Au Ra, what are they?

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

Aside the fact that Keepers are not warmongerers.

Neither are (most of) the Xaela, for that matter. Most of the description we get in that naming convention post focuses on the hunter/gatherer aspect of their culture, with only a small handful explicitly mentioning combat. In fact, by my count, there are a whopping SEVEN that are especially warlike (Adarkim, Borlaaq, Budugu, Jhungid, Kharlu, Qerel, Dotharl). Seven, of fifty-one.

I agree that the Xaela are, as a whole, raised in a different enough culture from the Raen that distinct emotes (especially for the women!) would have made a lot of sense, but the idea that their sexual dimorphism would somehow differ seems suspect, to me, especially because the difference is so stark to begin with. What I'm interested in is at what point in their life cycle this size differnce manifests (puberty is a good bet, but who knows).

[GunsBlazing]

Neither are (most of) the Xaela, for that matter. Most of the description we get in that naming convention post focuses on the hunter/gatherer aspect of their culture, with only a small handful explicitly mentioning combat. In fact, by my count, there are a whopping SEVEN that are especially warlike (Adarkim, Borlaaq, Budugu, Jhungid, Kharlu, Qerel, Dotharl). Seven, of fifty-one.

That is not entiry accurate. You are missing a lot of context by only reading the snippets of different tribes. That is what makes each one unique from another, it is not the full context of their nature. Imagine somebody asked you to describe something to them that had many subsets. You would likely begin by describing the generalization of the subsets as a whole, then break off to explain what makes each subset different from the last. We are told Xaelas are always warring with one another, then go into a list of the tribes. The only ones that wouldnt fight, thusly, are the ones that explicitly state that they do not. That would be the trait that makes them unique. The entire description of Xaelas states:

Unlike their sister clan, the Raen, who lead solitary lives hidden behind the savage peaks of Othard's eastern reaches, the Xaela are free spirits who roam the vast western steppe in close-knit tribes hunting, gathering, and warring as their ancestors have for countless generations.

Just because they ommited the warring part from the very brief individual tribal descriptions does not mean that they do not go to war. All of them do, aside from the very few that say they don't. Basically, if it doesn't say they are peaceful or avoid conflict, they fight each other. Some require more description of their aggressiveness because that is what makes them special (like the dotharls) while the peaceful ones also require that distinction. The rest? They fight, too. They just have another unique custom that sets them apart, thus requires the tribe's spotlight tidbit. If this were not the case, there would not be some that only talk about avoiding fights.