Nkvunji

The Nkvunji (nik-VOON-jee) are a mineral-based species from Nkulja. These beings most commonly resemble humanoid boulder piles, but they can rearrange themselves into other basic forms. They are often called earth elementals, stonewardens, and other names evoking mythological context.
== History ==
Their homeworld of Nkulja sits near the Sundakra supernova remnant. Sundakra's explosion reached Nkulja during a time when they were stuck as a basic hunter-gatherer civilization, and its radiation accelerated their ability to process information.
==Biology==
Nkvunji possess a largely silicon-based elementary structure, but also make heavy use of potassium, sodium, calcium, and aluminum. They have been likened to living feldspar golems, and their exotic genetic structure is written within the silicon on the atomic level.
They can change their shape to mimic a large stocky biped, a smaller quadruped (more legs require more of the body's volume), or a simple boulder-shaped mass. They cannot, however, stretch very far, as there seems to be a maximum bodily radius before their life-force experiences interruption.
They are very hardy, able to withstand small explosions, and exhibit regenerative abilities in the presence of adequate minerals. They do not normally have mouths, communicating with a variety of clacking and scraping noises with mandible-like facial appendages, but they can form mouth-like structures to communicate in common speech. For the sake of eating, they can absorb mineral-saturated fluids directly through their bodily surfaces, or open their bodies to engulf large chunks of ore.
The average height for both males and females is about 7 feet, and they usually weigh about 800 pounds. Few are seen larger than this, owing to the aforementioned limitations of their life-force.
Their lifespan is undetermined, but the oldest has been shown to be at least 10,000 years old. It has been speculated that they are immortal.
== Society ==
They are friendly overall, although their trust is difficult to earn due to past conflicts with aliens wanting to enslave them. Most Nkvunji either stay in the underground cities of their homeworld or within the vicinity of the Ceratos or Pertusar star systems.
Category:Species
Category:Poly- and metamorphic sentient species
Category:Petraform sentient species
Category:Elemental sentient species