Scorpien

Appearance
Female scorpiens stand between 6 and 7 rands tall, while male scorpiens average between 7 and 8.5 rands. Scorpiens often weigh a bit more than they would appear to do so due to their immense exoskeletal system. In addition to supporting a build that tends towards heavily defined muscles, scorpiens have a chitinous "skin" that serves as natural armor. Thus, most scorpiens will weigh anywhere between 90 to 175 crowns depending on their height and the thickness of their exoskeleton. Female scorpiens are extremely well known for their curvaceous physique, and their carapaces serve to emphasize their assets greatly.

The most distinctive physical feature of this race is their exoskeleton, which covers a scorpien completely from head to toe. Their chitinous shell acts as natural armor for the scorpien, but it does not provide the natural flexibility of skin. It does, however, have some bounce to it, allowing a scorpien more freedom of movement than one might expect. The scorpien's hard but somewhat flexible shell contains elements such as calcium and mercury in such proportions that they seemed to have been perfectly designed by some great hand. There is no other substance on Primordiax that has the armor capabilties and the flexibility of a scorpien's carapace. This fact alone has created many rumors about how scorpiens came into existence. One extremely popular theory involves them being created by a group of mad magic users and alchemists. Scorpiens themselves do not take well to this theory.

The scorpien carapace runs an entire gamut of colors, all of them naturally found in a desert landscape. Scorpiens tend to be shades of brown and yellow, though some tends towards black and others towards a dull crimson. Scorpiens do not have hair, though they have two protrusions on the top of their heads in varying lengths that are often mistaken for antennae. Most necromancers believe that the antennae are actually remnants of an external sensory gland that is now nothing more than a vestigial organ.

Scorpiens are well known for decorating their carapaces with symbols of war, power, or beauty. With their lack of hair and intense facial features, scorpiens express most of their beauty through body paint and fine etchings upon their exoskeletons. Makeup or piercings do not show up well against the dark, strong features of a scorpien's face.

Society
Scorpiens, because of their natural build, tend towards a very militaristic society, yet they are also known nomads. Women and men do not have distinctive positions in society determined by their sex. Rather, they have units within their social structure to which they gravitate. For example, a typical scorpien tribe will often have a domestic unit, which is further sub-divided into smaller units, a hunting and war unit, which is also sub-divided into specialized sectors, and a ruling council. All members of the tribes tend towards the units in which they are most drawn, and from there, they earn ranks and move higher in the units.

Domestic units control nearly everything within the confines of the camp, including building and taking down campsites. Since scorpien tribes may stay in a certain site for weeks at a time, this unit excels in construction as well as ecology. Scorpiens tend to try to leave the land as they found it, though they may deplete some of the resources. In addition to being in charge of the society's physical structures, one division of the domestic unit deals with procreation and child rearing. All scorpiens are encouraged to reproduce due to the fact that infant mortality rate is extremely high in the society while fertility rates are lower than any other known intelligent species. Children are invaluable and cherished by the culture. Thankfully, the rigors of living their nomadic life are extremely demanding and require the cooperation of everyone in the society, or else scorpien children would probably otherwise be raised extremely spoiled. The domestic units also plan and prepare every meal for every member in the tribe.

The hunting and war units have divisions dedicated to training with weapons, hunting techniques, and military strategies. Most scorpien strategies involve wide open spaces and hand to hand combat. Hunting scorpiens, however, often excel with crossbows or slings. All scorpiens that grow up in tribal communities have fundamental training in basic weapons, regardless of their units. The hunting and war units are responsible for bringing in game for the tribe as well as gathering herbs, vegetables, and food stuffs. Last but not least, they also defend the tribe in times of war or danger.

The ruling unit of each tribe is the smallest unit, and almost all of the members of this unit formerly served in one of the other two divisions before becoming a ruler. These scorpiens are responsible for resolving disputes within the tribe and facilitating communications with governments outside the tribe, including other tribes. The ruling unit will often consist of seven to fifteen older scorpiens, though sometimes a scorpien is born with diplomatic gifts and will enter the ruling unit early.

Several scorpiens, however, have made their way to one of the large cities of Primordiax and given up their nomadic ways. These scorpiens, especially the ones who once lived in a tribe, usually find easy employment throughout the cities due to their excellent work ethics and sense of team play. Scorpiens, on the other hand, often find themselves annoyed or disillusioned by the apparent laziness and selfishness of the people in the city.

History
Scorpien history is extremely convoluted. More information will surely be added soon.

Racial bonuses
Scorpien racial bonuses are current unpublished.

SEE ALSO: Races