Anurans
The observer will first be struck by the Anurans’ resemblance to giant frogs. They must share a common ancestor with the amphibians, as humans share a common ancestor with extant primates. They are the most isolated of the Tanzian races and incapable of facial expression.
Appearance and Physical Characteristics
Anurans most closely resemble gigantic frogs which can go on two legs or four with equal grace and ease. They are by far the largest of the sentient beings, both in bulk and upright height. Their skin is rough and toad-like. Their skin patterns are as individual as human fingerprints, and their coloration can be green, brown, gray, or creamy white.
Anurans appear capable of breathing through their skin, and they use this adaptation to hibernate under mud during winter.
They are expert jumpers and can leap up to fifty yards at a time. During the powerful jump, their eyes close and draw back within the skull for protection. The lunge with a spear is a common battle technique, but one which must be executed blindly.
Their fingers are sticky and not conducive to fine craftsmanship, but by using tools, they are able to perform some relatively precise work.
Anuran eyes are “prey eyes,” being slightly to the side of the head. Due to their jumping proficiency, their vision is thought to be slightly binocular. It is appropriate to stand somewhat to the side and a few paces back from an Anuran, so it may view its interviewer clearly.
Anurans display no facial expressions of happiness, sadness, laughter, anger, suspicion, or the like. Therefore only explicit speech can avail when contacting them.
Clothing
Being as they breathe through their skin, Anurans wear no clothing save decorate ropes or strips of hide tied around themselves and the occasional piece of jewelry, often made of white chalcedony.
Language
The Anuran language is a tonal language and humans can not reproduce all of its sounds accurately. However an abridged version of Anuran can be spoken by a very capable human linguist.
Territory
“Anurans, as it transpires, are the least populous race on Tanzia, their numbers being severely restricted by the limited lands they can survive in. Like the komodos, echidnas, and black devil-bears of Sutherbury, Anurans exist nowhere outside of the exact conditions that sustain their odd lives … an Anuran without his swamp is a fish without water or a koala without eucalyptus; they simply cannot survive without their favored environment.”
The Anuran tribes inhabit swamps, wetlands, and fens in pockets across Tanzia, but being as their skin needs nearly constant moisture, they are rarely seen anywhere else. Dry climates are unlivable for them, especially as they must seasonally hibernate in the mud of temperate regions. Their range is very much limited, but having nowhere to flee if their homeland is taken by Servants, Anurans fight all the more to protect their land.
Culture and Technology
Apart from their ritualized appreciation of tea and their enjoyment of bathing in hotsprings, the Anuran existence is a drab one. They live in roosts atop wooden poles leaned in together and intersecting in an hourglass fashion. These rough towers give them a view over the swamp and protection from enemies who can neither jump high enough nor build a fire in the swamp to burn them down. They fish, cut peat for fire, and make simple spear weapons. Little is known about their culture, but no art, music, or literature is apparent, nor any other elements of civilization.