Melnil Warrens

Located deep underground, the many Melnil warrens usually exists independently of each other, with only the occasional contact due to the winding tunnels they live in and create. Most often they are found around the Rrhazmroran Mountains, thanks to the exposed stone which leads the Melnil to accidentally find their way to the surface before they retreat again until nightfall when the sun is not around to hurt their eyes. Elsewhere, it is not unheard of for miners to stumble upon Melnil when breaching a cavern, with the response of the groups often being dependent on how aggressive the individual tribe is.

Naming

Melnil tend to name themselves after sounds, sights or sometimes their experiences that they come across underground and take a personal preference to. Because of this, it is not unusual for a Melnil to change their names several times throughout their life, but as they get older and find more things they like, they begin adding on to their previous names. For this reason, particularly long lived Melnil can be recognised by their long and mixed names.

Economy

Warrens are a simple affair in regards to property. Either something is owned by the warren, or it is not owned. Anyone within a warren can come, take and use something that the warren uses and members are mindful that those who needs a tool are the ones who get it. For things not owned by a warren it is generally regarded as something no one owns unless it is with someone or in an area belonging to another warren. This has in the past caused conflicts, when warrens did not agree on territory and both attempted to claim things within a cave or tunnel that they believed was rightfully theirs, but typically most warrens keep a distance from others so they avoid making tunnels into the other warren.

Law & Order

Warrens generally don't have much in the ways of laws as everyone pulls their own weight. The importance for the warren is that the trouble doesn't spill over to affect the warren and that members of a warren doesn't hurt another member intentionally. Should the case be that this happens, then it is up to the Subterranean Guard to take care of it. When it is not the case, the guard are the ones who patrols the tunnels and warren to ensure they are free of threats and more importantly to the daily life, they are the ones to maintain the stability of the tunnels with other tasks being secondary.

Culture

Most Melnil warrens are a melting pot of traditions that each warren has developed in their parts of the caves for years or exchanged when they met with other friendly warrens. Of the more regular traditions that a lot of the warrens have are the communal meetings. Despite the name, most often these are constant at all hours of the day as individual Melnil come and go from the communal spots in the warren, with news, ideas and general talk being shared all the time. It is common for these spots to be in either the warmest spots of the warren that is not the hatcheries or where their food is prepared. Song, music and stories are a staple and there is almost always something to hear when going from one side to the other. These places is also where many of the decisions are made within a warren as the news travel fast and opinions are given, with few beside the Melnil themselves being able to keep track of the chaos as for an outsider it looks like there is no one keeping count of it, but that is because there isn't. It is a part of Melnil's nature to communicate in such ways.
Other parts often found in their warrens are the memory stones. These stones are engraved and painted with the warrens history and often contain important events and things that are important to remember. These stones are solid rocks that were carved into their shapes and brought from elsewhere, as the Melnil make them stand out by ensuring they are a different kind of rock than their surroundings.
The paint that is used on the memory stones as well as elsewhere in the warren to create art consists of whatever pigments the Melnil have been able to get their hands on, but they particularly favor bioluminescent pigments they can find within certain mushrooms that grows in the caves, giving a soft glow to the warren without straining their eyes.
Another part are the resonant crystals and horns from Melnil that have died in the past, which are both used to design soundscapes that helps them communicate at long distances, but also simply to create pleasant resonance within the warren and it is one of the ways that tribes can identify who a warren belong to, as no two warrens will sound the exact same.

Relationships

Warrens considers everyone else in the warren as a part of their family due to their communal nature and while pairings might for or have preference for each other, there is no overall expectation that keeps them together with most Melnil finding together periodically to lay eggs for the hatcheries. Melnil avoid inbreeding by recognizing their relatives by their horns and face, with even a Melnil that has never met their relatives before being able to recognise them out from this.

Clothing

Protected by tough scales, Melnil mainly wear things for utility. Bags and pouches are among the most common, with most Melnil having something even if it is as simple as a ling to store things in. Beside those, it is not unusual for Melnil to carry harnesses with attached pouches or belts for their tools, with their tails being one particular area that they often carry bags on for ease of transport. It is common for these to be colored, particularly with bioluminescent pigments if they are available, so that Melnil can easily distinguish the intended purpose at a glance.

Type

Geopolitical, Tribe