Onpa (On-pəh)

Known History

Beginnings

The towering and onpic onpa are beings of myth, legend, and living relics of the uld times, perhaps almost as well-known across Veltrona as dragonkind. The onpa's immense size puts them at the largest end of the spectrum of all land-dwelling species, which often means they're also one of the strongest and most easily destructive species as well. Natives of Divine Mountains—supermassive mountain ranges stretching far and wide, even up to the Heavens themselves—the onpa traditionally kept to their lands within these ranges, for they're often the most and only habitable ones they can live in.   True understanding of the onpa cannot be achieved without understanding the Divine Mountains that they call home, strange and otherworldly as they are. Historians have long argued over the nature of Divine Mountains, conceiving of them as anything from 'dimensional anomalies' to the 'physical doorstep of goddesses'. It's undeniable that their peaks are realms unto themselves, albeit not fully distinguished Heavenly Realms proper because of their continued attachment to Veltrona herself. In a very real sense, each Divine Mountain is quite unique from another, and each hosts its own peculiar ecosystems, kosmological behavior, and physical makeup. More than simply being places of immense altitude and breadth, each Divine Mountain is closer to an entire world unto itself. The onpa, as a species, are generally believed to have originated from Mount Skyreach, the most prominent Divine Mountain in the world bordering Immensio, Lophern, Jerhegn, and formerly Etzli Cuauhtla.   While their most ancient history is obfuscated by the sheer length of time that the onpa have existed, onpa scholars generally agree at least two popular creation myths as being reasonably accurate (or at least common among disparate Divine Mountains): that the onpa were divine servants or worldborn. In the divine servants myth, the onpa were created by a goddess (or group thereof) long since forgotten to act as her servants on Veltrona. In the worldborn myth, the onpa view Veltrona herself as their mother, having emerged from the veltron that is her flesh, fully-formed as they ever would be. Both myths conflate details together to the point a third argument postulates that they're actually the same story, just too fragmented and ill-remembered to be pieced together, though that is either unpopular or seen as ‘grossly reductive’.   Whatever the truth may be, the onpa of uld would expand within their homeland to great extents, immediately coming into contact with some of their nearest neighbors: dragonkind. Given the sheer richness of most Divine Mountains, they offer environments ideal for those with the strength and physiology capable of surviving them. Dragonkind especially favors them, as they're not only quite suitable, but generally incredibly difficult for other species to reach, which appeals to their proud sensibilities. The Divine Mountains' relative sense of isolation was a rather desirable feature unto itself by just as many.   Such an era is so ancient that even draconic record keeping—normally considered the best in the world—is scarce on details more verifiable than fragments of fragments or copies of copies. Whether it be friendship, animosity, or even wars, both tales and legends describe them colliding together until something resembling equilibrium emerged between them. Of particular note, however, it is from these ancient conflicts that the onpa of Mount Skyreach learned of other realms farther beyond, and more importantly, of Veltrona's truly vast size. As peace seemingly settled in, brave onpa explorers (later called the Worldwalkers) set out, and soon found themselves in an utterly alien world.    

Big World, Smaller Problems

The onpa have always had a certain awareness that their own towering sizes are somewhat peculiar. Although there were mega-fauna and flora of comparable proportions living beside them on Mount Skyreach, far more simply weren't. Dragonkind also proved that other intelligent peoples could be of much, much shorter stature. Although philosophically quite curious, it'd been brushed off or answered in brusque ways up until the explorers uncovered the rest of Veltrona, and they saw that this pattern held true. It was then that the onpa could no longer readily deny their unique place in the world.   For a people often averaging around (30ft / 9m) in height, and a weight measured in tonnes, they were massive physical forces striding amongst a much, much smaller world. Even if by taking dragons by their height (including their horns), the average height of their tallest people barely scraped the bottom of an onpa's knee. The likes of humanity, nebusah, muurun, lauraume, harpy, and many others couldn't even do that much. Thus, the first onpa to meet these other species were astonished by their modest buildings and tiny lives, while those very people themselves were quite surprised by the towering onpa looming over their tents and/or houses.   Dazzled by one another, these early forms of contact soon solidified the onpa as divine beings of a kind in the minds of many proto-civilizations. Doubly so as the onpa, in their own words, lived upon the peaks of mountains in 'other realms', and many mountains were often associated with various goddessly beings as either their resting places or homes. The onpa were often confused by this reverence / recognition, but considering their great size and potential for disaster, figured it was a way for 'small folk' to be aware of their presence. While most villages usually had enough space for onpa to walk through, laying down or sitting were entirely different problems—no one had infrastructure to support such onpic sizes in the first place.   Thus began very awkward attempts of interspecies relations as both sides tried to tackle these unusual issues. For those the onpa wanted more long term relations with, they built up their own 'home away from home' to settle in when doing business. These onpic-sized homes inadvertently became temples or places of worship thanks to their incredible dimensions that towered over the small folk. In time, they became entire complexes to which sprawling civilizations centralized around, for the onpa had become centerpieces of their worldly views.    

Great Body, Greater Minds

One of the most immediate issues that arose for the onpa when it came to interspecies trade was the sheer scale of it. The amount of pelts or cloth needed to clothe even one onpa were bankrupting, and even then, such materials may not even survive the kinetic stresses an onpa's body would subject them to during daily life. Precious metals and gems, ivory or bones, and many other 'valuables' that queens stood upon like great treasure troves were often quaint pocket change to the onpa themselves. If the onpa brought even a 'small amount' of their own goods, it would flood and destroy the market instantly, or be simply too much to handle.   What did work, and would become the center of value between the onpa and everyone else, were cultural works: music, art, literature, oral storytelling, and so on. These intangible goods transcended previous economic concerns, becoming a bonding force of otherwise very different peoples. Some onpa would even come to take on religious roles, particularly as certain goddesses or spirits beseeched them to act on their behalf, furthering the view of them being 'divine beings' themselves. With these as the bridges, the onpa oft descended from their mountains in trade with the small folk before either returning home or moving on to lands farther away.   Most historians consider the onpa’s involvement as being formative to many civilizations in their infancy as a result. In the Wild Times, where trade was both dangerous and uncertain, the onpa strode across Veltrona, bringing with them unimaginable wealth, as much knowledge as material. These younger civilizations, aided by the onpa in might of body or mind, gained crucial footholds that would see the tides of their fates change dramatically. Those of the most dangerous lands, such as Etzli Cuauhtla, Jerhegn, Aerthen, and Nerzin, were most impacted by the onpa's aid. Even long after the history they once shared faded away, old homes / temples of the onpa litter the landscape in the modern era in silent testament to their once pervasive presence .   Unfortunately, to the onpa, most of Veltrona was uninhabitable for one simple fact: the lands couldn't withstand their tremendous dietary needs.   The sheer energy exertion needed to chase abundant small prey made it nonviable, and mega-fauna/flora of onpic proportions were relatively uncommon or rare. In some lands, even completely absent as ecological conditions did not favor such massive forms of life in the first place. For an onpa to survive any length of time, they needed their own rations and very careful management of whatever supplementary food they were able to obtain out in the wilderness. Some civilizations did try to help them in this respect, which led to early attempts at large-scale farming operations, but even then only handfuls of onpa could be fed at any time. Efforts to introduce the onpa's own native flora or fauna often failed as such things either devastated these new ecosystems, or died due to various insufficiencies.   These problems, alongside all the others, created a tremendous pressure to solve them, and eventually resulted in a novel innovation.    

Onpicification

Magical arts are themselves limited solely by the practitioner's understanding and their skill in conducting mana, but most agree that magic could solve many problems if the time was taken to tackle them. Yet, the onpa were puzzled at how to solve their incompatibility with the lands outside of the Divine Mountains without engendering potentially worse ones in their wake. They couldn't change Veltrona's lands to suit their needs—that would endanger the small folk who certainly couldn't survive onpic beasts. There was also the problem that interspecies romance was, as they say, at an impasse due to the enormous size differences of the participants. Never mind the destructive potential of the onpa, who by such a point had been involved in various wars or disputes of the small folk, often to horrific outcomes.   Voices against further involvement in the 'world below (the mountain)' only grew in strength, for such problems only promised hardship.   In a rare historical moment, however, a single onpa by the name of Unk Treebender developed a novel theory of magic. A herbalist by trade, Unk was an elder onpa and one of a generation few lived from anymore. Fascinated by life in its myriad forms and ways, she studied her homeland of northern Aerthen until everything had been catalogued, then ventured to the world below to study its mysteries in kind. Unfortunately, given her age and correlating size of over 200 meters, Unk could not readily study the small folk or their lands in any easy capacity without risking destruction of that which she wished to preserve. Though she tried various methods, ultimately nothing could compensate for her onpic presence disturbing the ecosystem.   Frustrated beyond measure, Unk poured decades and centuries of her life into studying what magical arts could possibly solve such an issue. Though many secondary innovations resulted from this, such as an early form of microscopy, nothing quite met Unk's criteria. It wouldn't be until a goddess—most believe to be Seralkono, the Divine Tempest—took interest in Unk's work and provided a new method that a new direction took shape. Early experiments bore success, and soon many other onpa involved themselves in efforts to refine this novel form of magic. What would result would become known as Onpicification Magic, an artform that readily changed the physical dimensions of one's body.   While the concept of 'making one's self larger or smaller' was and is not a unique idea, found in myriad forms throughout magical arts, the onpa's approach to the idea became something … different. Instead of using magic to temporarily change one's self—the easiest approach to body modification by far—they sought a permanent, or semi-permanent, reduction. While the onpa perpetually grew and would one day outsize their new 'small folk form', they need only undergo the magic again to resize themselves. In this respect, Onpicification Magic's first versions were more akin to a caterpillar-like metamorphosis in which the body was completely broken down and then remade. Some have even likened it to selective forms of Cultivation Arts outright, albeit divorced from their original purpose'.   Although the onpa lost significant amounts of mass, strength, and mana alike doing so, their smaller bodies were still immense physical powerhouses compared to the small folk. None of them ever went beneath (9ft / 274cm) in size, while their weight remained in the tonnes range. Still, it was 'good enough' for the onpa, and so opened the doors of the small folk world to them.    

Veltrona At Large

By the time that Unk's Onpicification Magic made its rounds throughout onpa society at large, their peoples had long since spread across the Veltrona herself. Whether in search of fame, fortune, or a new home, the onpa of Mount Skyreach had made the journey to other Divine Mountains yet farther away, breaking land into realms entirely hereto unknown to them. The only truly notably exception to the onpa’s spread and settlement is the Divine Mountain of Sa-kemet, named Kalarahdar's Spine, for it is purportedly 'so incredibly hostile not even the onpa survive there'. Some regions of Kalarahdar’s Spine are inhabited, though only settlements on the 'outskirts' of the Divine Mountain's realm proper have managed to survive for any length of time, and only under great difficulty.   This period of the onpa dispersing across Veltrona and diversifying into the various proto-cultures of antiquity is generally marked as occurring somewhere within the Second Dawn, and it denoted the end of the onpa's relatively stable era of peace and the beginning of countless troubles for their peoples. The discovery and cultivation of new mountain homelands forever changed onpa perspectives, for they no longer had to 'make peace' with each other living upon Mount Skyreach. With these new mountainhomes boasting great distances between one another, further cultural divergence became inevitable as new generations were born upon them.   Unk's Onpicification Magic also stirred immense controversy as various onpa factions argued about its usage and, more importantly, possible effects on both their physical and spiritual well being, never mind meddling in the world below their Divine Mountains. Older political groups came to the fore, comprised of both original members and newer-generation revivalists, taking up the banners for either side of arguments over personal freedom to modify oneself with magic as one pleased, or whether their societies should embrace multiculturalism or isolationism. The most notably contentious would be the Worldstoners, themselves inheritors of the older Wyrdlock, a highly regressive sect of conservatives who favored the purity of the unaltered, and inevitable, onpa form. The Worldstoners gained clout and lost it even quicker, but drove a wedge issue into the cultural zeitgeist that’d last for millennia.   This era marked the end of onpa unification as a concept, and henceforth, the different mountainhomes established themselves as independent entities. By the end of the Wild Times proper, the onpa's distinct nations had become islands unto themselves across the world. Whether it was the skyborn of Mount Skyreach, the isolationist Nemmaki of Nemma, or the heavenly gatekeepers of Nerzin, the onpa were the sovereign ladies of their mountains, and any who had business with such places invariably dealt with them. Though, compared to dragons, the onpa were 'more open' about conducting such business with outsiders in the first place.   While each of these major nations are deserving of their own attention, special regard must be given to the ramifications of Onpicification Magic itself. Its many stipulations and issues aside, it was never seen as a perfect solution even if it became 'good enough'. Onpa still had enormous dietary requirements even in their smaller form, if slightly diminished than their full-sized needs. In this respect, they were still comparable to high maintenance species like dragons or ilansu, and thus the problem of securing resources to sustain themselves in the world below the Divine Mountains remained. Other issues, such as their fantastical strength and massive weight, remained great barriers in themselves, but not insurmountably so—provided that one could afford the application of magics or infrastructure engineering to overcome them.   Some, such as the Nemmaki, considered the usage of Onpicification Magic as spiritually-corrupting, and so forbid its usage. Others, like the heavenly gatekeepers of Nerzin, treated it no differently than an advanced form of cultivation, and even innovated improvements on Unk’s techniques while operating from that perspective. No one knows exactly what happened to Unk Treebender herself, as shortly after the magic became viable, she disappeared from the historical record and Veltrona at large, and hasn't been seen since. Proper folklore attributes her as having 'got what she wanted' and thus went to the world below to continue her herbalism practice and ecological studying among the smaller peoples.   Thus, the onpa who partook in such magics descended from the mountains and mingled with the world below were 'quite different' than their predecessors of uld. Many species even considered these 'smaller onpa' as variants proper, and in some respects, the divine mysticism surrounding the species gradually faded away. Still, size itself in many cultures would quite literally be correlated to power, but as civilizations developed or advanced, their concepts of power also changed. It became an amusing difference to many onpa, but a gratifying one as they didn't have to keep up with religious idolism anymore.    

Age of the Imperium

Neighbors to dragonkind since time immemorial, the onpa have ever kept the dragons in check in one form or another. Whether in war, intellectual pursuit, or cultural jockeying, they are ancient enemies, friends, lovers, and rivals alike. It is something that has led many other species to regard the onpa as somewhat more ‘estimable’, after a fashion. And, as would often be the case, if dragons started rampaging out of control for some reason, the onpa could usually be called upon to deal with them—if those troubled by dragons could reach them, at least.   It was for this reason that, initially, the onpa nearest to Imperious, an until this point unknown dragon rampaging wildly through Lophern, were not immediately aware of nor concerned about her. In fact, it wouldn't be until Imperious' brutal defeat of Tafsalam'a, the Great Khanum, in Immensio did her notoriety grow great enough to deserve the onpa’s attention. It would be, in a roundabout manner, dragons themselves who alerted the onpa of Imperious' grave danger. The sudden death of friends and family roused the onpa with an anger only vengeance could satiate, and they descended in droves from their mountainhomes in search of Imperious.   The onpa who were lucky enough to find her soon met their deaths at her hands.   In what would soon become her legendary notoriety, Imperious took on all challengers and killed them in equal measure alike. Possessed of nonsensical levels of strength and durability, she was an unstoppable force of nature even against the towering onpa themselves. Stranger, however, was Imperious' seeming aversion to venturing upon the onpa's mountainhomes. Historians argue if she had actual aversion or if other matters drew her attention elsewhere. Given Imperious' ravenous desire for challenging foes, it does stand to reason that intruding upon the mountainhomes would give her plenty of onpa to fight, which makes the fact that she never truly conquered any an anomaly.   Whatever the reason may have been, the beginnings of the Imperium soon set such speculations aside. Amassing cadres of vile-minded dragons and those press-ganged into her service through even worse means, Imperious commanded armies of the most destructive people Veltrona had seen in millennia. As the scope and scale of ruin left in her wake increased, all the onpa mountainhomes bordering her 'territory' began taking notice of the calamity in the world down below. The prospect of war rattled at their doorstep, and ancient routes of travel, trade, and communication began to sever the mountainhomes from each other.   Though the onpa are a mighty people whose civilizations span the globe, they are also one of the least populous species in aggregate. Each life, and each death, weigh that much more upon them in a way most peoples simply do not see the same way. Thus, once the Imperium began collecting vile dragons to its banners, they mustered together a faction that actually outnumbered the onpa that could stand against them.   Divorced from honor, many of the traditional methods of resolving conflict had disappeared beneath the simplicity of 'kill or be killed'. The onpa surrounding the Imperium faced a true existential threat, and many were reluctant to involve themselves in a war from the world below. That Imperious' vile gaze seemingly overlooked them was taken by some of the more sparsely-populated mountainhomes as a blessing, and all the more reason to not do anything to draw it toward them, even as other nations of onpa rallied for war.   Such discontent, however, fell silent as decades and centuries passed, and news of the Imperium's forsaken evil spread. Worse, as more of their own friends, allies, and lovers among dragonkind fell to imperial dragons, the onpa's rumbling anger only continued to grow, and the instances of separatist warbands being deployed by wronged onpa families grew with it. There never was a great declaration or any rallying cry, just entire clans taking up arms and descending from the mountainhomes to do battle against the Imperium.   Though few in number, the onpa's world-shaking presence proved pivotal in hundreds of battles against the Imperium in the following centuries. Historians generally consider the onpa as key figures in decimating major strongholds and turning milestone battles, but sadly were spread too thin to truly change the tides. Further complicating their capacity to wage war with the Imperium was the simple fact that logistics did not favor the onpa—supplying a single onpa of mature size on a battlefield required monumental effort, much less feeding and arming an entire clan of them. Some clans, knowing this, nonetheless strode forth with a fatalistic fury to tear apart as much of the Imperium or its dragons as they possibly could.    

The Great Darkness

The cataclysmic end of the Imperium would be forever marked by the destruction of Imperious' precious World Gate. A megastructure of unknown origins, the World Gate functioned as a massive teleportation device, which Imperious abused with malicious glee.   Following Imperious' strange disappearance in her battle with Aerintor, dissidents within the Imperium capitalized on the confusion to destroy the World Gate. Unfortunately, they gravely underestimated the power of the megastructure, and it exploded in a planet-thundering blast that annihilated southern Lophern, western Aerthen, and most of northern Dorvar, creating both the Tyrant's Sea and Barrier Sea.   Dozens upon dozens civilizations, and many more besides, both within and near Imperium territory were annihilated virtually instantly. The onpa who were living and fighting in those lands, too, were erased as tremendous clouds of debris and ruin choked the skies, with entire Divine Mountains and their realms being wiped from the face of Veltrona. In the following days, these ash clouds spread across the planet, forming a suffocating blanket that blocked out sunlight, and so ushered in the Great Darkness. A terrible time that would see centuries of hardship, both mundane and unimaginably strange, to Veltrona and all her peoples. The onpa themselves, despite their nigh-untouchable mountainhomes, were no different.   Shrouded in the heights of the world and the thickest blankets of cloudy debris, the Divine Mountains became perilous realms. While smaller-scale volcanic eruptions and their effects were familiar to the oldest onpa, the ash clouds of the Great Darkness did not behave as they did. Churning around the footholds of the Divine Mountains, the strange ash clouds interacted with the liminal borders between the realms of the Divine Mountains and Veltrona herself in violent and unpredictable ways, often pouring into and polluting the skies of these realms as well.   The once-stable rules and norms that governed the various onpa mountainhomes and their bond to Veltrona turned strange and uncertain as alien creatures, lands, and otherwise began manifesting. Entire regions experience temporal fluctuations, going faster or slowly seemingly randomly, as otherwise disparate lands suddenly became neighbors despite being nowhere near one another. Time, space, and otherwise went into a state of uncertain flux to which little sense could be made. That was to say nothing of the more mundane troubles, such as the complete lack of sunlight, and the choking ashes of ruin.   With no clear idea of why it was happening, the onpa across Veltrona hunkered down alongside dragonkind and other peoples living with them. So ensued centuries of continual hardship where food became scarce, monstrosities of unknown origins lurked, and reality itself turned capricious. Record keeping during the Great Darkness was, at best, quite scattered and unreliable, ultimately making it a time period of great uncertainty and confusing testimonies. The onpa are generally believed to have fared 'quite well' compared to many other species, though despite that, they were no less isolated due to dangers even they were afraid of.    

Our Different World

When the skies of Veltrona began clearing, the normalcy of the old world reasserted itself as the once-pervasive darkness evaporated away. So it came that the onpa's mountainhomes found their connection to the world below restored, though that very world had changed. While recognizable in many ways to those old enough to remember, or simply to stories and maps passed down, the landscapes had been twisted and altered by the Great Darkness, changing the geography the onpa once thoroughly mapped out. Brave explorers set out then, venturing to the world below to make of what happened, and find who—or what—remained behind.   The onpa across Veltrona found different answers to those questions. Those of Mount Skyreach, for instance, soon found the Baarham Dominion beginning its hateful expansion for territory and power. The Nemmaki bore witness to the ruins of Nemma and the audacious stubbornness of her native peoples. The heavenly gatekeepers themselves had never stopped fighting cultivators and others seeking to encroach on their realm, so it truly was business as usual for them. Many more besides found the remnants of once-great civilizations, changed as they were from their harrowing deal. And, as the onpa had in times of uld, once again extended their onpic hands down to the small folk to help them stand up again.   Still, as everyone picked up the pieces in the wake of the Great Darkness, deep questions bothered the onpa.   The veil of separation between them and the rest of the world had been thoroughly shattered in uncomfortable ways. If another World Gate was discovered and used, destroyed, or something even worse than that, did they have the strength or power to stop it? Would they even survive it? What else went on in the world below, and what would become of their mountainhomes if the very mountains they relied upon were torn down? Some questions were reasonable, others not so much, but ultimately, a newfound fear had taken root, and even their incredible might couldn't answer it.   It has become undeniable that the onpa, thusly, grew more interested not only in the world below, but in the greater Heavenly Realms themselves. For a people used to taking things at their own pace, the unanswerable fear of their own worldly vulnerability pushed them forward at a pace they still haven’t caught up with.      

Biology

Anatomy and Physiology

Onpa are mildly sexually dimorphic, bipedal humanoids with a head, torso, two arms with five fingered hands, and two legs with five-toed feet. Defined by their broad and often muscular physiques, they are physical powerhouses adorned by the mountainous veltron which their very own bodies propagate. Females are distinguished by their enlarged breasts and wider hips, but the species is otherwise notably homogeneous between the sexes otherwise (e.g, both are capable of growing facial/bodily hair, veltronic features, having similar facial structures, etc). Onpa with more notably feminine or masculine expressions are typically believed to have influence from bloodlines outside the species, such as humanity, as a result of hybridization.   A species with a tangible connection to the veltron, much like the petrakin, the onpa take on and manifest aspects of the world herself. This can occur in the form of rocky formations, mountainous peaks, river-flowing valleys, and other geographic features as a literal part of the onpa's physiology, depending on the onpa’s size. The exact mechanisms as to how this works is a mystery, as it doesn't seem to consistently follow set logic, though different onpa cultures have their own explanations for how these features come about—typically as the result of kosmological influence, the types of mana one is exposed to, or even aspects of an onpa’s personality or spirit. What has been observed is that an onpa from one environment moving to another gradually takes on the characteristics of the new environment, implying there is a persistent adaptation mechanism of some sort. In scholarly terms, these growths are identified as 'veltronic features', as they may coincide with other anatomical items like scale growths for certain hybrids.   A noteworthy aspect of these veltronic features is that their individual appearance and combinations thereof are so varied and unique they're essentially a visual fingerprint of that individual onpa’s life and lineage. One classical example of an onpa from Mount Skyreach exhibits strong, sheer cliffs growing from the shoulders, rivers cascading down the front of the chest, and a vaunted laurel with finger-like tips stretching upward. Cloud-like formations may swirl around them in small or major ways, and miniaturized flora may grow upon plateaus, along the river valleys, and so forth. In many ways resembling a piece of the world seemingly having come alive, this is a major reason why other species initially thought of the onpa as being divine in origin.   Similar to the scale growth of species like dragons or keshlaen, veltronic features exist on the outer edges and hardy areas of the humanoid body; e.g, the elbows, outer arms and thighs, shoulders, knees. The features will then spread outward, but not in any way that inhibits or interferes with body kinetics or motion. In some cases, certain features may stretch into sensitive regions such as the inner thighs or center of the chest, but these features are non-intrusive and easy to remove (e.g, forests growing on the body rather than hard mountainous cliffs or hills).   Onpa veltronic features scale linearly in correspondence to the onpa's overall size. Those of smaller heights exhibit very little (possibly even none at all) on their physique, while those of truly massive proportions may resemble entire mountains outright. Much as with their perpetual growth, it is an ever-changing element to their physiology that adapts slowly over time. Similarly, those undergoing Onpicification Magic often end up losing much of their veltronic features in the process as they become the smallest size which the onpa species can presumably be.   The internal body of the onpa, such as the inside of the mouth, is distinctly flesh-like, though not in any way similar to other sapient species. The fibrous structuring has been likened to something similar to fruits, particularly tropical ones, and is a veltron-aspected form of organic composition. One notable effect of this is that when onpa suffer catastrophic damage, such as chunks of their body being removed or a limb cut off, its localized almost immediately and so prevents them from 'bleeding out' to death.   The onpa are a rare species among monsterkind thanks to their incredibly human-like anatomy and appearance. Were it not for their veltronic features, the onpa themselves would simply appear as 'very big humans', rather than some monstrous creature morphologically changed toward human form.    

Appearance

Solid yet ethereal, imposing and enveloping; the onpa are immense presences even at their smallest heights, and that grandiosity only grows with size. Their seamless fusion of humanoid form and veltronic features makes each of them art in motion, perfectly capturing the splendor of personhood with the primality of nature. Whether laughing with rich and joyful contralto or bellowing with such intensity one's bones rattle, the onpa command attention and majesty as naturally as breathing.   As a whole, there is the onpa's humanoid body and its many parts, then the veltronic features growing from them. Some shermadi scholars have equated this relationship as very similar to coral itself: the onpa provides the body (substrate) and the coral (veltronic features) grow upon it, playing host to even smaller forms of life. From this perspective, it is perhaps a symbiotic relationship, though the onpa find it rather funny to consider it under those terms. Their natural view is more that the onpa and the multitudes that grow from, or shelter on, their body are 'one and the same' and not 'two separate things coming together'.   Onpa skin tones are very veltronic in nature, ranging from mountainous grays and whites to volcanic blacks and obsidian. Their skin itself may even be textured similarly to these environments, such as volcanic onpa having glass-like skin that is both glossy and iridescent, being sooty black / gray, featuring basalt or limestone-esque patterns, etc. Their skin just as much includes gemstones and crysium features as well, further diversifying their visual profile with dramatic variety. In some capacities, they're perhaps the most varied species on Veltrona, as diverse and unique as all the myriad lands of the world herself.   Onpa hair itself is unique in that, while a fiber, it is actually mineral-based rather than the typical keratin. This 'rock wool'-like fiber is incredibly insulating and perhaps stronger than rachtoh's silk itself—much to the annoyance of the rachtoh. The exact properties of onpa hair changes based on their veltronic features, but universally coincide with the idea of being 'hair'.   This means common features such as straight, kinky, curly, wavy, etc, are as present in their species as others. Color options are incredibly varied as well, and pretty much any type of color imaginable exists within the species. As part of their perpetual growth, onpa hair, both head and body hair, also continues to grow and has no 'terminal length', making it necessary to care for it regularly.   Onpa eyes possess a duality to them: the sclera itself is very solidly rock-like, rather than organically squishy. The iris and pupil itself are crystalline, and usually equated to being gem-like in some fashion, be it raw, cut, or otherwise. It is a distinctive part of the onpa appearance that compliments the idea of them being 'living statues' or 'veltron in motion'. The pupil's coloration, if not black, is oddly usually a complimentary color to the iris—the implications of how such a phenomena impacts the interior structure of the onpa eye is not entirely understood.    

Natural Abilities

Perpetual Growth — Onpa continue to grow throughout their lives, increasing in size slowly but steadily. There is no known definitive limit to how large they can become, much as there is no known limit to their unfathomable life span—or at least no onpa have ever been observed to hit a limit of any kind. The average rate of growth is about 10 centimeters a year, putting the 100 meter milestone at around 1,000 years of life.   Extreme Nutritional Requirement — Onpa nutritional needs scale linearly with their overall size, be it larger or smaller, but their fundamental baseline is among the highest in sapient species on Veltrona. For example, the smallest sized adult onpa (9ft / 274cm) typically requires food with mana density that would sustain 2-3 adult dragons. Onpa over (90ft / 27m) typically cannot find enough food to sustain themselves outside of a Divine Mountain.   Mountainous Strength — For a species that perpetually grows in size, the physical power needed to move their bodies is no joke. While smaller onpa are still quite stronger than most other species, those of average or greater size exhibit tremendous strength. It is enough to say dragonkind respect onpa strength as one of the few things they watch out for.    

Diet

Conventionally speaking, the onpa are omnivores much in the same way as humans and similar species, preferring a wide and varied diet of both plant and animal matter, and a need to supplement their diets with regular intake of minerals. In their homelands, this isn't difficult to facilitate as the environment is appropriately larger and far more rich in energy. If one compares the relative proportion of food intake, the onpa are 'somewhat higher than the next highest species' but not really remarkable. Cooking, and skilled chefs especially, could truly heighten their meals to even greater realms of satiation and satisfaction. It was when the onpa are faced with food from outside their homelands, and its subsequently much, much lower energy density that the onpa's own extreme nutritional needs became fatally apparent.   In such lands, the onpa need to consume massive amounts to meet even minimum requirements. With the smallest onpa needing to consume nearly a quarter of their own weight of 'unsuitable food' a day, the larger ones raise even more impossible questions on how to sustain them properly. If left unchecked, onpa can either exhaust themselves or the environment trying to harvest entire ecosystems for suitable nutrition. It was thus one of the greatest barriers throughout much of history for onpa to settle among and interact with other species in the long-term, and prevented them from freely exploring the world below their mountains. Only those well-stocked and rich enough in supplies could venture down for any real length of time, but fewer still found locations capable of sustaining them.   Numerous attempts have gone into solving this dilemma, but it is not a simple one to overcome. Doing so would mean, of course, having more food available and thus higher sustainable population sizes. The onpa, nonetheless, continue to try doing so, and some alternative methods have arisen.   Manavore-esque behaviors are wherein the onpa train themselves to subsist off of mana directly from the environment around them. More commonly, they'll adapt to survive off of crysium proper, as it may be sufficiently rich to sustain them. As they're not natural manavores, however, the onpa have to pursue increasingly extreme means in order to facilitate such an extreme dietary restriction. Given the difficulty of acquiring crysium or other mana-dense substances, though, such alternative diets ultimately end up recreating the same ecological devastation they were meant to avoid in the first place.   Some derivative approaches instead focused on a greater and nigh-infinite source of energy: the sun itself. By absorbing sunlight for energy, an onpa could sustain themselves or, at the very least, cut down on their nutrition intake significantly. This method actually panned out quite well for onpa who'd outgrown even their homeland in size, and so many cultures ended up converging on this solution over time, and have devoted much effort into developing technologies and practices to facilitate harvesting solar energy. The most significant downside would become their reliance on sunlight, as well as their limited intake rate and the potential unpredictability of weather conditions. Without exterior aid, a sunlight-dependent onpa would need to carefully regulate their energy so as to not starve themselves out. Thus, it did not suit well for onpa with a highly active lifestyle, though continual efforts to refine it are ongoing.   One such example is the usage of mirrors to create solar reflectors, which concentrate more sunlight into a given area. Since sunlight-reliant onpa largely absorb it through their ‘skin’, such concentration helped speed up their ‘eating’. The problem became that more concentrated sunlight meant higher heat and greater concentrations of radiant mana, which could become toxic to them.   Unrelated, it’s recommended to never eat authentic onpa food, as it may contain a multitude of indigestible mineral additives that are—plainly speaking—lethal for other peoples to eat. Some may even contain no discernible additives, but possess deadly toxins such as arsenic or uranium. The onpa do not consider it rude if people ask about the foods contents or request different dishes; too many died thinking they could stomach such unique cuisine.    

Life Cycle

Infancy & Childhood

Onpa fertility is a matter of some importance, as for the total length of their lifespan, they may only be fertile for a very small portion of it. Generally speaking, onpa fertility declines as they near 100 meters in height, and reproductive capability completely ceases from that point onward. While their sex drives remain existent to varying degrees on the individual, there is no recorded instance of an onpa larger than 100 meters ever successfully giving birth to, or siring, offspring. Until the invention of Onpicification Magic, it was considered a norm in the species for such to happen, akin to menopause in humans. A surprising side effect of that magic, however, was the restoration of fertility, to which 'very old' onpa have utilized it in order to restore reproductive functionality. Scholars still debate and disagree on whether Onpicification Magic leads to any reproductive complications afterward, though, as the accounts are both hard to come by and even harder to verify due to the individuals involved and the reluctance to disclose such personal information.   Onpa pregnancies by far only center around one child, and extremely rarely, two. While the length of pregnancy varies between 1-to-2 years (correlating to the mother’s height), the significant difference is energy consumption. As infants grow proportionally to the mother, a taller mother means a bigger infant, which means much greater energy intake. Every ten meters of height essentially doubles the energy requirements for the pregnancy, creating a frightening proposition for onpa women at the higher end of the height spectrum.   Expecting mothers have to stockpile sufficient food and materials in preparation for both pregnancy and post-partum well in advance of conception. As the case may be, it's not simply the mother needing sustenance, but both the mother and the child requiring a suitable environment for the newborn to acclimate within. It is enough to say pregnancy among the onpa is almost never an accidental affair, but one with great and sophisticated planning behind it, requiring an immense dedication of resources to carry out successfully.   Newborn onpa themselves will spend some years as dependent infants that have little capacity to function beyond clinging to their mothers, observing their environment, and eating. During this time, if they're not with their mother, they'll be sequestered in special nurseries built with specific veltron materials for the infant to acclimate to. Onpa cultural customs, keenly aware of their own environmental adaptation behavior, seek to ensure their child(ren) have a suitable and easy start in doing so for where they will grow up.   Upon reaching a few years of age, the infant onpa will have gained more robust sensory awareness as their eyes have adjusted and developed the capacity for seeing further than their caregiver, as well as some mobility. Both factors engender a great curiosity of their surrounding environment and it is then they'll be introduced to the broader family, potential playmates, and others within their parents' culture. From there, it's a matter of slowly but steadily letting the infant learn at their own pace, grasp fundamentals, and develop into their own person. The exact means to which varies between cultures, but as the onpa do not age particularly quickly, it goes at its own pace.   Consequently, the amount of time that new parents and their immediate community must dedicate toward childcare is significant. When infancy lasts for years, and toddlerhood even longer, it becomes imperative that every adult in the community knows how to care for children and keep them safe, lest the parents exhaust themselves and the child face neglect. The ease with which onpa mothers pass their newborns off to their family members or neighbours for extended periods may make other species balk, but it is a necessity for the health of the mother and the newborn.    

Adolescence

By the time of adolescence, an onpa is a fairly capable, if not overtly powerful, individual. Already taller than every other sapient species on Veltrona, they're beginning to reach sizes to contend with some of the most dangerous fauna in their homelands. Actual physical maturation will also begin to finally express veltronic features, and so a young onpa will be facing more than one great change in their body as a result. It can be called a time of great agitation, especially as their bodies develop in new or unexpected ways. Adolescents who’ve migrated from one environment to another, for example, may adopt features they didn’t expect, leading to anxiety or discomfort.   Adolescence is also the period in which many onpa cultures greatly loosen the reins kept on the young folk. It is a time of change, wildness, and bold exploration for an onpa to learn the world, their place in it, and who they wish to become. While many families will push their child(ren) to higher education, craftswoman apprenticeship, and other forms of future investment in one's livelihood, it's often balanced against the young onpa wanting to do things on their own. Time is not a pressing issue for their species, and so in a fashion similar to immortals, the onpa will take an even pace for self-improvement and freedom of expression.   For growing onpa young, the best marks of maturity come from different forms of achievements and milestones. Since each one’s education and training can be unique or unconventional, it’s important to ensure they meet culturally expected capabilities. Intellectual, physical, and magical tests or evaluations suffice for this, where community-held events allow young onpa to participate and prove themselves. These, in turn, become larger social gatherings of their families and friends, and the cultural proving grounds to which young onpa make their marks. In that sense, they’re often a type of sports festival and school exam mixed together, proctored by chosen teachers or elderly guides respected by the community or the participants’ families.    

Adulthood

Adulthood proper is a somewhat difficult measure to pin down. Most onpa cultures vary between age 80-to-120 years as being when someone is considered a 'full adult' both culturally and in terms of physical development. This time period coincides with a slow down in onpa growth speed, which is associated with the end of adolescence. By this point, nearly everyone will be well-versed in their family's crafts, sport a complex degree of education, and possess a great knowledge of their homeland’s geography, societies, wildlife, and neighbours. Hopefully they’ll have passed a number of important exams and competitions, proving their own capabilities or be risked regarded as someone undeveloped or lacking.   From there, it truly is a matter of an onpa's own personal inclinations. Whether as a scholar studying the universe, an engineer building a better world, a mighty guardian protecting their family and people, many onpa end up visiting these myriad occupations sooner or later. Most, however, do develop specific tastes for the arts, and so when they're not busy working, they'll indulge such passions with great passion. Sports, as well, are a strong and ever-present component of their cultures, for competition is the fuel to success as much as a crushing inhibition to ambition. Given their vast lifespan, most onpa will take on and practice nearly every skill, profession, or unique craft at some point or another. Those who find something truly captivating and worthy of their devotion to elevate from simply practitioner to mistress are considered quite lucky, as it can be difficult to find such life-shaping commitment.   While Onpicification Magic resulted in dramatic changes to the concept of onpa fertility, its contentious usage meant traditional and alternative ways existed just as much. Given the costliness of having children, new adults are not necessarily expected to have any or rush into such business. Generally by the time of the 30-to-50 meter height range, the expectations of marriage and child rearing come to the fore much more seriously. For some, it is the time they start preparing the resources for a child, while others may have their families or community’s support in doing so.  

Old Age & Death?

It should be noted that the onpa are a mortal species, but no one actually knows what old age, or death from thereof, actually looks like for them. Seemingly as long-lived as the veltron, the onpa never truly physically decline, nor exhibit symptoms of old age that any other species would recognize. There have been arguments they should be classified as immortal, but as they are still witnessed by death's gaze, they're classified as mortals by actual immortal scholars. The idiom 'it will be finished when an onpa grows old', and its permutations, usually convey a sense of something taking so long as to literally never actually matter.   Virtually every onpa in recorded history has died due to any causes except those related to age. Starvation was a more rampant cause of death in uld times, while disease, injury, and conflict have remained the normal cause for onpa fatalities. There is some speculation that Onpicification Magic may actually rejuvenate the onpa to some extent, resetting their biological clock in a form of quasi-immortality, albeit unintentionally. Though, no onpa whose undergone the process has reached the realms of 'oldest to ever live', or at least been clearly documented as such, which makes proving or disproving such a claim difficult at best.   Thus, while age may not kill an onpa, other sources can and do. When an onpa dies from such circumstances, their bodies notably undergo a rapid veltronic change. In a process that consumes all their remaining mana, the onpa quite literally turn to stone, rock, and/or dirt, similar to the petrakin, though the onpa leave only the vaguest impression of their humanoid-self within such a transformed state. Particularly powerful onpa may end up releasing excess mana, flooding the surrounding environment with free-floating mana in an event similar to a whale fall within the oceans. There is great symbolism around dying as a result, for the onpa view it as them returning to the veltron and giving back to the world after having taken so much in order to sustain themselves.   It's also led to some unfortunate interspecies incidents where mining crews, who were prospecting in materially rich locations, accidentally broke into what is effectively an onpa graveyard instead.    

Anaxials, Hybrids, and Variants

Anaxials

Among the rarer anaxials to exist, onpa anaxials are curious bridges between human adaptability and onpa grandeur. Similar to dragonkind or other high maintenance species, the human mother of the onpa anaxial must be someone of formidable character and power in order to bear such offspring. A lot of effort—not very different from regular onpa pregnancies—must go into not only ensuring things work, but that the child is safely born.   Onpa anaxials themselves take heavily after their human heritage, albeit growing to much greater heights and stronger physiques. Unlike the onpa, the anaxial has a much more definitive limit to their growth, and usually doesn't exceed 10 meters in height in most circumstances. Most veltronic features are also much more minimized, or even absent entirely, but onpa anaxials will exhibit patchwork examples of rocky/crystalline/etc skin, minor atmospheric disturbances such as mist or cloudiness around their bodies, and so on. From a certain point of view, an onpa anaxial blends both heritages together quite seamlessly, but always in a way that is never definitively more one side or the other.    

Hybrids

Onpa hybrids are reasonably prolific among the species, though most usually come from neighboring species. Identifying them, however, can be somewhat troublesome as specific traits may end up either not emerging, but what traits that do emerge will end up consumed by their veltronic features. Traits that readily affect the hair, eyes, and head tend to survive the best, and so more clearly demonstrate an onpa's lineage.   However, new types of veltronic features may also emerge as a result of their mixed heritage. 'Draconic rock' is one example of dragon scales fusing with veltron formation, resulting in very peculiar and specific styles of growth on the onpa themself. 'Coral reef' is another example, typically sourced from either water dragons, shermadi, or ekurin, and will actually exhibit a functional coral ecosystem of some variety—as well as ambient water flowing or floating around the onpa to sustain said ecosystem. There's speculation that whatever process allows the onpa to adapt to their local environment may clue into their bloodlines directly, modulating the adaptation process. However, as some onpa hybrids display this behavior, others do not, so there is no real consensus on the topic.   Onpa hybrids typically grow at the same rate as single-blood onpa.    

Variants

There are no known onpa variants. There was debate if onpa from different environments or mountainhomes qualified, but as any onpa living there long enough would 'change', it did not seem to fit the rigidity a variant definition would demand.      

Sociology

Cultural Universals

Grandiosity

The onpa are the largest sapient species native to Veltrona, and their worldly view is suitably grand as a result. It is an enormity of perspective that ever challenges them to find their place in life, for that place may demand destruction as much as creation. The onpa are keenly aware of themselves and what their unchecked might can do, but simultaneously refuse to be afraid of that. Instead, it falls to them to mistress such power, and in doing so, wield it in ways that are more beneficial than harmful.   How this manifests differs between their cultures, be it immense and dazzling cities that even dragons feel like ants within, to vast veltronic landscapes carefully sculpted in a guise of wild homeliness. For some, the realms of the mind and its wondrous possibilities of intelligence, enlightenment, and/or magical creation are where they hone their crafts. Wherever the onpa go, one can be assured that their presence will leave long and often lingering wakes behind them.    

Spiritedness

The onpa are not an idle people, drawn to the myriad possibilities of life just as much as any other. More so, perhaps, than most would expect of beings of their size. What form this takes changes from culture to culture, but to some scholars, it seems almost an innate agitation or lust for life. Some would go as far as comparing it to the karsoru’s own innate drive, albeit less ‘wild’ than the onpa, who have to be mindful of their great power. When compared to the languid petrakin, who take things at their own pace, however, the onpa are not idle mountains, but churning landscapes anxious to take shape.   From the outside perspective, especially shorter lived peoples, though, the motions of onpa culture can be hard to discern.    

Lingual Characteristics

Onpa linguistics are essentially human-like in every observable metric that matters. The significant difference is that larger onpa, and their correspondingly greater vocal capability, can produce sounds of much greater volume and intensity much more easily. Some of the largest onpa have vocal power equivalent to weaponized sonic attacks, and so it can be quite tricky for them to speak in a civil way to those much smaller than themselves.   As a result, onpa of larger sizes tend to speak with softer, breathier voices as they grow. The very largest onpa may abandon speech for non-vocal forms of communication entirely, or develop complex magics to nullify the sonic danger. This has cultural knock-on effects of many onpa cultures associating verbosity with youth and quietness with maturity.   Ejective sounds are also extremely common in nearly every onpa languages. Due to the prestige that most onpa are beheld with by other species, those that interact regularly with onpa tend to start to incorporate these phonemes into their own languages as time goes on.    

Arts and Beauty

For the cultures of the onpa, art and beauty tend to collide together in a mixture of natural reverence and an emphasis on personalization as an expression of creativity. As a people who—quite literally—embody the very veltron itself, most onpa cultures hold some inherent respect and esteem for the natural world around them. Veltrona's many varied landscapes, and to say nothing of other worlds entirely, is a source of constant inspiration and enjoyment, and so prevalent throughout the onpa as a whole. Yet, at the same time, being deeply individualistic and prideful, the onpa oft wish to create and show off works of their own that rival, if not exceed, such natural majesty themselves.   Whether it is in painted murals grander in scale than entire draconic towers, sculptures that capture an idyllic snapshot of the world down to the smallest and most delicate blade of grass, complex narrative epics, and more, the onpa have tried them all. The very people to first pioneer these works often became the figureheads of those artforms directly, to which aspirants may learn from as much as rivals seek to make a new method of their own. The art world is a proverbial battleground among the onpa, and a place to which fame and self-esteem have been lifted and cast down from throughout the eras. Popular myths among most of Veltrona's species often attribute the most grand, towering statues of people or other monumental relics as the leftover works of an onpa civilization or made by the hand of a locally renown (or outright fictional) onpa mistress, even if an onpa never actually visited that part of the world through most of history.   In many ways, beauty itself to the onpa is the artful display of the sublimity of one's natural form and essence that, through one’s own skill, is refined to its greatest possible potential. It is an entirely subjective perspective heightened by the fact the onpa themselves are so unique and different from one another, leading to a large and varied collection of critics in any onpa culture. The raw, untouched, and pristine wilderness of one onpa's mountainous features may be quite ugly to another who instead prefers the taste of artificiality and personal skill in a sculpted landscape instead. One's boisterous, domineering presence may enthuse onlookers as much as repulse them, especially such a presence ends up threatening them in the process. The diversity to which the onpa live by often makes monsterkind scholars equate their beauty standards with humanity, who is also so diverse as to be difficult to describe in broad strokes with any accuracy.    

Magic and Technology

Creativity itself is a form of recreation and meditation to the onpa, combining not only artistic pride and desire, but intelligent design and scientific innovations. As magic itself is shaped at its most fundamental level by the perspective of those wishing to conduct it, the grandiosity of an onpa’s perspective, and needs thusly, begets magic of truly mountainous sublimity. A nebusah mage of Sa-kemet might know the sands and rocks of the burning deserts, but their reach can only go so far. Whereas they dance in the sands, perhaps no more than dozens of meters at best, an onpa mage might instead conjure tidal waves and massive geysers instead, able to bring forth not only greater magical might to bear, but simply a point of view that can see more of the whole of the desert and less of its constituent parts.  

The onpa are artists who play not with rocks and pebbles, but the very world herself, shaping the lands and changing life as far as the eye can see. In this much, I can imagine why the younger peoples of the world thought them goddesses in the uld times. It is truly wonderful to witness a mountain rise from the veltron and flourish with life in lands once utterly desolate.

— Muttarom, a semi-reclusive dragon of the Rom lineage, and considered one of the foremost draconic experts on the onpa.

  Unfortunately, the greatest hurdle to onpa magic is the utterly absurd amounts of mana required to facilitate their arts. The onpa have naturally enormous mana storage capacities, which many other species would require massive magic arrays and constructs to facilitate, giving them a unique strength in that respect. That enormous capacity does not beget enormous generation rate, however, and like other species, an onpa can spend years, if not decades, stockpiling it in preparation for some of their most profound acts of magic.   This had a dramatic downstream effect on onpa technology, as they did not need to create technology to handle massive quantities of mana in their stead. Instead, whether it be for convenience or necessity, onpa technology was built with simplicity and robustness, while the onpa themselves were the 'engine' that allowed it to operate. In theory, it is a similar circumstance to dragonkind, who naturally radiate mana from their bodies, and so built their technology to absorb/siphon this 'excess mana' in order to operate. The onpa, however, do not radiate mana so easily, but they can transfer their stored mana into things like crysium batteries, and so provide the fuel for machkinery and other innovations for years at a time from a single massive charge.    

Religion and Philosophy

Introspection and contemplation of themselves and the broader world have been hallmarks of onpa cultures since the very first onpa strode upon Veltrona. Grand in size, mighty in power, and virtually invincible often enough; they had it all, but to what ends? They, who had safety and food in abundance still wanted more; and many onpa have spent their lives following many pursuits and passions in the endeavor to fill their long lives with a sense of meaning and purpose. The inability of any onpa to find one universal philosophy to satisfy this internal sense of restlessness proved to be a frustration for countless centuries, though. Once onpa began to descend from their mountainhomes, or once the lowland dragons began to find their way up to them, many onpa historians found that dragonkind provided an answer of sorts.   Dragons, so-called the 'first peoples of Veltrona', were still the onpa's elders, and once the two established something of a repertoire, the onpa asked the dragons on what to do to resolve their restless hearts. The answer isn't remembered anymore, but one popular account claims that the dragons found the question so utterly ridiculous as to laugh their heads off. Once they were done, they told the onpa thusly: 'study the world, build great monuments, discover secrets yet unknown; what you do today, you do tomorrow, and eventually, you will be going somewhere'. There's scholarly arguments over the exact terms and ideas this account meant to convey, but most equate it to a proverbial slap in the face to the then-idle onpa, who'd yet to experience such a thing. The resulting feuds and conflicts did, nonetheless, galvanize the onpa in a direction their species has since ever hurtled down.   Perhaps it is for that reason that the ancient onpa word for 'friend' and 'rival' are actually the same word in most cultures to this very day.   With this perspective in mind, the onpa concept of 'religion' is quite different from most other species. Leaning more toward the idea of 'organized philosophical camps', these religious groups center on doctrinal teachings forged by onpa of past (and sometimes current) generations. The primary purpose of which is existential in nature, meant to provide a guide to an uncertain or questioning onpa on what to do with their long lives; to find what gives them meaning in their awesome existence.   One such religion might be the Surrahyem Tower, originating from the now-destroyed Guotenen Mountains in Lophern, which purported that the onpa, as shapers of Veltrona herself, could build a tower to the sun itself, if they had the skill to do so. While some argued this was meant as a metaphorical tower, the modern Surrahyem are concerned with engineering of all kinds in the literal pursuit of that seemingly ridiculous goal. Many such towers have arisen and fallen throughout the millennia, and the construction of each one has seen incredible breakthroughs in scientific knowledge among its patronesses and engineers as they attempted to breach the heavens.   Even the Surrahyem themselves know it is an absurd premise, allegedly, but the challenges posed by it have invigorated them endlessly. The towers themselves function as much as home, city, and engineering project, rising and falling as different challenges guide their ultimate fate. No tower, however, has reached the Heavens themselves yet.   Another (in)famous organization would be the Bukchuk, and less a 'religion' by even onpa standards and is more an organized sport circuit. The Bukchuk concern themselves with martial excellence of their own bodies, pursuing both strength and skill through constant competition with each other. Whether it is by boxing, straight up brawls, competitive athleticism, or otherwise, if the body can do it, they have a challenge for it somewhere. There are many philosophical reasons to do so, ranging from 'impressing the men/women' to 'seeking martial perfection'. The Bukchuk do not discriminate nor deny anyone so long as they follow the rules of etiquette and conduct, and many onpa have come and gone through their ranks at some point in their lives.    

Science and Spirituality

The onpa sciences and models of spirituality across their cultures have ever been seen through one specific lens: understanding their own place in the world and kosmos alike. With most onpa cultures viewing their people as having been born from Veltrona herself, and imbued with innate greatness as a result of this lineage, many onpa would be humbled by one glaring and undeniable fact: their ignorance. They did not inherently understand why the winds blew, how water rained from the sky, where they even were exactly in relation to other realms or the different heavenly bodies, or why the stars themselves even existed. Their greatest challenges were often not those of the physical world, but that of the spiritual and mental, and so it became common in many cultures to value those who could cultivate within themselves both the skills of intellect and of sensitivity to the world around them and its interconnected relationships. Through that, the onpa soon rationalized existence.   To the onpa, science became the temple of reason, and spirituality the temple of emotion. The two are not enemies, but instead two different branches stemming from the same tree. Veltron-bound existences might cherish science the most of all, for it is the study of the mother that gave birth to all onpa, that they might better understand her nature, and in doing so, understand their own history and future potential. Yet, for those who contended with the realms and heavens that lay beyond and betwixt Veltrona, they were forced to learn to adapt to these very different homes. If Veltrona was their mother, then surely these other realms could be conceived of as her peers in their own right.   The true peculiarities of this intertwined perspective is best understood through the nature of the onpa's homelands. The realms of the Divine Mountains are, while bound to Veltrona, nonetheless at her metaphysical border; existing as much on/near her as much as touching other worlds. In these ephemeral boundaries do the rules change, bending or morphing or contorting into all sorts of ways most on Veltrona need never contend with. The onpa, having to challenge such extraordinary circumstances, developed complex and sophisticated answers in doing so. Because of that, there are many interested in such knowledge, for it is both special and grandly unique in how it works.      

Psychology

Rest and Sleep

While the idiom, "sleep like a rock", may have arisen in reference to the petrakin in most cultures, for the onpa it's almost quite literally true. The health benefits of sleep being what they are, there is somewhat special importance for the onpa. It is the time in which their biology busily processes their accumulated mana, transforming it into a form that can spread throughout their massive bodies into latent energy waiting to be tapped by their biological systems. While this does happen for most every other species, it is notably significantly more extreme within the onpa themselves. A sleeping onpa is functionally in a state of torpor or hibernation rather than simple slumber, allowing the mana to be distributed without immediately being consumed by the demands of daily life. Their scholars speculate because of their massive mana reserves, their bodies are more adapted toward raw capacity over efficiency, which is made up for during sleep.   A consequence of this is the deep, nigh-undisturbable sleep the onpa undergo. Short of something that triggers their fight or flight or causes them physical harm, the onpa will ignore every other conceivable stimuli. That said, the onpa are also quite paranoid of anything happening to—or around them—as they sleep, so most will take means of additional protection or secrecy. An onpa willing to fall asleep around someone is one of their greatest signs of trust imaginable, and something usually only reserved for direct family members or closest of friends.   Resting itself is less troublesome, and a frequent fixture of an onpa's daily life. For species with higher metabolism rates, adult onpa cannot afford to waste much of their precious energy through purposeless movement. As an onpa ages, they gain a lived awareness of how to most efficiently plan their daily routines around the extreme energy demands of their bodies, as well as if they even have the resources to recover from the endeavor. Lounging is itself a cornerstone of many onpa cultures as a result, and onpa architecture strategically incorporates resting areas into both the public and private spheres. There’s no sense in running around wasting energy trying to find someone when one can just wait at a meeting spot halfway in-between, after all.   An outside view may see their species as somewhat lazy as a result, but such people do not understand that when an onpa moves, it is to do something very specific and not waste any time/energy. As such, recreation among the onpa tends to take the form of much more sedate games and artforms—such as word games, music, games of strategy or chance, and storytelling. Gossip is quite literally an artform among the oldest onpa.    

Consciousness and Thought

By most measures, the onpa are in the realm of human cognition, and mostly do not exhibit any unusual traits. They do, however, have a much better resilience against boredom and the passage of time, even more than actual immortal species. There's rampant speculation among biologists how the onpa do so exactly, and what physiological basis there may be for a 'mortal species' to weather time as well, or better, than an 'immortal' one.   The onpa themselves fundamentally lack the same latent regenerative capability all immortal species are identified by, which means that cognitive wear and tear can become permanent on them. Physically, their bodies never stop growing, which itself is technically a form of regeneration. Common consensus is that the onpa do have a form of regeneration, just one from a completely different vector than immortals. Thus, they can psychologically endure greater lengths of times than any other mortal species, but not to theoretical infinity.    

Motivation and Emotion

One could—perhaps mostly correct in doing so—argue that the onpa are a rather egotistical species, easily matching if not exceeding dragonkind themselves. Whereas dragons are classically associated with domineering arrogance, the onpa veer toward aspirational excellency instead. Competition is at the heart of the onpa world view, for much like climbing a mountain, it is a test of one's personal character as much as cooperative nature. For a people rarely challenged by anything on Veltrona, it is only natural their greatest competitors come from each other, after all.   Sometimes likened to the rowdiness of the karsoru, the onpa are decidedly less belligerent about their norms. Honor, of a kind, is quite important to them for it inspires audacity as much as tempers malignant ambition. From the view point of jovial competition, it is only when those involved are both fair and equal can true tests of character and capabilities be revealed. Cheating and destructive hostility are anathema to such a thing, for it violates the jovial spirit and sanctity of proving one's mettle. A cascading effect from this arises in many onpa cultures have rather strict and comprehensive ideas of honor, legality, and trust, sometimes overbearingly so. Nonetheless, it is also why many myths, legends, and tales surrounding the onpa tend to venerate them as 'good people' due to that same honorable behavior.   What must be made clear, however, is that the onpa are as much a loud and proud people as they can be stoic and mountainous. Self-control is an important quality when one's very footsteps can crush villages and destroy ecosystems, not to mention actual feats of strength. That an onpa does not erupt like a volcano doesn't mean they do not feel nothing, only that they yet retain control over what they do feel. When it comes to such moments, however, few forces on Veltrona—except other onpa—can contend with the rage of a living mountain.    

Sexuality and Love

The onpa sexuality spectrum might fall under the definitions of 'pansexual', particularly given the physical variability within the species proper. Far more concerned with the person in their totality than gender-driven norms, the only pertinent time such a concern rears its head is when child making is an issue. Still, there are various ways to approach that particular quandary, and so the onpa themselves have never been bothered by the exact details thereof.   If there is one thing that can make even stoic onpa move with irrational tidal force, however, it is love—be it among friends, family, or partner(s). The onpa crave recognition and esteem, especially from those closest to them, for such people are the most important in the world. It can be of little surprise, then, that the onpa are willing to go to extreme lengths for those very same peoples if the circumstances call for it. Entire civilizations have been built up as much as torn down, all in the name of love.   Sociologists suspect that perhaps one of the major reasons honor became important in onpa cultures is that it offered a means of effective de-escalation and deterrent to such powerful emotions.   There is, however, always the awkward topic of relations with the small folk and the onpa. While such beings can rarely reach the size of the smallest onpa, most onpa are simply too big for safe interactions. Prudish detractors of Onpicification Magic love to point out that such magic is often used for obscene intent, while proponents counter with it being a reasonable means of solving an otherwise insurmountable issue. The contentiousness of the topic is not so different from immortal species who must grapple with the reality of what loving a mortal, destined-to-die being can entail. The onpa simply complicate that same issue with the ridiculous size differences involved.      

Society

Social Mannerisms

Overbearing Confidence

The onpa are a people born with greatness in them, and they know that for a fact. The self-confidence is tremendously high as a result, making them surprisingly overbearing sometimes. Arrogance being an easy fault to slip into, the onpa often learn by first-hand experience the price of misjudged confidence and ill-conceived notions. This is especially apparent among younger onpa who have yet to be tempered by the unforgiving lessons life ever hands out to people. Older onpa, having gone through such trials, demonstrate the true danger of that confidence: they know how to get something done, even impossible somethings.    

Honorable Conduct

Honor is the bedrock that keeps onpa civilization from tearing itself apart. When one is in a room full of highly egotistical and overly confident individuals, even minor slights can lead to explosive situations. From honor did things like familial piety, courtly manners, and humility arise to temper the onpa's more outrageous personality quirks. That said, it is not as life-or-death as it is in some others, such as the aryauk, who value their concepts of honor more than their very lives. From a broader perspective, honor is simply the vehicle that allows the prideful onpa to interact with one another without potentially embarrassing themselves. It is a convoluted mannerism surprisingly reminiscent of dragon mannerisms, and so it's undeniable the two have had an influence on each other to some extent.    

Gender

Whether or not the onpa are 'gender blind' is a curious question that arises sometimes, as for the most part there is little-to-no distinction among themselves except gendered pronouns and women largely being in charge of children. Even then, the onpa play fast and loose with such ideas, and so many unique circumstances and situations arise on the regular. One can argue that the onpa are very-slightly matriarchal if only because women, who take charge of their children and their family, are more concerned with broader reaching issues such as group welfare/fitness. At the least, that was true in the uld times, but the modern onpa have fairly even distributions across all levels of their societies.    

Kinship and Ethnicities

Due to their relatively low population size as a species and the rarity with which children are born, even in the modern times, onpa kinship groups usually reflect fairly simplistic structures. The prototypical family surrounds one mother and her spouse(s), then their resulting offspring. Some families have a fairly open arrangement, so the spouses may alternate, making it necessary to track the family via the mother and her offspring instead. These branching families are typically classified as clans, to which everyone has some degree of direct blood relation to each other (for however many times removed).   The various clans then inhabit a given Divine Mountain, which is then wrapped together into one broad ethnic group. The onpa of Mount Skyreach, for example, are the Skyborn ethnic group. Membership of an ethnic group is also not necessarily set in stone, as if an onpa lives among others in a new location, they will eventually acclimate to both the environment and the culture. At some nebulous point, they may be considered as having transitioned into a new ethnic identity, but not always. Some onpa, who care more about their birth ethnic group, will continue to identify as such even if they become physically distinct from that group.   It's generally considered quite strange to identify someone through ethnic groups to the onpa as they really care more about which clan you're from, and who you know, more than anything else, as this is what determines who the valid marriageable partners are and who is simply kin.    

Governments and Politics

The social dynamics of onpa civilization make it whirlwind between the democratic and authoritarian spectrum practically every other century. Inherently egotistical, but also needing to cooperate on a societal level, the onpa will wield anything from raw brute power to cults of personality. It quite literally depends on who is involved, as some onpa are easier to get along with or more interested in mutual ventures, while others are so arrogant—even by their standards—that force is often the only thing that makes them listen.   From a holistic perspective, this isn't terribly different from the turbulence experienced by immortal species as a whole. Long-lived/forever living members means social power dynamics operate on a fundamentally different model, which is complicated by the onpa's own awesome power in each member of the species. Overall, the onpa have gradually leaned toward the democratic side of the spectrum, especially as dragonkind have often proven that method can work themselves. Internal politics among the onpa, however, is rife with ego and all sorts of forces conspiring to further their own agendas. Some with schemes centuries to millennia long, and the patience to see such plans through.   The oldest, still-standing government would fall to the Skyborn onpa of Mount Skyreach. As caretakers of their homeland, they command a certain prestige in the species that has been used to bludgeon others more than once. In some respects, though democratic in function, the eldest onpa of Mount Skyreach are akin to onpa royalty in prestige and influence, and so their opinions hold great weight among other mountains.    

Trade and Economics

Onpa economics tend to fall within bartering and gift-giving, but their largest civilizations (or those dealing with foreigners) will adopt value-stored wealth (e.g, coins) instead. Because an onpa's labor is so highly valued, they often command higher prices in exchange for their time/goods. This has a knock on effect at every step of the production chain, compounding the cost of any good through each set of hands it passes through.   The complexities of this are often considered the driving reason for the onpa to look to the world below and open trade with other species. When a prospective guild, company, or labor union can instead secure what the onpa need with minimal fuss, it may serve as a way for them to avoid the high cost (monetarily or otherwise) of dealing with onpa traders or craftswomen. The transportation of such goods, however, can be quite the issue in itself, which has ever been the weak point of this type of trade in the first place. They must literally be transported up and down the largest mountains on Veltrona herself, and that is no simple feat.   That said, items of greater value yet smaller dimensions or weight, such as art, knowledge, music, and so forth, are much easier to trade for instead. Many onpa traders who descend from their mountains come in search of such goods, especially sequels to popular works that the onpa back home demand greatly. In exchange, the onpa themself may trade their own cultural wares to potential civilizations. Onpa technology tends to be quite hard to trade for as, not only is it quite large by their own standards, but impossible-to-use for much smaller peoples in the first place.   Modern day onpa usually have some sort of trade agreement setup with wyverns or harpies, as both can fly up the onpa's mountains while carrying desirable goods. In this much, at least, they provide a vital information highway that's made it much easier for the onpa to stay in contact with the peoples of the world below.    

Interspecies Relations

Of all peoples on Veltrona, the onpa have the longest history with the likes of dragonkind and the ilansu, who cohabit with them in the Divine Mountains. Of these two, the relationship they share with dragons are both storied and greatly expansive, stretching to the literal dawn of the onpa species. The ilansu, while close friends for a time, would become lost due to a horrible calamity, and their later return to Veltrona saw their shared history erased, making the two strangers once more.   For the many other peoples, especially those in the world below, the onpa have ever been mythic and divine figures of a kind. While such reverence may have had a place in uld times, it also created a barrier between both sides that made it somewhat frustrating to deal with. As the onpa themselves have no conceptualization of the reverence deities commanded among other peoples, they found such attention as rather off-putting at the best of time. The advent of Onpicification Magic, and the subsequently much smaller onpa doing business with such civilizations, helped to lift that reverent barrier away. Still, religious awe or not, an onpa over 50 meters in height striding through one's village demands some recognition all the same.      

Associated Articles

Notable Civilizations

     

Notable Characters

       

Design Notes