Sivanis of Eniret

Lady Eruwaedhiel · **Posted:** October 6th, 2011, 4:00 pm

Sivanis are humanoid with gills on their neck.

The Sivanis’ eyes are round and flat and set shallowly in their face. The most common color is brown, but white is also seen.

Their hair is thick and soft, the color green-brown like pond mud or seaweed. It curls very tightly and very close to their heads. Many bald early.

Their noses are broad and flat and not prominent. Their skin is dark gray and reflects light like a fish’s scales. It is moderately thick and does not scar easily. Their expressions are hard but not impossible to read. The forehead is broad and sweeping. Their cheekbones are moderately prominent and the jawline is strong. They are very mellow in appearance.

Their build is not delicate. Height averages between 5’ 5” and 6’ 7”. Their limbs are long and muscled. Sense of sight rated at 2 ½, touch at 4, hearing at 3, taste at 4 and smell at 4. A weakness is hot, dry weather and dehydration. They cannot live without frequent contact with water.

Their movement is moderately quick and graceful. Agility and strength are moderate as well, but they have excellent stamina. They are fantastic swimmers and divers. Due to their gills, they can live for hours underwater. They adapt easily to both salt and fresh water, but if several generations live in one kind of water, their children will often lose the ability. This can be remedied by interbreeding with those who have lived in the opposite kind of water. They can work magic with moderate ease and sustain it well.

Their talents or gifts from God are building ships, fishing or swimming, and general control and manipulation of water. The young ones are swimming and building rafts almost before they can walk. The oldest and most skilled among them can build almost unsinkable ships and control precipitation, clouds and humidity over a wide range. They hate deserts and other dry areas.

Their faith is strong but old-fashioned and strict. They do not tolerate radical thinkers and consider it sacrilegious to question the old ways.

They fear fire. To be burned at the stake is reserved for only the greatest criminals and to have it done publicly is the greatest disgrace for the person and their family. By tradition only adulterers are burned, but there have been other cases.

They take great care to keep beliefs and traditions accurate, though with history they have a wild streak and thus their legends are some of the tallest tales you will ever hear.

They are not subtle and prefer to have everything out in the open and in straightforward language. They prefer not to get involved in politics for this reason.

They value and respect the sea and simplicity. All their homes, customs and clothing are very basic with no embellishments. Even the homes of royalty are barely different from those of the common people.

The rulers are couples and rule equally. Marriage is one of their most sacred values. Those who do not respect it are dealt with as mentioned above.

Their language is similar in structure and sound to German. Their families are large, with up to eight children on average. They prefer to associate with their own people rather than with other races, because they are often shunned and laughed at for their strange looks.

Flippancy toward them often starts wars. They prefer to fight hand-to-hand rather than with weapons.

Overall, they are serious but friendly people. Respect them and you have a loyal ally; laugh at them, and you might be in trouble.

Airianna Valenshia · **Posted:** October 12th, 2011, 10:23 pm

Quote:

Sivanis are humanoid with gills on their neck.

So, these gills, do they remain dormant, basically, when they are not in water, do they contribute to their above water breathing? These guys have noses, so I imagine they just lay dormant. If they lay dormant, do they lay smooth against their neck, or do they pulse and expand like a fish’s gills underwater?

Quote:

The Sivanis’ eyes are round and flat and set shallowly in their face. The most common color is brown, but white is also seen.

Set shallowly in their face? So do you mean their sockets are slightly indented into their face? Or is it the whole eye? More like the bone structure is concaved in at the eyes.

Quote:

Their hair is thick and soft, the color green-brown like pond mud or seaweed. It curls very tightly and very close to their heads. Many bald early.

Are their curls nappy, like an African American’s curls, or are they loose tendrils that cling close?

Quote:

Their noses are broad and flat and not prominent.

Ah! These are the flat nosed people! Got it. So… you have their smell at a four. As I said in the other thread, because of the type of nose they have, I would expect heightened smelling sensories.

Quote:

Their skin is dark gray and reflects light like a fish’s scales. It is moderately thick and does not scar easily.

What is the external texture of the skin? I mean, is it rough like a sea turtle, or slick like seal. Or perhaps it is like a fish’s in that if you run your hands down their skin it is smooth, but you go across the grain and you could slice yourself.

Quote:

A weakness is hot, dry weather and dehydration. They cannot live without frequent contact with water.

What about the air? I would think they would need a high percentage of moisture and humidity in the air. Perhaps not quite rainforest, but certainly an area that has moisture dense air.

Quote:

The oldest and most skilled among them can build almost unsinkable ships and control precipitation, clouds and humidity over a wide range.

Ah, good. So, do they do this for their habitats, then? Thus they would not have to live in a rainforest environment, they could just create it themselves, right?

Lady Eruwaedhiel · **Posted:** December 28th, 2011, 9:08 pm

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

Sivanis are humanoid with gills on their neck.

So, these gills, do they remain dormant, basically, when they are not in water, do they contribute to their above water breathing? These guys have noses, so I imagine they just lay dormant. If they lay dormant, do they lay smooth against their neck, or do they pulse and expand like a fish’s gills underwater?

I would say they probably lay dormant, yes. It would be neat and slightly unnerving for people inexperienced in dealing with them if these gills moved when they're above water as well as underwater. So I think they shall.

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

The Sivanis’ eyes are round and flat and set shallowly in their face. The most common color is brown, but white is also seen.

Set shallowly in their face? So do you mean their sockets are slightly indented into their face? Or is it the whole eye? More like the bone structure is concaved in at the eyes.

I'm not sure how to explain this ... If you've reached a conclusion about that you go right ahead and think that's how it is.

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

Their hair is thick and soft, the color green-brown like pond mud or seaweed. It curls very tightly and very close to their heads. Many bald early.

Are their curls nappy, like an African American’s curls, or are they loose tendrils that cling close?

I always envisioned them having hair like short African American curls. So I'd say the first option.

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

Their skin is dark gray and reflects light like a fish’s scales. It is moderately thick and does not scar easily.

What is the external texture of the skin? I mean, is it rough like a sea turtle, or slick like seal. Or perhaps it is like a fish’s in that if you run your hands down their skin it is smooth, but you go across the grain and you could slice yourself.

It's kind of ... rubbery. If you've ever petted a sting ray it's like that. If you've not it's ... rubbery. I don't know how else to describe it.

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

The oldest and most skilled among them can build almost unsinkable ships and control precipitation, clouds and humidity over a wide range.

Ah, good. So, do they do this for their habitats, then? Thus they would not have to live in a rainforest environment, they could just create it themselves, right?

Right. They can also adapt to higher temperatures but it takes a while (a couple of generations) before they can tolerate it as well as cold.

Aragorn · **Joined:** September 23rd, 2010, 3:42 pm **Posts:** 9085

Lady Eruwaedhiel wrote:

Airianna Valenshia wrote:

Quote:

Sivanis are humanoid with gills on their neck.

So, these gills, do they remain dormant, basically, when they are not in water, do they contribute to their above water breathing? These guys have noses, so I imagine they just lay dormant. If they lay dormant, do they lay smooth against their neck, or do they pulse and expand like a fish’s gills underwater?

I would say they probably lay dormant, yes. It would be neat and slightly unnerving for people inexperienced in dealing with them if these gills moved when they're above water as well as underwater. So I think they shall.

It would be amusing if they sometimes started breathing out of their gills while not in the water to unnerve people.

Lady Eruwaedhiel · **Posted:** December 28th, 2011, 9:28 pm

Bahaha! 'twould.

Airianna Valenshia · **Posted:** December 31st, 2011, 1:12 am

Quote:

I'm not sure how to explain this ... If you've reached a conclusion about that you go right ahead and think that's how it is.

*laughs * All right!

Quote:

It's kind of ... rubbery. If you've ever petted a sting ray it's like that. If you've not it's ... rubbery. I don't know how else to describe it.

I have, so I understand!

cephron · **Joined:** December 31st, 2011, 2:20 am **Posts:** 313

Are their bodies streamlined or adapted for swimming in any way? Are their feet more paddle-like (bigger/flatter/webbed)?

Are there small societies of radically-thinking Sivanis outcasts, either on their own or integrated in the society of another race?

They seem a little like the medieval church with some of the mean side taken away. xD

Lady Eruwaedhiel · **Posted:** January 14th, 2012, 10:21 pm

cephron wrote:

Are their bodies streamlined or adapted for swimming in any way? Are their feet more paddle-like (bigger/flatter/webbed)?

Probably. I don't have a very clear picture of this race in my head, for some reason; maybe because they look so odd. But that would make sense.

cephron wrote:

Are there small societies of radically-thinking Sivanis outcasts, either on their own or integrated in the society of another race?

They seem a little like the medieval church with some of the mean side taken away. xD

Not currently, but that sounds like an interesting idea for a plot point.

Nice.

Sivanis of Eniret

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