The Xinong
General Information;
The xinong are a species of nomadic anthropomorphic primates who often compete at treasure hunting and pranks, often adorning themselves in the trophies of their various exploits. They tend to brag about these incessantly, often leading to further dares and deals.
Statistics;
Notes;
Trophies and Stories The trophies that a xinong keeps upon their person each have a story which a given xinong has doubtlessly told time and time again. Part of the competition is a xinong’s ability to make his tale sound grandiose - toeing the edge of the melodramatic, and it is common practice for xinong to embellish a tad in each retelling. In this regard, xinong also inspire each other to greater heights of foolhardy recklessness and courage.
Recklessness It should be noted that while a xinong may live around 500 years on average, this assumes that their own foolhardiness does not cut their life short. In practice, most xinong do not survive the consequences of their own bravado and arrogance beyond a scant 200 years. Those who live to be older than 300 are considered venerable elders.
Diet This is what this species, and any variants, may eat at any given time.
Common:
fruit, nuts, succulents, grain.
Uncommon:
tubers, mushrooms, cheese, eggs.
Rare:
red meat, white meat, fish.
Overview:
Xinong are primarily vegetarians, preferring a diet of fresh fruits and nuts, and anything they can easily acquire. When traveling, they tend to carry dried fruits, nuts, and hardy bread.
On occasion, they may root around for tubers and mushrooms, though they prefer to convince others to do the actual work whenever possible. Only rarely will they ever eat meat of any kind.
Credits;
Species info credited to JPG, Fyfergrund, and Verridith.
In-Depth Information;
Appearance Xinong take the form of humanoid primates, and often are lean, wiry, and lanky in frame. Their appearance varies greatly from individual to individual, though all have longer hands and feet with opposable thumbs, allowing them to leap and climb as a true monkey does. All have some amount of fur covering the majority of their bodies, though how exactly this is expressed differs from individual to individual and family to family. Males tend to have longer fur than females, and commonly grow beards that can then be styled, though mustaches are almost unheard of in either gender. Nearly all xinong have faces surrounded by such fur, and every individual has a long, prehensile tail.
Skin color ranges widely from individual to individual, from very pale to near black. Fur color also varies, and can be found in any natural hue, though unnatural colors and markings - often a sign of magical taint somewhere in the bloodline - are not rare. Ginger, red, and orange fur is very common. Eye colors are commonly blue or green, though any other hue is possible, but rarer.
The bare skin on their faces is often adorned with tribal markings (either tattoos or paint), and their persons are adorned with trophies of their various exploits - mystical feathers, rare beast tails, claws, and teeth, and pilfered jewels are common ornaments upon their clothing. In addition, if they are wealthy, they like to show this off as well.
Culture A xinong’s greatest weakness is their pride and hubris - they rarely back down from challenges. This can cause them to engage in reckless and needlessly dangerous behavior due to dares and justified skepticism. Therefore, most xinong live their lives around a culture of grandeur, built on embellishment and a sense of bardic narrative. They live to make a name for themselves, and fear of being forgotten in the tide of history is common.
Most important in xinong culture is a festival which is held to select their 'King,’ which is more of an honorary title than any station of leadership or power. However, it is a humongous honor for a xinong to be elected as king, and they have the honor of regaling the rest of the xinong with their tales of glory and adventure from the entire year of traveling. During this festival, they exchange goods and information about possible places to loot and plunder or to make a name for themselves.
Because of their records as tricksters, they face stigma in the mercenary market, as one can never know when a xinong is just trying to butter someone up to reach around into their pocket. They are also friendly with most halflings, seeing them as fellow tradesmen in the career of making good fun out of everything.
In spite of their delinquent nature, they are close with scholars and followers of Gaz’in as they have a surprising knack for desiring enlightenment and wisdom, being intent, active, focused listeners if they think someone has something worth saying. They are fond lovers of bards and storytellers.
Abilities Xinong have enhanced agility and dexterity as to be expected of their monkey nature, which includes prehensile tails and toes, and most are ambidextrous. Furthermore, many can use magic, which usually revolves around trickery via illusions and concealment or enhancement of their already formidable martial prowess (flaming weapons, enhanced skin, etc). In addition, they often possess sharp wit and reflexes, and are renowned for having a silver tongue.
Their favored weapon is a chain-staff. Essentially a segmented staff that has a chain linked to their reiatsu which can cause the staff to extend and snake about. It is not an easy weapon to grasp, and thus is not by any means popular with other species. However, in the hands of a trained xinong, it is a tricky weapon to work around, as it is capable of disarming opponents easily by the rod's ability to snake around and snare enemy weapons and wrists.
Species Origin;
Long long ago, an ancient eastern dragon set out on a journey with a stone golem construct in the shape of a monkey. This dragon would eventually become one of the four Guardians of Knowledge, located in the library upon Proudscale Peak. His golem served the sage dutifully throughout his journey, running errands and helping entertain children as well as fetching food or water. In spite of being a construct, the creature absorbed the knowledge of the sage through patient listening, though could not grasp the depth of the knowledge given its nature as a construct.
After several centuries of service as the ancient eastern dragon settled into their position as one of the protectors of the library of Proudscale Peak in Kurai, the stone golem found himself more miserable than ever, confined to the area surrounding Proudscale Peak. Overhearing his sorrow and prayer and his overwhelming desire for adventure, the dragon beseeched the goddess Zeldrima, who took interest in the pair and came to watch as their lives unfolded. She saw the spirit of the Soulgem that powered the golem; once an adventurous xeriin with a silver tongue, who's adventures had left him trapped within the Gem for many, many years.
She conferred with Gaz'in, god of knowledge, and showed him the Guardian and golem both. "I believe this one deserves a second chance," she said, turning her eyes to the great black eastern and his star-studded pelt. The god considered what the purple dragoness had said, and inclined his antlered head to the goddess of luck. Smiling at him, she nosed his side and then dropped from the black clouds they had settled in, with the great eastern following behind.
Gaz'in and Zeldrima settled on Kurai's blackstone mountains in the shadow of Proudscale, where the Guardian and his golem stood. Both regarded the shocked ancient dragon and the golem for some time, before Gaz'in spoke. "You have done well with this one, Guardian," he intoned. "Very well indeed. But do you know the story of the Soulgem you instilled upon it?" When the old eastern shook his head, the god continued. "Such a spirit of wonder and adventure few have come to know. Be gifted with life, golem; and be the first of your numerous kind."
As the Guardian watched, both Zeldrima and Gaz'in wove their magic around the stone golem; the monkey's shape elongated, became slightly more humanoid, resembling the xeriin that had come before. As the two gods granted the golem true life and a body of flesh and blood, they shaped him to their will, bringing back the life and light once lost. However, upon the joy of becoming a creature of flesh and blood, he immediately decided to go do all the things that he could never do as a stone golem.
The two gods watched with great amusement as their new creation flitted away. Then, Gaz'in turned to the Guardian and spoke once more. "Help us craft more golems in similar shapes," he said. "Take only worthy Soulgems possessed of adventurous spirits. Then bring them to us, no less than fifty, in a hundred years' time."
And so he did.
When Gaz'in and Zeldrima met the ancient eastern in the shadow of Proudscale Peak once more, they beheld a veritable army of golems - many more than they had asked for. Smiling at their servant, they took each and every one and gave it life, shaping it to be akin to the First - named Shihou - as they had made him. Upon this, they summoned the First back, and told them, "From now on you shall be known as the xinong, and are free to do as you please." Before the gods could finish, excitement erupted throughout the group. Shouting and laughing and dancing, they scattered to the four winds even as their creators watched.
To this day, xinong are ever playful and whimsical, yet still listen when they hear a scholar speaking - as if the stone monkey that was their ancestor knew that such knowledge was worth the quietude.
This Ancient First was a tall, lithe humanoid covered in thick red-gold fur, bright green eyes, and the uncanny ability to get himself out of trouble. He was widely known for his adventures across many Realms, and even better known are the embellishments upon his many stories.
subspecies
No subspecies have been discovered for this species yet!
