Muhandi

The Muhandi are a race of humanoid playable characters native to the Far Realms of Ultra Space. The first Muhandi known to the humans was Nilsey.

Culture
Muhandi pride themselves on their cold home, the polar planet of Haaqu. Their ability to thrive in such an uninhabitable place garners them the respect from all other races. Their environment has made them resilient and reliant on close bonds with others, but that does not mean they always get along as a nation--when angered, they can be vicious. They are the only race on good terms with all others.

Scattered across the icy shores of Haaqu are hundreds of Muhandi villages, their shores alight with lanterns and bonfires. To most, the howling winds and frigid waters of Haaqu are too dangerous to consider settling, but the Muhandi, stripped of that choice, have made it the cosiest of all the Far Realms. The Muhandi will never turn away a traveller in need. They greet every dawn with a smile, heading into their daily tasks (often fishing/hunting, wood-gathering, or cooking) alongside their friends and companions.

Compared to other cultures, the Muhandi are very relaxed and domestic. Their innate ability to connect with everyone and everything they meet has by-and-large kept them out of conflict with any of the other races. Even the militaristic Aailu of the past hold no grudges against the people of Haaqu. Muhandi have proven time and time again that they value bonds far more than arguing over ideals.

Many Muhandi don't subscribe to gender roles present in the majority of the other Far Realms races. For one, there is very little dimorphism between born-male and born-female Muhandi, enough so that outsiders might struggle to figure out a Muhandi's identification (if they have one) upon first meeting them. Plenty of Muhandi don't bother labelling themselves at all, as gender is seen as unimportant.

Strangely enough, there is no singular governing body in Haaqu. The communities of under one-hundred individuals are self-run, with trade routes organized between neighbouring villages.

Although most Muhandi live in these small coastal villages, there are two other lifestyles found around the realm. Groups of traders live nomadic lives, whether in tundra caravans or ocean-bound ships. Traders are highly respected due to the difficulties they face with Haaqu’s unpredictable weather.

Conversely, a rarer lifestyle chosen by Muhandi is that of a pirate-- someone whose priorities lay closer to greed than benevolence. Those who choose a pirate life are believed to have had an important bond ruptured, and as such, many see them as pitiful rather than fearsome. Should a pirate be captured, they have only two options: find a sponsor who will work to rehabilitate them into a functional member of Muhandi society, or be killed.

If outsiders have any desire to visit Haaqu, it would likely be due to the abundance of festivals and celebrations that the Muhandi enjoy. Some of note include:

Festival of the Dancing Lights: A week-long celebration of the auroras, when their lights are brightest and most colorfully-diverse. The beloved Aurora Finneons float into the sky en masse, many evolving before returning to the sea.

Sea-Fire Night: An event where driftwood salvaged and dried from the ocean is burned in a large bonfire. The salt on the wood creates spectacular green and blue flames, reminiscent of auroras. Muhandi believe burning this driftwood brings them closer to their deceased loved ones.

Physical Appearance
Size: Muhandi are the smallest of the races currently inhabiting the Far Realms. Their average height is roughly 5'6", with the tallest of them only a few inches beyond that. They are solidly-built due to a lifestyle that requires physical activity to secure food, and able to withstand the cold environment of their home realm.

Skin: Their skin hues are predominantly light, ranging from nearly pearled-pink to very softly tanned. This is due to a combination of their pale pink blood and the lack of sunlight most of their skin is bared to.

Hair: Natural hair colors cover whites, grays, soft pinks, lavenders, and sky blues, rarely blondes or sea-greens. Many modern Muhandi have taken to dyeing their hair with berries and sea-plants to saturate the colors or change them altogether.

Eyes: Muhandi eye colors fall into the same range of hues as their hair (purples, pinks, grays, blues, soft yellow, sea-green), but certain family lines have more vibrant, darker shades of blue and teal as well. Muhandi eyes do not function the same way as those of other races; they have less of a need to blink due to thicker (and less sensitive) membranes, and they have no visible pupil.

Other Features: Their ears are pointed outwards (rather than upwards), making most Muhandi easy to recognize from a distance. They have exaggerated canines and sharper premolars compared to most races, which help them with their meat-heavy diets.

Linking
Muhandi believe that a person’s capacity for bonds far outweighs any important differences in opinion, expression, and self-realization. Labels and names are of very little concern. Although they have a hard time explaining it to outsiders, Muhandi often describe a ‘sixth sense’ of theirs by which they easily identify their companions.

A Muhandi is effectively able to recognize the aura of their closest bond-mates and friends, even when no other senses are in play. While this innate power is not as strong as someone who specializes in true Aura reading, Muhandi can get a general feel as to their close friends’ emotional states. They call this sixth-sense ‘linking’, and believe it uses the unique ‘prints’ of an individual’s soul to work.

Naming Conventions
Due to their apathy towards labels, Muhandi names are often pretty simplistic. Surnames are rare (and unnecessary), and while some individuals might have earned various titles or descriptors (e.g., ‘Nilsey the Far-Walker’), they are few and far between.