Heir to the Throne
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Name: Lupine
Designation: Sentient
Homeworld: Figaro Favoura VII
Language: Galactic Standard Basic
Average height of adults: 1.83 meters (0.76-0.91 meters in wolf form)
Skin color: Caucasian; color of fur varies.
Hair color: Commonly blonde and brown; lighter tones. Exceptions may occur though to the genetic make of non-Lupine partners.
Breathes: Oxygen; type 1 atmosphere
Strengths:
- Claws and teeth
- Meta-human sense of smell - Most accurate of senses, highly developed. The distance is affected by atmospheric conditions but under most favorable conditions, they can smell up to 1.75 miles (2.82 km). However, this is active while in Lupine form, where as in the their human form, they have a human-like sense of smell with the exception of being able to sense other Lupines, whether they're in wolf or human form.
- Meta-human hearing - Only while in their canine form, the Lupine sense of hearing is the second most accurate of senses. They can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles in the open; and up to a frequency of possibly 80 khz (25 khz has been confirmed).
- Speed - varies between walking, trotting, loping and galloping. An adult Lupine in canine form walks at about 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h), but during chase can go up to 35 mph (56 km/h). They don't run at full speed unless close to their prey. They can however keep their pace and cover about 60 miles (90.56 km) in a single nights.
- Lupine gene dominates during mating with other species, causing in the birth of completely Lupine offspring
- Force Sensitivity - Currently known and living Lupines have proven to be quite strong in the Force, with a higher than average midi-clorian levels though this has never been tested. While there is still a possibility of a member of the species appearing without force sensitivity, it could be regarded as a weakness in the eyes of others.
- Shorter lifespan than the average humanoid
- Accelerated growth during childhood which can continue through adulthood
- Known lifespan is up to roughly about seventy years of age
- Heavily prone to madness for various reasons, including due to the Force (which, along with inbreed destroyed other Lupine families that once existed)
- Lupines can be killed or injured same as any humanoid or alien species, whether in human or lupine form
- High frequency sounds can cripple a Lupine temporarily, e.g. a momentary sound would affect them 20-60 seconds. Longer lasting sounds would have a longer affects. The reaction would also depend on the intensity of the sound, frequency and fortitude of the character in question. Age and training is important here. A fully grown and trained character (e.g. Ket) would take 15 seconds to recover from a momentary sounds, where as a younger and less or un-trained Lupine (e.g. Katrine) would take a whole minute.
- An adult Lupine takes about 30 seconds to transform, however, transformation is first time transformed once a young Lupine enters puberty. The first few years, it takes them 3-4 minutes. By 21, about 90 seconds, by the age of thirty the 30 second transformation is achieved.
Lifespan: Oldest Lupine is likely to live up to seventy years of age.
Races: N/A
Estimated Population: Fairly uncommon. History of the species dictates that the race was isolated to a single planet and therefore all known Lupine race were offspring of the Van-Derveld bloodline. There were once other families but according to legend, due to madness they'd decayed to and inbreeding, they'd eventually all died out. Though there have been a larger number of family member throughout the galaxy, few remain known. Known numbers could go between 10-20, however considering the venture of the first Lupine into the galaxy, the exact number of his children (other than his sons Vega, Ket, Cat and Ignatius), and their children remain unknown. Estimated number could be anywhere from 20-40.
Diet: Diet does not differ from human food. Food that is poisonous to human has the the same effect on them.
Communication: Vocal cords as any human. In wolf form, their communication is limited canine communication, e.g. growls, howls and barks. While it can be used as a communication method, it is pretty primitive in comparison to human form.
Culture: Lupine are primarily a pack, as a substitution for the word family in the human language. They have an alpha though it doesn't quite get in the way in the sense it did when there were more families and the Lupines were far more primitive than they are today. The former alpha Diego did little to promote this factor among his children, most of them fathered to different women and often abandoned. There is a strong sense of family however despite this, among the siblings that have found each other. Though they are half-blooded due to Diego's adventures, the Lupine gene dominates others and there is a natural animistic sense of pack among them.
On Figaro Favoura VII, there was once a strong concept of superiority among the immigrated species, due to which, together with their canine nature, strength, speed and easiness to showing power and killing, the Lupines proclaimed themselves as Feudal Lords, a fact they valued quite a bit. If there were gods of old that the Lupine worshiped, this has been long forgotten in the favor of the pact and the alpha wolf that presided over different packs. There has been no documented religion for centuries now so this remains a mystery. However, an alpha's word is law and anyone under the same pack has to abide by it. There a lesser effect of this now as most Lupines spend more time in the galaxy then back at home. Additionally, Force Users follow the ways of Sith, Jedi and so on, making these their sole religions in life. In time of height, family was known for it's decadence, arrogance and complete lack of morals.
Once, clothing had been a thing of skill among on the backwater planet. Leather was obtained only through hard, for example. Nowadays however, this is an option but at the same time Lupines live in the now and the galaxy so purchasing clothes is completely a normal thing. Some of them however still have an affinity towards leather as a fashion choice, some in all black, some in other colors. This is however a completely personal choice.
From Figaro Favoura VII:
Technology level: Lupines hail from a world once considered to be backwater but their presence in the galaxy has allowed them to grow beyond their backgrounds. Most Lupines now are versed in current day technology, wield weapons, pilot ships…
General behavior: Lupines are believed to be psychotic and mad, especially in light of history of many Houses (of which many eventually faded away), which is a path the House of Van-Derveld follow as well though in a slower pace than others. Their madness isn't uncontrolled though, they can appear well-mannered and disciplined if their choose to be. They can even seem to be quite normal if they chose to be. Though most simply chose to be who they really are, not letting other societies dictate who they will. For example, Ket is batsh*t crazy, Kat has multiple mental disorders which have been diagnosed, Chloe is though extremely gifted can hear voices and tends to make inappropriate comments incomprehensible things…
History: It's unknown how the Lupine species came to be. Some speak of of a Clawdite heritage though none of it is confirmed. What has been told through generations is that the birthplace of Lupines is Figaro Favoura VII, the only habitable world of the system. Many great Houses once lived on the planet, along with some lesser houses. Those that stood out among their equals eventually earned their titles of greater houses and built their estates, with those living among them becoming part of their settlements. Many Houses turned to nothing but legends among them by the time the first humans appeared on the moon, legend speaking of inbreeding, madness and losing the ability to change all before the families vanished. With the arrival of humans, many wished to keep their purity, only furthering the process of Houses disappearing.
At the time of the Gulag Plague, Figaro Favoura VII was still an unknown planet to the rest of the galaxy, and so the Lupines were an unknown species, safely living in their own little worlds. Older families decayed into themselves, driven into the madness, breeding among themselves, dying out. The Plague itself passed them by, not affecting the system. However, it was this event that brought Humans to the moon, in search of a world un-destroyed by the Plague. They found the moon then, taking in the untouched backwater planet, unaware for a brief while that there were monsters already living there, all until their cities had already been established. House Van-Derveld, now the practically sole pack on the planet easily took control through their strength, their psychotic nature and ease and killing those who defied them. Their control over the human settlements had been strong for centuries after that.
Last known Lupine family, the House of Van-Derveld was said to be no different. Though Lupines eventually realized they could breed with their human property, with their gene dominating over the human gene, it is believed even the House of Van-Derveld was not immune to inbreed and madness. Most Lupines today are Force Sensitive, though there was a time when there was a distinct difference between those who could wield the Force and those who could not. Midi-clorian count tended to vary between the somewhat higher levels from humans (about 3,000) to about 5,000. Nothing higher than that has ever been discovered though not impossible. There have even been those, like Diego, who had been driven mad by his power. There seemed to be no apparent reason for those born with the power to wield the Force and those they don't. In time, however, more and more were born Force Sensitivity which is how things are today. All Van-Dervelds currently in the known galaxy and those that have vanished are Force Users, predominately of darkside affiliation due to their psychotic nature (some have started at the opposite spectrum however). Though the possibility of someone who isn't Force Sensitive of the species appearing, it's possible that due to the other numbers, it may be regarded as a weakness in comparison to others.
Unfortunately, most of the species history had been lost in time, due to the Great Culling (commonly known as the Winnowing) which occurred decades ago when the Sith known as Vega Van-Derveld, patriarch of the family, wiped out almost all of the bloodline, leaving only his wife, their children and Vega's younger brothers Ket and Cat alive. After that, Vega and his wife Razielle disappeared, his children believed to be dead though any emergence of Van-Derveld may be the result of the offspring created afterwards or never before discovered siblings of the three males.
Like many, the Lupines too had gone into the galaxy to explore it for themselves, starting with a very bored Diego Van-Derveld. And so many of them became members of different Force Orders. Some had even secluded them far away in the unknown regions, detaching themselves from the activities. Not a single Van-Derveld participated in the war around the Netherworld. They had however witnessed the aftermath. It's entirely possible some Lupines disappeared as many Force Users did as well as effected their capability with the Force itself, it's unclear however which ones or in what way.
Notable Player-Characters: Ket Van-Derveld (currently on LOA but I have his permission to do this), Chloe Van-Derveld, Katrine Van-Derveld, any Van-Dervelds that may appear/return.
Intent: This is the species of the Van-Dervelds and has been since long before Katrine came to be. We've taken a long time it in putting up, LOA's and the like part of the reason, but this is my character's original species and what she should really be so hopefully, she and, of course, other family members, may be able to play the species she and they were meant to.
Note: Van-Dervelds are the last known Lupines, though exceptions have been made in the past. Katrine Van-Derveld can be contacted.
