Human Sub-species> The Torinians

Oooook, After thinking it over for a few days, I've decided to put forth an idea of mine for consideration as a Human sub-species. So here they are, the Torinians from the story that I've just begun writing, humbly submitted for your approval.



Residing on a mountain summit at an elevation of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) above sea level, the people of Torin City are in the early stages of a divergence from the Human species. Their bodies have adapted to life in high elevation, developed innate magic, and have evolved some avian traits.

The Torinians may look like completely Human at a distance but upon closer inspection their dissimilarities become more apparent. One such dissimilarity is in the make-up of body hair. The Torinian's body hair features down feathers, filoplumes, and occasionally pennaceous feathers on their head. Many Torinians pluck the pennaceous feathers for convenience, but its not unusual to see some people sporting the small plumage as a more natural look. A second point of divergence from the Human species is found in the eyes of the Torinians. Possessing avian eyes, the Torinians see exceptionally well at greater distance, across a broader spectrum of light. This trait contributes to the Torinians making excellent archers or sharp shooters. Third, the bone structure of these Humans has altered to become lighter, hinting that they are evolving for eventual flight. Living on a mountain summit, the Torinians have adapted well to hiking and climbing. The best of them take to the incline with astonishing speed and stamina. Outrunning a predator on a mountain side may not be completely out of the question for them. The Torinians have also come to realize that they possess innate magic.

This store of raw magical energy inside their bodies is commonly referred to as "psiki."

One way the Torinians focus their psiki is in physical enhancement; increasing attributes such as speed, strength, and awareness by two or three times. The ability to increase durability in battle is very helpful to the Torinians because their lighter bone structure is more prone to breaks than the normal human skeleton. However, it is impossible for anyone to maintain that focus for an extended period of time; during those periods in a battle when the focus of their psiki is lost their lighter skeleton is becomes a weakpoint.

A second way their psiki, or internal magic store, is focused is through weapons crafted with shards of Iracal Crystal that allow them to fire off energy in the form of elements.

A third way is to "grab" an element from their surrounding environment, making contact with it, then take control of it by focusing their psiki into it. That element, such as water in a pond, behaves as an extension of their body.




Their magic, or psiki, is basically what we call chi or ki. I don't know anything about traditional magic and spell casting so I'm applying what I understand best. I don't think I'll be adding any more physical changes because any more would put them in the classification as a new species, not a sub-species. Or at least that's the way I see it.

Edit: Made some additions related to mountain climbing thanks to feedback from Malahite.

The full description of the Torinians

You might want to say it's a magical mutation, perhaps caused by some Harpy stock in long past slowly mixed in (being a mountain race). "Feathers" aren't exactly a common mammalian trait, after all.

If giving bird's eyes, again a sign of magical or Harpy heritage, maybe make them larger than normal. Not speaking something like "His eyes are baseball sized", but perhaps "Torinians' eyes at rest almost always resemble any other persons' eyes when shocked." Doesn't make much sense for their environment otherwise (I'd imagine they'd be more talented in differentiating small color shade differences than the bird package if natural evolution).

By shedding bone mass, you'll want to include that they are also "softies" compared to other people: By no mean fragile, but similarly more prone to breaks and fractures. I'm also not quite sure how much this would improve one's agility or speed.

By increasing speed and strength (through magic), they appear to be "glass cannons", if you will. One in a fight could be nasty if they get the drop on you, but one good shield bash and they're down for the "AAAAAAAAA!"

Are they adapting to be bird-people, or mountain-people that happen to be borrowing bird-like traits? Tougher soles to the feet might seem a bit of a good idea, considering the basics of the terrain, as well as - while not a natural trait - a good deal of them having great experience in unassisted climbing.

Malahite wrote:

You might want to say it's a magical mutation, perhaps caused by some Harpy stock in long past slowly mixed in (being a mountain race). "Feathers" aren't exactly a common mammalian trait, after all.

Right. I neglected to mention that they've had Harpies living among them for hundreds of years. That's where the genetic contamination, if thats the right term, comes from.

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If giving bird's eyes, again a sign of magical or Harpy heritage, maybe make them larger than normal. Not speaking something like "His eyes are baseball sized", but perhaps "Torinians' eyes at rest almost always resemble any other persons' eyes when shocked." Doesn't make much sense for their environment otherwise (I'd imagine they'd be more talented in differentiating small color shade differences than the bird package if natural evolution).

I considered larger eyes but given the way a lot of people already envision characters in their minds having larger than real life eyes, i thought they would be difficult for them to picture.

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By shedding bone mass, you'll want to include that they are also "softies" compared to other people: By no mean fragile, but similarly more prone to breaks and fractures. I'm also not quite sure how much this would improve one's agility or speed.

By increasing speed and strength (through magic), they appear to be "glass cannons", if you will. One in a fight could be nasty if they get the drop on you, but one good shield bash and they're down for the "AAAAAAAAA!"

Yeah, I thought less bone mass could become a weakpoint, but that only ensures they won't be overpowered. As for the physical enhancements through magic, since I don't know jack about real magic, this is the one of the only ways I can empower them. I know it sorta clashes with their physiology though. I may have to scratch the idea for their lighter bone structure. I'm in a tough spot there.

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Are they adapting to be bird-people, or mountain-people that happen to be borrowing bird-like traits? Tougher soles to the feet might seem a bit of a good idea, considering the basics of the terrain, as well as - while not a natural trait - a good deal of them having great experience in unassisted climbing.

They are changing, though I'm not sure how to describe that change, other than evolution with a little bit of contamination from their avian cohabitants. Tougher skin might be a good addition, but then again, they have footwear so I'm not sure tougher skin would prove useful.

I'm taking all these things into consideration as I develop this more.

It's a nice description
Overal you are doing really a great job on Iracal island and I am definitely going to use your Torin ideas ^_^