CAVELOPS
Physical
Average adult size: Tiny to small (3-5ft)
Average body type/s: Any size; more fat/less muscle. Slow metabolism causes them to retain fat easier for warmth and strength.
Limb length:Any size
Tail: Very long (1m+), narrow (2-4cm). Usually bald. Extremely agile and strong, can be used as a weapon if necessary. Very pointed. Tails are used for navigation and are therefore prehensile and super-mobile; very sensitive to touch and vibration!
Ears: Long and wide, very rounded, super mobile, excellent hearing ability. Very thin and sensitive. Used for navigation.
Eyesight: Ranges from limited (5-500m), very limited (1-5m) and none. The further they live from the cave entrance, the less sight a cavelop has. Those who have vision find exposure to bright light painful without wearing protective equipment.
Smell: Excellent
Taste: Good/mediocre
Touch: Excellent
Skin type: Semi-dry
Teeth: Sharp with some blunt edges
Respiratory system: Lungs
Body temp: Cold, cool to the touch
Body hair: Often none, hair that's there is thin and usually sparse
Keratin: Claws, which help with hunting, craft, and navigation.
Agility: Strong, faster than most
Endurance: Mediocre to strong. Work to rest ratio ranges from 1:1 to 2:1.
Strength: Not great. At best can carry heavy objects for short distances, at worst has trouble lifting them
Constitution: Mediocre, occasional mild sickness
Lifespan: Long, 100-130yrs
Diet: Mostly carnivore (25% plant 75% meat)
Sleep: Very high, 12+ hours a night
Reproductive system: Internal fertilization and development (mammal)
Reproductive ability: Can produce children with a few other races (cloudlops, icelops, aqualops, lushlops)
Additional features: Antennae that are long (20-50cm), thin and made of muscle and cartilage, help them navigate. Cavelops that are rarely or never exposed to sunlight usually have semi-transparent skin.
Social
Average parentage/upbringing:No parents; self-raised
Average child rate: 2-3 children
Average familial bond: Extremely distant, very strong boundaries, little/no emotion
Family name: No importance/never used
Average pathway of new adults: Move away and detach completely from family/community
Average generational tradition: Family separated from day one
Closeness of extended family: Very distant, no connection, rarely/never seen
Family power dynamic: No individual or group holds any power
Family values and traditions: Religion, devotion, spirituality; secrecy, stealth, guarding traditional artifacts/places/people; trade and gathering, preparing products, selling and haggling; travel and individuality, nomadic lifestyle, personal discovery and development
Community values and traditions: Religion, devotion, spirituality; travel and individuality, nomadic lifestyle, personal discovery and development
Average community population: Very small (10-50)
Average community closeness: Generally individual; people will make small talk and they know who's around but generally people aren't close
Family variation within community: Very intense variation, no expectations
Community response to travelers: Quite unwelcoming, tight-knit but begrudgingly will allow trade with great caution
Home permanence: Completely nomadic, different home every day/week
Community relations: Less involved, community meetings are rarely held and only in emergencies/major events, celebrations are rare and almost exclusively religious
World relations: Less involved, attends only major and obligatory meetings. It's extremely rare for cavelops to show up to big celebrations.
Naming conventions: Single name, consonant-heavy, permanent. Typically adopt short, single-word names with lots of hard clicking consonants. The spelling is meaningless, it's all about the sound, so all cavelop names are spelled how they sound. (Examples: Kip, Gukra, Tukmet, Kutep, Pak)
Reproduction: All pleasure, no business - children just a byproduct of a leisure activity
Drugs/alcohol: Moderate usage, something of an issue
Religious groups: 1-2 common religions (CURRENTLY UNDEVELOPED)
Religious importance in culture: Varied; for some individuals it's just a part of life, for others it's of great importance on the same level as trade
Religious practice in community: Generally individual, goes between being a personal practice or being shared only in small groups of trusted individuals
Food sharing: Only eating half of a catch/forage is customary, with the other half left for whoever next comes by. It is less acceptable, but still okay to actively bring it to someone or hide it for later. It is considered extremely rude to consume an entire catch/forage alone.
Gemstones: The type of gems and minerals displayed by a cavelop on their clothing denote where a cavelop is from, where they've traveled, and what they've achieved.
Pets: There are no pets in cavelop communities, as it's considered selfish to force a creature to live alongside you against its will, and the creatures found in caves are not particularly fun to keep around.
Chosen family: Cavelops primarily live and travel alone or in groups of 2-6 that have been chosen by all parties. The only time blood relatives are involved is usually by chance.
Environment
Main habitat: Caves, low altitude
Secondary habitats: Mountainous, high altitude; tundra/arctic; deciduous forest; ocean/shore; deep ocean
General: Always live primarily in caves. Harsh, humid, often wet rocky environments that almost always end up being under the earth/below sea level.
Fauna: Salamanders, cave snails, velvet worms, cave spiders, millipedes, amphipods, shrimp, crayfish, cave fish, bats.
Flora: Moss, fern, liverworts - specifically in the entrance and twilight zones of caves. No plants live in the depths. Caves that are closer to the surface often have roots hanging down.
Daily Life
Favourite food styles: Salty, bitter, pungent, umami
Favourite meal types: Protein-based, raw/fresh, preserved/fermented
Food sensitivity: Extremely specific diet, allergic to a lot of things and only function on specific foods
Housing materials: Live off the land. Housing is mostly made out of small nooks, crannies and offshoots of caves. Some more private types will craft dividers out of foraged bones and rocks woven with roots for their nooks. Cavelops living in groups will often inhabit a large area together but actually sleep and live a fair ways apart, so as to preserve their privacy. Groups and individuals alike tend to put plenty of distance between their own and others' settlements. No specific architectural influence.
Agriculture: Little agriculture. Heavily trade reliant. Fresh water is gathered from streams that are often forked, dammed or otherwise managed by cavelops. Plants and moss are foraged from the twilight zone during spring and summer for beds and clothing. Roots are a fantastic resource and are often used by deep-dwelling cavelops for clothes too, though some cavelops prefer to get clothing from other lops via trade.
Main trades: Herbs and medicines; plants and roots; plant-based food items; metal and rock-based weaponry; carved wood and rock items; clay pottery and items; raw materials; insects and bugs; musical instruments and manuscripts; toys and childrens' items; reproductive paraphernalia; alcohol and drugs; home decor and goods; crafting tools and materials; charmed and cursed items. Often rely upon surface-dwellers to visit at previously ordained times in the twilight zone, under careful conditions. Typically trades will happen twice a week through the afternoon-evening. Cavelops will trade their dried roots, specially made clothing (and tailoring services), prepared food, space dividers, and gemstones. Sought after items include fur hide blankets, clothing leather, clay storage containers, noise-making toys, and anything with soft textures.
Clothing tendency: Little to no rules. Nudity friendly, but it's generally considered polite to ensure you're not naked below the waist when interacting with lops that aren't cavelops
Clothing styles: Skintight to moderate. Can be practical, cultural or environmental. Made from dried plants, roots and dried shells/carapaces. Holds in warmth but is still breathable and provides a lot of defense. Densely woven. Often waterproof.
Accessories: Constant and either decorative or cultural
Popular arts: Vocal arts (singing, poetry); instrumental arts. Singing and spoken word are hugely popular, and often a song that one cavelop sings loudly while foraging will be echoed or joined by nearby cavelops and spread later by others who've heard. Stories will be spoken among tiny groups. The way art is shared is almost entirely through overhearing, which makes for an incredibly unique experience unparalleled by anything else.
Favoured leisure activities: Dance, acrobatics, body performance; finding and minding rocks and crystals; drugs and alcohol; spoken word, storytelling; divination and prediction; magic and charms; perfume and scent crafts; hunting and competing catches; gadgets, toys and games. Cavelops LOVE toys, specifically ones with strange/unfamiliar textures and ones that make a lot of noise. They love the weird wailing tube things. They also love chew toys and anything static that you don't have to throw or let go of. They like hunting for fun, and exploring is a huge pull for many cavelops.
Curation: Often mine and gather precious stones (judging more by the feel of them than anything else) and incorporate them into a piece of everyday clothing or an everyday item that they display. Special roots are saved and dried for their medicinal and recreational properties; some have psychotropic effects that are highly sought after.
Food: They eat whatever they can find, and their stomachs are amazing at digesting. Sometimes they'll use pollen, nectar, or cave plants to give extra texture or flavour to what they're eating. Their diet isn't especially varied, but it works for them. However, their steel stomachs ONLY work in their own habitats; outside of those places, they are incredibly sensitive and will become ill very quickly.