Wildkin

Wildkin

Male / female Wildkin.
Details
Faction	Neutral
Lifespan	Normal (~100 yrs.)
Population	High
Average Height	5'10" / 5'6"

We are of the wilds, born to be free.

Wildkin are, as the name of their race would suggest, best suited to the wilds. When humanity left the untamed wilderness behind, those who stayed became Wildkin over a great many years. They organized into tribes all over Rhyst, forming pacts with guardian spirits that warped their appearances to best fit each one. Each Wildkin tribe worships their corresponding guardian spirit- for example, canid Wildkin follow the great direwolf of the north, whereas feline Wildkin follow the golden lion of the plains. Together, they make up a formidable mini-"faction" that holds domain over more land than any other, though with less organization.

Appearance

Wildkin are truly diverse in their appearance. They share the adaptability of humans, but in a different manner; while humans actively adapt to oncoming challenges as they arrive, the Wildkin race is uniquely adept at permanently conforming to oncoming threats. Adolescent Wildkin go through a coming-of-age ritual that defines their guardian spirit and their traits, meaning that each and every member can spread out and survive just as well in nearly any environment. This is relevant to their appearance as, without fail, they will almost always end up looking different from one another in times of strife.

Now, they do share a few traits, of course: the most obvious is that they'll always adopt elements of a closely-related species to their guardian spirit's. For instance, a Wildkin who follows the direwolf may evolve the traits of a fox, while another might evolve the traits of a wolf. It depends entirely on the individual, though tribes will usually end up with very similar-looking populations as the entire tribe has the same set of conditions to survive in. Wildkin also tend to be more flighty and nimble than other races, though some tribes defy this rule-of-thumb harshly.

Wildkin Religion

As mentioned above, Wildkin culture is defined by their choice of guardian spirit. While said guardian spirit will not explicitly visit or speak to each and every Wildkin, they do have rituals to commune with them if need be, and particularly magical Wildkin will often wake up from very vivid dreams of their guardian. It's through these dreams and occasional communions that their features develop, usually gaining ears and a tail but sometimes earning other traits as well- sharp teeth, claws, and similar are common.

It's rare for a young member to diverge from their parents' or their tribe's chosen path, but it isn't impossible, nor is it unheard-of. When it happens, preparations for a trek will often be made so the youngling can venture off to, if nothing else, inspect the tribe of their choosing to see if it's the right fit. In some areas, this decision is viewed as taboo and partakers are shunned. In others, it's welcomed with open arms, with the freedom viewed as an example of the aloof nature of the Wildkin race.

Wildkin Guardian Spirits

Each of the major Wildkin guardian spirits are listed here:

• The Great Direwolf

- Holds domain over canid (wolf, fox, etc.) Wildkin.

- Often represents pack-like loyalty.

- To complete one's ritual, they must hunt and kill a beast of terrifying stature.

• The Golden Lion

- Holds domain over felid (lion, tiger, etc.) Wildkin.

- Often represents confidence and courage.

- To complete one's ritual, they must stalk elusive prey without being caught.

• The Windswept Owl

- Holds domain over avian (eagle, hawk, etc.) Wildkin.

- Often represents wisdom and knowledge.

- To complete one's ritual, they must survive alone in the wilderness without aid.

• The Unseen Rabbit

- Holds domain over rodent (rabbit, rat, etc.) Wildkin.

- Often represents fortuity and luck.

- To complete one's ritual, they must race a beast through the wilds and manage to escape.

• The Towering Bear

- Holds domain over ursid (bears, primarily) Wildkin.

- Often represents stalwartness.

- To complete one's ritual, one must lift a tree free of its roots and split it down the center.

Mind that, while Wildkin do explicitly worship their guardian, many view the whole pantheon of guardians as their object of worship instead. It's very rare to find a member who outwardly despises the other tribes as a whole.

Minor Wildkin Guardian Spirits can be found here.

The Blessings of Wildkin

For many ages Wildkin themselves have been a diverse group. Seen in many places, occupying large swathes of land with their spirit blessed tribes. Their animalistic blessings come from a race founded deep in culture, trials that give gifts of the guardian spirits that preside over them. Yet, like all cultures, diversity is born even in the most set ways of life. Wildkin leave their tribes for other tribes on rare occasion, some Wildkin are adopted into other societies and raised in their cultures, others might even stay in their tribes and receive stranger blessings for having powerful magic and attunement to their guardian spirit. This can go even further beyond those of the Direwolf gaining vulpine features, those of the Lion gaining tiger-like features, and even those of the owl gaining a hawk's features. Deviation of this culture leads to diversity, even amongst the many types of Wildkin we already do know.

The Tale of Many Tails

The first story that was uncovered in studies of strange deviations and changes to Wildkin's blessings was a tale about tails. A distant tribe that followed The Great Direwolf had an unexpected change in their interests and culture after a certain child was raised in their village. The tribe itself was dominated by vulpine presence rather than lupine or other canine presences once found, but that wasn't seemingly always the case. The tribe's elder proceeded to tell a tale about a drastic change that happened all because of a spirit that showed.

Dreams of giving chase
Nestled in Fox den; at dark
Fortunes change in light

This poem written long ago alongside some pictures found in the tribe told a tale about a past elder's son, one who was blessed with more vulpine looks rather than lupine. The story speaks of how that one child began to chase a many-tailed fox spirit in their dreams at night, which lead to them sleepwalking. The father proceeded to worry for his son and had guards posted at night to keep his own son from getting lost away from the tribe. This seemingly worked until the young son of the chief had an intense dream of chasing that many-tailed fox once more, yet in the dream the boy entered a den. That same night, the son disappeared.
The worried father searched day and night for his son until a week later he was found. The boy was seemingly found being protected by foxes sent by spirits, and the boy had three tails instead of one. From that day forward, the entire tribe began to hold vulpine kin as a more honored type of Wildkin, and the blessing of having many tails was said to be a rare gift of protection by spirits. Some tribes members say the sight of many tails on any Wildkin is a sign that many spirits are protecting, some of the others view it a blessing of strength granted by the Great Direwolf himself. From that day forward, the tribe has kept an account of who in their village has been born with many tails, some rare numbers even going into the tens. No matter what, it seemed that this single tale of the tribe's history had changed their very core of culture, calling Vulpine-likeness as a pure form of blessing.

The Winged Lion

The final story that was collected in the series and studies of these strange deviations was a tail of one who sought the blessing of another tribe. This story was more so told as a personal experience rather than an older folk tale. This tale didn't come from a tribe elder of the Windswept Owl, to be passed down for years upon years. Instead the story of The Winged Lion came from the personal experience hawk-like Wildkin who witnessed the unique Wildkin. The story starts with the hawk-like kin coming back from their nomadic trip from another tribe, they supposedly were going out seeking poems and stories to share with his kin back home. It was three days into this trip out of four that an earthquake happened, and the very roads and paths he took through the mountains became scattered and a mess. The hawk-like Wildkin quickly became lost and found his rations running low. He had no way out of the winding paths that were once straight, that was until he saw bronze wings of his kin. He ran to those familiar bronze wings, only to find the strange sight of one that was not of his tribe, nor of any tribe he had witnessed. Nay, the one Wildkin who came to save him had blessings similar to that of the Golden Lion and the Windswept Owl. The seemingly twice-blessed Wildkin led the lost hawk out of the winding maze of broken mountains and back to familiar roads. During the whole trip, the hawk-like kin questioned the strange Wildkin's blessing, to which this response was given.

"The one who blessed me followed the Golden Lion and the Windswept owl in a dream. The mighty spirit I saw had the golden body of a lion, the bronze wings of a hawk, and the silver head of an eagle."

The Hawk wanted to ask his new guide many more questions of just what tribe he did come from, yet once they had left the broken mountains, the strangely blessed Wildkin was gone.

The Two Tailed Cat

Conflicting the Tale of Many Tails, the next story that was given in testimony was one by a tribe that followed The Golden Lion. The tribe gave a similar story, one concerning dreams and a child that was plagued by them, but the story itself did not change the culture of the tribe at all. Instead the story that was told was one of warnings, not blessings, and it was a story of how one can even be cursed by the spirits.
The tribe's elder gave account of a story where there was a member of their tribe who had seemingly cheated the trials of the spirits, and received his feline blessing. This tribesperson was said to have their soul divided in two, a good side that had genuine care for their tribe, and a selfish lying side that cared only for their own gain. A shaman took note of the strange mana the cursed tribe member had and performed a ritual to separate both sides. The ritual ended in disaster and the cursed Tribe member's tail split in two. The cursed one now had two tails and could no longer deceive the tribe, and that same cursed one fled into the night, never to be seen again. From that day forward, that tribe that followed The Golden Lion tells this story as a bad omen to children.

"If you've seen a second tail in your shadow, you are cursed to always lie to yourself, and bring bad luck to all around you."

While all feline blessed Wildkin may not have two tails, those that do would be considered a curse to this tribe, but may be seen as a blessing to another.

Abilities

Rabbit

The Unseen Rabbit: You gain +20 Dexterity.

Quick Leap: Jump a short distance that scales with Dexterity. [6s CD Off GCD / 25 Mana]

Feline

The Golden Lion: You gain +10 Dexterity and +10 Strength.

Prowl: For 5 seconds, gain 25% crit chance and fade out slightly. This buff fades shortly after casting a spell. [14s CD / 80 Mana]

Canine

The Great Direwolf: You gain +10 Strength and +10 Control.

Adaptive Hunter: If Health is below 50%, gain 10% Lifesteal for 12 seconds. Otherwise, gain 10% crit for the duration instead. [22s CD Off GCD / 80 Mana]

Avian

The Windswept Owl: You gain +10 Constitution and +10 Capacity.

Glide: Glide across a distance that scales with Dexterity and Capacity. [18s CD / 80 Mana]

Bear

The Towering Bear: You gain +15 Constitution and lose -10 Dexterity.

Dominant Proximity: Establish a proximity that cannot be entered, knocking back enemies greatly. [24s CD / 80 Mana]

Notable Wildkin

• This could be you!

Trivia

• Wildkin are supposedly derived from the Vaien of the Beta.
• Wildkin theoretically have many more tribes in the wild/beyond our continent. Possibly more animal types as well.

• The flavor-text for Wildkin on the Race-Selection menu during Character Creation reads, "Wildkin, much like humans, have adapted simply to adapt rather than to fit one specific area of the world. In their case, however, this takes the form of individual specialization instead of a 'Jack-of-all-trades' skillset. Wildkin are born with the potential to match a spirit animal, ranging from evasive rodents to proud felines. Though they are diverse and thus flourishing, a Wildkin cannot reverse this important decision later in life."
• The flavor-text for Canine Wildkin on the Character-Customization menu during Character Creation reads, "You're a canine Wildkin of potentially neutral background. You follow the Great Direwolf, who preaches pack loyalty and astounding prowess in hunting prey. To reach this status, you completed a ritual of hunting and killing a beast of terrifying stature."
• The flavor-text for Feline Wildkin reads, "You're a feline Wildkin of potentially neutral background. You follow the Golden Lion, who preaches courage and confidence in your hunting methods. To reach this status, you completed a ritual of stalking elusive prey without being caught."
• The flavor-text for Avian Wildkin reads, "You're an Avian Wildkin of potentially neutral background. You follow the Windswept Owl, who preaches wisdom and knowledge in all that you do. To reach this status, you completed a ritual of surviving the wilderness for three days and three nights."
• The flavor-text for Rodent Wildkin reads, "You're a Rodent Wildkin of potentially neutral background. You follow the Unseen Rabbit, who preaches the value of fortuity and luck above all else. To reach this status, you completed a ritual of enticing a great beast of the wilds and escaping unscathed."