Anubian

Personality/Behavior
The mysterious Anubians of the far south desert lands are a highly spiritual and peaceful species, emphasizing the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the magical world. All Anubians carry with them a calming aura, always with a pleasant demeanor and words full of deep insight and wisdom, often sought after for their connection to the spiritual world and premonitions they receive from forces beyond this world. They are also very affectionate and loving, living in a society where negative emotions are rarely explored and believe that all should be treated with a kind hand. The core of their beliefs is that all roads to ruin and sin are caused by ones own fear of mortality, desperate to amount as much gain in life before they die, which is why they seek to understand the nature of death and the afterlife and as a result have no fear of it, believing it to be merely the next step in an ongoing path of existence throughout eternity.

Description/Biology
Anubians are slender and lightly built but standing anywhere between 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 feet tall with deep tan to dark brown skin. Everything about their build is elongated and slender with long fingers and toes and the long ears, small canine nose and tail resembling those of a jackal. They dress very simply (and minimally) in lose fitting clothing and robes akin to their climate.

Climate/Terrain
Desert/Tropical

Territories
The main Anubian city known as "Anub-H'rath" is a natural oasis located in the south eastern region of the Plains of the Sun and likewise find hot, arid climates to be the most appealing. Members of their kind however can be found all over the Plains and even in some areas further north in pursuit of wisdom about other cultures and magic arts.

Society
Anubian society and culture seems to be focused primarily around pursuit of wisdom and skill in the magical arts. Traditionally they've had no true "warrior" class among their kind, the closest being warrior priests who use offensive magic to defend their home against unwanted intruders, but in recent times have taken up the bow and arrow as to reduce any direct physical confrontation. All who seek enlightenment are welcomed guests among their kind and are always willing to share what they know with those who listen with open minds. The most curious aspect about their society is the many of their population cannot be seen by outsiders, the spirits of their dead remaining among them to impart their first hand knowledge of the afterlife to their living relatives, the only ones who can see them. They believe in no true gods but rather worship the "concept" of life and death as a great road known to them as "the path" that leads off into the universe to points unknown. They hold a special place in the history of magical development as the race who created what would later be titled "Necromancy" although others would prove to twist their art to suit darker ends in the future.

Species Relations
Anubians hold no stake in the prejudices and bad reputations many races carry with them, believing that all are judged equally in death and therefore all are given a chance to prove themselves beyond the stigma they carry with them. However they due tend to have some less than pleasant relations with the neighboring Gold Dwarves and greatly disapprove of their slave trading empires. Oddly enough they are on very peaceful terms with the Naga and to the point where the Naga will go out of their way to avoid harming one, possibly due to a deep respect and admiration that even supersedes their predatory instincts.

Gender Relations/Roles
In conventional Anubian society, females are the most likely to achieve higher levels of spiritual insight, being those who create life and therefore are believed to have the strongest connection to The Path. They are protected as well as highly respected and revered for their insight while the men take the more formal role as leaders in the political sense, turning to the female spiritual icons for guidance when needed. In the more conventional sense they reflect a more traditional ideal as women being more demure and affectionate while males are more dominant and aggressive (in sense of passion rather than more negative emotions). Women never study the offensive magical arts as it is forbidden for the sake of tainting their souls with negative impulses.

Love/Courtship
Anubians have a fully polyamorous society in which the ideas of love and sex are still fully separated in the philosophical sense. When a male comes of age he will seek out an appropriate female, hoping to entice her with acts of kindness and romance, sometimes taking several years. Curiously though this is more done out of a sense of the males pride, doing everything he can until his own standards have been met even the female is already willing far sooner than expected. A male who proves beyond all doubt that his love is true and undying is highly respected among their kind. Homosexuality is not condemned or uncommon among their kind but a few more old fashioned mindsets would prefer heterosexuality for the purpose of procreation (in the more extreme cases, the homosexual lover will aid in their mate copulating with someone of the opposite gender for this purpose.)

Sex
As mentioned before, sex and love are seen as far different in a social sense. Polyamorous sex is quite natural with close friends engaging in all manner of activities together, seeing it as good practice for when they are ready for true love and as a way of learning about their own sexuality. They are also particularly fascinated in bed partners of other species as well, believing it will only bring them more insight and wisdom. However the most fascinating aspect of their sexual practices is one that is only performed between a loving married couple. Both partners astral project their spirits from their bodies, engaging in a passionate display in spirit form only while close friends pleasure or even tickle their physical bodies, which they can still feel. While in spirit form all sensations are magnified and far more pleasurable and because they never experience fatigue in that state, such a performance can go on for hours.

Birthrights



 * Spirit Sight: Anubians can see spiritual and magical energies on the physical plain. They can see and even interact with spiritual beings and can always identify magic users immediately by the aura that surrounds them and can even tell at times what type of magic they specialize in.


 * Astral Projection: Anubians can leave their physical bodies behind and travel in spiritual form, the truly skilled even being able to "possess" inanimate objects or even the bodies of other living beings. However in the case of living beings, they only control their bodies rather than their minds as it is against their morals to manipulate the wills of others. The drawback of this ability is that their physical bodies are left vulnerable in an unconscious state and can also feel anything being do to it. In the event that Cold Iron is used on their physical forms while they are projecting, their spirits become locked out entirely and are helpless against the whims of their captor.

Favored Class
Any Mage class is the most preferred type (most commonly Oracle, Heirophant or Necromancer), although a Soldier with proficiency in the bow and arrow is common among their warrior class. Rangers and Troubadors are less common but do exist.

Combat
Anubians detest violence and will only engage in offensive arts to protect themselves or their loved ones. This usually involves manipulation via their spiritual powers to avoid combat entirely but when push comes to shove will use more offensive arts if necessary.