The Penguinfolk (colorufin sapien) are the first ever known species of sapient/sentient lifeforms ever to exist on Aora. They are a Type 1 Civilization, only existing as a Tribal people before their own extinction, the race themselves only remembered thanks to the preserved research of The Ancients.
Biology[]
Penguinfolk live up to their name as their bodies mirrored that of Earth's Penguins: a simplistic yet sturdy spinal cord and muscle tissue kept the Penguinfolk balanced on grown back feet, with their two other sets of "feet" evolved into fin-like hands. Their limbs are marked with blackened skin, and their bodies are covered in a smooth membrane, similar texture to that of an Amphibian, meaning that they needed to keep themselves relatively moist or otherwise dry out. Although at a glance they appear to have no mouths, they indeed have small, thin mouths located under their forward-facing eyes. The upper fins of the Penguinfolk developed an extra digit to better manipulate tools, while their middle limbs still retained only three digits to them.
Penguinfolk evolved independently of the main continents at the time, evolving only on the small Island archipelago of Aora Dwarf. Without land competition to hinder them, the ancestors of the Penguinfolk (Reef Mole) evolved to venture onto land, and with that quickly evolved and developed the brains of sentient beings, albeit primitive, and comparable to that of a Neanderthal at best.
Culture (Type 0.4)[]
Archaeology[]
They built their homes out of seagrasses and wood, most of these settlements made along the coastal waters with their own bodily slime from their skin acting as glue to keep their homes together, and not wash away from tidal shifts. Their tools (mainly of simplified weapons such as blades and axes) were made up of hardened corals from nearby reef beds, though they seemingly don't use them outside of architecture or casual means such as molding a piece of wood into a wooden doll.
Penguinfolk didn't develop any vehicles such as rafts or boats, as their natural streamlined bodies allowed them to easily travel through the waters.
Society[]
In their 20,000 years of existence, the Penguinfolk only managed to develop a primitive society on their distant island homes, as the seas were too vast to travel safely for them. Although primitive in terms of racial scale, the Penguinfolk had developed their own form of language in vocal form of meek croaks and chirps. Each of these tribes along the Aora Dwarf Islands revealed little of how their social structure worked.
One unique detail noted by the Ancients in their study of the Penguinfolk shown one Penguinfolk venturing inland, away from its tribe and remaining out in the open until it eventually collapsed from heat exposure. The reason behind this is unclear, though the Ancients believed this as an outcasted member of the tribe, this acting as the Penguinfolk's form of punishment.