![[F] Inhabitants of the Delta: Charnel Haunters (The-Delta-of-Worlds)](https://preview.redd.it/2vbzch13mgah1.png?auto=webp&s=4e45016e3ba2d3ac28b6eabd03a13961d772a0b3)
[F] Inhabitants of the Delta: Charnel Haunters (The-Delta-of-Worlds)
Main: haunter warrior. The prestigious bronze pickaxe, scarifications, bodypaint, bone insertions, and clitoral erection are all essential parts of her battle gear. Top left: cerimonial bone knife. Top right: two solutions to the gruesome issue of birth through pseudopenis: bone plugs to gradually broaden the urethra and subincision to go around it altogether. Right: leather condom used to collect the semen of subaltern males during mounting.
Origins: A worldline that diverged from ours around the Miocene, from a clade of roughly dog-like carnivorans that spread in the Eurasian steppe. Similarly to early hominids, charnel haunters specialized as kleptoparasites and power scavengers, forcing predators from the carcasses, and developing stone tools and fire to extract more nourishment; unlike hominids, they persisted on this path, as other predators displaced them further from hunting niches.
Appearance: Charnel haunters are bipedal carnivorans with a roughly humanoid shape. Their hands peculiarly have two thumbs: one with a massive claw, used by their ancestors for hunting, and one that evolved later for finer handling of objects. They are covered in a very short and dense pelt, usually of sandy yellow color, except for a sort of mane running down their nape and neck. Compared to humans, haunters of both sexes are large and powerfully built, with an average weight well above 150 kg.
The necessity to drive larger predators from their meal, and strong intraspecies competition resulted in a massive increase of the production of testosterone. Much like spotted hyenas on our Earth, the female clitoris developed into an impressive pseudopenis. Not only intercourse must occur through the pseudopenis, which has to be retracted into the abdomen, but so does childbirth, resulting in a harrowing and destructive experience to which most firstborn did not survive.
Lifeways: Charnel haunters are strictly carnivorous, and mostly live off domesticated flightless birds in nomadic groups. These are herded on the open steppe; cattle raids are common, and the main source of violence in haunter culture. Membership in a particular tribe, especially during battle, is marked by an extensive system of pelt dyeing, scarifications, and piercings. While haunters they can eat fresh meat thoroughly cooked with heat or acids, decomposing meat and bone marrow are preferred.
The issue of childbirth can be solved with a sort of caesarean cut at the base of the pseudopenis, though many haunter cultures preempt it by practicing subincision at puberty, or with the insertion of progressively wider bone plugs to gradually dilate the urethra. While wood and stone are widespread, and metal is used, bone remains the base of haunter toolwork.
Infants naturally need to be nursed for a long time while their immunitary system and gastric juices develop. Pair-bonds are strictly monogamous as this occurs, with the father servicing his mate and children until weaning, at which point the pair is dissolved. To reinforce the bond, paired haunter women regularly practice anal penetration of their mates. The semen ejaculated in these occasions is caught into a sort of leather condom; it may be used for ritual purposes, but also for impregnation, with full pseudopenile intercourse being a rare honor for the males that distinguish themselves most in battle.
While there is no physical dominance of one sex over the other, traditionally political and intellectual activity in haunter societies is up to pregnant and nursing women, as they are the only healthy adults who do not need to provide their own sustenance.
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Kenna growled as she came inside her mate, her member pulsing powerfully as if it were trying, by some deep genetic memory, to eject seed it didn’t have. Tammu grunted and trembled as well, raking the hard soil with his claws. Was it enough?
Tammu loosened the pouch around his penis and slid out with a shudder, while Kenna untied the strap that held it around his waist. A good volume of liquid sloshed inside. He turned around, and Kenna nuzzled him and ran her claws through his mane. He’d been doing well; if his harvest bought them the favor of the rain gods, perhaps Kenna would allow him to fuck her directly.
The semen was poured in the cattle-bird’s skull: life-water from below in exchange for life-water from above. Thunder did roll over the savanna and the bone circle, and sunlight did dim for a while. The lakes would refill, the hillsides return green, and for one more year the cattle-birds would grow fat and bright-feathered. But the sun’s glare returned quickly, and the towering clouds seemed to be rushing away already. The gods had bounty to give, but demanded more.
A sigh. Tammu turned to see Kenna smearing fresh grease over her dick. Not yet enough.