User:BakiDance/Raposa

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Raposa
Biological Classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Species:	R. Creaturae
Range and Status
Raposa range (in orange)
Global Population	~708,000,000 ⇅
Conservation Status	Least Concern

Raposa are the dominant lifeform of Neve, characterized by bipedality and large complex brains enabling the development of advanced tools, culture and language. Raposa are highly social beings and tend to live in large complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families and kinship networks to political states. Social interactions between Raposa have established a wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals. Curiosity and the Raposa desire to understand and influence the environment and to explain and manipulate phenomena have motivated Raposakind's development of science, philosophy, magic, and other fields of knowledge.

Raposa were created on the dawn of the fourth year of creation, following the formation of the planet Neve. Unlike other lifeforms on the planet, Raposa do not share any apparent taxonomic links to any other organism beyond the class of Mammalia. Furthermore, the unique possession of a persistent and powerful soul sets apart Raposa from all other organisms whose souls fade after death.

History

Creation

Raposa were drawn to life on the fourth year of creation, following the formation of Neve. The first generation of Raposa, known as the Genesis Raposa, were created mature, with innate knowledge of language, culture, and basic survival skills. Among these shared traits, Genesis Raposa possessed unique aptitudes towards certain areas of knowledge. These aptitudes were used to further progress Raposa society and greatly aided generations to come. While it's disputed how many Genesis Raposa initially populated Neve, it is well documented that the original four villages were each founded by concentrated populations of Genesis Raposa.

All Raposa alive today are descendants of the Genesis Raposa. However, aside from basic instincts, Raposa are not born with the complex skills and aptitudes that Genesis Raposa possessed, and instead learn from their environment and peers as they grow. Further substantial differences exist between modern Raposa and Genesis Raposa—some of which genetic, such as chromosomal count—however the nature of these differences is not well understood. Nevertheless, some scientists propose classifying Genesis Raposa as a sub-species of R. Creaturae, or vice-versa.

Population

Current population estimates stabilize around 708,000,000 individuals, with a slight upwards trend. This trend is expected to continue at a rate of 200,000,000 per 30 years.

Range

Raposa are among one of the most adaptable species on Neve, despite a narrow tolerance to extreme conditions. The ability to create tools and clothing allow Raposa thrive in otherwise uninhabitable and hostile environments. As a result, Raposa have one of the largest habitat ranges of any species on Neve and can be found in almost all regions of the world, including tropical rainforest, arid desert, extremely cold arctic regions, and heavily polluted cities.

The Raposa population, however, is not uniformly distributed on Neve's surface as Raposa tend to live near cities or other population centers. Because population density varies region to region, a large fraction of land hospitable to Raposa is nearly completely uninhabited or extremely sparse in population.

Political

Raposa population is is generally split between five countries, Capital, Watersong, Lavasteam, Galacia, and ForestStream. The largest country by population is Capital, followed by Watersong, ForestStream, Galacia, and Lavasteam respectively. The country with the highest population density is Watersong, with the lowest population density belonging to Capital.

Biology

Anatomy

Raposa are a bipedal species characterized by upright stature. Fur covers most of the body, with exception of the face and parts of the hands and feet where skin is seen instead. In mature individuals, a patch of white fur covers much of the torso. Other anatomical features are shared between sexes, such as short, dull, claws. These claws are flatter than those of other carnivorous species, and are likely an adaptation to aid in grip and dexterity over hunting.

Raposa have an average life-span of 125 years and reach physical maturity around 20 years of age.

Raposa vary significantly in overall appearance due to genetic and personal factors. In addition to this, Raposa are sexually dimorphic, meaning they display different characteristics depending on the sex of the individual.

• Fur color is one of the largest differences between sexes. While female Raposa always have orange fur, fur color for males can vary significantly. Orange is the most common fur color for male Raposa, with around 64% of the male population possessing it. Other natural colors include light gray (16%), dark gray (4%), tan (5%), yellow (5%), brown (5%), and red (1%). Fur is classified as either short or long, with short fur being most common.
• For female Raposa, hair possesses the highest degree of color variation and is independent of body fur color. Brown is the most common hair color, with roughly 64% of the female population possessing it, followed by black (29%), blonde (5%), and red (2%). Male hair color is always the same color as, or slightly darker than, their fur color. Regardless of sex, Raposa hair can be straight or curly and vary in thickness and length. When not cut, hair often reaches a maximum length near the lower back, though male Raposa often cut their hair short.
• Female Raposa typically have longer and rounder ears than males, which are typically shorter and more stocky.
• Male Raposa are, on average, a couple centimeters shorter than the average female height.

Raposa possess many adaptations for the extreme climate of Neve. As a majority of Neve's surface reaches below-freezing temperatures in winter, fur is the most notable environmental adaptation. Populations living closer to the poles often possess longer and thicker fur than those living nearer to the equator. Likewise, populations living nearer to the equator typically have tanned skin due to short fur being less effective at blocking excess sunlight. Both of these traits are genetic, and therefore exists a wide range of individual variety.

All over the world, Raposa possess disproportionately large, hooded, ears, which aid in head dissipation. The primary method in which Raposa dispel heat is through perspiration. However, this is only in response to high ambient temperatures, rather than by excretion, as excess sweating can prove disadvantageous in freezing temperatures. Though Raposa are efficient at maintaining ideal body temperature and working in extreme temperatures, care must be taken to avoid hyper- and hypothermia.

Magiology

An artist's interpretation of various soul colors.

Like many organisms in phylum Chordata, Raposa possess souls. Souls are a special type of magic which are understood to provide an organism sentience. However, unlike the transient souls of most organisms, Raposa possess powerful souls which are able to persist briefly after death.

Souls have two general classifications: colored and uncolored. The determining factor for classifying a soul type of a species is testing whether the species is capable of interacting with magic. All Raposa possess colored souls and, therefore, all individuals have the ability to manipulate the magic around them. However, magic utilization is not an instinct like it is in other species and must be learned by the individual.

For souls which are able to manipulate magic, there is a further classification split by color type. All Raposa souls are one of four natural soul colors: red, yellow, green, and blue. There is one additional soul color, purple, but this color is only present in individuals who possess Shadow, and is not seen naturally in any other living organisms. Souls which are incapable of manipulating magic are described as white.

Red

Red is a common soul color present in roughly 40% of the population. Raposa with this soul color often find spells relating to the movement of physical objects easiest. Examples include basic levitation spells to more advanced teleportation spells. Veila Rheinschild, a Genesis Raposa who created the Warp Gates, possessed a red soul.

Red souls often find green and blue magic most difficult to learn, while neutral towards yellow magic.

Yellow

Yellow is a rare soul color present in roughly 10% of the population. Raposa with this soul color often find spells relating to light manipulation easiest. Examples include basic light orb spells, changing the wavelength and intensity of nearby light sources, and advanced spells such as hard-light object construction.

Yellow souls often find green and blue magic most difficult to learn, while neutral towards red magic.

Green

Green is a rare soul color present in roughly 10% of the population. Raposa with this soul color often find spells relating to aspect manipulation easiest. Examples include basic object enchanting to advanced healing spells. Before The Fall, knowledgeable individuals with green souls were highly regarded within their villages as healers in place of doctors.

Green souls often find red and yellow magic most difficult to learn, while neutral towards blue magic.

Blue

Blue is a common soul color present in roughly 40% of the population. Raposa with this soul color often find spells relating to the manipulation of object states easiest. Examples include basic spells like raising or lowering the temperature of certain objects to advanced spells such as fog or fire generation.

Blue souls often find red and yellow magic most difficult to learn, while neutral towards green magic.

Purple

Purple is an unnatural soul color, only present in those with Shadow abilities. Purple is not a soul color an individual is born with, and is instead a corruption of the individual's soul. Purple magic is creation magic and, as such, is present in all creation objects. Within Raposa, purple magic grants the individual ability to create specific matter, albeit with limitation. Purple souls still retain aspects from the original soul color, thus no purple magic is quite the same, though these aspects are often modified by the soul's corruption. Throughout history, there have been only two recorded cases of Raposa with purple souls: Wilfre and Marzell.

White

White is an unnatural soul type for Raposa, though it is observed in most other species possessing souls. In Raposa, like in other species with uncolored souls, a white soul prevents an individual from interacting with magic in any capacity. There is only one recorded case of a Raposa with a white soul, Veila Rheinschild, though this individual originally possessed a red soul.

While actively using magic, the iris of a Raposa tends to lightly glow the color of their soul. The natural eye color of a Raposa seems to roughly correlate with that individual's soul color. For example, a brown-eyed Raposa is more likely to possess a red soul, while an amber-eyed Raposa is more likely to possess a yellow soul. This would explain the ratio of rare to common soul colors, however this aforementioned correlation is only seen in about 70% of Raposa.

Diet

Raposa are omnivorous, capable of consuming a wide variety of plant and animal material. Population groups have adopted a range of diets from purely vegan to primarily carnivorous. Diet is often featured as a large part of local culture.

Raposa are predominantly an agricultural species, with evidence of farming dating back to creation. Banya is arguably the most important crop to Raposa, with many culinary dishes containing it in some form.

Besides grains such as banya and rice, Raposa often consume fruits, such as water-apple, cherries, kori, and coconut; berries, such as kaorin; and a wide assortment of vegetables and seeds.

Despite plant matter consisting of a large part of a Raposa's typical diet, Raposa are carnivorous and require a balanced diet of meat and other animal products for total nutrition. Pengoon, Dodo, Baki, and various fish consist of a large portion of the meat consumed by Raposa. Additionally, other animal products are often consumed, such as eggs, milk, and derivatives such as cheese and mayonnaise.

Sometimes, inorganic compounds are consumed as additives to meals, whether for flavoring or for preservation. Examples include salt and banya crystals. With proper supplementing, Raposa can safely live on a vegan diet.

Society

Language

The Raposa language, redundantly named Raposa, is the sole native language of the Raposa species. While a wide variety of regional dialects exist, all fall within the same language classification.

Religion

Nearly all Raposa recognize the existence of the Creator. However expressed spirituality varies greatly on an individual basis, ranging from disdain to devout worship.

Most Raposa religious ideologies are consistent with truths found in the natural world, such as creation, existence of the soul, and the existence of magic. Where Raposa spiritual beliefs often diverge is in matters that are not directly provable, such as the existence of an afterlife or the motivations of the Creator.

The prevailing belief is that of the divine watchmaker in which the Creator, having formed reality, left it to its own evolution except in the face of likely extinction. This idea has only become reinforced since The Fall as worldwide stability has negated the need for divine intervention.

Since The Fall, the number of Raposa who regularly worship the Creator has steadily decreased. While nearly all Raposa in modern times still recognize the existence of the Creator, They are seen as a passive entity acting in the general favor of Neve and the Raposa species, rather than as an entity demanding worship.