The Rapteran Race

The Rapteran race represents the oldest race still living within the Lands of Anár. Their history is literally tens of millions of years old and has gone through more cyclic rises and calls in fortune than can be remembered. The Rapteran civilization has moved from scattered collections of tribes, through phases of nation-building, through the establishment of continental empires, and through their inevitable disintegration. In many respects, the Rapterans have "seen it all."

Currently, their civilization is in a state of protracted collapse and faces new pressures from the other races who, over the last two millennia, has developed enough to threaten the true extinction of the Rapteran culture. In the modern age, the Rapterans have collapsed into tribal nations that, while fractious among themselves, are united in their struggle against the Duar, Kernuar, Ursuar, and Sâpens.

Culture (top)

The Rapteran culture brings together a disparate group of species deriving from herbivore, omnivore, and carnivore. Over the millennia of their existence and evolution, the species have found more in common than one might think and eventually fused their experiences into a single, unified culture common to all Rapteran.

The foremost value that Rapteran share is a desire for survival, which has been well-honed over their civilization's various rises and falls. For Rapteran, maintaining a continuous culture despite the various pressures and threats they have weathered is the primary reason their culture exists. Their pursuit of survival falls into several major areas of concern:

Physical Safety: The Rapteran are extremely security conscious, even to the point of xenophobia. They have felt the pressure that other races and civilization have placed on them for resources and land, and have reacted with aggressive counter-pressure. Despite that their society has fragmented into tribal nation-states, alliance against other races always draws common efforts between those nation-states. While Rapteran do not necessarily view themselves as "superior" to other races, they maintain a stringent psychological "us-versus-them" mentality.
Traditional Rites: Rapteran culture abounds with traditional social practices that have grown up, been passed down through the ages, and have grown more complex over time. The observance and teaching of these traditional practice, beliefs, and rituals from generation to generation is a priority for Rapteran. The Rapteran keep their lore private from other races and have complicated hierarchies to passing it down, thereby maintaining its integrity from generation to generation. All levels of Rapteran society bow to the Lorekeepers and seek to learn whatever is taught by them. Knowledge of the past is often considered a measure of one's status.
Procreation: The reproductive cycle of the Rapterans has systematically been growing longer over time, a phenomenon that affects all the species equally. For this reason, their survival as a race depends on the protection of their breeding grounds, their eggs, and their young. They are zealous in this pursuit, becoming literally enraged when such things are threatened. The Rapteran are caring when it comes to their young, sacrificing their own lives to defend them and provide for them.

Society (top)

There are several species of Rapteran who arrange themselves into a caste system based on their species. At the top are the Seráterans, who represent the ruling class and nobility of the Rapterans. The least among them are respected and obeyed by all others, and all members of the caste have full access to all levels of the society and all professions. Generally, the Seráterans prepare their entire lives to become competent, thoughtful rulers and to fulfill the social compact their caste represents.

The often volatile Cárnerans represent the military and law-enforcement arm of the society. In times past, the Cárnerans have vied for control of the Rapteran culture with the Seráterans, leading to long and bloody conflicts. At present, amid the decline of the culture, they are content to follow the rule of the Seráterans, finding their higher calling in the safeguarding the race from external threats. Because of their caste, the Cárnerans enjoy a great deal of power that sometimes rivals that of the noble caste; the problem is, they know it and can be arrogant because of this fact.

The intelligent and industrious Haderans are the middle class of the Rapteran race, creating and maintaining the economies that run the Rapteran culture. Even so, the Haderans are the intelligence workers, organizing the labor, functioning as money-lenders, and plotting the strategies of the marketplace. The Rapteran artists, mystics, and esotericists are often Haderans.

The strong and sedate Ánkerans are the working class of the Rapteran Culture, creating and maintaing the culture's agricultural and industrial segments. They take their lead from the Haderans, with whom they interact the most. They tend to follow the authorities presented to them and, as all the upper castes have authority over them, the Áknerans are somewhat servile by nature.

All cultures need their wild cards, and the winged Árkerans function as such for the Rapteran culture. Often viewed as the consummate outsiders, Árkerans are known for drifing amid all layers of the culture, observing, commenting, and subtly directing events. At times, they are viewed with suspicion or even envy for their ability to say and do almost anything without significant reprisals. This freedom has its price, however, as most Árkerans can only safely mingle with themselves.

Economies (top)

The Rapteran culture has risen and fallen over millenia and thus, has developed every level of economy throughout its history. As the Rapteran culture is currently in a decline state, their chosen economies have likewise declined.

At its base, the Rapteran economy runs by agriculture and husbandry (Haderans) and is ruled by a privileged caste (Seráterans), whose lives are provided for by those they rule. Between these extremes of labor, the Haderans create a viable middle class based on craftsmanship and intellectual pursuits. While viable and sustainable, the middle class are not given much respect by either pole, as they are viewed with distain by the lower caste they exploit for labor and as vapid and materialistic by the upper class who rules them.

The Cárnerans float between these layers, required by all, but part of none. They are a caste supported by all castes equally, and relish their relative independence from the throes of the economic work.

Professions are generally dictated by one's caste, as the species-enforced castes themselves gravitate to layers of the Rapteran economies. Within a caste, there are generally no limits to an individual choosing a profession and economic mobility is limited only by the caste barriers.

Religion (top)

Much like in other areas, the religious pursuits of the Rapteran culture has shifted, developed, and collapsed over time, varying in importance to the daily lives of the people. In current times, the Rapterans have a steady reverence for their chosen Incarna, riding the waves of a pious movement that reveres the Incarna that govern their culture's main pursuits: physical safety, traditional rites, and procreation.

The traditional rites that the Rapteran cultures enforces as a means of preserving and extending their cultures includes religious practices and the lore of the Incarna. Therefore, most Rapteran are raised with a healthy religious respect and use the teachings as moral guidance in their everyday decisions.

The respect that the Rapterans show the Incarna does not include worship, per se, but a reverence one might show to an honored philosophy or teacher. Their practices enforce codes of behaviors without the context of judgement or reward or punishment in an afterlife. The Rapteran are more concerned about preserving the longevity of their race than earning a personal reward in the hereafter.

Technology (top)

Technilogically speaking, the Rapteran culture has remained strong in the soft sciences: anthropology, sociology, psychology, and history. The knowledge in these areas are easy to preserve and, in truth, the Rapterans put more stock in soft knowledge of this sort than hard sciences. They have borne the test of time, which has dissolved all of their early works. They have watched their edifaces and monuments be destroyed by the action of the Earth and the relentless march of time and thus, have turned their minds toward the preservation of lore and it's passing from one generation to the next.

The Rapteran no longer strive to build locations or cities beyond their immediate need. Where they have survived, the occupy the ruins of the cities their forefathers built, but do not put energy into rebuilding or maintaining said structures beyond what's practical. In truth, they recongize their own decline and find an aesthetic value in living amid the physical reminders of it.

Mystically speaking, the Rapteran are perhaps the most sophisticated of the esoteric practioners of Anár, having had millenia to refine and research mystic lore. While they are not the most powerful –that distinction belongs to the Setasi–they know the most about all forms of mystical thought than any other culture and their esotericists are well-schooled in all areas.

Nonetheless, this mystical knowledge has little direct impact on the daily lives of the Rapterans, who are bound into the pursuits of temporal survival. They practice such magicks as means to their goals and as counters to mystical threats they might encounter.

Biology (top)

As a race, the Rapteran evolved from saurian creatures that filled several ecological niches, from carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, depending on their species. While they have all begun as disparate species, and seemingly with disparate diets and cultures, over the millenia the species have existed, their cultures eventually merged into a single cohesive civilization. The various species of Rapteran eventually found their similarities were more important than their differences.

The Rapteran species are humanoid in shape, with only vestigal reptilian features. None have any real tails, but they all have small nubs that mark where tails once were. Otherwise, the race has leathery skin of various colorations and patterns, from the sedate to the garish. Some species sport vestigal skin adornments that are the remnants of bony plates, horns, or other such saurian features. Instead of mammalian hair, the Rapteran sport thin, rigid quills or shaggy feathers.

All Rapteran are from 5'6" to 7'3" tall and weigh from 150 lbs to 350 lbs as adults. The Rapterans are generally either lithe, light, and dextrous, or stocky, heavy, and strong. The Haderans are the medium point on this scale.

Life Cycle (top)

The Rapteran reproduce through sexual union of male and female, with the male fertilizing the leathery eggs the female produces within her. Fully fertilized eggs are then lain and protected through their developmental period. It takes eggs a full twelve months to reach maturity. When they hatch, infant Rapteran are born.

Rapteran children move from infant to toddler over a protacted period, taking nearly 5 years. From there, their childhood lasts for nearly two decades, at which point they enter puberty. This stage takes another decade, until the Rapteran emerges into adulthood at age 35. Near the end of the puberty, Rapterans became capable of mating, and, despite their cultural bias toward reproduction, Rapteran are careful in chosing a mate and in siring offpring. Caste restrictions apply to their choices, of course.

The adult stage of the Rapteran life cycle lasts approximately 50 years, until, at the age of 85, they enter a protracted elder stage that lasts another 50 years. At this point, Rapteran persist through another 10-15 years of "ancient" time, where they are cared for by their civilization as masters of the Rapteran traditional culture. The oldest Rapteran was known to have lived to the age of 160 years.

Attributes (top)

While each Rapteran species sports its own physical attributes, all Rapteran share certain attributes.

Warm-Blooded, Cold-Sensitive: Despite having evolved into warm-blooded creatures, the Rapteran evolved from cold-blooded beings and thus, are sensitive to extremely cold temperatures. Such environments lower their reaction time and drain their health, eventually killing them. Conversely, Rapterans prefer warm environments and have little trouble operating in even the hottest locales.
Acute Smell: Rapterans have evolved an acute sense of smell, capable of scenting and tracking a specific odor across miles of territory.
Natural Weaponry: All Rapterans have vestigal examples of armor, claws, or pointed teeth that give them natural weaponry and armor. The specific examples vary by species, and, in fact, by individual, but all Rapteran demonstrate this attibute.
Intrinsic Lore: Rapteran exhibit an inbred mystical ability to remember the collective past of their culture, sporadically experiencing visions of the past as seen through the eyes of one of their ancestors. It is rare that a Rapteran masters the ability to control these visions, but through ascetic practices, it is possible.

Species (top)

As already presented, the Rapteran race once had dozens of subspecies that evolved across any of a number of ecological niches. As a race, they have been in a protacted decline until on the following species exist.

Seráterans: Remnants of a large herbivorous saurians, the Seráterans are tall, stocky humanoids with vestigal horns and skull frills. They are the ruling caste of the Rapteran culture, having won this status through nearly constant struggles with the Cárnerans. Historically, the Cárnerans and Seráterans have swapped rulership of the race, but they are firmly entrenched at the present time. The Seráterans are generally sedate, methodical leaders, prone to contemplative and compassionate decisions rather than direct action.
Cárnerans:Descended from pack-hunting carnivores, the Cárnerans are quick, dextrous humanoids with snout-like faces, large eyes, and a dangrous bite. While they present as fractious, reckless warriors, the Cárnerans are quite cunning. They are satisified with their current role as subservient to the Seráterans because they feel it frees them to act without being bogged down in administrative concerns for which they have no patience or talent.
Haderans: Having evolved from amphibious, omnivorous saurians, the Haderans and the mid-point in Rapteran societies, being both of medium build and temperament. They are quicker to make decisions than the Seráterans and less impulsive than the Cárnerans. Likewise, the are more dynamic than the staid Ánkerans and more stable than the flighty Árkernas. In many ways, they are the focal point on which the rest of the Rapteran culture balances and are often cognizant of this fact. This is their chief social power and they wield it deftly.
Ánkerans: The Ánkerans evolved from herbivorous, armored saurians and are short, stocky, and have vestigal armored plates on their bodies, making them tough individuals. Largely, they are utilized in Rapteran society as grunts and laborers and these professions suit their staid, slow-to-change mentalities. They are the backbone of Rapteran society, performing the labor that the other castes prefer to leave to them. They accept their lot with grace, realizing their overall importance in the scheme.
Árkerans: Having grown from slight, hollow-boned saurians capable of flight, the Árkerans have retained that ability through leathered wings that double as their arms. Being able to soar on the winds has granted the Árkerans a perspective that only outsiders can maintain. While representing a caste unto themselves, they travel between castes with ease, if not with respect. They are the consummate odd-balls and relish their status as such, able to say and do things that would make other Rapterans blanch.

Habitats (top)

Because of their sensitivity to cold environments, Rapteran generally make their homes in warm locales, spanning habitats such as swamps, temperate to tropical forests and jungles, plains, and deserts. Their homes are either usually built to suit practicality, rather than ostentation, but they have been known to inhabit the ruins of past Rapteran cities, allowing the structures to decay as a statement on their own mortality.

Race Relations (top)

The Rapteran are not gentle neighbors. In fact, they exhibit a certain annoyance at the rise of mammalian races and feel themselves slowly being displaced. Their angst at their own declining civilization often turns outward to distain for non-Rapterans.

The Rapteran conflict most with the Kernuar and the Sâpens, as their habitats overlap to the greatest degree. The Rapteran feels both races to be upstarts, but respect the Sâpens more than the Kernuar. They view the Kernuar as sanctimonious, with their preaching regarding the balance of nature; such rants are amusing to the Rapteran, who have seen more natural history than the Kernuar could hope to view. The Sâpens are easier for the Rapterans to understand, as they are merely violent.

Given the habitat of the Duar and Ursuar – high, cold mountains and alpine forests – the Rapteran interact with them only sparingly, but nonetheless they conflict with one another often. The Rapterans view them as misguided interlopers, hardly peers to be dealt with on an equitable level.

Only the Setasi gain respect from the Rapterans, mainly because they're as old a race as the Rapterans themselves. Nonetheless, the Rapterans and the Setasi do not get along, having ancient emnities that are built into the fabric of both societies.

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