Lore: Rypurs (Species)
[This is related to my main OC lore, because I'm using a similar setting and reusing a lot of stuff such as characters. Basically, this isn't new for this project.]
[Featuring some really old/bad art, because I wasn't gonna draw new stuff just for this explanation quite yet. Two of those pictures are related in a weird clone kind of way if you noticed them having the same face and hairstyle.]
Potentially messy post! This is a redo of another one, so if you already saw it you aren't going crazy. It's a very long "superpost" trying to hit as many bullet points as possible, so be wary of that going in.
Also, rypur is pronounced like "ripper."
Death mentions below! Certain parts may also read as body horror.
[Basic summary, getting to the point]
These red bastards* are basically this setting's stand-in for orcs. They have quite the reputation among the other people races, and despite most of them likely just chilling, this means they face a lot of that like, racist treatment out of fear. It depends on the area, though. Most of the rypurs who travel at all are bandits/brigands who cause trouble. However, most of their kind don't even want to travel. *(affectionate)
Crystals grow out of their bodies, and they have psionic abilities. The abilities only work within a certain, tangible radius of the user, known as their aura. People and other living things can feel the aura when they enter it. Using one's aura to attack or defend is possible through intense focus, causing it to materialize into icy, floating crystals that can be used as weapons or shields. Rypurs can also use telekinesis through their aura, and can use telepathy to communicate.
You've also probably noticed those fluffy baubles on the sides of their heads, which are antennae. They're incredibly sensitive and output the rypur's aura around them. If damaged or covered up, the subject's aura won't be present and their psychic abilities will be disabled. The antennae are also prehensile, being capable of manipulating small objects as long as they aren't too heavy (they're not that strong).
[Appearance Info]
As you can already tell, the rypurs are quite a red bunch. They display a smaller range of colors than humans do. Note that my OC lore takes place in an anime-style setting where humans can have all sorts of hair and eye colors, so the lack in color variety is even more apparent. They have similar colors between their hair and eyes, mostly being reds and browns. Pinker colors are also possible, but leaning more towards red such as raspberry, watermelon, and coral pink. These colors can be dark or light, having a normal variety. Dark hair is most common.
They have similar skin tones to humans, having a lot of them overlap. Rypurs, however, always have ruddy tones. These range from normal-looking skin tones to the iconic badly sunburnt look. Darker skin tones often have a deep crimson color. On rare occassion, rypurs can have a grey or lavender complexion instead, resembling bruises.
Since they're able to reproduce with humans, half-rypurs exist as well. These hybrids tend towards duller colors compared to their bright red relatives, and are capable of having normal human skin tones outside of being perpetually flushed. Rarely, they display hair and eye colors that aren't even related to red or brown, such as black hair.
Patches of shiny, red crystal are apparent all over their bodies, mainly on the face and knuckles. These markings aren't scars or birthmarks, instead being natural markings of their species. Every individual has a distinct pattern to them, and if two people happen to have the exact same markings across their whole bodies, they're considered to be soulmates. It's difficult to tell an exact pattern without feeling around for it, because rypurs have fur covering most of their bodies. Grey and/or lavender toned rypurs still have bright red crystals and spots.
Actual crystal formations, comprised of this same material, grow from certain parts of their bodies as well. These develop around the backs of the forearms, the backs of the shoulders (scapulae), and for certain individuals, their calves. With the size and location of these crystals being fairly consistent between rypurs, their clothes are tailored with them in mind. Almost all boots are made to accomodate leg crystals even if only about a third of the population has them.
Rypurs also have four arms instead of two. The upper pair of arms is always longer than the lower pair, which are relatively short compared to human ones. Both sets have crystals, but the lower arms have less to accomodate for their standing form with the arms at the sides. The six-limbed body plan is shared by quite a few other species from their homeworld, such as dragons with 4 legs as well as wings.
The fur on rypurs isn't very long, and is typically darker than the hair they have elsewhere (head, eyebrows, etc.). It covers most anything below the collarbones, but not the hands or feet. The backs of their ears are also very fluffy. There's often more sparse fur coming up on the backs of their hands and the tops of their feet, but it's not very prominent. The texture is known to be incredibly soft.
Their teeth are noticably larger than human ones, and they have large overbites to match. A rypur's frontmost 4—6 teeth stick out over their bottom lip. Most of them speak human languages with a slight lisp due to their mouth shape. An even harder sound for them to make is the letter T, which usually comes out as a "th" sound too.
[Antennae/Psychic Power Info]
On the sides of the head, behind and slightly above the ears, sits the large pair of antennae. They're incredibly sensitive and can sense any movement inside of the rypur's aura. With their thick covering of hair (not fur), they greatly resemble a twintails hairstyle. The ends of the antennae are left exposed, showing a little spiral of crystal.
They're often swivelling around to feel their surroundings, due to the poor eyesight that rypurs have. Generally, rypurs rely on their auras as their main sense to get around. These antennae can sense things even humans cannot, such as radio waves and traces of magic. It's possible for a rypur to recognize the color of an object just by dusting over it. In their society, it's a common greeting to loop antennae together. This gesture only lasts a couple seconds, but it's a very social interaction that allows them to tell what one another's been up to. Meanwhile, rypurs don't really touch people with their hands; it's seen as a very hostile or rude gesture to do so. They have a difficult time relating to humans due to the lack of antennae altogther.
Depending on the subject's age, a rypur's antennae can grow quite long. It's common for them to be tied up in ways that keep them out of harm's way without impacting their movement, such as pulling them together into a ponytail. Without blocking their aura, it's common for one's antennae to be accessorized with ribbons and jewelry.
The size of one's aura can vary, but it's always centered on the back of the head. Aura is typically invisible, but in higher concentrations it can appear as a faint, red veil. It looks a lot like migraine aura, and is often described as "shimmering wind." The abilities of a rypur can be seen as thin strands of smoke connecting to the recipient. They're capable of manipulating emotions, often using it to induce terror in people they don't want bothering them. Mind reading is common enough practice to communicate with other species that don't have telepathy of their own (like humans and animals), and for snooping around in people's brains without their consent. If their auras are suppressed, rypurs are nearly harmless— a feeling that's terrifying to them.
Aura technique is something that can be trained, with particularly powerful rypurs having even more abilities than normal. For instance, brainwashing non-rypur people to use them as puppets. The limitation most of the time being, of course, the range of the aura requiring the rypur to be right nearby. Simply walking a wide circle around them is enough to avoid the problem as long as they don't approach you. They can't wear proper helmets because it would suppress their aura; from a safe distance, the back of the head is always open to arrows or bullets if anyone wants to remove them manually.
If a rypur gets close enough to press the ends of their antennae to a person's temples, they can put the victim into a deep sleep. This state allows them full control over the dream this person is having until they wake up. This dream state can last indefinitely from a powerful rypur, not wearing off unless the victim get willingly freed, cured by magical means, or ends up dying asleep.
[Weakness Info]
Due to their strong senses and sensitive antennae, rypurs are known to have issues with sensory overload. Loud noises cause significant distress for most of them, with the remaining minority being the ones who get along better with humans. They usually don't mix well with other species in large settlements (ie. cities) due to the noise level. Rypur cities, on the other hand, are viewed as dead silent from the view of other species. They prefer to communicate telepathically through the "Network," as they call it, which is a near constant link between everyone's auras due to the population density. Some of them live as hermits entirely disconnected from the Network, but doing that breaks their trust with the others. Being jumpy, paranoid people for the most part (prey animals), the other rypurs dislike not knowing what the outsider might be thinking. Not all rypurs live among others of their kind, though. Some either move away or even grow up without the touch of the Network (if their parents had moved away).
Rypurs may also have trouble interacting with other species due to being nocturnal. Obviously they're not the only ones, but in the case of humans, this throws a wrench in things. They have a hefty distate for sunlight and their bodies are wired to be sleeping when the sun's out. Rypur eyes can't really adjust to bright, overhead lights and feel like they're burning up. To avoid the light, most rypur settlements are built underground with people only surfacing at night to tend their farm crops. The surface where they live is pretty barren and rural.
They don't deal well with heat, either. Their fur includes an undercoat to keep their skin cool, there's only so much it can do. High enough temperatures cause rypurs to melt while they're still alive. Red "sweat" drips off of their skin and hair, and the pain is piercing. It doesn't result in death all too often, mainly because it's a slow process and the fact that rypurs don't put themselves in that situation to begin with. They build their homes in the coldest places in the world.
Also, rypurs don't have the proper stomachs to be carnivores. They're innately vegetarian due to their herbivore status. They'll eat stuff like eggs and cheese, it's just that meat makes their tummies hurt. Due to this, they have way less of a "hunter" culture than humans do, instead being very ingrained in agriculture where they don't really travel. They hang out underground and the surface is full of plants to eat. Rypurs can eat the stalks of plants as well as literal wood, so food's easy. Every society has its exceptions, so of course there are rypur adventurers. They're just not nearly as common as other species may be. Most rypurs go from place to place through their underground train systems only connecting towns and cities.
If we're just talking game mechanics, they're weak to fire and holy.
[Other things that they do]
Magic isn't something rypurs tend to do, prefering to use their auras and physical tools/weapons. When they do use magic, however, it's usually ice or darkness. It's useful to prevent skin-melting heat.
Using their telepathy, they can communicate with monsters and wild animals. Rypurs are known to befriend these creatures and use them for help in work and combat. Different areas have different wildlife for them to use, creating slight differences in culture. However, it's very different than communicating with more intelligent beings, and one needs to specialize in this type of animal handling to be successful.
When interacting with other people, rypurs are quick to pick up new languages. They can associate someone's intent with the words they speak in order to figure out what they mean.
Rypurs enjoy intense emotions, mainly fear. They have more power if more people are thinking about them, and they have no power over anyone who keeps their mind completely clear. It's common for rypurs to work with psychological warfare, because a weakened opponent is ripe for an aura to pull on the emotions. Even when not malicious, they feel generally good when someone inside their aura is thinking about them. This doesn't need to be negative, fear is just "easiest" for them. It can actually be very wholesome, having someone love them. The fact that they hate light and enjoy being in tight places (underground) makes them basically a boogeyman race trying to get a reaction out of you. A kid could feel a weird presence in the darkness and then see a pair of glowing red eyes (those aren't eyes! it's the spiralled ends of the antennae) and be terrified of it. That'd be all the rypur would want out of them, too: being afraid. They eat that feeling up like honey.
As a race with human intelligence, they don't typically kill without a motive. The catch being that they're very prone to having outbursts (especially with their auras) and that sometimes, more often than even humans do, their motive is attention. Depraved, cruel rypurs are willing to do a lot for that taste of fear. Most non-rypur people only see that side of them, because your average rypur rarely leaves home. They have a reputation as savage, war-loving bandits or as horror movie slashers, which is not good for their treatment. Lots of rypurs do, in fact, love the thrill of battle, but that doesn't mean they go out and murder people for it. This widens the distance between humans and rypurs even further, making them never want to interact.
Considering how rare they are to see outside of their own territory, they'd be considered an exotic race. Those who live outside of the Network are either a lone individual, one family, or sometimes they have contact with one other family or individual. Most humans will never see them in person, or on rare occassion will have one rypur friend. It depends a lot on the area, because some places without them are likely to see them as monsters. The common way for other species to engage with rypurs is by travelling across their territory. However, those places tend to be associated with death and never being found again. "Don't go to the orchards in the mountains," they say. "The trees will be lined up too perfectly, and you should run."
Meanwhile, the rypurs are pretty much normal people. Some of them write poetry, some of them work on the farms, etc.. There are places where humans (plus other species) directly coexist with rypurs, not in the same settlements, but in the same area. These places definitely have strange phenomena going on, and I can imagine the folklore people make up there to tell their children. "Every road has another side on the bottom. The upside-down people walk there, a backwards lot, all of them... They have upside-down towns and upside-down houses down there, too. If you see one of them, leave them some chocolate," and if the kid asks why, they'd tell them that it's hard to grow chocolate trees in the cold with no sun. They're not afraid of the rypurs at all. Plus, it's kinda established that rypurs love chocolate.
The biggest rypur-populated country is Cherryland, and I've already stopped myself from using the adjective "Cherrish" multiple times in this post because I hadn't mentioned it yet. It's called that because it's heavily circus/amusement park themed. They can get all the thrill and emotion they want by putting people in big rollercoasters. Rypurs living there also love the constant revelry and going on the rides.
In the Cherrish mountains, there's a type of tree that "bleeds" red sap when you cut it. The syrup of these trees is used to make really sweet maple-like candy, and the rypurs basically live here because of those trees being delicious. Naturally, many humans who live nearby make their children behave by telling them that the trees do that because they're kids who got turned into trees for wandering off into the weird kale fields in the mountains at night, and that the rypurs turn them into trees to make their blood into candy. This also does well keeping the kids from approaching suspicious, four-armed strangers. Which, all things considered, is a good call when you consider how much the Cherrish tend to despise humans. They don't turn people into trees, but they probably wish that they could. Only about 60% of them feel that way, though, with the rest of them having an argument in favor of humanity (one which isn't going well with their government).
There's another country of rypurs that I have lore for, which is mainly steampunk themed. A good chunk of Cherrish gadgets are made from parts manufactured in this place. They aren't very fleshed out, though.
Technically this isn't all the lore, but it should be everything remotely important (and not super specific) unless I forgot something big.
If you have any specific questions, you can put them in the ask box. :)