Family: Rodent
Type: Beastman
Habitat: (Sub)tropical rivers & wetlands; cities near water
Disposition: Laid-back, mellow, care-free
Diet: Mostly vegetarian, e.g. water plants
Capybaras are social semi-aquatic mamono who live in herds (sometimes called meditations) of five to ten individuals that are usually not blood related. Members of a meditation cooperate closely and tend to share everything with their meditation-sisters… including a husband. While their original natural habitats are (sub)tropical rivers and wetlands they’re not too bothered by colder climates. They have adapted well to civilized life and hence have spread far and wide, though rare is the capybara who does not live close to a body of fresh water. Capybaras have a mostly a vegetarian diet of fruits and vegetables and are especially fond of aquatic plants. Many capybaras like to grow their own food, and they are especially skilled at aquaculture.
Capybaras are the largest and heaviest members of the rodent family. Most individuals will easily grow taller than 183 cm (6 ft). Their height is not the only thing large about them, for their bosoms tend to be big and heavy, too. Often they are a bit chubby. Their only obvious monstrous feature is a pair of ears which matches their animal namesake’s, but they also have internal adaptations that aid a semi-aquatic lifestyle. For example, their body fat acts as an insulator which allows them to stay in cold water for prolonged periods, and they can hold their breath for up to ten minutes while remaining active underwater.
Capybaras take the mantra “slow and steady wins the race” to heart. They consider tending to their crops to be more than enough exercise for the day and prefer to spend their spare time on low-energy activities like lounging about, meditating, reading, socializing, or, if they feel creative, drawing or writing. A favorite group activity for a meditation of capybaras is visiting a spa or hot-spring where they can bathe and relax for hours on end.
Capybaras have a knack for social interaction and are generally very well-liked by their fellow mamono. They are especially good listeners and are always willing to lend a sympathetic ear and offer what advice they can give. Their demeanor causes people to quickly trust them, and many a secret is shared with the capybaras. Since discretion is also one of their strong suits most secrets are safe with them. The more intelligent capybaras make for excellent therapists and mediators. Being such a highly social species does mean that capybaras do not cope very well with being alone. Perhaps that is why it is common for a meditation to welcome lonely mamono into their group and treat them as if they were family.
Capybaras have a strong “live and let live” mentality and hence are known for their laid-back and care-free personalities; they rarely judge people, which creates a safe and calm environment for everyone who comes to visit them or lives nearby. They tend not to get fussy about many of the pet peeves other mamono might have and rarely get upset even when they are being wronged. One has to royally screw up before a capybara gets agitated. Their chill personalities can rub off on others and help them to calm down and de-stress.
Dating a capybara usually means dating her entire meditation. Thankfully they are low maintenance girls and don’t suffer from envy, nor do they need much to be happy. Also, they do not put high expectations on their spouses. While for some this can be liberating and a break from the stresses of life, for others they might appear as lethargic and lacking ambition. Thus capybaras are ill-suited as wives for highly ambitious or active people, but they are excellent matches for people who have only modest ambitions or whose preferred lifestyle aligns with the capybaras’.
Capybaras gravitate towards the slow and gentle kinds of intimacy. They actually prefer three or even foursomes over one-on-one so that they can envelop their partner with snuggles while they take turns. Furthermore, they do not like to rush the sex, which usually translates to them preferring extensive foreplay to slowly build towards a powerful climax. As semi-aquatic mamono it should come as no surprise that they have a thing for partially submerged sex. Capybaras go into estrus (heat) two or three times a year for a few weeks where they not only crave intimacy more than usual, but they also are more fertile. While they are certainly not a majority, kinky capybaras are not that uncommon either.
Name That Mamono: Dot
On the surface Dot is a fairly unassuming capybara with dark brown eyes and chin-length auburn hair. She dresses fairly conservatively, typically a button-up blouse and a long skirt, but that can’t hide the fact she is a buxom woman. The only hint that she might be much less innocent than she lets on is the skin-tight pink choker around her neck. She lives with her seven-woman meditation on the riverfront in Hajiokagawa -- the second city of Kioko. While most of her meditation-sisters are typical aquafarmers Dot works in a large harbor warehouse as the stock manager. Her job is to mainly keep track of the warehouse’s inventory and tell the dock workers what needs to be moved where and when. While not at all a muscular woman herself Dot is truly fascinated and turned on by the sight of muscles straining and relaxing on other people. This is one of the main reasons why she has picked up massage as a hobby. She is very well liked by the dockworkers, not in the least because of her always being keen to practice her hobby whenever there is a lull in the workload. While Dot gets plenty of female attention from the burly dock workers she sure would like to practice her hobby on a man too… a “happy ending” might be included. If she is ever so lucky as to find a husband she looks forward to sharing him not only with her meditation but also with her dockworker friends and colleagues.
HUMMINGWAY
Family: Spirit
Type: Birdman
Habitat: Libraries, schools, ruins
Disposition: Curious, gregarious, affectionate
Diet: Ink, written words (via reading), spirit energy
Occasionally when pen meets paper a spirit is born. These companions, made of ink and born of letters, serve a special purpose as natural historians. Though hummingways come in many shapes and sizes they are best known for the meek appearance of sleek, oiled finches. They live a flock life in a complex hierarchy dwelling in places of great historical importance such as archaeological digs or libraries.
The purpose of a hummingway is to ensure the upkeep of knowledge. These creatures come prebuilt with the knowledge of many languages; these social birds connect to a variety of peoples and species to understand complex language and social structures. These ultimate translators will keep ancient texts up to date with the most commonly understood language and make minute changes as terms pass into and out of use. Upon meeting someone new, assuming the flock size is large enough, they will make quick work to create copies and translations into the newcomer’s form of speech.
Within the library there are three types of hummingway with their rarity increasing with their size. The youngest of them are palm-sized oil spills appearing as fluffy birds. These are the ones who handle most translation and upkeep of text. In some rare cases they also live as familiars to mages. The second kind are larger and nearest in appearance to the common avian, and therefore are sometimes mistaken for harpies. They branch out gathering food and the occasional addition to their lost treasures. The third and the largest type of hummingways have the forms of winged women; they are closest in appearance to the people whose words they grew up reading. These elders maintain order within their flocks, taking care of young and organizing texts. They frequently sport headdresses made from bird skulls filled with notes and feathers easily stashed within their reach. They are icons of beauty in their homelands. While every hummingway begins life as a small, pudgy bird with time and resources a small one may grow into one of these womanlike beings, but they may never go back.
A hummingway can be summoned by writing with a quill taken from an elder’s wings and ink from another hummingway; this is how they manage their flock sizes, though they will readily give these items to people they trust in hopes of further preservation.
Name That Mamono: Aisha
Aisha is the most respected elder in her library. Not just because of her beauty, which is considerable -- her luxurious eyelashes, flawless olive skin, and prodigious bosom are the envy of the town -- but also for her knowledge and graciousness. Her flockmates marvel that she has yet to find a man. Aisha smiles and says nothing. That she is waiting for a scholar, a man of knowledge whose respect for learning matches her own, is nobody’s business but hers.
tygertygerJul 25, 2022 8:37 AM
"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling
