Mangaro
Talented zoomorphic people.
Description
The Mangaro are a humanoid race with various animal characteristics. Mangaro can have characteristics from any type of animal. Mangaro who are of the same animal type might also have different characteristics from each other. For example, one lion Mangaro might have the mane, tail, and fur of a lion, while another might have the claws and teeth.
Mangaro type is not passed from parent to child. A spider monkey Mangaro might have parents that are elephant Mangaro, or a gazelle Mangaro and a leopard Mangaro. Mangaro cannot have children with Enia or Okonia.
History
Amongst the Mangaro, there is a story that is passed down from parent to child. It is the tale of the beast God and how the Mangaro came to be.
In the days before the three great nations, when there was no Network to mitigate the dangers of the jungle, the people suffered. They had no special skills with which to survive. They had no claws to hunt their prey nor vision to see through the dark of night. They prayed for help but what answered them was no God of the Enia. It was a tremendous beast whose body was as vast as the heavens with heads as numerous as the stars. This was the beast God, and it came with an offer. Each head issued its own challenge, and those who passed would receive the gifts of the animal that head represented.
The nature of the challenges varies from telling to telling, but the outcome is always the same. Those well-suited to the specific challenges took them and became the Mangaro. The Mangaro praised the beast God for their newfound strength, and to this day many Mangaro still worship and look to the beast God for guidance.
Culture
Mangaro in the Grove are the ones most likely to have a culture that is distinctive from their nation as a whole. Many still live in nomadic groups and eschew the use of the Network. The level of dislike for the Network varies from group to group. Some completely forbid use of the Network, believing it to be an insult to the gifts of the beast God. Others allow or even encourage a few of their members to connect to the Network in order to ease travel through the Grove.
Because of the mandatory integrated schooling, and the Trilith’s general distaste for bloodlines, there is little difference between the Mangaro and the Enia in the Trilith.
Mangaro in Khemet are similar to Mangaro in the Trilith. It is common for Mangaro to enter the priesthood of the God that they share an animal type with. For example, a jackal Mangaro might become an incarnation of Anapa, or a bird Mangaro might become an incarnation of Djehuti.