Kaluna Lore

(More Lore to be added with time. Please use @ or :dev: when asking questions. InfamousSpark~)

General things and social live:
Kaluna are an highly intelligent, quadrupedal species of omnivores that share the same universe with the Shilynx, the Alokav and another (yet to be named) species. The yet unnamed species is the main species taming Kalunas and holding them as livestock and mounts.

Kalunas commenly live in herds and are capable of building simple to copmlicated structures to keep themselfs save from wind and weather. Some may also craft simple trinkets and accessoires. Usually they try to make homes with natural given formations, but building village like places isn't to uncommon.

Kalunas love to hoard rare gems, crystals, pearls and other items of worth. Some may also hord items with less to no worth, that have sentimental worth instead. To impress a potential partner they offer their most beloved item of their collection. If the partner accepts they become mates.
Usually they search for a partner within their herd, but some may even form a bond with a Kaluna from another, in these cases they either form a new herd or decide on wich herd they will stay with.

The common currency along the Kaluna communities are gems. Gems aren't to uncommen on their homeworld, but still hard enought to obtain to be of worth.
While wild living Kaluna have a small culture of their own, other Species of their Homeworld still commenly use them as mounts. They are often held and breed in captivity, but occassionally wild Kalunas get tamed to bring in new blood.

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Appearance, measurements and bodily abilities:
They’re warmblooded and have a skin that ranges from soft and sqishy, over leathery to scaly. Having fur/hair is rather uncommon but not impossible.
The race itself commonly lives in forests, there are however aquatic and avian subspecies, as well as a jungle and tundra subspecies wich usually live in other bioms.

Kaluna paws have 4 digits per paw. The hind paws are comparable to amphibian paws, while the front paws have opposable thumbs and can actually grab objects. A Kaluna may stand on their hindlegs to reach higher items. They can stand and also walk on their hind legs, tho it is really exhausting for them to keep their balance for a long duration. Usually they walk on all fours.

Every Kaluna has at least one horn featuring a glowing section in the frontal part.  This can go top down or only be partial, however the glowing is mostly in the front of the horns to illuminate their surroundings in front of them since their homeplanet only has only limited hours of daylight and they need to find their way in the dim light, especially in their most common habitats.
Being born without any sort of horn is usually deemed a bad omen.

The height of a fully grown Kaluna is comparable to a horse at around 1,4-2,0 meter going from head to front paw (not including the horn). Their length varies, depending on their tails. Some Kaluna may have tails double the length of their torso, or even more. On very very rare ocations a Kaluna may have gigantism, reaching about 5,0 - 6,0 meter at max. These Kaluna are refered to as Nuilan and are mostly a myth. The last Nuilan has been seen thousands of years ago. Though the mention of the word Nuilan still scares most Kalunas to this day. Nuilan are said to be very aggressive giants, that make little to no difference between food and their own kind due to their size difference. There is one legend that speaks about a gentle Nuilan who protected one of the first big Kaluna settlements, but the stories told of aggressive Nuilans overshadow it.

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Subspecies:

Jungle Subspecies
Jungle Kalunas can shift their colors to max. 3 different variations, the markings stay the same shape though! Plant overgrowth is usually caused by their hair starting to grow and connecting/absorbing biomatter from their habitat. Flowers and big decorative leaves are often woven in for cosmetic reasons. The color change ability is usually caused by absorbing bioluminescent biomatter altering their gene pool with a very rare mutation. Youngs can inherit the mutation upon birth.

Aquatic Subspecies
Living in the coastal areas this subspecies has started to show mutations that help them survive and hunt in the depths of the sea. They live in villages near the coast, but tend to spend most the day in the water hunting and gathering treasures like pearls or corals from nearby reefs. This subspecies is born with their mutations and cannot (unlike the Jungle Subspecies) archive the mutation from their habitat alone. Some may have a rare octopus skin mutation wich allows them to change their coloration at will. however their markings commonly stay the same shape but are a shade of the color they try to archive (for example, when trying to become a blue tone, all marking are still visible in a slightly darker or lighter shade of blue).

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Age, gender and reproduction:
Kaluna reach ages between 200-250 years and reach maturity relativly early, at around 16 years. A Nuilans lifespan has never been recorded, but it's estimated to be significantly longer.

Their reproductive system is somewhat similar to those of equines. Their genders vary from Cis-Male and Cis-Female to Intergender wich are inbetween both genders (for example having a female body posture, but all reproductive organs). They can decide on their gender identeties themselfs (they can identefy as agender for example).
Kalunas of any gender have a set of two nipples located in the crotch area. Kalunas only lactate during the last months of pregnancy and about 15 month after pregnancy. Only Kalunas having an uterus are capable of becoming pregnant.

While mating is possible all year, the actual reproduction can only occur once a year during mating season. Mating outside season usually won't lead to pregnancy. Pregnancy last around 360-400 days (around a year). This means they aren't able to get pregnant again the same year they gave birth.
Usually they have one offspring/foal. Having twins is possible on rare occasions.