Tinikean

Tinikeans are barely considered a humanoid kind. Though somewhat alien in thought and deed, they are generally a peaceful kind.

Anatomy
More insect in their nature, they have an exoskeleton that provides limited protection. Most Tinikeans have eight appendages, six used for legs which gives them great balance. Kings and queens use only four for legs. When needed, the feet and hands are used interchangeably as there is little difference between them. Tinikeans standing upright on their legs are generally around 5'5" to 6'2" tall. Queens never get more than 5'6" tall, but kings have been known to reach 8'.

Each tinikean has three main body segments: a larger lower body like a thorax, a smaller middle section that acts like a human torso, and a human sized head that sits on top. Tiny cilia covered the bottom of their feet. The cilia allowed the tinikean to climb over most surfaces. The last pair of limbs, thicker and more humanoid, end in something resembling hands, each with eight slender fingers. They have no opposable thumbs, but the fingers divided evenly around the hand so that two pairs of opposable digits could grasp objects. An ogre is more likely to lift a tinikean along with whatever they grasp than remove the object from their hands.

Tinikeans range widely in color. With no need for clothing – for all tinikeans had a hard exoskeleton – and a great love of color, tinikeans prided themselves on their race's multitude of variety. Their colors include dusky orange, golden yellow, a green so deep it was almost black, and two very distinct shades of blue.

Their heads vary somewhat in shape and size like most humanoids. They have multifaceted eyes with a wide spectrum of sight. To truly understand their art it was said that you had to be tinikean.

Language
Most kinds on Loar find the tinikean language almost impossible to duplicate without long, long years of study. Thankfully, the insectoid creatures don't mind learning the common languages. Their diction lacks perfection and generally overflows with clicks and pops, but it rarely caused a barrier to communication. All members of that race had lip-less mouths with a dual set of mandibular pincers and a long prehensile tongue. It made it difficult for them to pronounce words in Loar Standard with sounds formed by the lips. Usually they substituted a similar sound or change their sentences to avoid words that require the use of lips. Sometimes it makes for interesting conversation.

Society
Tinikeans don't normally choose an adventuring profession except kings which are generally a physical class such as Weaponmaster and queens who are more often a spell casting class like Wizard or Sorcerer. In combat, a serious enemy would hardly pause against the resistance of the common worker. Most Tinikeans, male and female, are crafters of some sort, preferring to work with softer materials such as wood, grasses, cloth, and kitatica.

Tinikean society is hive-like. The queen manages the day to day affairs. Loyalty to her and the king second is absolute. However, they still maintain a nuclear family. Males and females of any rank are capable of producing offspring and tinikeans mate for life and do not long outlive their spouses. Here their ancient connection to spiders came to the forefront. Mothers watch over multitudes of children while fathers labor to build, forage for food, and perform other functions for the family and hive.

The tinikeans tunnel. Their hives descend well beneath the surface, but their homes and byways consist of more than holes in the ground. Tinikeans are artists and crafters. Beautiful, delicate carvings surround the entrance to the main tunnel. Few know what the carvings actually depict. Fewer still find them anything other than beautiful. The tunnel walls flow like majestic crystalline highways. Tinikean saliva, called kitatica, is used in their tunneling and many of their crafts. It mixes with metals and rock to form the crystal. Visitors need no torches because the crystal carries light well, whether from the outside or from large stone braziers burning at various tunnel nexuses.

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