Post by Kunabee on Feb 23, 2017 17:37:58 GMT
Mountain Craftsmen
Arright, let's get this biznaz started. So. Mountain Craftsmen, I have one character with a second in the making who are this. I figure, may as well open the species to others if you want it, right? So let's give some information on them!
Please ask me before making any. Chances are I'll okay it, but I'm possessive of my creations :c
Appearance
(small, thin, agile, flexible, dextrous) (tattoos)
Five-fingered humanoids who range in height from 4' even (121.92) to 4'6" (137.16 cm) as adults. They are thin and small, double-jointed and able to contort in all sorts of positions. Their fingers are long, thin, and skilled, with typically short and brittle nails on the end. Though they have five fingers, they have only four toes. Their toes are short and curved slightly upwards, allowing them to easily shift to walking on their toes. Typically though, they walk very flat-footed to distribute their weight on snow; as such, their feet are moderately large compared to their bodies.
They are light, weighing much less than a healthy human of equal weight would weigh. At the most they might weigh a solid one hundred or one hundred ten pounds; typically they range around 70-85 pounds (or 31.8 kg to 38.6 kg). They are also very thin, and their bones are usually very easily seen and felt through their skin.
They have skin that's covered in a very light dusting of hair like humans, with thicker concentrations around the back of their hands and the tops of their feet for some individuals (but not all of them). Their hair and skin are always pale, ranging from a pure #ffffff white to a pale blonde or rosy color respectively. They would, in fact, blend into the snow, which is part of their survival.
They generally don't eat much. A heavy dinner - a good serving of meat, vegetables, and fruit for humans for example - is enough to keep them full for three or even four days. As such, they eat a very small amount two or three times a day, and are experts and storing various types of food. They are omnivorous, eating both fruits and vegetables as well as meat.
The most important aspect about them is their crafting. From snow they create amazing and temporary sculptures; they carve into rock for jewelry and furniture and designs. They tattoo their skin with brilliant colors of inks to write and draw on themselves, which is also part of their culture. Allowing someone to tattoo you is one of, if not THE most, intimate act you can do. Tattoos can indicate someone of loose morals if they have a lot, or can just purely indicate popularity by the same standard. Each person figures out a unique style of tattoo, or uses their own special color, or otherwise has a unique spin on it; if someone makes a lot of tattoos, that means they're trustworthy. Although, typically a couple of people will have overlapping tattoo styles/unique coloration.
Trading is typically what the mountain craftsmen do to get wanted things. Art for art; jewelry for jewelry; service for service. Other than food and clothing, what they create is purely for aesthetic and enjoyment. As such, beautiful things are extremely valuable, perhaps even moreso than they would be for any other species or culture. Even their clothes tend to be beautiful - while they typically use pale and pastel colors, they add a lot of colors and designs to their clothes. You can take a magnifying glass to their clothing and find elaborate, elegant designs that seem impossibly tiny. Each stitch is done with meaning.
Even the youngest of their children know some basics. Writing is taught at the same time as their hand-speech (sign language). By just a few years a child will know how to make dyes for clothing and painting, and by the time they are halfway to adulthood they will know how to make paper, how to sew, how to paint, how to carve, and so on.
Jewelry is also very important to the mountain craftsman. In their lands, they have jewels they can extract from the rock that (is said to) contain power from the universe's creation. This primordial power is potent, and here children also learn how to control said power. A big part of their adulthood ceremonies is a child receiving their first gem. There are other precious stones, too, of course, but they're not nearly as important as those of the mountain.
They are mammals, which means that they give birth to live young and nurse them to a certain age. This also means that there are 'male' and 'female' mountain craftsmen, but beyond purposes of procreation these do not factor in. They also practice polyamory; which is to say, that a pair may choose to be exclusive to each other, or choose to live in a family group of three or four or five (at least until they have children). There is no 'father' unit, although there is an understanding that the 'birthdonor' is required to have a child. Instead, children are raised with their 'birthgiver' and their family. Single birthgivers try to avoid having children, but it happens from time to time. Referring to individuals with gender neutral pronouns is generally the way to go, due to the lack of any traditional human gender or gender roles.
Original Location
(details of home)
They originally come from a mountain range, almost at the very tops of the mountains. Each mountain contains a village, a group of their kind. Where and even 'when' are hard to pinpoint, exactly. It is an old mountain range, and magic has made it eternal. They live there as guardians and crafters and have adapted to become practically one with the snow.
The place they live is maybe free of snow for sixty days total. They grow and eat things that grow rapidly and are packed with nutrients, and store them for long periods of time. Several other creatures make their homes high up in the mountains, and they hunt and eat those too. They do not keep pets, as pets are more mouths to feed.
Furniture and houses are made of stone and ice and snow. There are no trees where they live, and therefore trees are impractical.
Language
Whaaat? I'm making a language for them? Yes. They are regularly mute and/or deaf, and communicate both with hands and writing as opposed to words. There is no such thing as pronunciation, so really what matters is glyphs and words and meanings. Each glyph is equivalent to a finger symbol; I'll probably just draw out their alphabet and ignore any words beyond 'common vocabulary', which will consist of glyphs, fingers, and rough English translations. (why do i do this to myself)
Potential Questions
If I play a "mountain craftsman", do I have to be an age "₪₪" child? Nope! You can be a character of any age, including adults. Teyena was sent out for a purpose; others might not have the same purpose but still have left. Before OR after the children were sent out.
Do I have to be mute and/or deaf? No, some individuals are born being able to hear and speak without either ability missing. They aren't common by any means, but they aren't terribly rare, either. Genetics-wise, consider it something like hearing and speaking being a non-dominant trait. So if two hearing, speaking individuals have a child, that child can hear and talk. If two individuals who can't hear or speak have a child, their child likely won't either - but there's still a chance they can. Also, being mute is MUCH more common than being deaf. Deafness offers no advantage in their location above being able to hear, but being mute does - it makes being mute a much more common trait.
Do I have to use the English 'they' in referring to my character? You can use any of the gender-neutral "neopronouns" when referring to your character. Or to individuals of the mountain craftsmen, in general.
Does my character have to use 'they' or other gender-neutral pronouns? No, they do not. Some, when introduced to different cultures and languages, may choose to adopt different pronouns. Keep in mind that someone unfamiliar with different cultures and languages WILL NOT choose pronouns besides their native gender-neutral one, but if they have had exposure then they might. Up to them.
Do I have to ask you to play a mountain craftsman? Yeah. This is just a matter of me being possessive of my intellectual property, and wanting some control over this species that is in my head. All you have to do is PM me (or, hell, post here) with a quick one-sentence blurb about your character and I'll be all "OKAY" and we'll be good to go. Seriously, unless you're making something radically out of line with the established lore and genetics of the species I'm not going to say no. At the very least let me know?
Arright, let's get this biznaz started. So. Mountain Craftsmen, I have one character with a second in the making who are this. I figure, may as well open the species to others if you want it, right? So let's give some information on them!
Please ask me before making any. Chances are I'll okay it, but I'm possessive of my creations :c
Appearance
(small, thin, agile, flexible, dextrous) (tattoos)
Five-fingered humanoids who range in height from 4' even (121.92) to 4'6" (137.16 cm) as adults. They are thin and small, double-jointed and able to contort in all sorts of positions. Their fingers are long, thin, and skilled, with typically short and brittle nails on the end. Though they have five fingers, they have only four toes. Their toes are short and curved slightly upwards, allowing them to easily shift to walking on their toes. Typically though, they walk very flat-footed to distribute their weight on snow; as such, their feet are moderately large compared to their bodies.
They are light, weighing much less than a healthy human of equal weight would weigh. At the most they might weigh a solid one hundred or one hundred ten pounds; typically they range around 70-85 pounds (or 31.8 kg to 38.6 kg). They are also very thin, and their bones are usually very easily seen and felt through their skin.
They have skin that's covered in a very light dusting of hair like humans, with thicker concentrations around the back of their hands and the tops of their feet for some individuals (but not all of them). Their hair and skin are always pale, ranging from a pure #ffffff white to a pale blonde or rosy color respectively. They would, in fact, blend into the snow, which is part of their survival.
They generally don't eat much. A heavy dinner - a good serving of meat, vegetables, and fruit for humans for example - is enough to keep them full for three or even four days. As such, they eat a very small amount two or three times a day, and are experts and storing various types of food. They are omnivorous, eating both fruits and vegetables as well as meat.
The most important aspect about them is their crafting. From snow they create amazing and temporary sculptures; they carve into rock for jewelry and furniture and designs. They tattoo their skin with brilliant colors of inks to write and draw on themselves, which is also part of their culture. Allowing someone to tattoo you is one of, if not THE most, intimate act you can do. Tattoos can indicate someone of loose morals if they have a lot, or can just purely indicate popularity by the same standard. Each person figures out a unique style of tattoo, or uses their own special color, or otherwise has a unique spin on it; if someone makes a lot of tattoos, that means they're trustworthy. Although, typically a couple of people will have overlapping tattoo styles/unique coloration.
Trading is typically what the mountain craftsmen do to get wanted things. Art for art; jewelry for jewelry; service for service. Other than food and clothing, what they create is purely for aesthetic and enjoyment. As such, beautiful things are extremely valuable, perhaps even moreso than they would be for any other species or culture. Even their clothes tend to be beautiful - while they typically use pale and pastel colors, they add a lot of colors and designs to their clothes. You can take a magnifying glass to their clothing and find elaborate, elegant designs that seem impossibly tiny. Each stitch is done with meaning.
Even the youngest of their children know some basics. Writing is taught at the same time as their hand-speech (sign language). By just a few years a child will know how to make dyes for clothing and painting, and by the time they are halfway to adulthood they will know how to make paper, how to sew, how to paint, how to carve, and so on.
Jewelry is also very important to the mountain craftsman. In their lands, they have jewels they can extract from the rock that (is said to) contain power from the universe's creation. This primordial power is potent, and here children also learn how to control said power. A big part of their adulthood ceremonies is a child receiving their first gem. There are other precious stones, too, of course, but they're not nearly as important as those of the mountain.
They are mammals, which means that they give birth to live young and nurse them to a certain age. This also means that there are 'male' and 'female' mountain craftsmen, but beyond purposes of procreation these do not factor in. They also practice polyamory; which is to say, that a pair may choose to be exclusive to each other, or choose to live in a family group of three or four or five (at least until they have children). There is no 'father' unit, although there is an understanding that the 'birthdonor' is required to have a child. Instead, children are raised with their 'birthgiver' and their family. Single birthgivers try to avoid having children, but it happens from time to time. Referring to individuals with gender neutral pronouns is generally the way to go, due to the lack of any traditional human gender or gender roles.
Original Location
(details of home)
They originally come from a mountain range, almost at the very tops of the mountains. Each mountain contains a village, a group of their kind. Where and even 'when' are hard to pinpoint, exactly. It is an old mountain range, and magic has made it eternal. They live there as guardians and crafters and have adapted to become practically one with the snow.
The place they live is maybe free of snow for sixty days total. They grow and eat things that grow rapidly and are packed with nutrients, and store them for long periods of time. Several other creatures make their homes high up in the mountains, and they hunt and eat those too. They do not keep pets, as pets are more mouths to feed.
Furniture and houses are made of stone and ice and snow. There are no trees where they live, and therefore trees are impractical.
Language
Whaaat? I'm making a language for them? Yes. They are regularly mute and/or deaf, and communicate both with hands and writing as opposed to words. There is no such thing as pronunciation, so really what matters is glyphs and words and meanings. Each glyph is equivalent to a finger symbol; I'll probably just draw out their alphabet and ignore any words beyond 'common vocabulary', which will consist of glyphs, fingers, and rough English translations. (why do i do this to myself)
{Single Letters (Glyphs/Fingers}...and approximate English/IPA letter equivalents
{Common Vocabulary}
{Sentence Structure}So, each syllable is formed as a "(c)v(c)" structure: optional consonant, required vowel, optional consonant,
and it does not allow two consonants to be together (ie fr)
and it does not allow two consonants to be together (ie fr)
Potential Questions
If I play a "mountain craftsman", do I have to be an age "₪₪" child? Nope! You can be a character of any age, including adults. Teyena was sent out for a purpose; others might not have the same purpose but still have left. Before OR after the children were sent out.
Do I have to be mute and/or deaf? No, some individuals are born being able to hear and speak without either ability missing. They aren't common by any means, but they aren't terribly rare, either. Genetics-wise, consider it something like hearing and speaking being a non-dominant trait. So if two hearing, speaking individuals have a child, that child can hear and talk. If two individuals who can't hear or speak have a child, their child likely won't either - but there's still a chance they can. Also, being mute is MUCH more common than being deaf. Deafness offers no advantage in their location above being able to hear, but being mute does - it makes being mute a much more common trait.
Do I have to use the English 'they' in referring to my character? You can use any of the gender-neutral "neopronouns" when referring to your character. Or to individuals of the mountain craftsmen, in general.
Does my character have to use 'they' or other gender-neutral pronouns? No, they do not. Some, when introduced to different cultures and languages, may choose to adopt different pronouns. Keep in mind that someone unfamiliar with different cultures and languages WILL NOT choose pronouns besides their native gender-neutral one, but if they have had exposure then they might. Up to them.
Do I have to ask you to play a mountain craftsman? Yeah. This is just a matter of me being possessive of my intellectual property, and wanting some control over this species that is in my head. All you have to do is PM me (or, hell, post here) with a quick one-sentence blurb about your character and I'll be all "OKAY" and we'll be good to go. Seriously, unless you're making something radically out of line with the established lore and genetics of the species I'm not going to say no. At the very least let me know?
