Folken
Folken are pragmatist who view things with extensive consideration, rarely making brash decisions and often deliberating for days, weeks, months, or even decades on a decision if allowed. With functional immortality, folken are willing to allow themselves an indulgence in debate and speech. Free of creature wants such as food, shelter, or other mammalian needs folken often concern themselves largely with philosophy and intellectual pursuits, though this is hampered by a tribal culture lacking industry outside primitive bronze forges. The serious nature of a folken tribes pursuits leads to them coming off as stiff and difficult to read, a matter made more complex by their lack of subtle facial expressions.
Quickstart Guide
- Folken are exceptionally in tune with their natural processes and ever vigilant to threats. They gain +10 Biology and +10 Vigilance.
- Folken understand plant and fungal life with ease, capable of looking at a plant and understanding it entirely in mere seconds. They gain the Green Thumb perk.
- Folken passively heal in bright light conditions and gain nutrition very slowly, allowing them to always passively remain healthy. Like other plantoid species, folken are immune to pain and infections.
- Some folken are capable of enhancing and improving oddities, manipulating the natural energies of the world to change the effects, often for the better.
- Being mostly plants, folken take double damage from sources of burn.
Biology
The folken are a group of plantoid creatures with green verdant skin and bark-like armoring on the extremities, in particular around the hands and feet. Folken vary greatly in size but tend to lean towards the smaller side with V shaped torsos and thin peg-like spikes as legs that lack feet. Folken faces lack much expressive quality, emotion is instead often expressed with movement of the body. While folken possess lips and a tongue for communication, they lack what is traditionally considered teeth, with small thin spikes suited for keeping food in the mouth while it is dissolved, the broken down slurry slipping down the throat before anything that can’t be digested is spat out. Folken lack most secondary organs often critical to higher organic life forms aside from a ‘core’ seed held within the head which controls the greater functions of the folken’s body. Despite possessing a digestive system the folken are not required to eat provided they are in sunlight, as their bodies are fully capable of photosynthesis, however this process can be inefficient when a folken remains highly active for an extended period or in areas without light, thus the evolved ability to digest organic material. Folken bodies are not particularly strong but have multiple sensory organs, giving them exceptional perception to even the smallest sounds or visual stimuli. Due to this dispersed system of sensory organs, folken are highly susceptible to stimulation overload.
Folken are functional immortal, with bodies that age, die, and become replanted with the core seed of the brain. The process of this ‘seeding’ and rebirth comes with both positives and negatives. When a folken has passed before his time, such as through violence, disease, or misfortune, the seeding process creates a new folken. In simple terms, if a folken dies before his time, what is grown from his core will be someone entirely new, with no memories of the former folken they once were. However, if a folken lives long enough, they will eventually begin the process of death naturally. When seeding is done this way, the reborn folken retains all memories, skills, and abilities. This natural life cycle have made folken highly adverse to combat as any death through anything except natural causes is to them a true death, even if the core of them lives on. Reproduction for the folken is done passively, with folken pollination of plants done parasitically. The pollen passively generated by folken may pollinate flowers which, over time, will be taken over to eventually grow into a new folken, though this process so very rarely succeeds that folken population numbers are quite small. Because of this passive nature of reproduction, folken are often unaware if a new folken was a former friend killed by violence and regrown without memories or an entirely new folken freshly budded. Since folken reproduce asexually, few folken are gendered, but some adopt the appearance through cultivation and clothing to better fit in with other races.
Due to an aversion to combat in a hostile world, folken bodies have adapted to unilaterally avoid predators and recover from damage. Exposure to light, even synthetic light, will cause folken bodies to rapidly heal. This regeneration allows for folken bodies to withstand trauma that would otherwise kill other organic life forms. A specialized dispersed organ within the neck also contains a slue of naturally produced healing chemicals capable of restoring lost limbs, though this process takes several days and is less effective than synthetic chemicals made by the Soteria. Folken bodies are, to the Soteria, highly unusual as they seem to be a perfect genetic blend between organic 'meat' of most standard humanoids symbiotically combined with plant-life in a way most scientist believe is not a natural occurrence. How or why a folken's developing body grows non-plant matter to function as auxiliary organs is presently unknown, but without them they would be unable to achieve the actions they do. While it is unknown as to why the folken came to be, there symbiotic biology has proven of exceptional interest to the Soteria, who have successfully managed to transplant organs to and from humans with little in the way of side effects.
Culture: Past and Present
Folken culture is one of cultivation of their environments and control of it. Much like a human and a garden a folken views a forest as something that needs to be maintained and thus controlled. Folken will often solve problems through the cultivation of natural remedies. A herd of tengolo’s are causing problems for the tribe? They shall cull the tengolo’s primary food source to encourage them to move on. A primal render has taken up residence in a nearby cave and disturbed the other wildlife? Collapse the cave with the use of an avalanche to bury the creature. Folken culture carries heavy emphasis on deliberation of simple easy solutions to even the most complex or difficult problems. As a result, folken culture is immensely authoritarian, all power derived from the elders and shamans, flowing downwards to individuals who often form cliques at all steps of the social ladder. Folken form bonds slowly, often taking years or decades to form kinship with another, this process leads to folken often seeing each other under specific groups and rivals regardless of personal feelings. This formation is often tribal, with folken viewing their tribe with preference over those outside of it, but tribes are often split up into smaller factions as well. These smaller groups are often drawn by job, philosophy, or simply kinship.
This in group preferences however does not extend to other races. Folken are more willing to form relationships with non-folken more quickly then with their own, be this the form of domesticating certain animals or seeking beneficial relations outside their tribe. Folken are aware that the life of other creatures are often fleeting, making them look more kindly towards those they feel have shorter less fortunate lives. This dichotomy is viewed in two primary ways, that other life forms are inherently weaker and more in need of cultivation and that the actions of said life forms have more meaning as the lives they live do not last, making every action more important. The questionable nature of this philosophy, however, takes the form of folken being charitable and more willing to aid others outside of their species and tribes, seeing themselves are the benevolent benefactors to lesser races.
Folken are tribal in nature, but do possess some level of industry with the use of bronze tools and weaponry often shaped by smiths through the use of primitive forges. Folken are not opposed to the use of industry, but possess nothing greater than what individual smiths within a tribe can produce. A larger industry that folken use are the husbandry of animals domesticated for use in various tasks. Domestication however does not fit the general understanding of other races, folken do not so much as train or attempt to strong arm beasts but allow them to grow used to a folken’s presence to the point that many animals will simply ignore them. Once this process of familiarization ends, folken then subtlety manipulate these animals by changing their environment, such as growing, destroying, or changing food sources and habitats the animal prefers.
Folken, due to their focus on intellectual and philosophical pursuits, are also deeply spiritual. Folken few the planet and the effects it produces, such as anomalies, as mundane occurrences, having no perspective that other worlds are not like this. Their experience with anomalies allows them to manipulate what they view as the spiritual energy of the objects themselves. The folken believe that the collective emotions put into an object by a person or people is what creates the objects known as oddities. These emotions, to the folken, can be manipulated by their own through the use of rites and chants that individual folken develop. Though even between the shamans that produce these effects reliably, they cannot agree definitively how exactly it is done. The primary school of thought suggest the folken imparts their own emotions, but some believe they are merely drawing out the spiritual energy already within. A topic that is hotly debated, with schools of thought varying heavily by tribe, clique, or even the individual.
With the introduction to the colony, folken society has changed heavily, in many ways enhancing both their best and worst qualities. Folken are inherently authoritarian, viewing those above them as individuals that must be adhered to and respected. This mindset proves exceptionally welcoming to the power structures of the various factions from which recruit these new potential members. However, the in group tribal preference becomes both a boon and a bane, as folken view other folken as inherently with more authority than members of their faction if they formerly held the rank of elder or shaman. Lacking this, however, a folken looks towards its faction leader and head of staff with obedience and a desire to be valued by them. Despite folken belief that they are looking over these younger, less resilient and shorter lived races as a duty, this is not done out of malice or arrogance like for example an opifex would. They see the cultivation and improvement of the colony and its faction as an ultimate benefit to both sides, more than willing to serve and be served.
Ethnicity
Folken seperate themselves into three castes from which authority is drawn. At the top are the elders, who are the longest lived and spiritually inclined of the folken, these types are often leaders to their tribe. Below them are the shamans, who have spent years or decades learning the effects of the planet to manipulate it on a super natural level, though thoughts, disciplines, and philosophies rarely match between different practitioners, often leading to many rivalries. Then at the bottom, making up the bulk of folken are the sproutlings, who are physically suited for menial tasks such as work and sometimes combat, as they heal at a much higher rate than the older shamans and elders.
Elders are folken who have lived for longer than a century and are often highly spiritual but not quite shamans. An elder will have cultivated for themselves an extensive network of personal philosophies, goals, and friends both within and without their tribe. An elder knows that his place is to focus heavily on being an intellectual and discussing the best way to lead their people. Elders within the colony generally come to learn from other races to then give the information back to their tribe to improve them, establishing wide networks of communications and personal power.
Shamans are folken who have spent years or decades understanding the natural processes of the planet, in particular the anomalous nature of it and the objects it creates. A shaman can intuitively understand some anomalous objects, in particular oddities, allowing them to use certain chants and rites to enhance them. Shamans are set apart from other folken by their often quarrelsome rivalry between each other, making shamans favor the presence of non-folken who are often far more agreeable to their proposed ideas and explanations on how the world works.
Sproutlings are folken less than a century old who have yet to decide what they seek. These folken are common, often later in life choosing to become elders or shamans depending on which clique they fall into. Sproutlings have the advantage of refreshed bodies unaffected by age and thus are the most adept for dangerous or risky tasks. Unlike other folken, a sproutling’s healing organ has yet to wear down from use and thus works over twice as effectively as older folken.
First Contact
The folken first contacted the colony, having watched them at a distance for quite some time, yet through a mistake believed the local hunting lodge was directly owned by the colony itself. As a result, the folken first jointly came to the colony with the lodge aiding them in diplomatic matters. Sadly, due to miscommunications and poor treatment by the colony in comparison to the lodge on their first arrival, the folken were reluctant to combine their future with that of the colony. As a result, folken mainly view the lodge as their true allies and the colony an extended ally as a result, but this has not stopped folken from joining the various factions. Much of their decision was based on the need for protection against the forgotten, who many tribes had perished to in the machine creatures bid for expansion.
Relations with other races
Folken generally view other races as fleeting, with short lives and weak bodies, but most folken have come to appreciate this. The idea is not that folken are better because they live longer, but that the shorter lives of other races make them more in-tune with emotion, compassion, anger, and all the good and bad of higher life forms. Many folken appreciate the natural wild nature of other races, in particular their ability to be decisive and what they view as extremely passionate in both their love and their anger. Folken, however, despise the mycus due to the latters often common action of using folken bodies or partially grown seedlings to reconstitute their own bodies. This act of murder, purposeful or not, has made the folken and mycus enemies for centuries.
Outside of the mycus, folken view machines with absolute fascination beyond those of the forgotten. Until joining the colony they believed them as little more than murderous spirits possessing strange metals, but the revelation that independent thoughtful machines exist have given the folken centuries worth of philosophical debates to be had. Most folken, especially shamans, view free willed synthetics as inherently worthy of conversation and discussion and will often make great attempts to bring synthetics into their personal friend network.
Conflict with the forgotten and the destruction of their homes have also left them distrusting of machines, though they recognize not all machines are the same as the forgotten. This devastation of their homeland is what brought them to the colony in the first place.
