Veleno
Build: Medium
Height: 15 hh - 16 hh
Hooves: Solid
Horn: Solid, slightly curved
Mane: Short, heavily curly
Tail: Horse-like
Feathering: Fetlocks, light to heavy
Coloration: Usually solid, cool colors, but any pattern or color is possible
Aging: matures at 5, can live to be about 55, females can give birth until they reach around 35, they are physically youthful until about 40
Power: Poison resistance, create natural poison, and ability to remove poison by taking it into themselves via the horn. The effect, speed, and potency of the natural poison varies, usually passed down from the father. The poisons of mixed bloods tend to be unusual and harder to resist, and more dangerous for them to reabsorb.
other: have a thick ruff at the bottom of the neck
Velenos mate monogamously, with one mare and one stallion together for all of their lives. These matings are arranged by the couple's parents, or the leader(s) of the couple's herd(s). If a stallion, however, has a male companion with whom he is very, very, extremely close, this is fine (and it's quietly acceptable for a mare to have a similar companion, as long as they aren't too loud about it) as long as this is not disruptive to the family unit, which is why a stallion cannot have a female companion with the same sort of relationship. A foal gains an apprenticeship to a stallion with a job at the age of 3, and is taught to do that stallion's job. The stallion picks the foal he wants to apprentice.
Velenos view all worth as being tied to strength -- to a stallion, that means courage, usually in the face of battle, a focus and excellence towards his duties and a willingness to work for the betterment of the herd, and unwavering dedication as well as mental and physical strength. For a mare, it means being a strong mother, capable of bearing and raising strong foals for the herd; it means being patient with whatever her mate or father may wish of her, to be pious and noble.
Females have no duties outside of being someone's mate, or a servant of their god. However, they can be nurse to a group of foals, so that is always an option. In the hierarchy is a list of ranks acceptable for a female Veleno to hold, though a high-class mare is usually just a mother or a priestess.
Males are expected to serve as warriors for the herd, and even those who are not full-blown warriors are trained somewhat in battle.
Culturally, Velenos are a warrior race. Their songs are battle epics, and to die a warrior's death is the greatest honor a stallion can have. Formal duels are the expected response to insults, and to refuse a duel is usually a coward's act. Outside the passions of combat, however, they are expected to keep their emotions private in company.
They are monotheistic, worshiping the sun god Evereen. Other than his obvious form as a Veleno (usually represented in carvings or drawings as having snakes in or as a mane), he can take on the shape of a snake, or become the sun itself. In legend, his right eye has become the sun, and his left the moon, to always be watching. The blaze of his golden right eye is said to keep away the evil Night-Devil, who wraps around the world at night. The stars are holes pierced in his side by Evereen, and the moon is his left eye looking through a hole that Evereen must re-open each month. In other words, to Velenos, gods are physical things with real, massive bodies that, if seen from far enough away (as the Night Devil is not, but the Eyes of Evereen are) would truly resemble the bodies of unicorns.
They hold a festival in on the first full moon of summer and a special all-night vigil on the first new moon of winter. It is said to be very unlucky for a foal to be born at night, and especially on a new moon.
Their afterlife is, for the good, an eternal paradise known as 'the light world' and for the bad(like those who don't believe in Evereen) there is no afterlife, only an eternal wandering of the world as an impotent spirit.
The leader of a herd is the strongest warrior, and anyone who can beat him becomes the leader. These great warriors are referred to as Chieftains. A leader will pick a Shoulder Commander, who serves as his second in command, and will assume his place should he die unexpectedly. Warriors are placed above everything else in the hierarchy, followed by Priests and Priestesses of Evereen, regular job-holders, and finally the ordinary herd members.
Female social mobility is limited, and only a few professions are open to mares, mostly a desperate option of lower-class mares, who have more to prove to the herd (the position of a Priestess is the only acceptable career for a high-class mare). They are as followed:
mare
minder
gatherer
laborer
servant
novice priestess
priestess
Honorifics (such as "lord" and "lady") are reserved only for one's betters, but are there usually expected.
Rubbing shoulders is similar to a handshake or wave, depending on the context. When beginning a relationship or at a formal meeting, rubbing one's shoulder (usually the right shoulder) on another's is expected, as it is when two familiar Velenos pass each other going opposite directions.
A nuzzle is a special display of intimacy, equivocal to a kiss on the lips.
((The Veleno Reference Page will be put up when the new one is completed))
