Gaean

Gaeans are the anthropomorphic race of Jerako and are a playable race in Ruby. Playable subspecies in Jerako: The World That Is include Tigers, Panthers, Cheetahs, and Wolves, which each have their own insignia, as well as other non-playable subspecies collectively represented by a generic insignia.

Traits
All Gaeans tend to be weaker in magic than other races, save Wolves, who focus more heavily on it. All Gaeans have some form of physical focus and skills that reflect their bestial nature.

A Gaean's form is based on the individual's personality and is magically-induced, either by birth or through a rite performed by a Wolven shaman. Gaeans are still genetically Human and only a Gaean-Gaean pairing produces a Gaean child. However, due to the magic involved in their transformation, they are immune to the Were curse. Due to their forms being magical in nature, Gaean children can be born a different subspecies than either parent. Most often, however, children assume the form of one parent or the other, and this consistency is especially carried through when both parents are of the same subtype, allowing for separate societies to form roughly in bubbles based on species and tribal lines to continue nearly unbroken.

Some Gaeans fall into a "hybrid" category where, for one reason or another, the ritual was not fully successful. The causes for this vary, as does the extent of change.

Fully successful or not, the change is permanent.

Society
Gaean society is quite welcoming to newcomers to the fold, and Gaean communities are often mixed between old lines and new converts.

Gaeans have their own language and naming conventions which older lines follow. In general, males are named for weaponry, large land features, and body parts, while females are named for plants, birds, and smaller land details.

Gaeans have a tradition of exchanging male newborns of chiefs' lines if twins are born to cement alliances. These exchanged children are raised as the receiver's own, but are barred from assuming leadership roles.

A Gaean's place in society is easily distinguishable by middle name when using the traditional naming convention. The following lists these.


 * Male
 * Ru - commoner
 * Ra - chief's line
 * Ro - chief's exchanged son
 * Female
 * Ri - commoner
 * Re - chief's line

Female children are not exchanged between tribes.

Abilities
In Ruby, Gaeans are condensed into one race most similar singularly to Panthers. This is the only humanoid race presented with claws and slashing unarmed damage. They also have a bonus to scouting and are able to use certain weaponry one-handed which physically weaker races require two to use.

Development
Initially, no explanation was given for the Gaean subspecies. With the addition of Wolves, their Druidic traits led to the explanation of a magical rite to change Humans into a form closer to Nature. The naming convention is a common staple of the creator's work dating back years and was introduced with the inclusion of Claw Ro Kest and Fang Ra Kest early in production.

Gaean genetics were developed much later in production with the addition of Ban St. Valentine's backstory.

The Gaean roster is considered final by the creator to allow newer race additions their own lore and identity.

In Ruby, the decision was made to condense all Gaeans into one race for simplicity purposes. This race acts as a median between the three feline subtypes and is thus closest singularly to the less-extreme Panthers. As a result, Titans were created to fill the slot left by Tigers. The decision was also made to give Gaeans more human default names to be closer to the expectations for the genre and slowly alter the lists over the course of the series. The idea was to help reflect the immigrant nature of the party of the first game giving way to including those who have lived in the land longer, as well as to slowly work the player into names which might initially not be acceptable to suspension of disbelief.

Trivia

 * Gaeans were one of the first races developed for Jerako, but the Wolf was the last standard player race to be added prior to map expansions.