Name: anean(s) [ah-NEE-ahn(z)]
Homeworld: Omaia
Height/Length/Weight: Aneans range from 6-7' tall, with a nose-to-tailtip length of 9-11'. They weigh between 230-350 lbs.
Physical Description: Aneans are furless, long-tailed, bipedal theropsids. They have broad, short muzzles with flared nostrils and long fangs; their teeth are mostly carnivorous in shape, with a few thick molars in the very back. They have large, slit-pupiled, reptilian eyes and long, extremely flexible ears reminiscent of bat wings. They have two spiraling horns that curl backwards, along the curve of the skull. Their hides are thick, somewhat wrinkled or pebbly in places, and of a leathery texture with no hair or scales. Aneans have strong bodies with long, muscular, digitigrade hind legs that end in large, clawed, three-toed talon-like feet. Their arms are humanoid in build and range of motion; their hands have four short, thick fingers with retractable claws, plus an opposable thumb. From base to tip, their tails are as long as they are tall, muscular and prehensile and tapering to a slender tip. Aneans have internal genitalia, but for an unobtrusive penile sheath for the males, and they have no sexual dimorphism in size or build.
Senses/Capabilities: Aneans have good, well-rounded senses. Their eyesight is long-range and primarily focused on movement, with poor color vision but excellent low-light/night vision. They hear exceptionally well, due in large part to their ears' ability to funnel even faint sounds inwards. Their senses of smell are fairly good - better than a human's - and many of them have a decent magic-sense (able to detect and 'read' magical signatures on people, objects, and areas). Aneans are fast for bipeds, able to reach just over 30 mph in a bounding four-legged lope - they can run on two legs somewhat more slowly, around 20-25 mph. They are fairly strong, agile, and enduring, given their predatory heritage and nature, and can hone any of those traits with time and effort. They are also excellent jumpers, capable of making astounding vertical and horizontal leaps, and are rather good at climbing trees and rock faces, as well as swimming. Despite the length difference between their arms and legs, aneans are quite adept at moving about on all fours, especially on difficult terrain.
Coloration/Clothing: Aneans are not brightly-colored; they tend to be a medium shade of a natural color, often quite dull/desaturated in hue. Most are one color, darker along the top of the body (head, back, shoulders, hips, along the spine) and lighter along the undersides (inner arms and legs, throat, belly, under the tail); some are mottled, and some fewer have indistinct dappling or patching along the top of the body and/or the flanks. Aneans are usually a shade of brown or grey, though some can be greenish, blue-ish, or reddish, while rare ones can be quite dark (usually dark brown, but occasionally dark grey or even black). Their eyes are typically very pale and reflective, slightly tinged with yellow or silver; their claws are often black or dark grey. Aneans have no need for clothing (unless in extreme climates), but many wear it in order to seem more acceptable to other races, especially humans. They prefer heavy (but not stiff), loose, somewhat oversized cloth that doesn't restrict their movements; cloaks are extremely common, as are half-leggings (leggings that lack an inner seam along each leg), tunics, and kilts. Form-fitting clothing is usually shunned as irritating, though gloves for hands and feet will be worn if temperature/terrain demands it.
Races/Breeds: Aneans no longer have strong ethnic lines, though some bloodlines retain distinguishing features from old races.
Language: Aneans speak laea, a surprisingly smooth and musical language with a throaty, liquid sound. Laea is well-guarded by aneans and very rarely taught to non-aneans; this fosters suspicion and paranoia among some races who view aneans as competition and/or a threat to their place in the galaxy, most notably humans. Laea does not have a complicated structure, but its vocabulary is extensive and intricately-nuanced. Laean songs are usually considered quite beautiful, in a markedly alien way.
Technology: Aneans are fairly primitive when it comes to technology; they manage basic weaponry and buildings, but greater forms of transportation and architecture evade them. They rely on their own physical and magical abilities to sustain them, rather than manufactured tools and structures. However, they adapt well to other races' technology and civilization.
Magic: Aneans are one of the top five magically-inclined and -talented races in the universe. Like humans, they do not have a particular magical affinity, but have an innate skill with magic of all kinds and alignments, including nature magic, elemental magic, arcane magic, Light-based magic, and dark magic. While aneans do not forsake their physical skills and prowess for magical training, body and magical skill often go hand-in-hand. Aneans typically follow the human magical castes, some few even becoming fully-trained Lightworkers. Until emerging into the greater interplanetary community, aneans thought little of their own magical skill and trained it to a point of functionality, rather than expertise; upon meeting other races, especially humans, many have begun training themselves to a point of mastery.
Values: Aneans are quite individualistic in their values, and most of those values are based upon their chosen magical path / type of magic with which they work. In a more generalized sense, aneans value personality, physical and magical ability, individuality, and freedom (free will, free time, freedom of choice, freedom of movement, free speech, etc). They cooperate with other people when it's in their best interests, though they are not strictly self-serving and can often be generous or more selfless. They also value instincts and intuition, the more 'primitive' parts of their own psyches and heritage, and quietly frown upon those people who have forsaken animality for a purely intellectual, 'civilized' demeanor.
Social Groups/Society: Aneans are loosely social. They cooperate within a tribal structure, with only a vague sense of hierarchy (if one is more knowledgeable or skilled, one gets more respect and responsibility) - but it is not tight-knit like an actual pack would be. Even individual families aren't always very close, depending on how independent the child grows to be and how committed/long-term the mated pair is to each other. Aneans are generally independent individuals, remaining self-sufficient and self-contained while cooperating in order to achieve bigger, community-based goals. (If halasshi hadn't come and lifted them off-world, they would have been a long time more in developing the technology themselves to make it off Omaia.) Aneans will still have smaller, personal social groups - a few friends here and there, some closer peers or fellow magic-users - but are quite capable of thriving on their own. Anean society is a somewhat haphazard thing - they will allow themselves to be directed with reasonable commands by a person they view as worthy of respect, but unquestioning obedience is not within their behavioral structure. An anean leader can experience great success in uniting and motivating its community, or it can be entirely frustrated as everyone goes their own ways.
Reproduction/Aging: Aneans are normally not long-lived unless they employ magic to extend their lifespans. An anean child will spend six months in the womb, six months as an infant, enter adolescence at four years, and be a physical adult at five years. They don't show debilitating signs of aging until 45-50 years of age, and most don't live past 60. Aneans who work with arcane magic or healing magic can often live into their 70s if they are very careful and deliberately take care of themselves. As for reproduction, aneans do not have casual flings, but parents of a child do not always stay together once the child is three or four years old. Many aneans mate for life; many are long-term mates (being serious about the choice of mate and having only a few in their lifetimes); others mate for the express purpose of combining good bloodlines into a healthy child. Aneans are somewhat sexually dimorphic in their choice of mates; a male-female pairing will almost always result in offspring, while a male-male or female-female pairing cannot reproduce. Aneans who want the emotional and physical intimacy of matehood without the consequential children will usually seek out a mate of their own gender; aneans who want to reproduce on a fairly regular basis will seek out a mate of the opposite gender. While aneans do know a few herbal and magical ways to avoid conception, it is a rare male-female pair that never wants children; they use these contraceptives to plan for their offspring, rather than remove the possibility altogether. Aneans normally have only one child, though twins are not impossible; most will wait until the current child is grown before contemplating another, and some will only have one child every ten years. In order to expand their numbers somewhat rapidly as the species pushes farther away from its homeworld, many aneans are reproducing with non-mates, raising the child for about a year, and then letting another pair of parents foster it for the rest of its childhood. In this way, some families now have two or three children, instead of only one.
Habitat/Settlements: Aneans are quite hardy and can be found in nearly any habitat, from very wet to very dry, very warm to very cold. Most prefer a more seasonal or temperate climate. As for settlements, aneans on Omaia live in fairly primitive town-like setups with a wide tract of unbuilt land around it for limited agriculture and hunting. Some aneans still live without a permanent settlement, roaming as nomads with nothing more than tents - if that - to suffice as a home. However, outside of Omaia, aneans have adopted more 'civilized' living conditions, conforming to human and halasshi housing standards. They remain quite adaptable, however, and rarely complain at 'harsh' living conditions.
Religion/Beliefs: Aneans do not have a religion, though some follow the Light zealously. Most aneans balance a sense of respect for the living world, and the magic within it, with a strong rationality and logic. What happens after death, or whether non-talking things (animals, plants) have sentient spirits, does not concern them. Aneans understand how magic and qki work, and they work within those rules; they understand how their bodies work, and they work within that range. They study how the worlds, other races, and the universe in general work, and they use that knowledge. Some have cultural superstitions or personal beliefs (usually drawn from extended observation), but most have little to do with unfounded blind-faith beliefs. (For this reason, the fact that some aneans are Lightworkers is a credit to the validity of the Light.)
Interaction w/ Other Species: Aneans are generally open and amicable towards other races. Most species receive them in kind, though some are slightly more wary of them due to their somewhat savage, carnivorous appearance. Humans, however, seem to view aneans as a threat to their supremacy as widespread magic-users in the universe, and many humans are hostile towards, nervous around, or suspicious of aneans. (Humans working with aneans as fellow magic-users seem to range the gamut in negative to positive reactions. Humans who don't care about magic are generally more concerned with anean teeth and claws than their magic ability.) Other predatory races tend to respect and like aneans, though aneans are generally careful to present themselves in a neutral, rather than predatory, light. Halasshi, in particular, are fond of aneans, and aneans return the affection towards the race who uplifted them.