Rageryan

Mason Riddick, a shorter Polar Rageryan(Lineart by Ozianthus)

Most known for their height, aggression, and rapid healing rate, Rageryans hail from the planet Ragerya. Two distinct subspecies exist; Polar Rageryans, known for their strength, and Equatorial Rageryans, known for their agility. After the Firestorm, a series of chain volcanic eruption events that left the planet nearly uninhabitable, Rageryans scattered across the galaxy and are now found almost everywhere. A hardy, adaptable species, they can eat anything even plants that most species would find deadly. Unlike the Alphian species, most Rageryan abilities are a result of natural evolution instead of an experiment. Two notable exceptions are their wide range of abilities (one or rarely two per Rageryan) gifted by the Star Swimmer Inzikuz, and their Red Screamer form which is a result of genetic splicing that was used to create an immunity to a harsh, brain-eating bacterial disease.

# Biology

## Description

Through the generations, Rageryans have permanently shifted into a completely new species even though they retained the ability to interbreed with humans. In addition to their many internal changes, Rageryans as a whole are far taller (averaging 7’6” feet instead of the 5’4” found in humans). Additionally, unlike humans, Rageryans have enough genetic variation to have two recognizable subspecies: Polars and Equatorials.

### Notable Differences

Between the threats from their environment and the new dietary demands, they not only needed a new mental strategy to survive, but a new form as well. Evolution once again fast tracked by magic, the humans began their transition into modern Rageryans.
Skeleton

* Skull: With a scavenging diet and a new demand for the ability to crush bones, their skull grew thicker and slightly longer to allow for better muscle attachment to give them more biting power. An interesting related trait is the reemergence of a sagittal crest. The brain cavity itself did not undergo much alteration, however, allowing the newly emerging Rageryans to keep their relative brain to size ratio.
* Teeth: With their new, obligate carnivore diet, their old teeth would not suffice. Aside from the skull adaptations, their teeth are perhaps the most defining feature when it comes to distinguishing a young Rageryan from a human of the same size. Their incisors on both the top and bottom shrank, creating a diastema and allowing their canines to grow wider and longer which aided them in their new meat based diet. Their premolars also altered, forming a carnassial instead and leaving the new species without premolars entirely.
* Other: Aside from the skull and teeth, which underwent the most change, the overall skeletal structure also changed to better support the attachment of more powerful muscles. This was less for dietary reasons and more for self defense against large megafauna.

Sensory

* Smell: Perhaps the sense that gained the most, Rageryans have a highly advanced sense of smell rivaling that of a silver-tip grizzly, which developed as an aid to find carcasses or better track prey. This makes their sense of smell stronger than bloodhounds.
* Taste: As their other senses grew stronger, certain ones fell behind. Taste is one such area, where the sensory capabilities for “Sweetness” vanished almost entirely. The receptors for “bitterness” are also fewer than those found in humans, most likely due to the dietary change where rotting carrion became a common meal.
* Sight: Rageryans gained a tapetum lucidum and therefore have excellent night sight and can see well in near-total darkness, but as a result cannot detect subtle shade differences in color. They do, however, have the same range of color-sight as humans even if they cannot tell small nuances.
* Hearing: While it didn’t get too much better, Rageryan developed an ability to hear lower frequency noises. This was most likely to help them know if a large predator was nearby or possibly if a cave/structure was unstable.
* Touch: Due to not using the more acute sensory features, their sense of touch is slightly worse than humans.

Other

* Kidneys: With the collapse of clean water infrastructure, archaic Rageryans had to adapt to less clean sources of water. With the introduction of both Snarler and Red Screamer DNA, a new and highly advantageous trait arose: they could now drink and filter salt water. They cannot solely drink salt water, but can certainly tolerate a far greater salt content than any human. 8 Reproductive Changes: One of the last major differences found between humans and Rageryans is their reproductive systems. While humans are able to reproduce at any time of the year, Rageryan females only enter estrus twice a year. This mostly likely occurred due to their bodies not being able to handle monthly cycles when they were trying to survive their environments. Attached to this change is the frequency of breasts, which only appear during nursing their young.

## Subspecies

Polar Rageryans (avrg. 8’ feet) have adapted to a life in colder climates found in more poleward regions. Specific adaptations include a stockier build with shorter limbs and a relatively larger body size compared to their Equatorial cousins, as well as typically paler skin. Polars are most at home in tundra and boreal forest environments as well as northward temperate rainforests, especially near coastal areas. Additionally, a Polar Rageryan has one key difference that sets them apart from an Equatorial: they are obligate carnivores while Equatorial Rageryans became facultative carnivores. This dietary restriction, as well as their larger size and greater nutrition demands, results in Polar societies being smaller in number than Equatorials.

Equatorial Rageryans (avrg. 7’ ft), as their name suggests, are found in more equatorial regions. Slightly shorter but noticeably leaner than their polar cousins with longer limbs and typically darker skin, Equatorials are at home in hotter climates such as savannas, scrubland forests, jungles, or arid canyons. More acrobatic than Polars, they are also quite a bit quicker but sacrifice stamina for this speed. Unlike Polars, they had a more reliable source of wild fruits and vegetables to sustain themselves when their typical food sources failed. Their smaller size, and thus smaller daily nutrition requirement, also allows for larger group sizes compared to the smaller groups found in Polar subspecies societies.

## Diet

Unlike humans, Rageryans are obligate carnivores meaning they have to have a certain percentage of meat in their diet no matter what. Given their turbulent past, Rageryans have evolved to stomach anything shy of toxic materials. This includes rotting meat and typically poisonous plants/animals. Thanks to their powerful jaw muscles, Rageryans also have the ability to crush and eat bones, enabling them to eat every part of the animal aside from the fur.

Rageryans, like Alphians, have a taste for humans but unlike Alphians, they have a history of cannibalization. While killing another Rageryan for food when other food options exist is frowned upon, the act of cannibalism isn't. Their taste for human flesh and occasional cannibalism is thought to have resulted from when they were forced to eat any and everything they could find when the Sickness consumed their planet.

Rageryans over the years also developed a taste for insects and worms and do not shy away from eating them. While Rageryans are generally not fans of seafood, since the Rageryan coastline was a dangerous place, they are fans of freshwater fish and mussels. Fruits, nuts, vegetables, and berries are also a part of a Rageryan's diet.

# History

## Ancestry

Rageryans were not always the hardy and resilient species they are today. In fact, they can trace their roots back to the human species, who then trace further back to the race of humanoid giants known as Raegi. However, unlike other powerful and dominant species in the galaxy, such as Alphians, Rageryans were not created in a lab by some mad scientist with delusions of planetary dominance. Instead, they found themselves assaulted by a rather sudden and catastrophic selective pressure that demanded adaptation or extermination.

## Selective Pressure

While human, Rageryans reached technology levels roughly equalling those found in Ancient Rome with a notable exception; archaic Rageryans had steam-power. But this technology would not last. The deity of trickery, known in the modern language as Vivvik or “Thieving Feline”, laid a trap in a distant cave which a treasure hunter unearthed. The trap, a vicious and highly contagious brain-decaying disease, lay dormant for a week within the explorer. This was just enough time for him to make it back to a populated town where it erupted to life and quickly spread airborne through the town. From there, the disease extended across the globe and wiped out many of the then humans in the southern regions.

## Genetic Splicing

As word of the disease spread, carried both by humans and other sapient species residing on the planet, human communities not yet affected by the virus scrambled for a way to prevent themselves from succumbing to the disease. As luck would have it, there were two viable species that could serve as genetic donors to give the humans a resistance to the disease; Snarlers and Red Screamers.
Massive, tiger-like felines from the northern polar region and anthropomorphic dragons from the equatorial region, respectively, these two species served as the donors from which humans could gain disease immunity from. Vivvik’s mother, the high goddess Inzikuz, granted humans the technology to accomplish this. While unusual for the deities to get directly involved, since it was a deity who caused the outbreak, a deity would help stop it.
Luckily, the genetic splicing was a success and the “cure” quickly spread throughout the human communities with the DNA splicing sets eventually intermingling and providing a double dose of protection. However, the damage was done.

## Fallout

The technology at the time had crumbled aside from a few remnants and the newly inoculated humans were faced yet again with adaptation or extermination at metaphorical hands of their environments. Their stable food systems had broken down as farming/domestication became secondary to survival, which demanded frequent movement of smaller groups. Many archaic Rageryans had to resort to not only scavenging, but also cannibalism of dead bodies to sustain themselves. In addition to altering their views around such practices (modern Rageryans still do not view cannibalism as shameful or horrible), their physiology itself had to adapt to the new dietary demands. After all, archaic Rageryans found themselves eating every part of any kill they made or came across to stay full. This included everything from the meat to the organs to the very bones themselves.
Between the threats from their environment and the new dietary demands, they not only needed a new mental strategy to survive, but a new form as well. Evolution once again fast tracked by magic, the humans began their transition into modern Rageryans.