Dust Devil Quicksketches

This is another idea I had for a role-playing game.  Until it's made, this character will be a free-roaming RP character.  Feel free to strike up an RP whenever you'd like!

Dust devils are a Dystopian nomadic desert-dwelling species, being humanoids with skin partially made of earthen clay (which has been confirmed by people who have interacted with dust devils, because of a gritty feel from touching them... those who wound up kissing them noting they tasted somewhat earthy).  They have a strange variation of Earth Affinity (Affinity is the ability to telekinetically manipulate certain elements)... strange, as in they can't move huge pieces of rock or earth, yet they can move the same amount of mass in the form of sand, dust, or clay.  Typically, they like to create helical patterns around themselves with sand... which is why the minor twister of dust shares the same name with this species.

They have very dense and sharp nails.  Perfect for melee combat.  (Old: used to be bony protrusions, as you see here, but I'm just going to give them normal hands with fingernails.)

Because of their composition and their Earth Affinity, dust devils can create extra limbs for themselves (such as wings, spikes, and tails), or they can just patch themselves up.  However, also due to their composition, they can bake solid and fall apart if dry and hot enough for too long (interestingly, they are a desert species, so only the most extreme desert conditions can do this), or stiffen and freeze if cold enough for too long, or melt their skin if too moist for too long. 

Another notable feature is the horns on their heads (which is why, combined with their telekinetic ability to move sand and dirt, they've been nicknamed "dust devils").  Males have two large horns, while females have one large horn in the center of their head, or two small horns (in rare cases, like this one, female dust devils can have one large horn and two small horns).  Horns are usually a sign of manliness amongst the males, but it has been known that the more horns a dust devil has, the stronger the dust devil's will (sometimes, the men will make jokes about who's horns are longer, or even say that some of the women are "manlier" than the butt of the joke).  Dust devils also like to use their horns in a fight in addition to all other means available to them.  It is considered a shameful dishonor for a dust devil's horn to break in a duel or in an accident (luckily, they can grow back), even more so to have his own horn used against him, and even more so to be wounded or even killed by his own horn.  It's not advised for anyone to fashion weapons out of broken horns.  For example, if a dust devil fashions a dagger out of a previously broken horn, if he is caught in a duel, he may suffer the shame of having the horn be used against him, if the other duelist is crafty enough to steal the dagger.  Also, dust devils generally look down with disgust on people who fashion weapons/accessories out of dust devil horns (there was one example where some crazy dude had killed multiple dust devils for their horns in order to make a sword; communities were alerted to kill the man on sight).

No one knows why, but females are more likely to be birthed than males, which results in a male-to-female ratio of 1:4.  The super nonsensical sciencey explanation for this is that females can have a Y-chromosome and an X-chromosome in their 23rd pair, or two X-chromosomes.  Males only have two Y-chromosomes in their 23rd pair.  This would probably suggest that dust devil Y-chromosomes are recessive, except for the fact that there have been some full males who possessed an X-chromosome and a Y-chromosome (whose X-chromosomes eventually begin their transformation into Y-chromosomes at the stage of puberty and complete transformation at the stage of maturity).

Two kinds of dust devil tribes exist... communities and harems. 

A Dust Devil Harem usually has several youthful females and one male (youthful or not).  They can be as few as five, or as many as thirty or more.  The male is sovereign over his harem.  While the females usually unquestionably obey the male's commands regardless of what he does, a good harem leader watches over his harem like a shepherd to his flock and uses his abilities to protect his harem (unfortunately, that kind of leader is rare, and all harem leaders are generally lazy the rest of the time).  A harem may fall apart if there are enough tri-horned (one large, two small) women present (as they might question their submissiveness to the male, especially if he's being cruel).  Even one can pose a considerable threat to the harem's monarchical structure.

Dust Devil Communities usually are villages of men, women, and children.  Such communities usually form when two or more large harems combine, or when a harem disbands and combines with an existing community, or they can just be established by a group of dust devils agreeing to start a community.  While females are allowed to be inaugurated into an elder council position in a community, communities are generally run by the males.

Dust devils favor the use of curved, bladed Edges*, like khopeshes, scimitars, boomerangs, even bladed bows.

I will write down more if there is more that I forget to write down.

Oh, by the way, this specific dust devil is named Odessa.

Initial Inspiration: Dust devil (as in the storm)

Other Inspiration: Harpie's Brother (Yu-Gi-Oh!); the Bedouin (very loosely) and other Middle-Eastern desert-dwellers; Assassin (Soulcalibur II); Magus Magnus (personal Bakugan OC); ninjas

*An Edge is a mystical bladed weapon that is common in this roleplaying world.  Edges are the main focal point of this roleplaying world.  Information on Edges will be posted eventually.