Vaien

Typical Vaien

No environment cannot be adapted to.

Gifted with the ability to scale forests and other land-based obstructions with ease, the Vaien were the first to take over a generous portion of the surface of Rhyst. At one point, they even maintained an empire, though that has since fallen to ruin for various reasons. They, unlike Esche, do not take on random animal features, but rather all of one animal's features. In other words, they adopt a single species to take the traits of, which allows them to better fit their ancestral environments.

Their elemental affinity is to Ignis.

Appearance

AN: Vaien are not as flexible as the Esche. They will always be, at minimum, substantially furrier than a typical kemonomimi (aka just animal ears & tail). How furry past this point is up to you. Vaien tend to inherit their parents' species, unlike in the case of Esche. There are always exceptions, but usually, you'll see entire lines in Vaien family trees of the same animal type. Typically, Vaien lean harder into said traits the more they embrace them while growing up, which means you'll see a variety of "animalistic intensity" among their members. One thing always remains constant, though: Vaien can only adopt a terrestrial, mammalian or avian species. There are no recorded cases of aquatic mammals or otherwise being taken on.

Culture & Society

The Vaien race is built upon a foundation of responsibility. By far and large, their goal is to help humanity along, though... often-times, this manifests as a desire to collect disorganized tribes into a cohesive faction or city-state. Even still, Vaien pride is born of said ideal; that they, while arguably "superior" to the other races, must uplift their "siblings" and bring them to the same level as themselves. And ultimately, this isn't always a bad thing. The Vaien empire brought roads, technology, and cohesion to the world, even if it brought unheeded war and conflict with it as well.

Trivia

• Vaien are the only race believed to explicitly go out of their way to construct cities. They typically do so with large stone walls and gates.
• Vaien cities are second only to Hysen dwellings in defensibility, though they have considerably higher offensive capabilities in turn.
• Despite the reality of their former empire, few Vaien individuals push this concept on others. It grew mostly through absorbing tribes and villages, not through personal strife..