CLOUDLOPS

Physical

Average adult size: Small to average (4-6ft)

Average body type/s: Medium/large, more muscle less fat

Limb length: Medium

Tail: Short (15-30cm), narrow (2-4cm). Hair thicker on tip and thinner on tail. Slow, not very agile. Some strength, can hold light things for a short time. A little rounded.

Ears: Short and a little pointed, no mobility. 

Eyesight: Good, between 1-2km

Smell: Mediocre

Taste: Limited

Touch: Mediocre

Skin type:  Semi-dry, reasonably tough. Usually just dry because of the weather conditions.

Teeth:  Combination blunt/sharp

Respiratory system: Lungs. Cloudlops have huge, very strong lungs and insane amounts of hemoglobin (blood cells that carry oxygen) so that they can live comfortably at extremely high altitudes. This makes it hard for them to be at sea level or lower, as there's too much oxygen.

Body temp:  Warm to the touch, a little hotter than usual

Body hair:  Moderate/abundant and thick

Keratin: Fingernails/toenails

Agility: Mediocre, not particularly fast or slow

Endurance: Strong, work to rest ratio is 2: 1

Strength:  Strong, can carry heavy objects with one arm

Constitution: Outstanding, very rarely sick or badly injured

Lifespan: Very long, 130-200 years

Diet:  Omnivore (50% plant 50% meat)

Sleep: Moderate, 6-9 hours a night

Reproductive system: Internal fertilization and development (mammal)

Reproductive ability: Can produce children with all races excluding sealops and mirelops

Additional features:  Very rough, textured tongue that is useful for eating food that would be impossible otherwise, like rough lichens and nutritious rocks (those high in minerals).

Horns made of very strong keratin that grow from the forward front and sides of the scalp. They have no nerve endings aside from the part that directly touches the scalp and do not velvet; if they break, they will grow back. Functionally serve to scrape rocks for lichen, moss and insects - cloudlops sometimes break their horns off and use them as handheld tools.

Very tough and can pretty much consume anything they please. They tend to live for a very long time if they stick to their favoured environment.

Long, horizontal pupils that make their view wider but less tall.

Social

Average parentage/upbringing: No parents, self-raised. When a cloudlop is born, they are cared for by their whole family until they are able to reliably walk and fend for themselves, after which point they are left to find their own food, water and hobbies. They are given shelter and emotional support but ultimately they are on their own for those things. It's a genuinely positive and normal part of their culture. The child decides when to return with their newfound knowledge, or if they choose not to, they are expected to return home at around 17 years old.

Average child rate: Single child

Average familial bond: Extremely close, very involved in each others' lives, no boundaries. Family name is very important and hard to detach from. Cloudlops take great pride in their family name, even if they utterly despise their family. Each member of the family represents the name in their own way and strives to make their name one that is memorable and regarded very highly. 

Average pathway of new adults:   Related to that pride is the staunch determination to never, ever leave one's family; the bonds (whether negative or positive) are kept for a lifetime as per cloudlop culture. Therefore, cloudlops rarely leave their communities alone or at all; if they do, they will always return.

Average generational tradition:  Family remains entirely together from birth til death (excepting while the child is maturing)

Closeness of extended family:  Very close; inseparable from immediate family and all live together

Family power dynamic: Everyone in the household has equal power

Family values and traditions:  Art and personality, social ability, performance and charisma; community and culture, politics, getting involved in community and worldwide initiatives. Art and aesthetic are a MASSIVELY important part of the culture, as well as great craftsmanship and social ability. You have to know how to socialise to survive, after all. They're also big seekers of knowledge!

Community values and traditions: Strict discipline and success, skill, practice, academia, knowledge; physical prowess and strength, output ability, expertise in trades; art and personality, social ability, performance and charisma

Average community population: Medium, 100-200

Average community closeness: Very close, everyone knows each other by name on a personal level

Family variation within community:  Very little variation, everyone strives to have the same kind of family

Community response to travelers:  Very unwelcoming, tight-knit communities that don't like to be disturbed, only allow bare minimum for trade. Cloudlops do not like being disturbed. Their norms are easily upset by strangers and it takes a lot of time and earned trust to allow a foreigner into a community. Trade happens only around once per month and only a set amount of trusted merchants are allowed into the community. If cloudlops need something before that monthly trade, they have to go and seek it out themselves, and prefer to do so.

Home permanence: Grounded, same home forever

Community relations:  Very involved, community meetings are very regular and populous and celebrations are frequent

World relations:  Less involved, attends only major and obligatory meetings, no celebrations 

Naming conventions:  Single name, consonant-heavy, fragmented. Names are a single fragmented word with the first section being their family name (what they were born with), a name they choose themself, and the the major kind of mineral that's associated with their community.The last part of the name is like their surname, so is only used in very formal situations; generally they will use their first and/or second name depending on the situation. EXAMPLES: Darak'eid'Topaz, Nua'june'Coal, Ruky'boz'Gold. 

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

Drugs/alcohol:  Moderate usage, non-issue

Religious groups:  No religion whatsoever

Religious importance in culture:  No importance

Religious practice in community:  No religious practice. Cloudlops are typically non-religious, prioritizing personal intellect and progress within their family line and as individuals. It's considered taboo to worship any god or entity, as in cloudlop culture it implies that the self and one's bloodline is not worth enough to an individual (though cloudlops are very tolerant of other lops' religions and will often study them on an intellectual and historic level).

Environment

Main habitat: Mountains and cliffs, high altitude territories.

Secondary habitats:  Tundra, arctic; tropical rainforest; temperate grassland, high altitude caves. Anywhere mountainous.

General:   Decently sized communities of cloudlops who generally spend a lot of time doing their own thing. They interact heavily with cavelops as a lot of caves are in mountainous territory.

Fauna: Alpacas, llamas, mountain goats, snow leopards, antelopes, yaks, vilcuna, condor, chinchilla

Flora:  Wild potato, rhododendron, bear grass, moss, bitterroot, lichen

Daily Life

Favourite food styles:  Spicy, sour, pungent, umami. They like stuff that tastes very strong, as their tastebuds are quite limited. They will eat most things raw but are known to preserve and ferment fairly often. Baking and actually cooking things is relatively rare and saved for special occasions, generally considered a delicacy.

Favourite meal types: Roots and vegetables as well as protein serve as bases, there's not much room for carbs or grains. 

Food sensitivity:  Extremely strong constitution, can eat absolutely anything. Their stomachs can take things that would poison almost every other lop, and their tongues are roughly textured and thick-skinned so that they can eat very sharp and dangerous plants and animals with zero issue.

Housing:  Small houses that are moderately spaced. Brutalist in design. Sharp, grey buildings jut out from the mountains in a usually fairly obnoxious way; they often are decorated with the chosen colours and decor styles of each household so that it's immediately obvious who is living there. It's also common to build them with sections that are made up entirely of a mineral or rock type that's common in the region.

Agriculture: Not a lot in terms of farming, and trade is not super common. They are pretty self-sufficient on things that other lops are unable to eat, but they will sometimes raise animals for food and supplies.

Main trades: Meat and animal-based food items; metal and rock-based weaponry; carved wood and rock items; books and magazines; toys and childrens' items; gambling and gaming items; alcohol and drugs; cooking utensils and goods. Their most valuable trades are their creations of rock and metal (jewelry, tools, weaponry), which are highly valuable all across the land. 

Clothing tendency:  Strict rules, most of body must be covered

Clothing styles: Moderate and environmental/decorative. Clothing tends to be made of very sturdy materials, particularly leathers and armour. It is practical, but all cloudlops will wear certain colours and styles that indicate their family line.

Accessories:  Common and decorative. Banners, fabrics and certain dye colours/patterns denote a cloudlop's loyalties and interests.

Popular arts:  Visual arts, dance. They really respect and enjoy art that the eye can see, art that's bold and obvious.

Favoured leisure activities:  Match based land sports; blacksmithing, creating from metal; finding and mining rocks and crystals; history and art, museums; knowledge pursuits, reading, academia; books, reading, writing

Curation: Metal and mineral art and tools