Mentulan are the dominant race of the planet Mentula and the sole sentient beings of said planet. Mentulans are an isolated group of beings who were just recently discovered by adventuring Cradians.
A playful and curious Mentulan in prime physical condition
Biology[]
Mentulans are a large and tall race. The average Mentulan weighs in at 1000 lbs (454 kg) and, erect, stands at at 16 feet tall (487 cm). They can approach sizes 5 to 10 feet taller. They are quadrapeds with strong, thick, bulbous backlegs. They are flaccid most of the time, but when approaching a larger beast they erect themselves to scare the foe off. They also have two smaller Cradian-like arms and hands with four fingers and an opposable thumb for fine motor control.
Other Mentulan Facts[]
- A Mentulan is single-gendered and more closesly related to a Cradian female gender than its inverse.
- A Mentulan is an albino creature who has never been in contact with the system's sun.
- A Mentulan is blind and relies solely on an extremely sensitive touch. She will use her paws, her head and her smaller arms to navigate pure blindness.
- She moves almost solely on four legs, though occasionally on six, and she is capable of moving on only two.
- A Mentulan has two sets of 60 teeth inside her mouth. She is a carnivore.
- She has an average life span of 200 years. Sexually mature at ~13 years of age, she enjoys a satisfyingly long breeding stage and develops a type of menopause at around 190 years of age. Side note: the larger a Mentulan, the longer she will live.
Mentulans are a slowly reproducing race which produce asexually. She will spit up a conglomoration of genetic material which develops into a foetus. At birth, she can only sense the thoughts of her fellow species while in extreme proximity.
Culture[]
An aged Mentulan holding some kind of stick
Mentulans are a tribal people who divide themselves into smaller guilds. They have a strong caste system based on what house they are born into. This caste system developed out of a system of heights between the Mentulans. The smallest were placed into the worker house while the tallest where placed into the hunters house. The tallest were the ones to be able to reach the food while the smaller were to do more grunt work. Social mobility can happen, but it is very rare and can only happen to the most capable and only between the Hunter House and the Priest House.
At the bottom is the Workers house. They provide shelter and tools to the upper houses. They pave roads and do most of the architectural work. The members of this house are forever assigned to this house.
Above that are the Hunters house, they provide food for the tribe. There are small squads which the hunter house divides itself into. These smaller squads defer to the one commander of the house. He is the strongest member of the Hunters and is the one most likely to move up socially to become a priest. The next strongest is then moved up to commander.
Above that are the Priests house. They are responsible for the caretaking of the God King. They are trained to fight for their God King against other tribes. There are very few priests. These Mentulans are the strongest and biggest. They are the right hand of the God King. When a commander of the Hunters demonstrates a great feat, he is voted in by a majority vote of the priests.
Above all this is the God King. He stands the tallest and strongest among all else.
Each tribe has their own God King so fighting between the tribes is common. When a tribe's God King is killed by another tribe, the opposing tribe merges with the tribe.
Language[]
Mentulans have no spoken language. They communicate through a close range telepathy which allows them to scan each other's surface thoughts. As Mentulan heads get closer to one another, the degree of their telepathy becomes more intimate. If their heads touch, then a mind link is formed and the collective memories of each member is open to the other.
Their telepathy allows them to speak with other telepathic races. They can transmit their thoughts to non-telepathic races and scan them for theirs.
Faith[]
Mentulans of each tribe worship the largest Mentulan in their pack as their god king. The biggest Mentulan, no matter his qualifications is considered the alphamale. When he dies due to natural causes, the next biggest is given reign. Since the largest Mentulan is the longest living Mentulan as well as the strongest, their reign goes uninterrupted for multiple generations. Their strong faith also contributes to the uninterrupted reign of the God king.
The alphamale never has to show his strength, and never has to contribute to the hunt. Its food is of the highest concern to the pack. They are catered for by the priest house.
Each tribe has their own God King so fighting between the tribes is common. When a tribe's God King is killed by another tribe, the opposing tribe merges with the tribe.
Presence[]
Mentulan galaxial presence is nonexistant as they have not yet discovered space travel. However, due to their phallic shape, Mentulans are highly sought after for their desireable neck skin, which is used as an aphrodisiac or decoration (depending on the sector).