Beastmen

### **General**

Beastmen come in all shapes and sizes and in turn would have drastically different lives from one another. However, there are some things that apply to all beastmen. Beastmen have the same mental capacity as humans, meaning they have a capacity for culture and complex social structures. Their lifespans are about as half as long as humans, many die by the age of 40 but none have past the age of 60. All beastmen have low light vision and have an enhanced sense of smell compared to humans (presence of turbinate bones in their skulls). All Beastmen are covered in fur which come in different colors and patterns. Beastmen have also adopted armor and tool use, most of which they get from trade in exchange for flora or fauna endemic to the region.

### **Subraces**

#### **Beastmen minisculis**

These beastmen are the smallest of beastmen, many are no taller than a foot and the tallest ever recorded did not surpass two feet. These beastmen are expert climbers and burrowers, many having long slender bodies. Some have been known to be capable of flight or gliding. Their coats range from black to white, with some having brown fur. Beastmen minisculis are either strict carnivores or strict herbivores. There is very little in between. They are content with living within trees or burrows they make themselves and use the tree highways to traverse the Marshes of Drache. Beastmen minisculis travel long distances on a daily basis for foraging and encroach on other people's territory without noticing it.

#### **Beastmen rotundus**

Beastmen rotundus are roughly 5 feet in height and stocky in appearance. They have thick fur and loose skin. Some are capable of releasing an unpleasant odor that can incapacitate their enemies. Their fur tends to be mostly black with white stripes running from head to toe. They live in clans and have cleared out parts of the marsh to establish their homes. The larger settlements have been seen to use wooden palisades and most live in a variety of wooden or adobe huts. Their low light vision makes it impossible for night time raids on their settlements. They prefer to use shield wall strategies when it comes to fighting, using spears to poke holes into their enemies. These military tactics were adopted from neighboring human settlements. Beastmen rotundus interact the most with human populations on peaceful terms.

#### **Beastmen muscularis**

Out of the three types of beastmen these are the most belligerent. They hold the same height as Beastmen rotundus but are lighter in weight. They do not have the same loose skin or capability of producing foul odors. Instead they are faster, more agile and far stronger in exchange. They also have the ability to climb and a prehensile tail. They live in caves or plundered settlements as they have a culture of raiding and pillaging. Beastmen muscularis have the most human like hands, which allows them to use a variety of weapons. In battle they excel in guerrilla warfare and packs of them are incredibly well coordinated. They exploit weaknesses in the enemy's defenses and create mismatches from there.

### **Religion**

Each subrace have different focuses in their lives and this is reflected in their religions.

#### **Tree Worship**

For the Beastmen minisculis their entire livelihood is given to them by trees. Trees provide these beastmen shelter, a source of food, a place to store food and a safer highway for travel compared to moving along the ground. It comes to no surprise then that they understand that trees and do their best to nurture them. Beastmen minisculis manually trim diseased leaves and promote sapling growth by bringing water in moss bundles and providing worms to tend to their soil. The most devout also protect saplings by eating the insects that feed on their leaves. They can't do much about larger creatures trampling saplings however.

#### **Cult of Cube**

Beastmen muscularis worship a metallic cube whose origins, allegedly, come from The Cursed Wasteland. A prophet of this cube was responsible for the spread of this cult to the majority of the Beastmen muscularis population that resides in the Marshes of Drache. However this prophet was not an outsider but rather one of the Beastmen muscularis that saw this cube in a dream. The cube is a god of war, each of it's sides covered in ancient weaponry whose only desire is to spill blood. In exchange for worship the cube granted them favor upon the battlefield. Not much else is known about the cube as those who hear of it are the ones on the receiving end of an attack from the cult of cube.

#### **Waste Not Want Not**

Far from being a properly established religion but rather a collection of customs and principles that the Beastmen rotundus have gathered over their years of interaction with other inhabitants of the Marshes of Drache. Beastmen rotundus practice a lifestyle that seeks to make the most of their resources. For every animal carcass they bring they make use of every single part of the carcass.They also pray thanks every meal as honor to the animals butchered. Every tree cut down is replaced with seeds of another. Even their dead is burned to ash to be reused as food for the plants in the soil. Beastmen rotundus serve no gods and do not believe in concepts of afterlife or rebirth.