As a People
Ikhatven are a hardy but giving group that are curious by nature and stubborn about it. In general, they love to take apart how the world works, but mostly if they can put it back together again afterwords. This translates how they handle others of their kind, as well as other peoples. In conversation, they're quiet, preferring to listen and learn, and will offer questions as it suites them. While they try to be respectful of the beliefs of other cultures, it can be hard for them not to roll their eyes at it, with their disbelief of gods.
Colonies are made up of five to ten family units, each with an average of seven members(parents, and offspring of varying ages). While the units in a colony aren't related by blood, it means nothing to them. Resources are shared freely between units as needed, with individuals having few truly personal possessions. They're an austere people, needing and wanting for little. The need to hoard has little value to a people that moves so often.
Colonies are made up of five to ten family units, each with an average of seven members(parents, and offspring of varying ages). While the units in a colony aren't related by blood, it means nothing to them. Resources are shared freely between units as needed, with individuals having few truly personal possessions. They're an austere people, needing and wanting for little. The need to hoard has little value to a people that moves so often.
Anatomy
Ikhatven are about five feet tall on average, with females being slightly taller and bulkier like birds of prey. Like Ala-Karians, they were once human, but the change was so long ago that that fact has been lost as truth and treated as mythology as part of their 'creation' myth.
Though these people appear reptilian in nature, they are warm-blooded, and would be more closely related to birds. In the spring, they molt their plumage to a brighter and thinner summer coat, and shed again in the fall to a more dull and fluffy set of winter feathers.
To protect themselves from snow blindness in the winter, their front-facing eyes are deeply set in their skull to shade them from the light, which aids in their intimidating appearances. Their feet are wide and padded with fat to help them walk over deep snow without sinking, and the coat of long, fluffy feathers on them insulates them from the cold. These feet and hand feathers are, mostly, shed in the summer with the rest of their winter coats.
Ikhatver are omnivorous, with diets mostly consisting of meats and little plant matter. While they could survive on mainly plants for months at a time if needed, those who try to make a permanent lifestyle of it would sicken more easily and quickly lose weight.
Though these people appear reptilian in nature, they are warm-blooded, and would be more closely related to birds. In the spring, they molt their plumage to a brighter and thinner summer coat, and shed again in the fall to a more dull and fluffy set of winter feathers.
To protect themselves from snow blindness in the winter, their front-facing eyes are deeply set in their skull to shade them from the light, which aids in their intimidating appearances. Their feet are wide and padded with fat to help them walk over deep snow without sinking, and the coat of long, fluffy feathers on them insulates them from the cold. These feet and hand feathers are, mostly, shed in the summer with the rest of their winter coats.
Ikhatver are omnivorous, with diets mostly consisting of meats and little plant matter. While they could survive on mainly plants for months at a time if needed, those who try to make a permanent lifestyle of it would sicken more easily and quickly lose weight.
Sexual Dimorphism
Size isn't a definite method to judge biological sex, and as Ikhatven have no external genitalia the same as birds and reptiles, looking between their legs gives no indication as to the sex of an individual, instead you look to their plumage. While females tend to be the larger and stronger, males tend to be more beautiful in coloration and plumage. The feathers of females are duller, in more greys and browns, with one or perhaps two brighter accent colors; their crests are shorter, as are the two 'matrimony' feathers at the base of their tail fans. Males, however, sport brilliantly colored feathers in the summer, often with brightly colored heads and large crest feathers that can sometimes reach the center of their backs. Not only are their tail fans also longer, but their matrimony feathers are as well, gaining length with each spring molt until they drag the ground.
In the winter, telling between the sexes can be much more difficult for outsiders. With feathers dulled and crests evened out, the two can look nearly identical, so one must rely on secondary sex characteristics. Voices are the easiest way to tell, with there being next to no difference between Ikhatven and human voices.
Ikhatven females have a curve to their chest similar to that of a human female's, though Ikhatven have no mammary glands, The swellings were at one point breasts, but they have grown useless for their original function over the years as the species has drifted away from their ancestors. Now, the once-breasts have become pads of fat for energy storage, especially useful during the cold and scarce Ikhatver winters.
In the winter, telling between the sexes can be much more difficult for outsiders. With feathers dulled and crests evened out, the two can look nearly identical, so one must rely on secondary sex characteristics. Voices are the easiest way to tell, with there being next to no difference between Ikhatven and human voices.
Ikhatven females have a curve to their chest similar to that of a human female's, though Ikhatven have no mammary glands, The swellings were at one point breasts, but they have grown useless for their original function over the years as the species has drifted away from their ancestors. Now, the once-breasts have become pads of fat for energy storage, especially useful during the cold and scarce Ikhatver winters.