The Beast Tribes
They came howling down the cliffs at us, claws holding them to the stone the whole way. Huge creatures, near as tall as a man is then half again and covered in fur. Most of them snarled at us through wolf-muzzles, a few smiled in anticipation. Those smiles were the worst of them, so full of teeth yet full of an emotion I could recognize. The one in the lead lept when he was halfway down and landed amongst my men. The flash of Aetherform made it hard to see what was happening, but I could just make out bodies and pieces of bodies being thrown around. Then the rest of the pack landed amongst the rest of us.
-Account found amongst late Old Empire ruins
In reality, a collection of individual species crafted by the Great Wyrms themselves, the Beast Tribes have a contentious relationship with Humanity since the War of the Wyrms. Originally created by dragons to bolster their own forces, they have continued to struggle to find a place within the world that isn't as soldiers, though many make their living as soldiers as fortune as that's the only job that will take them without question The look of an individual 'beast' is largely determined by circumstances of birth beyond the control of the parents, with many beast individuals from the same tribe having a large gradient of appearances. Some appear more fitting to their moniker. Large, animal-like beings with claws and paws that really only resemble humanity in their abstracted overall structure. They may have had a head, two arms, and two legs, but the specifics of their structure often differed. Take the wolf-men for example, found in many tribes across the world, who stand much taller than the average person, but are more likely to move around in a hunched, crawling, fashion for comfortabilities sake. Yet, others will look near human, both in the sense that their proportions fall in line with that of humanity and that their facial features and the majority of their person appears human at first glance. The first trend can be viewed as a sort of middle ground for the gradient. A center point between human and Beast. While looking human in size and general shape, they also maintain many of their Beast features. A notable muzzzle and still covered in fur or feathers. Ears upon the head, claws, and fangs. The second trend is closer to us as humans. For the most part, the only way they differ is the presence of scattered beastial features. Most have animal ears and animal eyes, with a such fixtures as a cat or dog tail appearing more seldomly. All options and permutations are viewed as the same species, however, with whatever amount of human is in there, and so they often live in tribes and enclaves seperate from the baseline human population. Generally, these Beast populations are isolationist, if not outright hidden, as tensions between Humans and Beasts are rather high at the best of times. Memories of how effective the Beast Tribes were have carried on in the form of myth and ever shifting rumour that speak of the Beast-kin as mysterious or outright dangerous. Some efforts have been taken both to study and integrate these scattered societies but little headway has been made due to their understandable reticence to meet with learned persons. Hopefully, in time, real and dedicated academic efforts can scatter the cloud of suspicion that seems to have settled on a people that suffered just as much during the Dracanomachi as the rest of our ancestors.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
One of the first signs that a Beast Kin mother, or a human mother carrying Beast Kin children, can be sure that their children differ from themselves is the length of gestation times. Thin blooded gestate for about the same amount of time as baseline human children. Half-bloods take about a time and a half longer, while full bloods can be anywhere from twice as long or more, depending on the subspecies.
The birth wards of hospitals near Beast Kin populations can be rather interesting places for the sheer cavalcade of situations you can find, not that I would advise attempting to prod a mother nearing her eighteenth month of pregnancy with active full-blooded kids into any kind of question or interview. She may just tear your throat out on the spot.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Even the thin blooded members of the species carry enough animal traits to leave them with better sensory options than humanity in the lions share of cases. Better hearing, better sight both during the day and at night, not to mention often having a more refined sense of smell. It is something of a cultural joke for Beast Kin to say they refuse habitation within the worlds growing urban centers because they 'smell like human', though for some of them that may be a true statement. I can't imagine having to smell every unwashed laborer within a mile.
Scientific Name
Multa Animalis Unum
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