Felinic
The felinic people are an Eala race; a sister race to the wolven and kitsune people of with whom they share a historical origin story and many of their physical features.
Although not to the same extreme as the kitsune people, felinics have great control of magic and many powerful spell-casters have come from felinic bloodlines. Most felinics, however, find themselves restricted to mastering only one magic for the sake of their physical and mental health. They may dabble in multiple magics, but rarely will they train in multiple.
Their night-vision is considered the best in all land-dwelling Sentients, though it pales in comparison to many aquatic races.
Physical Traits
Av. Height (Male): 5’6″
Av. Height (Female): 6’0″
Felinics are a tall, humanoid race whose physical features vary greatly from person to person.
Like all Eala races, felinics have furred ears and tails. These are very cat-like in appearance, although many felinics argue that cats look like them, amd not the other way around.
Their ears are mostly rounded, sometimes with tufts of fur on the inside, and are very sensitive to sound. Meanwhile their tails are long and flexible. Usually a felinic’s tail, when hanging limp, will rest somewhere between their knee and their ankle. There have been felinics with longer or shorter tails, but they are not very common. The thickness of a felinic’s tail fur may vary. They also have tufts of fur on their hips which tend to come from around their back at the base of their tails and around to the side of their stomachs.
Felinics have a variety of fur and hair colours, determined by where their family originated from. Felinics from the Gallamor tend to have brighter hair colours, such as green and purple, while non-Gallamor felinics have more earthy colours like brown and black.
A felinic’s canines are longer and sharper than the rest of their teeth. Especially their top canines. They care for their teeth greatly and make all effort to make sure they remain bright white.
Sex and Gender
Both sexes of felinics can have enlarged thyroid cartilage in their throats, and although it is less common for women to have their cartilage become visible, it is not rare; about the same amount of women have visible throat cartilage as men do not.
Felinic women tend to gain weight slower than felinic men, while men have a harder time converting their fat into muscle. Because of this felinic men tend to have a naturally softer appearance than the women and sharp features are considered feminine.
Felinic, in general, are very good spellcasters. However, their sex can affect what type of magic they cast; women naturally tend to be better at physical forms of magic like summoning and alchemy, while men are better at mind-based magics like dream walking and prophecy magic.
All of this, combined with the average height of felinic women being significantly taller than the average man, has lead to women being perceived as the “stronger” gender by traditionalists; more suited for hard labour than things such as politics.
Unlike most other races, felinic women do not need to give birth to begin lactating. After going through puberty the presence of a young baby or another lactating mother (of any race, but especially another felinic) will stimulate a felinic’s hormones and they may begin lactating without becoming pregnant themselves. This can be very helpful with felinic’s group-parenting structure. It also makes adoption a lot easier; as it will only take a few days to weeks for an adoptive mother to be ready to take a child as her own and feed them naturally. It can, however, cause some uncomfortable problems for felinic women who spend time with new mothers or work with children. It is common in most felinic countries for maternity leave to last up to 7 months and to be for any woman with a new child in their family; even if they are not the mother themselves.
Racial Variations
Pinkfur
This race of felinic comes from Teri, and is the best-known felinic race across Demrefor. They have pink hair, dark skin, an average height of 6’9”.
Pinkfur felinics put on a lot of weight fast, but have many layers of muscle underneath their weight and even the most unfit pinkfur is able to lift at least half of their own body weight.
Pinkfur felinics are surprisingly muscular and fit for their appearance. They enjoy wrestling, running, and climbing, but most other Sentients assume they’re lazy because they have lots of natural fat build-ups. Pinkfurs are, however, definitely not lazy or unproductive as a peoples. It is easy to get them excited, but when they get into things they can forget their strength can cause a lot of damage to people or objects without meaning to.
Though they often have a great sense of humour and are raised to be optimistic they are often prone to mood swings due to a genetic hormone imbalance.
It is argued by some that the pure-felinic pinkfur population died out in the early 10,000s and that almost all modern pinkfurs have a majority wolven ancestry. However, as most pinkfur genes are very dominant, pinkfur families are still considered felinic by the majority of the Sentient population. Those who argue that the modern pinkfur population is more wolven than felinic believe that the last pure-felinic Pinkfur was Jenna H. Ginjo; a wolven-raised felinic who died at the age of 97, three days after her wife passed away.
Nahee
The Nahee felinics were discovered in the desert regions of the human country Ahkha in 204 AE. Though this region is considered part of the Ahkha kingdom, the felinic-owned regions (referred to as the “Nahee” regions) have their own leaders who are recognised as independent by the Ahkha royal family.
Because the Nahee region is so difficult to reach they are a very secluded race of felinics who rarely communicate with the outside world. Though a few of them settled in I’reka in 5,926 AE, there are very few I’rekan-born Nahee who are pure felinic, let along pure Nahee.
They have more body hair than the average felinic, almost as much as a wolven, and their thin tails are tipped with a tuft of fur that they often use as a brush for painting.
Nahee men sport large, furry manes around their necks which they decorate to show their rank in their family tribes. While the women lack this mane, they are much larger than the men and often have mohawk-like fur running down their backs.
Common Disabilities and Health Issues
Short Tail
Sometimes felinics are born with stubby tails. This can lead to a lack of balance, especially during childhood. It may also be a sign of health issues, such as brittle bones or early-onset arthritis.
Hairless
Due to a rare gene, felinics can be born almost completely bald. They have no hair, including body hair. These felinics are very prone to sunburn and may have weakened cartilage, skin issues, or a higher risk of cancers.
Sabre-Toothed
Sometimes a felinic’s top canine teeth grow so long that their teeth will grow out of their mouths similar to that of a sabre cat. This is not always healthy, as it forces their jaw into an overbite and makes eating difficult.
It can also cause dental issues, such as the fangs pushing other teeth together painfully or the stripping of the enamel on the exposed points of the fangs. Many sabre-toothed felinics are forced to have their fangs surgically removed.
Sabre-toothed felinics are thought to be descended from felinics-maren families, though nobody is sure if this is true.
Relationships and Life Stages
Partners
Felinics don’t usually take part in monogamy. They may choose a life partner, but will still usually have more casual sex with people outside of these relationships. Because of this, it is not uncommon for a felinic’s relationship with their life partner to be completely non-sexual. They both might still have other sexual partners that fulfil their needs while never touching each other sexually. This isn’t because of lack of attraction; it is just that they share a different romantic bond than they do with their other partners.
A felinic’s life partner is the person they trust the most; they keep no secrets from each other (though they have their privacy) and want to spend their lives together. Many other cultures may equate this to their own idea of friendship and assume because of felinic’s casual sexual habits they become life partners with their closest friends; however, felinics are offended by this notion as the bonds of friendship and romance are very much separated in their culture.
Most felinics will only have one life partner at a time, though it is not unheard of to have three or four felinics in polyamorous lifetime partnerships.
Legally, the life partner of a felinic is entitled to many of the same privileges as a spouse, even if they are not married via ceremony. This includes custody of children (whether or not they are related by blood), power of attorney, and various kinds of visitation rights.
A lot of the time mothers don’t know who the biological fathers of their children are. Thought this doesn’t matter to most as the all of the mother’s long-term sexual partners will care for the children as if they are their own.
Life-Stages
Gestation of a felinic pregnancy lasts for 1 full Demreforian year. Premature births are rare, but premature births from 10 months onwards have a high survival rate. Because of the late gestation period and large size of felinic newborns, labour averages 24 hours and is very exhausting for the mother.
The usual felinic birth rate is 1-2 children per pregnancy. Triplets are unlikely, and having more than three children in one pregnancy is extremely rare and considered bad luck.
The bad luck comes from the belief that physical harm caused to one of the four plus children may be inflicted non-physically into the souls of the other children, eventually leading to emotional damage or what felinics refer to as “moral numbness.” If a single pregnancy results in four or more children it is customary to separate the children (either by adopting them out to strangers or close family or friends). It is believed that being physically raised apart will severe the spiritual bond of the siblings so they are safe from each other. It is considered an act of great evil to kill any of the siblings to avoid harm to the others, and it is believed that the damage caused by the children’s deaths will curse all of those involved in the death.
By 6 months felinic babies can be weaned off milk and can start to learn speech, though only small words and half-sentences.
Felinic puberty first begins around 10-13 eclipses with the very strong urge to mentor their younger peers, and many pre-teen felinics will begin to lead younger children around in gangs. This leads onto the natural rebellious stages of felinic development; where young felinics have the urge to defy authority figures to make and follow their own rules.
Felinic youth have a natural instinct to rebel against authority. Even the best-behaved children will feel the urge to rebel in their teenage years. They tend to calm down as they come into adulthood, but some take longer than others to lose the rebellious urges.
In most felinic countries, it is expected for felinics to start their own lives between 18 and 20; though they are often given a grace period to adjust to their new freedoms and get over their defiant urges.
Lifespan facts
• The average lifespan for felinics is 75 eclipses.
• Though most felinics begin puberty around 10-13 eclipses some felinic have started as early as 5 and as late as 23.
• Miscarriages are extremely rare. Less than 1% of pregnancies result in miscarriage.
• Felinic children are very resilient to disease and their under-5 mortality rate is only 0.2-0.3%. With the majority of these deaths being accident-related.
Culture
Felinics live in town or city communities, rarely choosing to live on their own. Despite this they tend to be somewhat apprehensive about others in their wider communities, especially strangers, and create smaller, tighter-knit family groups and gangs of friends.
Families
Felinic parenting techniques are very mentor-like, and many other Sentients criticise them for being emotionally distant to their children. However this is untrue, and most felinic parents are extremely invested in their children’s emotional well-being; with the distances they give their children being a respectful one as it can help them grow independent and make them able to look after themselves properly when their natural rebellious instinct starts to kick in.
The mentor/apprentice relationship that parents and children share also means that parents are able to share responsibilities with their partners equally, consistently, and with minimal stress to everyone involved.
This also suits the rebellious instincts youth feel, as the respect they gain for their parents as educators (as opposed to seeing them as authority) helps break most tension.
In absence of parents, young felinic children will cling to any adult figures they find.
Friendships
Felinics are very reliant on their friends for emotional fulfilment, and felinic friendships tend to hold stronger bonds than siblings. This isn’t to say felinics don’t create close bonds with their siblings —many friendship groups have related felinics— but those who are close with their siblings are close as friends, not as relatives.
Groups of friends often bond over insults and play fighting, but always know each other’s boundaries and will protect each other fiercely from true threats.
It is known that if you offend one felinic, you offend their entire friendship group. And those groups will often seek revenge or justice on the offended person’s behalf.
Felinic friends entwine tails as a sign of trust and affection. When hanging out, felinics will wrap their tails around the hips or tails of their friends.
Rebel Youth
Because of the rebellious instinct of young felinics there tends to be a lot of petty thefts in felinic cities; theft is a mostly-harmless way for felinic youth to feel as if they have rebelled. Theft is, of course, still illegal; but most people ignore these minor crimes as the young felinics will mostly return the items after a week or so. It is generally understood that if you find a young felinic breaking into your (or your neighbour’s) house, you treat them well and send them on their way.
Theft is so common and natural to felinic youth that there are return boxes in front of all government buildings, similar to postal boxes, with descriptions of important stolen items and their owners on a board behind it. The boxes are emptied weekly and any stolen items put in them are taken back to their owners. Most stolen items end up returned through these boxes, though a few smaller items, such as wooden spoons or pillowcases, aren’t even reported as missing and end up being given to charity when their owners can’t be found.
Language
The spoken felinic language is very aggressive-sounding and felinic accents may sound snappy or sarcastic when compared to other cultures. This leads to a lot of miscommunication when they travel as their idea of being friendly is other people’s “sarcastic”; this is especially so when combined with the felinic’s light-hearted teasing that they use to express friendship.
Felinic laughter is very hearty and rich, coming from deep in the chest. Some Sentients say a genuine felinic laugh can improve the mood of almost anyone.
Because of the complicated lettering of the Felinic alphabet there have been many changes to their writing styles as new technology evolved.
Traditionally, felinic people have used charcoal pencils coated in wax to write by hand. One side of the pencil would be thick at the end, and the other filed to a point; the wax was just a thin coat and easily peeled off as the charcoal wore down. As time went on these pencils were sometimes replaced with crayons or two-sided markers, especially in schools with younger children. However, due to these alternatives being seen as “childish” they never became overly popular with older felinics and charcoal is still the legal standard for handwritten documents in most countries.
A more common alternative to textas and crayons are letter stamps. These are cheap and easy to obtain, but time consuming to use and so often only used when copying important, hand-written documents so they are more legible.
The invention of the typewriter in 4,623 AE was a monumental change for wealthy felinics. Though the typewriter was originally created by a human its biggest market was boarding school students in the Gallamor, selling to both felinic and foreign families that attended. The cost of typewriters has gone down over the years but their base price is still rather high, with second-hand typewriters often selling at 250 PIL (500 gold) or more, and new typewriters starting at more than twice that price. This cost is mainly due to the low supply and high demand, as there is only one company making typewriters and the manufacturing process is a closely guarded family secret.
Naming Conventions
There are two felinic naming conventions that are commonly used. The naming conventions common in the Gallamor, and the naming conventions common in other felinic countries. These two conventions are sometimes merged, if felinics from different countries marry, but not always.
Felinics from the Gallamor have two names; a first name and a family name. Gallamor names are often known to be pronounced similar to many International words or names but with strange spellings or enunciation. This has caused a lot of confusion among non-felinics. Their first names are discussed and chosen solely by their parents.
Non-Gallamor felinics have three names; a first, middle, and family name. The first and middle names are usually short, simple names of 1-3 syllables. They often have repetitive letters, such as double “i”s or “ee”s to indicate specific pronunciations. Their names are discussed by their entire extended family, but the final chose is made by their biological mother.
Both conventions of felinic family names are usually passed down from biological mothers to their children; though if the mother takes a life partner she may change her own name to match theirs, and will instead pass that name down to her children instead.
Common Religions
Starku
Animon
Okara
Aurn
Clothing
Felinic clothes are usually cotton button-up robes that hang loosely off the body, with silk netting underclothes that are held tight against the body in layers.
Felinics love to show their expensive undergarments and their robes are often designed to show the edges of their netted skirts and shirts.
In felinic countries, it is considered odd to wear pants; skirts and loose robes are popular with all sexes and anything else is rare to find.
The only time a felinic may wear pants or thick clothes is if they are living in a colder country, such as Uia or Yearba.
Piercings
Felinics love to decorate themselves in piercings, and the placement and colour of a felinic’s piercings have cultural meaning.
Gold and silver are neutral piercings that are used solely for decoration. They can be put anywhere and simply look nice. They usually compliment these with tattoos; usually small, swirling patterns.
Other piercings, however, must be awarded to a felinic officially. Different felinic countries award different piercings, so it is difficult to make an accurate list, but it is accepted that the Crystal Ear Loop is the highest-ranking piercing one can receive and is only given to felinics who have changed the world for the better.
Armour
When going to war felinics wear golden chainmail.
Leather gloves are common, accompanied by thick leather boots.
They don’t often wear helmets, but when they do the helmets are made from silver with gold decorations inset into them.
Other
The standard felinic currency is Piltik, or PIL. This currency is made from waxed paper and is very fragile, but still very common as it is easy to carry and a single note can legally represent up to 1,000 PIL, the equivalent of 2,000 individual gold coins.
In the Gallamor most residential houses use scales from large dragons (usually the moon goliath breed) to shingle their roofs.