Tripodician

A new dawn has begun for the tripodician, the hybridized descendant of the tripodian and the pygmypodian, both of which it eventually replaced. Their brains have become complex enough for the gift of sapience to fall upon them, allowing them to no longer be ruled by their surroundings and instead shape them to their own needs.

Larger than both of its ancestors, its appendages have lengthened and its fingers have become more dexterous. Their skin is thicker, protecting them from minor cuts and bruises while at the same time protecting them from the cold with aid of a small layer of fat located just below it. Their eyestalk is sturdier yet at the same time still flexible, a combination that aids them in searching their surroundings. Finally, their brain has become larger and more complex, as mentioned beforehand.

Living alongside their tuskent companions, they now create small hunter-gatherer tribes with tents built from the skins and bones of such fauna like polar glasseaters. The tribes move every half-a-dozen months or so in order to find new hunting grounds. One group has advanced enough to even build a small primitive stone pyramid surrounded by intricately placed stone blocks as a form of worship for their moon deity.

Tripodician technology is still at its early ages. They have mastered fire in order to keep warm, and have developed crude stone tools for both hunting and carving. They’re domestication of the tuskents is continuing, with smaller and larger breeds having been created, and some tribes have begun attempts at domesticating several of the floral species that inhabit Drake. Hunters meanwhile have developed spears and other similar hunting tools in order to increase their odds in a hunt, as well as to help them bring down larger prey.

Communication typically involves the use of scents to display emotions and hand gestures as a form of sign language. The latter has developed further than that of their ancestors, allowing complex ideas to be shared amongst individuals. This helps tribe members to communicate and stay organized as some gather flora, others hunt fauna, and the rest perform other tasks.

A primitive religion has evolved, involving deities that represent rocks and streams, a goddess of the moon, and even spiritual inhabitants of the ground itself. They tell myths such as one of the gods of the stars, the mightiest of deities, who descend down upon the ground in orbs of light, taking the worthiest tripodician and their loyal tuskents, back with them into the heavens in acknowledgment of their worship and to join them in their pantheon.