The Sulkan


The sulkan are native to Kuuandra and are the children of Kiaae. Strong, swift, and ferocious, the sultan are infamously known as the leviathans of the sea. Highly magical but intensely isolated, the sulkan may be the most mysterious intalli in the Selvan.

Biology

The sulkan are enormous, fearsome creatures. Rivaling whales in size, they possess long, muscular bodies which taper into two powerful tail fins. While relatively small, their heads boast immensely strong jaws with bone-crushing teeth. Long, rounded lobes protrude from their head and back. These lobes are naturally used to dispose of excess magic from the body but may also serve to distinguish between individuals. They can flare out these lobes for communication and display. Additionally, much smaller baubles hang from their chins. They have massive front fins and small back fins. These fins possess digits and claws with some level of independent mobility, allowing them some level of grip.

Strangely enough, the sulkan do not possess gills. Instead, they have fully developed lungs and breathe underwater using magic.

Abilities

Magic Wellspring

Unlike most intalli, the sulkan lack distinguishing inherent magical ability. What they do possess is magic itself. The sulkan possess the strongest pulsars out of any other species, carrying enough magic for several other intalli combined. Additionally, they have a natural disposition for spellcasting of all forms, allowing them to learn new spells quickly and master them just as fast. It would take only the most dire of situations for a sulkan to run out of magic.

Ecology and Behavior

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Sulkan have gilder reproduction with all mature individuals capable of externally fertilizing and laying eggs. Mature sulkan only reproduce every ten years, coming together to native nesting sites for a single night to breed. A single individual can lay several thousand eggs at once, leading to inconceivably massive fields of eggs within nesting grounds. After eggs have been laid and fertilized, they are promptly abandoned.

  • It takes only a week for eggs to hatch after being laid. In contrast to their leviathan size in adulthood, newborn sulkan are microscopic. Soon after hatching, larvae will gather in groups called kinships. After they have absorbed their yolk, kinships will leave their nesting grounds to be carried off by the currents. Larvae will drift along open ocean currents until one to two years old, at which point they will travel to shallow, tropical waters.
  • Sulkan are capable hunters from birth, targeting zooplankton and other microscopic prey. As sulkan grow older, they will begin to develop unique hunting strategies with the rest of their kinship. By eight years old, sulkan are skilled and voracious hunters, largely targeting fish.
  • Over time, kinships will naturally form their own unique language between their members. Adolescent sulkan will name themselves and/or their siblings with this language. This language is used within their kinship for the rest of their lives and will rarely ever be shared with others.
  • Juvenile sulkan are naturally skittish and will instinctively flee from any large creatures, including mature sulkan. But by ten years old, sulkan kinships will begin to actively seek out the presence of adult individuals. Upon encountering a mature sulkan at this stage, the sulkan will guide the kinship back to their community.
  • Upon arrival, the kinship undergoes an important rite of passage into greater sulkan society. They are immersed in the greater culture, values, traditions, and customs of their community. This is also when they are taught the local language. Language acquisition in adolescent sulkan occurs at an immense speed, allowing them to quickly adjust to their new lives. Kinships will be given a collective last name in this new language in order to identify them as a group, however they will keep their first names.
  • Sulkan are considered adults at 20, sexually mature at 30, and physically mature at 40. While their life expectancy ranges from 100 to 400 years, their lifespan peaks at 800.

    Social Structure

  • Sulkan do not have any real distinction between platonic and romantic relationships. Instead, the majority of their relationships are split between friends, family, and strangers.
  • Sulkan communities can heavily range in size. Nomadic pods may be made up of several different kinships, ranging in size from a dozen individuals to a few thousand. These pods have loose boundaries and are often always gaining and losing members throughout their travels. Established, sedentary communities are typically smaller with strict territory boundaries and tighter bonds.
  • Conflict within pods and even kinships is not uncommon. Most communities possess loose hierarchies, with the strongest and largest members often leading the rest. Smaller individuals are often not taken seriously unless their might is proven.
  • Sulkan become extremely stressed out when alone and deteriorate quickly when separated from others. Even encountering an enemy is preferable to complete isolation. Lone sulkan without a family or community are treated with pity and horror. It is not unusual for highly fragmented kinships to invite isolated sulkan into their family.
  • However, some sulkan who have outright disowned and separated from their kinships are faced with far harsher treatment. Most individuals are well known in their home region and are often chased out of the territories of local pods.
  • Most sulkan who travel inland are alone.

    • Diet

    Sulkan are generalist carnivores, preying upon fish, marine mammals, squid, sea turtles, seabirds, and even larval sulkan. Mature sulkan largely prefer cetaceans, typically targeting large dolphins and whales. However, larger prey is only ever hunted in packs. A single sulkan may go after seals and sharks instead. Killer whales are a favorite meal of most sulkan.

    Hybrids

    The lutrophus are the only species that commonly breeds with the sulkan. These hybrids are immensely common, rarely facing any health or fertility issues. In social contexts, these hybrids are often just referred to as sulkan.

    In contrast, hybrids produced by other species are extremely rare. This stems from the sulkan's disinterest in sex and romance, a lack of parental instinct, and their immense rarity on land.

    Psychology and Culture

    Ideals and Instincts

  • Sulkan culture heavily values strength and experience. Size is a major factor in respect, with larger individuals seen as better fighters, hunters, and leaders. The most respected members of any group are the largest, oldest, and most heavily scarred.
  • Fighting if considered a fair way to judge right or wrong, even for petty disputes. Fortunately, Fortunately, most battles are small and rarely end in severe injury or death. All it will cost the loser is their ego.
  • Sulkan are highly protective of their home and community. The large majority of intraspecific deaths occur over escalated territory and prey disputes.
  • The sharing or gifting of food is seen as either a very intimate or a very condescending act. Normally, food is only ever shared with kinships, close friends, or any other sulkan who aided in the hunt. The major exception to this is the feeding of juveniles and disabled individuals.
  • To offer food to an unfamiliar sulkan is to imply they are weak. This is majorly disrespectful and most sulkan will find this to be a major blow to one's ego, even if genuinely needed. Most will spurn the gift at best and react violently at worst.

    • Customs and Traditions

  • Sulkan have a very loose concept of personal space. A common greeting, even between strangers, is to swim against each other, originally stemming from a method of removing parasites. To deny the touch of another sulkan is a massive social faux pas, and is only ever reserved for one's most despised enemies.
  • One of the more striking traditions held by sulkan is the consumption of corpses. There is a strong belief that with decomposition, the essence of the deceased rots away along with the body. Thus, the sulkan cannibalize their own after death. Shortly after a sulkan has died, their loved ones will come together to take the first bites from the body (Typically from the most nutritious body parts such as organs). Afterward, the rest of their community is allowed to join in.
  • If a sulkan has been killed by another sulkan, it is traditional to allow the victor to take the first bite instead.
  • Corpses that are not viable for safe consumption are to be as close to destroyed as possible. Only the worst of the worst are not eaten. Most are left to float on the surface of the water, but if one is particularly heinous, their body is left on the shore.

    • Trivia

  • Less than 0.1% of sulkan will survive to adulthood, largely due to predation. A vast array of predators consume larval sulkan, including adult sulkan. Juveniles younger than a year old are not considered as people and are thus consumed like any other prey.
  • Sulkan are naturally charmed by remora and are typically unwilling to consume them. Sulkan adore remora and will occasionally keep them as pets.
  • The majority of sulkan based languages are dependent on clicks, whistles, and song. Due to the fact that these languages are spoken with the mouth closed, it is very difficult for a sulkan to learn land based languages.