Humenaki

**Humenaki**, alternatively spelt *humanaki* or *huminaki*, are human-alminaki amalgams native to Kubrajzar, descended of the female humans and male alminaki populations brought to Kubrajzar by the god Meghzaal. They are spread across Kubrajzar and are able to acclimatize to a wide variety of temperatures, humidity, and altitudes. Their greatest concentration is in the territories spanning the Qabar-Kirkanshir cultures, which boast desert, mountain, lake, jungle, and river ecosystems.

## Biology

### Anatomy & Physiology

Humenaki physiology is closely homologous to corresponding aspects of human and alminaki physiology. The humenaki body consists of the legs, the torso, the arms, the neck, and the head. They are bipedal, lack external tails, have opposable thumbs, and are sexually dimorphic.

Humenaki features have great variation from individual to individual, with some exhibiting features as rounded as those of alminaki, while others are as angular as humans. Their gait tends to be quite graceful and they have maintained alminaki grace and litheness. Like their alminaki and human forebears, humenaki possess a faster and more accurate throw than other creatures. They are among the most effective long-distance runners and, while they are not quite capable of the bursts of speed that pure alminaki can muster, they remain quicker than humans over short distances. Their alminaki inheritance also means they are efficient at storing and surviving long without water, and have very productive sweat glands that help avoid heat exhaustion while running. They tend to have larger eyes than humans, though not quite as large as those of alminaki, and their eyes reflect visible light back through the retina, contributing to superior night vision and the 'starry' effect commong to alminaki (although slightly blurring the image). Humenaki often exhibit brown eye colours, varying from almost-black to light brown. This is followed in commonality by amber, then hazel, then green, then heterochromatic variations. Blue and grey eye colours are extraordinarily rare, as are occurrences of dark red pigmentations. While humenaki are capable of producing tears, these are not as copious as those of humans.

The most common skin colour ranges from sandy beige to the mild red of sandstone. While paler colours do not occur, it is not uncommon for individuals to be different tones of brown, with very dark ('black') being possible but rare. Individuals are born with viny bioluminescent pigments, formed into intricate floral designs, all over their arms, backs, shoulders, torsos, and necks. These symmetrical patterns glow green or blue in the dark and persist through childhood until the onset of puberty when they steadily begin to fade.

The average height for an adult humenaki male is about 183 cm (6 ft), while the average height for adult humenaki females is about 171 cm (5 ft 6 in). Though possessing that unusual broad-shouldered construction and robustness of frame found in the alminaki, humenaki tend to simultaneously be quite slender and lanky, giving them quite a unique appearance. Moreover, their stature does not tend to shrink with age. Particularly frail or ill individuals may, however, exhibit bad posture regardless of age. Humenaki are also natural climbers, and the finger of their hands tend to be longer than those of humans, allowing for greater grip and reach. Their feet are also more versatile than human feet, with longer toes, greater prehensility, and a naturally thicker sole.

Similar to humans, humenaki have a coating of vellus hair across their bodies - this is so short and wispy as to be practically invisible. Like humans and alminaki, a follicle of terminal hair grows on the scalp and can begin to fall in males with the passage of age. Males begin to exhibit facial hair at puberty, which becomes thicker with age. Hair is most often straight and flowing, though it is not uncommon for wavy or even curly hair to be present in individuals. It is more common for beard hair to be curled than scalp hair. Hair colour is as broad as in humans, though black is the rarest hair colour in humenaki. Auburn is the most common, followed by different tones of brown, then red, then blond. With age, hair tends to turn white. As in alminaki, a crown of bright feathers runs along the brow of humenaki individuals - while frontal feathers tend to be smaller and softer, those at the back of the head have evolved to be larger and either grow upward with the appearance of a crown or downward.

Humenaki males have greater upper body and body strength than females, while women tend to have higher body fat. Female skin also tends to be lighter on average. Male voices are usually deeper than their female counterparts, and females tend to have a longer life span. Like other sapients, humenaki have the ability of speech and are able to create new and complex ideas, learn and explore magics, and develop technology without divine intervention.

### Life Cycle

The life of a humenaki can be split into a number of developmental stages: infancy, childhood, puberty, adulthood, and old age. The expressions of these stages may begin earlier and end later depending on the culture in question.

Humenaki reproduce via sexual intercourse, like their alminaki and human forebears. The gestation period is forty-eight weeks (eleven months). Due to the humenaki frame and the size of the foetus, childbirth is as dangerous a process for them as it is for humans or alminaki. Labours lasting up to twenty-four hours, sometimes more, can lead to the death of either the mother, the child, or both. Even after a successful birth, levels of infant mortality tend to be quite high - however, it is not quite as high as in humans due to the greater robustness provided by alminaki traits. Like humans and alminaki, humenaki are helpless at birth - though due to the greater gestation period newborns tend to be more developed and grow quickly relative to humans. They usually reach sexual maturity from ten to thirteen years of age, with females continuing to develop until sixteen years and males developing until age nineteen.

Humenaki females do not experience menopause and, beyond illness or frailty brought about by other factors, age itself does not significantly weaken a humenaki. The life span of an individual depends on numerous factors, including genetics, lifestyle, environment, availability of medicine, amongst other things. An individual who is afforded their needs can live an average of ninety years, while one who is not can live an average of twenty or thirty years.

### Diet

Humenaki are omnivorous, and are capable of surviving on both a purely vegetarian or a purely meat-based diet. Where agriculture is not possible, humenaki employ various wats to secure food, including hunter-gatherer methods or animal husbandry as part of a wider pastoral way of life. Where agriculture is developed humenaki have been able to develop urban ways of living, and the types of food consumed, and the way in which they are prepared, can vary widely. However, some foods that have been developed by humenaki, particularly in the Qabar-Kirkanshir cultural sphere, include an unleavened flatbread known as *tehr*, made of flour, water, and salt, and often stored like scrolls, as well as soured camel's milk, known as *lebahr khan* among the inhabitants of the Kubarjzar badlands.

Humenaki are quite resilient and can go long period of time without food or water. This is aided by their heightened ability to store water and energy as well as their efficient and graceful movements which, like alminaki, expends minimal energy and removes needless movements. An individual is able to survive for six to ten weeks without food, depending on stored body fat, while survival without water is usually limited to nine or ten days.

## Psychology

### Sleep

While possessing traits that enable them to be active during the night, humenaki are by nature diurnal. Individuals require, on average, seven to eight hours of sleep per day regardless of age. Though it is possible to sleep less than this, sleep deprivation can have negative health effects. A sustained restriction of sleep to less than seven hours per day can bring about changes in physiology and mental state, including reduced memory, fatigue, aggression, greater propensity towards illness, and bodily discomfort. Like all sentient creatures, humenaki are capable of dreaming during their sleep and are by nature linked to the Collective Unconscious.

### Emotion

As with humans and alminaki, emotion has a significant influence on the behaviour of humenaki. Different philosophies and ideas abound as to how emotions should be deal with - from embracing it as a path to something hallowed to seeking to control and rein it. Emotional experiences perceived as pleasant, such as love, admiration, or joy, contrast with those perceived as unpleasant, like hate, envy, or sorrow. Due to changes administered to human psychology by Cadien and Evandra, humenaki are by nature more emotionally attuned than the norm, and individuals often exhibit a greater sense of ambition and adventure.

## Behaviour

Humenaki are highly social and tend to live in large complex social groups. These range from the size of families, clans, tribal nations, and city-states, to broad cultural groupings to which individuals can feel a sense of belonging. On the family level, humenaki tend towards living in extended family units as part of a greater kinship grouping, such as clans or tribes. This type of organisation exists even in urban settings.

### Body Culture

Since their coming to Kubrajzar, humenaki have altered their appearance by wearing clothing and adornments, by styling their hair - trimming or shaving it - or by means of body modifications. Such modifications are carried out for various reasons, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, rites of passage, religious reasons, or to display group membership or affiliation. A rite of passage common across the Qabar-Kirkanshire cultures pertains to tattooing the body with often warlike symmetrical decorations - usually with glowing ink - to replace the faded pigmentations they were born with; some opt for scarification rather than tattooing. This is viewed as the shedding the flowery vines of childhood and donning the serious affairs of adulthood.

### Magic

Like humans, humenaki are subject to the effects of the goddess Qullqiya's curse and blessing, for a rare few can be born as witches thus granting them unlimited and wild magical potential. They are also naturally attuned to all forms of magic that other sapients, particularly humans and alminaki, are capable of using.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5093001
2. ↑ A thumb that can be placed opposite the fingers of the same hand. Opposable thumbs allow the digits to grasp and handle objects.
3. ↑ https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5094872