Rapace Concept Test

RaPace Description: These creatures have been described as the land equivalent to sharks; proud, arrogant creatures, ready to respond at the slightest scent of blood. Rapaces are hairless giant apes, with pale skin slicked by the green lichen of their tropical homelands and yellow, slitted feline eyes. They dwell in the swamps along the Southwestern coasts, living in extended clans ruled by the strongest among them. The rapaces live off the flesh of their prey, only eating fruits and roots on the rarest of occasions. In times of true famine, they even turn upon the weakest members of their clan and devour them. It is uncertain whether the rapaces were originally an inbred group of humans who were warped by the Wyld into something more fero- cious and vicious or a type of ape that shed its hair and developed a near-human p h y s i q u e . T h e y g o naked and do not use weapons, but they are capable of working together extremely well, and their most cunning warriors can plan simple yet effective strategies when attacking villages. This tendency to abstract thought includes the ability to understand rough numbers (basically, “none,” “some” and “lots”) and the concept of “you go here, they go there, then attack.” While the physically strongest of the clan will invariably be the leader, whether male or female (there is no gender difference in strength or speed), they are willing to allow truly cunning rapaces to plan attacks on human tribes. Such organized raids tend to be isolated incidences, though, only occurring when the rapaces have a driving need for food or to celebrate a solar or lunar eclipse. The rapaces live in the branches of trees; they dislike spending time at ground level for the practical reason that the marshes are dangerous and that there are many other predators in the area. During winter, they huddle together for warmth and have even been known to spare humans in order to keep them as breeders, caregivers for children and sources of heat. Normally, the children of the clan are cared for by the older members and raised communally in a rough, vicious lifestyle that kills one out of every three young rapaces before they are five years old. Rapaces are not intelligent enough to express any concept of theology, but they recognize the power of forest spirits (or, at least, acknowledge them as greater predators) and will flee from them or fall down trembling in their presence. Rapaces are capable of interbreeding with humans and do so when they get the chance, during raids on hu- man tribes or if they catch a human out alone in their territory. They seem to see no real difference between humans and themselves and will even attempt to forcibly “adopt” human children into their clans — though such children rarely survive for long, as they are unable to adapt to rapace ways unless they are taken at a very young age. A child with rapace blood will be basically human, but he will always retain something of his parent’s bloodlust and ferocity and is likely to be hairless and have oddly colored eyes — he will certainly have pointed teeth and claws. Such children are usually exposed at birth by their human m o t h e r s . Half-blood r a p a c e children r e a r e d inside a rapace tribe will act like their rapace parents and may never develop a fully human intelligence, barred from any chance to interact with normal humans. Nobody has ever attempted (or yet been foolish enough to attempt) to raise a rapace child away from the tribe. Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 1, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1, Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 4 Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 5 Abilities: Athletics 4, Awareness 4, Brawl 3, Dodge 3, Endurance 3, Medicine 1, Presence 2, Resistance 3, So- cialize 1, Stealth 3, Survival 2 (Jungles +1) Base Initiative: 6 Attack: Bite: Speed 6 Accuracy 6 Damage 4L Defense 6 Punch: Speed 7 Accuracy 7 Damage 5B Defense 7 Dodge Pool: 5 Soak: 4L/6B Willpower: 6 Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/ -2/-2/-4/Incap Essence: 1 Other Notes: None