Northern Nahluen

Nahluen <NAA-loo-en> (Northern Species)

Size: Roughly horse-sized (5ft/1.5m at shoulder)

Habitat: subtropical to temperate forests, marshes, and grasslands.

Diet: Omnivore.

Intelligence: Sentient, capable of mathematics, artistic culture, and language based on sound and gesture.

Coloration: Olive green with brown markings, some grassland-dwelling races have ligher colorations and stripe-like markings.

Other: Part of a group of Eaeonic vertebrates known as "topjaws" due to the arrangement of their mandible (the moving jaw) being on top of the cranium (the upper jaw, part of the skull that contains the brain, eyes, and ears). 2 sets of forelimbs, upper pair are dexterous and can be used to create tools and climbing, while the lower pair are used for locomotion. the ridges on the neck, tail and limbs are not keratinous, but rather tough, leathery folds of skin (think rhinoceros armor). These protect the Nahluen in fights, and work as fins for swimming.

Northern Nahluen are social creatures, and form large tribes headed by a chief or council selected by popular opinion. Nahluen are still classified as a “developing sentient” by interspecies agreements, but are rapidly immigrating to larger cities while abandoning the better part of their traditional lives.
Female Nahluen are generally larger than males, but males tend to be more aggressive, with polygamist tendencies brought on by the practice of killing other male competitors for mating. However, several males can coexist in one tribe, so long as lines are drawn indicating who is in each harem. Both males and females hunt, though the excess of females also serve as shamans, teachers, healers, artists, and the governing system of the tribe. Female Nahluen produce 4-6 eggs during the breeding season in early spring, which hatch by late spring. The young reach adult size by age 10, at which point the males are considered independent and kicked out of the tribe. Females stay with their mothers until they finish puberty, which is typically around age 13. Roving bands of male Nahluen are not an uncommon sight, and many males will never rejoin a formal tribe. An outsider male can be accepted into a tribe once he establishes a harem of his own, which usually involves fighting and killing a weaker, older male and taking the willing part of his harem. Older males that cannot maintain a harem are typically kicked out of the tribe unless they can pick a favorite (usually older and infertile) female as a “harem”, while older Females stick around and continue as a chief or council member, or a teacher and caretaker.


The second species, the Southern or Arboreal Nahluen will be up next.
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