The Adaptive Gene:
A Sectional Treatise on the Biological Variance of Kin’toni Clans
Author Unknown
Foreword
There is no single greater cataclysm in the history of Taerel than the kin’toni outbreak. To begin this piece with such an outright statement of fact may seem counterintuitive to the work of any scholar. However, given the laxity perpetuated by the fat, pompous fools who adorn the cities, this treatise is a necessity. Despite years of borderline extinction, some of the ‘luxuriant’ ne’er-do-wells who fancy themselves “city zu’aan” still refuse to acknowledge the vampyres for what they are:
Beasts of the highest adaptive order whose biological variance and adaptability are abjectly frightening.
The kin’toni are the bane of the zu’aan that has nigh driven us to the end of our species. They steal our essence and transfigure it into a nightmarish monstrosity of hemophilic drive, unlike anything we have ever observed. The rate at which they can mutate is astounding, producing a plethora of phenotypes that demarcate clan from clan. While we have, miraculously, remained relatively unchanged by centuries of environmental upheaval, our vampyric counterparts have become uncannily heterogeneous.
Indeed, there now exists an abundance of varying biological composition amongst the clans that many of my colleagues now insist on their delineation as different species.
Yet such a proposition is absurd. The kin’toni remain to this day the vampyre, and the vampyre the kin’toni. And, most harrowing to the concern of the remaining cities, this horror seems to fly over the head of the ostentatious bureaucrats whose lineage is nothing but fruit and silk. Having brought this to the attention of [NAME ILLEGIBLE], the warning was met with sardonic grins.
The oral gesture is no doubt something encoded in their blood. It was their ancestors who ignored the warning signs, after all. And it was those same patriarchs and matriarchs who sat comfortably in safehouses and bunkers while countless millions across Taeral suffered during the bygone Awakening.
I have thus taken it upon myself to compose this compilation. Within, the reader shall procure a trove of collected biological information, organized alphabetically, about the 279 documented kin’toni clans. I have gone through arduous research, combing archives, travelling when possible, even going so far as contacting the numerous zu’aan tribes that dot the continents. The task was not simple. Resultingly, verifiable facts are occasionally sparse, and many of the detailed descriptors have been permeated through unknown sources and tribal traditions.
Regardless of veracity, knowledge is a tool integral to survival. Understanding the biological variance of the clans is important if we as a species ever wish to win back our world. That dream is often scoffed at, for any sense of racial unity died all those countless centuries ago. I still believe in its reality, however. Be it 100 years or 1000, the scouring of the vampyre from Taerel is possible. But again, the first step, our primary concern, must deal with compiling knowledge as it pertains to their being. To know one’s enemy is to beat one’s enemy. And although they may have become as scattered as we are, they are still out there, blood-crazed and hellbent on turning every last one of us into their wretched kind.
-Author Unknown
The Adaptive Gene:
A Sectional Treatise on the Biological Variance of Kin’toni Clans
Shoot them, burn them, blow them limb from limb. It mattered little in the end. The sad, terrible reality dawned on every zu’aan in the field: They could replenish their numbers by taking ours.
-Unknown, dated 3E 23
Forum A
The A’voreld Kin’toni Clan
Often cited as the ‘demons’ of the Rinfenus Volcano, these vampyres are unique marvels of thermic adaptation. Their skin is possessive of a dark crimson hue, often mistaken for black, and is patterned like reptilian scales. This epidermal layer has developed into a safeguard against intense heat, providing superb protection against thermal vapours, smoke, steam, and indirect exposure to lava and fire.
It should be noted, however, that their skin is not impervious to high temperatures. There have been recorded observed cases of A’voreld clan members perishing due to direct contact with volcanic substances. The exact biological mechanism through which their skin achieves such resiliency remains speculative. The most commonly accepted theory revolves around the production of special enzymes that regulate body temperature, particularly that of their epidermal ‘scales’.
Due to the nature of the environment, it is believed that A’voreld clan members possess high metabolic capabilities. In addition to the enzyme produced for temperature regulation, more bodily chemicals can be assumed to support their organ systems. Clan members are known to subsist for extended periods devoid of nutrition, primarily the blood of the Rinfenus’ wildlife.
In this state, they are neither dormant nor lethargic and are well-documented to be able to ‘mobilize’ stored energy swiftly to hunt or fight. This supposed metabolic conservation is what is believed to cause the ‘spasmodic’ manner in which these vampyres locomote.
A’voreld kin’toni are often thick-jointed, with multiple knotted rings of skin growing about the knees, fingers, and knuckles. The dermal bands around their knees act as support, allowing the members of this clan to squat on their haunches indefinitely.
This squatting posture is the norm for hunting, social gatherings, and otherwise lounging moments an A’voreld may find themselves in. Their fingers, usually jagged, rest in a ‘grasping’ motion, allowing them to quickly take hold of objects, usually make-shift weaponry, or the necks of their prey. Their extended lives within the depths of the Rinfenus have also marked them by way of facial protrusions. Called ‘horns’ by the tribals, these oblique growths vary from vampyre to vampyre, and have been known to appear in singles, doubles, and triples.
It is currently unknown what purpose these protrusions serve, though postulations range from hunting means to signifiers of age. Furthermore, their eyes are grotesquely rotund, typically black in colour and festooned by noticeable venous bulges. It is undoubtable that their discus oculars contribute to an enhanced vision, both of clarity and certain levels of nocturnal sight.
The Aerch Kin’toni Clan
Aquatic adaptations.
The Aerch’s method of operation coincides symbiotically with their genetic features. They are natural chameleons, with a dermal layer capable of shifting hues to correspond to the environment. This is believed to be achieved via a neural-epidermal pathway composed of a network of highly specialized nerve endings.
The camouflage is not a passive ability, however. Captured Aerch clan members have confessed that they must actively ‘think’ of the pattern they are touching to conform with it. The process is hypothesized to be at least two steps. First, the Aerch vampyre must be touching a patterned surface with their hands or feet. Second, by visualizing the pattern, messages are exchanged along the neural-epidermal pathway, which in turn triggers the camouflage response.
The exact method by which their skin changes colour is currently unknown. Several theories exist, none of which have proven adequate. Interestingly, the most widely accepted hypothesis pertains to their laboratory origin:
“The Aerch are perhaps one the few kin’toni clans that can accurately trace their vampyric ‘lineage’. They are chronic boasters, and those members captured in battle have proven most talkative despite their clandestine nature. According to several century-old accounts, the Aerch are the result of the unhallowed melding between zu’aan and ‘machine’. Imperial records seem to indicate the testing of ‘stealth’ technology deployed in specialist units.
One such contingent, the ‘Phantoms’, were ostensibly outfitted with ‘ghillie links’, an unknown technological advent derived from a scaled creature capable of camouflage. The unit, however, went missing in action during the height of the kin’toni outbreak. Though the historical documentation is unclear, a small group of ‘fearsome vampyres capable of blending in with their surroundings’ were reported to terrorize even the most fortified cities…”
-Exploring the Yaenit, attributed to Zevdon Rutarch (possible fabrication), dated 4E 348
When not camouflaged, Aerch clan members are coloured a light purple. Their skin, semi-translucent, displays an impressive array of nerves with connections and sub-connections to a prominent spinal column. Their enlarged spines contribute to a ‘hunched’ appearance. Their necks droop below the cervical bones of the neural column, leading to many observers noting that they resemble certain carrion fliers. This common observation is further exacerbated by the Aerch’s large, curved ‘snouts’ and red-tinged eyes housing vertically slit pupils.
Tribal zu’aan have reported that these vampyres are incapable of producing sweat. This claim has not been individually verified as of the latest of the Fourth Era. Speculative hypotheses propose that this similarly stems from the Aerchs’s supposed laboratory origin, though surviving records make no mention of the phenomenon.
The Aere Kin’toni Clan
“It couldn’t have been more than 70 years since (Name Illegible) fell. I was only a boy then, but the images of the nobility are still engraved in my mind: cunning smiles, haughty pomp, and all the scorn in the world for the ‘peasantry’. So, when Halia and I stumbled across those monsters in the forest, we were both certain what they were.
The cunning smiles, the haughty pomp, the scorn. All now twisted by whatever festering, bloodthirsty evil had crawled out of the Empire’s labs.
The damned nobles had been turned.”
-Unknown Zu’aan, dated late 3E / early 4E
The long years and harsh environs of the Keltin Dry River have twisted the once-regal beauty of these erstwhile aristocrats. The earliest surviving records indicate that the Aere’s initial turning was a source of ‘misplaced’ pride. Various accounts such as the aforementioned quote support the sparse documents. However, it is also a concurrent opinion that any sense of ostentation regarding their vampyrism is merely fanciful, self-fulfilling conjecture:
“There is no scholarly-sound way of phrasing the truth. The Aere are abhorrent, grotesquely deformed kin’toni whose adaptation, while biologically fruitful, has destroyed the vestiges of their former grace. From their thin limbs, lipless ‘grins’, and jaundiced eyes, the Aere are ‘monsters’ in every sense of the word. Intriguingly, accounts of these vampyres captured in battle seem to indicate that they are either ignorant of their appearance or have obfuscated reality through psychological means. For the Aere, they are still the paragons of beauty resplendent and the heirs of the Old Age…”
- Zevdon Rudarch, Fallen Nobility: On the Turned Bloodlines of Taerel, Dated 4E 340
Due to the aridity of the Keltin Rry River, organisms possessive of larger biomass have all but died out, leading to mutation amongst its inhabitants to favour ‘slighter’ phenotypes. The Aere are certainly no exception to this. They are characterized by their thin appearance, often described as ‘willowy’, with limbs adapted for long, single strides suited for exhaustive travel. Their skin, ‘parchment brown’ in hue, consists of several dermal layers, not all of which all well understood.
The epidermal sheath is unlike the skin of typical zu’aan or even kin’toni, being coated in a waxy substance similar to the cuticles of spiked florae. This wax substance, secreted by epidermal glands, is believed to aid the Aere in the preservation of moisture. It achieves this by trapping any secretions such as sweat and ‘recycling’ them in various other bodily functions.
Perhaps more distinctive than their diminution and dermal coatings is what tribals call the Aere’s ‘eternal grin’. Habituating the Keltin Dry River has produced in these vampyres a lack of visible lips. Their resulting appearance is rather grisly, with exposed oral cavities extended to grotesque proportions. Zevdon Rudarch explores both tribal superstition and the accepted scholarly rationale behind this mutation in his work on turned nobility:
“Referred to as the ‘Eternal Grin’ by the tribals of the Keltin, the Aere’s lipless mouths are what heraldry was to their lost nobility. Devoid of any proper means of studying the creatures, the region’s tribes explain the mutation via superstition. They believe that the seemingly perpetual grin of the Aere kin’toni is a curse, some malediction consequent of their indulgence in zu’aan blood. While such vapidity may be suited to the tribal masses, the rigours of preserved civil society have posited otherwise.
The simplest explanation is therefore the most correct. To possess lips in an environment as dry as the Keltin would be anathema to survival. Hence, the Aere, being highly adaptive kin’toni, saw their labium ori mutate into a lack thereof for the purpose of maximizing moisture retention.”
- Zevdon Rudarch, Fallen Nobility: On the Turned Bloodlines of Taerel, Dated 4E 340
As postulated by Rudarch and others, the Aere’s lipless nature is due to the aridity of their environment. However, as to the horizontal hyperextension of their mouths, there exists little to no accepted hypotheses. The most common among these scant positions pertains to the Aere’s method of feeding. It has been ostensibly observed that the Aere clan, being voracious feeders, extricate ‘chunks’ of flesh from their prey using their mouths.
They will then proceed to ‘chew’, ingesting blood and water before spitting out the pulped biomass. Because victims (zu’aan or faunal) may be difficult to come across, this method of nourishment is speculated to have evolved for maximizing nutrient intake. Conversely, the rapidly changing environs and sudden plunge in temperatures have rendered any conclusive analysis of this explanation impossible.
The Ahe Kin’toni Clan
Toweringly tall, lean, warriors, live in a cold tundra. Rough arms? Natural shields? Padded, tufted feet? Paws?
Lore by JS117
This work is part of the Taerel setting. All Rights Reserved.
Discord: https://discord.gg/BhXua6AE4K
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