Arakh

Muscular, fang-toothed humanoids with lingering catlike traits

A skywatcher of Zvaal.

Arakh is the general term for any humanoid with a noticeable amount of blood on the Ur-Arakh lineage, but not fully such. Usually mixed human-arakh, they can more technically be called Arakanthic Peoples (a portmanteau of Arakh and Anthra, the term for the human lineage). The vast majority of arakh in the Greater Eridún Crux Region (GECR) are part human or Arakanthic; basal Ur-Arakh are rare.

Arakh are more likely to be born as "sylphs", aspected to the element of wind. They are almost universally excellent runners, with a strong sense of smell and preference for open spaces.

Appearance

See also: Arakh Image Gallery (External)

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Unlike the Ur-Anthra or basal humans who are descended from apes, Ur-Arakh are humanoid descendants of a large, catlike species. They're exemplified by their tall, muscular stature, grey to dark-grey complexions, prominent lower canines and flat, catlike noses; all or some of these features might present themselves in those of part-arakh or Gretanthic ancestry. There is a common joke that when you're in doubt, make them bored: their wide, toothy yawns are always distinguishable from other humanoids.

A Skylander arakh with notable human ancestry,
which is the case for most Skylander arakh.

Range

As with Meranthic humans, whose blood is a mixture of Ur-Mera (pure elven) and Ur-Anthra (pure human), most arakh in the GECR exist somewhere on the gradient between Ur-Anthra and Ur-Arakh.

On Materia

The human or Anthran branch is most dominant of the three in Materia's Third Age. Numbers of Ur-Arakh have dwindled drastically over the millenia, now mostly existing as a few scattered tribes along the Voideastern coasts of the Skylands.

Society

Despite a general disdain for the pretenses of Meranthic civilizations, arakh have intellects more or less comparable to their slighter, busy-minded relatives. While more martial than Meranthic societies, they have an equally broad range of cultures, from the hostile tribes of the Skylands to the relatively peaceful Barghast peoples of Zvaal to the reclusive and mysterious Esoqq peoples of Tiam's Cradle.

Arakh have an extremely acute sense of smell, and as such prefer the open air; the sometimes intense and confusing odours of cities are difficult for most to take, and even those with business in a major settlement tend to bivouac at a distance.

History

Famed poet and cleric of Jabberwock, Zaffa the Idiot, wrote several poems about the arakh and humans growing apart over the milennia, due to repeated, separate migrations to and from Waking Materia. With most knowledge of Voidwalking now lost, only few remaining individuals understand what this means.