Laharus

This species was done in collaboration with IVOnivxVI

The Laharus are a tall fiery species native to the volcanic planet of Thrarkus near the center of the galaxy.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Laharus are a sentient humanoid volcanic species, and their whole physiology revolves around the mimicry of their environment. They are then, in a way, a mirror image of their world contained within each and every one of them. They all have a few traits that they share, making the species feel closer together even with their variations. Their humanoid frames with four arms are easily recognizable as well as their horns and sharp fingers. They all also share a molten core, which is the very thing that helps digest whatever they eat. Laharus are split up into 4 distinct subraces, each with their own traits and features that easily tells them apart from the other.

Laharus Subraces

Crezien

The Crezien subspecies embodies volcanic ash.
These tend to be a medium gray with darker gray by the end of their extremities and in the neck, with darker still cracks or veins spreading out from those areas. They also have some black shard like spikes in certain areas of their bodies that resembles their crown piece. Their hair tends to be of a darker gray than their body and it generally has a slight gradient to it from dark to light. Glowing magma like horns shoot out from their heads, making an imposing sight along with the central eye in the middle of their crown piece, which is often framed by glowing red cracks. Also like the Onnaris, the Crezien have white glowing eyes.

Naitra

Naitra are shaped like flowing magma and roaring flames.
Naitra are by far the most recognizable of the Laharus. Their bright bodies glow with their internal flame and can be anywhere from yellow, orange and red, with the rarest variants glowing a violet/blue similar to Sulphur rich blue magma. Their bodies have that flaming color along with cracks or veins of glowing magma, which can also be seen on the tips of their fingers. Naitra also have their molten core shining through their chest in a very similar way that their cracks and fingers do. Unlike the other subraces, their eyes are much more like other species with black sclera and flaming colored irises along with a dark pupil. Also an interesting trait of them is their flowing hair, which is literally made out of crackling fire.

Onnaris

Onnaris are the glistening black obsidian of the bunch.
They are the darkest and most shadowy of the subraces. Onnaris have a pretty dark gray body, riddled with thin glowing purple markings and a few dark freckles. Unlike the others, they are the most likely to have multiple eyes, with four bright white glowing eyes being the standard for them. Alongside the 4 eyes they also have 4 horns. In contrast to their dark coloration, their hair tends to be a gradient of a medium off-gray purplueish color. Their main variations come in the form of the color of their markings, which can vary from pink to violet.

Erenin

The Erenin subrace mimic the volcanic smoke clouds after an eruption.
This subrace is considered far closer of even a sister subrace to the Crezien. They have a similar color scheme with a few differences to their more ashy sisters. Their skin is a similar medium gray, if only a bit lighter, with the same darker areas near the necks and end of the limbs. Also they have large freckles or spots where the Crezien have their dark veins. Unlike them however, they have cracks of glowing magma across their bodies, and these same flaming lines can be seen in their armor and in their crown piece. Unlike the others, they have slightly yellow glowing eyes instead of white. Their most notable feature is their smoky flowing hair, which actually flows and produces a thin coat of smoke as they move.

Biological Traits

The Laharus, like many species in the galaxy, can be born wither with albinism or hyperpigmentation. These however are incredibly rare and are seldom seen by the majority, much less by outside species. The traits are easy to see in both cases. In Albinism, the flames glow a light pink or yellow color and their bodies themselves fade into an off-white hue. Their stone like armor and crown pieces are also often lighter than the rest. In hyperpigmentation, their flames get a deeper red or even purple coloring, with both their armor and skin colors darkening notably, getting to off-black colors.

Ecology and Habitats

Tharkus is mainly a volcanic planet, with large chains of volcanoes that tend to be in relative constant activity. However the planet does have its variety of biomes even all of these tend to lean on the more arid side. Red sand deserts and dark stone canyons spread through the world. These less volatile areas are the places where Laharus tend to interact more closely with off-world visitors.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Laharus generally eat anything organic, their furnace like core melting it when digesting it and turning it into fuel. However because of this they do need to eat large quantities of food in big meals to maintain themselves.

Additional Information

Social Structure

The Laharus are rules over by a large council consisting of members of each of the subraces. This ruling council is the one in charge of dictating what goes on both inside the world and outside it and how they interact with other systems.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Traditionally for the species their names tend to be extremely similar to Māori names.

Beauty Ideals

Between them, they tend to find a group of characteristics attractive, these being skill, personality traits that complement their own and they are also drawn to the rarer color variations like a blue lava Naitra.

Gender Ideals

In their society, there is no difference between the roles men and women can take up and master. This equality leads to a lot of understanding in the species, and seldom will you find arguments or strong opinions on a person's gender.

Courtship Ideals

When it comes to finding a mate, Laharus host a festival that lasts a week long. The core of the festival revolves around getting to know others and trying to finish the week with your chosen soulmate. However it generally goes without saying that a full week of interaction between people trying to find love tends to devolve into a carnal affair. After the full week of experimental love-making with many partners you are expected to at least find your soulmate. This however is not the case with everyone, leading some festivals to have recurring attendees.

Relationship Ideals

While through the Festival, Laharus are meant to find a soulmate, many times they create bonds with more than one people and will therefore begin a polyamorous relationship. These are rather more common in Tharkus than in other systems, with about half and sometimes more of the population of the planet being in that type of a relationship.

Average Technological Level

The Laharus have attained a comfortable level of technology without going too far along, keeping things mainly centered around their own world rather than focusing on expanding across multiple worlds.

Common Dress Code

Laharus tend to wear skimpy and revealing clothing that looks close to volcanic rocks alongside some slight fabric and a good amount of sheer. Despite them being a volcanic race they are organic, so keeping cool instead of bothering with super constricted clothing is ideal to them. Casually they might also wear loose and flowy clothing but again these would be very light.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The culture of the Laharus is a violent one, filled with ceremonies and events that include battle. Their main focus of confrontation is fighting over resources with nearby planets in the same system, but on the planet itself there have been a number of civil battles. Most of the time these civil battles are ignited by rebel forces out of discontent with the Council. Many proclaim it to be because of either lack of resources in their areas or rejection of the overly violent culture. However most believe the rebels to be just another faction trying to overthrow the council and gain power for themselves. Because of living in a war on two fronts, they learn to train themselves and become strong warriors at an early age.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

It has been noted, that when a notable warrior of renown wishes to raise up the ranks and work closer to the council, they are given the chance to participate in a private battle ceremony. In this event, the warriors will use armor, weapons and other gifts given to them by Council members that favor them in order to fight their enemy. The winner of this competition is then elevated to a new rank, while the loser is stripped of his gifts, ranks and kicked out of the event's location.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

While they can be temperamental, the Laharus have a fair amount of trade agreements with the nearby races of the galaxy and can be very amicable with them. Because of this they have forged a good number of alliances with the neighboring systems.

A Naitra Laharus female naked

Lifespan

1,300 to 3,000 years

Average Height

7'8" to 9'

Average Physique

Because Laharus is a species that focuses on battle and dueling, their physique tends to show that, being either muscular or curvy on most cases, building up both fat and muscle to use as armor in battle.