Kader

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History:

In the parched earth and seas of sand of the Dune Wastes reside the mysterious Kader (singular kadar), or first people.

Physical Description:

Average height among the kader is 5 and a half to 6 feet among males and inches taller among females. Kader tend to be thin and willowly, the females moreso than the males. Kader might live to be as old as two-hundred naturally, though only a handful actually reach this age.

Kader ears are at the sides of their heads but curl up into a hard point with a bulb atop them, much like the bud of a flower atop its stem. Their pupils are large, with cat-like slits that are horizontal instead of vertical. The whites do not show and the irises come in metallic shades; silvers, golds, steely blues and grays and vivid yellows and greens. Body hair is fine, silky, and colorless, while the head and neck possess a somewhat thicker mane of the same. Facial hair is non-existent, and their features are soft and narrow.

Every kadar possesses a random trait, small, flat-laying wings attacked to the spine between the shoulder-blades; hard, black claws for finger- and toenails, tiny dull-colored horns projecting from various places on the head, a thin, leathery tail about a foot long. More than one is entirely possible, although it is rare.

When kader are born, their skin is entirely white. Their youth is an extended affair, though the earliest stages go by no slower than they do in humans. Adolescence begins around sixteen, and adulthood is reached around forty. Then, their skin changes, gaining a tint in one of six colors, and the bulbs on their ears a darker shade. The color revealed shows to which element the kadar is attuned:

Yellow = Pyromancy	Blue = Aeromancy
Red = Geomancy	Green = Hydromancy
Tan = Vivomancy	Ivory = Necromancy

A kader is accutely aware of the presence of an attuned element but can only slightly manipulate it if within reach.

Culture

Because of their paleness, kader keep themselves covered during the day. At night, they require protection from the cold instead, and thus kader mostly only reveal much of themselves when inside their tents. As kader women are thin, it is often difficult to discern them from males beneath their clothes, save the tallest.

The clans have a tradition of cooperation between each other and races who do not seek to harm them. Against their foes, however, they are utterly ruthless. All are taught the skills of survival and combat both, and must master at least one weapon. Kader are an oral culture, but they use a number of pictograms to leave messages for each other in the sand or with rocks.

Generally monogomous, mating does not necessarily mean marraige, though many kader do have some form of bonding ceremony.

A number of succulent (cactus type) plants are consumed as vegetables, as are roots and some grains and grasses.; kader stomachs are very well adapted to handling roughage. The flowers of several plants make very aromatic spices, and fungi and lichens are often collected and dried to create meal for a form of bread. Milk and blood from the meyama are important staples, as well as meat and egges from a wide array of desert animals.

 

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