Allik

The **Allik** are a race of sentient humanoid even-toed ungulates that live in the Fusiit Archipelago and on the southern part of Heif. Most of them live in the city states of Heif Lla Mbow.

## Etymology

The name *Allik* is of Proto-Nagunan origin and means "those who are sapient", consisting of the verb *lik* "to know" and the agent prefix *al-*. In modern Western Naguna, Allik refer to themselves as *Ulik*.

## Description

The Allik are bipedal mammals that share most body features with humans, with notable differences. The most obvious dissimilarity is the two short horns emerging from the edges of the Allik's forehead. Being even-toed ungulates, the Allik's hands and feet each have an even number of digits. However, the outermost digit of the allic hand has devolved into a vestigial bump, while the innermost digit has become a dexterous thumb. The thumb opposes two more fingers. The feet, or hooves, have four toes forming a half-circle around the sole.

The eyes of Allik have black slit-shaped pupils with rounded edges. Their nose is flat and a little darker than the rest of their face. Their lips are brown to black in color, and the ears are pointy. Allik have a lot of body hair, called *feshe*, contrasting the facial and head hair that is called *fich*. Elderly Allik grow wattles from their neck.

Allik, like most humanoid species, have sexual dimorphism. While both sexes have facial hair, only the males' (*isubu*) extends to the chin and upper lip. Females (*subu*) have two breasts at the height of their abdomen that presumable evolved from a singular udder. The females have wider hips than male Allik, and are less muscular and aggressive.

### Reproduction

Both sexes usually possess the typical reproductive organs, and reproduce just like humans. The gestation period is around 330 days. Newborn Allik have relatively short legs compared to their arms and can walk on all fours shortly after birth. When they grow up, the legs grow faster and surpass the arms in length. Bipedalism evolves after about one year.

Allik have a relatively high percentage to be born as twins. A twin of both a male and female Allik will result in both of them developing into intersex phenotypes called *ulnuj*, which resemble infertile women with a higher level of testosterone. If an *ulnuj* child grows up among many female Allik, it will develop functioning male reproductive organs and become an *omomut*. Both *ulnuj* and *omomut* are considered different genders alongside *subu* and *isubu* in Allik society.

## Society

Allik society is not very hierarchical.

(tbc)

## Language

In prehistory, Allik have adopted a dialect of Proto-Eastern (?) that evolved into the Proto-Naguna language which, itself, has split into different modern languages. Nowadays, most Allik speak **Western Naguna** (*Nguuna*). Proto-Naguna is still used as the written lingua franca, especially by scholars and officials.

## Architecture

Allik architecture combines traditional elements of the Heif and Mabaw building styles and is adapted to the high rainfall and occasional earthquakes in the region. Wood, clay and stone are common building materials. The roof is seen as the most important part of a building.

### Traditional Heif Architecture

Many early settlements on Heif consisted of few wooden buildings arranged in a circle or ellipse to preserve heat. Over time, a single roof was constructed over the housing units that was sloped outwards with deep overhangs into the courtyard, where a fireplace was located.

### Mabaw Variant

On the less cold island of Mabaw, buildings weren't constructed entirely to minimize heat loss and instead also allowed for more open sections. Right angles were not used only on small single houses anymore. To withstand rainfall and wet conditions, Mabaw buildings are often built slightly elevated and with overhanging roofs, often with hidden roofs underneath to deal with the rain.

### Religious Influences and the Swuu

Religious guidelines became an important factor in construction since the larger buildings served mostly sacral purposes. The *Swuu*, a sort of pantheon, became the most prominent feature of Allik temple grounds. Originally it was a circular stone tower that narrowed towards the top in a pear-shaped fashion, originating in the circular settlements of Heif. The top stories had pagoda-like roofs, and the top of the Swuu was open to let in the sunlight, a holy gift in Wapas Loche faith. Over time, the bulb-shaped base of the Swuu became bigger, and the pagoda roofs gave way to a more pronounced cupola.

The Mabaw adaptation of the Swuu changed the outer shape to a hexagonal base, because six is seen as a divine number, and the buildings around the Swuu sprawled out like the petals of a flower.

### Fortification

The Swuu became the centerpiece of the modern monastery, the *Halef*, which was itself the center of the city state. As such, it was the main target during the many wars fought between Allik states. The Halef was constructed on an elevated cobbled stone foundation and surrounded by moats and walls. The moat, or *Llach*, ofted included wider portions artistically designed as artificial lakes.

## Player Info

The Allik culture was founded by Dryanor#4893.