Beast-Folk

Extinct Beasts

Many eras of evolution, war, discovery, and disease has created an ever changing landscape. It is rare that an etire group of people have gone extinct, but the Kretzoi & Aurea did not escape this fate and no longer walk Firnus.

The Kretzoi

The Kretzoi were a unique people among beast-folk. They were primarily quadrupeds with front paws that could assist in grooming and tearing into a meal or ripping apart plants to create twine. While their front limbs were so strong, their back legs couldn't support their upper body very long, and aside from being very good for running they would best serve as balance when sitting much like a gorilla's. A Kretzoi's fur was mostly short, featuring spots or stripes on a sandy coat. One of their most striking features was the long mane of hair which sat upright in long bristles along the spine. This was usually a stark black, but were often coloured using red or white clay.

They were the most adaptable survivalists, with strong immune systems that allowed them to survive the toughest seasons by eating rancid corpses. Even in the most lean times they could digest bone and flesh rendered to leather by the sun by ripping and crunching whatever they needed with their incredibly powerful jaws. They were even known as hardy enough to survive venomous snakes and being flung by rampaging elephants, which gave them a reputation as fearsome opponents.

As a culture they rejected many ideas that came from outside of their people, seeing the use of tools and the need for structures as weak. Instead they valued their bodies, taking care to hone themselves as tools, building immunity and strength through natural means handed down the generations and divvied out by the Matriarch. The Matriarch was the leader of a clan, and was usually a mother or woman who acts as a mother to her people. A clan's ranks would prefer women over men, so would only host a handful of males at any one time with the women and those who become women being free to roam, hunt, craft, and lead. The naturally smaller men were only permitted to walk among them until coming of age, at which point they would need to show their worth as warriors or guardians.

The Kretzoi deemed unworthy would banished. Most would seek new clans, but those who do not would often live on the outskirts of a territory where the game was small or the environment too harsh and form all-male clans that any were welcome to join. This had a striking effect on their lifespans. While a female Kretzoi was expected to live until 70 years old, the males would live an average of 20 years.

Historically The Kretzoi did not form any great kingdoms or establish any empires. They chose natural order over conquest at every turn, and towards the other carnivores they shared a continent with they preferred to steer clear, and only approach the dead so they could feed. While the Aurea respected this balance, the Panthera rarely did. Upon entering the savannah to the West the Kretzoi would be routinely fought for hunting ground, and eventually become hunted themselves. In a great massacre the Kretzoi were hunted to extinction for their pelts during a competition held by Pathernan prides.