The nefortu are a cavern- and forest-dwelling species thought to share a distant ancestor with common bats. Hardy and intelligent, the nefortu have carved a niche for themselves as canny and meticulous merchants throughout Avendar.
Biology
The nefortu are the smallest sapient species, averaging about four feet tall. Most are covered in a layer of fine, soft fur in a range of colours comparable to their chiropteran cousins. Some populations of nefortu are instead hairless, their skin color ranging from brown to black. All nefortu have large ridged ears which are particularly sensitive to sound, and their auditory range is the broadest of all lineages. They have universally dark eyes with no visible sclera and the ability to fly using large, leathery wings.
Anatomically the nefortu are similar to the bats they superficially resemble. Their wings are webbed and leathery and their shape rounded, enabling slower, more maneuverable flight, ideal for the subterranean and heavily forested environments they tend to settle in. Skeletally, their wings are a set of secondary forelimbs positioned beneath the scapula that have adapted into elongated digits. Resemblances to the wings of certain iconic demons has been noted by many, and has contributed to stereotypes that the nefortu are inherently sinister in some fashion, but nefortu have no especial relationship with the Void or demonkind.
The aural and olfactory senses of the nefortu are above average, and there are a number of specialized structures in the sinus and brain devoted to augmenting or enhancing these senses. Conversely, nefortu tend to have the highest rates of myopia, degenerative cataracts, and deuteranopia; more than half of all nefortu are effectively blind by age 30, and colorblindness is so common that it is not considered notable. However, their unique aural and olfactory adaptations provide near-full compensation for their lack of vision, and these qualities appear to possess unusual resilience in the face of senescence. As a nefortu's vision degenerates, the boundaries with these other senses "blur"; it is not uncommon for middle aged and elderly nefortu to develop a kind of synesthaesia, seamlessly integrated with their visual perception.
Culture
While many are born within cities both near and abroad, the majority of nefortu claim heritage in the sea-cave of Rahh-Nefor or the city of Kohlis under Mount Enrien. In nefortean cities, large families of related and unrelated adults share living and sleeping quarters in a communal fashion, while children are raised by creche matrons.
In human and aelin cities, nefortu have largely found a niche in commerce, and the majority of Ayaunj's barrister-priests are nefortu. While the nefortu collect coin as a bit of a game, others view their tricks with less joviality. Prejudice arises from the culture clash, and even a respectable, law-abiding nefortu may find themself faced with accusations of fraud and malicious intent.
Religion
The nefortu have long treated their gods much as they treat one another, as partners in a bargain, and their oldest legends prize the rare nefortu who bested a god at Her own game. Their two traditional gods, Ayaunj and Yolsei, stand for two sides of nefortu character: the careful dealmaker and the gambler.
Ayaunj is the patron of nefortu commerce. Her principles of honoured agreements, measured compromise and carefully managed alliances underlie the nefortu reputation as merchants, and the city of Kohlis was founded in Her name under the sign of Her amber dragon. Her worship belongs to large settlements, where Her temples are lavish displays of the faithful's wealth. Most nefortu merchants offer Her a prayer in times of need, whether or not they are dedicated to Her.
Yolsei, the god of travel, games and tricks, speaks to the restless side of the nefortu. His faith centres on the Golden Wheel, the turning of fortune that can lift a player to the top or crush them beneath it, and His followers take what comes and make the best of it. Nefortu air scholars are often drawn to Him. An old rift between Ayaunj and Yolsei still divides the nefortu, and Ayaunj is little liked in Rahh-Nefor.
Bayyal is the darker inheritance of nefortu faith. Few nefortu worship It formally today, but It remains the defining force in nefortean fire magic, and the rest of Avendar has not forgotten what the Bayyali did in Its name.
History
In the oldest nefortean legends, the nefortu lived in a paradise of warm caves and plenty on the peninsula of Anzluchi, with Ayaunj and Yolsei living among them as equals. That ended in 2100 BCC, when Bayyal erupted from the Grave of Storms, killing nearly every nefortu and reviving them in flame. Ayaunj and Yolsei fled rather than fight, and many nefortu, accustomed to treating relationships as transactions, followed Bayyal as the winner. During the War of Fire, Bayyal's nefortu devastated Ashta Harrud and marched on through Caal to Daphoa.
After the war the nefortu were outcasts, dispersed across a mainland that blamed them for the scarring of the south. They split into two camps. One withdrew to the sea-cave of Rahh-Nefor to rebuild the life they had lost; the other saw opportunity among foreigners naive to nefortean games, and began the slow process of integrating into mainland society, bringing with them their love of contracts and negotiation.
Ayaunj returned to the nefortean consciousness with the flight of an amber-gold dragon, which made its lair in the caves beneath Mount Enrien. Many nefortu followed it there and founded Kohlis on Her principles. Trade with Var Bandor and nearby human and ethron settlements made the city prosperous, and the nefortu became some of the preeminent merchants of the continent, successful enough that some of their kin from Rahh-Nefor ventured out into Avendar at large.