Davena

[Moon]

Davena
Dah-ven-ay

_{Region of Origin:} Calder

Basic Biology:
The Davena are quite similar in stature to their Naiad cousins. However, they are more human-like in their digestive anatomy, which allows them to eat meat unlike their Naiad cousins. Their eyes possess a kind of reflective plate, just behind the lens, which most commonly seen in felines. They also have long slender ears with pointed tips with allows them to hear even the faintest of sounds while they are out hunting. Interestingly enough, they possess a large amount of individual ear muscles which allows the Davena to move their ears independently of each other. They often use their ears to convey emotion, much like a canine would. Their eyes are always a striking blue or green color because of their affinity for either element. However, their eyes tend to be a milky grey color when they are born.
The bone structure of a Davena is very similar to a human. However their bones are much more thin and flexible allowing them excellent maneuvering through their forest laden homes. Despite their thin bone structure they are quite durable and do not break easily. Their bones have been known to withstand double of what the human femur bone can withstand (which for a Davena is 2400lbs of pressure). This is necessary for them due to the harsh forest environment they live in and their natural affinity for earth. Some Davenians with earth magic have been known to have bones that can withstand four times that of a human femur.
Their core body temperature is slightly lower than your average human (93.2F). Unlike their exterior, their inner mechanisms tend to be much more fragile. If their core temperatures drop even the slightest they are subject to self-poisoning, which is very common among both older and younger Davena. The poison causes vivid hallucinations that can greatly affect the Davena’s mind. If they do not neutralize the poison they have been known to commit suicide because of their deteriorating state. Every Davena’s own poison is different and this means that only their own poison can be synthesized to make a cure for their self-poisoning. Their skins tend to range from a golden brown to a chocolate color. However there have been records of pale colored Davena in the more northern tribes.
Unlike their more primitive cousins, they are quite simple in their speech. They have a variety of subsets for their own personal family language, but every Davena has knowledge of the native Davena tongue (known as Rohtuk) and English.

Male Biology:
Males are much less acidic than their female counterparts and cannot spit acid. Because they are less acidic they tend to eat more red meat and thus are more muscled than females. Males with acid deficiency tend to be more susceptible to the female poison and have been known to die from too much poison in their blood.

Female Biology:
The female Davena tend to have more acid in their bodies than the males. They use this acid as a defense mechanism if they feel threatened and have been known to spit acid at their aggressor’s eyes. However the acid in their spit is a mild irritant and does not cause permanent damage, rather it allows the threatened Davena a window to use for their escape. They must be conscious in monitoring their acidic levels because it is more common for females to succumb to self-poisoning. Thus, they tend to possess intolerance for red meat specifically.

_Lifespan: 128 - 600^YRS

General Behavior:
Overall the race tends to be non-confrontational and avoids conflict with other races when possible. They are more social with other races rather than with their own kind.

Usual Habitat:
Davena tend to live only in places where they have access to an abundance of Ninroot berries. They have been known to live among other races, but those select few tend to grow their own Ninroot in large gardens. They actually prefer to live in forests because they like the feeling of being surrounded by nature. They aren’t as keen on living in cities as it is hard to grow Ninroots and they are far too open.

Aliment:
The Davena diet is quite similar to the human diet. However there is one striking difference between them. Davena must ingest a large amount of berries from a poisonous plant known as Ninroot. It is the plant that stabilizes their own internal poisons and allows them to have a greater control. Females have been known to ingest almost eight to ten pounds of the poisonous plant while males need only three to five pounds. Males tend to get the majority of their acidic blood traits from their ingestion of red meat. It is quite common for both sexes to drink up to about a gallon of water a day to help with poison levels in the blood. They cannot go more than a day without water so they tend to carry around small animal skin pouches.

Basic Social Structure:
The Davena do not have much of an established social structure. They tend to live in very small family groups, ranging from two to four individuals, but they only live together due to the benefits of the combined efforts and the familiarity. Most are lone travelers they prefer to live on their own.

Family Life/Gender Roles:
Interestingly enough, there aren’t any traditional gender roles for the family unit. Both female and male Davena are strong enough to live without one another and thrive individually as well as together. When they are in family groups males tend to be more of a hunter while females tend to be farmers because of their gender specific needs. The children are cared for either parent, depending on the gender of the child. Children tend to be vary greatly in their age, it is not uncommon to have a pair of siblings who are centuries apart. Despite their tendency to spend more time with one parent over the other, no two family members are ever that close. The Davena tend to capitalize on the idea of indepency.
Procreation:
The Davena are believed to have originated from the same species as the Naiad. However, at some point the race branched off into its own niche. Should a Davena choose to breed outside of its species the task could prove extremely difficult, but not impossible. If a male were to choose a mate outside of his species he would have a much easier time than a female. The female would need to be exceedingly cautious in monitoring her own internal poisons from courtship until the birth of the child. Davena children are naturally immune to either parents’ poison and are only really affected by their own poison. However, a half Davena child would be more susceptible to the mother’s poison since it is only half immune. Because of this the mother would have to lower her intake of Ninroot berries and substitute the dietary change with red meat to keep the poison levels barely above manageable. The males however, would simply need to lower their intake of red meat long enough to bring their own poison levels down. The half Davena children tend to have half the potency of their naturally poisonous counterparts.
Childbirth and Childcare:
The conception process is relatively similar to humans. However, females must take special care in monitoring their internal poison levels so her body will not harm the baby. Due to this, the incubation period is very short, about four to six months. From the time Davena are born they require immense amounts of crushed Ninroot berries (if female) or smooth meat sauces (if male). For the first 50 years the Davena children are in the constant care of their parents. They are fully able to walk and talk within a year. After this milestone the children are kept on a strict diet according to their gender. If optimum poison levels are not met by their 50th birthday the child could suffer from severe drawbacks and detrition of body and mind. They continue to grow and develop until they reach 128 years of age, where they are officially recognized by the parents as adults. It is at this time where most Davena leave the care of their parents in search of adventures. Because childrearing is such a complicated and delicate process most Davena choose to not have children. However, if they do have children, they tend to be centuries apart and aren’t exactly close. A select few become close and often travel together.

Magic and Abilities:
Daneva tend to have water or earth magic. Because of this, they also tend to have a natural poison stored in their blood that makes their blood quite acidic. They have the ability to attract or manipulate the element they have the most affinity for. Females tend to have more of an affinity for water whereas males have an affinity for earth. However there have been cases of reverse affinity or even double affinity for the elements.

Legends and Folklore:

TBA

_{(What are legends about this race, or even legends they believe? Maybe in their households they keep at least one bird in it because they believe if the bird flies free their house with crumble)}

History:

TBA

_{(How did this race come to be? How did it get to where it is now? Did the race use to be powerful but now is spread out and segregated, or have they become stronger?)}