Primal Ape (Art by Raph Herrera Lomotan)
Primal Apes, also known as the Ape Men or Wild Men, were an ancient race of hominid believed to have gone extinct some time after the expulsion of humans from the Garden of Eden.
Overview[]
Primal Apes inhabited the Earth long even before the Antediluvian epoch as well as before the arrival of mankind, living alongside dinosaurs as they built primitive civilizations of hundreds of individuals across the globe. They were also said to have inhabited the Earth alongside a host of ancient beings that have not been identified by science, with the Primal Apes having the unfortunate fate of being experiment on by these eldritch aliens.
It is believed that these Primal Apes were the most intelligent animals to have evolved naturally, capable of walking upright and creating crude weapons and tools to build shelter in all manner of environments. As such, they are the evolutionary or Darwinist branch of ancestors to humanity itself.
History[]
Origins[]
The evolutionary history of the primates can be traced back 65 million years. Modern humans where indeed created by god on the sixth "day", but the primal apes had existed long before them, as they were created in the "morning" while humans were created at "sunset". They were said to have emerged somewhere in the Northern regions of Africa where most of the Elder Things' experimentations took place.
One of the oldest known primate-like mammal species, the Plesiadapis, came from North America; another, Archicebus, came from China. Other similar basal primates were widespread in Eurasia and Africa during the tropical conditions of the Paleocene and Eocene. At the twilight of the Battle of the Powers, the warring conflicts between the Ogdru Hem and the Elohim for dominance over the Earth, the primates began to gain an evolutionary traction due to the machinations of the eldritch gods.
It is revealed that the evolutionary process of the primal hominids were a result of arcane experimentation by the Elder Things, a race of extraterrestrial creatures that made their way to Earth during the waning days of the Battle of the Powers. The Elder Things were fascinated by these primitive creatures that they decided to have them undergo experimental procedures in regards to their biology and genetics. Their "birth" through their hand-crafted evolution from the Elder Things relates to what they interpret as the first "day".
Great Divergence[]
The Elder Things continued to observe the primal hominids as they advanced in mind and physiology. By that time they had learned how craft some primitive tools, though they largely prefered a more natural form of intelligence, relying on instinct and knowledge of the wilderness to survive. The technology they would often come across by the Elder Things would confuse and frighten them, other times some would even come to see the Elder Things as gods.
However, the Ogdru Hem had other plans for the hominids. Two of the Ogdru Hem, twins by the names of Zhar and Lloigor, would also encounter these hominids and instead genetically warp them into hideous monstrosities, growing them from the 'seeds' of the Twin Obscenities. Chaugnar Faugn ensnared one of the early tribes of these primal apes, known as the Miri Nigri, and brought them before the twins. Undergoing unspeakable torture and splicing, the Miri Nigri that were taken by the Zhar and Lloigor were transformed into the dreaded Tcho-Tcho, created to be a perverted mockery of mankind that would soon inherit the Earth.
The revelation of the Tcho-Tcho elicited great terror and revulsion among the ape people. Both the Tcho-Tcho and other hominid tribes warred with one another which in turn also sparked conflicts between the Elder Things and other servitors of the Ogdru Hem. The culmination of the Battle of the Powers had the hominids split into separate tribes bent on different ways to deal with the monstrous mutated tribes of the Ogdru Hem. In the end, each relocated to distant locations across the globe in order the avoid interaction until the arrival of humans.
Extinction[]
After the diaspora of their civilization and the separation of the Primal Ape Tribes, their numbers slowly began to dwindle, eventually succeeded by their descendants such as the Sasquatch, Yeti, and Yowie. Primal Apes are believed to have either changed in order to adapt to their new environments or perished due to the inability to compete againat the surging advancement of humanity, who outsmarted them routinely, before either driving them out or even slaying them though this was only due to the hominids provoking the early humans. Despite them being lost to the passages of time and the Earth's primeval history, the early humans would come to find use for the tools the hominids once used in order to survive against both the climate and the monstrous hominid tribes that would emerge some centuries later.
Description[]
Primal Apes were organized into a tiered system of groups. A few hundred of the Apes would gather into in a large, loose group called a troop. Troops huddle together on their sleeping cliffs at night to deter predators. During the day, troops splintered into smaller groups as a more efficient way to forage for food in a time when food tended to be more sparse and spread out.
The smallest group is the one-male unit: one adult male, one or more adult females and their young offspring. Several of these units formed a Tribe. When it was time for a young male to find his own unit, he would typically stay within his Tribe. Because males stayed close to home, neighboring males tended to be relatives and therefore cooperated with each other—even tolerating the “kidnapping” of their females by their brethren. Finally, several clans made up a band, which traveled over a common home range.
To help one another raise offspring, females lived in small groups with their female kin. (Postmenopausal grandmothers may have been especially useful in helping to rear their grandchildren.) Selection would have favored males who could monopolize such groups. In exchange for exclusive breeding rights, males could help females protect and perhaps even feed their children.
Species[]
Yeti[]
Those that looked to the mountains for refuge eventually adapted to their new, cold environment, and in time came to be known as Yeti, the abominable rulers of the Mountains who were capable of climbing to heights no human could ever dare reach.
Sasquatch[]
There was another faction however, too proud to hide within the mountains, that instead opted to fight back using stealth and darkness as their allies in order to ambush the humans and retaliate against them for the right to rule over the Earth. For eons the Sasquatch reigned supreme, dominating the wild forests of the earth, preventing humans from expanding out of fear of what lurked hidden within the trees.
Yowie[]
Still, some amongst the Primal Hominids simply wanted to get as far away as possible from the abominable Humans which were beginning to roam the lands. It is not known whether they built crude ships or simply swam the entire distance, but eventually the Yowie discovered the continent of Australia and settled deep within the harsh outback of the country, thinking that mankind could never possibly reach them there.
