Rana

The Rana are a race of carnivorous humanoids native to the far, northern continent of Oltemaran. Their warrior culture is based upon the raiding and pillaging of outsiders, leading to a notoriously nasty reputation.
They are amphibious and semi-aquatic, and capable of living in oceans for prolonged periods of time before needing to rise to the surface for air. This allows them to form dangerous boarding parties that swim far through the waters in search of wayward ships to scale and plunder so that they may bring riches back for profit in Oltemaran.
To the Rana, the valorous life of a pirate is something to be admired.
To outsiders, they are scoundrels, barbarians, and thieves.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Rana skin is smooth, but tough. It's made entirely of shark-like denticles that are course and prickly. Their bodies also produce a sticky mucus -- most notably around the hands and feet, that is capable of sticking them to solid surfaces beneath the waters. It is very common for Rana raiders to use this to scale up the hull of a ship, though many vessels have employed metal spikes along the bottom of the ship to deter any raiders that would attempt to board them from beneath the waterline.
Rana are strictly carnivorous and it shows in their sharp teeth. They have shark-like teeth that actually forms rows, which gives them a tendency to gurgle and slur wetly when they speak. Much like a shark, these teeth swiftly regrow when chipped or broken.
Rana are semi-aquatic and thus require to keep their skin wet in order to breath efficiently; but can live on land for one to two hours before their skin starts to dry and crack. Their ability to breath underwater so efficiently remains unknown and debated upon by scholars, as they lack proper gills, but are capable of surviving the pressures of deeper depths for long periods of times.
Rana eyes are notably bright shades of yellow or red, with predatory slits. A translucent, second set of eyelids can fold over their eyes to allow them to efficiently see beneath the water.
They are a fairly tall and muscular folk; their upper body is much stronger than their legs, with broad shoulders designed to aid in their swimming.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Rana are entirely carnivorous -- and much to the chagrin of others, notorious for not exactly being picky about what or who they eat. It is considered an ultimate insult to feast upon the flesh of a sapient being, that includes the victims of a raid or an adversary in battle. While this does leave certain 'honourable' Rana less inclined to feed upon the spoils of a fresh pillage, a scorned or particularly temperamental Rana will be more than happy to feast upon the fresh corpse of their slain adversary as a final, loathsome farewell.
Rana often form hunting parties; they are proficient whalers, and often hunt large marine animals. A typical Rana hunting party consists of about twenty whalers; their sticky skin allows them to mount and stay close to any of the larger, slower creatures they hunt, which allows for repeated, savage stabs that eventually allows them to drag the beast back to the surface.
The Rana have particularly strong digestive systems and rarely cook their food as a result. They often eat their meats raw, fermented, or dried. When it comes to seasonings, many of their meals use bitter spices or heavy salt.

Pickled Delights

For food that isn't hungrily devoured during a raid, the Rana often pickle, brine, or heavily salt whatever meats they bring back to the surface. Many of their meals are pickled or brined for an extraordinary long time; the meats brought to land on the other hand, are left in salt beds or dehydrated into hunks that are borderline inedible to the palate of other races.
Due to the aquatic nature of the Rana, they often bring these hunks of dried meat with them underwater to rehydrate the morsels into (barely) edible rations. 
Rana are also known to carry jars of pickled eyeballs; these Pickled Peepers are both a salty, jelly-like snack for the Rana and a scare tactic they employ on their raids. Nothing puts heart into the fear of a sailor more than a Rana reaver hauling a spear in one hand, and a jar of milk-white eyes staring at them from the other.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Rana do not have a surname. They instead use titles as their surname, called a Skalnafn. These names are shouted loudly and proudly in place of their birth name in hopes of garnering notoriety for their deeds. These names are often spoken in their language, but they've taken a liking to using Common tongue for the sake of striking fear in the most common victims of their raids; Humans.
Common surnames are thus things like: Steelripper (Stalarífa), Shipbreaker(Sifabrjótur), Eye Taker (Auganarodf)
Masculine Names: Hakon, Reidar, Bergjolt, Halvard, Bo, Sigmunt, Stigr
Feminine Names: Ignild, Verdandi, Ganske, Freyja, Signy, Valdis
Names are thus like: Reidar Stalarífa, Ganske Sifabrjótur, Stigr Auganarodf

Major Organizations

Salt Priests

Of the many organizations that are found within Rana society, the Salt Priests are the most highly exalted. These elderly Rana are the lucky few that have managed to survive years of raiding, and are sent to live the rest of their days on Deadman's Reef.
Here, the Salt Priests watch over the dead and dearly departed of the Rana people. Countless basalt obelisks and structures are found across the isle, serving as crypts and chambers filled to the brim with salty water that preserves the fallen that were lucky enough to return in tact from a raid. While many bodies in raiding parties are simply left to float and bloat at sea, the few that were deemed worthy enough to drag back amidst a haul are given the honor of resting inside a salt locker; a basin filled with alchemical brine that keeps their corpse from ever rotting.

Reavemothers

Plyndramar; or Reave Mothers, are the names given to the raiders that have returned to Olteran after becoming a mother. Mothers are deemed unfit to fight. During these years, the mothers are forbidden to return to raids until they've reared their children to an old enough age to begin raids on their own. Reave Mothers form hutches nearby one of the many riverlands, housing several children and fellow Reave Mothers that teach prospective raiders how to fight, plunder, and follow the Iron Way.
When a Reave Mother's child is old enough to return to raid, they're granted the option to return to raid, or if they're 40 years of age, become a salt priestess. Some Reave Mothers opt to stay as Reave Mothers, teaching future generations how to raid, pillage, and follow the teachings passed down through their generations.

Gender Ideals

Men and women are patently the same in Rana culture. Everything that's strong enough to wield a spear and swim through the waves is seen as an able-bodied raider; man, woman, and even children in many cases. The only exception are mothers, who are expressly forbidden from raiding parties and encouraged to instead spend their days rearing their children in Olteran.

Average Technological Level

Outwardly, Rana are sometimes viewed as a primitive race due to their barbaric tendencies and habitual raiding. This, paired with their lack of gunpowder weapons, leaves them seen as a 'lesser' race compared to more technologically advanced races like humans. This is due to most of the Rana living their lives near or under water; many of their weapons benefit from being used in an aquatic environment, such as spears or harpoons.
Rana alchemists are also not to be underestimated. A raiding party can swiftly become undying if a skilled enough physician has prepared enough tonics to leave their limbs regrowing seconds after being lopped off, making them a terror to reckon with during their raids.
Nettle Oil is also an incredibly dangerous example of their alchemists' ingenuity; a sticky toxin that numbs and stings anything it touches. It's also flammable but waterproof and impossible to wash away. When smeared to the bottom of a ship, they can quickly set it ablaze.

Common Etiquette Rules

Most of Rana etiquette is based around pillaging and raiding. The most important rule to follow is the forbiddence of raiding, killing, or harming a fellow Rana; despite their hostile tendencies to outsiders, Rana are very strict on harming their own kin. Blood is also to never be shed upon their home soil unless it's the blood of an outsider. Even still, a Rana must acquire express permission from a captain to bring harm to sapient creatures that are on their own turf.

No Servants

Servants, Slaves, or anything of the like are expressly forbidden and incredibly taboo in Rana culture. Captured prisoners from raids are either let free or killed outright, no exceptions are to be made for this rule unless their captured quarry happens to be an exceptionally valuable target, and even then, the few 'prisoners' that were captured and dragged to Olteran speak of being treated with staggering kindness. Prisoners taken to Olteran are essentially less like prisoners, and more akin to second-class citizens.
Imprisonment is also considered a harrowing torture to the Rana; should a Rana be imprisoned and live to tell the tale, they will often return with raiding parties to enact their vengeance.
On the same coin, making demands at any point instead of asking nicely is likened to treating somebody as a slave, and is very frowned upon.

Crass and Crude

Rana insult each other to show affection. Friendships are often filled with crude dialogue and curse words; they're a very carefree people when it comes to their dialogue, however, to the Rana, a threat is considered a mortal insult. Threatening bodily harm is enough to draw ire from any Rana, as all threats are taken incredibly literal. The Rana's carefree nature only further sees them viewed as barbarians by outsiders.

Common Dress Code

Rana often wear clothing that allows them to swim easily. This is to say; tight, skin-fitting uniforms to help enhance their ability to swim. During raids, they're also very fond of wearing trinkets from previous hunts. Mana Rana wear bone, teeth, or flensed skin from their prior hunts to signify their previous conquests. When on land, they're fond of more flashy apparel to accentuate their past deeds;
Pillaged gems, pilfered pearls, or carved coral are very common garments for the Rana.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Rana culture is tied heavily to the Iron Way; a religion that believes in the sheer willpower and determination of one self rather than relying on the guidance of a deity or otherworldly power. Their raiding is part of this; belief that one is allowed to own something so long as they make it so, be it through gold, or brute strength.
Although it isn't necessarily outlawed, sowing is somewhat frowned upon by the Rana people. Farms are exceptionally rare, and holding creatures in captivity is likened to slavery. To the Rana, livestock is a heinous crime manufactured by cowards that are too weak to hunt their meals. Plants aren't seen as creatures, but being carnivorous, they see no point in farming anything outside of alchemical regents or ingredients.
Children are raised under the guidance of the Reave Mothers; their father is expected to continue their life of raiding to help support the family and their wife, but once the child reaches 12, they are sent on their first hunt with their father's guidance. 

Raider's Rest

Rana cities are either checkpoints or resting spots for raiders to take haven in; this is why it is expressly forbidden to spill blood in Olteran. The Rana are an exclusively democratic people; cities are ran by exceptionally skilled raiders that have proven their valor with a trophy, which is shown during special, yearly elections that leave the city's populace electing the raider into what's known as an Arl.
Arls are seasoned warriors that are considered to be given the privilege of ruling the city; despite this, their rulership is less concrete and mostly done so out of great respect for the Arl's accomplishments. Denying an Arl isn't necessarily against Rana law, but is incredibly disrespectful.   Within these havens, there are Draterrsal; which translates roughly to Haul Hall. These buildings are made to examine the plunder of successful raids. The buildings take a small sum of the plunder to grant supply to the city, while the raiding party is given the rest of the plunder to sort amongst themselves.

History

Slaves of the Sea

The Rana do not separate myth from history; and if myth is to be believed, then the Rana descend from slaves that were kept in the depths of the ocean. Their masters were called Slótajerner, or 'Sea Slavers'. Their life lived with no purpose save to serve their oppressive masters in the, lightless depths until their people one day rebelled.
In their desperation, the Rana prayed towards the fathomless depths in hopes of escaping their masters. Their desperation lead to them finding the Iron Way; a sect of religious thinking where one's power can be reached through self-improvement and worship rather than the reliance of a master or deity. Through Slótajernerraw will and determination, the Rana eventually broke free from the Slótajerner and swam to the surface after their slavers were bound, trapped beneath ice that locked them to the deepest depths of the ocean.
Even the Rana question the veracity of their own history; some often viewing this as a fairy tale, but other superstitious raiders firmly believe that in the deepest depths of the ocean, the Slótajerner waits to break free from its prison of ice. Rana raids thus have an incredibly high mortality rate due to their belief that the Slótajerner could potentially enslave anything lucky enough to survive a deep descent into the ocean.

Olteran

Rana in itself is a name that roughly translates to free. Olteran translates to home free; the first landmass that they swam to after their freedom from their masters became the home that they stayed for centuries thereafter. Rana civilization predates human civilisation -- and perhaps even Elves. Much to the chagrin of scholars, they are often seen as the only race to still remain alive from antediluvian times.

Common Myths and Legends

The Lightfinder

Harvald Lyssøsker is the reported first warrior-king of the Rana, named the Lightfinder for leading his people to the very first shaft of light that reached them from the skies. After finding the surface of the waters, their cruel masters had cursed their bodies to be less durable to the ocean, requiring them to breathe the air that rests above it.
Harvald is as much of a myth as he is very much real; documented evidence, such as his spear and whale bone bracers, can be found within the Salt Locker. His corpse is said to have been dragged back to the depths of the ocean during one of his raids, but monuments and statues of him are still erected in his honor.

Sea Slaver

The Slótajerner, or Sea Slaver, and his minions are entities that are said to have created the Rana for the sole sake of having servants. They are said to be exceptionally long eels as large as the tallest of towers. They lack mouths, but instead drink flesh through their tendrils, which are also used to sculpt their slaves into whatever likeness they may desire. A question that many Rana ask themselves is what did we look like before this?'; As it's said that they were sculpted to best fit their master's needs.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Due to their isolationist nature, the Rana find interspecies relationships exceptionally taboo and even pointless. Many races cannot swim or breath under water like a Rana can, and just as many refuse would call their ways barbaric. 

Lifespan

Many rarely live past 40; but older Rana can reach an upwards of 100.

Average Height

6~6'7 Feet.

Geographic Distribution

• Olteran

Related Organizations

• The Iron Way