The martenmen are some of the most varied, most settled and most widely
distributed species of beastfolk in the surrounding world. Often
colloquially referred to as “martenfolk” and “marts”, they come in three
broadly distinct varieties/races (at least as far as the Aporuean marts
are considered). These are the “piners”, who dwell in forested areas and their vicinity (in both the mountains and some of the uplands and lowlands), the “stonies”, who are more generalist and are equally at home in wide open spaces in the lowlands and mountains, and finally, the “sablemen”
of shiny dark fur, who prefer to live in the taiga and tundra in the
cold northern reaches of the continent. In total, this gives the
martenfolk quite a bit of range as a species and as a civilisation.
Naturally, being so widespread and being so varied also comes with some
drawbacks: The martenfolk lack some of the greater sense of unity that
other, smaller beastfolk civilisations tend to have.
Furthermore, the martenfolk can be described best as a species-wide
example of “jack-of-all-trades, master of none”. Martenmen and
martenwomen are very skilled and dexterous, but with the exception of
their unparalleled climbing abilities, no members of the species can
truly out-excel other species of beastpeople (be it newtmen, stoatmen,
hedgehogmen, ottermen, wolverinemen, etc.). However, it is this same
seeming mediocrity that allows the martenmen a more balanced and more
comfortable, middle-of-the-road approach to things, unlike the more
specialisation-prone attitudes, outlooks and choices of their cousins.
(This invites some comparisons to humans of the bigfolk variety.) The
martenfolk are the larger, more burlier and less swift cousins of the
stoatmen, but not as burly as the wolverinmen, nor as tall as the
ottermen. All three humanoid species are close relatives to the
martenmen, though all four species stand alone in their physical and
mental abilities and their capability of interbreeding. The martenmen
are behind all three of their cousin species of beastmen in nearly every
category... except climbing. This is a skill they excel at. Though they
might not be the swiftest climbers, they are very skillful and
confident at climbing.
Along with the hedgefolk, the martenfolk are the most open of all
beastpeoples to embracing the latest technological innovations. Due to
their sheer variety, this is not and cannot be a universal constant
among the martenfolk. Countryside martenfolk in general, and most
members of the sablemen race, are known as more conservative when it
comes to these matters. Nevertheless, swift-enough adoption and
adaptation of new technologies is an element that is clearly present
within martenfolk society. While newtfolk, stoatfolk and otterfolk are
content with utilising and borrowing more advanced technologies and
industrial era products for their own benefit, and wolverfolk and
crustfolk are staunch traditionalists, martenfolk and hedgefolk are
technological enthusiasts. The reasons range from mundane practicality
or prestige among the beastpeoples, to a simple desire for a more
comfortable life. As with the hedgehogmen, humans don't consider it
particularly odd when both rural and urban martenfolk use steam engines,
gaslamp lighting, new-fangled calcs,
newspapers, hotplate cookers, electric ovens, steam locomotives,
firearms, petrol or battery powered motor carriages, powered circular
saws and mining drills, modern foundries and steel mills, steamboats, or
even the occassional small airship or 'thopter.
The piners and stonies are the two more technologically and industrially
open-minded races of Aporue's martenmen. Though the two races are very
similar and close to each other, there are certain phenotypical,
historical, cultural and economic differences between the two. In
addition to these two varieties, there is also a third variety, the
sablemen.
Piners
The piners have a generally darker complexion, their fur often having
dark brown and yellow-ish tones. They are arguably the most common
race/phenotype of the martenmen. Despite their colloquial name, they
inhabit a wide range of forests, deciduous as well as coniferous, from
the lowlands to some higher mountain ranges. Tree-mounted villages and
small towns are part of traditional piner architecture. On average,
piners tend to have a more meat and animal products heavy diet than
their relatives the stonies (though perhaps less than the
northern-dwelling sablemen). Piners generally tend to dabble in
forestry, logging, hunting, developing herbal products and
pharmaceuticals, though light industry - including sawmills,
paper-mills, textile manufactories, canneries, etc. - and some amount of
agriculture both play an important role as well. Piners living near
riverine areas commonly work and trade closely with river otterfolk
(mostly with fish and crustaceans, often intended for their processed
meat products). As is often the case, stoatfolk often find plenty of
well-paid work in the employ of the martenfolk, but particularly the
piners. The piners share good relations with most species, though they
might not understand the newtmen all that much.
Stonies
The stonies are, in contrast to the piners, a race of martenmen that is
more specialised for a lifestyle in mountainous areas, including
hardier, mountainous woodlands. In this respect, similarly to how
hedgehogmen and piners coexist particularly well with rarachs down in
the lowlands and uplands, the stonies of the highlands and mountains get
along very well especially with the permons. The environments preferred
by the stonies have had an effect on their phenotype just as much as on
the other fellow races of the species: A typical stonie is shorter than
a piner and sports a more lightly coloured, pale brown coat, as well as
white-coloured fur in place of the yellowish fur of the piners. Their
diet also tends to be more omnivorousthan the diets of the piners and
the sablemen. Due to living in close proximity with the permons the most
out of all other species, the stonies often share entire mining towns
with them, creating interesting blended societies (much like the mixed
communities of rarachs and hedgefolk). As one would expect, while the
stonies often share interest in most of the same industries as the
piners, they focus a lot more on mining, ore extraction, heavier
industries, as well as on metallurgical and mining research.
Sablemen
The northernly sablemen are by far the most traditionally minded race of
the martenfolk. Though they are not above buying, utilising and
maintaining more mechanized technologies and vehicles when needed, their
economic activities still concentrate on (marginal) agriculture, on
herding, fur trading, domestic handicrafts, and even shipping and
transport services in some cases. Their diet tends to be the most
meat-heavy of the three martenfolk varieties.
The native language (and dialects) of the Piner and Stonie variety martenfolk are known as Common Martish (or just Martish), and the related but more distinct native language (and dialects) of the Sablemen martenfolk is known simply as Sablish.
Zručnosti a zakrádacie, bojové a zlodejské vlohy
The sablemen traditionally wear the least armour, even in warfare, and
they use mostly traditional melee and ranged weapons, with a general
focus on stealthiness and hit-and-run ranged skills. Piners have always
tended to inclinate towards medium armour (and occassionally heavier
armour) and a general focus on both melee and ranged skills. The
traditional reputation of the stonies points to them wearing finely
crafted heavier armour and focusing mostly on melee combat skills.
Within a stealthy, professional thieving context, the martenfolk overall
are a middle-of-the-road species, much like humans. Regardless of the
traditional inclinations of the martenfolk's three races, each martenman
or martenwoman generally offers a balanced skillset, in a
“jack-of-all-trades, master of none” sort of way. Perhaps the only
standout thieving-friendly ability unique to the martenfolk, are their
swift climbing abilities. They make excellent cat burglars, and their
skill at navigating the "thieves' highway" (i.e. the pathways on roofs
in a city or town) is unmatched by any of the other sapient species.
As professional thieves, martenfolk are some of the beaspeoples most
likely to opt for a freelance, "lone wolf" thieving career, in addition
to the frequent choice of joining a fellowship of thieves or a guild.
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Autorove poznámky
The martenfolk are in many ways one of the key sapient species of my
setting, certainly so with regards to the continent of Aporue. They are
by far the most numerous of the beastpeople, and in their numbers, also
come in not one or two, but outright three varieties throughout the
continent. While the sablemen are essentially confined to the north of
the continent and are a northern culture through and through, the piners
and the stonies are widespread elsewhere, alternating with each other
depending on the natural and social environment. Three varieties, three
different appearances, though overall, essentially the very same species
of thinking beings (though each variety is comparable to the real
species of animal martens that inhabit the same world).
I wanted to draw a parallel between them and the humans of Aporue, with
their two subspecies and three to four varieties. Even in terms of
physical height, population numbers, and their natural aptitude towards
certain skills, as well as their attitudes towards technology, they are
all something of a beastman mirror to the humans of the continent. They
are not shorter, or taller,or swifter or burlier, or better fighters or
swimmers or spies than all the other "mustelid" beastpeoples that occur
on the continent (all in smaller numbers than the martenmen). The only
thing they somewhat excel in, even compared to humans, is climbing. This
"average" nature of the martenmen makes them a natural and logical
parallel to humans. And it's with humans they tend to get along the
best, though their "default" and "neutral" tendencies also make them
rather open and amicable to most (if maybe not all) other forms of
beastpeoples, in Aporue and elsewhere.
The martenfolk are also my conscious effort at avoiding beastman clichés
in popular fantasy fiction. There has been a plethora of canine-based
and feline-based fictional species and "races" over the decades. I
didn't want to revisit that territory. I've always had a soft spot for
mustelid predators, since childhood. In terms of evolutionary ancestry,
they're closest to canine carnivores, but besides their canine-like
features, they also have a surprising amount of elements we'd often
associate with feline mammals. When it comes to martens in particular, I
think they combine the ruggedness of a canine animal with the cat-like
gracefulness and swiftness of a cat or another feline creature. In this
sense, I did a compromise that didn't even feel like a compromise, like
something forced: I combined the best of both worlds by choosing martens
as the basis for this humanoid species.
When I was coming up with the appearance for the "beastmen" of my
setting (at least those from Aporue), one of the trickiest things I
realised early on was that I don't want them to look too human or too
cartoonish. For each species, I had to find a strange middle-ground,
where they both look like their animal inspirations, but also have
little skeletal, tissue and surface details that are meant to evoke the
bodies of normal humans.
In the setting, a popularly peddled theory about the origins of
non-human humanoids is that they're simply human beings cursed into
animalistic forms. It might be true. Or it might not. No one in my
setting knows the exact truth about these species' exact origins, as it
seems to have been lost to ancient history. This is part of the reason
why the "beastmen" species aren't too animal in appearance, or too
clearly human. I've intentionally put them in a position where they
occupy a slightly uncomfortable middle ground. This is done in order to
keep up a perpetual sense of mystery about them (even though they're
commonly occuring characters). You can't tell where exactly the human
features and animal features of a hedgehogman/newtman/stoatman/etc.
begin and where they end. That's part of the point. They're neither
Redwall characters, nor are they "furries" with only superficial animal
features.
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Galéria
Konceptový atrapový obrázok melzanského "lesokuna",
obyvateľa (alebo obyvateľky) mesta, z radov lesného kunoľudu
Another concept mockup, of Piner commoners, and another concept mockup, of Stonie commoners
Konceptový atrapový obrázok melzanského "skalníka"-zbrojnoša horského kunoľudu
Moja ručne kreslená konceptová skica člena kunoľudu, alias kuňana
-
v tomto prípade, člen o niečo štíhlejšie pôsobiacej variety "skalníkov"
.jpg)
Ojedinelý príklad zdobenej prilbice pre plnú zbroj vojenského typu,
používanej skalníckymi (a inými kuňanskými) šľachticmi so záujmom o bojovanie
Konceptový atrapový obrázok soboľca-lovca s lukom a šípom
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Demonymá
| Anglické názvoslovie | Slovenské názvoslovie | Etymológia a poznámky |
|---|---|---|
| Beastpeoples | Zveroľud(ia) | The general term for beastpeoples in Aporue and other continents of the Orbis Furum. |
| Beastman, Beastwoman, Beastmen, Beastwomen | Zveran, Zveranka, Zverani, Zveranky | The everyday terms for males and females of the various beastpeople species. |
| Martenfolk | Kunoľud, Kuniľud | The marten-like humanoids of Aporue, some of the most common beastpeoples. |
| Martenman, Martenwoman, Martenmen, Martenwomen | Kuňan, Kuňanka, Kunomuž, Kunožena | The everyday terms for males and females of the martenfolk. |
| Mart, Marts (nickname) | Kuník, Kuňák, Kuniak, Kuníci, Kuniaci | The nicknames for the martenfolk. Incidentally, the English name is based on the Latin name, martes. Kuna is a Slavic term for the animal and the real Croatian currency kuna is named after marten pelts. |
| Piner, Piners (subgroup/"race") Forest martenfolk | Lesokun, Lesokuny Lesný kunoľud | Referring to the pine marten and its Slovak name, kuna lesná ("forest marten"), the animal inspiration behind their appearance. |
| Barkscratchers, Jaundicechests | Kôroškrabi, Hnačkohrude | The derogatory nicknames for the forest martenfolk (piners). |
| Stonie, Stonies (subgroup/"race") Montane martenfolk | Skalník, Skalníci Horský kunoľud | Referring to the beech marten and its Slovak name, kuna skalná ("stone marten"), the animal inspiration behind their appearance. |
| Whitestreaks, Stone-whites | Belopruhí, Skalobelci | The derogatory nicknames for the montane martenfolk (stonies). |
| Sableman, Sabelmen (subgroup/"race") Tundra martenfolk | Soboľec, Soboľci Tundrový kunoľud | Referring to the sable and its Slovak name, soboľ sibírsky ("Siberian sable"), the animal inspiration behind their appearance. |
| Tarpelts, Snowpaws | Smolkožuchy, Sneholabci | The derogatory nicknames for the tundra martenfolk (sablemen). |
| Aporueans | Aporuejčania, Aporuejci | Any inhabitants of the continent of Aporue. Equivalent of Europeans. |
| Melzans | Melzania | Demonym for people of the Melzan statelet (the country) or its capital city of Melza. |
| Melzan | Melzan, Melzanka | A male or female inhabitant of the statelet in my fictional world, or of the city of Melza that the overall monarchy is named after. |
| Cittan | Mesťan, Mesťanka | Contrast these newly coined words with citizen and townsman and občan and mešťan (same meaning in English). The Cittans / Mesťania are only the people from The City (city / mesto), the city of Melza proper. These are always capitalised. "Cittans are citizens/townsmen of Melza." / "Mesťania sú občanmi/mešťanmi Melzy." Yes, the Slovak equivalent of Cittans only differs by two letters from the real term for "townsmen". |
Nabudúce...
Next time, we take a look at a species that is more closely related to the martenmen than any other of the Aporuean sapients.
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Ďalšie prehľady mysliacich druhov v Príležitosť robí zlodeja (Thick as Thieves)
- Ľudia (ľudstvo) - prehľad
- Mločniaci (Mlokoľud) - prehľad
- Ježani (Ježoľud) - prehľad
- Guloni (Rosomľud) - prehľad
- Vydrania (Vydroľud) - prehľad
- Hraníci (Hraniľud) - prehľad
- Homárňania a Krabeni (Kôriľud) - prehľad
- Vranmuži (Vraniľud) - prehľad (apokryfný druh)
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Copyright
(C) 2014, 2021 P. Molnár & Knight-Errant Studios - Koncepty/nápady, text,
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