#ct wader

examples of the four sophont species in clawtact, with a human for scale.

Omnivorous, bipedal, vaguely mammalian, diet mostly consists of carrion and fish but can and does eat a lot of various plant matters (like fruits!) and breads. Originally evolved from scavengers, recent ancestors were omnivorous little piranha monkeys, slowly moving back to carnivory

Evolved in something like a mangrove swamp, bipedal like humans are but with a tail also. Really long necks, big scary mandril teeth. Their hands and feet are constructed identically, with thumbs more in the middle and further back than on human hands. Their nasal crest evolved for rooting around in logs and such for bugs.

Overcomplicated ‘gendering’ system tied specifically to assumed job roles, as in waders of X gender also do X role Always and have really specific dress practices to make it obvious which role a specific wader is. Listed in order of population, highest to lowest:

Tea (tadò) ~ Construction workers, artists, weavers, factory workers. Wide range of roles here. Low-class tea waders (the workers) are specifically tadàt and higher-class Tea are tadòt. In terms of human gender, tea waders are typically generically assigned the English pronoun ‘she’.

Dus (duussá) ~ Farmers, workers with agriculture, oftentimes marketplace sellers. People who handle produce. Often also cooks. Akin to tea waders, low-class are specifically duushá and high-class are duussó, with an extra variant specifically for fishers or din waders. (dussà). Typically English-gendered as ‘he’.

Fen (phudó) ~ Rangers, ranchers, hunters, and butchers, while additionally often doctors. People who work with meat and care for livestock and people. High-class fen are exclusively doctors or phudót. Typically English-gendered as ‘they’. Named for animals.

Maw (phà) ~ Police, warriors, millitary, security. That kind of thing.  Distinctly higher-class than tea, dus, and fen waders, serving directly under the nobility. Low-class security workers are phò, considered an insult. Since wader society was introduced to spacefaring, a separate class of ‘pilot’ maw, romanized as min waders (or vhà) was constructed to defend against alien threats. Such threats are nonexistent. Typically English-gendered as ‘he’. Named for actions, min waders usually for violence specifically (Ex: Pursue, Bite, Sing, Wail)

Trai (tavhuù) ~ Overseers, bosses, consultants, directors. Arbitrarily designated nobility. Oversee role designation for wader children and very rarely allow children of non-trai into being trai to preserve their control. Typically English-gendered as ‘they.’

Tea, dus, and fen waders are all in the menial underclass, then maw as the police force, then trai as the ruling class, with variations in those based on personal role (ie artist vs construction in tea etc.)

Wader role-genders are differentiated by neck attire, as seen above. Mostly the bandages are just plain off-white but occasionally have prayers or other long documents inscribed on them, common to formal & ceremonial garb.