Species

Brief

Most humanoid species share a common ancestor: a mammalian, thinly-furred, bipedal proto-humanoid. Evolved from this ancestor are fauns, satyrs, ipotanes, and humans. Evolved in conjunction with these, but not from any common ancestry, are nightlings and merfolk, by way of mimicry. Of all humanoids, fauns and satyrs are the most closely related, evolutionarily.

Terminology

There are a number of words used to refer to particular groups of humanoid species. They are used infrequently, but are useful for specifying who is being talked about.

Telluran

Refers to all non-merfolk, or in a more direct translation, those on the ground. Encompasses humans, satyrs, fauns, ipotanes, and nightlings. Used most often by merfolk.

Sunling

The Solan word for referring to all non-nightlings, though it doesn't actually tend to contain merfolk, so in practice encompasses humans, satyrs, fauns, and ipotanes. The term sunling was coined by nightlings in response to the term 'nightling.'

The Shotali equivalent 'zhaeshij' (literally light-people) was used before sunling began usage, but as nightlings integrated to the surface and began speaking and interacting in Solan, there was need for a universal language equivalant.

Seirim

Fauns, satyrs, and ipotanes are considered Seirims. They are equated due to similarities in form, ie: fur, hooves, tails.

Merfolk

Merfolk are, technically, made up of a few subspecies: Nix, iarans, and chimeraes. 'Merfolk' itself is, then, a group referring to all ichthyic humanoids, particularly nix and iarans, who have very similar cultures and interact with each other and tellurans regularly.

Shared Culture

The land is not sanctioned into segments, inhabited only by a single species. There is no seperation of the humanoids that populate the world, as such, there are some things that are more broadly shared. Certain aspects of culture are tied to locale rather than species.

Currency

Currencies are not strictly standardized across the continent, but are generally A: measured by weight and B: made of precious metals. Gold is consistently worth more than silver, which is worth more than copper, which is worth more than brass. Metal currencies are often in the form of beads or coins, either way, with a hole through the center to allow them to be carried on a string. This method of storage serves to make attempted deception obvious, as well as making counting, travel, and weighing easy. Provided the metallurgist begins with a standard weight in material, the end product can take any form, so some wealthy individuals have their metals forged into other, more decorative shapes, for aesthetic and as a status symbol. A person's money is usually carried at the waist, hung from a belt or otherwise on their clothing. Southwestern fauns in particular tend to instead loop the length of the string around their wrist and carry it as a loose bracelet, but other species may do this as well.

A non-metal, non-weighted example is draken currency. Usually rings or beads, but sometimes coins as well, draken pieces were made from drake bone (ie: dragon or griffon bone). Draken money is valued at size rather than weight: a radius about the length from the tip of a thumb to the first knuckle for a coin, the same measurement but of circumference for a bead, and twice that for a ring. As such, rings are usually worth two coins, and coins worth two beads. Draken rings have no theoretical upper limit to size, however, and larger rings are worth more (though larger rings are more fragile, so the practical upper limit is about palm-sized, used for storage rather than carrying money). Drakebone in general is worth more than metal currencies, but are riskier to trade in, as there is a higher occurance of deception. Only a few people have the knowledge or the eye to truly know drake bone from that from other species, and so the average person trading in drake bone will be cheated easier than with metal. Further, dragonbone is worth more than griffonbone, but that difference is even harder to tell, especially by an untrained eye. Draken currencies were mostly used by leaders pre-cataclysm, who could afford to have pieces appraised and could punish those who tried to deceive them, but they are still in circulation post-cataclysm.

The result of draken currency's difficulty in evaluation led to the rise in a similar coinage that was easy to tell, at a glance, where it came from. Nightling bone currencies began to circulate at the onset of the Hunter's Era, and continue to be the currency worth the most, even as the Hunters' Era fades. Its coloration makes it obviously unique and easy to identify, while its rarity fetches a high price for the same reason draken currencies do.

Sailors

Along coasts, particularly in the south and east, there is a lively waterfaring culture. Ships sail to trade, transport persons, fish, connect with abyssal merfolk, explore, and faster transport goods. Sailors vary from wildly respected to begrudgingly tolerated, but all agree in the necessity of their work.

To advertise their trade and identify each other, sailors pierce an ear. An ear, because which one varies. Tradesmen pierce the right ear, pirates, the left. This differentiation began as pirates mimicked tradesmen's traditions, and tradesmen in turn altered them to distance themselves from pirates. Rather than follow their lead, however, because of the pride many pirates take in their work, they took on the opposite as a symbol.

This tradition began, and still has its roots in, a contingency for death at sea. Seafarers get gold or silver earrings so that, in the event they die and are washed ashore, there is payment for a proper funeral. The earring is made of the same weight in metal that a coin or bead would be in standard currency, but can take any shape. Many human and satyr sailors- to which the legacy of a name matters greatly- will get their name engraved on their earring, usually on the inside of a loop, so they are not buried nameless.

The number of earrings worn, regardless of if the wearer is a trademan or a pirate, indicates a sailor's status. Captains have three piercings- all in the same ear- to make their authority known. First mates pierce their ears twice- more authority than a normal crewman, but less than a captain. Crewmates get only a single earring.

Mercenaries

'Mercenary' is a broad term, encompassing everything from dragon slayers to to hunters to bounty collectors. They began as drake hunters.

Dragons and griffons alike, like many wild animals, especially ones that reach the sizes they do, can be dangerous. There were always the hunts that existed for renown, for sport, but they began- and usually remained- the result of an animal that strayed too close to a settlement and started causing problems.

Post-cataclysm especially, when it was harder for everything to survive, large dragons and griffons would venture into humanoid spaces to find food. Livestock, pets, and, yes, the humanoids themselves. Dragons and griffons are animals. They will find food where they can. The large ones especially don't have a reason to not prey on humanoids, not really. If they're available for hunt, they will be hunted. Humanoids are not the top of the food chain. As a result, towns, families, individuals that were threatened by the habits of these creatures would call for a hunter, a knight, a mercenary. To get rid of the problem.

It's a dangerous but respected position. Few hold it, but the ones that do are treated accordingly- you never know when you may need one. Eventually, guilds form. Groups of mercenaries, usually with similar targets, that aid each other, teach others, travel together, etc. Previously, to be a mercenary was to be alone. Now it doesn't have to be that way. Some still are, but that's also because it's the kind of work that calls to those who seek solitude. Some guilds are familial, some are more akin to a job. There is infinite variation in how they present.

Festivals

While each species, naturally, has their own religious and/or cultural traditions they attend to, there is also a broader scope of celebrations participated in by many individuals across species.

Solstices

Many people across species celebrate solstices, especially summer. Solstice festivals are hosted only in larger towns, as smaller ones both lack the resources to accomodate an influx of people, and are not as well-connected in general, making travel to them more difficult. In well-mixed areas, that is, areas not dominated by any one species, summer solstices usually harbor feasts, music, and offerings made to various gods. In human and satyr dominated areas, summer solstices bring with them busy markets, and therefore tradesmen and craftsmen find them a welcome opportunity to sell their best goods. In faun-dominated areas, solstices hold more dance and paint than otherwise, as they carry on their more faun-specific solstice traditions. In ipotane-dominated areas, solstices carry with them storytelling and jewelrymaking.