An'mauti

## Appearance

The An’mauti are gangly and gaunt creatures. They are shrouded in a long, shaggy and hollow fur coat with limbs and a neck not proportionate to their torso. These are long and hide a surprising amount of lean muscle, and they are capable of effectively standing upright with their prehensile tails acting as their counterbalance. Their faces are almost reptilian-like in appearance; with large nostrils accompanying their deep chests, suggesting that in addition to being an arctic predator they can run for long periods of time. Their hands are paddle-like in shape with short, stubbier fingers to aid them in making burrows with a thick, black skin that is difficult to cut.

## Culture

The An’mauti, or “Dark Death” are a beastial race. Studies have shown that they often live in solitude and are opportunistic in nature, going as far as to attack and drag others of their kind into their burrows. However, research has shown that these creatures are surprisingly intelligent. They are capable of understanding a very limited number of words and have evolved towards the ability to mimic what they hear, with some studies showing that these creatures can understand what calls are those of distress and what noises will bring prey closer to them.

Although they are solitary predators, An’mauti have shown that when groups of them inhabit an area, they will establish ‘neutral grounds’; zones where they can congregate and hostility appears to be simply not accepted. In some observations, when hostility was shown in these zones, the An’mauti will each establish who is guilty by toying with the aggressors before they pile onto the presumed offender. Additionally, in these ‘neutral grounds’ An’mauti have shown that they do bond with other creatures and even each other, and during times of congregation they may replicate common motions or noises between each other in lieu of only showing aggression.

In the case of an An’mauti bonding with people, studies showed that the process was very slow or sometimes not possible. It can be difficult to find out where a ‘neutral ground’ is established or to force a new one to be made, often leading an An’mauti to “play nice” until people turn away and therefore give them the opportunity to lunge. In the few cases where An’mauti did bond with people, however, they were shown to be distant but incredibly loyal allies. They would establish ‘neutral grounds’ where people congregated the most and showed comfort, such as personal living quarters and recreation areas.

It’s believed that An’mauti who are separated from their mothers in the early stages of their lives can develop some common people-like traits, and are far easier to reason with than those born and raised only in the wild. An’mauti who are often calm, lacking their opportunistic nature or express a variety of people-like tendencies were probably separated from the wilds when they were young.

Although the An’mauti are classified as being animals, they are believed to be a bit more intelligent than the everyday fauna, but not quite intelligent enough to be on the same level as the other races.

## Languages

All An’mauti know Alzhai by default and one other language. This language is composed of rumbles and growls through infrasound and cannot be spoken or understood by any other race.