Race: Kangaroos

Crepuscular, originally from Theas (Australia). There are about 52 million of them in Theas, 2 million in Fasach (Africa), a hundred thousand in Larnach (Europe), and several thousand in Mothar (South America). They have above average magic, and frequently have multiple talents. About 70% of kangaroos have magic. Of those, about 5% have below average power, 30% have average, 50% have above average, and 15% have high. Their racial field includes air magic, balance and polarity, empathy, illusion, levitation, transformation, and teleportation.

Males stand 6-7 feet tall while females stand 5-6 feet. They are primarily bipedal but sometimes lean forward to balance on all fours while working on the ground. They typically move by hopping on their back feet. A slower gait involves balancing on hands and tail while moving the back feet forward. They can jump high and far, and they travel fast. Their hands are fairly dextrous. Kangaroos are adept at swimming, boxing, and wrestling. If attacked, they often jump into a body of water and hold the attacker under until he drowns. They have moderately tough skin; some kangaroos can tolerate tattoo ink, perfumes, or cosmetics.

Kangaroos live in family groups, called mobs, consisting of 1-2 dozen individuals. The females, or jills, who grow up in the same mob tend to stick together and bring in unrelated jacks as mates. They bond collectively, not monogamously; sexual connections are casual and variable. Sometimes jacks form all-male mobs of their own, especially in the military. Jills tend to be pregnant all the time, and their teats are always receptive. They have the unusual ability to produce different types of milk for older and younger joeys sharing a pouch. Once the young joeys begin to peek out of the mother's pouch, they are often passed around among the other jills in the mob. Because of the strong family ties and collective parenting, kangaroos sometimes serve as foster parents for tiger (thylacine) cubs, which is considered a great honor. Members of a mob are extremely protective of each other, even the weakest members; but they don't have nearly as much attachment to other kangaroos in general, unlike herd races. Kangaroos greet each other by sniffing noses.

Unlike most marsupials, kangaroos don't consider it perverted to put things other than babies in their pouches. They often use the pouch as a large pocket. There are crude jokes about jills with a "kitchen junk drawer" habit in this regard. Some jacks wear a harness with an artificial pouch, either for carrying joeys or other things.

As one of the prevailing races in Theas, kangaroos do all kinds of work. They are farmers, ranchers, rangers, soldiers, politicians, teachers, nannies, messengers, mailmen, shopkeepers, etc. Because a joey will bond with whomever raises it, kangaroos make excellent slaves. Fasachi soldiers captured a substantial number of them during the war; most of the kangaroos in Fasach today are either slaves or the descendants of slaves, usually doing menial childcare or cleaning work. The ones in Mothar are more varied; some slaves were given as gifts to Motharan troops, but the missionaries also had a tendency to adopt orphaned joeys. In contemporary times, they tend to work as nannies, cooks, and other fairly respectable servants. In Larnach the kangaroos are a mix of refugees (mostly from Fasach) and voluntary immigrants, with a similar spread of jobs as what they have in Theas.