New species concept - Finalized

Entry posted by Onaku August 15, 2015

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Species designation: Tiokaha

The Tiokaha originate from colder climates than the ones found on Mata-Nui. Due to this, they have developed a natural resistance to cold. Living through harsh winters and even harsher wilderness has also hardened them greatly, meaning they are generally hardier

than the average Toa.

It is very rare to find a skinny Tiokaha, due to their natural body fat levels being high as an adaptation to cold environments. The fat distributes more efficiently and ergonomically throughout their bodies than in Toa.

Tiokaha do not require kanohi masks to function, but can use noble masks. Their minds are how ever not configured right to use great masks. The Tiokaha do not have elemental powers like the Toa, Skakdi or even Lesterin, but rather one of seven innate powers known as ‘Marks’:

Iaru - Mark of the Beast

Appearance: Brown colours. Green or orange eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark can communicate with rahi and have increased understanding of them which helps persuade them to their cause. Not all rahi are always willing to help, how ever, and the most beneficial way to use this ability is to create strong, long lasting alliances and to make them companions for life.

Tiokaha of this mark are generally more bestial in behavior than their brethren, and will take on behavioral aspects of the animals they most commonly communicate with. Those who spend a particularly long time living among their chosen animals can even adopt some simple physical adaptations (for example, an Ash Bear’s claws).

Roth - Mark of Blood

Appearance: Red and black colours. Dark blue or orange eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark can use their own blood as a weapon, and can sense (but not control) the blood of other beings within a certain radius, making it hard to sneak up on them. They can create weapons out of their blood as well as long ranged projectiles, building up great pressure within it to emulate solidity.

Those of this mark have larger amounts of blood in their body, and can survive with less blood in their body than other Tiokaha. Their body also produces more blood over a shorter amount of time, meaning they can more quickly refill their body with blood when they lose some of it.

They are also able to speed up the blood pumping through their body, improving their muscles’ blood supply and thus giving themselves greater stamina. This can be dangerous if done incorrectly or past a certain limit.

Aeta - Mark of the Spirit

Appearance: White, dark grey and light blue colours. Yellow eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark have the ability to separate their spirit from their bodies. Their spirit can then enter other bodies, and if said body already harbors a spirit, they can try to fight for control over the body, or even evict the other spirit from the body. The stronger the will of the victim, the more difficult and dangerous this is, and most Tiokaha will never attempt it as failure could mean imprisonment in another’s body, subjugated by their will.

Those of this mark are also able to not only see other spirits that are without a body, but ‘physically’ interact with them as well: one Iden-user cannot touch (or, for example, grab) another, but an Aeta Tiokaha can, giving them a natural advantage over such beings. This does not work both ways, as Iden-users lack the same ‘ethereal strength’.

Kuyru - Mark of Empathy

Appearance: White, light grey and light orange colours. Light blue eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark can influence the emotions of other beings, whether to calm them, enrage them, make them happy, sad, or devoid of emotion altogether. People that are aware of the Tiokaha's attempts to manipulate them are harder to influence, and this manipulation becomes significantly more difficult the more people the Tiokaha targets.

Those of this mark can sense the emotions of other beings, but this can be a double-edged as without training and discipline they can easily be influenced by those emotions. They are however more resistant than most to the attempts of another Kuyru Tiokaha to manipulate their emotions.

Muur - Mark of the Mind

Appearance: Light and dark grey and purple colours. Magenta or turquose eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark hear the surface thoughts of nearby beings (though they have no real control over this), and are also able to project their own thoughts into the minds of others.

They also possess the unique ability to ‘shield’ the minds of others, thus protecting them from the mental attacks of Dasaka Willhammers and other users of psionic abilities (certain Kanohi-users, for example). Anyone attempting to access the mind of a being protected in this way must first fight a battle of wills. This can also be used offensively to silence a Dasaka’s ability to Ideatalk or a fellow Muur Tiokaha’s telepathy. This power does not protect from illusions, however.

Those of this mark generally seek solitude so that they don't constantly hear the thoughts of others in their head, as they have no control over this ability. In towns and cities, the noise of tens or hundreds of minds can be unbearable, so Muur Tiokaha must avoid such large populations or risk being driven insane. In small groups, they can just about shut out their companions’ thoughts, but even this requires constant effort.

Yleh - Mark of Mending

Appearance: Light blue or pink and lime colours. Green, blue or yellow eyes.

Tiokaha born with this mark can ‘mend’ living things, healing wounds through touch and curing them of weaker poisons and diseases. Like the Kanohi of Healing, this power is fast but not instant, and the more severe the damage, the more skill and biological knowledge is required on the Tiokaha’s part.

Their abilities also extend to objects that are made of organic materials but no longer alive, such as wood, cloth and bone. The larger or more complex an item, the more time and effort it will take to repair.

These Tiokaha are often healthier than their brethren, due to the healing energies that flow through them, but are unable to use their powers on themselves.

Uorai - Mark of the Blossom

Appearance: Green colours. Lime, blue, red or orange eyes.

Tiokaha of this mark have the ability to control any plants in their general vicinity. As a part of their powers, they can make plants grow far more quickly than they naturally would, and can also make them generally healthier. A notable mark of an Uorai Tiokaha’s passing is that the plants in the area are unusually lush and verdant, and that in infertile areas, small plants unusually seem to start sprouting from the soil.

Uorai Tiokaha can also ‘feel’ through the plants around them, giving them enhanced awareness of their surroundings: they can (for example) feel creatures or beings moving through the undergrowth, find groundwater through networks of roots, or sense a coming storm from the wind in the trees. However, this is a double-edged sword as if nearby flora are damaged, the Tiokaha will feel their pain as his/her own. This makes them particularly respect the wellbeing of plants, and dislike those who do not.

Notes on culture:

Basically, they're hunters that respect nature and its balance. They never take more than they need, and they never let what they do take go to waste. They often create weaponry out of the bones of animals they hunt, and clothing out of their leather/armor/outer layer.

Their hunting grounds are vast frozen forests of their homeland, as well as the massive mountainous areas that exist there. In fact, a Tiokaha (if we're letting them keep their memory of their homeland) would probably make a jab about how the mountains are bigger back home.

Their homing is either ice huts or stone and wooden celtic looking houses, depending on what part of their homeland you're in, but aside from housing preferences, their culture is pretty much constant. Some Tiokaha, how ever, are nomadic hunters, and they never truly settle down in one place.

I was actually thinking of having them get some kind of equivalent of the three virtues, but distinctly different all the same. Something like Self, Family and Purpose. Self being the virtue of self-respect, Family being respect for one's community, and Purpose being the pursuit of one's purpose, aka one's destiny.