Female Nightwalker in the Abwehran Standard Duty Uniform (AF 259)

A subterranean species of Abwehran, they are known in Trade as Nightwalkers¹⁾ and are easily identifiable outside of their natural habitat by a pair of thick, dark goggles over their eyes. These are used in order to protect their photosensitive eyes from bright light emanating from artificial light set to normal luminosity or natural sunlight. Physically, they are normally shorter than Surfacers and tend to range in the two extremes of pigment (either extremely pale or matte black).

Culturally, most Nightwalkers tend to be pragmatic in nature due to the hazardous conditions of living underground on a tectonically active world. Their environment is also the reason many Nightwalkers lean towards more technical fields of engineering and materials science.

While biologically, all Abwehrans are similar, each species has certain differences in their physiology. This can mostly be found in skin pigment, range of size, and even build. In the Nightwalkers case, their main difference from Surfacers is their eyes.

Due to living underground for millennium upon millennium, the Night-dwellers have developed an extreme sensitivity to light. In fact, their eyes have evolved to the point where they can see in almost absolute darkness without need of light. This is done by a type of bacteria that generates light on the iris of a Nightwalker's eyes, giving them bright bluish glow to them. This light enters the pupil and allows the Nightdweller to walk through pitch black areas. Unfortunately, because they're use to such dim light, walking out into brightly lit areas with no eye protection can cause permanent blindness in a Nightdweller. Any Nightdweller that travels in well lit areas are usually seen with thick, black goggles to protect their eyes.

Skin Pigment wise, Nightwalkers have a very narrow range dependent upon the area in which they live and how often they will actually leave their subterranean homes for areas lit with natural sunlight.

The most common pigmentations are pale tones. It is quite common to find Nightwalkers with skin tones in the range of alabaster or porcelain with some extreme pigmentations reaching that of chalk white. These tones are normally found on individuals that barely receive any sunlight or rarely leave their underground habitats.

Rare pigmentation does occur within the Nightwalker species, though there are only a couple of skin tones in this classification. Some Nightwalkers with ancestry in the Surface Raiders from the Great Conflict Era often have some mahogany skin tones. This is mostly due to the cultural tradition many descendants of these people have of returning to the Surface regularly. Over the millenia, this has led to this skin pigmentation staying on in future generations as a recessive trait. A more extreme skin tone found in Nightwalkers is a matte-black tone. This skin tone is rare and often confuses biologists studying Abwehran pigmentation.

Nightwalker hair can typically be either straight or curly in nature. Pigmentation wise, it is common for Nightwalkers to have black hair. While black hair comes in various shades, the most common shade of black hair is a jet-black shade with blue-black and soft black being fairly uncommon. Brown hair of various shades (though they trend towards dark brown or medium brown in shades) are considered uncommon for Nightwalkers, while various of red hair are very rare. Unlike surfacers, white hair tends to be common for Nightwalkers only if they are born with the rare matte-black skin tone.

Over all, Nightwalkers tend to be shorter and stockier than their Oberflächenbewohner cousins. This is normally due to variations in diet as well as the slightly higher gravity found in subterranean cities.

Male Nightwalkers tend to range between 170 centimeters and 188 centimeters (5'7“ - 6'2”) in height with an average of 178 centimeters (5'10“). While build normally depends on the activity of the individual, Nightwalker males are more normally stocky and muscular in comparison to Surfacers.

Female Nightwalkers tend to be a great deal shorter than male Nightwalkers with a range between 165 centimeters (5'5”) to 178 centimeters (5'10“). The average height of a Nightwalker female is 170 centimeters (5'7”). Stockier than Oberflächenbewohner females, Nightwalker females are still lithe by comparison to Nightwalker males.

Stubborn as the rock they live under, Nightwalkers are notoriously pragmatic when compared to their Oberflächenbewohner brethren. They hold true to a no-nonsense philosophy that has been ingrained into their culture for millenia. This is mostly due to the dangerous environment they live in and the need to be strong of will and quick of wit.

SEE: Nightwalker Culture for more in-depth information.

• Creating an Abwehran

This page was originally created on 2013/02/23 09:36 by Abwehran Commander.