Sculkikian

The Sculkikians, sometimes also called Sculkfolk, are a rare race of humanoid beings composed of sculk. Sculkikians themselves are blind (not having any form of eyes) and possess heightened hearing and smelling as a result of being adapted to live underground.

Sculkikians have rarely been documented as living above the surface, and as a result of their extremely limited population, have had little to no impact on history outside of various minor legends born out of sightings of the race.

Culture
The culture of Sculkikians is heavily decentralized due to a combination of the rarity of Sculkikians, the fact they're born alone underground, and the lack of a distinct and dedicated space for Sculkikians in Rathnir or Eldham. Despite this, there exists some level of similarity between Sculkikians that can be considered a form of Sculkikian culture.

Being a race of blind folk who rely heavily on their ability to hear and smell their surroundings, most Sculkikians take up hobbies or careers that require or utilize these senses. Musicality, culinary arts, and similar talents are common among Sculkikians. Similarly, due to the lack of distinct sex characteristics in their physiology, it is common for Sculkikians to not have a strong connection to the concept of gender, instead presenting however they feel fit to.

A mystery of the Sculkikians is how they are given names. According to Sculkikians themselves, the moment they assume consciousness, they already have a name assigned to them. How this name is given is unknown. Most Sculkikian names include the phonetic sounds of /k/ (as in cat or duck) and /t/ (as in to or rat).

Appearance
Their bodies are made from a plant-like substance that closely resembles sculk, though adapted to fit the needs of a living humanoid body. Sculkikians are characterized by their general blueness. Their hair and skin are almost always shades of blue, though sometimes Sculkikians are born with green or purple undertones present. Alongside this, Sculkikians lack any form of ocular organ, and thus only have smooth parts of skin on their faces where one might expect eyes. However, for unknown reasons, Sculkikians still have eyebrows. Along the backs of Sculkikians, several of their vertebrae can be seen protruding from their skin.

An average Sculkikian is anywhere from 5"6" to 6'2" tall and generally takes on the appearance of a 30 year old throughout the entire course of their lives. Generally speaking, Sculkikians tend to live anywhere from 50 to 200 years of age, though it is possible to live beyond this estimated range.

One of the most noticeable features about any Sculkikian is the large cavity that makes up the front of their torsos. Surrounded by a few protruding ribs, Sculkikians possess a cavity on their bodies which stores the souls of those they've killed. This does not exclusively mean other people, though, and often times is made up of livestock and hostile creatures. Most Sculkikians take it upon themselves to go topless whenever they can due to this feature of their anatomy, as covering it can cause distress and feelings of suffocation.

Reproduction
Sculkikians do not possess any form of reproductive system and thus cannot reproduce themselves. The only way new Sculkikians are brought into the world are by unknown processes that occur within sculk pits in the deep underground. The production of Sculkikians appears to be something of a rare phenomenon, given their small population.

As of the present day, no person has ever documented the location of a sculk pit within Rathnir or Eldham. It is also currently unknown how many sculk pits are found around the worlds of Rathnir and Eldham, but it can be presumed that they can likely incredibly sparse and not reachable by normal means as of now. While no sculk pit has ever been observed, the existence of sculk pits has been substantiated by the existence of Sculkikians and their accounts of how they come to be.

Known Sculkikians

 * Keeket Oakvuk, a bard and rancher living in southwestern Eldham.