Children of the Flesh Vulfen
Avg. Height: 6'2"
Avg. Weight: 210 lb
Avg. Lifespan: 85
Physical Characteristics:
Eyes: | Amethyst, peony pink, stormy gray; occasionally marbled, flecked with blue. | Fur: | None except on bushy tails and ears; have a shaggy or bushy head of hair, which is white, black, anything in between, often dyed with colors, and does not necessarily match fur color. | Skin: | Alabaster to tan. | Body Type: | Similar to a daun, but with a small muzzle, wolf-like ears, sharper nails and softer palms and soles. | Clothing: | Prefer light, flowing garments (generally Vashan), remain barefoot. |
Region:
Languages: Common, grawlik.
Stat Adjustments:
Strength: | 6 |
Reflexes: | 5 |
Endurance: | 6 |
Dexterity: | 5 |
Reasoning: | 0 |
Wisdom: | 6 |
Will: | 5 |
Intelligence: | 1 |
Special: Racial martial arts.
The most "civilized" of all groups, the "Flesh Pack" or "Fleshies" as the Brood of Tempest often calls them, are thought by the other vulfen to have come from the three original groups and merged into a single group of their own. The other vulfen groups believe that as the Fleshies bred, they began to take on a more uniform appearance, creating a new group entirely. The Children of the Flesh supposedly bred, at first, with a purpose: To create a new race entirely and make themselves as civilized as possible. If all this were true, many would say that they succeeded in their endeavor. After some time, they allegedly disbanded completely to lead their own separate lives.
While most groups have the philosophy that nature is their savior and those in their sect are their brothers, the Fleshies believe that the cities are the new forests and that the vulfen must either adapt or die.
The Flesh Pack dwells within the cities of other races, embracing their steel weaponry and shunning the wood, rock and bone used by their ancestors. They work as mercenaries, assassins, guards, merchants, and often have a lust for money that rivals that of any daun. They respect the other races and are most likely to believe the histories that state that they were created by another race. They occasionally lower themselves to the positions of serfs and servants but many aspire to be kings and other important figures.
They generally have no fur, possessing instead a shaggy or bushy head of hair. They retain their wolf-like ears, which sit atop their heads and poke out of their hair. They also still have a very small muzzle, while their hands and feet are virtually identical to that of a sylvan except for the fact that their fingernails tend to be sharper, naturally glossy and more resilient, and their palms and soles are softer and slightly more padded and fleshy than the average sylvani. Usually, one could not tell the difference between the hands or feet of a Child of the Flesh and a sylvani by look alone. However, approximately one in twenty Children of the Flesh are born with glossy black fingernails and toenails, this is a recessive trait that has no real effect on the individual's standing among Children of the Flesh's social world. Most Fleshies carefully manicure their fingernails and toe nails, in an attempt to keep differences between themselves and the other races minimal.
Their hair colors can be anything from white to black or anything in between and is commonly dyed with coloring used in clothing. Their skin colors range from alabaster to tan. The most common eye colors are shades of amethyst, peony pink and stormy gray. It is also not terribly uncommon to find members of the Flesh Pack with beautiful marbled eyes, flecked with blue.
They can wear heavy clothing and even footwear, though the vast majority of them prefer to wear light, flowing garments (generally from the Vashan area) and remain barefoot, the females adorning their ankles and feet instead with jewelry. The Fleshies often take great pride in their furless hands and feet, feeling that it is these body parts that most clearly and obviously separate them from their more "savage" kin. When they do choose to wear something on their feet besides jewelry, it is most often along the lines of tabi socks or some other foot covering with supple soles. The only things that they retain completely from their former heritage are long, sharp canine teeth and bushy tails, the same color as the fur on their ears, which is not necessarily the same color as their hair.
The Children of the Flesh have no Alphas to speak of.
The Fleshies conceal their fangs carefully, being mindful not to intimidate the other races with their natural weaponry. They have a very loose pack mentality, acknowledging each other as family when they meet and sometimes holding gatherings. Typically, the Children of the Flesh live the world over and conform to the local customs no matter what they happen to be.
The Children of the Flesh are very wary of entering the forests, as they know that any encounters they have with the Brood of Tempest is likely to be fatal. But they adore attending Taelian pack meetings in order to tease the Brood with their presence from relative safety. The Fleshies raise their young in whatever way their culture dictates, warning them that their forest-dwelling counterparts are blood-thirsty savages.
Many member of the Flesh Pack believe that their true origins are documented in an ancient text, which they unearthed some decades ago. The tome, known to most as "The Genesis Kindred Records," is written from the perspective of their alleged creator, Morrn xul'Praxis. The texts are more a journal than a research document, and they contain many of the personal feelings and observations of the accomplished sorcerer.
The tome states that the race first created by the sorcerer was the Progeny of Tallow, who were then unnamed. While they grew into faithful companions, their aversion to modern life was simply unacceptable. Therefore, two new types were engineered, much as the first had been, through powerful magic and masterful alchemy. When both new groups matured into adults, the sorcerer found that they each had very different instinctual traits that seemed to be linked to their engineered physical traits. The ones that were to later become the Brood of Tempest were an abysmal failure in xul'Praxis' eyes. Due to their primal personalities and fierce attachment to primitive life, they could never ascend to the ultimate race.
The ones who were to become the Taelians were the closest to success the sorcerer had come. They showed interest in civilized things, however, they were decidedly still too animal. The sorcerer then began a new project, deciding to learn from his previous "mistakes." This time, he used much more of his own blood in the process, decreasing the amount of wolf blood in the formula. The result was the Children of the Flesh, xul'Praxis' pride and only success. When they reached maturity, they were serving as his assistants, conducting alchemical research with him and learning all they could of the outside world. They had the strength and loyalty of the wolf, but the ambition and the modern-mindedness of the il'lthye. Once they were self-reliant, the sorcerer mysteriously vanished one day, leaving all the vulfen to their own lives. He must have still been observing them, however, because the document continues in some detail about the day-to-day life of the packs.
The Children of the Flesh journeyed to the cities, becoming a part of the societies found there and worked to build a civilized future, forgetting their past and writing it off as trivial. The other three groups separated and went their own way, creating homes and fabricating lore to obscure the shameful truth; lore that would be passed down from generation to generation until all vulfen claimed it as the word.
The Children of the Flesh are most likely of all vulfen to practice the magical arts or to turn to urban professions such as that of a thief, assassin or a mercenary.