A race of carnivorous tribal hunters valuing strength, combat skill and one's natural ability, the anki makeup some of Edarel’s best hunters, trackers and combat mages. This insectoid race was one of the first races to openly denounce magic as a practice, seeking to put value in one's own ability to grow stronger and more physically capable through hard work and constant physical exertion. However, while a noble goal, their limited view and lack of development overtime dropped the hunters into irrelevance in the early years of Edarel’s history and only served to slowly, but surely see them left behind by all the other races in it.
The Anki are a race of insectoids that stand on two stout, solid legs, with thinner arms and three fingered hands. Their heads protrude directly from the thick exoskeleton of their body, connecting to it directly. Their eyes are large, round and bulbous, resembling a bright yellow color. Unlike the other races which lack sexual dimorphism, the anki males are noticeably smaller and more stout and rounded, measuring at a height of only a bit less than 1 meter in total, or about 3 feet, while females are taller, with thinner bodies, along with the shell only covering the main torso, unlike the entire body like on the males of the species. Females measure at about 1.5 meters in height overall, or around 5 feet. Otherwise, the two are very similar in overall ascetic, resembling large, anthropomorphic beetles with two sets of arms and three fingered hands. Their shells vary in color, though typically appear as being green, black, orange or brown. The back of an anki glistens and shines like jewels in the light, being a vibrant array of different colors when shown against a light source. The race of insects are often predominately dark attributes despite their coloration, but can always vary depending on the parents. However, no records of a dark/dragon of the species has ever been recorded. Overall, the anki live for only around 70 years at most, making them the shortest lived species within Edarel overall.
Dating back to the early days of Edarel, the anki were one of first of three races to exist on Charir, alongside the garnet dragons and the raunikayle. While the garnet dragons were busy building their own society on the western end of the continent, the anki were likewise doing much of the same. Being in close proximity to the raunikayle, the anki were more unified and naturally aggressive by comparison. While the raunikayle were indeed faster overall, the superior defense and more advanced weapons proved too much, leading to the anki quickly enslaving the race and using them for various tasks as well as a source of food. Not long after this point, the anki came into contact with the garnet dragons west of the continent, and being the aggressive race they were, immediately sparked a war against the reptilian species. This would be to their detriment in the end however, as while the anki were heavily focused on their hunting and tribal lifestyle, the garnet dragons sought to innovate and develop. The fight against the garnet dragons likewise proved to be the anki races first introduction to the use of magic, however despite losing the war against the garnet dragons, because the reptiles lacked the defensive innovation that emeralds would have in the shield bracelets, the offensive mages used by the garnet dragons proved mostly ineffective against the archers and rangers that permeated the anki as a race. Even still, healing magic and superior technology spelled their defeat. Eventually, the anki shared what they had with the garnet dragons post war, including the raunikayle they had enslaved. This relationship between the three races would last up until the start of the dragon war, where the emerald dragons landed a decisive blow to the Anki’s home. By the end of the war, the Kethana were liberated from their control, and the emerald dragons took over, leading to the last point in which the Anki race served a role in any major point in history.
For the Anki, an individual's place in society is determined mainly by their martial prowess, how efficient they are in hunting and the strength one displays when putting both together. The anki shun the use of magic, only having picked it up recently out of necessity, but still look down upon any of their race willing to fully embrace it. The viewpoint of magic only being used by the truly weak is a sentiment that runs deep within the Anki races philosophy, who seek perfection from the act of physical training. Nearly all Anki follow the saying “Magic is only used by the weak, deceitful and lame, a parlor trick used only by those that cannot win through pure skill and martial ability.” This belief leads to obvious frictions between all races except the amber dragons, who while lacking the mutual disdain for magic, share in their races inability to utilize it efficiently. The distaste for magic leads them to be among the lesser races within Edarel as well, alongside the aforementioned amber dragons and the raunikayle.
refinedSalt, this time covering the nomadic and hunter race in Edarel, the one that also was in need of a reference, the Anki!
