Taithal

The primary sapient species of the planet Taia. Though natively desert dwelling creatures, they have since expanded and branched out to various forms of terrain.

Appearance

Taithals are somewhat feline in appearance. They have long ears with tuff of fur at the end and their faces are more flat like, almost human-esque, yet have mammal-like noses and mouths. Also, Male Taithal have a tuff of fur at the end of their tails, where as females, do not.

One of their most noticeable features, are the scales that run down their backs, and tops of the arms and legs. These scales are meant to protect them from the harsh sandstorms of their planet, as well as from various amounts or predators. (when a Taithal curls up into a fetal position, it's the scaled areas that are exposed the most) Also to protect them from sandstorms, Taithals have a thick, yet clear second eyelid, to protect their eyes from the sand.

Taithal can be seen in a variety of colors and patterns. Fur colors tend to be white, grey, yellow, orange, red, brown, and black, with patterns that consist of spots, stripes, brindle, merle, basically any kind of color and pattern you can find on any cat or dog. Their scales can be any rainbow of colors and patterns. During the winter, these scales become dull and extra hard, and in the summer, the scales shed the winter layer, and become brightly colored, and have a slight iridescent sheen. Taithal are often attracted to each other due to the color and pattern of their scales.

Society

Taithals tend to live in pleasantly sized groups, though the groups never get too large. The larger the group is, the harder it is to protect themselves against their main natural predictor, the Haremex. They have strong ties with the members of their groups, and though unrelated by blood, will treat each other as blood. When a group becomes too large, a family or two, along with any young adults, will volunteers to leave and start a new colony, for the safety of all the Taithal.

Religion

While there is no primary religious belief among the Taithal, there is a large cult that call themselves the 'Ki' that consider all those infected by the Kit-Li to be blessed.

Unlike most other Taithal, the Ki have a stationary settlement and do not migrate from what is considered their sacred grounds. Within the cult, a few weeks after they are born the young Taithal are made to drink water taken straight from an old well where they make their camp. They believe that if they were blessed they will become 'ki' and if they are not, they are meant to serve the 'ki' of course, the cult was started by a few ki that believed themselves to be bless. The cult is small in number, but dangerous nonetheless due to the known side effects of the parasite.

	Species
	Sytous	Ertakar • Teotkoa • Jal-Kar • Human
	Ehga	Keemex • Bird
	Taia	Taithal