Ngehu people

The Ngehu are an all-male cultural and linguistic group living throughout all of the known sectors of Awa. They are believed to be members of a particular Y-chromosome haplogroup that results in the drastically divergent hu phenotype, which is immediately distinguishable from the la ("non-hu"). They live separately from the la, maintaining a separate language and culture of their own.

The Ngehu dominate over all the la cultures in the known regions of Awa, forming an immense empire throughout the known cylinders. Transit through the passageways between cylinders is controlled by the Ngehu and greatly restricted for la, meaning that the la cultures are generally quite isolated from one another, whereas the Ngehu move and trade freely between tubes.

The Ngehu speak the Ngehu language and typically do not see the need to learn any of the languages of the la cultures they have dealings with. Communication between the Ngehu and la peoples is chiefly through a common sign language which is widespread lingua franca throughout Awa, with interactions generally taking place for the purposes of trade or sex. Violence is not uncommon, however most societies work cooperatively with the Ngehu for mutual benefit. The Ngehu do sometimes take slaves from the la peoples, almost always males, however it is more common for the Ngehu to work together with lahu. The lahu are people, again, mostly men, who voluntarily leave their la societies and take up a specialised role in Ngehu society, performing work involving fine motor skills such as weaving and stitching of clothing, which is difficult for the hu to do. In return, they enjoy certain privileges not afforded to other la, such as the ability to travel between cylinders as well as better access to food and women.

Terminology

Strictly speaking, the term Ngehu is used to talk about the cultural and linguistic group. Hu refers to members of the phenotypically distinct haplogroup. In practice, almost all Ngehu are hu and vice versa. The counterpart term to hu is la. The distinctive appearance of hu tends to result in their rejection from la societies and acceptance into the Ngehu culture, thus maintaining the strong association between phenotype and culture.

All hu are biologically male, whereas the la may be both male or female. In most la societies in Awa, women are in the majority. In some la societies, males have died out, with all children being fathered by hu.

To the Ngehu, the distinction between hu and la is more salient than the distinction between male and female among the la. When the biological sex of la individuals is mentioned, this is done by means of compound words, with women being referred to as lala ("real la") or lazwo ("hole la, referencing the vagina), and la males being referred to as langgo ("stick la, referencing the penis).

Phenotype

All male children fathered by hu are phenotypically recognisable as hu from the moment of birth. They are taken to be raised by the paternal family or other Ngehu. Daughters of hu do not seem to inherit any hu traits at all and are raised in the la society they are born into according to the customs of that particular culture. The restrictedness of hu traits to male offspring indicates that the Y chromosome carries all of the genes responsible for the phenotype.

The extreme differences between hu and la are incredibly unlikely to have evolved on their own while remaining clustered on the Y chromosome. Traits such as the production of chlorophyll, which is otherwise almost unknown among animals, are particularly unusual and this points towards an origin as a deliberately engineered phenotype. The most widespread hypothesis is that the hu were genetically engineered by the creators of Awa. The purpose of the creation of Awa and the hu remains unknown to this day.

The hu can be recognised by their enormous size, heavy build, generally green skin, coarse features, pointed ears and an underbite with conspicuously protruding lower canines. All-together, these features lend a strong resemblance to the orcs and ogres of legendary tales. Traffic between Awa and Earth, although not reliably documented before the modern era, may have occurred at times in the past and the existence of the hu may have been the original inspiration for legends of ogres and orcs on Earth.

Stature and Build

The hu are significantly larger and more powerfully built than la men. Height varies from approximately 2m up to, in extreme cases, 3m (6ft 6in. to 10ft) and weight is believed to be between 200kg to 1 tonne (440lbs to 2,200lb). The bones are significantly larger and more robust and the breadth of the frame is much greater, with shoulder widths frequently well in excess of 1m (3'4”). The hands and feet in particular are large and broad and the skeletal joints are robust and durable.

Hu muscles contain a higher proportion of fast-twitch fibres making them, pound for pound, much stronger than those of la. Their strength is similar to that of a similarly sized chimpanzee or gorilla. This enormous strength comes at the cost of fine motor control, however, with hu struggling to perform tasks that necessitate fine motor skills such as threading a needle.

Colouration

The green skin colour commonly seen amongst the hu is the result of chlorophyll and carotenoids in the skin. This chlorophyll enables photosynthesis in good light and this supplements the food intake of the hu, which, because of their bulk, would otherwise be truly prodigious. Hu skin is a great deal thicker and tougher than la skin, with photosynthetic layers stacked above layers containing melanin. The combination of varying amounts of various pigments creates a variety of skin hues among the hu, from a deep, vivid green through various tones of greyish or reddish browns.

As with la people, exposure to UV light does bring about an increase in the amount of pigments produced in the skin, however, it has a universal effect without noticeable tanned and non-tanned areas.

The hair of the hu is almost always jet-black although occasionally other colours may occur. Eye colour varies a great deal more than in the la, ranging from jet black to brilliant white and with almost all hues observed in between, including red, yellow and blue.

Face and dentition

The hu have characteristically "heavy", hypermasculinised features, including a large, angular jaw, an underbite, and wide-set eyes sunken under a projecting brow ridge. The nose is frequently broad, high and flat. The ears are almost always pointed, although, in Awa, this trait is not limited to the hu. The hu have two sets of canine teeth in both upper and lower jaws. In the lower jaw, these, particularly the outermost pair, are greatly enlarged and project out of the mouth. These may be referred to as tusks although they are not continuously growing as the tusks of elephants and walruses. The lips are shaped to form a seal around the tusks meaning that the projecting teeth do not allow the mouth to dry out.