Krakotl

== Description ==
The Krakotl are a bird-like species of sapient aliens in Nature of Predators. They are bipedal, roughly turkey-sized, and stand up to four feet tall. They are also flight capable and possess a pair of wings which also serve as their primary appendages for manipulation. Their beaks are hooked and brightly colored, and their bodies are covered in feathers. 
The Krakotl are known for their aggressive temperament and served as the Federations primary military force until most of their civilization was wiped out following the Battle of Earth.
Krakotl - Avian species are a rarity, simply because ground-dwelling species are most likely to evolve sentiencehttps://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/series/the_nature_of_predators. The Krakotl evolved on a marshy world called Nishtal, which led to the development of talons for balance. These seconded as a defensive weapon, when they landed to eat algae.
Their curved beaks are bright, tropical colors. Evolutionary biologists suggest these colors developed to frighten away predators, since bright animals are often poisonous. When irritated, their feathers puff out in a semi-circle behind them.
A Krakotl possesses one of the largest vocal ranges in the galaxy. Their squawks can range from deafening screeches to a melodic harmony. With their arsenal of physical defenses, the Krakotl have a higher aggression than most, due to their tendency to scare off predators.
For this reason, they led the path to create many Federation weapons and strategies, during the first phases of the war. The Krakotl Alliance's military presence is always known, as are their offensive capabilities. They aren't afraid to intimidate other species into going along with their plans.
-SpacePaladin15
== Physical Characteristics ==
Krakotl are described very similarly to Earth birds, with a beak, feathered body, and bipedal stance. Their feet end in sharp talons, and they are required to use perches instead of chairs for seating presumably due to their leg structure. The Krakotl fly using wings, which also contain their primary manipulator appendages. Krakotl are warm-blooded, with the color of their blood described as violet or purple. The species is confirmed to lay eggs to produce offspring, and possesses a lifespan similar to that of humans, which is around galactic average for the NoP universe. 
The colors of their feathers are usually some tone of blue, such as cyanhttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xj9rk6/the_nature_of_predators_47/ for Kalsim, royal blue for Luala and the unnamed Krakotl in chapter 83, and indigo for Nuela, though others such as violet and grey are confirmed to be possible. Their feathers are also "soft and almost fur-like" in texture according to the PoV character in the Human Exterminators 2 bonus series. The beaks of the Krakotl are curved and come in various bright colors; Jerulim and Luala are described as having "sunset-colored" beakshttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/vdnib3/the_nature_of_predators_20/ and Kalsim's has pink markingshttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ywvwpb/the_nature_of_predators_64/. 
Similar to many birds, Krakotl not only have full color vision but can also see into the UV spectrum as noted from Kalsim's observations in chapter 47 and confirmed in the NoP Discord. They have an unremarkable sense of smell and taste, though are confirmed immune to capsaicin by SpacePaladin15. 
Their diet before the Federation was omnivorous, as they were scavengers who also occasionally hunted fish. After the cultural genocide and genetic tampering by the Farsul and Kolshians, their diet is now entirely composed of plant matter. While they are known for eating algae and other aquatic plants, they have no issues eating other plant matter as evidenced by the composition of Kalsim's rations after crash-landing on Earth. 
== History ==
Not much is known about the history of the Krakotl pre-Federation, due to the age and extent of the tampering done to the species. In the Farsul Abductee Patron bonus series, they were stated to have developed aviation technologies early to help with long distance travel. They were also originally confirmed in the NoP Discord to have developed space flight and FTL independently, before contact with the Kolshian and Farsul occurred. This was later re-confirmed by the same Patron bonus series that mentioned their aviation history. Said bonus series also mentions that while, like humans, the Krakotl were aggressive, Krakotl are more likely to intimidate others while humans overall "do worse things". The Krakotl underwent cultural genocide at the hands of the Kolshian and Farsul, as well as a forced conversion to herbivory under the threat of full genocidehttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/z59jx4/the_nature_of_predators_67/. After this conversion, the Kolshians, Farsul, and Krakotl would become the founding members of the Federation. They were listed in the archives as species 1-Fhttps://www.patreon.com/posts/nature-of-lore-8-85054335?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link.
The Krakotl remained aggressive despite their forced assimilation into the Federation, and this would be used to make them the face of the Federation's military power. After the Takkan species suffered governmental collapse due to the start of the war against the Arxur, the Krakotl garnered the Compromise of Nishtal to restabilize the species which in turn led to the creation of the Takkan Coalition. The Krakotl's aggressive tendencies would get them called "a problem from the start" by Nikonus, and this is supported by a line about Cilany exposing the Krakotl military for prolific extortionhttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ygkzvl/the_nature_of_predators_59/.
The Extermination Fleet that attacked Earth was led by the Krakotl under Captain Kalsim, with nearly the entirety of their space forces dedicated to the mission. Because of this, their home-world Nishtal was left undefended. This was used by the U.N. in an attempt to dissuade the Krakotl from attacking humanity through mutually assured destruction by informing the Arxur Dominion about Nishtal's exposed status. Kalsim ignored this and continued to press the attack, leading to the destruction of Krakotl civilization through the Arxur's raids and subsequent orbital bombardment.
Several holdout worlds and small colonies survived the Arxur attacks. After Cilany revealed the truth about the Federation's conversion and manipulation of omnivores, ambassador Jerulim tried to cause the destruction of these remaining pockets of Krakotl, though the majority of commanders who received this order did not comply. One such commander was General Nuela, who currently leads an anti-Federation movement within the Krakotl, and was invited to participate in the human allies summit. 
Human forces eventually took over and liberated Shaza's sector and millions of each species used as cattle were freed, including Krakotl. As of the most recent public chapter these rescues make up the majority of the surviving Krakotl population alongside several hundred thousand individuals within the aforementioned holdouts and an unspecified number scattered across other Federation and human-aligned planets. 
== Society and Culture ==
Much of the information about Krakotl society and culture comes from Kalsim's chapters, though a decent amount has also been given by SpacePaladin15 in the NoP Discord. 
The most prominent piece of information given is about the Cult of Inatala, the mainstream Krakotl religion. Inatala is portrayed as a female Krakotlhttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/z2rjgf/the_nature_of_predators_66/, and is told to be responsible for bringing plants to the world as the goddess of farminghttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xukozz/the_nature_of_predators_51/. Maltos was the god of violence; counterpart to Inatala and said to encourage predators by appealing to greed. Predation itself is considered a perversion of nature under the Cult of Inatala.
Krakotl architecture was originally mentioned by Kalsim to include floating cities, stilt-towers, and ceremonial nestshttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xlyo9q/the_nature_of_predators_48/. This was expanded upon in the NoP Discord, with floating cities and stilt towers being related concepts that refer to their architecture being suspended above the waters of their home-world. This is likely similar in concept to real-life stilt houses as well as the Uros Floating Village in Peru. 
SpacePaladin15 also confirmed their homes are more vertically-oriented than humans', with high ceilings that blend everything into a single tall story for ease of vertical movement. The stilt-towers in particular can be entered from above by flying through a hatch. Krakotl are known for their flocking behavior outside of inhabited areas, supposedly for preventing predators from singling out individuals.
The ceremonial nests were explained as a crib-like piece of furniture that Krakotl chicks are hatched into. The Krakotl are noted to have buildings dedicated to the incubation and monitoring of eggs during development, similar to the Tilfish and other ovoviviparous specieshttps://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/115h9e6/the_nature_of_predators_91/.
Krakotl entertainment is especially notable for their musical proficiency due to their expansive vocal range. A bonus series describes their music as acapella and similar to Terran birdsong. Krakotl also have been confirmed to have cinema, at least some of which focuses on horror or cautionary tales with CG predators as antagonists.
A minor piece of cultural information given in the Human Exterminators 2 bonus series is that the Krakotl have the saying "try is a flightless word", which means "you either just do what you’re talking about, or you crash" according to the character who brings up the phrase.
== Characters ==
Jerulim
Kalsim
Jala
Unnamed female (Chapter 83)
Luala (Patron content)
Nuela
== References ==
Category:Species