...I'd better create my Gundam too. XD All right, let's go, guys!
Name: Kawing-Athlyee (known simply by outsiders as "Lycan Gundams"). The name comes from a particular snarl in their language (see below), Krahr-arwawr-ahrawh-yreek, which means "howling like wolves".
Species: You guessed it...Gundam.
Language: Hrarr - A series of harsh, feral sounds, composed of mostly a combination of snarls, snaps, growls, grunts, howls and whines. Those outside the Kawing-Athlyee cannot learn Hrarr without a blessing by a Kawing-Athlyeeian shaman, who bestows a mystic mark in the shape of a wolf's paw surrounded by a circle upon the chosen's head. The name is an onomatopoeia, taken from a sort of throaty growl that is supposed to signify the word "language". When written (which appears to be a series of crude runes), each word is seperated by a hyphen instead of a space.
Appearance: Up to a foot and a half taller then your average Gundam, with females only a few inches smaller then males and build more for speed then their counterparts. Wolfish features, as well as teeth, claws, ears and tails, and a distinctively untamed, feral look. They are a primitive race, clad in ornate furs and bone and stone jewelery, bulky builds meant to last in their northern home.
Homeland: Sverre, a vast, northern mountain rage that is bitterly cold and filled with all sorts of valleys, said valleys always filling up with snow in the year-round wintertime. Beyond Sverre are the Lichen Plains, a vast, unexplored tundra that shamans are sent to so that they may prove themselves strong enough to learn Kawing-Athlyeeian magic, a mix of rituals taken from both schools of Light and Darkness Mana. Not much is known about this mountain range save for what these Lycan Gundams know themselves, and they don't exactly like sharing information...
Religion: Four wolf gods---two gods, two goddesses, one pair light and the other dark. The first is Fenrisulfr, the Great Wolf, creator of the world and beast of good. He is the god of leadership, males, fatherhood, strength, hunting, and goodness.
The second god is a goddess; she is Fenrisulfr's mate, Thyth, beastess of good and mother of the Lycans. The Great Wolfess is the goddess of motherhood, protection, females, children (called "pups" in proper terminology, "puppies" as a pet name by the older Gundams), food, and curing illness, she is a primary source of worship by shamans, who believe her love of the Lycan Gundams is the source of their magic.
The third god is male, and is known as Mar. The cunning trickster, the fountain of darkness, he who is the Foul One is the god of evil, pain, death, sickness, weapons and jealousy. He is said to have killed Thyth's first litter, and thus, was banished to the underworld in a ball of fire by Fenrisulfr, bound to the darkness for eternity by snakes who eat his heart every moonrise, it growing back every sunrise.
The fourth and final goddess is Yggdrasil, Mar's mate, Mar's left paw and taker of souls. She followed her mate to the underworld, forever gnawing at the snakes that bind him in an attempt to free him and end the world. Thyth twisted the other wolf's body into a roughly draconic shape as punishment for conspiring in the death of Thyth's first litter, and thus, Yggdrasil can fly, but is forced to feel pain whenever she is shone on by the sun or moon. She is the goddess of gluttony, hatred, winter, famine, loss and crime.
Culture:
Politics:
There are more then a hundred packs of Lycan Gundams, each worshipping either one or two gods. There a few that worship the full pantheon, but little is known about them; basically, you either worship the good guys or the bad guys, and you kill anyone that doesn't worship the same side of gods as you as decreed by Fenrisulfr and Mar. Each pack is governed by an Alpha or an Alphess (male and female, respectively), or sometimes just one; the pups, when they come of age (twenty winters, akin to twenty years), fight amongst each other in a grueling combat ceremony to see who inherits the title of Alpha. Their mate will become either the Alpha or Alphess, depending on respective gender, and any leaders who pass away with no children will appoint the closest blood relative (or adoptive child if there is none) as the new leader. When all else fails, the shaman or next shaman will take up the role of Alpha or Alphess.
The Beta and Betaness of the pack are shamans and/or religiously adept, taking care of mystic matters. They appoint a Head Shaman to work with them when it comes to magic, and any abuse by magic in the community they deal with. The system for appointing Betas works just like the Alphas do, but instead of fighting, they see who is the most skilled in casting spells.
The Gamma and Gammess do all the hunting, stockpiling food, counting prey, etc. as well as leading warriors in raids on enemy packs and in fights during warfare. Their fighting trials are considerably much fiercer then the Alpha's, due to the fact that bear is considered a delicacy among Lycan Gundams, and if you can bring one down, then you stand a bigger chance of becoming the next Gamma/Gammess...oh, and they (the trials) can escalate into a fight to the death. Inheritance of this position relies solely on the stronger wolf; it doesn't matter if you're the Gamma's baby or not, as long as you can prove that you're more likely to gouge the other Lycan's eye out, you get the job.
The rest of the council consists of six other Lycan Gundams, and are the strongest in the community in some way (most intelligent, most fierce, most likely to escape an enemy, etc.). Hand-chosen by the Alphas themselves, they serve to represent the people, and inform the higher-ranked members of any complaints, problems, etc. and are asked for their opinion on several matters.
Family:
Marriages are either arranged or done by free will, depending on pack rank, pack numbers, and several other factors. Males and females court each other for a moon (a.k.a. "month") before proposal, and females and males waiting to be married wear ceremonial necklaces with bright beads made out of diamonds (yes, diamonds; it's a rare, valuable material, and symbolizes the importance of a loving relationship, so using them anywhere else is considered blasphemy). The male and female are seperated two suns (days) before the ceremony, and cannot see nor speak to each other until then; this is to prove that they will pine and actually love each other, and is known as "Grathhrah-Aracchrach" (lit. "Seperating The Lovers"). Weddings are simple, consisting of a slightly modified "I-do" system then what one might expect, and when all is said and done, the couple does a special "wedding howl" to proclaim their love for each other to the gods; this substitutes the kiss.
After marriage, the female moves into a seperate hut or cave with the male (Lycans live in either), where they live for the rest of their lives. If the mate dies, the other will never remarry, and instead will wear the necklace of the other along with his/her own to show they are widowed. Pups are born after a gestation of six months, and range from one to four pups (rarely five, but never more). This is known as a "litter", just like with normal dogs, and also mentioned like before, they are called "puppies" as a pet name, but in all seriousness, pups.
As mentioned before, pups come of age at twenty winters ("winters" is the term for "years", calculated every twelve months, or "moons"). Males are taken on their first hunt, and if they manage to successfully bring down something, they are considered men. The bigger the prey, the higher the honour, and the more likely they are considered for a position on the council. The same applies for females. Any Lycan Gundam can get married at the age of eighteen winters, but if they do, they cannot have children until they are twenty; any pups before then are considered illegitimate children, and abandoned.
If a mate cheats on his/her spouse, the perpetrator is banished, and all children with his/her current mate considered illegitimate. If the children are less then three winters, they are abandoned, but if older and less then twenty, they are thrown out onto the streets and considered to be "Omega", or "inferior". They will most likely spend the rest of their lives begging for food and being hired as servants, but there is a slight chance they can be redeemed if adopted into a "proper" family. They still will have a stigma attached to them, though, and any Lycan considered of age who has this happen to them will be dishonoured, and be subsequently treated poorly by the rest of the pack. For the Lycan they were cheating with, their children are also considered illegitimate, and suffer the same consequences as above.
Hunting:
Just like wolves would, only in a more battle-esque structure, and with spears, slings and other crude weapons. They keep downwind, tracking their prey until they find it, where they chase it and seperate it from the rest of the group if it is a pack/herd/etc. animal. They will wound it, and if it doesn't die on the run, they'll back it into a corner and then try and bring it down. If it escapes, they track it as best as they could, sometimes taking days just to find a single prey animal. If they can't find it, it is considered dishonourable, and looks bad on the part of the Gamma and/or Gammess; if there are enough failures, then the authority of the current Gamma(s) comes into question, and trials may be held to find a new one.
Of all the prey animals in Sverre, bear is considered of the highest delicacy, and one is most honourable if they can bring one down; it is served at feasts and other special occasions, such as marriage. Of the lowest delicacy are mice and rabbits, considered mere fodder that practically anyone can catch, and are a popular source of food for those considered "illegitimate".
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
OC coming soon! XD I'll post a reply with her bio as soon as I have her finished.