Jungle Savages
The Kreth are a jungle-dwelling race and are the most physically powerful of all the known civilized races. Even though they start out in small eggs and hatch no larger than toads, they can live hundreds of years and grow for as long as they live. As they grow older their growth dramatically slows down, but the older Kreth have been known to reach 12’ in height at the shoulder. Once they are this large, the only real threat to their survival is disease, hunters, and lack of substantial food sources.
Female Kreth lay a clutch of eggs containing hundreds of chicken sized eggs. The eggs hatch in 2-3 weeks. In this time they need not be tended to but will attract and absorb latent Feyalis in the environment. The eggs that absorb the largest amount of Feyalis hatch into females, while the remaining will hatch in the males. Because of this phenomenon, the males hatch in a starved state, making them voracious hunters, and driving them to constantly seek out food.
Females make up roughly 10% of the entire clutch and start out much larger than the males. However, the males surpass them in size roughly about the time the males reach their juvenile stage.
As hatchlings, the Kreth stick to the high treetops and canopy villages crafted by the females. This gives them a degree of safety while they devour insects and small animals to grow in size. Infant Kreth also possess a pair of feathered sails that run down the sides of their bodies, acting as gliding wings to get around quicker and avoid predators.
As the hatchlings reach 2’ in length, the gliding wings not only become unable to support the weight of the Kreth but also move closer to the center of their spines. As the Kreth reach this juvenile stage, a hormonal change causes them to process food less to support sail growth, and more to increase muscle size while reducing scale density.
Kreth eventually become bipedal creatures that learn to use tools and hunt in organized packs: this is the start of their juvenile stage. At the end of the hatchling stage, the Kreth begin to walk upright and depend more on using their hands to manipulate objects. This juvenile stage is when the Kreth also begin to harness their killer instinct and battle prowess that has earned them their legendary prowess on the battlefield.
During the juvenile stage, the Kreth spend almost all of their time hunting, stalking, and fighting prey and each other. They return to their canopy villages in waves rotating with no set schedule, but only long enough to rest before returning to the hunt. Juvenile Kreth are so good at climbing due to the architecture of their limbs that they can attack from anywhere. This allows them an almost sixth sense for danger by adulthood.
The constant fighting of youth takes its toll on the Kreth: more than half of the males in the clutch die during this stage of their lives. Many other cultures feel that the Kreth are barbaric for leading this lifestyle which kills so many of their young, but it is simply part of their evolution and journey to adulthood.
The fighting and physical competition continues for 2-3 years after the Kreth males reach adulthood, at which point the tribe banishes most from the village, often because the Kreth’s hunting instinct has grown far too ingrained to remain with the rest of their village. Tribes make exception for the most colorful and powerful of all the male Kreth, who are instead crowned by the hordes of females and are forced to stay within the village to be progenitors of their people.
The age when the male Kreth are crowned as tribal Alphas or banished marks their adulthood. Male Kreth at this age can range from 5-6’ tall at the shoulder and weigh in at almost 250lbs each, with the females being 25-30% lighter. This is also when the growth of the Kreth slows down significantly as well, and it can take several years for an adult Kreth to grow an additional inch. This is not an issue as long as the Kreth can avoid dangerous Aboms and each other, because the Kreth cannot die from old age alone.
The most powerful and most feral of all the Kreth that leave of their own recourse and opt to live a life as solo hunters once they reach adulthood can occasionally live for hundreds of years. When a Kreth becomes this old from being so powerful and skilled in combat they can reach enormous sizes upwards of 12’ and 800lbs. During this stage of their life they spend much time hibernating opting not to wander the forests much. Because they have halted their roaming behaviors they become far more territorial and typically attack on site with little provocation. These gods are tracked carefully by the Kreth and other races to ensure the safety of trading routes which the Kreth rely heavily on to get resources that they cannot or will not gather.
There are only a handful of known “Alpha Gods” and the Alpha Gods are wise to make sure hunting parties are not sent after them for harassing trade lines.
The Hierarchy of the Kreth
The Kreth are a powerful and influential race for in the world of Revin. What they lack in natural resources, such as ore and wood, they more than make up for in the trade of hides and mercenary-escorts.
Many deem the Kreth to be savages, but those that know them well know that it is only the males that hunt fervently. The females are quite organized, diplomatic, and make great leaders for the Kreth. They organize communications and meet with races that wish to make contact and organize contracts for safe passage. These contracts are mostly for safe passage through the land the Kreth inhabit, but don’t exclude travels to adjacent lands. Female Kreth often choose to stick to their native territory, but have been known to travel outside for the right price and for the experience to fight new and unknown enemies.
These expeditions are usually organized in conjunction with an alpha that still holds some ties to his home village. In addition to commanding the Kreth, the females act as the grunt workers and builders for their people. They have a more level headed approach to tasks and are better suited for these more organized tasks. With this devotion to duty at the canopy village they are also tasked with the defense of their home. While not as large as their male counterparts the females are quicker and show a single minded determination to defend at all cost that the males do not exhibit. A mortally wounded female Kreth fights until the body gives up feeling no pain until they are dead.
Gameplay Mechanics:
The Kreth are the undisputed close combat race of Feyalis. They hit hard and can sustain much damage. They are resourceful even when fighting armored grunts and are masters of improvised weapons. A Kreth is not afraid to crush somebody with a large rock, hit them with a fallen tree, or use there enemies as weapons themselves. The way they fight is brutal and unforgiving.
