Yaak'shal

The Yaak'shal race is a distant relative of humanity not native to Kylorne, or the surface world at all. Their greatest population in the surface world occurs within the Geltisch Handelsrijck around the Dwarf Hold. Having emerged only recently from their ancestral homeland the small number of Yaak'shal remain closely tied and prideful of their cultural roots to their cultural roots and practices. In this new and strange world they try to find their place among cultures and races totally unfamiliar.

Physical Appearance and Characteristics
Yaak'shal being ultimately a differing strain of humanity posses the majority of their physical characteristics. Standing at a full possible height of around an upwards of 6 ft 6in (their normal posture restricts this to around 5 ft 6ins) the muscle and bone structure of a Yaak'shal is quite similar to that possessed by a Human, however it has been warped by millennia of subterranean existence. Hunchbacked with long and thin digits and limbs that have adapted through grasping, pulling, and crawling through long and thin corridors and caverns. The skin of a Yaak'shal is once again almost a parody of a ordinary human. Thick, scaly, deathly pale to grey like the belly of a fish, a Yaak'shal's skin is more resistant to the extreme conditions of their homeland than a humans. Their eyes too are different, the iris ranges through various shades of yellow from bright acid to a dull fire. The pupil is long and catlike, presumably back lit to accommodate deep darkness. While not totally absent from the Yaak'shal race hair is an oddity among them. On the rare occasions a Yaak'shal posses hair it is usually a black or ash colored. The facial features are for the most part human, though generally thinner, longer, and more pronounced than any humans. Yaak'shal are also known to posses "The Blessing of the Vaizstari," which while unclear appears to grant one of any number of abilities practical to an existence within a cave world totally alien to the larger surface world.

Culture
"There is one idea which dominates the Yaak'shal: All life is one being, and to live is to decay. To understand this, is to understand the Yaak'shal." -Alt'veltkah

Social Organisation
Yaak’shal generally divide themselves into clan units of 45 at the very smallest. These clan units are somewhat unusual in that while often being extended families, they are just as often assembled from a hodgepodge of other Yaak’shal groups on the basis of any number of traits. So long as they identify each other as a clan they will share an immensely close bond. In the view of the Yaak’shal a clan is one person, one organism. This has 2 meaningful influences on their society. The relationships between clans quite often are as close as friendships between two people, and that they view the collective of all clans the same as they view the collective of all life. However in a society that defaults to literal and metaphysical collectivism individuals sometimes may come to be in turbulent positions. While a Yaak’shal may leave a clan and join another depending on the circumstance it may be viewed as a human may view a limb corrupted by gangrene. Disgusting, rotten, and in need of essential amputation. This amputation may be banishment from a clan, or it may mean being marked for death. Generally clans chose to inhabit a region together usually in one large structure, which vary a great deal from clan to clan. It is standard practice for a clan to practice some form of agriculture, though the form it takes may be alien even to the clans nearest to them. But on the whole the agriculture of the Yaak’shal at the very least will contain some element of Fungal growths from which much of Yaak’shal quizine stems. Inter clan relations often devolve in war despite the close connections often held. In times of war it is considered a fight to the death between two beasts, and no bars will be held. Every action possible is considered fair game among the Yaak’shal when it comes to war, they view life as sacred and weakness in the pursuit of life is sacrilege. Should one clan be defeated in the course of combat with another it is the usual course of affairs that it’s lands should be absorbed by the victor, along with all things on them. Any survivors will be driven off or assimilated into the victorious beast. So far as diplomacy goes between the Yaak’shal war is the greatest form, other forms besides trading or undefined mutual friendship rarely occur as such considerations are outside of their cultural mindset. Individual clans rarely have names and those that do gain names usually receive them as exonyms as a form of recognition of some quality they possess be it efficiency, pride, bellicosity, or ruthlessness. It is also notable that while individual clans may vary in exact laws and systems of governance it is a general rule that they are led by a sort of Clan Chief who directs the actions of the clan as a body. Inheritance of this position is generally set apart ahead of time in preparation for the death or resignation of a chief, if there is no heir apparent then the position defaults to the eldest direct descendant of the former clan chief. Should there be no descendant then the eldest among the clan will be allowed to choose the next chief of the clan.

Daily Life and Cultural Peculiarities
Certain occurrences within Yaak’shal communities are to outsiders utterly opaque. The majority of these oddities can be explained by the heavy communal aspect of the Yaak’shal and their long separation from any other sentient species. Among the Yaak'shal, loudly shouting at the top of one's lungs in a cry that might sound like a dying scream among any other group is simply a common occurrence. It is common practice to perform a scream like this as punctuation to silence, an emotional outcry, or any number of other reasons. Meal times occur roughly around every 9 hours and every clan member awake, present, and not otherwise occupied is expected to attend. In these communal meals some difference is given to a clan chief however it is an open floor. Plans are discussed, small talk is made, and bonds are strengthened in the meal place. In direct contrast formal meetings are often held in times of war, distress, or in preparation for some great effort. In the great convocations great importance is placed on seniority with greatest difference granted to the clan chief. The food consumed day to day in an average clan is usually primarily composed of several forms of domesticated fungal growths, with a small addition of meat harvested either from felled foes or from domesticated animals found in small quantities in the Homeland. Cannibalism is not unusual among the Yaak'shal, thanks to the physical protections of the Vaizstari that virtually all Yaak'shal posses and the close theological ties between enlightenment and cannibalism the Yaak'shal posses cannibalism has spread to become a normal practice among virtually all Yaak'shal clans.

Religion
The religion of the Yaak'shal is known as Ssethghvess, the same word as their endonym. Little to no knowledge of it is permitted to outsiders until they master their contemplation of what are called "The Three Truths and One Great Deceleration."

Language
The language of the Yaak'shal is called Ssethghvessi. It is spoken only among those who are considered to be within the community of the Ssethghvess and it's structure is related to their religious beliefs.

Clothing
The Yaak’shal usually avoid wearing clothing within their homeland. The thick skin that is possessed by the race, their ability to withstand extreme temperatures, and the lack of weather in their homeland means that a culture of clothing never developed due to the lack of need for it. With expansions outside the homeland there has developed a need for the Yaak’shal to wear clothing. This need is largely derived from the almost total lack of melanin in the skin leaving them extremely vulnerable to the effects of the sun. On occasion Yaak’shal have worn the clothing of the cultures which they inhabit so long as it covers a sufficient portion of the skin. However the greater part of Yaak’shal choose instead to drape themselves in long thick cloaks or bolts of cloth which they use to largely block the sun's rays from their skin. They also have taken up the habit of wearing loin cloths or other such garments beneath their exterior wrappings. There are also other styles which are sometimes seen such as tight or loose wrappings of soft cotton bandages or wrappings covering their whole skin, sometimes accompanied with exterior cloaks or straps and bandoliers.