Minor shenanigans being: Matelk isn't really a girl. But that's aside from the point.

Matelk as a character as originally envisioned in my head is a bit of an oddity. There are a few differences between him/her and the rest of the Royanashi race. So I'll go over them!

Firstly, Matelk is half-human. This doesn't happen often. There's a lot of racism and xenophobia between other races and Royanashi; the former regard the latter as homicidal savages and the latter regard the former as disrespectful graverobbers. There's truth in both sides of the argument, but we won't go into that here.

The first major difference this causes: Matelk is capable of wielding magic more adeptly than other male Royanashi. It's something that's been bred out of them over many, many generations of perfecting themselves. They still can, but it's a struggle. Matelk himself is not particularly a mage, merely magically receptive and over his life has acquired some passive abilities such as the capability to drastically adjust his/her body.

As a result, he/she is sterile (the change is not perfect. It's more like very, VERY good plastic surgery than actual gender change. It leaves him as a mostly-functioning 'she' but with some leftover traits), and has breasts as a female. Female Royanashi do NOT have breasts. They birth live young, but the young are born with teeth and eat solid food straight out of the womb.

Female Royanashi are not this tall. In fact, MALE Royanashi are typically only eight, perhaps eight and a half, feet tall. Of course that's an average. Matelk is just abnormally tall, but not considered freakishly so by the other residents of the Red Sands. They also tend toward much lighter musculature. While outsiders wouldn't see this as too odd, to other Royanashi this makes Matelk look like, essentially, a transsexual. It's comparable to a 6' 5" woman with a slightly deep voice and strong jaw. Could be natural, could be gender reassignment, and it's rude to ask. It's the mind that really determines it in any case.

Female Royanashi tend to not have the large, thick 'plates' on their bodies as Matelk does, nor do they have the bone spurs located on her elbows/knuckles. These are male traits, but it is not unknown for them to appear in females. Akin to a strong jawline or large adam's apple in humans. Uncommon but not unnatural.

Notes about Royanashi in general: Males have heavier skulls and large horns, like Matelk. It's an adaptation that leaves them entirely capable of injuring someone with a headbutt. Females often have slighter, narrower skulls and elegant crests of thinner horns.

Males also typically have large 'manes'--long, thin and flexible 'scales' in actuality that resemble coarse hair. Mane and horn crest size are one of the few points of vanity among Royanashi, as their desert home leaves little resources to pass around for flamboyancy's sake.

Their clothes are usually drab, dyed rust with the dust and sand of their home. Their scales are shades of rust, allowing them to easily blend in. The only adornments are a clan crest painted on a loincloth, and often this is only worn into combat. They usually wear a garment like a fundoshi, and no chest covering (as females have no breasts to cover).

Their feet are oddly shaped. They have five toes, but only three are positioned forward of the foot. Two (what would be the second and fourth digits on a human foot, counting the large/thumb toe as 1) are shifted backward behind the ball of the foot. This gives them a large, spreading footprint like a camel, allowing them to traverse desert landscapes without their feet sinking in.

This version of Matelk is separate from the 'superhero' incarnation featured in this gallery as well. That version is all comic-book physics and no magic or gender swapping. The distinction can be made via appearance. 'Traditional' or the fantasy perception of the character will be featured like this. A muzzle, large horns, generally more 'dragonlike' appearance. The comic book adaptation is more human, always male, and dresses far more normally. Also does not have a sword.

If you want clarification of anything, ask!

Matelk, the Royanashi race, and respective universe, locations, society, and geography are © me, Mikolas/Matelk