Biological Traits

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Purebreds

Adapted to survive among the black dunes of the harsh wandering desert, Arkos possessed athletic, flexible bodies and tails that made them agile and deadly.

Their eyes were incredibly precise, allowing them to see both prey and danger from a vast distance.

All Arkos were born with gray skin marked with dark stripes and iron colored horns that curled into sharp points. Their tough skin allowed them to endure high levels of pain with ease.

History and Culture

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Creation

Arkos were created by Dorian The Creator, alongside all other humanoid species, after the formation of Ayphieal by modifying the genome of both one male and one female of the human species aboard his great flying vessel, The Chimira. They were kept comatose in large biological tanks, alongside four other human pairs that were adapted into Lanthians, Dril, Lish, and Taziks, while The Creator slowly modified and mutated their genes over the course of several months until they became the first Arkos on Ayphieal.

After Dorian allowed the pair to breed to test their fertility and viability, he used the pair as templates to create an additional one thousand pairs from the original human volunteers aboard The Chimira.

Satisfied by his new creations, Dorian placed the Arkos population deep within the western desert of Magnius, precisely where the city of Arkos-Tul now sits.

Pre-Empire

Released into the world by their creator, the Arkos population struggled to survive in the harsh black desert without guidance. After suffering heavy losses, they managed to found a settlement upon the shores of the largest oasis within the desert, granting it the name of Arkos.

Attempts to spread beyond the developing village of Arkos over the following decades proved nearly impossible, as settlements beyond the oasis quickly disappeared without a trace. Attacks from horrid creatures made travel exceedingly dangerous, yet explorers continued to venture forth as Arkos village quickly developed into an overcrowded city with a starving population. Their harsh circumstances instilled a deep distaste for any individual that was deemed lazy or weak, as all citizens were required to work to ensure their survival.

Hope began to dwindle until the monumental discovery of Wonaks by explorers when one of the gargantuan, slow moving creatures wandered closely into Arkos territory. Explorers quickly discovered how to mount the docile beast, exploring its massive flat back. Upon realizing they could not only lead the creature, but build small shelters atop it without harming the Wonak, other Arkos joined to build the first mobile village atop its back.

The population began to spread, taming other Wonaks and building settlements. They lived symbiotically with their beasts, wandering the desert in colossal moving cities. The City of Arkos began to drain as citizens departed to become nomads, yet the oldest members of the species remained, as several had been alive at the time of the city’s founding. They proclaimed the city to be a holy site, inhabited only by caretakers to preserve the city’s history.

As the species became entirely nomadic, they occasionally returned to The City of Arkos to host festivals and pay their respects to the holy site. The city continued to grow as the hardworking worshippers contributed to build structures, developing a stone metropolis that remained empty for most of the year. Ancient and revered, the city was renamed to Arkos-Tul, meaning old and holy.

Generations of nomads lived and died atop their Wonak cities for hundreds of years, forming The Kingdom of Wonakaros. They remained united in their faith and traditions, while each city followed only their own laws and governance. This unity was shattered, however, when a small group of explorers gathered to abandon the ways of their ancestors. Seeking lives away from the harsh conditions of the deep desert, they journeyed East before settling at the base of the mountains. Discovering they could trade rare metals with the nearby humans, they began to mine, founding The City of Arkos-Nu, meaning New Arkos.

Many Arkos traveled to join the growing population of Arkos-Nu or settle nearby, enjoying the protection from the dangers of the desert that the rivers provided. The Kingdom of Narok was slowly born, developing a thriving economy. Many lived in rich luxury within the mountains or spent simple lives farming beside the rivers, slowly building resentment from their nomad kin.

Seeing their neighbors as weak and lazy, Wonak cities began to raid Narok villages to claim their riches as their own and punish them for abandoning the ways of their ancestors. A deep hatred began to spread between the two kingdoms, resulting in skirmishes and bloodshed carried out by individual Wonak cities.

The Dril, seeing the spreading conflict in the East, sent their own agents to slowly infiltrate the populations of Wonakaros. Having perceived Narok’s rising stability and power as a potential future threat, they began to secretly spread a prophecy that a holy champion would one day be born from the gods to unite all Arkos once more, seeking to fuel the conflict by spreading the belief that the weak citizens of Narok would be wiped away. As the belief spread over generations, hatred between the two kingdoms steadily grew, weakening both powers as raids and retaliation attacks increased.

Conquest

All of Wonakaros awaited the arrival of the prophesized champion, said to be identified as an individual possessing two sets of arms. Exceedingly rare Arkos children in the past had been born with four arms before the prophecy’s creation, a mutation the Dril were aware of, and their agents quietly anticipated word of such a birth.

In the year 36 BVE, the Dril found their false savior. Rumors of a child born with four arms began to spread, yet The Agents of Shai reached the child quickly. Taken into their care, the child was raised and indoctrinated by The Shai Council, preparing him to play his part. Upon reaching manhood, he was released into Arkos-Tul and quickly named as The Holy Kromak by the population, their prophesized savior. He forged his throne in the holy city, claiming rulership of Wonakaros from the ruling Elders. The Holy Kromak guided Wonakaros, secretly following The Shai Domain’s desire to continue the bloodshed between Wonakaros and Narok.

[WORK IN PROGRESS]

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