Lifanti

The Lifanti are a sentient species that resembles an arachnoid-ape splice. They were genetically engineered by the Precursors. Though they were initially designed to be violent, free from the influence of the Precursors, they have evolved into a peaceful race. Their society revolves around music, art and story-telling. Following her mysterious arrival on Vantage, Gillian was taken in by the Lifanti.

Gillian is an adoptee of the Lifanti. Her rescue came to be after they were moved by the music she played on her iPad. Using this music as a bartering tool, as well as a method of communication, Gillian found a place in their society. When her technology eventually died, Gillian, patiently taught by the docile Lifanti, learns basic, and then more complex communication, done by whistling.

Basic Physiology
The Lifanti resemble an arachnoid-ape splice. They stand at an average height of 96 inches (roughly eight feet) and have an armspan of almost seven and a half feet. They have long forearms equipped with 3 long claws, used for gripping trees and grooming. Their feet are similar to apes' in that they have opposable thumbs and are thus most like hands; they are very adept at gripping things and picking things up.

The body of a Lifanti is almost entirely covered by long, silky fur. This fur, in youth, is an orange-tinted white; as the Lifanti grows, it eventually turns plain white, and then bluish white towards the end of its life. Lifanti do not shed hair as per normal; instead, their hair is kept for life. Clean and unmatted hair is a sign of good health and upbringing in the Lifanti Tribe. Grooming is an important ritual and is done by freinds and families, though some Lifanti take careers as professional groomers.

Sideburns are an important status symbol to the Lifanti: they are a sign of wisdom, knowledge, and sex appeal. Sideburns grow longer with age.

The Lifanti's mouths, usually covered by facial hair, are insectoid, and quite complicated. Their are four chelicerae, located at the edges of the mouth, used to bring food in. On the inside of the mouth, instead of a tongue, are millions of tiny teeth that can chew and manipulate food down the esophogaus. The Lifanti also have spinerette glands located on the inside of their mouth, which they can use to create nests.

The nasal cavites of the Lifanti have two seperate vocal cords, allowing the Lifanti to create complex humming songs. These songs, often reflective of emotion, are the chief communication tool of the Lifanti.

The Lifanti's nostrils and eyes are exposed. They have two pairs of eyes, but only one truly complex pair; the other is for peripheral vision. They are both arachnoid type.

Life Span
The Lifanti live an average of 15 years, and the oldest known Lifanti is 20. Lifanti are born from eggs that develop over 12 months in an artificial "womb" created by the mother with webbing. The eggs are about the size of an ostrich egg and resemble a kind of pulsing organ. They are then covered in a soft webbing and stuck to a tree; the tree's sap and the webbing are absorbed by the egg and feed the fetus. The fetus grows and develops in the egg with the help of the mother: over the course of the year, the mother continues to feed her child regularly, as well as sing to it, until it reaches about five feet tall, after which it eats and claws through its nest to its parents. Unlike humans, Lifanti are born with the ability to walk and climb. They are also born with hair. They learn much of their emotional intelligence from their mother's singing and communication throughout their prenatal development.

The Lifanti grow quickly, mentally and physically, from birth on. Half a year after birth, the Lifanti begin their first growth spurt. They quickly grow to normal height, lose their orange coloring for a silky white one, and develop their spinettes. They also completely lose their suckers, which they used during growth to drink sap from trees.

The second growth spurt begins at the age of seven. There is no outer change, but internally, the sexual organs--located in the mouth of the male Lifanti and in the lower abdomen for the female--develop to full maturity.

At the end of a Lifanti's life, around fifteen, they begin to lose clumps of their hair, and their claws become brittle. The Lifanti, in a long established cultural practice, will then say a formal, loving goodbye to his or her family, and leave the group, never to return. The elder Lifanti will travel down from the trees to the ground, where it is quite vulnerable. It will then, knuckle walking in an ape like fashion, travel across the land, to its final destination, the burial grounds. The burial grounds are scattered underground tombs, used to record the history of the Lifanti. After entering the cave, the Lifanti will begin and end its final story, using its long enduring webbing to permanently indent the cave wall. Pictures in the burial grounds are often very elaborate, and tell entire lives and histories. It is unknown how the Lifanti find their tombs.

Culture and Technology
The Lifanti are a race based on cultural practices. They have a unified culture, and celebrate many things as a whole. The most important cultural traditions among the Lifanti are the ritual of Birth, the ritual of Mating, and the Ritual of Death.

The Lifanti, unlike humans, have one unified style of life, with few subcultures. They follow a democratic, socialist political system, and are led by their elders, who are distinguished by their snowy, bluish-white hair. The elder Lifanti do not as much make decisions for the group as relay situations to them, which are then acted upon and discussed by the group as a whole.

This practice has developed around the Linfanti ability to communicate as a whole. The Lifanti, though they can talk as seperate entities, have a democratic system within the whole, guided by the elder Lifanti. When a group decision must be made, the question of topic will be brought up by the elder Lifanti, and then explained to the entire group, who remain attentive throughout. After which, the Entire Lifanti engage in a kind of voting by speech; a higher note indicating happiness with the course of action, or a lower indicating unhappiness or anger. The "voting" will continue until all of the Lifanti have decided on one side, and a clear note of agreement or disagreement will be produced within the group.

Sexual reproduction is much more formal among Lifanti than in human culture. The male Lifanti, most usually in a grand ceremony involving both families and freinds of the group, presents a web package of his sperm. The female then ingests said sperm, engaging a formal contract between the two. Because of this, reproduction and sexuality among Lifanti is much more based on responsibilty and culture than in other species. Choosing a mate is based on ranking,responsibility and of course, the immediate health and good genetic heritage of the Lifanti in question. Thus, older mates are much preferable to younger ones, especially when it comes to males.

Technology within the Lifanti culture is not very advanced, even by human standards. Weapons are long out of practice in the peaceful society; they are mostly arcane, and used only in official ceremonies. The Elder Lifanti are bestowed these weapons upon their initiation in the Traditional Death Ceremony of another Elder. When an Elder is close to death and leaving for the burial grounds, the Elder is allowed to bestow his or her weapon to another who has been deemed worthy, ususally another Elder. If there are no new Elders, then he/she bestows by her/his own judgement.

Religion
The Lifanti follow a religion very close to that of the Ancient Egyptians: they beleive in a series of gods who resemble different ancient species. Among these are the Precursors, who are referred to as the 'Before People' and represent the god of life and death.

Lifanti also beleive that images in the burial grounds carry the souls of the Lifanti within them, and so if an image is destroyed, then the spirit is left to wander for eternity without a place in the world. Cultures and stories also impart a bit of the soul within them, and so the more stories, art and lasting culture a Lifanti produces, the more his/her soul is tied down to the Earth.