Koro (Race)

The Koro (Homo agricola or Homo sapiens agricola) are an extinct member of the hominid family and a close relative of Humans. There has been some debate centered around whether the Koro is a separate species to Homo Sapiens, or whether it is merely a subspecies. They went extinct following the end of Eldham, when the last individual was left behind and did not migrate to Abexilas. They have only been documented to have ever lived in and on Korosechev Island, a small island in north eastern Eldham.
== Origins ==
The Koro genome emerged following extreme isolation from the rest of the gene pool, and several generations of inbreeding and change to suit it's environment. The species evolved out of a migration from an unknown location to Korosechev Island, and the debate around whether Koro is a separate species or a sub species is centered around whether these migrators were Homo sapiens (modern humans) or a separate species in the genus.
The Koro have only ever been documented to live on Korosechev Island, where the species emerged. The migrated people began agriculture and habitation on this island around ~4,000 BP and extremely favored farming opposed to hunter-gathering, leading to them developing an extreme grain based diet consuming and sustaining things such as bread and beer.
The species is strangely uniform, with almost no alterations or major conflictions in genotype or phenotype occurring over it's existence. The appearance of deep blue hair along with green eyes and white skin is assumed to have come with the migrators, and it is suspected there were no other phenotypical differences aboard the arriving few peoples.
== Anatomy ==
=== Skull ===
The cranium of Homo agricola is slightly elongated at the back with an enlarged cerebellum and occipital lobe (the parts of the brain involved in motor control and vision.) This is speculated to have evolved out of the use of sharp tools such as sickles and scythes in repetitive simple tasks, which could be dangerous if not performed accurately or with care. Additionally with better and more advanced vision processing, this could allow for discrepancies within crops to be found more easily and adjusted as such.
The other major note is that of the jaw, which protrudes forward slightly. This is speculated to be a result of consuming more hearty grain and soil foods, which could of required stronger jaw bones. A native recipe for bread known as Ksncr also contains a heard crust and chewier inside, which could have contributed to the jaw shape.
=== Limbs ===
The arms and legs of Homo agricola are larger and more bulky then their H. sapiens counterparts, especially in structures like the femur and metacarpal bones. This results in a far larger average height, that of 7'7 or over 2 meters. The muscles of the Koro are also more developed and larger on average, likely a result of the cultural practices of heavy duty agriculture with carrying and moving large equipment and food stores as a part of day to day life.
== Endangerment ==
=== Theorized Causes ===
The cause of the extremely low numbers of Koro left today are speculated to be due to 3 major extinction events in the species history.
* A major volcano eruption, killing an estimated 97% out of the population of ~30,900
* A large crop disease, killing an estimated 54.8% out of the population of ~23,000
* A genocide committed by the Confederation of Garxijos, killing an estimated 99.5% out of the population of ~200
These events combined slowly whittled down the population, and the effectiveness of a man-made extinction being able to hunt down and eradicate resulted in complete devastation
=== Modern Population ===
Eventually only 1 confirmed living instance of Koro, that being Kroosechev Verokov who is the current leader of Korosechev, remained in modern Eldam. Due to some history, however, it is theorized that some peoples who left the island following the eruption of the volcano could have been classified as instances of Homo Agricola; therefore there could be some unknown living descendants of these leavers that could be classified as Koro. This number is estimated to be very low, however, as it is recorded that only very few people ever left the island, and it is unclear whether the genome had arose yet.
=== Extinction ===
Following the end of Eldham and subsequent arrival of Iristor's Comet, no Koro moved to Abexilas resulting in the extinction of the species. Several pieces of Koro memorabilia ended up in Abexilas however due to people bringing their possessions to the new world, and there has been talks of potentially using magic to revive the species through the use of objects with remaining Koro DNA on them, although it isn't clear how this would be done.
== Classification ==
Some debate has been brought up over whether or not the Koro genome is it's own species or if it is a mere subspecies of human. The argument is centered around whether or not the first settlers on the island that migrated there were Human or some other species entirely. 
The evidence and argument in favor of sub-species points out the extreme similarities in almost every single way except for a few biological differences, and that the first migrators were likely human because of this, along with the fact that the two species brains function very similarly, with similar growth patterns and developments.
The evidence and argument against sub-species points out that it is impossible to guarantee if the first migrators were human or not due to the small sample rise of living Koro today, and the fact that the phenotype of blue hair is almost impossible to find in any human population; therefore it must of been taken either with the migrators or evolved naturally, therefore proving evolution and change has occurred.
Some Koro activists have call the sub-species theory "bigoted and racist, and just snobby humans thinking their superior to everything." Little response has been made by the scientific community on this however.
== Culture ==
=== Practices ===
The Koro people's most notable practice is that of agriculture, of which defines their entire culture, history, life style, politics and even religion. This is estimated to have emerged along with the first migrants to the island; who were believed to have brought their own seeds and were likely already very well versed in agriculture because of this. Koro agriculture is defined by it's extreme scale and intensity, with it's almost Neolithic style almost being as effective or sometimes MORE effective then most modern day farming styles, which is no small part thanks to the bouts of evolution giving the ethnic Koro their strength designed specifically to carry large quantities of water, wheat and seeds along with heavy tools like ploughs and hoes. In Koro culture a child at age 3 is expected to able to lift 3 sickles their size above their waist, and for an young adult of age 25 to be able to lift 100Kg in his prime.
Koro people also had other practices such as construction, lumbering, policing, baking and brewing. These trades were far less common, but were still conducted by some people to help supply the farming population. Most of the trades were done by hereditary families that would take on the same jobs as their parents, and teach their children the same. This resulted in skillful and effective working societies that could keep up with their population demand. The estimated division of labor at the height of the Koro population was
# Farming - 87.4% of the Population
# Baking & Brewing - 6.6% of the Population
# Construction - 4% of the Population
# Policing - 1.3% of the Population
# Lumbering - 0.7% of the Population
=== Technology ===
The Koro people had basic tools such as scythes, sickles and hoes, and each household was expected to make these tools for themselves. They did not display much more prowess beyond this simplicity, however, and their tech largely stayed the same for a majority of their history. The societies did have large advanced underwater irrigation networks, however, which required moving incredible amounts of fresh water from underground to the surface in order to fuel it; although this was done with manual labor instead of innovation.
=== Food ===
The Koro people were not vegetarians, they could and did eat food other than bread, it just so happens that they extremely liked eating bread. Some animals native to the Island they inhabit include Grey Coated Wolves, spiders, some small domesticated birds (although these have become extinct and replaced with chickens.) These meats supplied them with protein, and combined with a large mix of herbs and spices into their breads they managed to live pretty strong lives, albeit with an average like span of only 70 years. A famous Koro bread recipe native to the island is that of Ksncr (A shortened/abbreviated name for Koro Spicy Nutmeg Cinnamon Rolls,) which contains a multitude of spices mixed into a soft chewy dough with a crispy tough outside.
Category:Races
Category:Biota
Category:Lore
Category:Fauna
Category:Traveler's Era