|
The Thunderians are a unique import to the Crystal Realm. Following
the destruction of their outer realm home, they have become increasingly prevalent, bringing with them a unique technology
and culture that is slowly becoming a standard for the realm.
Stats:
Species Type: Humanoid
Primary Language:
Common
Lifespan: 100 Years (female); 90 (male)
Dominant Sense: Varies by clan
Land of Origin: Thundera
Average
Height: Five feet six inches (female); Five feet nine inches (male)
Primary Religion: None
Social Standing:
Nomads
Eating Pattern: Carnivores and Herbivores
Unique Abilities:
Thunderians have
no latent magic, however, each Clan has unique leanings that set them slightly apart from most humanoid races and each other
by some small margin.
Lion Clan: Lions have remarkable resiliance, mettle enough to withstand the most extreme
of environments and exhaustion.
Panther Clan: The members of the Panther Clan are noted for their incredible
physical strength.
Tiger Clan: Tigers are considered to be the most intellectual and resourceful of all the Thunderians.
They have demonstrated the ability to learn a new skill twice as fast as any of their brethren.
Cheetah Clan:
Members of the Cheetah Clan are remarkably fast, able to outrun most humanoid species on foot.
Puma Clan: Pumas
enjoy a vastly accelerated healing process. They can recover from wounds three times as fast as other Thunderians.
Lynx
Clan: The members of the Lynx Clan have very keen senses, particularly sight and hearing. These abilities, unlike
the latent ones of other clans, must be honed and shaped. A well-trained Lynx is said to have the ability to see through
walls or hear as well as an Andorian.
Leopard Clan: The Leopards are quite flexible when comepared with other
Thunderians.
History:
The Thunderians originated in an outer realm kingdom called Thundera. Little is know about its actual location
and even less about its history. Most of what is known has been gleaned from early visitors to the Crystal Realm and
from the survivors of its tragic destruction by unknown forces some ten years ago.
The kingdom began by the uneasy
alliance of the seven clans of Thunderian people. They intermarried, but remained more or less distinct. Gradually,
the clan divisions disappeared, leading to an egalitarian society. This peace only lasted a few centuries, however,
before a great division arose over the course that the kingdom would take. Some favored developing technology and science
to create a perfect society, while others favored an agricultural culture, built on magic and a connection to nature.
For
ten years, these two fought, but eventually, the faction favoring technology won out. They became an upper caste of
nobility, called Thundercats, who controlled most of the society. The lower caste was scattered, some becoming servants
to the nobility, others moving to the outskirts of the kingdom to farm and produce food for the entire Thunderian people as
a whole. Over the years, the nobility became vastly more powerful, ruling all Thunderians with an elected council, led
by a hereditary monarch with limited powers. To appease the lower caste, however, one token non-Thundercat was always
given a seat on the council.
Class divisions widened over the centuries, leading to two almost distinct societies,
held together only by a common set of leaders and laws. Upward mobility was impossible, however, if a member of the
upper caste married a member of the lower caste, he or she immediately lost nobility status. Tensions would occasionally
lead to revolts by the lower class, but these were almost always silenced without much incident. The upper caste developed
their technological utopia, a world in which machines could think, clothing was unnecessary, and visitors from far and wide
flocked to exchange information. Nevertheless, they were still completely dependent on the lower caste to provide them
with food and raw materials.
The last king of Thundera, King Claudius of the Lion Clan, was aware, by some unknown
means, of the coming destruction that would take Thundera. He attempted to arrange an evacuation, to better preserve
their way of life, but he over-estimated the amount of time available to him. Midway through his schemes, the attack
came. Virtually all of the unprepared farming caste and a great many of the Thundercats were wiped out, along with their
technology and culture. The baffled survivors of both castes were left to wander, many of them arriving in the Crystal
Realm.
To this day, no one knows the cause of the destruction of the realm, nor what became of some of the most precious
artifacts of Thundera, which were rescued by Claudius' chief advisor, Jaga, who managed to escape with the only living heir
to the kingdom and the majority of the Thunderian council, minus the final token member of the lower caste, Dolon of the Panther
Clan.
Appearance:
All full blooded Thunderians have red eyes with long, slitted pupils. These eyes
will flash yellow in the presence of the royal crest of Thundera. Although almost completely humanoid in bone and muscle
structure, the appearance of a Thunderian varies drastically, depending on the clan that the Thunderian is born into.
Lion
Clan: Members of this clan tend to have orange-tan skin with a slightly lighter coloring around the eyes and mouth.
Lions are predominantly redheads.
Panther Clan: Panthers have bulky, muscular bodies. Their skin tends
to be a light blue color. Unlike their brethren in many other clans, Panthers have long, pointed ears. Male Panthers
tend to have no body hair while females usually have blond hair.
Tiger Clan: The Tigers have dark, orange skin,
with a white circle around the mouth. They have black strips running down the sides of their arms and legs. Most
have white hair. There is a rare birth defect among the Tigers that leads to blue skin. These individuals are
called "albinos."
Cheetah Clan: Members of the Cheetah Clan have ivory colored skin with black spots running
down either side of their bodies and hair. At puberty, red diamonds form around their eyes, running down their faces.
Most Cheetahs are blond and they all tend to have slender, lithe bodies.
Puma Clan: Pumas most resemble Hylians
with long pointed ears and pale, humanoid skin tones. They tend to have darker hair coloring, often streaked with white
from a very early age.
Lynx Clan: The Lynx Clan is the only Thunderian clan that can be classified as demonoid.
Although skintones and hair colors are remarkably similar to those of Humans, the members of the Lynx Clan are almost always
born with a dextrous tail.
Leopard Clan: Members of this clan feature pinkish white skin with blue spots running
down either side of their bodies. They tend to have hair running all along the blue continuum.
Reproduction:
By the age of fifteen, both male and female Thunderians
have reached sexual maturity. Females go through heat cycles, generally five times a year, lasting for as little as
three days or as long as a week. During this time, pheromones drive them to mate.
Thunderians reproduce in the
same manner as humanoids, though with a significantly briefer gestation period of about five months. A child is always
born with the traits of the mother's clan, even if the father is of a different clan. The birthing process is generally
very difficult, with a high rate of mortality among both children and mothers without proper care. Multiple births are
uncommon and nothing more than twins has ever been seen. The mother nurses for approximately a year.
Thunderians
are capable of crossbreeding with other humanoid species. Halfbreeds generally take on the traits of the non-Thunderian
parent in the case of intermingling with Hylians or Risans. Human/Thunderian pairings tend to produce offspring with
an equal balance of characteristics from each parent. The gestation period, however, is always fixed at five months,
even in the case of halfbreeds.
One unique facet of a Thunderian halfbreed is that he or she will never be born with
Thunderian eyes. During times of high tension, when adreneline is present, the halfbreed's eyes will take on the slitted
pupils of his or her Thunderian parent, but the effects will be temporary. Likewise, in the presence of the royal crest,
known as the Eye of Thundera, a halfbreed's eyes will flash yellow, as the Thunderian parent's eyes.
|
