Rectus Lectio: Racial Compendium

((Rectus Lectio, "Natural Selection" in Latin, is a universe created by Anemone and myself. Credit goes to her for this wonderful idea, which with her consent I expanded upon.))

CHAPTER 1: HARPIES

The harpies have often been depicted in storybooks as terrible demi-humans. However, most of these documentations are biased, portraying them as hideous beasts. They are, in fact, astute and beautiful, but one fact certainly does remain true in the records: they are very deadly.

Harpy culture revolves primarily around one aspect: fertility. Conception and motherhood is sacred to them. Harpies can only reproduce once every three years and only the females can. During the mating ceremony, harpies go about and try to bring the males of other races and use any method possible, be it seduction, love, or force, to their tribe or nest to breed and conceive. After mating, harpies drug their victims (willing or otherwise) and send them off in a cloud of amnesia.

Harpies remain pregnant for only two months, after which they each lay a clutch of eggs. The eggs and hatchlings are raised by the harpy tribe and are considered their most important treasure.

Harpies are born one of three different kinds: Butterfly Female, Vulture Female, and Vulture Male, depending on their chromosome sequence. Butterfly Females are XXX, Vulture Females are YXX, and Vulture Males are YYX. Theoretically, a Butterfly Male could be born through a YYY sequence, but since Harpy females always have 2 X chromosomes, it is impossible (Harpy Males are infertile and unable to reproduce). They all have wings and talons, though the wings differ from butterfly-type to vulture-type. Feather and hair color, which tend to match, among harpies are much more varied than those of humans.

Butterfly Female harpies have four wings on their backs. While the wings are smaller than those of vulture-types, they are able to beat faster and stronger. They are the most agile of the two types. Culturally, they are seen as the sneakier kind and, while they are superficially treated as equals, there is a very mild racism simmering barely below the surface.

Vulture Female harpies have two powerful wings growing from the back of their arms, from the armpit to a third of their forearm. They are faster of the two types. Vultures (despite their name) are equal in beauty to the butterflies, their only difference being the wings. Culturally, vultures are seen as the more fit of the two kinds while being, at the same time, treated as equals.

Vulture Males are the male counterparts of vulture females, also with long, feathered wings. Males, however, are viewed with inferiority in harpy culture because all males are born infertile. Males are also the rarest to be born. Usually, they attempt to redeem their seemingly worthless status by being guards and warriors.

Harpy technology revolves mostly on the use of herbal plants. They are able to create poisons, antidotes, medicine, and other sorts of toxins and potions, which they use in war, mating, and even everyday matters.

Harpy law is different from our own. To a harpy, it is alright to borrow an item (with or without consent) so long as you return it in its original condition, whether it be objects, people, or favors (this goes not only with themselves, but with other races which they need to reproduce). Harpies prohibit killing among themselves. These crimes are punished by castration (both genders). POW are either executed, held for negotiations, or used as reproductive tools. The worse crime one can commit against a harpy tribe, however, is murder and the breaking of eggs, the likes of which will cause the harpies to punish by castration, removal of the tongue, steroid-enhancement, and brainwashing by drug-induced slavery.

In combat, a harpy's main tactic is to go for the throat and crotch with their talons, both soft and vulnerable locations. They poison their claws and weapons, which include swords, spears, and bows-and-arrows. Harpies will generally wage war on intruders without warning or if there is a criminal being protected by another nation or tribe.

Harpies live either in the wilderness (usually in thick areas like forests to avoid detection and in nests built by in trees) or the cities, hiding among the human population. Their cultures are vastly different. While wilderness harpies uphold the law and customs closely, the urban harpies have adapted more closely to human society. Urban harpies hide their wings and talons by tucking them close to their bodies under clothing. They live normally as humans would, save on the occasions such as the three-year mating ceremony, and uphold harpy law and customs where applicable in their daily lives.

Harpy diet has, as its main course, fruit. It is the most abundant. However, harpies are omnivorous and will eat small animals, excluding avian creatures. The color of a harpy hatchling's hair and feathers are determined by the mother's diet during pregnancy.

Harpy art is realistic and factual. They do not believe in anything that they cannot see, and as such abstract art is useless to them. Their arts - written language, sculptures, and paintings - are often tools to leave messages to other harpies, not about philosophy, but actual data such as the location of a tribe, where to find food, and other such necessary information.

CHAPTER 2: MINOTAUR

Brutish, powerful, and dumb would often be what the regular onlooker would say upon first seeing a minotaur, whether or not he was disguised or clearly a different species. The minotaur, mythological to many, is not just a creature from the Minoan legend. Rather, minotaurs are a race of people, but they remain one of the most violent and proud to ever be seen, even when compared to humans.

Minotaur are an average height of 8'-10' for males and 7'-8' for females. Minotaur are covered in a coat of fine hairs varying from minotaur to minotaur in color (though it is always solid throughout) but generally matching their skin tone. Minotaur have very thick skin, large muscles, and walk on four-toed legs. Their hands are callous and large, but bear similarity to human hands. Most remarkable of their features are their horns, which jut out of their thick, hairy heads like spires, often curving elegantly but ending in deadly tips.

The minotaur's homes are tribal, often in either mountainous or planar regions. They build tents out of leather, bone, stone, and wood. They are hunters and warriors, their diet consisting of only meat. Generally, if there is a minotaur clan in the vicinity, there must also be a watering hole.

Minotaur believe in one law and one law only: take what you can. Violence in a minotaur clan is common and often ends in the death of either participant if it is a duel of honor. Minotaur believe that if you can steal or take away something from someone else, then you are entitled to it. Killing within a minotaur clan is not punishable by clan law but very often it will invoke the wrath of family, this escalating to a family feud and ending one line or the other. The clan leader rarely stops this, as the practice is common for rooting out the weak or sickly minotaur.

The greatest sport and celebration to minotaur is war. While all victories in combat - no matter how mundane or lethal - victories in war are celebrated with great feasts and banquets taken from the spoils. If a battle is lost, the minotaur go through a period of starvation, both as punishment to themselves for their weakness and as a tactic to ration whatever resources they did not obtain from the raid.

Minotaur mating season is all year around, much like humans. There is only one type of courting, and that is that the minotaur must defeat his chosen mate - be it male or female - in non-lethal hand-to-hand combat. When defeated, the individual is subject to the minotaur. Sometimes, they choose to be mates for life while other times the minotaur does this only for pleasure or to have children. It is not uncommon for mating to begin in the middle of a duel, since minotaur fight bereft of clothing during a duel.

In honor duels, often proposed as a way to defend property, for sport, or to take something, are deep-seated in minotaur culture. Losing a duel and living leaves the battered warrior struck with shame. Minotaur greatly prefer to die fighting than to continue their lives with the loss carved on their minds and bodies. While minotaur duels are done on equal ground - either with both having weapons or neither having any - war is a different story. Regardless of whom or what lies in the path of a minotaur, if they are willing to take it, they can by any force necessary, be it a life, an object, or a person. However, minotaur are never allowed to take slaves and the minotaur who does is frowned upon. This is rooted on the fear of rebellion and being overrun, though minotaur will never admit or even show fear of anything.

Minotaur weaponry is crude but efficient. They use throwing spears, wooden shields, and stone swords and axes. These are tools for hunting as well as war. Minotaur are also prone to throwing large boulders as heavy as 500 pounds with deadly success and accuracy. They are greatly resistant to physical injury, disease, and even poisons. Minotaur are very fond of goring enemies whom they've captured in a deadlock with their horns or tearing them in half with their bare hands.

Minotaur are highly territorial. If a minotaur catches a foreign intruder, either a minotaur not of the clan or someone of another race, they will attack without warning save for an enraged billow. The land is of the entire clan's, however, and a stranger can walk among minotaur so long as one consents to it. Even then, the benefactor can be challenged by minotaur opposed to the decision. Rarely does the number exceed one or two, but if the benefactor loses, the "guest" is killed on the spot as well.

Minotaur chieftains are the strongest of the clan, having reached the top by challenging the former chieftains. They are generally presented with a challenge from young and brash aspirants but easily defeat them. Generally, when a chieftain ages and his body deteriorates, a new and stronger minotaur will defeat him and take his place. Because minotaur women are physically weaker than minotaur men, it is unusual that there is a female chieftain, but beyond physical prowess minotaur make no distinction between powerful males and females alike.

Minotaur who choose to live among humans take drastic steps to do so. They cut off their horns, shave their bodies, and cover their four-toed feet. Beyond that, they look little more than abnormally huge humans. Being the physical rather than the mental type of species, minotaur take jobs among humans as professional sportsmen, builders, and other muscle jobs. They maintain their cultural tradition with other minotaur, but try their best (often failing) to maintain them out of human affairs. As a result, only few minotaur ever enter human society and succeed in staying, but never do their natures die out. Because of their self-restriction, civil minotaur are seen with contempt and disgust by wild minotaur. Views from the civil to the wild vary from minotaur to minotaur.

Art is not a great concern among minotaur. Lacking proper ink, they use blood and berries as their ink and dried animal skins for their paper. Minotaur send messages between clans and their messages differ from drawings to capable language. They do keep trophies from kills to boast their prowess and at times cave walls are lined with crude drawings from minotaur children and adults alike. They do keep legends passed down orally, however, usually regarding great hunts and powerful, seemingly invincible minotaur ancestors and heroes.

Similarly, philosophy is not a great concern among them. In their culture, the strongest deserve what they can take by force and that is the law of nature. They are also not very capable intellectually and a truly remarkable minotaur will generally be able to do multiplication. However, they are extraordinary thinkers when drawing battle plans and hunting strategies passed down from generation to generation.

I like it Very interesting. A couple of things that popped in to my mind:

- Do the Harpies have a God they worship? You said they don't believe in what they cannot see ... so is there some kind of revered Harpy amongst them?
- The humanized Minotaur. Do they write better than their wild relatives? Are there big differences between the two? Do all Minotaur have a God?

Those were the only things I wanted to know more about. The writing gives me a very definite idea in my head of the two cultures. A piece on humans and what they do and their culture should be added

I loved the simple construction of both and the walk through you gave us. Felt very real.

Reffy wrote:I like it Very interesting. A couple of things that popped in to my mind:

- Do the Harpies have a God they worship? You said they don't believe in what they cannot see ... so is there some kind of revered Harpy amongst them?
- The humanized Minotaur. Do they write better than their wild relatives? Are there big differences between the two? Do all Minotaur have a God?

Those were the only things I wanted to know more about. The writing gives me a very definite idea in my head of the two cultures. A piece on humans and what they do and their culture should be added

I loved the simple construction of both and the walk through you gave us. Felt very real.

I'll be glad to answer your questions

1) Harpies do not believe in god or gods of any sort. However, they do worship fertility, so while there is no "god of fertility", harpies that have given birth to many chicks are likely near god-like status in their society. The tribal leader is generally this sort of person (tribe leaders are always female, too, since males are infertile)

2) The humanized minotaur would have to at least learn the basic language. While it is a challenge to them (minotaur are, by nature, not very high on practical intelligence) they can learn to read, write, and pick up customs from the human race needed to survive. However, a minotaur who actually ENJOYS to do these things is very rare. Minotaur don't really have much beyond their simple thinking, and any God beyond one that can kick their asses and claim supremacy would be ignored. If anything, the strongest minotaur (and this is only if he/she is alive) is revered nearly to god-like status, but even those that are dead are seen as role models.

I am glad you've enjoyed it so far. Just await for the next entry... on the Haunts!

Ooooh exciting Thanks for answering the Qs You might need to poke me to remind me (me=airhead) Look forward to it

Oh, I forgot to mention the "minotaur religion". Minotaur are not too deep in spiritual matters. Consider them extreme realists. If they cannot take it, it does not exist (this doesn't mean things that are too difficult to take don't exist, but rather that if they cannot physically grasp it, then it is unreal). They live on the most basic of needs and the highest of prides.

CHAPTER 3: HAUNTS

Ghost stories and legends are popular in human culture, spread throughout religion and other stories. However, these documents often come from the distorted experiences of folk who claim to have had contact with the living dead, but the truth is that "ghosts" are very much alive.

Their collective race is called the Haunts, derived from the mythology of "haunting" and other "haunted" areas. Haunts share many of the characteristics mentioned by human myth, including a seemingly milky, misty texture and color and the ability to change their volume. However, haunts do more than simply represent old stories: they study them.

Haunt cultures and values revolve around philosophical discovery through study of history. However, haunts do not merely "study" history, but rather experience and see it. Among creatures, haunts have the unique ability to read the light waves of an area and trace them all the way back to certain periods of time, thus being able to "see" the past. So keen is this ability, they are even able to read changes made by the vibrations in the air, letting them "hear" as well as "see". A haunt can categorize a room's entire history, near endless seconds, minutes, hours, years, entire millennia, in 24 hours. They likely would know everything about the room, from temperature changes to what the furniture was made of to unseen scuttle of a bug. The most minute details, everything is engraved permanently in the haunt's mind.

It is these investigations of the past that grant haunts incredible knowledge and diversity. A haunt's philosophy and attitude will be determined by what he has seen in his lifespan. A haunt that has seen nothing but misery in the past is likely to develop similar miserable philosophies, while a haunt that has seen nothing but happiness is bound to develop a childlike naivety, though these are rare. Haunts that have seen many flavors and views of the world tend to be immensely wise and knowledgeable and are greatly revered in haunt society. Haunts are capable of sharing the information they've learned with other organisms simply by touching them.

Haunts can be adventurous or secluded, based on what they see. Many prefer to live in areas of great historical value, such as ruins or old houses, particularly where great events transpired. Some haunts develop such an attachment to an area that they permanently take the identity of the individual in that area that interests them, even changing their appearance to appear as that person. These haunts are afraid to leave their home because haunts are the frailest individuals in existence, easily killed by wounds that would be superficial to other individuals. Because of this, haunts that have lived extremely long lives and yet managed to travel and see a variety of pasts are rare but not impossible, though traveling haunts ARE very common. Those secluded haunts are seen with pity by the traveling haunts, as they see them giving up the wonders of the world for the longevity of existence.

Haunts are interesting in terms of biology. Haunts are all asexual, capable of procreating by themselves and becoming pregnant with perfect clones of themselves that are born within a day. Provided the haunt doesn't morally believe against the use, these clones are often used as tools and fed information to serve the haunt's bidding. Yet, some do it in a desperate act to continue existing, one way or another, or simply out of the urge to have children. However, haunts are also interesting in that they can, like plants, breed sexually with other races as well as their own. They can also changed genders at their leisure, though they often have a preferred gender they use as standard. Regardless of what race they breed with, the resulting offspring will always be born within a day and will always be a haunt with only minor difference in physical traits regardless of what species it was conceived by, though this haunt will, unlike the asexually conceived haunts, be a unique individual rather than a clone.

Haunt children are about an inch in diameter when born, looking like floating candle fires. Often, they've been mistaken for souls in places like Japan and were the first to instigate the will-o'-wisp ghost myth. Haunt children are extremely interesting in that they do not grow with the passage of time, but rather get larger the more information they absorb. A "fully grown" haunt can be raised in as little as a week if they continue to learn. At 160 pounds, the "standard mass" of haunts, they stop growing, though they can become more dense or large to suit their preferred appearances. Haunts lose their ability to float once they mature, though they can change shape to become thin enough to ride the wind. This is extremely dangerous, though, as it makes the haunt very frail, more so than ever before. They can also compact themselves and become dense enough as to be immovable and unbreakable, though still weighing 160 pounds even when they are the size of a small ball. They have, at standard density, the same composition as the average human body, even if their skin is seemingly transparent with a milky-white mist flowing inside it. Haunt blood is also a very bright white and even glows in the dark. Their blood is rumored to hold information like a computer (basically, what they learn is stored in their white blood). Haunts never age and are basically immortal.

Haunts do not eat. Rather, they absorb energy. A haunt is synthetic, meaning they can make their own food with the chemicals in their bodies using sunlight and other heat sources. They are also vampiric, able to absorb the energy from other life forms and minerals from the soil (as a way to synthesize chemicals into energy) using their transparent skin. However, a haunt can taste and smell and several do not deny themselves these pleasures.

Haunts who mingle among humans and interact with them disguise themselves by wearing heavy makeup, heavy clothing, sunglasses or other methods of hiding their eyes, and hair dye to make their wispy hair seem natural, if slightly discolored. Haunts in that are assimilated into human society tend to veer toward the artistic professions to live out their lives, reflecting what they have learned through their far-sighted abilities as well as their philosophies.

As mentioned above, haunt art is a reflection of their beliefs. In fact, haunt artistic expression is among the most revered parts of their culture. Their works, beautiful and unique and wonderful, far surpasses those of human beings, even when they are based off techniques used by human beings. Some haunts even develop their own styles. Haunt paintings, drawings, sculptures, and architecture are among the greatest wonders of the world and it is even rumored that some of the greatest human structures – such as the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal – were blueprinted by haunt architects originally. Regardless, the complex arts used by the haunts is greatly depreciated among other races, even humans, and only those with truly keen philosophical depth can grasp the significance of haunt works. Haunts are also artistically capable of mimicking voices perfectly, altering their vocal chords' shape and size. This makes them extremely talented actors and, indeed, acting is among the best ways for haunts to demonstrate their knowledge.

Haunts are not too keen on the academic aspects of the world, such as mathematics or chemistry. Indeed, even haunt artists paint what they do solely on their amazing natural talent to express sentiment and belief. A haunt rarely uses any tool beyond a brush, paint, and canvas to portray a picture. Haunts do notice the cultural significance of the sciences and even apply them to their works, though these are not always the cases. A haunt who takes interest in academic knowledge rather than what it signifies is indeed very unique.

((You didn't think I'd given up on this project, did you, Ane? Nah, I still got a lot more to pump into this beaut, and I'm gonna see this project through.))

CHAPTER 4: DI'HALI

Cultures believe in something, and this something always fuels their movement forward. Not so with the Di'hali, a very alien-like species of nihilistic scientists and magicians. The Di'hali (meaning "high mind" in their tongue) were born directly from the primordial ooze of the world. They evolved at a similar time that the Haunts came into being and thus have intimate relationships with them, both hateful and benign. The Di'hali greatly believe in the concept of nothingness. To them, everything that has matter can be manipulated and controlled, and after millenia of study they finally became masters over the metaphysical world. Disappointed by the lack of anything left to learn, they instead turned to what laid beyond the physical world: the realm of spirits and mythology. They sent several vessels out to explore the void and the stars, dug deep into the Earth, and vaulted their full energies to discovering more about what the other races called their "religion", to find out which one was correct. but these are still eons away from returning with a report on their finding. With the material world in full understanding, they grew tired of reality. By the time humanity came to power, they did not care enough to fight back and instead went underground, leaving themselves to ponder on the impossible. Eventually, they gave up trying, and in their denial to being unable to know anything more, they adopted a standard belief of nothingness, that the world was all there was and that in truth anything beyond it was null and non-existent. Even shaman and other mystics from other races are discredited by the Di'hali as nothing more than magic users with a twist.

The Di'hali are physically strange. They are invertebrates, instead depending on a strong muscular system to hold them up, their skin having a smooth, gelatinous texture like that of an octopus. They are brightly colored and lack any sort of hair. They breathe through various tubes along their heads, which are cylindrical and long like a cuttlefish's, and have three eyes, on in the center of their "foreheads" and the other two at their "temples". They have six long tentacles along their bodies and have no feet, instead walking using twenty smaller "foot tentacles" to crawl over the ground. While their muscles are quite strong, they are not dense and thus much of their strength goes simply to holding their bodies up. They are quite slow and have little biological self-defense. They are, overall, the most physically frail of the races.

However, the Di'hali are not called "high minds" for nothing. Their greatest asset is their intellect. They have mastered the science, magi-science, mathematics, engineering, and psyonic fields. In fact, they are the sole people known to be able to utilize psyonics, but these mind-bending techniques can also be learned by talented members of other races. Even so, the Di'hali are powerful on their own right due to their immense mental capabilities, which makes them not only the most agile in terms of cerebral prowess but also in technology. The Di'hali have created teleporters, levitating vehicles, and a myriad other inventions whose schematics they jealously and fiercely guard, especially against humans, whom they have seen have a penchant for self-destruction. They have an intense ability to learn much, though there is little they don't already know of the world, and thus when they do find something new they relish the chance to learn it with an obsession. It could be called a racial addiction.

The Di'hali wear colorful robes, oddly clashing with their nihilistic concept of nothingness. They explain this as an attempt to be more a part of the physical world and capture as many different spectrums of light (some, oddly enough, not even visible by humans, sometimes forming the illusion that parts of the Di'hali phase out of sight) as possible. The Di'hali have a tendency to also wear jewelry. In perhaps the most ironic cultural factor ever recorded, the average Di'hali all look like high priests and spiritual leaders when they have no belief in such things.

Di'hali heirarchy is rather simple: the highest minds are the leaders. Because so many Di'hali know "everything", many of them are in the status of leader. This has lead to the highest members of society creating a Congregational Mind, a group of several hundred, possibly thousands, of Di'hali who vote on the course their civilization takes. There is generally very little if any debate and decisions are passed by smoothly because each of these is considered to be of equal intellect, belief, and general opinion. While they lack flavor in their politic, it is very unified and effective.

Di'hali are all capable of combat. The standard Di'hali weaponry is so terribly potent that to be shot once means complete destruction for the subject. Di'hali have perfected the art of matter and thus they are near invincible when using their technology. However, such weaponry is restrictive in its use, being allowed only to members of the Mind. Di'hali who have been entrusted as guards and soldiers, even scholars, are granted smaller versions of these matter-decomposing guns, generally not lethal enough to cause grave damage in one shot but nevertheless terrible to behold. Di'hali mostly depend on their psyonics and magic to carry them through and are at the mercy of anyone at close combat. To solve their mobility problems, Di'hali use hovercraft vehicles shaped as crystal orbs, over which they wrap their foot tentacles. Traveling on these requires quite a bit of concentration, thus their psyonics and magic are affected, but Di'hali nevertheless become quite fearsome opponents when properly equipped.

Di'hali reproduce asexually, meaning they do not need anything but themselves. They gestate a single egg inside of them for two years, then incubate it either naturally or artificially (depending on the Di'hali) and after three years the young Di'hali egg is born. The reason for the long gestation is that imprinting that much genetic coding into a single living creature takes a great deal of time and energy. Their diets used to be sea food, but they have synthesized a bland, tasteless paste that they eat which contains all the nutrients they require (their mouths are hidden beneath a beard of small tendrils at the base of their "chins"). Di'hali have a lifespan of about 400 years, reaching adulthood at age 50. Di'hali have an "exam" to test if the Di'hali in question has learned enough of the natural world to be considered an adult. If the test is failed, they are killed via dematerialization on the spot. If they succeed, they become eligible to become a part of higher society.

Despite their great gifts, many Di'hali, especially those of higher society, have earned an ill reputation as being sociopaths, uncaring for existence any more than they would the afterlife. Di'hali do have an appreciation for existence, but deep within they harbor uncaring hearts that also see life as meaningless. For all their knowledge and understanding, the Di'hali could be considered insane due to their twisted and contradictory religion. They are also extremely proud and arrogant and will defy any who think know more than they do. If they hear anyone even dare to preach to them about the mystical, they will immediately shoot down any explanation other than their own and even act in extreme hostility. Some Di'hali have even been known to be exiled or executed for posing new theories. For a race seeking to learn more, it is ironic that they close their minds to other beings, even when they just might hold the answers they so desperately desire.

The Di'hali have maintained peaceful relations both because they wish to preserve the world and do not care to exterminate it. For all intents and purposes, the Di'hali are as neutral as any race could be, neither a true friend nor an enemy of any but those who hold curiosities for them to investigate.

CHAPTER FIVE: LAMIA

The Lamia have been the source of legends and rumors for generations. Stories of heroes disappearing and never returning, of seemingly undefeated masters falling, all the like, and each has an explanation. Some do not have to do with Lamia. Others have them at the core.

The Lamia are similar to the minotaur in that they seem to be a mix between an animal and a human. From the waist down, Lamia have a a long, serpentine tail covered in a multitude of colors ranging from reds, yellows, and oranges to greens, blues, and purples, or a mix of any of those, in a variety of patterns and shapes. The torso is like that of a human, save for some distinguishably key figures that will be explained further down. Lamia body proportions can range from smaller than a human to nearing the size of a minotaur, but even the smallest adult Lamia tends to be longer than 8 feet. They, then, the second largest and second heaviest race, second only to minotaurs. Unlike snakes, Lamia have rows of sharp teeth in their mouths as well as long, forked tongues, a rather unnerving and intimidating feature when it is considered they have human faces. Their eyes are slit vertically like those of a reptile and often range from yellow and red, or hues in between. Rare Lamia have green eyes, and the rarest have a blue tone.

Lamia have various distinct features. They have a mainly carnivorous diet and often feast on the wild and sentient lifeforms alike. Lamia are, however, able to swallow prey whole if it is not too large and can dislocate their jaws to accomplish it. Doing so, however, leaves them rather sluggish, crippled, and drowsy for hours while they digest, so while it saves them the need to rip apart a body to eat it, it is nevertheless almost as time consuming. They often do this before their regular sleeping hours begin, since they will be dormant regardless, and only in safe places such as their dens.

The core aspect of Lamian nature and culture is passion. The Lamia are very dedicated creatures. An individual Lamia will take something, such as a craft, and take great lengths to perfect it. From swordfighting to music to love, Lamia will study and practice it until they've reached perfection, and even then they will continue honing their abilities, possibly expanding it past the known limits. Their passionate approach to a single subject earns them a notorious reputation, both famous and infamous, among those that meet an individual Lamia. At rare times, if a Lamia discovers another who shares the same passions, they will discuss, share, and compete in their trade. Some of the more hot-headed Lamia have been known to kill anyone who is better than they, or committed suicide at their own inability to be the best. On the other hand, the victors may kill the loser, seen as a failure, or mercilessly gloat and belittle in their victory. Most, however, simply learn from their defeats and rejoice in their accomplishments.

Lamia offspring tend to have a slight few traces of their other parentage. A Lamia who mated with a minotaur, for instance, with birth larger, physically bulkier offspring. Pure Lamia are a bit difficult to find, but their gene pool is never so poluted as to cause the species to become infertile. In terms of mates, the Lamia are not chosen; they choose. If a Lamia sees someone of the opposite gender - though there have been records of same-gender disappearances - they will kidnap the un/fortunate victim and hold them hostage until they decide to become their mates. At times, they'll give them no choice whatsoever. Even so, Lamia more than wanting to love wish to be loved, and they will nurture and care for their mates, be open and true to them, and never harm them. The day a Lamia's mate agrees to be with them is the happiest day of any Lamia's life. In the case of a mate being unfaithful, the Lamia will kill them outright before taking his/her own life in sorrow. If a Lamia's mate dies while faithful, the Lamia will cry and curl up, eventually dying from heartbroken starvation, disease, or some other cause. The eyes of a Lamia that has died in this way are priceless gems, sometimes leading to the heartless slaughter of another Lamia's mate, though if a Lamia's mate dies at the hands of another, they will focus their rage and passion into vengeance until either they die or their foes die. If they are killed while enraged, their eyes will not solidify into the gem, increasing the rarity and price of the gem.

Lamia live underground, in caves, hollowed trees, or burrows that they made themselves. Some Lamia have decided to live in urban areas by living in sewers, though most sewers are too narrow to accomodate them (they will dig out areas to make space, however). This is as close as a Lamia ever gets to being part of human society, as their serpentine features are too great to disguise.

In secret, Lamia have influenced the world, whether intentionally or not. Their drive to excel has often inspired great figures to excel in turn. Now that the general population knows about them, however, it is greatly disturbing what may become of their species.

((to be finished later.))