TheCactari

The Cactari

In certain places along both sides of the mountains which form the eastern border of the Southern Deserts, dwelling in dry arroyos and rocky plateaus, in little, odd villages, there dwell a most strange and wondrous people, a people born, perhaps, from the intervention of the Wyld into the plants of the high desert, or perhaps from the vagaries of odd spirits, or perhaps even from those of the First Age, a people who are known as the Cactari.

Description

The Cactari resemble their their namesake, and, possibly, their ancestors, the knobbly cactuses of the rocky deserts of their home. They stand 6-8 feet tall and are humanoid in shape, though they have wider bodies and thicker, heavier limbs and stature, and their heads sprout from their shoulders without necks like the tops of cacti. Their skin is tough, rigid, and line-ridged, like that of cactus flesh. Sprouting randomly from them are triple-clusters of thin, white, sharp spines; most of these spine-clusters sprout from their arms, legs, and upper chest, though they grow with less profusance on other parts, even the palms of their hands (most cactari, save berzerker warriors, trim down the spines of their palms so that they can easily manipulate objects; this is akin to a human trimming its nails). Their round heads sprout like the tops of cacti from their broad shoulders, neckless and thick. Their facial features resemble those of humans, though noseless; they have eyes like watery bubbles of cactus nectar in shallow hollows in their faces, and their mouths are straight, smooth-edged slits in their mouths, lacking teeth. During their mating season, Cactari sprout beautiful red blossoms from their necks and heads, giving them, at least for a month or so, long manes of crimson-red hair. Cactari have large hands with three thick fingers; their feet are broad, thick, and flat, with tough, grey soles that sometimes split off layers of tough fibers which Cactari use for weaving and other uses. Cactari eat small things- little rodents and lizards, small birds, and fruit. Once a month, they drink huge amounts of water in a communal ceremony, which is thereafter stored as nectar within their bodies, so that they are not required to drink until the next ceremony. Cactari wounds heal slowly, but always scar, forming thick ridges of hard grey protection. Most Cactari have many such scars- life in the desert is dangerous, wars are common; in addition, Cactari do not develop sensitive nerves until about age 5, and thus, the spines of their mothers prick them randomly. In addition, Cactari are effectively immortal; like the Alchemical Exalted, as they age, they grow more and more immobile; by age 250 they are as singularly inanimate as a true cactus.

Culture

The Cactari dwell in little villages of 50-150 inhabitants, generally constructed on the edges of the sandy parts of the desert, where their plant cousins grow, in the rocky dry places and arroyos. The center of their population is in the foothills on both sides of the mountains, about halfway between the Elemental Pole of Fire and the Varang City-States. Cactari do not have houses, as humans concieve them. Instead, because they are fairly impervious to natural conditions, and enjoy the warmth and brightness of sunlight (though they no longer need it for their metabolisms), their houses are raised daises of mud-brick or stone with a central fire-pit and big covered pots of water, roofless. The taller a Cactari or Cactari family's dais is, the higher their station. The elders of the village generally have daises four tiers high, nearly pyramids. Cactari respect age- the eldest among them are generally the wisest, largest, and, despite their near immobility, the strongest.

Work in progress!