Ten’Gewek is the name of the race of sentient beings living on Planet Akyawentuo
Ten’gewek, or ‘The People,’ are a relatively short but extremely strong and robust species of sapient, arboreal Deathworlders who are at the very beginnings of the long climb into civilization. Firmly neolithic, with the social and mechanical technology that implies, their culture and language are decidedly primitive by any standard, even perhaps against the last of the uncontacted peoples of Earth in the early 21st century.
One should not mistake their undeveloped culture for a lack of capability, however. As a rule they demonstrate fierce intelligence, intense curiosity, a wide playful streak and an aggressive cunning tempered by a powerful instinct for social interaction. Note that this isn’t necessarily empathy as we might define it; how they treat prey animals in particular has shown both respect for its life and, at best, a muted concern for its suffering.
Physically they resemble very lean, largely hairless great apes with their proportions a rough mix of gorilla, chimpanzee, and human. They have mottled leathery skin and a tall, highly visible crest running in a “mohawk” from the crown of their head to the tip of their tail, which varies in color depending on the individual; women and children tend to have more subdued coloration, while the men have a taller, blaze orange crest, and the Given-Man of any tribe has a crest that is almost neon-bright scarlet. On a particularly mature and vigorous Given-Man it may turn blood red at the tips and stand at least a foot tall at the top of his head.
They are fully capable bipeds and their lower quarters are extremely robust and heavyset, though mechanically that prohibits an efficient striding walk. Combined with their thick, prehensile tails and well-developed posterior chain from their back all the way down their legs, they tend to walk with a bouncing, swaggering gait. Not always; sometimes they descend to all fours if they need the extra speed, or they will plod upright if they are carrying a burden. They can haul immense loads while doing so, often many times their own weight. Any of those modes can be tiring for them, which makes brachiation their favorite way to move. They can cover impressive distances while swinging through the canopy, though by its nature that mode of travel is often slower than walking.
Functionally they are well-adapted for a life in the trees of a high-gravity world. Their tail can easily bear their weight, even when aggressively swinging through the trees; they have exceptionally powerful and extremely calloused hands on their fore- and hind-limbs, complete with bluntly-tipped heavy fingernails for gripping branches; they have lungs adapted for the thick, moist, oxygen-rich atmosphere and a prodigious extra layering of naturally hard, athletic muscle. This is due to the deep gravity well of their homeworld: about 20% greater than Earth. For unknown reasons, Given-Men show all of these traits much more strongly than their fellows, which is saying something; the People can be extremely aggressive when needed, to the point where a silverback gorilla of Earth wouldn’t fare well against them. Given-Men are considerably beyond even that.
Those things combine to make the People physically superior to humans by a significant degree, though what humans lack in prowess they more than make up in endurance, survivability, and adaptability. Julian noted the men in particular were always eating and foraging wherever they went, and that they tended to favor fruits and rich animal meats over other available foods. Where there is no work to do, the People are inclined to sleep and sleep often, though they’re perfectly functional with about as much rest as a human requires.
They also carry little fat reserves, an adaptation presumably enabled by easy access to food and currently theorized to be related to their mass; they are very robustly heavy for their size, extremely so in the case of Given-Men, and most of them live and play high amongst the trees. One might think that weight would prove to be an issue but the forest where the People were discovered is populated with enormous Ketta trees, which in scale are not unlike the California redwoods from Earth. More research is needed into their diet and lifestyle.
Their senses seem roughly comparable to human ability though there has not been a formal study to date. They shy away from very bright light but otherwise exhibit excellent vision. Hearing is more directional than a human’s but doesn’t seem noticeably keener. Scent, however, seems to be a weakness. Julian describes their men in particular as “pungently musky, like after a hard day of work,” while Allison finds their smell mildly offensive. The People do not seem to notice. Hardly surprising, since they lack a nose entirely and instead “taste” the air as a reptile might. They also seem to have a poor sense of touch compared to a Human, though their huge, calloused hands are perfectly capable of high-precision grip.
Although their gravity well is too deep for conventional rocketry, thus effectively entrapping the People on their homeworld, the Hierarchy have still initiated a “cull” and their campaign of genocide has reduced the People into a critically threatened state. But for a quirk of fate happening light-years from their homeworld, the People would be extinct. The crew of the Misfit estimate less than twenty thousand remained at the time of their discovery.
Their homeworld is a cold one, orbiting a relatively cool star, which along with other factors makes their equatorial rainforests one of the only truly warm ecosystems on the planet. Immediately above the tropics and where the People live, the climate becomes a temperate rainforest with long summers and short but quite cold winters. The weather is reasonably predictable but their forest provides everything they need in abundance, so the People have not developed agriculture beyond perhaps tending some useful herbs.
Culturally speaking they are deeply tribal and have undeveloped forms of governance, culture, art, and all the rest. Notably, craftsmanship is highly valued, and their spirituality is quite well developed. What settlements may have begun on the path of advancement have been destroyed by the Hierarchy using antimatter bombs. Thanks to the Humans discovering their plight they are, of course, now on the road to civilization…
If they can survive the process of being civilized.
Notable Individuals[]
- Vemik Sky-Thinker—Young adolescent of the People who has recently passed into adulthood. Extremely intelligent and curious, he is often lovingly (and indulgently) teased for his “Sky-Thinking,” which is the People’s ill-developed concept for abstract reasoning. His capacity for this Sky-Thinking stayed Yan’s spear on First Contact, earning him the respect of all. Physically he was, before becoming a Given Man, quite small for a man of the People but even so he was an easy wrestling match for Julian, now he is a Given Man he is far stronger and more capable then Julian. He learned “Engwish” quickly and precociously, though not perfectly; certain sounds give him trouble.
- Yan Given-Man—Chieftain/Given-Man of Vemik’s tribe and the informal leader of the Given-Men’s lodge. Wise and experienced though inherently conservative and, perhaps, a bit overprotective of his Tribe, Yan has led them through the Hierarchy attack, their migration into the high-forest-place, and now their interactions with the crew of the Misfit. Playful and flirtatious when the situation permits and indulgent of Vemik’s sometimes frustrating curiosity, Yan is nonetheless an exceptionally dangerous protector of the People. He is uncle to the Singer and father of many of the tribe’s sons and daughters, which will be a developing social problem unless the Peoples’ society can congregate and recover after the Hierarchy’s attack. Amongst the People he is currently the supreme practitioner of the Taking Magic, though what that means is even less clear than the nature of Singer’s magic. Most recently, Yan has matured from his Red-crest stage to a much rarer Black-crest form, where he is even stronger and more powerful than he was previously. This is apparently tied into a change in mindset, from protector of his extended tribe, to protector of all of The People. The Black Crest form does however come with a drawback, in exchange for increased strength and energy, it seems to cause something similar to Alzheimer's or Dementia in the subject. The blackening begins at the tips of the mohawk, and slowly inches it's way downwards, as if a burning fuse, and once it reaches the base of the mohawk, not much of the original subjects mind will be left. Which is why most given men that live to this stage tend to go on "The Final Hunts" where they hunt increasingly dangerous targets until their body gives out, or their prey takes them. Yan decided to hunt one of the legendary Brown Ones, with the assistance of humans and their technology, and almost cost himself and numerous other men their lives by thinking foolishly, but came back to his senses in the end. Yan is also worried his time might run out before being able to make sure that the Ten'Gewek will survive.
- The Singer—Niece of Yan’s and counterpoint to his leadership, Singer gave her name to the gods and is the spiritual center of the tribe. Both came over from the same tribe during the daughter exchange, as is tradition amongst the People. Singer practices the Giving Magic, which includes the People’s intuitive folk medicine, and also serves as the feminine bridge to the masculine world. Currently claims Vemik as her mate.
- Vemet—Vemik’s father and the second-hand man to Yan. He is a superb hunter and in many ways a restrained version of Vemik; he’s more patiently thoughtful and keeps a level head. He’s an excellent foil to Yan’s naked, practical aggressiveness and Vemik’s excitable inexperience.