Post by Gaea on Aug 26, 2013 13:36:39 GMT -8
Tribes
Taguel are generally agreed to be a single species, in that they can interbreed with each other and create fertile offspring, but that single species is split into countless sub-species only loosely coalesced into five families, further divided into seven "Great Tribes." Feline Taguel, collectively known as the Cat Tribe, range from lions to panthers. Canine Taguel are unique into being split into three Great Tribes - Hound, Wolf, and Fox. Ursine Taguel run the range of bear-type Taguel, from grizzlies to polar bears. Leporine Taguel, much more commonly known as the Rabbit Tribe, are... rabbits. Finally, avian Taguel are collectively known as the Bird Tribe, and include everything from ravens to hawks. Not all Taguel clearly identify as a particular subspecies within their family - whether because they are a mix of breeds or simply because aesthetic traits are regressive, most Taguel are perfectly content to think of themselves as a "rabbit" or a "bird," and leave the unnecessary taxonomy to human with too much time on their hands.
Appearance
As perhaps fits the avatars of evolution and adaptation in Elibe, Taguel vary wildly in appearance, even within the same tribe or subspecies. Even within a single family there may be significant appearance differences, a phenomenon theorized by human researchers to be due to their unnaturally quick evolution. Still, there are common themes within each tribe that tend to identify a given Taguel as belonging to their parent tribe. Cat Tribe Taguel often have long and furry tails, sometimes even prehensile, and cat ears or even whiskers - or at least whisper marks - are common traits as well. Birds often have some degree of wings even in human form, and their hair tends to have an odd luster and texture reminiscent of feathers. Canine Taguel vary more than most due to their multiple primary tribes, but much like Cat Taguel they tend to have ears and tails matching their tribe. Bear Taguel are often the most understated in human form in terms of "inhuman" features, but tend to be larger than average and carry a presence that hints at their true nature. Rabbit Taguel often have rabbit tails, inconsistently have rabbit ears, and occasionally have a network of veins running across their faces or entire bodies. In beast form, the only real constant is that they can clearly be identified as belonging to a given tribe; whether their beast form is entirely bestial or partially humanoid, there is no mistaking a transformed rabbit Taguel for any other variety.
Mindset
Most Taguel are relentlessly pragmatic and driven by duty, though each Taguel is encouraged to decide what that means to themselves - Taguel are driven to find a purpose in life, and the vast majority find that protecting the world is a worthy goal, but a great number have decided to find fame and fortune in civilization. There is a much stronger concept of loyalty ingrained in almost all Taguel than there is to any other race, but it tends to be much more limited as well; Taguel rarely care for or even understand the concept of loyalty to an individual, but hold the bonds of "family" - whether literal or metaphorical - sacrosanct and unbreakable. Opinions on humans and dragons vary wildly, but tend towards cautious neutrality.
Age
Taguel vary wildly in maturation and aging, both between tribes and as a general rule of thumb. While bear Taguel usually have the longest natural lifespans, the extremely high mortality rate among all Taguel ensures that no species really consistently gets anywhere near there. Most Taguel reach adolescence within 10 human years and adulthood within 15-20, but much like dragons they often appear to stop aging entirely or slow down dramatically from there. Natural lifespans tend to range from 100-200 years, though the average is much lower due to their lack of civilization and high-risk lifestyle, and a few very wise or very cautious Taguel have lived as long as 300-400 years. As a result, most Taguel hold little fear of death, at least not as humans do; they wrestle with its grim specter every day and have become inured to it.
Magic
There is a certain species-wide, almost innate attunement to magic in the world shared by nearly all Taguel that beggars explanation; where dragons create magic and humans utilize it, Taguel are attached to it, almost addicted to it. Whether or not they bother exploring magic disciplines, many Taguel have thoroughly unnatural abilities related to it, whether it be the ability to sense even the subtlest changes in its natural flow across large areas or the terrifying ability to simply absorb it at will. Combined with their extreme mobility and terrifying strength, Taguel are bane to human mages, and there is a certain degree of mutual dislike that is difficult to overcome - many human mages fear Taguel for the strange control of magic they possess, while Taguel are often disturbed or outright disgusted by how humans force magic to their whims
Feral Taguel
While humans are loosely aware of their existence, all Taguel are intimately knowledgeable of the threat of feral Taguel, beasts that have completely thrown away humanity and reason alike. Said to be the result of overusing Overdrive, feral Taguel are a major threat whenever they appear, completely uninhibited by fear or mercy; they tend to draw enough attention to themselves to rally a major hunt, but a few retain enough wisdom to instead exist as lethal predators far more dangerous than any monster, keeping constantly on the move or preying on a huge tract of territory in order to keep their location difficult to decipher. While often used in nursery rhymes as the inevitable fate of poorly behaved Taguel children, the phenomenon is not actually all that well understood even by seasoned Taguel warriors - the effects of regular Overdrive use vary wildly between individuals, with many warriors making regular use of it for decades or centuries, while others go feral on their first attempt. It is a constant reminder in the back of every Taguel's head when a fight goes awry and they realize the need for more power, the risk of throwing away too much of themselves and giving into their bestial side entirely.
Note that feral Taguel are not playable - the transformation is not reversible and no semblance of humanity remains - and that this "system" is entirely optional for player characters. You are welcome to explore gradually fading humanity in a character as they use Overdrive over hundreds of posts, or simply write it off as irrelevant to what you want to do with the character and pretend the problem does not exist.
Taguel are generally agreed to be a single species, in that they can interbreed with each other and create fertile offspring, but that single species is split into countless sub-species only loosely coalesced into five families, further divided into seven "Great Tribes." Feline Taguel, collectively known as the Cat Tribe, range from lions to panthers. Canine Taguel are unique into being split into three Great Tribes - Hound, Wolf, and Fox. Ursine Taguel run the range of bear-type Taguel, from grizzlies to polar bears. Leporine Taguel, much more commonly known as the Rabbit Tribe, are... rabbits. Finally, avian Taguel are collectively known as the Bird Tribe, and include everything from ravens to hawks. Not all Taguel clearly identify as a particular subspecies within their family - whether because they are a mix of breeds or simply because aesthetic traits are regressive, most Taguel are perfectly content to think of themselves as a "rabbit" or a "bird," and leave the unnecessary taxonomy to human with too much time on their hands.
Appearance
As perhaps fits the avatars of evolution and adaptation in Elibe, Taguel vary wildly in appearance, even within the same tribe or subspecies. Even within a single family there may be significant appearance differences, a phenomenon theorized by human researchers to be due to their unnaturally quick evolution. Still, there are common themes within each tribe that tend to identify a given Taguel as belonging to their parent tribe. Cat Tribe Taguel often have long and furry tails, sometimes even prehensile, and cat ears or even whiskers - or at least whisper marks - are common traits as well. Birds often have some degree of wings even in human form, and their hair tends to have an odd luster and texture reminiscent of feathers. Canine Taguel vary more than most due to their multiple primary tribes, but much like Cat Taguel they tend to have ears and tails matching their tribe. Bear Taguel are often the most understated in human form in terms of "inhuman" features, but tend to be larger than average and carry a presence that hints at their true nature. Rabbit Taguel often have rabbit tails, inconsistently have rabbit ears, and occasionally have a network of veins running across their faces or entire bodies. In beast form, the only real constant is that they can clearly be identified as belonging to a given tribe; whether their beast form is entirely bestial or partially humanoid, there is no mistaking a transformed rabbit Taguel for any other variety.
Mindset
Most Taguel are relentlessly pragmatic and driven by duty, though each Taguel is encouraged to decide what that means to themselves - Taguel are driven to find a purpose in life, and the vast majority find that protecting the world is a worthy goal, but a great number have decided to find fame and fortune in civilization. There is a much stronger concept of loyalty ingrained in almost all Taguel than there is to any other race, but it tends to be much more limited as well; Taguel rarely care for or even understand the concept of loyalty to an individual, but hold the bonds of "family" - whether literal or metaphorical - sacrosanct and unbreakable. Opinions on humans and dragons vary wildly, but tend towards cautious neutrality.
Age
Taguel vary wildly in maturation and aging, both between tribes and as a general rule of thumb. While bear Taguel usually have the longest natural lifespans, the extremely high mortality rate among all Taguel ensures that no species really consistently gets anywhere near there. Most Taguel reach adolescence within 10 human years and adulthood within 15-20, but much like dragons they often appear to stop aging entirely or slow down dramatically from there. Natural lifespans tend to range from 100-200 years, though the average is much lower due to their lack of civilization and high-risk lifestyle, and a few very wise or very cautious Taguel have lived as long as 300-400 years. As a result, most Taguel hold little fear of death, at least not as humans do; they wrestle with its grim specter every day and have become inured to it.
Magic
There is a certain species-wide, almost innate attunement to magic in the world shared by nearly all Taguel that beggars explanation; where dragons create magic and humans utilize it, Taguel are attached to it, almost addicted to it. Whether or not they bother exploring magic disciplines, many Taguel have thoroughly unnatural abilities related to it, whether it be the ability to sense even the subtlest changes in its natural flow across large areas or the terrifying ability to simply absorb it at will. Combined with their extreme mobility and terrifying strength, Taguel are bane to human mages, and there is a certain degree of mutual dislike that is difficult to overcome - many human mages fear Taguel for the strange control of magic they possess, while Taguel are often disturbed or outright disgusted by how humans force magic to their whims
Feral Taguel
While humans are loosely aware of their existence, all Taguel are intimately knowledgeable of the threat of feral Taguel, beasts that have completely thrown away humanity and reason alike. Said to be the result of overusing Overdrive, feral Taguel are a major threat whenever they appear, completely uninhibited by fear or mercy; they tend to draw enough attention to themselves to rally a major hunt, but a few retain enough wisdom to instead exist as lethal predators far more dangerous than any monster, keeping constantly on the move or preying on a huge tract of territory in order to keep their location difficult to decipher. While often used in nursery rhymes as the inevitable fate of poorly behaved Taguel children, the phenomenon is not actually all that well understood even by seasoned Taguel warriors - the effects of regular Overdrive use vary wildly between individuals, with many warriors making regular use of it for decades or centuries, while others go feral on their first attempt. It is a constant reminder in the back of every Taguel's head when a fight goes awry and they realize the need for more power, the risk of throwing away too much of themselves and giving into their bestial side entirely.
Note that feral Taguel are not playable - the transformation is not reversible and no semblance of humanity remains - and that this "system" is entirely optional for player characters. You are welcome to explore gradually fading humanity in a character as they use Overdrive over hundreds of posts, or simply write it off as irrelevant to what you want to do with the character and pretend the problem does not exist.
