Post by Andunare on Jul 26, 2007 17:54:57 GMT -5
Classification: Ryferra have both human and feline characteristics. They are commonly known as mooncats and are sometimes mistaken for werecats, a different type of feline creature.
Size: An average ryferra is typically slightly shorter than the average human being. Males are generally between 4 ½ and 5 ½ feet tall and weigh between 160 and 300 lbs. Females are slightly taller and lighter than males, between 4 ¾ and 5 ¾ feet tall and 130 and 250 lbs. in weight.
Appearance: The ryferra appear to be a cross between a humanoid creature and a large lynx. Their faces are distinctly feline in appearance and are covered in thick fur. Ryferra have short, whiskered muzzles lined with small, but dagger sharp, canine teeth. Their furry lips are supple, however, and capable of human expression, and their well-developed tongues and vocal chords allow them to speak as humans do. Ryferra have large, globular eyes with slit pupils, which are often gold, amber, ochre, orange, green, or even white, violet, or scarlet. A ryferra’s ears are situated on the top of its skull like a feline’s and are tipped with a tuft of dark, wiry fur. The fur on their cheeks is especially thick and flares out slightly where their jawbones meet their necks. Fur covers a ryferra’s face and head and flows down over its neck and shoulders. It continues down their arms to the elbows, where it begins to fade and eventually disappears entirely. No fur is present on a ryferra’s hands, which are human in appearance, save for a slight curvature and sharpness of their fingernails. Likewise, there is little or no fur on a ryferra’s chest or stomach. A ryferra’s shoulder fur condenses into a small strip which runs along its spine until it reaches its waist. From the hips down, the ryferra are feline in appearance and are completely covered in fur. Their legs are unusually, even disproportionately, long and thin and end in large, soft paws. Though they are bipedal, ryferra do not walk in the same manner as humans. Ryferra walk with a slight bend in their knees, springing lightly and gracefully forward with each step. A long, thick tail beginning at the base of a ryferra’s spine allows it to keep its balance while moving in this manner. A ryferra’s paws are large and the toes can be spread wide, in order to help them stay upright, and are equipped with rough, gripping pads and sharp, retractable claws. Most ryferra have golden or reddish brown fur, and many have dark spots or speckles, especially on their shoulders and back.
Anatomy: A ryferra’s eyes are extremely sensitive, even in the poorest light, due to their size and structure. Their nasal passages are also enlarged, giving them heightened olfactory senses. Beyond that, a ryferra’s internal anatomy is almost identical to that of a human being’s.
Diet: Ryferra are omnivorous creatures, though they prefer meat over vegetable material. Ryferra have been known to eat almost any kind of animal, including fish and insects, and also consume fungi, berries, nuts, eggs, roots, herbs, and even grains and vegetables when other food is scarce. Not even a starving ryferra will stoop to eating carrion, however, and most refrain from eating feline and humanoid creatures.
Development: Ryferra kits are born after a gestation of nine months, usually one at a time, though twins and even triplets are not unheard of. When born they are about the same size as a human newborn, with thin, downy fur and closed eyes. Kits open their eyes when they are twelve weeks old, and they are capable of walking at around eight months of age. Females reach sexual maturity around age 12, while males do not mature until around 15 years of age. At this time, both genders are considered adults and are allowed to take mates. Ryferra often live to be between 65 and 80 years old, though females generally live longer than males and have been known to reach their 90s.
Abilities: Ryferra are skilled hunters and trackers, capable of stalking and killing large prey animals with ease and grace. Their hunting abilities are aided by their heightened senses of hearing, sight, and smell, as well as a natural capacity for stealth and unusually quick reflexes. Ryferra are known for their prowess at tree climbing and are sometimes more comfortable moving through the treetops than along the forest floor.
Magic: Ryferra are magical beings by nature. Most have several inborn magical abilities which manifest around the age at which they reach maturity. On top of these common abilities, some ryferra develop other magical skills and can become magic users of various kinds. A ryferra’s capacity for magic varies depending upon the individual.
In the light of the moon, ryferra gain the ability to change form. The change is not compulsory, as with a werecat or similar lycanthropic creature, but can only be made in the light of the moon. (Thus, a ryferra can shift on a cloudy night when the moon is partially or temporarily hidden, but not on the night of the new moon.) When shifting, a ryferra assumes the form of a great lynx, with strength and speed superior to that of its lesser brethren. A ryferra’s lynx form greatly resembles its normal appearance and retains the ryferra’s normal coat color and markings. Only one limitation is placed upon the ryferra’s ability to shift. When the moon sets and the sun begins to rise, a ryferra must revert to its original form. If it fails to do so, the ryferra becomes trapped in its second form and eventually looses its sanity, forced to live like a beast.
Most ryferra also have a sixth sense which warns them of imminent danger and occasionally even of threats further in the future. When a ryferra first displays this talent it acts only to heighten its reflexes, giving warning of an event only a fraction of a second before it occurs. Some ryferra learn to develop this gift over time, however, and can use it to predict an opponent’s actions in battle or sense dark intentions in a potential foe. It is rumored that a few of the most learned sages can even use it at will to peer into the future’s cloudy depths, but this level of control takes years of patience and effort to attain.
Those ryferra who do become magic users often specialize in nature magic, communing with their surroundings, nurturing plants, speaking with animals, influencing the weather, and such.
Weaknesses: Silver is perhaps the ryferra’s greatest weakness. Much like their ancient lycanthropic ancestors, the ryferra cannot abide the touch of silver, which is like a poison to them. The touch of silver causes a ryferra great agony, and if one is forced to endure it for too long, it will eventually die a slow, terrible death. The touch of silver also renders a ryferra unable to change form, and for this reason many who seek to kill a ryferra arm themselves with silver tipped arrows or darts.
Apart from silver, the ryferra fear fire above all else. Only a truly twisted ryferra would ever seek to use magic to create or manipulate fire, and ryferra do not harness fire for heat, light, or any other purpose.
Habitat: Ryferra prefer to live in forested areas, especially those in the foothills or on the slopes of mountains. Once, the ryferra dwelt mainly in the Tairafon and Cedenwys forests of Talambar and in the woods of Atherom. Hunting and enslavement by humans has drastically reduced their numbers over the years, however, and many of the old family lines have died out. Now, the last ryferra dwell mostly in the Chakamvua rainforest of Srada, though it is rumored that a few still hunt on the slopes of the Talymynyds.
Society: Ryferran society is highly structured in nature, bound and held by traditions which are as ancient as the race itself. It is organized into tribes, each of which contains all of the female members of a family line. Ryferran families are matriarchal; each tribe is led by its Rethyn, or eldest female member. When a male ryferra wishes to take a mate, he leaves his own tribe to join that of his partner and takes her family name as his own. Thus, the females, rather than the males, continue their family lines. One’s heritage is of great significance in ryferran culture. The oldest families, some of whom can trace their roots back to the heroes and kings of the Ketharyll, are the most esteemed and privileged. Younger families, which formed from schisms within a larger, older family, are less respected. Power within the tribe is determined by age; the older the member, the higher their status, up to the ruling Rethyn. When the current Rethyn dies, the next oldest female member takes her place, and so forth. The right of the Rethyn to rule is very rarely challenged, but when it is the challenger usually overthrows the current Rethyn by nonviolent means or in an honorable duel to the death. Either way, power passes to the next eldest female, regardless of which ryferra effected the coup. For this reason, schisms within the family group are more likely to occur than an overthrow of the Rethyn, and even schisms are rare, due to the fact that new families have almost no power or standing amongst the other ryferran tribes.
A ryferra’s heritage is of the most importance at the Khylur, a gathering of local ryferran tribes which takes place at each solstice. The Khylur is also the time when the Keruhnatha, or Great Council, meets to discuss events which affect all of the ryferra dwelling in an area. The Keruhnatha is comprised of the Rethyn of each tribe, and just as within the tribe, the Rethyn of the oldest ryferran house present at the Keruhnatha presides over the entire council. In the past, great Khylurs at which ryferra from every corner of Domhantir gathered were sometimes called in times of great emergency, and high Keruhnatha were held amongst the wisest of the Rethyn, but currently there are so few ryferra left alive that the ancient tradition of the Khylur often goes unobserved. Most of the old families have died out, hunted and starved out of existence by the rapidly expanding human populations in Talambar and Atherom. Those that remain are often too preoccupied with their own survival to worry about the grievances of their neighbors.
The ryferra’s abhorrence of fire has limited the development of their society throughout the ages. As humankind learned to forge metal weapons and tools and became more industrialized and the dwarves dreamed of complex and marvelous machines, the ryferra instead learned to manipulate their environments in order to provide naturally for their needs. To this day the ryferra use devices fashioned from wood and stone and eat all of their food, including their meat, raw. The bitterness held by most ryferra against humankind is increased by the fact that humans often harness the power of fire to drive ryferra from their forest homes, though they often do so unwittingly. (Human knowledge of ryferran culture, and therefore of their weaknesses, is extremely limited due to the fact that most humans do not view ryferra as sentient beings at all.)
Culture: Ryferran culture, though seemingly primitive to outsiders, is actually very sophisticated and complex. Their culture rests upon the stories which have been passed down from one generation to the next, which collectively are known as the Ketharyll. The Ketharyll (which is pronounced keth HAR ril, with the th fully pronounced followed by a slight pronunciation of the syllable ha) tells the history of the world from the Ryferran’s point of view (thus, it is classified as mythology for the purposes of this site, as it includes their religious beliefs and may or may not be historically true). Some of the stories in the Ketharyll are histories, meant to preserve the memory of an important even for future generations, while others are fables of sorts, intended to instruct young ones. Still others are told purely for entertainment’s sake, and may be romances, tales of heroic deeds, or even comedies. What all the stories of the Ketharyll have in common is that each is tied to a constellation in the night sky, which often represents the figure or object which is the focus of the tale. Thus, as world turns and the stars visible in the night sky change, so do the stories recited by the tribe storyteller, known as the Khula, or Keeper. Those stories which are deemed most important are tied to constellations nearer to the pole star so that they can be seen all year long. The Ryferra do not have a written language, so the Ketharyll is a completely oral tradition. Learning the words by heart takes a lifetime of dedication. Because the Ketharyll is used as a teaching instrument as well as for entertainment, the Khula are highly respected members of their tribes, below only the Rethyn in status. The Khula are also responsible for adding new tales to the Ketharyll, should an event take place which they deem worthy of preservation.
Outlook/ Alignment: The ryferra, like most races, are neutral in alignment. Individuals may lean towards good or evil, law or chaos, as they so choose. Because of their endangered status, most ryferra are secretive and shy, rarely venturing forth from their secluded forest homes and making little or no contact with the members of other races. Ryferra consider their wilderness homes sacred and retaliate harshly against invaders of any kind.
Religion: The ryferra have little in the way of organized religion. What beliefs they do have are centered on a number of complex myths passed down through the ages by word of mouth, each corresponding to a specific star or constellation. Though they revere the moon and stars, they do not worship them as some races do but merely use them to teach and inspire.
Lore: Ryferran lore is rich and intricate in nature. Ryferran myths are often set in the form of fables and are used to teach life lessons to young kits. Some are told merely to entertain, however, and still others tell of important events in Ryferran and Domhantirian history. Most of these stories correspond to a star or constellation which represents a character, item, or event central to the myth. As the constellations visible in the night sky change, so do the myths recited by the tribe Khula, or Keeper, and many stories are consistently told at the same time each year. Though there is not a definite order in which the tales must be told, the most important stories correspond to constellations which are visible year-round. (See the culture section of this post for more details about Ryferran storytelling.)
Size: An average ryferra is typically slightly shorter than the average human being. Males are generally between 4 ½ and 5 ½ feet tall and weigh between 160 and 300 lbs. Females are slightly taller and lighter than males, between 4 ¾ and 5 ¾ feet tall and 130 and 250 lbs. in weight.
Appearance: The ryferra appear to be a cross between a humanoid creature and a large lynx. Their faces are distinctly feline in appearance and are covered in thick fur. Ryferra have short, whiskered muzzles lined with small, but dagger sharp, canine teeth. Their furry lips are supple, however, and capable of human expression, and their well-developed tongues and vocal chords allow them to speak as humans do. Ryferra have large, globular eyes with slit pupils, which are often gold, amber, ochre, orange, green, or even white, violet, or scarlet. A ryferra’s ears are situated on the top of its skull like a feline’s and are tipped with a tuft of dark, wiry fur. The fur on their cheeks is especially thick and flares out slightly where their jawbones meet their necks. Fur covers a ryferra’s face and head and flows down over its neck and shoulders. It continues down their arms to the elbows, where it begins to fade and eventually disappears entirely. No fur is present on a ryferra’s hands, which are human in appearance, save for a slight curvature and sharpness of their fingernails. Likewise, there is little or no fur on a ryferra’s chest or stomach. A ryferra’s shoulder fur condenses into a small strip which runs along its spine until it reaches its waist. From the hips down, the ryferra are feline in appearance and are completely covered in fur. Their legs are unusually, even disproportionately, long and thin and end in large, soft paws. Though they are bipedal, ryferra do not walk in the same manner as humans. Ryferra walk with a slight bend in their knees, springing lightly and gracefully forward with each step. A long, thick tail beginning at the base of a ryferra’s spine allows it to keep its balance while moving in this manner. A ryferra’s paws are large and the toes can be spread wide, in order to help them stay upright, and are equipped with rough, gripping pads and sharp, retractable claws. Most ryferra have golden or reddish brown fur, and many have dark spots or speckles, especially on their shoulders and back.
Anatomy: A ryferra’s eyes are extremely sensitive, even in the poorest light, due to their size and structure. Their nasal passages are also enlarged, giving them heightened olfactory senses. Beyond that, a ryferra’s internal anatomy is almost identical to that of a human being’s.
Diet: Ryferra are omnivorous creatures, though they prefer meat over vegetable material. Ryferra have been known to eat almost any kind of animal, including fish and insects, and also consume fungi, berries, nuts, eggs, roots, herbs, and even grains and vegetables when other food is scarce. Not even a starving ryferra will stoop to eating carrion, however, and most refrain from eating feline and humanoid creatures.
Development: Ryferra kits are born after a gestation of nine months, usually one at a time, though twins and even triplets are not unheard of. When born they are about the same size as a human newborn, with thin, downy fur and closed eyes. Kits open their eyes when they are twelve weeks old, and they are capable of walking at around eight months of age. Females reach sexual maturity around age 12, while males do not mature until around 15 years of age. At this time, both genders are considered adults and are allowed to take mates. Ryferra often live to be between 65 and 80 years old, though females generally live longer than males and have been known to reach their 90s.
Abilities: Ryferra are skilled hunters and trackers, capable of stalking and killing large prey animals with ease and grace. Their hunting abilities are aided by their heightened senses of hearing, sight, and smell, as well as a natural capacity for stealth and unusually quick reflexes. Ryferra are known for their prowess at tree climbing and are sometimes more comfortable moving through the treetops than along the forest floor.
Magic: Ryferra are magical beings by nature. Most have several inborn magical abilities which manifest around the age at which they reach maturity. On top of these common abilities, some ryferra develop other magical skills and can become magic users of various kinds. A ryferra’s capacity for magic varies depending upon the individual.
In the light of the moon, ryferra gain the ability to change form. The change is not compulsory, as with a werecat or similar lycanthropic creature, but can only be made in the light of the moon. (Thus, a ryferra can shift on a cloudy night when the moon is partially or temporarily hidden, but not on the night of the new moon.) When shifting, a ryferra assumes the form of a great lynx, with strength and speed superior to that of its lesser brethren. A ryferra’s lynx form greatly resembles its normal appearance and retains the ryferra’s normal coat color and markings. Only one limitation is placed upon the ryferra’s ability to shift. When the moon sets and the sun begins to rise, a ryferra must revert to its original form. If it fails to do so, the ryferra becomes trapped in its second form and eventually looses its sanity, forced to live like a beast.
Most ryferra also have a sixth sense which warns them of imminent danger and occasionally even of threats further in the future. When a ryferra first displays this talent it acts only to heighten its reflexes, giving warning of an event only a fraction of a second before it occurs. Some ryferra learn to develop this gift over time, however, and can use it to predict an opponent’s actions in battle or sense dark intentions in a potential foe. It is rumored that a few of the most learned sages can even use it at will to peer into the future’s cloudy depths, but this level of control takes years of patience and effort to attain.
Those ryferra who do become magic users often specialize in nature magic, communing with their surroundings, nurturing plants, speaking with animals, influencing the weather, and such.
Weaknesses: Silver is perhaps the ryferra’s greatest weakness. Much like their ancient lycanthropic ancestors, the ryferra cannot abide the touch of silver, which is like a poison to them. The touch of silver causes a ryferra great agony, and if one is forced to endure it for too long, it will eventually die a slow, terrible death. The touch of silver also renders a ryferra unable to change form, and for this reason many who seek to kill a ryferra arm themselves with silver tipped arrows or darts.
Apart from silver, the ryferra fear fire above all else. Only a truly twisted ryferra would ever seek to use magic to create or manipulate fire, and ryferra do not harness fire for heat, light, or any other purpose.
Habitat: Ryferra prefer to live in forested areas, especially those in the foothills or on the slopes of mountains. Once, the ryferra dwelt mainly in the Tairafon and Cedenwys forests of Talambar and in the woods of Atherom. Hunting and enslavement by humans has drastically reduced their numbers over the years, however, and many of the old family lines have died out. Now, the last ryferra dwell mostly in the Chakamvua rainforest of Srada, though it is rumored that a few still hunt on the slopes of the Talymynyds.
Society: Ryferran society is highly structured in nature, bound and held by traditions which are as ancient as the race itself. It is organized into tribes, each of which contains all of the female members of a family line. Ryferran families are matriarchal; each tribe is led by its Rethyn, or eldest female member. When a male ryferra wishes to take a mate, he leaves his own tribe to join that of his partner and takes her family name as his own. Thus, the females, rather than the males, continue their family lines. One’s heritage is of great significance in ryferran culture. The oldest families, some of whom can trace their roots back to the heroes and kings of the Ketharyll, are the most esteemed and privileged. Younger families, which formed from schisms within a larger, older family, are less respected. Power within the tribe is determined by age; the older the member, the higher their status, up to the ruling Rethyn. When the current Rethyn dies, the next oldest female member takes her place, and so forth. The right of the Rethyn to rule is very rarely challenged, but when it is the challenger usually overthrows the current Rethyn by nonviolent means or in an honorable duel to the death. Either way, power passes to the next eldest female, regardless of which ryferra effected the coup. For this reason, schisms within the family group are more likely to occur than an overthrow of the Rethyn, and even schisms are rare, due to the fact that new families have almost no power or standing amongst the other ryferran tribes.
A ryferra’s heritage is of the most importance at the Khylur, a gathering of local ryferran tribes which takes place at each solstice. The Khylur is also the time when the Keruhnatha, or Great Council, meets to discuss events which affect all of the ryferra dwelling in an area. The Keruhnatha is comprised of the Rethyn of each tribe, and just as within the tribe, the Rethyn of the oldest ryferran house present at the Keruhnatha presides over the entire council. In the past, great Khylurs at which ryferra from every corner of Domhantir gathered were sometimes called in times of great emergency, and high Keruhnatha were held amongst the wisest of the Rethyn, but currently there are so few ryferra left alive that the ancient tradition of the Khylur often goes unobserved. Most of the old families have died out, hunted and starved out of existence by the rapidly expanding human populations in Talambar and Atherom. Those that remain are often too preoccupied with their own survival to worry about the grievances of their neighbors.
The ryferra’s abhorrence of fire has limited the development of their society throughout the ages. As humankind learned to forge metal weapons and tools and became more industrialized and the dwarves dreamed of complex and marvelous machines, the ryferra instead learned to manipulate their environments in order to provide naturally for their needs. To this day the ryferra use devices fashioned from wood and stone and eat all of their food, including their meat, raw. The bitterness held by most ryferra against humankind is increased by the fact that humans often harness the power of fire to drive ryferra from their forest homes, though they often do so unwittingly. (Human knowledge of ryferran culture, and therefore of their weaknesses, is extremely limited due to the fact that most humans do not view ryferra as sentient beings at all.)
Culture: Ryferran culture, though seemingly primitive to outsiders, is actually very sophisticated and complex. Their culture rests upon the stories which have been passed down from one generation to the next, which collectively are known as the Ketharyll. The Ketharyll (which is pronounced keth HAR ril, with the th fully pronounced followed by a slight pronunciation of the syllable ha) tells the history of the world from the Ryferran’s point of view (thus, it is classified as mythology for the purposes of this site, as it includes their religious beliefs and may or may not be historically true). Some of the stories in the Ketharyll are histories, meant to preserve the memory of an important even for future generations, while others are fables of sorts, intended to instruct young ones. Still others are told purely for entertainment’s sake, and may be romances, tales of heroic deeds, or even comedies. What all the stories of the Ketharyll have in common is that each is tied to a constellation in the night sky, which often represents the figure or object which is the focus of the tale. Thus, as world turns and the stars visible in the night sky change, so do the stories recited by the tribe storyteller, known as the Khula, or Keeper. Those stories which are deemed most important are tied to constellations nearer to the pole star so that they can be seen all year long. The Ryferra do not have a written language, so the Ketharyll is a completely oral tradition. Learning the words by heart takes a lifetime of dedication. Because the Ketharyll is used as a teaching instrument as well as for entertainment, the Khula are highly respected members of their tribes, below only the Rethyn in status. The Khula are also responsible for adding new tales to the Ketharyll, should an event take place which they deem worthy of preservation.
Outlook/ Alignment: The ryferra, like most races, are neutral in alignment. Individuals may lean towards good or evil, law or chaos, as they so choose. Because of their endangered status, most ryferra are secretive and shy, rarely venturing forth from their secluded forest homes and making little or no contact with the members of other races. Ryferra consider their wilderness homes sacred and retaliate harshly against invaders of any kind.
Religion: The ryferra have little in the way of organized religion. What beliefs they do have are centered on a number of complex myths passed down through the ages by word of mouth, each corresponding to a specific star or constellation. Though they revere the moon and stars, they do not worship them as some races do but merely use them to teach and inspire.
Lore: Ryferran lore is rich and intricate in nature. Ryferran myths are often set in the form of fables and are used to teach life lessons to young kits. Some are told merely to entertain, however, and still others tell of important events in Ryferran and Domhantirian history. Most of these stories correspond to a star or constellation which represents a character, item, or event central to the myth. As the constellations visible in the night sky change, so do the myths recited by the tribe Khula, or Keeper, and many stories are consistently told at the same time each year. Though there is not a definite order in which the tales must be told, the most important stories correspond to constellations which are visible year-round. (See the culture section of this post for more details about Ryferran storytelling.)