Concerning Hoomans
Anatomy
Hoomans are a humanoid race with owl heads and other avian features. One noticeable distinction Hoomans have is the presence of feathers rather than hair or fur. This takes the form of down or "fuzz" rather than the plumage one thinks of when hearing the word "feather", though the head bears feathers reminiscent of those allowing for flight in exception to this, as well as a fan of tail feathers almost always covered by their cloaks. The plumage and down are universally in various shades of brown, though the coloration is not uniform in the case of the former. Small patches of lighter or darker shades are found on the head.
There are some minor similarities to owls as well, including a greater-than-average neck-turning radius and particularly long legs compared to other humanoids.
The longer legs lend to Hoomans on average being taller than other races, though the strain on them leads to joint pains among other difficulties. As a result, it is quite common to see aging Hoomans bracing against objects or relying on a cane to reduce the burden on their legs. A few unfortunate souls even have to rely on wheelchairs. These wheelchair-bound Hoomans are often accompanied by a Toehound to keep them company when the youth are with their parents.
Female Hoomans (hereafter referred to as Femhoomans) lack breasts, as they do not nurse their young. It is perhaps worth noting that they have down on their chests, and Femhoomans take care in properly grooming their chest fuzz to provide premium snuggling experiences.
Attire
When Hoomans are publicly witnessed, it can be expected that all of them are wearing a hooded cloak in some way. The cloaks worn by Hoomans have their own differences between each other, but many elements are shared between them all.
In spite of their avian characteristics, Hoomans lack wings. Instead, the edges of their cloaks' sleeves are patterned in design and/or shape to give the impression they are wings. The sleeves are therefore long enough to extend at least as far as the wrist if not longer and are overall rather wide. Likewise, the cloaks themselves extend almost to the ankles.
Most cloaks are some shade of brown, though black or white cloaks are not unheard of in certain regions of /who/. Black cloaks are found in the fishing communities, while white cloaks are worn by the odd village here and there that relies extensively on potatoes and other crops.
The manner in which a cloak is worn varies as well; some treat it like a mantle and cover as much of the body as possible, while others leave it clasped at the base of the neck and keep it as open as practicable.
Every Hooman who has proven themself to be a respectful and responsible member of society is bestowed two feathers: One is from the parents, the other by the grandparent who oversaw their education. These feathers are from local owl species. Though typically fastened or pinned to the hood of their cloak, the feathers can acceptably be applied to anywhere within proximity of the head. Therefore, it is acceptable for a Hooman to have feathers in a hairband, on a necklace, or on any other accessory, as long as that accessory is worn at all times in public.
Before receiving their feathers, many younger Hoomans decorate their cloaks similarly to how feathers would be fastened or otherwise applied. Those who do so tend to adorn the clothing they're wearing beneath the cloaks after they're given their feathers.
The notion that Hoomans are cloak-only is a misnomer. What Hoomans wear beneath them is overall unremarkable, save for adult Femhoomans wearing tops that expose their chest fluff.
Any Hooman elected to the position of Ave or Skol is bestowed an object that allows for them to be identified from a distance, such as a unique helmet or a handheld trinket of some kind. If the object is to be worn, they are expected to wear it whenever executing their duties as Ave/Skol.
Household Composition
The average Hooman household is multi-generational, housing children, parents, and at least one grandparent.
Hoomans refer to their young as Hooties and a grandparent is called Hoojisan.
To support their households and community, male and female Hoomans see roughly even levels of employment. Unlike other humanoid races, Hoomans do not nurse their young. This allows the mothers to return to the workforce shortly after their children come about. This leaves any Hoojian in the home as the one responsible for raising the Hooties.
In addition to raising Hooties in their formative years, the Hoojisan is in charge of home upkeep. They often get Hooties involved in cleaning but leave them to watch most cooking endeavors until they've earned their first feather. If a Hoojisan is in poor physical condition (most common case of this being foot issues), the Hooties are much more involved and tend to learn cooking earlier, though they still do not have full responsibility over it.
In the event that a household loses its Hoojisan while it has Hooties who have not yet come of age, arrangements are made either to move the family into a relative's home that has a Hoojisan or for a Hoojisan who has no Hooties to educate to move in and take the previous Hoojisan's place.
There is regional variation in terms of household layout. Some are single-story while others have three floors. In multi-level homes, the Hoojisan's room is typically on the first floor while the parents live on the top floor. As the parents and grandparent are involved in different stages of the children's education, many homes place the children's rooms in between the grandparent's and parents', regardless of layout.
One thing that sees no variation among residential buildings in /who/ is the presence of a well-kept owl house in either the front or back yard. This owl house is checked every morning for signs of an owl's presence and is kept clean with great regularity. An owl leaving a feather in one of these houses is seen as a sign of good luck to the family, and reports of an owl staying in one for longer than a single night become the talk of the town.
Education
A Hootie's first few years are marked by great amounts of studying and learning. They are often called upon to help their Hoojisan around the house, and the older figures use this as an opportunity to teach them various family customs. As these are grandparent-grandchild interactions, family traditions and recipes have a habit of skipping generations.
Library visits to learn to read and write are frequent, and it is often joked that the average Hootie learns to write full sentences before learning to walk with normal posture. Indeed, any tourist who is referred to visit the local library will find Hoojisan-Hootie pairs poring through documents about any one of various topics including the history of /who/, the approved national outline of the Nameless One's divinity, or a ticker-code learning guide, among many other possibilities.
Though not required, Hoomans are expected to know ticker-code as a point of pride in a civilization that invented its own pseudo-alphabet. If it is learned, it is usually learned at the same time as the usual written script.
Though the library is the most common travel destination in younger years, Hooties often join a grandparent or parent on errands within their hometown to integrate themselves into the local community and to learn to properly socialize with their fellow Hooman. The manner in which they are taught how to conduct themselves in public is largely through trial and error, though their parents are better teachers of this on average than a grandparent; it's so common for a Hoojisan to "correct" a fussy Hootie by buying something for him or her at the local bakery that some have special "spoil the brat" food items for the occasion.
The final thing a Hoojisan teaches their Hootie is how to hunt. Hunting and animal observing are very popular pastimes in /who/, and the inherent "silent watching" aspect of these activities is a behavior encouraged from a young age. Of course, the proper upkeep of the arms used (whether they be firearms or the more rudimentary bow and arrow) is very highly emphasized when the time comes for them to learn.
When a Hootie has earned their first feather, they are deemed to be ready to enter the workforce. They do not seek employment at first, instead their first job experiences consist of extended internships with their parents (individually) at said parent's occupation. An easy way to tell a paid worker from an intern is to take inventory of the number of feathers on the hood or around the neck. If there's only one, that's an intern.
As Hooties are taught their parents' work, it is only natural that they follow in their footsteps in this regard. Thus, the vast majority of jobs in /who/ are hereditary by preference. It is certainly possible for a Hootie born of a taxidermist and a baker to become a cobbler, but it is very rare. Instances where this sort of thing happens often causes disputes within the family, further reinforcing the voluntary caste system among the population.
Observation, Volunteer Militia, and Other Pastimes (to be added)
Dietary Biology (to be added)
Dietary preferences vary from place to place, but potatoes are undisputably the primary crop of the land. And of course, berries are the go-to foraging food for the Hooman population. In fact, it's a common practice for Hooties (children) to go berry-picking with their Hoojisans (grandparents).
Courtship and Intimacy (to be added February 2026)
Cryptids (pending future entries)
If you hear what sounds like a Femhooman humming to herself in a /who/ forest, do not approach her. For your own safety, you must quickly yet quietly get away from the voice.
For the past few centuries, there have been rumors of a bewitching creature lurking in the untamed regions of /who/. Supposedly she resembles a typical Femhooman with the main distinctions being sets of talons where her hands and feet would otherwise be as well as a human head resembling the consensus depiction of the Nameless One. This figure is said to only appear in the proximity of solitary Hoomans and has never been reported to be seen by any Femhooman in any circumstance.
Those who have claimed to witness her have attested that she is a terrifying yet alluring figure. Some doubt the veracity of claims of the creature's existence, arguing that "she" is just a folk figure made up to convince hunters not to go into the woods alone.
Superstitions
Anonymity is very highly valued in /who/, and this sentiment is believed to be an example of Hoomans' reverence toward the Nameless One in that they would mimic a facet of Her identity. They're fine with using their names around people they know but when out of /who/ (and sometimes within /who/ but out of their hometown) they adopt aliases for themselves such as "Seven Poems" or "Last and Silliest".
Any documents that have the name of a Hooman have a counterpart with all such names redacted printed alongside the original, in the event that such a document needs to leave the immediate jurisdiction. After a year, the original document is destroyed and replaced with the redacted version if it was not already.
This also means that books and art pieces do not formally credit their creators. Those who do identify themselves do so with an alias, as described above. Much of /who/'s literary publications are localized to a single town or village, and any work on a given topic has its own distinctions based on the whims, writing style, and experiences of the local author. Two different hunting guides can have different tips for surviving an Owlbear encounter due to each author writing from their own unique experiences or hearing from different words of mouth, for example.
As one can imagine, this means that each town's library is often very distinct, with only a few mandated books sharing a standardized format ("The Code of Hoomurabi" and "Taming of the Toehound" being examples of this). Any work that manages to spread across multiple locales and be largely identical throughout is almost always because it was mandated via Hoosmoot. Those that aren't are exceedingly rare, and all the more noteworthy for it.
GOLEM GET YE GONE
Worship (to be added)
Mooming
moom