Skulldren

Skulldren are one of only two sapient species who choose to live in the shadowy, monster-infested forest of Darkwood, the other group of course being the Loko. A Skulldren's physical anatomy does not look too far different from a human from the shoulders down, their skin can come in various shades of grey and their limbs are longer and spindlier than that of a human, though their height does not change much due to their hunched postures. Their fingers and toes are replaced with sharp claws of bone that are actually extensions of their digits. By far the most mysterious and mystical aspect of the Skulldren is their heads, which consists of a floating skull filled with pitch black smoke within the interior. Skulldren are initially born without a head and in a catatonic state, it is up to the father of the child to hunt a monster, dragon or other animal and bring back its skull, only then can a ritual be performed where the family of the child sets the skull above the child's shoulders and placed in a circle of candles, a prayer is then given to the god of the Vejhim religion, Meledus. From there, black smoke appears around the head and enters within eye sockets, the skull shrinks in size to compensate for the baby's body, and only then will the child rouse into consciousness. This frankly bizarre birthing ritual is still not fully understood magically, biologically or even logistically, even to the Skulldren themselves, making them one of Latani's yet unsolved mysteries.   The skulls of the Skulldren grow at the same rate as the Skulldren age, regardless of the size of the creature the skull originated from. The equivalent to eyes for the Skulldren is two glowing orange lights within the eye sockets in their skull heads. Whenever Skulldren talk, the jaws of their skulls don't actually move as one would have to suspect, instead black smoke plumes from the mouth and the voice comes from within the skull itself, making their speech sound hollow and echoed. Should the skull of a Skulldren be broken or cracked, all smoke within will rush out and dissipate, leaving the Skulldren catatonic once again until a new skull of the same creature be found and replaced by performing the same ritual, thus restoring them back to consciousness. Skulldren who have experienced what they have thusly named a "false death" describe it as a deeply uncomfortable slumber.   As a people of their own they are excellent hunters and survivalists, they craft cloaks out of animal furs to cover their slender yet firm bodies and they use the abundant natural materials around them to create hidden cities in the thick foliage above the ground. Since birth, Skulldren have been taught how to move carefully and silently through the forest of Darkwood, as not to alert any of the deadly monsters lurking somewhere within the trees. As such, they are masters of stealth and dedicate themselves to studying the exact weak points of monsters to take them down more efficiently and without struggle. These skills also apply to their warfare tactics, where in the past, entire platoons of invading troops have been taken out all at once in a matter of minutes due to a combination of stealth, strategy and deadly accuracy.   The Skulldren are generally accepting of other races but prefer to keep to themselves, though they build their towns on the edges of the massive forest to make it easier to leave and travel to other regions to trade and communicate with others.