Sandswimmer

Sandswimmers, known as the Oranma Ang’neisyi amongst themselves, are a nomadic vistant humanoid species primarily inhabiting the desert regions of southern Tuatha. Named for their ability to burrow through sand dunes as if it was water, they first appeared after the summoning of The Great Charybdis, leading scholars to believe they arrived on Crith through the Circles.

Physiology

Sandswimmers are of a similar build to humans, being around the same range of height, but slightly heavier due to their tails. Their features have been described as human-like, shark-like, and skink-like. Sandswimmers have human-like hair, large eyes, slit-like nostrils, and long tongues. They have a second, translucent pair of eyelids that they use when burrowing. Sandswimmers have a foldable dorsal fin on their head, the size of which is usually seen as a measure of attractiveness in both genders. They have shark-like tails, which have at least one additional non-foldable dorsal fin. Since their young breastfeed, Sandswimmers have mammary glands in a similar place to most humanoids. Sandswimmers have smooth scales, which are decorated in a variety of tones ranging from beige, red, blue, black, grey, white, brown, orange, green, and many more. Their scales can also be dotted with patterns, such as spots, stripes, rosettes, and differently-coloured parts of their body. Skin tone and patterns are often seen as a signifier of tribal affiliation, which is further denoted by the henna painting and tattooing that some Sandswimmers practice.
Sandswimmers are named so for their ability to burrow through sand. To this effect, a Sandswimmer hugs their limbs close to their body and uses their tail to move in a snake-like motion through sand dunes. As a result, their spines are extremely flexible.
Sandswimmers internally fertilize, but also lay eggs and breastfeed their young. They are able to withstand high temperatures better than most other humanoids. In addition, Sandswimmers are theorized to possibly have some sort of esoteric harmonization, as some have been observed to be able to learn magic related to Elemental Earth fairly quickly.
Sandswimmers mature slightly faster than humans and have a comparable lifespan to them.

Culture

Sandswimmers call themselves the Oranma Ang’neisyi, which means “People of the Shifting Sands” or “Shifting Sand People” in their own language. Scholars theorize that this may have been the name of the clan or tribe of their species that was transported to Qamenkas by the Circles. However, many Sandswimmers prefer that others use the Common exonym for them when not speaking their native language.
Most Sandswimmers live in nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes. These tribes move often, finding whatever food, water, and sellable objects they can in the desert. Sandswimmers live in tents, and transport their belongings in specialized sleds known as pukautasi. Sandswimmers outside of Qamenkas, like the tribes that live in Ahagwuena or the Nyekomvu Desert, are often better off, and may also act as traders.
Tribes are led by a hereditary chief, known as a Toumuna (male) or Toumutira (female). The chief is advised by a council of elders and a shaman. Many Sandswimmer shamans do not identify with or express themselves as the gender assigned to them at birth, as Sandswimmers see that as a sign of a closer connection to the spirit world.
Sandswimmers are polygamous. While there is no cultural restriction on polygyny, a much larger majority of Sandswimmer marriages are polyandrous, as a result of Sandswimmer culture being matrilineal, the common and expected practice of bride prices, and the need to keep the growth of a tribe low in order for it to survive.
Music and dance are important parts of Sandswimmer culture, used for religious rituals, meetings, life events, storytelling, and entertainment. Instruments commonly used in Sandswimmer songs include ocarinas, flutes, oboes, natural trumpets, bagpipes, and drums. Sandswimmers traditionally beat their drums using their tails. Much of modern Sandswimmer traditional music is believed to be influenced in part by Nimadu music, similar to how Sandswimmer henna and tattooing practices are believed to be inspired by the human ethnicity. Sandswimmers also use chants in their songs, which can be sung solo, in unison, as a pentatonic, or as acapella. Sandswimmer dance involves a lot of stomping, kicking, and tail-slapping to kick up sand.
Some Sandswimmers tattoo themselves or dye their skin using henna. These patterns are seen as part of tribal affiliation. This practice was believed by scholars not to have been part of the native Sandswimmer culture, but rather influenced by a similar practice among the Nimadu, as tattooing and henna-dyeing among Sandswimmers was first observed in the Desert of Oromaal.
Sandswimmer cuisine involved plenty of meat, leading to the myth that they were completely carnivorous. Sandswimmers prepare most of their food within earth ovens.
Sandswimmers are famed for their curiosity, hospitality, and wish for forgiveness and reconciliation when they have done wrong. It was suspected that first contact with Sandswimmers occurred very soon after their transportation to Qamenkas, and many Sandswimmers assisted in the construction of the first settlements in the desert after the summoning of the Great Charibdyis. Sandswimmers believe that misfortune comes when one has done wrong to someone. As a result, Sandswimmers have developed a ritual of apology known as Homakipo, where the initiate, with the help of the shaman, apologizes to the person they have wronged, apologizes to whichever god or gods they worship, and offer the wronged person a gift. If the person accepts the gift, then the initiate is forgiven. Outside of Sandswimmer culture, the practice of Homakipo has also been adopted by some of the towns of Qamenkas.
Sandswimmer religion is shamanistic, animistic, and involves ancestor veneration and sacrifices. Sandswimmers traditionally worship the god Taroa Gi, whom they believe to be the monotheistic creator of their world that can still contact them on Diaghal through the Circles. Shamans act as the intercessors of Taroa Gi and the spirits to the Sandswimmers. Since arriving on Crith, many Sandswimmers have also adopted the indigenous deities of Diaghal into their own belief system. Some Sandswimmer tribes have syncretized their religion with the Kikanuti faith of the Bhuka goblins.
Sandswimmers speak the language of the same name, also referred to as Ang’neisyian. It is a somewhat commonly learned language in Qamenkas, but few who are not Sandswimmers speak it.

History

Sandswimmers first appeared in Diaghal sometime after The Great Charybdis was summoned. They were first observed and contacted after the Algenos War had ended. According to them, they came from a world they called Moalautya, and inhabited a great desert.
Sandswimmers originated on Crith from Qamenkas, but in the century or so after their arrival, they spread out further. Sandswimmer tribes entered into Ahagwuena, and the native Nimadu culture influenced emerging aspects of Sandswimmer custom, such as music and henna/tattooing. Other Sandswimmer tribes also moved towards Chikelu; because of the compatibility of the Sandswimmer Homakipo with Maasdokuya, a few Sandswimmer tribes became part of the Wusiph^djibundi. No known Sandswimmer tribes left southern Tuatha, but many individual Sandswimmers decided to travel the world that they had appeared on.
Since most were in Qamenkas, Sandswimmers were able to avoid the Niranist Inquisition.
Since 1360 MT, a young chieftess known as Toumutira Jiamaroa of the Sabahnnanina tribe has been attempting to unite the disparate Sandswimmer tribes under her banner and erect a nation of Sandswimmers in Qamenkas. She has been proclaimed to be an incarnation of Taroa Gi, sent to Diaghal to lead the Sandswimmers of Crith into a new golden age.

by Porforever

Lifespan

<100 years

Average Height

4'10" - 6'4"

Average Weight

134 - 290 lbs