Minor Animali

The Minor Animali (Minor Animalias) are a race which evolved in isolation to the North East of Rathnir. It is believed that they evolved from Humans and showcase ears which resemble that of what could be a mixture of multiple animals or an unknown one, as well as a set of human ears.

Anatomy
A Minor Animali in present day is born with two sets of ears, a pair of human ones and a pair of fluffy ones on top of their head, as well as bones and fur which grows from the bottom of the vertebral column, trying to form a tail. Most developed Minor Animali do not have the tail, having been cut off at birth, as such apart from the ears they look like their Human Ancestors, both male and female Minor Animali grow to the same height and tend to be hard to tell apart. For Minor Animali without a tail there usually is a scar where it should have grown, as well as occasional pain every few months.

Origins
Minor Animali were originally a tribe in Northern Yuvaria which worshipped Xigath but strayed from performing rituals, instead believing that praying and remaining pure of others which aren't of your tribe could bring salvation. At the disappearence of Xigath a rebellion was attempted to try to kill the Head Chieftain by half a dozen of young Minor Animalis, which was put down forcefully, with their religion in shambles and their governing deity gone the tribe started what would later be called by them the 'Unholy Pilgrimage', in which about 30% of the tribe, mostly the very young and old, succumbed.

Terrifying Enemies
Once settled to the far North East in a land of snow and ice the population started to regrow and changed from a tribal society to an isolationist and militaristic settlement where each man, woman and child was expected to take up arms, forage and take care of the community. This is when the faith of the people started to grow weak, as well as when a controversial decision was put into place: From then on the Minor Animali would no longer have tails, during warfare and fighting it was common for them to be grabbed or injured and this could cause death, but by sacrificing it when one is born infants wouldn't die and would be much swifter.

The Demise of Civilization
Multiple years of bad crops, the increase of monsters and bad leadership lead to the fall of the civilisation, as it was the last bastion of the specie during the raid of a pack of particularly strong Artic Wolves the only survivors are also the last endangered members of the specie. Whether this was a sign of the deities for their lack of faith or just an unfortunate string of events history may never know.