Yahtiitsis Gkauh

Flag of the Chaauhqoh Llhugkauh, representing the Yahtiitsis Gkauh people as a whole.

## Appearance

### Skin type

Pale (covered in grey or brown feathers)

The **Yahtiitsis Gkauh** are a tribe of Gkauh (*Habiliraptor anthropoides*) that inhabit Iaddithis, most specifically the Ashaqi Junquan where they are a minority group, and the former Chaauhqoh Llhugkauh. Led by their first matriarch, Guuduuruh Chuhtuhtuhthuk, the tribe engaged mostly in foraging across the land in their earliest days, but eventually settled and practiced subsistence agriculture. They settled specifically in the southern redwood forests, establishing the town of Shhun Guhchuuru'un. Due to plague and the relatively cold climate, the Gkauh eventually moved northwards where they remain in the northern rainforests today.

The term Yahtiitsis Gkauh literally means "Iaddithis Gkauh", as they are the only known Gkauh tribe to arrive in Iaddithis. The *Chaauhqoh Llhugkauh,* or "Land of the Gkauh", is the name of the region where the Gkauh first settled, but have since abandoned.

## Origins

### Llhun Chaauhqoh, the Old World

Prior to their arrival, the Yahtiitsis Gkauh lived in a large civilization of several diverse Gkauh nations including the city-state of Kuullhukuullhu. This civilization, the *Llhun Chaauhqoh,* was spread across most of the known world, and more Gkauh tribes lived in the wilderness on the periphery of the civilized world. Llhun Chaauhqoh was familiar with many iron tools, constructed massive earthworks, and practiced powerful magic.

It is thought that the Llhun Chaauhqoh was indeed Iaddithis in the ancient past; the discovery of fossils of plants and animals modern Gkauh are familiar with, including preserved body fossils of Gkauh in their traditional burial positions seem to reveal this. Still, others insist that Llhun Chaauhqoh is an extra-dimensional realm.

### Kur Xa'akaakah, the Great Burning

A massive cataclysm called the *Kur Xa'akaakah* ('Great Burn' in Tuulhut) occurred mere days after Gkauh astronomers spotted a new star in the sky. This new star slowly fell from the night sky, and into the daytime, when it hit the world and sent earthquakes, firestorms, tsunamis, and a rain of molten lava across the world. Most of the original Gkauh died in this event, and almost all of their cities were destroyed. Their once lush world was turned into a charred wasteland with no sunlight.

What survivors remained followed one Guuduuruh Chuhtuhtuhthuk, a prominent magician and natural philosopher in the now-ruined city of Kuullhukuullhu. She was able to lead a band of Gkauh to heal the injured survivors, gather any salvage they could, and used the last remaining mana reserves of Kuulhukuullhu to open a portal to Iaddithis.

### Arrival

Upon their arrival to Iaddithis, many Gkauh were unsure of the new world and its unfamiliar things. Many of the plants and animals were significantly different, with the most jarring difference being a kind of long-leafed plant that grew along the ground everywhere- grass. The survivors, numbering several dozen, followed Chutuhtuhthuk across the land, discovering that their ancient avireptilian world was replaced by a world of mammals, and only smaller reptiles and birds remained. Some of these mammals had even built towns, but most that the Gkauh came across were abandoned.

Eventually, the Gkauh arrived in a land that resembled, to an extent, their ancient homeland of conifers, ferns, and flowering trees. However, it was here that they first met the mammalian builders of the world, specifically humans from Ferea. Chutuhtuhthuk herself ran in fear of the humans, and could not communicate with them.

## History

### Under Ladinia

Settling in the location of Shhun Guhchuuru'un, the town established by these migrants, the Gkauh were able to learn from their limited interactions with humans the name of this realm- Iaddithis, or Yahtiitsis as the Gkauh could pronounce it. From here the tribe began to grow crops, and build their own architecture once more.

However, the newly-settled Chaauhqoh Llhugkauh had already been claimed by the Empire of Ladinia, a human nation that spanned a large swath of the south. Being found by the humans, the Gkauh learned the Lemori tongue as best they could speak it, and became subjects of the Ladinian triumvirate. Many of the Gkauh saw this act as one of cowardice, and were fearful of letting their culture be influenced by that of mammals and lost. Thus while Guuduuruh Chuhtuhtuhthuk was promoted to the rank of Count over the now-established County of Gkauhitania, cultural clashes made the populace uneasy with human rule, even if it was light-handed. Many Gkauh debated what the best position was- to accept things as they were and be loyal to their new overlords, to hold out and break away in a bloody war, or to simply re-settle a new land.

### A Free Homeland

However, instability in Ladinia provided an opportunity to gain more autonomy for the Chaauhqoh Llhugkauh; talks with the Ferean government and the new leadership in Ladinia allowed the Matriarch to successfully negotiate Llhugkauh independence. From this point onwards, the new state went about maintaining its old traditions and identity, all whilst beginning diplomacy of its own with the Garden Union.

Still, cold and disease wrought suffering upon the Gkauh. Their already small population suffered as winter came to the southern land, and many froze. Matriarch Guuduuruh herself died of disease, and her successor, Tsiya Ru'uchiiru, nearly did as well. Deciding to move to a more favorable location, and unable to withstand diplomatic pressure, Tsiya signed away the lands of the Chaauhqoh Llhugauh to Ferea, and with the remaining Gkauh set their sights for the northern rainforests.

### Nation Within Another

After erecting a statue in the image of the Gkauh, Tsiya and her loyalists moved northwards to the Ashaqi Junquan. The climate was favorable, and empress Yanay Feng welcomed the Gkauh with open arms. The largest population of Gkauh, still socially conservative but surprisingly willing to tolerate working alongside the Assoti over the humans, settled in the capital of Lianhua. Others lived in free bands throughout the jungle, maintaining isolated communities and homesteads. It is here that the Gkauh remain today, as a cryptic minority, but nonetheless a nation within another.

## Anatomy

Growing up to 3 meters long and between 1.5 to 1.8 meters tall, the Gkauh are a large-bodied species similar in proportion to most hominids. Well over a third of their body length is dedicated to tail alone. Despite their long bodies, their hollow bones and many air sacs allow them to be lightweight, and only as heavy as the average human of a similar height.

The Gkauh are covered in grey or brown feathers, with darker faces and skin that ranges from pale to dark brown. The youth are born with downy feathers upon hatching, and are a dull brown with pale splotches. This is likely a leftover from an age where they needed to camouflage among the forest floor. As they grow, Gkauh children grow in their wing feathers and can engage in wing-assisted incline running. The most agile Gkauh children can run up slopes at nearly 85 degrees, though this ability decreases sharply as they reach adulthood.

Their eyesight allows the Gkauh to see into the ultraviolet spectrum, and the colors that they can perceive are vastly different from those that mammals do. While most of the 'typical' human color spectrum can be seen, many objects may vary in color due to the amount of UV radiation reflected by the object. Furthermore, their language of Tuulhut (and other now-dead Gkauh languages) are mostly unpronounceable to non-Gkauh, as their oral, nasal, and esophageal structure is so different from that of a human. Their sense of taste is similar to that of mammals, but their ability to taste certain toxins and chemicals varies somewhat- most notably their sensitivity to capsaicin, the chemical produced in peppers.

## Culture

The culture of the Yahtiitsis Gkauh is heavily derived from the culture of Kuullhukuullhu, the ancient city-state that most of the original Gkauh came from. Denizens of other former Llhun Chaauhqoh nations have also contributed to the whole of the new tribal culture. All of the previous culture, however, has been twisted into something new by the small size of the tribe, their travels, shared trauma, and their new home.

### Diet

The Gkauh are omnivores, though they traditionally eat more meat than plant matter. In Iaddithis, this has meant that the Gkauh have taken to eating fish and wild game, supplemented by farmed plants. These farmed plants include gourds such as squash and pumpkin, root vegetables such as turnips, beets, and onions, and various kinds of peppers and melons. Mushrooms and wild berries are also harvested from the wilderness alongside game.

Most of these vegetables are eaten either steamed and salted, roasted in an iron pot not dissimilar to a Dutch oven or casserole dish, or fried in animal fat. Many Yahtiitsis Gkauh dishes have incorporated the extensive use of hot peppers. Since the Gkauh cannot biologically feel the burn of capsaicin and only the taste of the chemical (only mammals have the receptors to feel the burn of capsaicin), they can handle amounts of spicy food that could incapacitate most humans.

### Language

The Yahtiitsis Gkauh speak Tuulhut primarily. Tuulhut is almost completely unpronounceable to most mammals, though a roughly similar pronunciation can be made, as well as a Romanized script. It is a tonal language with five tones; low flat or neutral, high flat or long, rising, falling, and a down-up tone. Its many phonemes include vowels made by rumbling within the Gkauh body similar to those made by ratite birds of similar size, dental whistling, and various snout-clicks that would replace lingual consonants (as the Gkauh tongue is fixed to the bottom of the jaw).

Tuulhut was widely spoken in Llhun Chaauhqoh as a lingua franca, even if it was only the native language of the Kuullhukuullhu and surrounding lands. It is because of Tuulhut's use in trade among the ancient Gkauh that non-Kuullhukuullhu Gkauh were able to join the refugees that became the Yahtiitsis Gkauh.

### Property and Rulership

Kuullhukuullhu's culture was mostly egalitarian and communal, with large plots of land held as commons, and personal dwellings for each family and their belongings. Hierarchy primarily existed and still exists in the form of seniority, with younger Gkauh deferring to their elders or more experienced Gkauh. Much of modern Yahtiitsis Gkauh culture is derived from this, as they do not have official leadership positions. Guuduuruh Chuhtuhtuhthuk's role as the matriarch came from her age and ability to facilitate resources and charisma in a time of extreme hardship; her role is only established through seniority and respect alone, and she serves only to facilitate the requests and needs of the rest of the tribe. Many outside observers have described this type of society as "anarchist" or "communist", though the Gkauh have little concept of what these human words mean.

The Gkauh see two forms of objects- that which belongs to the household, and that which belongs to the whole community. True personal property only exists in the form of tools or clothing that fit only a single individual, or aides like handicaps for the injured. Some communal property is interpreted as belonging only to the residents of a particular area, such as a town or nation; other "true commons" such as the seas also are recognized.

### Religion

All of the Iaddithis Gkauh practice the faith of Nu'u Tuunghuk to some extent. Nu'u Tuunghuk was the main faith of the Llhun Chaauhqoh, and as such many still believe in it. The faith is tied strongly to the old magic of Llhun Chaauhqoh, and the ability to create the portal to Iaddithis from the ruined past was seen as a miracle, and that the Kur Xa'akaakah was not a divine punishment but a horrible accident beyond even the gods' control. Thusly, many Nu'u Tuunghuk believe that the Kur Xa'akaakah killed even the gods themselves. It is an important tenet of Iaddithine Nu'u Tuunghuk to revive or necromance the ancient gods once more, and through that gain their eternal favor.

### Views on Mammals

Hailing from a world where the largest mammals were only a meter long, the Gkauh are significantly off-put by the presence of large mammals including humans. Mammals are thought of as carriers of disease, and the texture of their fur and hair is off-putting to the feathery Gkauh. Since their situation is less than ideal, however, the Yahtiitsis Gkauh are not above consuming mammal flesh including that of humans, and plans to obtain domesticated mammals from humans have been put forth before. Other Gkauh have suggested that they would hunt humans like game animals should a group of humans ever attack or threaten them.