Races of Adel: The Damakran

The Damakran were late-comers to the project of Adelian civilization. As such, they, along with the Dromedae, are rarer among the population of Adel than the Iomadi and Cuporo. That being said, they are not so uncommon as to go unseen, and even the smallest villages have a Damakran family or two among them – especially villages near the water. The Damakran dwelt by the shores and eventually left the sea altogether to walk on land, where they joined the Iomadi and Cuporo. Their strength and toughness are legendary attributes, as are a variety of unique physical traits among their kind.

The following is a more thorough look at this race to better help you portray them.

Physical Features: In form, Damakran appear to be lean and well-built humans. It is rare to see a Damakran that looks merely average or who looks chubby or portly (though not impossible). Most Damakran are naturally predisposed to some level of musculature, in a way the other Adelian races aren’t. In this sense they are the opposite of the Droemedae, who find it very hard to build muscle. The average Damakran appears fairly athletic, built like a runner or swimmer.

The race received its blessing from the water and its spirits, and their Markings draw from the various denizens of the sea. Their skin is very colorful and smooth. Most Damakran have blue or gray skin, but some might have purple or red skin, or a very lovely obsidian black. Very rare Damakran have skin patterns, like the colors of tropical fish, and these tend to become little celebrities within their communities – or major icons in big cities starved for new looks and exotic figures.

Aside from their skin, their markings show in their faces and limbs. Their hands and feet are partially webbed, and their ear cartilage tends toward the shape of fish fins. They might possess other characteristics of fish, such as an Eel Damakran being more flexible and effete while a Shark Damakran is more sturdy and sharp. All Damakran are excellent swimmers, but their ability to live underwater has grown limited over time. Most can stay under for a few hours, but no more than that.

Curiously, it is a widespread cultural tradition among Damakran to dye their hair. Nobody quite knows the origin of this practice. A Damakran’s natural hair color is black or a really dark blue, and is wavy or slightly curly and tends to grow to the shoulder. Damakran hair is slow to grow back if cut, so any Damakran obsessed with beauty is likely to sport longer hair, grown perhaps over many years. They never seem to leave it alone. Damakran dye their hair pretty much as soon as they have any.

Damakran show much more overt sexual dimorphism than other races. While it is very possible for many Iomadi and Cuporo to have their biological sex mistaken due to their appearance and dress, and all Dromedae in general are very effeminate and nigh-indistinguishable, Damakran have pretty stark differences in their appearance between males and females. Damakran males have more square heads, and a more pronounced brow ridge and jaw than female Damakran, who have rounder head shapes and brows. Damakran females also tend to have sharper noses than the short, blunt noses of male Damakran. Despite that, they’ve grown to adopt the same egalitarian culture of the other races toward gender and sex.

Life And Growth: Damakran reproduce sexually. Damakran have the largest babies out of all the Adelians’, and grow into the largest adults – as a newborn a Damakran might weigh 12 or 13 lbs. For a Damakran woman this isn’t a problem, but it can be difficult and painful in interracial couplings. Damakran adults average 6 feet, and some are as tall as even the brutish Sorians at 7 feet. Damakran also grow fairly fast. By 10 they are sexually mature, and by 15 they are pretty much fully developed, and will grow little more over the rest of their lifetime. Damakran live to about 80. They are boisterous and potent throughout much of their life. There is a sense that age slows Damakrans down, rather than actively cripples them. Nonetheless, a venerable Damakran shouldn’t be backflipping through hoops. But he or she is still fairly capable of caring for his or her self.

Damakran worship Spirits of water, rain and of course the host of other nature spirits that tend to be worshiped by Adelians villagers. Most Damakran go out in heavy rains, enjoying the feel of the drops on their skin. They don’t tend to get sick from this activity, but it is possible. Other Adelians don’t tend to join them in these displays.

Place In History: Damakran joined the Adelian society about five hundred years in. Seaside and lakeside villages began to make note of their presence and regarded them as Spirits at first, until contact revealed them to be people as well, who also worshiped spirits. The Damakran had been a mostly migratory race, but upon discovering Adelian society sought to learn from them how to live on land, and in turn taught them not to fear the sea, and that the water existed to sustain them, not bar their way. The Adelians gladly performed this exchange, and many Damakran chose to stay with the various cultures. Since then they have been an unalienable part of the Adelian society. Gradually, Damakran have become unable to live strictly underwater. They don’t seem to mind it, however. One gets the sense from their history that life in the open sea was harsher than their life on land, perhaps because of the impossibility of fortifying against the predators and powers within the ocean.

Within the Aptoan Empire, many elite thought the Damakran ill-suited for anything but physical labor, and there were no Damakran Hierarchs within the Empire. Since the destruction of the Aptoan Empire, and the cultural return to the fair and equal society traditional to Adelians, many Damakran politicians and celebrities in various walks of life have arisen. There are Damakran senators in Andaliel, and Damakran advisors to Vizier Magdalena Keehl in Vedaria. Notably within Periterim, one of the Oligarchical Families is a Damakran lineage that owns much of the nation’s fishing business.

Particular Abilities: Damakran are quite strong. Though this is an ability any race (except, usually, the Droemedae) could nurture, it is especially prevalent among the Damakran. Theirs is a race known for its physical strength. Damakran can compete in raw strength with Sorians. Their athleticism and general grace is about on par with Iomadi and Cuporo, but the sheer force they can put into a physical contest surpasses both. Aside from this, Damakran are able to subsist underwater for several hours, taking oxygen from water. Any more than that, and the Damakran may pass out – their means of breathing underwater have undergone  atrophy, and perhaps in a thousand more years they’ll lose them entirely.

Some Damakran can also secrete and spit out a slimy substance. Mostly this is just annoying to enemies, as the substance is little more than lubricating fluid. But it might give them an edge in a desperate moment.