The Tuimelaar or Mud Folk

Tuimelaar

The Tuimelaar (slang mudfolk) are a rural race that inhabits the swamps and jungles of Chalice World, though communities do exist in human areas, especially near rivers and harbors.
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Racial Template

71 points

• Attribute Modifiers: ST-3 [-30]; HT+1 [10]; IQ-1 [-20].
• Secondary Characteristics: Basic Move +2 [10]; SM-2; 
• Movement Notes: Can brachiate at 1/2 Move, Swim at full Move and Jump an average of High 4' or Broad 
• Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Arms (Both arms are Extra-Flexible and Foot Manipulators) [4]; Brachiator [5]; Catfall [10]; Double-Jointed [15]; DR 3 (Can't Wear Armor, -40%; Crushing only, -40%) [3]; DR 1 (Can't Wear Armor, -40%; Top only, -40%) [1]; Discriminatory Taste [10]; Extra Head 2 (Extranous, -20%) [24]; High Manual Dexterity 1 [5]; Injury Tolerance: Damage Reduction /2 (Crushing only, -40%) [30]; Innate Attack, Spit (Tox) 1d (Takes Recharge, 1 hour, -30%) [3]; Nictating Membrane 1 [1]; Payload 2 (BL/5) [2]; Perfect Balance [15]; Sensitive Touch [10]; Slippery 1 [2]; Sonar Comm (Vague, -50%) [5]; Super Jump [10]; Vibration Sense (Water) [10].
• Perks: Burrower, Drench
• Disadvantages: Cannot Speak [-15]; Chummy [-5]; Clueless [-10]; Cold-Blooded (50) [-5]; Curious (15) [-2]; Gluttony (12) [-5]; Impulsive (12) [-10]; Increased Consumption 1 [-10]; Semi-Upright [-5]
• Quirks: Broad-Minded, Responsive, Weird Sense of Humor [-3].
• Feature

* Drench: Can moisten body parts at will, providing enough water to extinguish small flames, rinse off gunk, etc.

Climbing bonus +8; Escape +6

Common Learned Skills

Acrobatics, Gesture, Jumping, 

Common Optional Traits

Trickster is common among those who have left their communities and wander the cities or actually adventure.

Racial History

The Tuimelaar are a fairly young race that are very well adapted to their natural environment. They learned farming and irrigation to build and support small communities of dens and burrows. Each community typically has a central hut in a lake where they congregate for town meetings and parties.

They met elves first but most elves considered them merely smart animals, it was not until they met the dwarves that their history was changed forever. They learned writing and the power of magical writing from the dwarves with whom they have an extensive farming trade. Some Tuimelaar even moved into dwarven underground cities where are appreciated for their fine detailed craftsmanship.

They do sometimes come into conflict with humans and elves when they dam up rivers to expand their wetlands and marshes, but these tend to be small local conflicts rather than full out race wars. Small communities have been known to spring up near harbors where they create their own farms by dredging fertile soil from the harbor.

Physiology

Appearance

Picture a three foot otter with, two long knobbed tails, the oversize hind legs of a frog, and tentacles for the two forelegs. Each foreleg further splits into a dozen smaller tentacles that surround a (usually hidden) small mouth. That is a Tuimelaar!

Anatomy

The body of a Tuimelaar relies on thousands of small heart type muscles that can rapidly pump fluid into or out of almost every part of its body. They have almost no bones at all and rely on cartilage and hydraulic pressure to control their movement. This gives them fine control with their tentacles and explosive power with their legs and tails.These muscles can also expel water from pores in the skin, allowing them to more easily escape grips, slip through tight passages and soil or even clean themselves. A similar muscle is used to spit a small glob of toxic fluid they use to hunt small game, though it takes an hour to produce poison enough for 1 shot. They also have a large pouch in their main mouth they can use to store things in, including their young or even tools and equipment.

The pair of forearm tentacles each support an extra head surrounded by smaller tendrils. This evolved to let them dig up or pull smaller animals and bugs from holes. The brains are slightly underdeveloped and can only control the arm, not the rest of the body.  They can communicate with the main brain however so it can see what they see and direct them.  This not only allows more effective foraging but each head can also be a lookout which helps spot danger and look for things to grab or hunt. Finally the tendrils are very sensitive and adept so can be used to sense and manipulate with extreme precision.

They can understand the speech of most races but are unable to speak complicated sounds. Instead they use their powerful tails to tap out messages to each other. These signals can be heard up to 3 miles away underwater, about a mile through rock, and 50 yards in open air or loose soil. Messages are fairly crude, though they can issue quick warnings or calls for help.

Habitat

They prefer warm and damp environments, such as jungles, rain forests, and swamps. Their extraordinary climbing and jumping ability is a great advantage in these environments and they tend to dominate them. Note that their whiskers also provide an advantage in murky water where visibility is low. They also favor wetlands for farming and are good at irrigation where they cut down trees like beavers and pile up dirt from their warrens into dikes.

Psychology

 The Tuimelaar are a playful and chummy race and aggression tends to be rare. They get along very well with each other and any conflicts tend to be along the lines of practical jokes.

Some take their playfulness too far however and that is pretty much the main type of crime to be found in thier communities. Those who leave the community tend to do it for the challenge more than a seeking of riches or fame and often have Trickster as a disadvantage. They tend to be scouts or thieves due to their desires for challenge and their innate abilities. Tuimelaar make excellent scouts and second story men, though mages are also popular second choices.

They do not wear clothes as they would jut rip or fall off very quickly.  They do sometimes use tattoos and jewelry piercings to decorate themselves but tend to be fairly mundane in appearance as they generally eschew wealth. Any goods tend to be of a practical nature or for their home, which tend to be rather colorfully decorated.

Culture

They tend to live in farming communities but most will hunt small game or even larger animals. They tend to be very active and their communities will have ropes strung from trees and travel perches which they also use as watchtowers and informal gathering places.

They are excellent craftsman chefs and export food, clothes, and jewelry all around the world.

Language

They have a very complicated written language that has a visual and a physical component. The visual style tends to be composed of curved lines and shapes, with a lot of circles. The physical component provides subtext and must be felt to be read. Despite its complexity the language is less precise than others, especially dwarven and is meant to convey emotional and abstract concepts more than engineering ideas or precise measurements.

The audible language is likewise very rhythmic and can convey emotion pretty well and even be used to make powerful and moving music.  The tails make drum or cymbal like sounds, while the pair of auxiliary heads can (with practice) imitate bird and other sounds. They have developed a signal portion of the language that is used for communicating things like numbers, distance and warning of danger or invitations to the hunt.

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