Upyri

An Upyri soldier.

The Upyri are an offshoot race of Humans that hail originally from the former Human colony of Ker, an arid and barren world in the Achlys system near the center of the galaxy. Born from extensive genetic modification and biological experimentation in an effort to combat the harshness of the galaxy around them, they are vastly different internally from their Human counterparts. However, they still bear a remarkable resemblence to their ancestral race.

## Physiology

Going by outward appearance, the Upyri are almost indistinguishable when standing next to your average Human. The differences, though, lie in the teeth and eyes of the Upyri. Upyri cuspids are significantly sharper than a human's, and are slightly longer in length. As for their eyes, their pupils tend to be naturally dilated, and appear to have *tapeta lucida* which humans normally lack. This results in Upyri eyes being near black at times, with very little iris to speak of, and appear to flash a bright blue or red when light is cast on them. The appearance of *tapeta lucida* would suggest that they have a heightened sense of night vision, as its commonly found in most nocturnal and carnivorous creatures. Traditionally, if an Upyri would like to blend in with a human population, they would acquire contacts or shades to mask their eyes' appearance. Some Upyri have even gone to other lengths, having their cuspids removed and replaced with those similar to a human's.

Internally, it is a drastically different story. Upyri seem to lack some of the organs that humans naturally possess, and are equipped with an elongated stomach shaped more like a tube. Upyri are not able to ingest and digest normal solid foods due to this layout, and are forced to ingest liquid foods. They are equipped with two functioning hearts, though both are smaller than a normal human heart. Each has two chambers, and they are stacked neatly atop one another on the right side of the body. Their lungs, liver, and kidneys are similar to humans, though of slightly different sizes. They seem to be missing the pancreas, which suggests that all the digestion of food occurs in the stomach itself before moving on to the intestines. They also lack an appendix naturally. The Upyri also have naturally long lifespans compared to a Human. Most Upyri tend to live to around the age of 250. The oldest an Upyri has ever lived was recorded at 341 years.

All of these changes physiologically, when compared to a human, are explained by the Upyri attempts to genetically modify themselves and enhance their survivability in the galaxy. For every hostile threat they encounter, be it an alien species or hostile environment, the Upyri experiment further on themselves in order to combat that threat. Due to this, the Upyri are also the top producers of biomodifications and cybernetics in the Southern quadrant of the galaxy.

Upyri and other Human-like races are able to breed together, but the actual physical form of the child is based off the species of the mother. If the mother is Upyri, then the child will be Upyri physiologically. If the mother is of another race, then the child will be of that race physiologically. The child does gain traits from the father, and thus becomes a hybrid of the two races. A hybrid of Human and Upyri genetics is called a Humyri (a blending of Human and Upyri.)