THE MEMAI
PHYSIOLOGY
The Memai, also known as Mockingmen or Mimeoforms, are a subrace of the Korpi. They stand at an average height of 8 feet, with jet black skin and white eyes. They have perpetual hunchbacks and a visibly protruding spine. Their arms reach to almost their toes.
The Memai are not born, they do not reproduce, they do not have genders, and they do not die. It makes more sense to think of them as a special type of spirit rather than as a true race. What's interesting about the Memai is their innate, psychic, subconscious ability to copy the traits of other beings. A Memai living among any other race will, over a period of months, learn their language, their culture, their idiosyncrasies, without even trying. Over a period of years, it will even begin to resemble them, until eventually it is for all intents and purposes a member of their species. This transition also applies in reverse to other races living amongst them. The transformation is, unsurprisingly, known to some as a means to immortality, although it's not without its caveats.
Memai do not retain their memories for very long - most can only remember about 20 years into the past. In particular, any race will very quickly lose any memory of their former life after a transition. This is the only way Memai can be "born" - by other individuals joining them.
Memai eat and drink whatever their hosts eat and drink. At home, they drink only the water of the sea in which they live.
PSYCHOLOGY
The Memai are true neutral. They very rarely go out of their way to do much of anything. It is somewhat apparent that Memai enjoy the addition of new members, but the extent of this is not well known. However they are clearly very welcoming.
It is rare, but not unheard of, for a Memai to voluntarily leave its home to wander the continent. These lost souls gravitate towards large settlements where they can blend in and acquire a normal life. What's far more common is for Memai to be taken, either by force or simply by request. They are extremely submissive and eager to please.
At home, Memai live in small lazily constructed towns which are clearly bad copies cities long past, presumably based on deeply buried memories of past lives.
HABITAT
The Memai live under the waters of the Korpi's sacred sea. They walk about and breathe in this water as if it were air. Any other race will drown as normal, but the Memai live live in apparently terrestrial towns on the seabed. Other races may enter this water if explicitly given permission, and this is often considered the first step of a willful transition. This habitat has given the Memai a false reputation as "swamp monsters" - beings who lurk in shallow water, waiting to pull unsuspecting children down into the murky depths.
CULTURE
To other races, Memai are typically seen as a sign of ill fortune. Unsurprising given their terrifying appearance. They are also perceived by some as symbols of purity, of asceticism, or of community with the divine. The most common place to find a Memai in the continent is in a secluded religious commune, or hidden behind locked doors in a temple.
The Memai have a special relationship with the Korpi. A Korpi funeral takes place before death. The dying Korpi's life is celebrated in a great party on the shore of their sea. At dusk, when the Godheart swells and beats, a single Memai rises from the waves to take the Korpi's hand, and escorts them to join their transformed ancestors.