Karth

Quick facts:

Karth

Karth

aka: Metal Crabs, Steel Spiders, Silver Starfish,

Species Type

Metaloid

System of Origin

Torovil

Nations commonly found in

Karthenon

Related Species

N/A

Sharp buildings, sharper bodies. The ships, architecture, and people are sharpened to an extreme degree. Massive knife-like blades, built like a plane without any sense of aerodynamics, only natural flow of matter and minimization of surface area in the direction of travel. Covering asteroids like bugs on a decaying fruit, this species scavenge the metal from the asteroids they live upon, consuming it and using it, giving them a deep understanding of tool use. Were it not for the other metalloid organisms in their ecosystem, they would have gone extinct millennia ago.

History

The first recorded nation of this people was the All Encompassing Fellowship of the Selltic Ring. The Seltic Ring was the early name for their outer ring at the time. The second and third nations ocurred during the first one's end, thousands of years later; tens of generations, spread across 2 rings, forming their own clans and groups; The 2nd was the Bergen Dynasty. It lasted barely 600 years, a straight line of 4 asexually reproduced rulers who died young. It fell at the end of the First Age, the solar flares' effects on their ring was too much for the nation, the change in geography and the deaths of their Steel-Buds wiped them out to the point of annihilation.

The third nation was the one that lasted longest, the Democracy of Karthag. Karthag lasted halfway through the Third Age, but the threat of the Titanium Terrors grew too massive due to their displacement from the environmental effects of the third age. Their section of the inner ring was scrambled too much, their Steel-Buds wiped out, so they ran out of metal very quickly and had to spread out to find more metal, taking centuries to break through the defenses of Karthag. After they fell, the new nation was the current one: Karthenon. A king was established, Marth of the Third Age. He championed military strength, nearly wiping out the Titanium Terrors. The Steel-Buds were able to prosper in this age and spread enough to bring a massive amount of metal back into their system, enough to revitalize the Titanium Terrors' population.

In the fourth age, the Metallophages prospered and spread as well; the attempts to contain them were overzealous, breeding a strong and resistent strain that soon was able to infect Karths and not just Steel-Buds. This led to doctors and medics, researching their own bodies and the Metallophages. Once they reached a level where they had control over the metallophage threat, they transitioned into scientific research, of the wider universe; this led to their realization that there was more to the world, that they had more to see, pushing them to the outer universe. At the start of the 5th age, they were able to predict and observe the solar flares from their intrasystem ships for the first time in their history. When they discovered that planets could be habitated, they began theorizing on normal life, how it would manage to survive in the strange 'atmosphere' that plagued most planets. Upon learning that this life was real, they desperately sought knowledge of these people. All the while they've been planting Steel-Buds and the Metallophages that go with them on every asteroid field they can find in the hopes that even the ones lacking in metal might someday become habitable for their people.

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Society & Culture

A society built on community assistance. The years it takes to raise an egg to a child would have rendered the species extinct had they not developed a culture around protecting each other, especially the youth. A common way to show affection is to craft a beautiful shape out of metal and give it to the target for them to eat. This culture has an admiration for sharpness. To hone ones clinging-limbs to a sharp point is an attractive trait, and having sharp architecture is a projection of this attraction(Similar to phallic buildings on Earth today).

Every 4-6,000 years, their sun erupts with Solar Flares, reorganizing the asteroid belts and once it obliterated a planet, sending it out of orbit and breaking it up enough to add to the asteroid belts, both of them. The Ages are separated by the solar flares, each one scrambling the nation and their effects on the asteroids can be dated more easily and consistently.

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Appearance

A saucer-shaped main body, a ring of sharpened, specialized limbs to hold onto the asteroids they live upon. The mound-like head of the creature is adorned with 7 'faces'. The 'faces' are the same sequence/pattern of lights, facing 7 different directions(6 outward and one on top) that flicker and shine to communicate. Typically one is used at a time, but multiple can be used at once. It is the same as projecting a voice, communicating in a wider range. They are the colors of their diets, their metals a mix of various colors, textures, and styles based on the metals consumed. A common genetic trait is a series of crystals on the body. The cause of which is the loss of certain cells to sublimate matter, unable to clean themselves. They are commonly excised when they cover a joint, preventing its movement.

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Biological Notes

Living for multiple centuries before any modern advancements in medicine, the species takes years to spawn and develop. Almost l of their cells can induce a sublimation effect, converting a solid to a liquid and a liquid to a gas and, with great care and effort, a gas to a plasma. Their bodies use plasma as an energy for their nervous system and for chemical reactions. It is maintained in a small amount at the core of the body, perpetually sublimated by the surrounding body.

When giving birth, 1-4 Karths contribute genetic material in the form of a piece of their body to one of the reproducing members. Asexual reproduction is possible but very rarely done. A child is formed by the worker cells, an internalized body part that was once a Metallophage but was annexed into the Karth's biology hundreds of millions of years ago.

Their environment consists of themselves, Metallophages, Titanium Terrors, and Steel-Buds. Metallophages are micro-organisms; some have been annexed by the Karths(Similar to mitochondria or chloroplasts) and now function like worker cells, moving the absorbed metal around their body. The Metallophages are the equivalent of diseases, pathogens that infect others and are repelled by the slight magnetic field that the larger ones' bodies generate. They are much of what converts the waste of other organisms into material usable by the Steel-buds. The Titanium Terrors are predators to the Karths, dozens of feet long and remarkably similar to whales, these beasts consume amounts of gas and metal, using the metal to construct their bodies and the gas for propulsion. They are the only creature in the ecosystem capable of zero-gravity self propulsion. They have a venom that prevents Karths from sublimating, causing any sublimation-based bodily processes to stop, which includes the formation of new limbs and even the maintenance of the plasma that gives energy to their body. If an antivenoms is not administered within minutes, an asphyxiation-like process will occur in the body followed by the dissipation of the plasma. No longer able to make new plasma it will die, but modern medicine is able to replace this plasma, but if this lack of energy damaged the silicon brain then the creature is dead. And, lastly, the Steel-buds. A plant/fungus-like thing, it consumes the waste of other metalloid life forms and converts it into metal. This system is how metal is recycled from being consumed by others and returned to metal, a similar system to plants breathing carbon dioxide for animals to breath into oxygen and vice versa. Metal bulbs, most of which have unique survival mechanisms; some have a venom the same as that of the Titanium Terrors, others have the ability to emit a massive amount of oxygen, some even have the ability to electrically charge themselves, shock an individual into being misshapen or confused. Their ecosystem relies on these Steel-Bulbs, so the least dangerous of them are typically cultivated and treated as 'junk yards', fed by the waste of Karthenon to keep the metal flowing.

Due to the nature of their body, the only DNA-having part of a Karth is the Metallophages in their bodies. With recent advances in their technology, they can assemble brains of their own(simple, infantile brains) and insert them into bodies that have brains broken beyond repair. Once the new brain is in place it can begin living like a normal Karth right away, assuming the minute differences in biology don't trigger rejection.

Diseases

Diseases are rare for Karths, they have little to no pathogen-based infections due to the monocultural nature of their ecosystem; rather, their diseases are largely autoimmune or exposure-based. There are a few simple pathogen based diseases but they are exceptionally rare. Because of this there are hardly any doctors in Karthenonian systems; a ring with more than a handful is considered a medical goldmine and typically ends up with many times the normal amount of biological research stations, even boasting a massive hospital-like structure in most cases. Typically there is one hospital per system with a ring, as it is rarely needed.

Neuro-Lens Deformity(NLD)

The brain of the Karth is a series of layers of silicon crystals; A central laser fired from near the energy center at the peak of their body is reflected(partially) by a lens at each layer, allowing a portion of the laser to continue through while some of it is refracted across that layer of brain. The silicon is chemically altered, and upkeep Metallophages in their brain-area cut away and consume the basic silicon that is untouched by the laser; in this way the brain can form pathways of crystal and send signals down them to think. Each layer has its own lens, and when this lens is in some way deformed(By trauma or birth defect) then parts of the brain effectively stop working, because either the signal is too strong and is damaging the crystal because too much of the laser is being redirected into that area of the brain, or its too weak and the chemically altered silicon begins to denature back to normal silicon because not enough is being sent into that area of the brain, where it will then be culled by the Metallophages. The laser is the same approximate strength in all Karths and has no significant impact on their health, it is only how the lenses direct the light that can differentiate and cause issues. Symptoms of weakened laser are typically total or partial loss of use of areas of the brain and, in some cases, brain death due to lack of readable function. There is a chance of the laser being amplified beyond baseline strength from a very rare deformity in the lens that causes it to refract the laser in a one-way mirror sort of way, causing it to build within a chamber. When said reflective chamber can no longer contain the energy within it, it will break and release the now amplified laser, likely damaging the body of the Karth and possible matter surrounding the Karth, making the body a hazard in some cases. Treatment in early stages will typically result in a full recovery, since not much brain matter has been lost, but late stage treatment can be completely irrelevant, as too much of the brain is lost to continue functioning. For millenia this disease, when it occurred in infancy, resulted in a dead child from birth. This disease, now that there is treatment, went from the #1 cause of infantile deaths to being completely gone in a matter of years following its discovery.

Intestinal Oxidation(IO)

The intestine of the Karth is a series of vein-like tubes that are typically composed of a non-iron material. The tubes experience so much trauma and friction that they are completely replaced every few months(The Karth will completely replace every part of its body roughly every 30 years, compared to a human's 7). The intestinal lining does not suffer much from oxidation, as it is replaced too quickly for minor oxidation to affect it. The Metallophages storing metal inside themselves within the intestines do suffer; they will rapidly die on contact with oxygen, and the metal they store will solidify from the gaseous state they contain it in. The metal in their bodies expands and clogs the intestines alongside the dead Metallophages. This disease will present with no symptoms for Karths in a sufficiently sedentary lifestyle as there will be little to no reason for them to make use of the metal in their intestinal tract; eventually they will run out of plasma due to an inability to excite more metal into plasma to provide energy to the body, and they will die. The Metallophages will quickly die out at this point due to an inability to reproduce(No plasma core), and the brain will in most cases be preserved as the lasers will continue firing up until death, keeping the brain "alive". If plasma is inserted into the core an individual can be brought back but unless the entirety of their intestines are cleared out and the Metallophages in their body are replenished by a new host(changing their genome to match the new host, effectively severing them from their own genetic family.) then they will remain dead. A Karth, from death, can be brought back; they are considered destroyed when their brain and body are broken/dead, brain-dead when the brain is rendered inoperable, and dead when the brain is safe but the body is unable to operate(Effectively, daed), requiring their Metallophages to be gone as well. Treatment is relatively simple while the Karth is alive; clean out the intestines with high pressure nitrogen flow through them and replenish Metallophage count from a family members biology.

Plasma Leak(PL)

The Karth, like all living things needs energy for its bodily functions; rather than using ATP for this energy, a metal capsule is made and filled with plasma. The plasma is taken from the Plasma Core at the peak of the body(The head-like protrusion in the center of the top side of the Karth with lights on all sides to communicate contains the plasma core, and directly below it is the brain.) and is taken to areas of the body when new limbs are grown. For simple movements, a Metallophage engages the movement on its own and heads to the Plasma Core to feed on the plasma. Metal that is annexed into the form via normal consumption will, when necessary, be excited into plasma and deposited into this core. When a Metallophage enters the Plasma Core area it will feed briefly or deposit metal into it, and then depart quickly before the plasma damages it. Sometimes, they have an atypical reaction to this; they think that the plasma is somewhere it shouldn't be and try and vent it, burrowing out of the body and creating a microscopic leak of Plasma. This will damage Metallophages and will cause them to find plasma that is actually where it shouldn't be: In their pathways. So they join in burrowing out of their pathways to vent the plasma, which will result in a structural failure and a venting of this plasma. The material is considered a hazard as it is highly pressurized and will be vented at such high pressure that it can result in the bodily maiming of Karths around the diseased individual. The disease will be recognized by increased metabolism and lethargy, but it can also be a Metallophagic parasite causing this same symptoms so it is not always caught before the eruption. Typically, from the moment a Metallophage thinks the plasma in the Core is out of place, there is 4 days to 2 weeks until the plasma is vented and the Karth's Metallophage count decimated by the venting and subsequent starvation. After a day without plasma most Metallophages will begin slowing down, and some will die. There is no documented case of a Metallophage surviving 3 days of activity without plasma.

Sports

Ducting

Wires are a fundamental part of Karth life; parents would have children shape metal into wires for them to practice their fine motor skills and to let the parents focus on more complex work in the First Age. Now it is a nationally televised sport with hundreds of millions of Karths watching the championships.

Body Modding

The body of a Karth is very machine-like, and they know this. They see their bodies and their tools as the same, and as such, the ability to shape one's limbs into a useful tool is seen as desirable, a skill worthy of respect and awe. This sport is graded similar to Olympic ice skating, the appearance,

Traits & Abilities

- Composed of metal, with enhanced sight and complete deafness.

- Communicate via body language and emission of light.

-Able to soder metal at room temp with physical contact, reshaping the metal via excitement from solid to liquid.

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Technology, Hume Manipulation

Hume Manipulation allows for changing the Hume level of a space. The Hume level is how much reality there is in a space, how much the laws of physics apply and how strictly. At 1 Hume, all laws of physics exist and are normal. Above 1 and it becomes much harder to break or bend these laws, stricter conditions are added, magnetic and particle effects especially become stricter which can greatly effect unprotected electronics. Below 1, and the laws of physics begin to fade. Entropy, gravity, time, physical space, 4D 3D 2D 1D it all begins to blur. At 0 Hume(entirely theoretical) there is nothing. No laws of physics to tell atoms to bind to each other, to tell subatomic particles to bind, to tell what makes up those neutrons and electrons to even exist. Nothing. This is done in small amounts(Down to 0.9 Humes is standard) to more easily induce, study, and utilize quantum states under less expensive or dangerous conditions, making it paramount in the FTL travel of the Karth empire.

Humes were studied when Karthenon's scholars realized there were a total of 3 other systems with metal based species. 2 of those had rogue metallophages and 1 of them had an offshoot of Titanium Terrors that evolved to live inside of a gas giant and consume aerosolized metal. Metal life occurring without organic interference seemed to be incredibly rare in this galaxy, so they researched what was special about their system in particular, eventually finding it: A reality sink happened to exist in 4D space very close to their star. A reality sink is a singularity of Humes, it has an incredibly high Hume level and its immediate surroundings have lower Hume levels, the effect is identical to a gravitational field. It continuously drains the surrounding space, causing Humes to flow towards these sinks, and causing a sort of flow that exists physically in 4D space. Realizing they were, by definition, impossible under normal physics, they began to worry that if they were to expand, some terrible catastrophe would befall their biology. This prompted the research of how to control the Hume level, these 4D particles, in 3D space. The short answer is you can't, and the long answer is that you can't affect higher dimensional objects except for when the tip of them is inside the 3D space you occupy, meaning that they have to build their own reality sinks, Reality Anchors as they're called, that exist partially within 4D space, and repel or attract Humes to increase or decrease the amount of reality. Any long-term living space for the Karth generally has a reality anchor in it, in case that long-feared disaster strikes.