Scathii

The Scathii are a race of what humans would call reptile-like humanoids. Although not as populous as other Calamian races, they are cunning survivors, intelligent, and closer to nature than most Elsyven. They are a proud race, protective of their own kind, and extremely observant of the world around them.

Most Scathii stand between 5'7" to 7' tall. They walk like humans on their hind legs while manipulating weapons and objects with their forelimbs. But they are very reptilian in appearance, with scaled skin, lizard-like heads, clawed hands and feet, and long tails.

Their genitals are humanlike, but hidden in an inverted pouch under their skin like those of a reptile. Even so, it is common for them to wear some form of clothing, such as pants, loincloths, or girths. Females do not have breasts, for they lay eggs. About eight months after a successful mating, they usually lay one or two grapefruit sized eggs that have hard, leathery shells. Once laid, the eggs double to the size of a watermelon and hatch about a month later.

Females are fiercely protective of their young, and even the clan's young. Any orphaned Scathii children are adopted by other females and are treated just like one of their own. It's said that a Scathii female's parental instincts are so strong that they have even been known to adopt human children. Scathii newborns are able to walk upright on their legs within twenty four hours of hatching. They can't speak, however, for several years, and so emit small chirping sounds to their mother, much like baby crocodiles do. Scathii reach adulthood at the age of seventeen. On average a Scathii can live up to 125 years of age.

Although their views on love differ than that of humans, the concept is not lost to them. The Scathii typically mate with one partner for their entire life span. Only the highest ranking Scathii may have more than one 'wife' or 'husband' in an effort to form the best bloodlines for the nobility.

They form very close bonds with their mate or mates. Also, by ancient tradition, all of the Scathii sub-species are ruled by a female Shikan, or queen. Beyond that tradition, males and females are equal in stature.

The Scathii are by far more in tune with nature than most races. They live off the land in harmony, feeding off what their habitat gives them. They do not cultivate or grow things, and they make use of almost everything they hunt or scavenge in some way. There are Scathii craftsmen and women, however, their skills are considered primitive by most races. For the most part, they make tools and weapons from readily available material, such as stone, bone, shell, or wood, as well as some crudely worked metal. Yet in battle, these weapons often prove as effective as most man-made items. Scathii do trade with other races from time to time. What they trade and how often depends on the sub-species.

The Scathii are omnivores, favoring earthy foods like mushrooms, onions, and many roots and bulbs. However, they are also stealthy predators, feeding primarily on meats, such as fish, shellfish, deer, or any other abundant game in their region.

Because of their predatory nature, it is believed that they taught the other races the art of guerilla warfare. Many call this cowardice, but the Scathii scoff at such accusations, claiming that nature does not know cowardice ... only survival. A few tribes have even been quoted as saying, "The eagle does not wait for its prey to see him. He attacks before it realize he is upon it. Thus is the way of nature."

When in battle, the Scathii don't care for direct confrontation and won't stand openly in combat lines and allow themselves to be conveniently cut down. Instead, they use the terrain to their advantage, utilizing their natural camouflage to lay surprise attacks, kidnap stragglers, ambush scouts, and whittle down the opposition. On the other hand, the Scathii hold to their own code of honor. They will not randomly attack individuals without cause, nor will they sneak attack a foe deemed worthy of fighting face to face.

Iothren -

The Iothren are a group of mild/cool to cold and frigid climate Scathii and are not commonly seen outside their habitats. They are used to colder climates, far more than any other Scathii sub-species, and so are usually only seen in the far south or northern regions of Calamia. The Ithoren are as much at home in the cold waters of the far north as the sea otters and seals.

Their flesh differs from the other Scathii in contrast to color as well as their overall appearance. These Scathii have developed spines that have fin like skin stretched between each spine, which runs along the backbone and down the entire length of the tail. Their heads may also be decorated with some form of spine/fins that vary in size, some being very short while others very large and long, giving them the appearance of a 'crown' or 'mane'. They also have short, fin-like structures extending from their forearms, between the wrist and elbow. Their hands and feet are webbed.

Overall their flesh is thick and tough. It is lined underneath with a thin but protective strip of blubber, which helps give the Iothren extra protection from the cold. Because of this lining, their muscle mass isn't as defined as other Scathii breeds. However, they possess the same high metabolism of all Scathii, and so rarely gain excessive weight. An Iothren's hide can range across many sea-like colors, from pallid to vibrant shades of blue, green, aqua, gray, or white, with fin accents of another shade, those being blues, greens, yellows, oranges or grays. Their eye colors are often pale with the slitted pupils common to all their kind.

The Iothren are excellent swimmers. They can exist in slightly warmer climates, but don't fair well in moderate to hot or humid climates.

All of the Iothren tend to be reclusive and avoid contact with other races. Their diets are primarily fish, but they do favor seal, whale and crab.

Makilte -

The Makilte are the most common type of Scathii and the most widely spread. Their habitat is typically that of lakes, large rivers, and wet or swampy regions. They prefer mild to moderate temperatures and can withstand cold and heat easily in just about any region, but not the extremes of the Iothren or sadhais. They fair well in most central environments throughout Calamia.

They are most versatile of the Scathii breeds, some being thin and wiry, others large and bulky. They possess fine-scaled skin, which isn't supremely hard or tough, but more durable than that of human flesh. These Scathii range in coloration from yellows, reds, browns, through all sorts of vibrant, deep greens, to pure black. The majority of the Makilte sport some form of 'snake-like' pattern on their hide with accent colors like white, orange, red-orange, yellow, brown, green, gray or black.

They have the ability to stay under water for long periods of time and can swim as well as any fish, though not as well as their Iothren cousins.

All Makilte are protective of their homeland. Even when they venture into the outside world, they will often return to their place of birth to find a mate and have children.

Makilte tend to enjoy similar foods as humans, such as red meats, deer, and fowl.

Caihinan -

These Scathii are from the southern regions of Calamia, particularly that of Migoto and Kegai. The Scathii of this region look somewhat different from the typical Makilte, most notably in size. The Caihinan are the smallest of the Scathii, ranging between 4' to about 5'7". They are very light in weight, often thin and wiry, with delicate looking arms and legs, somewhat longer and slender necks, and sharp featured faces. Males tend to have narrow eyes while females have larger eyes.

One of the Caihinan's most distinguishing characteristics is a light layer of fur that grows out between their scales. Their scales range in many vibrant colors, such as royal blues, fiery reds, brilliant greens, yellows, oranges, purples, etc, with mixed similar accent colors. Occasionally, there are pallid, pastel-shaded scales and furs, and also whites. A Caihinan will never have black, brown, or gray scales and/or fur. The only place that doesn't grow hair is the face, along the neck, down the front of the chest and up under their arms, their abdomen to the groin and on the bottom side of the tail, as well as the hands and feet. In addition, they possess a pair of soft, long whiskers that protrude from snout and measure about a foot in length. They also have whisker like eyebrows.

Along their spines are soft barbs that run from the back of the head down along the spine to the end of the tail. They are flexible and leathery in texture, contrasting in color to their scales/fur.

The Caihinan can swim, but they do not have webbing between their toes. They are not the best swimmers, but can be up to par with humans in swimming skill.

Sadhais -

These are a hearty, tough group of Scathii. They are primarily found near hot, temperate areas, at the base of mountain ranges, in rocky expanses, or within the sandy desert regions of Shanar.

The Sadhais are the toughest Scathii, with extremely durable hides. Their skin is heavily scaled with thick, rough plates. Scale colors range from beige, ivory, sand, browns, and grays, to copper, bronze, and gold. Their eyes are commonly dark shades, like rich browns or dark amber, but some have gold and yellow tones, and occasionally greens.

They possess very little in the way of markings, often leaning toward one shade and slight variations of that shade all over their body. Instead of spines, they have a line of large, thick, rough-looking scale plates running down the spine, which are extremely hard.

All Sadhais have larger feet than most Scathii, given that they are larger in size, but also more adapted to traveling across hot desert sands with ease, or over rocky jagged outcroppings with little difficulty. The scales on their feet are extra thick and can withstand the heat easily. The Sadhais also do not possess webbing between their toes and do not swim very well if at all.

Given that the Sadhais live mainly in desert or rocky regions, they are adapt at withstanding cold temperatures, but not to the same extreme as the Iothren.