AQUALOPS

Physical

Average adult size: Average, large, very large or huge (between 5-9ft)

Average body type/s: Any

Limb length: Any

Tail: Very long (1m+), middling width (between 4-9cm), bald or just a little hair exclusively on the tip, which is usually a little rounded. Agility and strength are both mediocre. Aqualops have vastly differing physical traits based on their upbringing, colony, and genealogy; they range from having fully functional finned tails, bald tails with non-functional fins, and tails with hair tufts on the end.

Ears: Medium-wide and long, typically quite rounded, perky with reasonable mobility, can hear pretty well.

Eyesight: Ranges from 500m to 1km, so mediocre.

Smell: Mediocre

Taste: Mediocre

Touch: Good

Skin type: Semi-moist, oily or combination.

Skin pigmentation: Any

Teeth: Combination blunt and sharp, omnivorous

Respiratory system: Lungs/gills. Regardless of their parentage, aqualops always breathe through a combination of lungs and gills, though one or the other may be used more or less depending on their genes and where they live.

Body temp: Lukewarm

Body hair: Sparse to moderate, and thin

Keratin: Fingernails/toenails, claws

Agility: Mediocre, not particularly fast or slow

Endurance: Mediocre, work to rest ratio is 1:1.

Strength: Strong, can carry heavy objects with one arm

Constitution: Mediocre, occasionally get sick

Lifespan: Very long, 130-200 years

Diet: Omnivore

Sleep: Moderate, 6-9 hours a night

Reproductive system: Ranges from mammalian, bird-like (internal fertilization + eggs laid), and fish- like (eggs laid then fertilized). Aqualops have historically been very big on travelling, and therefore will very often produce children with other kinds of lop; the reproductive system of an individual lop from one of these couples just depends on the recessive and dominant traits. If an aqualop has a parent who's an aqualop in any way, then they are also considered an aqualop unless they choose to identify otherwise.

Reproductive ability: Can produce children with every other species, depending on their own personal reproductive system.

Additional features: Often have half-grown features of other lop types due to recessive genes.

Social

Average parentage/upbringing: 3+ parents or raised by adult relatives. Raised by large communities, whoever's in the house. The biological parents matter very little in aqualop communities; a child will be raised by every adult around them, providing them with a wealth of different experiences. The most trusted adult is usually the one that the child simply meshes best with, whether that be a parent, a sibling, or a friend.

Average child rate: 4-6 children

Average familial bond: Close, care deeply about each other, very little boundaries. No family names, just a surname that denotes the colony that an aqualop is from.

Average pathway of new adults: Travel with family/community or alone, but always return home - whether it's to stay or simply to visit. Aqualops are big travellers, roaming either within their immediate community, in the colonies that surround, or out into the world. They often travel in groups but it's also quite common to see an aqualop travelling alone. Typically, when they get old or lonely, they will come back to their original community, but those communities are constantly shifting and changing, so usually it just means going back to a specific area.

Average generational tradition: Family remains partially together with some long-term/permanent absences

Closeness of extended family: Friendly; extended family lives separate but see each other often

Family power dynamic: Everyone has equal power

Family values and traditions: Religion and devotion, spirituality, serving one's deities; art and personality, social ability, performance and charisma; travel and individuality, nomadic lifestyle, personal discovery and development

Community values and traditions: Art and personality, social ability, performance and charisma; community and culture, politics, getting involved in community and worldwide initiatives; travel and individuality, nomadic lifestyle, personal discovery and development

Average community population: Very large, 500-1000

Average community closeness: Somewhat close, people all know each other but not on a personal level

Family variation within community: Very intense variation, no expectation for what kind of family one has

Community response to travelers: Very welcoming, tourism is huge and people welcome strangers into their houses, trade is intense

Home permanence: Semi-grounded, different places every few decades

Community relations: Moderately involved, community meetings are held regularly and some celebrations are had

World relations: Very involved, attends all meetings without fail, goes to every single celebration

Naming conventions: Double name. Changes based on where they are, who they're speaking to and what their social status is.

HOUSEHOLD NAME: Used within their household, regardless of status or who they're speaking to; reserved only for people they grew up with; no specific linguistic conventions.

COMMON NAME: Used in the community; no specific linguistic conventions.

TRAVELER NAME: Used while exploring and traveling; generally 3 syllables long and involving part of the common name.

LOWER NAME: Used when of lower status than another lop; usually single-syllable.

HIGHER NAME: Used when of higher status than another lop; usually two dual-syllable hyphenated names with one syllable taken from the common name.

DISTORTED NAME: Used by other aqualops when they disapprove of, are angry at, or plain dislike an aqualop; usually dual-syllable and consonant heavy.

CHARMED NAME: Used with romantic partners; usually dual-syllable and vowel heavy.

Reproduction: Mostly pleasure, some business; sex is for fun but some people actively try for children, neither is abnormal

Drugs/alcohol: Heavy usage, can be problematic. Drugs and alcohol are heavily used in aqualop communities, and while there's usually a decent amount of moderation, of course there are people and communities who are prone to addiction.

Religious groups: 3+ common religions

Religious importance in culture: Immense importance, on the same level as world relations

Religious practice in community: Collective and practiced in groups of trusted people or as an entire community. Different colonies and households within those colonies practice different religions, though no matter what the importance of it is great. Religious events are held every week, and a huge amount of the art and culture in aqualop colonies centers around deities and different belief systems.

Environment

Main habitat: River, lake

Secondary habitats: Tundra, arctic; rainforest; any forest; swamp, wetland; temperate grassland; caves, low altitude; ocean, shore

General: Aqualops can pretty much be anywhere and everywhere.

Fauna: Depends on where their settlement is

Flora: Depends on where their settlement is

Daily Life

Favourite food styles: Sweet, bitter, pungent

Favourite meal types: Rice, protein and vegetable based. Food preparation styles are vastly varied and usually depend on where the settlement is.

Food sensitivity: Middling, no specific allergies or food preferences

Housing materials: Large and densely packed brick and mortar buildings. Houses are huge and sprawling and made from whatever houseworthy materials are around, with little to no regard for simplicity or uniformity. They are built to be easily destroyed and rebuilt, but still sturdy and insulated enough to ensure that everyone inside has their individual needs met. Most houses are built and rebuilt many, many times over the years by every household member. Vernacular + deconstructionist roots. Vernacular architecture in ghana.

Agriculture: Some agriculture, significantly trade reliant. There's not a lot going on in terms of agriculture, with most of their individual agriculture centering around whatever food and plants they can find in their immediate area which is usually shared with other lop communities who know better how to utilize it. They make a great deal of trades, however, on their artistic works, performers, clothing, and general recreational products.

Main trades: Fruit and honey; paper and stationery; fabric and dyes; carved wood and rock items; clay pottery and items; musical items and manuscripts; books and magazines; art and pictures; reproductive paraphernalia; sports equipment; clothing and apparel; gambling and gaming items; crafting tools and materials; vehicles and boats; charmed and cursed items. Aqualop music and non-fiction writing is highly regarded by most lop communities, and is a major export.

Clothing tendency: Some rules, specific areas must be covered

Clothing styles: Can be loose, moderate, or skintight depending on how an individual prefers to dress, but all types of clothing are either decorative or cultural/religious.

Aqualops wear bright colours and materials that they like to gather from a lot of vastly different sources, and most of their clothing will be made up of scraps and pieces of clothes they've loved for their entire lives that they've re-purposed. They have a great attachment to the clothes theyve worn but at the same time will gracefully part with a piece of clothing if its time has passed. Typically an aqualop will make all their own clothes. Things tend to get very asymmetrical with little observable colour scheme, though of course fashion trends will come through fairly regularly.

Accessories: Common and decorative/religious, following the same rules as their clothing. They will usually be made of whatever metal, alloys or natural materials are readily available.

Popular arts: Visual arts, vocal arts, instrumental arts and magic. Many different kinds of magic abound in aqualop communities.

Favoured leisure activities: Court and field based land sports, field and match based water sports; concerts, street musicians, instrumentalists; juggling, balancing acts, tightrope; social events, parties.