Race Name (translated): Philotektonians
Race Physiology: Physically, Philotektonians can best be described as "fractal octopuses". Each consists of a central body with a round, lamprey-like mouth surrounded by a variable number of tentacles, each of which may have claws, eyes, suckers, or a set of its own sub-tentacles. Each tentacle has its own sub-brain and personality and is capable of performing tasks independently, though the main brain is always able to take direct control. Philotektonians can add new tentacles as they age, and are capable of consciously determining which kind of tentacle to grow next. Young or active Philotektonians usually have a simpler body plan than older or sedentary ones. Severed tentacles can function independently, however since they have no digestive system they will soon die. Mobile Philotektonians range in size from 1-2 meters, but sedentary adult females can grow up to 20 meters long.
Philotektonians possess chromatophores and can turn any part of their body into a visual display, which is their main form of communication. This gives them an interesting position in interspecies relationships - their own "language" can be refreshingly simple for other species to understand when they "speak" slowly and plainly enough (i.e. displaying an image of the exact thing they are trying to convey). However, they find listening to verbal speech "irritating" - although capable of making sounds, they generally do so only to gain attention in emergencies, not to communicate, and are biologically programmed to be agitated by any kind of noise. Their culture is full of symbology for quickly conveying more complex concepts, and a large part of their brain is dedicated toward processing large amounts of simultaneous visual information, allowing them to convey to their own species in an instant ideas that most species would take much longer to explain.
They can also use their chromatophores for stealth.
Philotektonians are biologically immortal (i.e. do not die of age) and can also enter a form of extreme hibernation which can last for hundreds of thousands of years, which gave them an advantage in spreading across the galaxy. However, they typically mate only once in their lives, and their complex mating practices limit their ability to increase their numbers quickly.
Philotektonians are aquatic creatures, but they can crawl over open land for short periods. They have created a high-tech, flexible "smart fabric" that allows them to survive for longer periods outside of water (and more hostile environments), but they lack mobility outside of water. They can't really swing a weapon very well, but they can grapple enemies easily.
Fluff: Philotektonians' early evolution, ascent to sapience, and subsequent technological development was spearheaded by their unusual mating practices. Evolving from a species that preyed on hard-shelled animals that protected themselves using a variety of exotic methods, they grew more intelligent in order to remember how to open these creatures and get at food. At some point, females began to conceal their egg sacs in constructed "puzzle burrows", selecting for more intelligent males who could figure out how to open them. This favored the evolution of larger brains, leading to more complex burrows. Eventually, females began concealing themselves in their own burrows, awaiting a mate using a hibernation ability that they originally evolved to survive the temporary drying of tide pools, and constructing their burrows in a manner that would prevent a male from escaping after reaching the center, forcing him to teach the children all he knew.
Though much has changed over the course of the species' development, this basic system did not. Burrows became buildings, buildings became vast, labyrinthine "temples" with puzzles advancing from simple mechanical challenges to traps and tests that required extensive knowledge of history, chemistry, physics, or culture to pass. Each female would create a specific emblem which would be used to mark "clues" that a courting male would need in order to locate her temple and survive its challenges. Communities of females emerged that would join forces to construct more elaborate temples for a dominant "queen", who, after concealing herself within and entering hibernation to await a mate, would pass on the role of leader to the next-dominant in the group. Males would roam the seas, seeking out hidden clues and gathering worldly knowledge that would allow them to venture within the temple of their chosen mate and survive.
Once the species achieved space flight, they ventured out in vast waves of slow-ships, using their hibernation ability to endure the long travel between the stars. Females of the species constructed their temples on many planets across the galaxy, leaving clues behind for males to seek out.
Current Role: As a whole, Philotektonians are peaceful intellectuals who don't like to start fights.
Male Philotektonians are typically solitary creatures. It is rare to find more than a few per sector, but they are widely sought out for their skill in engineering and the vast general knowledge that they acquire over their long lives. Each one has a tale to tell of his scavenger hunt across the stars to find his chosen mate.
Female Philotektonians tend to live in larger communities, led by a "queen" until she is ready to be sealed within a temple and enter her long sleep. They are excellent architects and civil engineers and are not adverse to being hired by other species for work in construction, the better to practice their craft before constructing their Final Work. If Philotektonians get into a war, it is likely to be the females doing the fighting.
Non-Philotektonians are strongly warned against entering, or even getting close to, a Philotektonian mating temple. These structures are designed to be deadly to anyone who has not spent the past few hundred years researching exactly how to make it through that particular temple alive, and even supposing one did make it to the center, the colossal, tentacled former queen lying at the center is likely to be very angry if woken up by an unwelcome alien. Also very hungry.
The intrusion will also provoke the ire of other Philotektonians, whose otherwise easygoing and passive nature takes a sharp turn when anyone violates their most sacred sanctums. It is also worth mentioning that their temples can be pretty much anywhere - even out of water - and can be hard for a non-Philotektonian to recognize on sight.
One can compliment or insult a Philotektonian by referring to the nest they grew up in as either complex (good) or simple (bad). The worst insult one can give to a Philotektonian is to say that they were "hatched in open waters". Referring to a Philotektonian's mother or father in the present tense is also incredibly rude. (Philotektonians are physically capable of reproducing without dying, and it does happen sometimes. However, their entire culture is built around strongly discouraging this.)
Being a non-verbal species, "Philotektonian" is not actually what they call themselves. Rather, this is a rough translation of the ideaogram they use to describe their own society, which is composed of the ideaograms for "Craft" and "Love".
Planet Type: Rocky and wet. They need water to survive comfortably and solid materials to build with. They are open to coexisting on a planet with a terrestrial species, provided said species does not disturb their temples.
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Topic: Tales of the Void (Read 1346 times)