Njucto

Climbing trees, picking flowers, looking for fruit;

Throwing pellets, playing knuckle-bones;

Running round sandy hollows, building stone pagodas;

Chasing dragonflies and catching locusts;

Worshiping the sky and visiting Bodhisattvas;

Tearing off creepers and weaving straw hats;

Catching fleas then popping them with their teeth and fingers;

Grooming their coats and sharpening their nails;

Beating, scratching, pushing, squashing, tearing and tugging;

Playing all over the place under the pine trees;

Washing themselves beside the green stream.



-Journey to the West





Suspending from trees, leaping between roofs, and fooling friends and foes alike, Njucto (NYOOk-toe) straddle both the edge of daring and decency. With their distintice monkey-like features comes an equally monkey-like attitude, confounded by bouts of trickery, tempermental tantrums, and a individualistic flair.

Agile and Uncanny

Climbing the high-reaching trees of distant and remote mountain forests, the Njucto are human-like creatures that stand around 5 feet tall and are often mistaken for primates at a glance. However, their sturdy limbs, hand-like feet, thick 3 to 4 foot tail, and hirsute bodies clash with their more human-like propensities such as speech and bipedal locomotion. Njucto sport fur types between thin to shaggy and ranging from browns and whites to oranges and blacks. Njucto enjoy accentuating their bodies with shaved or dyed patterns in their fur or markings on their skin.

Below their hair, a Njuctos' complexion ranges from pale weight through pink, brown, and down to shades of dark gray. Their faces are scrunched with a pronounced jaw but lacking a prominent nose. Their simian features grant them a degree of flexibility and agility that they utilize constantly. Njucto males and females favor the same fashions of tree leaf dyes, fine clothes, and crafted jewelry, only dividing on appearance with specific colors or markings based on their community.

Humbleness to Greatness

Though the Njucto rarely keep written records, tales (both oral among themselves and written among other civilizations) speak briefly on the origins of the race.

Whether crafted from the trees and clay of the places they call home, ejected from the sky in punishment for their near-impish disposition for trickery, or formed in years past from the mundane creatures, the Njucto's earliest beginnings trace back to subsistence, reclusive clans.

However, the Njucto marked themselves as noteworthy with the mythical rise of their legendary figures. Starting with the most iconic of these figures, a Njutco, born from solid rock, grew so powerful and wise that he duped dragons, misled mighty warriors, and scandalized the gods' affairs in their heavenly abodes. Other stories paint depictions of Njucto acting as near divine agents, straddling oceans in a single leap and fighting hordes of demons in the name of honor and friendship.











Although these mythic figures faded into the annals of history, the Njucto keep that same keen, rapacious instinct.

As these great figures spread their capricious legacy in times past, so too do the Njucto today. Atop the tallest peaks, amid the densest jungles, and buried in the hottest savannas reside monasteries, trading posts, villages,

and clans comprising mainly of Njucto. Even staying within their homelands, the race values a coy disposition in both dealing with the familiar or strange, domestic or foreign. Every so often, a few Njucto take this vigor to an extreme (though this is rare) and emblazon their name in legend with their exploits. Whether leading a heroic journey or becoming an infamous warlord, they strive for the sake of remembrance in-spite of notions of good or evil.

On the Fringes

Wherever their location, the Njutco live in secluded and distant enclaves. Lacking robust cities, stern laws, or traditional nations, they collect in clans, the smallest often a single family, to larger groups of several. These clans keep order among themselves, migrating little save for issues of food or safety. From day to day, they entertain themselves with recreation, meager trades or professions, and, above all, humor. Between their own families and groups, the more prominent members pride themselves on mental tallies, scorns, and paybacks to those who've one-upped or embarrassed them. Even among the stricter settings such as a Monk's school or a trader's caravan, Njucto issue these ploys among each other in more subdued but equally as humorous methods. Because of their impulsive manners, Njucto make a mixed bag of acquaintances during their travels based on whether their jovial tones and tricks were treated with admission or disdain. As a result, Njucto walk between towns and villages with a careful eye tracked on their backs. Among their own kind, Njucto garner an impertinent interest in their travels, comparing and contrasting the strange tales they've both witnessed and partook in. Despite their isolated communities, Njucto seek precious gems, cloths, and the like for their near obsessive fascination with fashion. To these lengths, Njucto trade their goods, expertise, or service.