Phinnies (WIP)
(A'aii'k)
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What is a Phinny?
A'aii'k or "Phinnies" are intelligent dolphin people living in the oceans and estuaries of 25th century March Earth. Their culture and language is widespread and influences the underwater world much in the same way as human culture has influenced the dry world above. Phinnies are generally intelligent, active, gregarious people with their own rich culture and history that blends with the other people of March Earth but still retains its unique core through tradition and family bonds. There is no person on March Earth who doesn't know what a Phinny is.
Why is a Phinny?
Phinnies came about very shortly after the start of the Cataclysm. Their already intelligent dolphin ancestors were boosted into true sapience and awareness of the world by the strange forces unleashed at that time, along with many other intelligent species. These "uplifted" peoples are collectively called "Darwinchild species". Most other Darwinchild species went extinct in the following 400 years or their numbers dwindled to almost nothing, but the A'aii'k thrived (in part due to centuries of ruthless bloodline purity practices imposed by a powerful monarchy) and grew and developed their own nomadic nation and culture.
How is a Phinny different from a dolphin?
If you call a Phinny a dolphin, it's quite likely some would be mildly offended, in the same vein as if you were to call a human an ape. Dolphins as they were pre-Cataclysm no longer exist on March Earth, and Phinnies know their ancestry but consider themselves quite separate from it. The average Phinny is much more intelligent than the average bottlenose dolphin, which is the main and most important difference. Physically and visually Phinnies differ from their ancestors by their genetic variability: The original intelligent dolphins post-Cataclysm were of several different species which hybridised into the modern Phinny, and that background can express itself as a variety of different appearances. Phinnies look the most like a mix of bottlenose dolphins and spotted dolphins, but can also express features that seem to be from from common, spinner, striped dolphins, and others from that closely related oceanic dolphin group.