Lepidosian
The Lepidosians are a human offshoot population native to Lepidos.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Like all human-descended races present in the Sealed Kingdoms region, the Lepidosians were subjected to the Arcopel gene drive to 'tag' them so that they could be differentiated from other experimental human populations. This gene drive gave the Lepidosians the long ears of lagomorphs. The short hairs along the body of the ear are of approximately the same color as the hairs on the individual's head, but fade to black in a chevron-shaped patch at the ear tip.
Ears aside, the gross morphology of a Lepidosian is nearly indistinguishable from that of a stock human. Lepidosians are typically up to a head shorter than Evermornan and more gracile in build. Lepidosian skin tones range from tawny to dark brown, though those whose ancestry lies with the Evermorn Strategic Colony Initiative in the aftermath of Wurth Harkin's Harkinite Expedition tend to be lighter in complexion. Lepidosians have the same range of eye and hair color as other human subgroups, though they tend toward darker colors.
All of the aforementioned features are believed to be the product of the Lepidosian's environment and, further back, their region of origin on the as-of-yet-undiscovered homeworld of humanity. Lepidosians live on a cool, arid world that orbits close to its orange-red star, with most of the historic population centers lying along the equator for comfort and to improve crop yields.
Genetics and Reproduction
For reasons still unknown, the Lepidosian female-to-male sex ratio at birth is 3:1. While initially assumed to be a result of some sort of environmental contaminant that damaged Y chromosomes (i.e. radioactive fallout in the aftermath of The Midnight), it is now believed that something about the gene drive - which is sex-linked - makes male offspring less viable. Lepidosian populations that interbreed with non-Lepidosian populations see this sex ratio aproach, but never reach, sex parity with successive generations.
The disparity in male and female births has had a profound effect on Lepidosian culture. Polygyny is a common norm across the political spectrum, with men competing for the largest possible harems in more authoritarian subgroups while more egalitarian subgroups instead see women competing over a limited supply of men. This also has the effect that, because men tend to do most of the fighting, population groups become less keen on engaging in warfare the larger and older they become to preserve declining male populations.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Because of their ears, Lepidosians have slightly improved auditory acuity and spacial awareness. They are also slightly more sensitive to changes in air temperature and wind direction.
Civilization and Culture
Average Technological Level
In the era leading up to contact with the Evermornans, Lepidosians had an industrial base that was on the verge of discovering semiconductors and nuclear power, operating primarily on petrochemical power and communicating with radio transmissions. Electromechanical devices were the most powerful computing hardware available at that time, and even then, access was limited to governmental, industrial, and educational institutions. Travel and cargo hauling over long distances was (and remains) primarily conducted through the use of electro-thermal airships, though much was also done by train and automobile.
Wurth and his crew, like with the Evermornans before them, began to gradually share more advanced technologies once the geopolitical situation began to stabilize in the aftermath of The Midnight. A collaborative outreach program involving the League of Lepidosian City-States and the Cobalt Protectorate outpost at the Execution Hill Launch Complex serves to distribute advanced power generation, computing, communications, and medical technologies to the various city-states and their holdings.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
With the destruction of the Magocracy of Lepidos and most of its loyalists, the majority of living Lepidosians share a legacy of enslavement, persecution for their religious beliefs, and later privation in the wake of nuclear war. This has both hardened the Lepidosian outlook towards the world and instilled in them a pining for the days when Lepidos was still verdant. Igeshenk is a culture-bound syndrome that specifically arises because many Lepidosians are used to the wide-open spaces of Lepidos and yearn to see what little greenery there is to be found in the arid plains and hills of their homeworld.
All that being said, most Lepidosians also show gratitude and an intense loyalty towards their Evermornan liberators - even if that liberation came at a steep cost. Evermornans, for their part, generally regard the Lepidosians with similar favor as the first among fellows in the Cobalt Protectorate.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
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