Phase 2:Cheard Kin'toni Clan

History

Biology

The Cheard are adapted to the wet, muddy, dense, disease-ridden Umund Rich Fen. They are squat, low-slung, and dense of build, with an low center of gravity and high weight. This allows them to push though dense sticky mud and maintain traction, even in slippery places. Their skin is mottled in dark dull greens and browns for camouflage. The skin consistently makes an chemical oil for repelling swarming marsh insects. This oil lacks a smell. Due to the skin being adapted mostly for chemical defense, their skin has lower structural integrity.

This means the soft tissue is highly susceptible to tearing and lacerations from sharp objects. The thick, but fragile dermal layer, along with high humidity also limits their ability to vent excess heat. This makes them prone to overheating rapidly if forced into high-exertion activity on a hot day. Their hair is short, coarse and packed tightly, and when it is coated in fen mud, forms an insulating and protective anti-abrasion layer. Their eyes are an vibrant blue, with an nictitating membrane that moves horizontally to allow for underwater vision and protection against corrosive swamp acids.

Their sight in open spaces, such as judging distances and tacking objects in large open spaces is bad. This is due to adaptations to the short-range, dense, and foggy fen The nose is an vertical slit that can be tightly closed, with strong internal sphincters to prevent the intake of water, mud, or deadly gases while submerged. Their ears are small, flat and pointed, with very little in the way of an outer eyes. The inner ear bones, and by add-on the skin pores, are adapted to detect and locate low-frequency vibrations caused by prey moving through deep water and heavy mud.

The teeth are short, blunt and conical other than the long, sharp canines, that are adapted for crushing the hard, chitinous exoskeletons of large aquatic insects, alongside small, armored marsh prey. The claws are thick, wide, and paddle shaped, adapted for digging and swimming. Their hands and feet are large with long, strong, flexible fingers and toes. These are adapted for tearing a thick, fibrous swamp vines and roots that impede movement. Their blood is adapted to be able to bind and hold oxygen more efficiently.

This is an adaption for low ambient oxygen levels as often found in humid, dense fen environments. They also are adapted to be able to metabolize energy with extremely limited oxygen for long periods. This allows them to hide completely submerged in the anoxic mud. Their kidneys are adapted to be able to manage the water balance by aggressively filtering salts and chemical pollutants from ingested swamp water. This lowers the risk of internal poisoning. They also have muscles in dense layers to aid swimming though the dense water and sticky mud.

Due to their dense bones and muscles, adapted to be able to sink though mud, means they are slow and clumsy on dry land. They also struggle to move uphill and are unable to climb, as most branches and ruins snap or break under their weight. Due to the chemical oils, they have an masked natural sent.

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