides of their head to help prevent frostbite. One particular feature about the Hydrurga are their teeth, which are sharper; the lateral incisors and canines are naturally honed to a point.

Common Skin Tones: Many Hydrurga range from a deep coal color to a fine silver; there are a rare few individuals, however, who have a blue-ish shade.
Common Eye Colors: Turquoise, blue, gray
Languages: Common Aelvanir, Ancient Hydr, High Chausmian, Trisian, Hydr

Culture and Life

Diet Habits

Hydrurga are omnivores and routinely hunt, farm, fish, and forage their own food.

On Hunting - Hunting bears a massive cultural significance in Hydrurga culture. Typically, Hydrurga hunt in groups of seven or more. They set out to the deepest parts of the forest to bring down the biggest catch that they can find (and reasonably haul back to their villages). In hunting, Hydrurga exhibit an impressive show of teamwork and seamlessness with a take-down rate of eight out of ten. A typical Hydrurga hunting pack consists of one pack leader, one tracker, two herders, and three or more chasers (with the leader and tracker also joining the chase). Several hunting packs may leave at the same time but must only bring back one prey at a time.

On Livestock - While keeping and breeding livestock is common for larger kingdoms, it is generally frowned upon by the settlers due to its restrictive nature of prey. Animals kept as livestock are smaller than their wild brethren and taste significantly blander. Settlers also disagree with the act of keeping prey as it dulls a Hydrurga's natural hunting skills. Still, with major Hydrurga kingdoms having a population of five hundred or more, keeping livestock ensures that they do not overhunt their food.

On Foraging - Because Hunters are not allowed to eat the meat they've caught until it has been brought to the village, they are also taught how to forage for food in the frozen wilderness of the North so that they do not starve on the journey home. While Hydrurga Hunters are allowed to hunt smaller game to eat, it is not always met with approval by their packmates; they believe only one animal should be killed for each hunt as respect to the land.

On Fishing - Fishing is the North's biggest export. Many Hydrurga have actually grown tired of tasting fish and rely on fishing for trading purposes. Most coastal Hydrurga kingdoms and villages have their own docks and assigned fishermen for the sole purpose of export.

On Farming - A majority of Hydrurga kingdoms and settlements do have their own farms to sow and reap. Some farmers farm for themselves, some work at the settlement farms. However, it is a common rule (especially for those who worship the goddess Damagera) for an eighth of each daily reaping to be buried again. Vegetables and fruits are not enough to supplement the needs of an individual due to the amount of physical energy they exert on a daily basis and thus must always be mixed with meats.

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Birth Traditions

The Wistwood Stone is actually the seed of The Wistwood Tree. It is inserted into the back of every newborn’s neck to suppress their powers. It is believed that a child must learn how to survive without their powers; magic is known to create shortcuts, and the Hydrurga prioritize the ability to survive even with nothing. Because of this, they are not the most talented in magic until they reach a certain age. They also finish with their education later in life.

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Naming

Surnames in Hydrurga culture have certain kinds of power. Kingdoms and villages change names after a shift in leadership - House Makara, for example, fell to House Volkov, and the capital of Chausmia changed from the Kingdom of Makara to the Kingdom of Volkov.

While Hydrurga do not have a specific naming tradition other than what their parents desire, smaller village residents often take the last name of their village leader as a show of loyalty and faith (which is also their village's name). This can be identified by 'ev et' being present in their surname. For example, Echionen, a Sumerflaesk Caretaker in the Village of Montteauc, formally carries the name Echionen Jou Cliven ev et Montteauc.

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Training

After being taught basic skills by their parents, young Hydrurga children are sent off to an assigned village to be apprenticed by Hydrurga hunters, with children of Matriarchs and Patriarchs specifically mentored by the Head Hunters. From there, they are taught basic survival and combat, hunting, tracking, foraging, and a variety of other skills. There are also several crafts that they learn, such as how to whittle the bones of their kill into items, the pelts into clothes, and similar ideas. One of the first things a Hydrurga apprentice learns how to fashion is a pair of snow goggles from an antler that their mentor will provide to them.

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T'seryf

The First Hunt, known locally as T'seryf, is a Rite-of-Passage signifying a child’s evolution to adulthood. Upon recommendation from their individual mentors, Hydrurga teenagers go out on their own for their first individual hunt that may last an entire month at most; during this time, Hydrurga are tasked to catch the largest animal that they can reasonably take down and bring home. However, no materials or weapons are given to them, they are dropped off in a remote area of the known lands, and they must survive on their own without help or entering civilization. During this month-long period, initiates must find or create their own fire, shelter, weapons, and find their own food and water in the most remote part of their nation. Initiates wear a squirrel’s skull around their neck to indicate their status so that no passing stranger may give them any aid. Elders watch the initiates using an ancient form of the All-Seeing Observation Spell (called the All-Seeing Eye). An initiate succeeds if they bring down an animal larger than their person and find their way home, and fails if they meet one of three conditions: they fail to bring down an eligible animal in a month’s time, they request aid from another person and are deemed disqualified, or they come close to dying and are deemed unfit to continue. Upon succeeding, they receive a simple, geometric tattoo of their first kill on their right arm.

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The Bloom

The Bloom is the next Rite-of-Passage that an initiate must undergo after succeeding T'seryf. The Wistwood Stone is removed from the back of their necks, allowing magic to fill their bodies for the very first time since infancy; there have been cases of initiates dying from the sheer intensity of the transformation. Because of this, the Bloom is always held deep in the Wistwood Fortress, away from civilization. There are initiates who grow accustomed to their power quickly and a handful of those who die from it. The Bloom itself consists of a sudden surge of magic pulsing into an initiate's body before seeping out of their pores to form an avatar of smoke around them, taking the shape of the animal that they in T'seryf. It’s a particularly painful process - as some describe it, “like being torn open from the inside out.” Those who survive will continue their education on arcane skills, while those who do not are returned for their funeral.

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The Withering

The Withering is held when a Hydrurga passes away. Regardless of reason of death, their bodies are buried with the Wistwood Stone that had once been in their bodies held in their mouths. Three nights are allotted for the village to mourn, and food is provided to the mourning family. Following the Withering, when the Wistwood seeds from the corpse's lips have broken the surface to form a sprout, the village holds a small celebration. They delicately carve the name of the fallen into the fleshy stem, which will carry the marking eternally as it grows. After a night of feasting, the Leader of the village is escorted to the Wistwood Fortress where the sprout may be planted with its kind. It’s said that if the Wistwood’s leaves are plain and dark, the spirit has been reborn into a different body; however, if the Wistwood’s leaves are spotted with white, the spirit has found its permanent home in the Great Wistwood.

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Body Modification

Tattoos are common with the Hydrurga to signify rank and stature. Tattooed upon each Hydrurga’s wrist is their house crest (if noble or from an extensive bloodline) or village symbol to signify their allegiance. From the day they are born, a small spot is inscribed onto their clavicle for every year that passes - a custom that avoids the age-old embarrassment of having to ask someone’s age or confusing someone to be younger or older than what they actually are.

When they’ve succeeded in their First Hunt, a tattoo of their final kill is engraved onto their right arm with simple black lines. For every significant milestone they reach in life, a small portion is added to the tattoo - some high-ranking Hydrurga have earned full sleeves declaring their experiences. Those who become their Heads of Houses are obligated to get a facial tattoo a few shades darker or lighter than their skin tone, located on the rise of their cheeks or across the bridge of their nose, with some having it extend to the space between their eyebrows.

Traditional marriages include the Hydrurga couple acquiring a tattoo of their respective partner’s house above their own. It is rumored that, the better the crests fit together, the more ideal the match. Couples who have separated often have their tattoos removed by taking away the skin the tattoos sit upon.

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Ideals

Beauty Ideals - Hydrurga prioritize survival skills above all else and do not turn to physical aesthetics for attraction. While not completely blind to passing appreciation, they are hardwired to feel only for those who have proved themselves capable of surviving, even if in the most desolate situations.

Gender Ideals - Hydrurga do not have predetermined gender roles and gender ideals. Everybody is expected to learn basic survival skills, basic hunting skills, and basic caretaking skills. Hydrurga believe that everybody has the right to a proper education as well as the right to do whatever they excel in best. Much like their beauty ideals, they heavily favor skill over gender, however it does not stop certain individuals from having their own opinions on the matter.

Courtship Ideals - Courtship in Hydrurga culture begins in an agreement between two individuals, regardless of their gender. It must be clear to both parties what they are entering, and mutual consent must be reached before they can proceed with the actual courtship - this mainly consists of spending time together and, specifically, hunting together. It is not uncommon for courting pairs to go off alone, and it is generally a favorable sign if the couple comes back with game. Courtship can last for as long as neither individual has taken home fruit of the the Wistwood Tree. If the fruit has been brought to the individual, it is taken as a sign of a marriage offer, during which the couple will share the fruit between them. It is not only symbolic - the Wistwood Tree's fruit is an aphrodisiac that ensures conception after a couple's consummation. For same sex couples, such as both men and both women, they will not know which of them will carry until they begin to show.

Myths and Legends

The Great Wistwood

God of life and The Wistwood Trees. Characterized to be the wisest Hydrurga to have ever walked the North. The Great Wistwood is often drawn to be tall and willowy with alabaster skin, long jet-black hair tied in a loose ponytail, and two glowing eyes - one gold, like the Wistwood's fruits, and one blue, like Wistwood's seeds.

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Damagera

Goddess of earth and harvest. Characterized to be strong and protective of her kind. Damagera is often depicted to be shorter and feminine with ash-colored skin and moss-green eyes. The color of her hair changes with each representation; Chausmians generally draw Damagera with white hair while Trisians draw her with black hair.

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Vril'ame and Sumer

Deities of hunt and the Sumerflaesk. Vril'ame is characterized to be wild, free, and rather mischievous, while Sumer is her quiet and stoic companion. Vril'ame is often depicted to be built tall and lean with light-blue skin and wild black hair, while Sumer is almost as tall as his master by the shoulder - they both share the same electric-blue eyes. They are always drawn together and not a single piece of art has been found depicting only one.

Leadership
House Volkov of Chausmia
House Esche of Chausmia
House Poille of Chausmia
House Jelen of of Trise
House Orlov of Trise
House Vennes of Trise

Origin/Ancestry
Aethes

Relationships
Melivora: Active-Diplomatic
Alfar: Passive-Antagonistic
Aelcere: Active-Neutral
Lesser Fatum: Active-Neutral
True Fatum: Passive-Neutral

Genetic Descendants

• Aelcere