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.
Phinny Biology
Body
Senses
Brain
Phinny Culture
In contrast to the multifaceted and diverse modern culture of Infraflux and the individualistic innovation-based culture of the Trade Union, the Phinny Kingdom and all the people under it are a culture rooted in tradition. Despite only existing for a few hundred years, the Phinny Kingdom leans strongly on familiar ancient values of bloodline, gender roles, social heirarchies, and ritual. Though the individual phinny may be a wild free spirit, they are born within a framework of context involving their family, obligations, and designated societal role. It can be hard for a phinny to completely shake off this cultural background, especially since phinny children are almost exclusively raised within the nomadic Phinny Kingdom itself.
The Phinny Kingdom is structured as a myriad of small groups called "pods" that are scattered worldwide in warm or temperate salty waters. A phinny's pod is akin to their home town or village, consisting of a large number of family and friend groups who travel together. Family relations are often intricate and widely dispersed, and meticulately kept track of for generations. Once a phinny reaches adolesence they split off based on sex, with female phinnies staying longer with their immediate family and male phinnies breaking off and forming groups with other young males called "friend groups" or "zeets" in english. Zeets often stay lifelong friends and may leave their pod together to seek other pods or adventure to other places. The majority of phinnies living and working in other nations are male for this reason, and it's also why they're common to see in groups of 2-7.
The Obligations of Sex
March Earth conspires to diversify and reinvent life at every turn, yet phinnies have remained a constant for hundreds of years, vastly outnumbering other remaining Darwinchild species like the Umnthi. The reason is almost certainly the strict cultural laws put in place early on in Phinny history about maintaning bloodline purity. The most important rules are as follows:
- A phinny must have a child if they are able.
- A phinny child should be raised among other phinnies.
- A phinny may not have a child with one who is less than fully phinny.
- Only pure-blooded phinnies are part of the kingdom. (Recently amended to: Pure-blooded and second generation hybrids).
- A phinny must return to the kingdom at least once every 3 years.
Phinny gender roles are firmly attached to sex. "Transgender" is generally an archaeic term on March Earth, with so many varied biologies and so few gender roles, but sees some use still within Phinny culture. Transgender individuals are still expected by phinny society to fulfil the social obligations and norms of their birth sex, and this dissonance tends to create a lot of emotional struggle for such individuals.