Aryauk (Ar-yawk)
Summary
A veltron-aspected species, the aryauks are natives of Aerthen, but the bulk of their number moved many millennia ago to Etzli Cuauhtla. By the very nature of their way of life, a lot of their clans have spread across Veltrona at large, and developed down very different means of civilization. Contemporaries of the tokyau before their downfall, the aryauk are physical powerhouses who exemplify competition and martial lifestyles. Their natural competitiveness fosters aggressive cultures, and combined with their ridiculous strength, often makes them quite belligerent to their neighbors. The aryauk civilizations that survived from these early times of strife did so with powerful honor-bound ways of life. To the aryauk, honor is literally worth more than being alive. It is a matter of such serious importance many other cultures struggle to fully understand it. This further complicated intercultural relations, especially as aryauk ways were besmirched and disrespected. The aryauk at large chose isolation as their answer, keeping their business to themselves and shunning outsiders. Only those who understood aryauk honor would be permitted any kind of access or good will. Thus, the aryauk have largely been seen as marauders, raiders, or violent huntresses throughout most of history. Their disregard for others and pursuit of their own martial perfection made them intensely dangerous to whoever crossed their path. The aryauk path of honor, however, would be shattered apart by the Imperium. Imperious, ever seeking worthy foes herself, tore through the aryauk clans in search of sport. The formidable aryauk elders, army destroying mistresses of war they were, couldn't win. Broken in half over Imperious' tail, the aryauk were thrown aside when she was done. The other dragons, mopping up after Imperious, enslaved the surviving aryauk. Deprived of their honor in the most humiliating way possible, the aryauk struggled to reconcile their doomed fate. Many of the answers they once contented themselves with no longer sat well when they were the ones it'd happened toward. While the others under slavery, such as the baarham and humanity, conspired together, the aryauk stewed in bitter silence. In the end, it would be their younger generations, born into slavery and uncaring of the old ways, that changed everything. The youngsters joined in the rebellion, seeking redemption for the humiliation they'd been forced to endure. Successful enough, the destruction of the World Gate and resulting Great Darkness became a cataclysm that almost ended them all. The surviving aryauk sought the unfathomable dangers of Etzli Cuauhtla. In those uncertain days of eternal darkness, with scant light to spare, the bloody jungles yet endured somehow. Its fearsome animals and deadly flora alike would be where the aryauk would rebuild themselves. For the elders, a penance to reclaim their honor, while the youngsters saw it as fertile lands. The capable aryauk drew attention from others, those even less fortune than they were. A strange sense of comraderie emerged, these myriad peoples intermingling in their desperate survival. What remained of the old aryauk ways eventually faded, and a newer impetous emerged. Their binary notion of honor changed into something more flexible. A moral and ethical guide that, seasoned by victory and defeat, made the aryauk much more amendable to others. What form it took ultimately diverged between all the aryauk clans. When the darkness lifted and light returned, the abundant aryauk splintered as a species. Great clans left to stake out claims in foreign lands, or return to their ancestral grounds in Aerthen. Most chose to stay within Etzli Cuauhtla, for its vast dangers proved wonderful challenges the aryauk enjoyed. Their harrowing defeat at the hands of Imperious left an indelible scar in the aryauk cultural mind. An understanding that the pursuit of one's martial skill, and virtuous deeds that accrue honor, were vitally important things. Some chose war as the ultimate test, others the hunting of great beasts and the Relentless. If there is something inordinately dangerous, there is most likely an aryauk clan that lives to hunt it down. They took a liking to finding powerful fighters, mages, warriors, and anyone else who could pose a challenge. All the animals of the world may pose their own dangers, but only people were the ultimate foe.Basic Information
Anatomy
A bipedal, humanoid species with a head, torso, two arms, two legs, and a pronounced and lengthy tail. Among monsterkind, the aryauk are especially notable for their near human-like appearance, having clear, homogeneous skin and minimal differences otherwise. Their knuckles, knees, elbows, and feet possess 'reinforced stone' on the joints, serving to protect them, as well as strengthen the power of their joints. They can put out a tremendous amount of stress through their skeleton and musculature most other species cannot imagine doing.
Their heads are adorned with hair that can be both fine and/or fluffy, and is somewhat known for being naturally beauteous. Two round, semi-pointed squirrel ears are at atop their head, being able to pivot and listen with surprising accuracy. Their faces follow human conventions, but their eyes are notably more 'expressive' and slightly larger than the human norm. Their mouths can open to a surprising degree, as they are competent eaters whose powerful jaws can destroy virtually everything edible.
At the back of their necks, terminating into their skulls, and then going down their spine, is a series of armored, stone-like plates. They, like thornback wolves and similar species, have segmented plates that naturally grow over, and protect, their spine. Tufts of fur emerge from in between the plates, helping to dampen noise and keep unwanted pests from intruding. These spinal plates continue down toward the tailbone, and then terminate into the actual tail itself.
The core of the tail is a semi-flexible appendage, upon which dense fur grows in a large, encompassing manner. Often almost as wide as their torso, the aryauk tail is a natural grown weapon and balancing mechanism. It helps to counterbalance them in otherwise perilous positions. They can also supercharge it with veltron magic, hardening the limb and fur into a solid mass that they can use for devastating strikes.
The figure, overall shape, and pattern of the tail varies in the various races and bloodlines. They can have club-like rock heads, thinner and sleeker, fluffier and fox-like, and so on. Many families and clans identify themselves by their tails, which makes those born with different ones problematic. The stigma of implied (or actual) infidelity runs deep in their cultures, and different-tails are usually seen as bad omens for a family.
Over time, various aryauk 'races' emerged based on their tails, the kind of 'stone' their joints express, and certain patterns on their skin. The so-called 'striped', 'circles', 'jagged', and so on all feature cosmetic mutations resembling animal patterns on their skin. The extent of these patterns varies, even within the race, but it is a means by which some large clans identify their members by.
Their eyes always have white or black sclera with round, black pupils, and their irises feature vividly enhanced colors, making their gazes quite distinctive. As a whole, they have a bias toward the simple color family (e.g, red, blue, yellow, etc), with those expressing more complex colors as having mixed blood of some variety. Their fur and hair colors largely favor environment camouflage, such as forests, mountains, and grasslands. Their skin colors follow normal latitude concerns: paler in colder regions, darker in equatorial/hot regions.
Aryauk are sexually dimorphic to a notable degree: females are fundamentally larger in stature and physique than males. The tallest males only stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the shortest females. Both, however, are physically powerful without much distinction except their sizes. That is, females have more mass, thus more force potential, while males capitalize on their (comparatively) lighter frames for agility. Females have wider hips and enlarged breasts.
Biological Traits
Veltron Aspecting – Aryauk are naturally biased toward the veltron mana type.
Natural Physical Magic – Aryauk physiology incorporates physical magic extensively, combining with their natural veltron aspecting. Their ability to grow their physical power is extraordinarily high compared to others, making veterans among them extremely capable.
Aggressive – This species is naturally aggressive, favoring confrontation and direct action for life's problems.
Civilization and Culture
Relationship Ideals
Aryauk engage in two general ideas of intimacy: their own desires, and for the sake of family.
In finding potential partner(s) they like, aryauk don't shy away from physical intimacy. They're principally interested in 'fun' people, who can either make for an interesting time, or provide opportunities. Socializing is itself a reward, particularly for all the hardships they go through, so they have high expectations. It can make engaging with them more stressful than other species are used to, but it's a matter of figuring out their particular language.
More than anything else, they pour alot of attention into people they like. Their world tends to gravitate around them, and the aryauk look at building a new social webwork from there. Competitive partners, insofar as constructively pushing one another to improve further, are especially desirable. Their way of living means inactivity or 'peaceful quiet' can, ironically, become stressful if they're not used to dealing with it.
Aryauk, culturally speaking, do not recognize partners that are not inducted into the clan or family through rite. They're considered unaffiliated strangers, and so do not deserve inheritance or clan support. Whatever happens, even if children result, is strictly between the aryauk and their outsider interests. This has resulted in troubles throughout time, not only among the aryauk themselves, but foreign species intermingling.
For the sake of family and clan, aryauk marriages are normally arranged between interested families. Rather than arbitrarily identifying select individuals, dating pools are created so that aryauk may find more equitable partners. Nobility is far more strict in their selections, dating in carefully guarded pools of candidates. The ultimate goal is to intertwine the families better together, who specifically does it is not always relevant.
The inclusion of outsiders into this paradigm is quite troublesome. It often means it is simply just the outsiders, not their families or associated social networks. An aryauk marrying such a person(s) is, in marriage terms, pretty terrible in value. However, if the outsiders are exceptional in some variety that makes up for that shortfall, their acceptance value goes up immensely. How strict this works depends on the parent aryauk culture. Those actively struggling out in the wilds need all capable hands, and so judge by exceedingly harsh standards.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Honor is the bedrock of all aryauk cultures, but what honor exactly is varies between them. The simplest manner to examine it under is that of virtues: doing what aryauk consider good, respectable, or worthy will accrue some measure of honor. Conversely, violating these norms or distinctly acting in bad, disrespectable, or cowardly manners will stain and diminish one's honor. While many outsiders see this as transactional in nature, that is not the case. How one gains or loses honor is extremely asymmetrical, and often not to one's tangible benefit.
Hence, it is profoundly difficult to act in alignment with 'gaining' honor as a means for social advantage. To even attempt using it as such is even, ironically, seen as dishonorable. The specifics are often muddied and difficult to discern, and only those long familiar with the aryauk obtain a sense for their meanings of honor. Combined with the normal variance of different cultures, and as a species they appear opaque and difficult to understand.
After the age of the Imperium, the aryauk's esoteric notions transformed into something more understandable to other species. Whether because the aryauk themselves changed, or their reclusive cultures became more known, isn't quite clear. For example, the various Paths an aryauk can take as a profession did much to explain their social stratification.
Great aryauk who passed down their teachings, intentionally or not, created schools of learning based on those teachings. The schools grew from them, training new generations who returned and suffused more teachings into the schools. Adaptability is a core idea to the aryauk, as nature can, and is willing to, throw anything at a person. Rather than tie themselves to a single school, the pursuit of a Path allows them to choose and learn at will.
The Paths formed the core of aryauk civilization, with those pursuing the Path of the Hunt, the Maker, the Shaper, and so on. In doing so, an aryauk would specialize in their given Path, and then carve out a niche for themselves. They're not strictly bound to the Path, and some are known to change their Paths for any number of reasons. This is not always true, as some aryauk civilizations are far more stringent about their rules than others.
Overtime, the aryauk learned some of the ways of others, further dividing their clans. In the modern era, there is quite a great variety to who does what. The more amendable clans tend to live near, or even inside of, the cities of others. While they're often employed as guards, warriors, or huntresses, their unique sensibilities make them capable crafters as well. Of course, things built to their standards can be quite hard for others to utilize if they lack in physical strength.
Isolationist clans often live in the hostile environments, proving themselves against nature's most fearsome offerings. Few of them manage to do so permanently, and most will migrate every couple of years to more hospitable territories. They bring with them massive stocks of exotic and esoteric materials, making them massive trade booms when they show up. Once they have rested and recovered, honor compels them to go once more into hardship and prove their mettle.
Why they do so willingly involves looking at their most common religious ideologies. Honor is something that follow's one between lives, so dying an honorable death is preferrable to a cowardly life. They will, one day or another, meet their greatest ancestors and venerable goddesses to be judged. Those who prove themselves are welcomed into the great halls of the dead, to journey onwards to newer challenges and opportunities.
Those who have lost their honor, or become dishonorable, are cast out and sent back to Veltrona as some kind of reincarnation. There they will stay until they have done enough to redeem their honor of any wrongdoing they'd done. This initially included the awkward 'in the middle' folk, such as stillborns, young children, or someone who hadn't (somehow) earned or lost honor in any meaningful way. The idea that this was unusually cruel, and perhaps dishonorable itself, eventually arose. The 'unhonored' folk are still sent to Veltrona to reincarnate, but often in 'much better circumstances' than the dishonorable outcasts.
Lifespan
150 years
Average Height
Females: large, 7-9ft / 213-274cm
Males: medium, 6-7ft / 182-213cm
Average Weight
Enormous: 300-600lbs / 136-272kg
Geographic Distribution
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