Taxonomy of Rokhanan Life

Kingdom: animalia

• Phylum: arthropoda
  • Class: malacostraca
    • Order: decapoda
      • Family: ocypodidae
        • Genus: anthrocarcinus
          • Species: domon

• Phylum: echinodermata
  • Class: crinoidea
    • Order: isocrinida
      • Family: isselicrinidae
        • Genus: metacrinus
          • Species: rotundus

• Phylum: chordata
  • Class: avia
  • Class: mammalia
    • Order: proboscidea
      • Family: elephantidae
        • Genus: niphelephas
          • Species: sapiens
    • Order: carnivora
      • Family: felidae
        • Genus: felis
          • Species: domesticus
    • Order: simia
      • Family: hominidae
        • Genus: pan
          • Species: modernis

List of Species

Builder Crab (anthrocarcinus domon): the oldest intelligent species on the planet, and the one with perhaps the most invasive Forms. Builder crabs seem to have their origins in the related genus of hermit crabs, whose young find the discarded shells of molluscs to live in until they reach their full size. Builder crabs behave much the same way–only they collect shells directly for juveniles, and induct them into their particular cult when they do so. In effect, the builder crabs have something approaching a hive mind, not so much connecting thoughts as giving them access to certain mental routines which they can use to prosper, including language (which changes very little down the centuries as it is learnt the exact same way for generations). On the oxygen-rich, humid shores of the tropics, builder crabs can reach a diameter of two metres, far exceeding anything on Earth–and yet they are the most dextrous of the crustaceans, their pincers each given the dexterity of a hand with two thumbs thanks to generations of muscle development. Builder crabs have relatively limited verbal communication, their mouths not really being equipped for that sort of thing; instead, they communicate through a mixture of pincer-movements and pheromones.

Human (pan modernis): the most widely-spread sapient species on the planet, humans for the longest time were separated into two lineages. The Dull Folk made up the majority of the population, regular humans with no particular magical ability. The Fair Folk, on the other hand, were the partial descendants of Forms (anthropomorphic personifications, everything from Death to Justice to the embodiments of human settlements), and as such could wield the magic of their ancestor–or ancestors, as they tended to marry with one another (long-term relationships are difficult to keep up when your partner’s unlikely to last into the next century). After a prolonged conflict, the last of the Fair Folk in the lands that had been the Empire of Zhogvo were cut away from their source powers through the Breaking of Bonds, performed (quite unironically) by Justice herself, leaving only those who had sufficiently interbred with others (be they Dull or Fair Folk) alive but incapable of magic. It is possible that other ethnicities still have their Fair Folk.

Mammoth (niphelephas sapiens): the second-oldest sapient species in the world, and the ones whose Forms are perhaps the most spiritual. The mammoths living on and around the great glaciers in the Arctic Circle weave their Walkers into the land itself, with landmarks acting as connection points for their gods. Mammoth trunks are especially dextrous, with 45,000 muscles and a force that can range from delicate to crushing depending on how they move. Mammoths as a general rule can work iron found in meteorites on the tundra, and use bone-and-iron spears to ward off humans–if their enormous size doesn’t already leave them cautious. Mammoths talk in the subsonic range for the most part, allowing them long-distance communication across the ice.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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