Nink
In the World of Threa, there are 21 races. This is a description of a race that lives in the world of Threa, the Nink. That I will describe
The Nink are the smallest of all the races. no taller than one foot. They are unable to produce most sounds in speech. The sounds they make are whistles and bells. They levitate and float everywhere. They avoid walking
On their appearance. They are small, no taller than a foot in height. Their skin is covered in fur. They have wet noses. they have wide round ears folded behind their heads; female ears are larger. They have prominent upper incisors. for females, the inner pair tend to be prominent. for males it is the outer pair. They have four finger hands and three toed feet. They have long, thin tails. they also have detached non corporal wings. Ninks have a wide variety of color, browns, reds, yellow, greys, blues, purple, sage, and plenty more. The colors fall on two groups, Warm and Cool colors. Females have cool colored fur, warm colored hair. Males have warm colored fur, and cool colored hair. Their eyes are different in color. Male right and female left eyes are of a warm color, with female right and male left eyes being a cool color. The opposite can happen, a male with cool colored fur and other combinations, but it is not common to happen.
another aspect is that they have immaterial wings. females tend to have one large pair, and males tend to have two, medium and small. these wings have no physical presence whatsoever. they phase through everything. They don’t aid in flight in any manner. The Nink themselves have little control over them. of particular note is that the pattern and colors change depending on the individual’s emotional state. one interesting consequence is that they have a hard time lying. The color and pattern of their wings change when they lie. with skill however, they can gain control over their wings
the nink grab items in a particular way. they don’t grab with their hands. they can, but most of the time, they grab items without physical connection. the item they grab appears to float as they handle the item. This non physical link has limits. it has a limited reach, beyond that , they item just drops. also, while the Nink is holding the item, if someone else manipulates the item, they can drag the nink along, until the nink lets go of the item. a typical Nink can grab two items at a time with a reach five times their arms can reach. a skilled nink can grab up to seven items, and increase their reach 20 times their arm length. if they weren’t so small, it might seem impressive that each grasp can hold twice their weight
there are four major population. they are all self sufficient and nearly isolated from each other. they each reside in four distant location. The North Tree, the Western Caves, Southern Falls and the East Cliffs. Every three months they all migrate at the same time to the next location. A consequence of their migration is that each population only ever experiences one season. Each population is referred to by the season they experience. The Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Winter Ninks. A small crew stays behind each residence in order to maintain them while everyone is migrating. This also allows a bit of contact between each population.
at the begin of the year, the Summer ninks reside in the northern tree, autum ninks are at the western caves, winter ninks at the southern falls, and spring ninks at the eastern cliffs. and they migrate in that order. As an example, the when the summer ninks are at the northern tree. It is summer there. When summer is about to end, they fly for a week to the Western caves, where summer is just beginning. three months later, summer started to end at the western cave. they go and migrate for a week to the southern falls. where spring just ended, and summer is beginning, three months later, when summer end at southern falls and autumn starts to set in, the migrate toward the east cliffs, where summer is starting. Three months later, they migrate back to the north tree, and continue the cycle. They only experience one season. They chase the same season across Threa. The same for the other populations. When the summer ninks leave the northern tree, the autumn ninks will arrive in a week, when it is autum in that region. and when the autum Ninks leave the northern tree, the winter ninks arrive. and three months later, winter ninks leave and the the spring ninks. and lastly, the spring ninks leave the northern tree and the summer nink arrive once again . Because of their migration, many people in Threa believe that it is the Nink that brings the seasons. it is during the Migration week in which the Ninks may experience contact with other races of Threa. Some towns along their migration path may welcome them and offer a place to rest.
each population has their own clothing style, suited for the season they each case. Summer nink wear shorts and tanktops, Autumn ninks wear more sturdy clothing, Winter ninks wear warm coats, and spring Ninks wear breathable clothing.
during the migration, a Nink may leave the flock. They may fall behind, be left behind or leave on their own. The flock won’t wait for anyone. The lost ones may chase the flock and arrive late or go back. either one is dangerous. a lone Nink, being small, are vulnerable on their own. They may choose and wait in place for the next flock to pass in three months, or an entire year for their own flock to pass by again. Either way, they will end up experiencing seasons they have never experienced before. During their wait, they may interact with the rest of threa. like staying in a Lor town, or Murai farm. some may choose to abandon Nink society all together and live among the other societies of Threa. or they may be lost completely. wanting to rejoin but unable to find bearing, unable to navigate back. their lack of voice, being that they only whistle and bell sound, doe make it hard to live outside nink society
The Northern Tree: it is actually a small forest of large, evergreen trees, there is one very large tree in the center of the forest. The Nink live in their branches and inside their trunks and in other nooks and crannies. There is great activity during the summer. The ninks harvest moss and other plants from the ground, they hunt rabbits and herd squirrels. During the autumn, they gather insects and herbs from the canopy. they gather fur from their squirls for textile production. during the winter, pinecones and nuts are their main food source. when spring arrives, fruits are bountiful, vines and petals are gathered for textiles
Additions. During the summer, they focus on ground resources, so they have to contend with foxes. during autumn, they spend time in the canopy, and have to fend for crows, ravens, and hawks. During the winter, they defend themselves from weasels that raid their food stores. During spring, snakes are a danger.
The Nink not only care for their own flock, but also for the next one. for example, the autumn ninks make sure the food stores are full for the winter ninks. and the winter ninks tend the borrows of hibernating creatures, so they are safe to emerge for the spring ninks. They also build nest during the winter in anticipation of birds nesting during the spring. That way, spring ninks can harvest their eggs. they collect a bounty so that the summer ninks can start planting, which the autumn ninks harvest and store for the winter ninks
The wester Caverns are a series of labyrinthian caves that permeate the rock in the area. organize from a central tunnel in which the wind howls as it passes by.
there are caverns under the water table, giving them access to an aquafer of pure water, but it freezes during winter, it thaws during spring. the autumn ninks collect water before it freezes. above the caverns, there is a lush green field, where flowers bloom in the spring. the ninks help pollinators, so they may collect nectar, honey and fruits.
ok, in the caverns, Nink have domesticated bats, which they use as beast of burden. they have baskets that the bats grasp and carry. it can also be properly attached, and even multiple bats to carry more.
they also farm mushrooms were the bats roost.
there are other animals in the cave that are useful: amphibians, crustaceans, worms, arachnids, and insects. they are hunted for food and materials, like salamander slime, spider silk, and chitin.
dangers they face are snakes and large spiders.
they also have mines and workshops. along with the cliffs, the cavers serve as their main manufacturing hub. along with tools and objects, they craft Darts, the ninks weapon of choice
a bit on Nink Darts. they are like spears and javelins, but because they are small, they are viewed like darts. their immaterial grasp make their weapon wielding unique. it looks like their weapons levitates and attacks on its own. they are wielded like spears and lances, melee weapons, not like projectiles, but can still be thrown. with increased training, as the extend their reach and develop more grasps, they can wield multiple darts, of larger ones, even full size, short spears.
The immaterial grasp is not like telekinesis. its is more like they have extra arms. so, when they throw something, it will leave their immaterial, invisible hands, so they cant tweak the trajectory of their projectile. even at its most developed, their max reach is about 9 feet, thou an untrained nink has a 12 inch reach
now the southern falls. it is a tall and wide waterfall. it is behind the waterfall where the nink dwellings lie. in the winter, parts of the waterfall freez, creating an ice wall
the nink dwellings are carved on the stone behind the waterfall, while there are areas that goes deeper, the vast majority have their entrance facing the waterfall
the eastern cliffs. i am imagining them like dover cliffs,. there are other rocks in that coast. i imagine them diving off from the cliffs and rocks into the water, wielding fishing darts, piercing thru a school of fish
Nink governance: they have a communal government. a council makes the decisions. in general, they council places the needs of the flock above individuals. the dynamics of the council are different with each flock. the summer flock has the smallest at three permanent members. winter has a ten member volunteer council, when there is a vacancy, someone has to volunteer to fill it. autumn has a 5 member appointed council. it isn’t an election, where they vote, but rather the ninks push one to the position. the spring ninks have seven hereditary positions. then there is a sub government, those who maintain the dwellings, the custodians, who remain behind during the migration. while separate from the councils, they remain subservient to them, obeying the council that currently occupies the dwellings. some stay as custodian for one or few migrations, just to change flock, or remain there for their entire lives.
Nink names consist of one or 2 letters followed by 3 or 4 digits. D935, T983 and KR157. it is close to a serial number. parents still have some say on the letters and digits for their child.
Nink darts come in a few varieties:
- the base dart is about a foot and a half long, the top half is a pointed metal, while the bottom half is of a lighter material. it is good in delivering pierce damage,
- Flechette darts add fins to the bottom, greatly increases range, but makes it more delicate, lowering its defense.
- Solid Darts are one solid piece. like a large needle. increases pierce damage
- Rod darts is a solid cylinder, it has no point. good with blunt damage. will stagger an opponent when thrown at them
- Bolt darts are larger, 2 feet long. are better constructed, ment for combat
- Fishing darts have a long, barbed point. good for piercing fish
- Lances are 5 ft long, they have a large conical point. like a jousting lance. With a lance dart wielded by a Nink, because it is effectively a levitating weapon, with the nink being detached from it, it make it easy for them to parry attacks
| Variant | Slash | Pierce | Blunt | Reach | Range | Speed | Defense | Wield | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | Low | Good | Weak | Low | Good | Great | Low | One Hand | |
| flechette | Weak | Great | Low | Low | Great | High | Low | One Hand | +critical rate, +Critical |
| Solid | Weak | Great | Weak | Low | Good | Good | Fair | One Hand | +critical, +Pierce, +critical rate when thrown |
| Rod | None | None | Great | Low | Fair | Low | Fair | One Hand | Stagger on Parry, stagger when thrown |
| Bolt | Weak | Good | Fair | Fair | Great | Good | Good | Two Handed | +Critical on Charged Pierce, +pierce when thrown |
| Fishing | Fair | Fair | None | Low | Good | Great | Low | One Hand | +Pierce, Bleed on critical |
| Lance | Good | Great | Good | Good | High | Good | Great | Two Handed | +critical rate, +Critical, + Parry Window |
they dont craft armor. they rely on their small sizes and aerial movement to avoid getting hit., they have a naturally high evasiveness. an individual nink would not be able to take much hits. a Nink swarm would be hard attack and defend from
their immaterial grasp is like an extra hand. so one grasp can wield a one handed weapon. two grasps are needed to wield two handed weapons. since they can train to develop up to seven, they can wield 3 two handed weapons and 1 one handed weapon, or 7 one handed weapons
the nink dont keep an army. they just keep guards. for the most part, Ninks are left alone, and the nink dont seek to expand their territory. their guards help defend against predators and trespassers, help keep the migration secure, and the custodians safe when they are the only ones left during migration. at times there are some that do try to invade Nink territory. for the most part, a Nink guard swarm is enough, but there have been occasions in which the entire flock is summoned to swarm invaders.
Nink procreate in a unique way. a couple feeling deep affection to one another, collects a seed of a flowering plant. each dwelling has their set possible flowers. the couple plant the seed together, and tend for it until the flower bud blooms. when that happens, a nink child is found in the center of the flower.
Because of their unique vocals, they only speak in bells and whistles, they have developed the Ninklish language. it uses 12 core notes to form various words.
[Meta Notes in general , the nink are inspired by communism, at least the ideal form, not the historical samples. the governing council is inspired by Soviet and Duma. also why i attempt for normalizes nink names to sound slavic]
The Murai are a war driven race, with some factions pushing for expansion. during an autmun, in order to secure more timber, they entered on what they thought was unclaimed territory of the north tree. The first murai formations retreated when they faced nink guards. While the Murai have very strong armors, nink darts are able hit weak points. When Murai generals sent a larger force to secure the nirth tree, it overwhelmed the nink guards. A lone messenger was able to reach the autumn council. They mobilized the entire flock. While the nink suffered heavy losses, it wiped out the murai army
The aftermath of the war. The heavy losses and injury caused the resource gathering to be disrupted. Few able body ninks were able to make the migration. Which resulted in less nink being able to work at the Caverns. The tree custodian tended after the wound nink. When the winter nink arrived, they had to continue to tend after the wounded autumn ninks, and had less resources for even their own needs.
There were Murai that wish to use this for their advantage. While they are at this bad shape. However a wise general opposed it. First, they have just lost a large and string army. Mobilizing another one id resources intensive. Especially during winter. Fight a winter war is not ideal. And the winter nink just arrived. A fresh set of guards and a fully capable flock. While they had caught the autumn ninks of guard, the winter ninks are on high alert. If they had a chance, it wss during the migration.
Deflocked Nink: are those that live outside the four flocks. they interact with other people of Threa. the vast majority of deflocked ninks live along the migration routes. being that most became deflocked because they fell of during migration. The communities within the migration routes, used to occasional Nink, are well suited to receive them. venturing into the rest of Threa poses significant challenges. especially in regards with their small size and Ninklish language