K'Mrent

# Biology

## Physiology

**Type**: Semi Cave-Dwelling, Bipedal, Scaled/Furred, Omnivore

**Homeworld**: Tel’Kra, Siveril (Main Sequence Star)

Kardashev Scale: 1.0

**Natural Lifespan**: ~190 Standard Years

**Average Core Temperature**: 27 C / 80.7 F

**Average Height**: 1.5 M / 4.92 ft

**Average Weight**: 36.2 Kg / 80 lbs.

**Skeletal Structure**: Average bone density, above average flexibility.

**Senses**:

* Acute Hearing (Frequency Response Range 30Hz - 45 kHz).
* Average smell, taste.
* Very good low light vision, poor ability to adapt to higher light levels (Visible Color Range: 800nm - 425nm)

**Notable Physiology**:

* Two organs similar to liver and kidneys
* Large and Small Intestines merged into shorter GI tract.

## K’Mrent Empathic and Telepathic Abilities

The defining trait of the K’Mrent: All K’Mrent are capable of some form of empathic link with others. It also makes sneaking up on one near impossible unless they are sick, injured, or absorbed in a task. Right before they hatch, they gain their abilities. Of particular note, K’Mrent passively sense the surface emotions of all around them. Even more interesting is that they seem to be able to piggyback off of each other to extend the range of their abilities. As such, K’Mrent feel the thoughts and emotions of potentially hundreds of other creatures around them constantly. The K’Mrent refer to this as the Sea of Voices, or usually just called The Sea. There are many individual Seas in known space as of today. This Sea a part of the normal background noise. The noise need not have to be K’Mrent, any sentient species is sufficient to be a Sea, though they prefer if the Sea can speak back to them. These abilities allow them to form bonds with their fellow K’Mrent firmer and closer than most species can, and it enhances their relationships with non-K’Mrent as well. It has also allowed their history to be relatively free of conflict. This comes at a cost, however. Most K’Mrent can’t cope with being isolated from the Seas. This has made it near impossible for them to leave their homeworld, despite having all the means to. They required the outside help of other species to develop technology that let them explore the stars and reach stations and other worlds, thrusting them into new, different Seas. Generally K’Mrent feel ‘Seas’ when approximately 50 or more sentient creatures are in an area of their telepathic reach. As such, stations, frigates and larger ships, planetary cities, and colonies are their own Seas to the K’Mrent.

K’Mrent Telepathic abilities rely on proximity to others, however K’Mrent can piggyback off of fellow K’Mrent in order to increase their range. In a sense, a crowd of K’Mrent is like a living mesh network of telepathy. Depending on how skilled or naturally gifted a K’Mrent is at telepathy determines how effective they are as a conduit. Regardless, the closer to the limit of their range, the fuzzier and less useful emotions and thoughts become.

All K’Mrent can learn to defend themselves against unwanted telepathic intrusion, though the effort required depends on the innate abilities one has. This innate ability ranges from the base passive surface emotions and thoughts to scrying deeper thoughts, and even to downright terrifying mind control. More impressive innate abilities does garner respect, but normally does not infer higher status within their society. As this range of innate ability has been the same throughout their existence, their culture has enshrined keystone points within this range with titles:

* **Brother/Sister** - Untrained or K’Mrent only capable of basic empathic sense. This is most of the K’Mrent population.
	+ Emotions and surface thoughts.
	+ Can speak with their mind.
	+ Telepathic Range: 100 m
* **Seer** - Trained or K’Mrent with notable telepathic ability.
	+ Most K’Mrent can be trained into a Seer.
	+ Can scry deep thoughts when concentrating.
	+ Telepathic Range: 500 m
* **Oracle** - Only K’Mrent with notable telepathic abilities can be trained to become Oracles. It’s rare for a K’Mrent to be this naturally powerful. K’Mrent often come to Oracles for advice or guidance.
	+ Can implant and modify thoughts with effort.
	+ Low level telekinesis, ~250 grams
	+ Telepathic Range: 1Km

#### Mental Overexertion

These telepathic abilities do not exist without a downside however. K’Mrent can suffer from Mental Overexertion, a dangerous condition that if ignored can result in severe complications or even death. It can be caused by either attempting telepathy they weren’t trained for or powerful enough to use safely, or for doing mentally draining tasks for extended periods of time. A few examples are:
Telepathy done outside or near the edge of an individual's own range beyond surface thoughts and emotions.
Untrained and/or inexperienced mind reading beyond surface thoughts and emotions.
Telekinesis (Higher weights accelerate it)
Extensive mind manipulation.
Defense against invasive telepathy.

#### Stages of Mental Overexertion

K’Mrent are taught the signs of Mental Overexertion and have it drilled into the minds to stop and rest should they start experiencing symptoms. Continuing to ignore and push through the minor stages of the condition could result in severe complications. Often, it’s the complications of Acute and Terminal Overexertion that kill K’Mrent who are foolish enough to push their luck.

* **Minor Overexertion Symptoms**
	+ Nosebleeds
	+ Moderate migraine
	+ Mental and physical fatigue
* **Major Overexertion Symptoms**
	+ Severe nosebleeds
	+ Acute migraine lasting for at least a week
	+ Extreme mental and physical fatigue
	+ Fevers and illnesses resulting from a weakened immune system
	+ Confusion
	+ Nausea and/or Vomiting
* **Acute Overexertion Symptoms**
	+ Acute migraine last for months.
	+ Chance of chronic mild migraine.
	+ Suppressed Immune system, high risk of dangerous infections and diseases
	+ Temporary Dementia (2-8 weeks)
* **Terminal Overexertion Symptoms**
	+ Chronic Acute Migraine
	+ Possible brain damage
	+ Psychosis
	+ Dementia
	+ Chronically suppressed immune system
	+ Coma
	+ Death

### Sexual and Reproductive Characteristics

Like most species, the K’Mrent have two biological sexes, designated as male and female. Of note, however, is that both genders do not exhibit skeletal or muscular differences and tend to be ambiguous in body structure. It’s quite hard to tell male and females apart due to the lack of apparent sexual dimorphism. Both have antennae on top of their heads. These fleshy, bio-luminescent antennae are highly sensitive to touch.
Males have internal reproductive organs, held within a cloaca-like passage on the front of their pelvis. Females have the expected reproductive organs and lay hard-shelled eggs as part of the reproductive cycle. Not much is remarkable beyond that physically.
Likely the most interesting reproductive fact is that K’Mrent female genes are all dominant and all male genes are recessive. This goes hand-in-hand with the rapid gestation and year-round fertility of females, with eggs internally gestating within 4 days, and upon laying, gestate for 16 more days. The side effect, however, is that female genes tend to have missing or malformed information. Male genetic material is used to replace and correct the genetic information, and allow male traits to be expressed. Furthermore, it appears that gender information is missing approximately 50% of the time. It is unknown why this hasn’t changed during the existence of the K’Mrent, not even they know. As a result, the gender distribution is roughly 50/50. Even more bizarre is the apparent ability for female K’Mrent to mate with non-K’Mrent males, with varying levels of success. It appears that male K’Mrent are not required for successful mating, though it does introduce new dominant and recessive genes within their genepool.

## Government

### Government Structure

Pre Rediscovery age, the K’Mrent had a Direct Democracy. They leveraged their innate telepathic abilities to form consensus rather quickly within their cities for day to day management of the species. There were Oracles that influenced some decisions and were asked for their advice, but overall most decisions were done by the population as a whole. After they developed the ability to safely leave their homeworld and their first encounters with space faring races, they developed into a Enlightened Monarchy/Direct Democracy hybrid and have laid claim to their own home system and proclaimed themselves Realm of Tel’Kra.
The most visible of the two is the Monarchy that other species and factions interact with. He or she holds the title of High Oracle of the Realm. The High Oracle is chosen from the most talented and/or wisest of the Oracles. As a result, the High Oracle tends to be middle to late aged. The Monarchy is tasked with military and macro-level decisions concerning the Realm. The High Oracle has advisors, but otherwise is allowed to rule unilaterally in these decisions.
Arguably, the most important government of the Realm is the oldest, the direct democracy. It has been hidden behind the monarchy and is what keeps the gears turning within their society. Due to the sheer size of some of their cities, it tends to move a little slower than the unilateralism of the Monarchy, but is able to cater to the society’s needs better than if it was purely ran by the High Oracle him/herself.

### Law and Order

K’Mrent leverage their telepathy to cleanly and quickly sort out issues between themselves. Due to the weak concept of private property within K’Mrent society, theft is something that can’t really happen. Murder and physical assault is almost unheard of due to the fact that a K’Mrent can feel the pain they inflict upon others. By the same token, war in their history is almost nonexistent. The one crime that the K’Mrent seem to invest in legal systems over is Mental Assaults. Mind control, mind wiping, and thought implanting are highly regulated and/or illegal within their society.
On the other side is their legal system to deal with outsiders. They have laws in place to keep outsiders in line, and most importantly to keep K’Mrent secrets, secret. However, an outsider that gains the trust of the K’Mrent will find that so long as they follow the K’Mrent ethos, are subject to most of the same laws a K’Mrent is.

## Tech

### Explicitly Programmed Nanites(EPN)

EPNs are capable of taking various materials, breaking it down into various elements, and reconstructing it into any requested object. It has become the building block of their entire society and is a closely guarded technology. EPNs have explicitly programmed instructions in order to prevent Grey Goo scenarios.

#### Industrial Uses

Industrial EPNs are used as, essentially, 3D printers on steroids and scaled up to massive complexes. Huge Nanoforges create everything needed for K’Mrent society and their defense force. Industrial Nanoforges require huge amounts of power and are extremely material efficient.

#### Recycling

Deconstructing material uses far less energy than constructing. K’Mrent society is highly efficient and recycle everything into new stock material for the Industrial Nanoforges.

#### Agriculture

EPNs can be programmed to further boost plant nutrients as well as add additional nutrients. The use of these EPN-infused nutrients result in massively increased yields.

#### Medical

Medicine often comprises of EPN capsules with very specific instructions to produce compounds or directly interact with the body in specific ways. EPNs designed for medical use are one-use and self terminate, unlike industrial EPNs. Medical EPN is highly regulated and can only be found on their homeworld, ships, and colonies and are very heavily guarded from outsiders.

#### Medical EPN Gel (MEPN)

External and internal use gel made of stable organic gel with EPNs suspended within this mixture. The EPNs have specific programming to do general disinfection and repair of wounds, bone fractures, and other major injuries. MEPN is shelf stable and the suspended EPNs will only activate upon finding valid biological components to interface with. There are three major types:

* **MEPN-K** - The original version of MEPN. It is highly advised to not use MEPN unless you are a K’Mrent, as it was made specifically with K’Mrent biology in mind. Almost all MEPN is MEPN-K
* **MEPN-P** - A response to outsiders needing medical attention. MEPN-P is a programmable version of MEPN that can accept medical scans of patients and the information from healthy members of the species to successfully heal wounds.
* **MEPN-B** - A highly classified version of MEPN used as the basis for Telepathic Nodes. Unlike normal MEPN, these are not one time use.

#### Meditank

In the case of loss of limb or mortal wounds, K’Mrent use something they call a Meditank. Gravely wounded K’Mrent are put inside a mixture of a neutral liquid (usually distilled water) and MEPN-K. The mixture is cycled and cleaned constantly as the K’Mrent is extensively repaired by the MEPN. Meditanks can prolong the natural lifespan of K’Mrent quite considerably, but it cannot repair widespread DNA degradation as caused by age. These devices are also an incredible strain on MEPN-K stores and so normally they are reserved for grave injuries, not anti-aging.

#### Military

The K’Mrent have explicitly created EPN to not be used as a “Grey Goo Bomb” It can only be used to create weapons, not itself be a weapon.

#### Recreational

EPN-based recreational substances are very rare as they serve no pragmatic purpose and they prefer their recreational substances to be natural.

### Fusion Reactors

K’Mrent developed fusion tech that is similar to much of the galaxy, though their EPNs have allowed them to reduce the weight of reactors and more easily repair their own reactor designs. They use standard Helium fuel. Their Helium scavenging tech is on average 15% more efficient with the EPN manufacturing processes and designs.

### Telepathic Nodes

With the help of other species, they have developed a device that forms two vital functions to allow space travel for the K’Mrent. First, it allows for telepathic communication over subspace to other K’Mrent via relaying neural signals to other Nodes. As K’Mrent need at least an analouge of a brain to communicate witht, they have created a special version of MEPN that can be picked up by their empathic abilities and also translate these signals into electrical impulse for conventional subspace communicators. As such, these Nodes can be wired into existing subspace communication equipment with little to no training required. Second, it has a built-in Virtual Intelligence that creates a Virtual Sea, allowing a K’Mrent to cling to this artificial Sea in order to greatly reduce stresses during travel between true Seas without constant communication. It is imperfect, however, and over time a K’Mrent can pick up on how artificial this Virtual Sea is, increasing the level of anxiety and stress they feel over time. However, this anxiety can be relieved by simply being a true Sea. The shortcomings are deemed acceptable risks. Older telepathic nodes are quite large, sometimes as large as fridge. Newer, more efficient nodes are generally about the size of a bowling ball. These nodes can also be daisy chained into comm networks.

## K’Mrent Society

K’Mrent are extremely social, collectively minded creatures. Even those they consider introverts are often extroverted in comparison to other species. Bathed in the endless sea of emotions and thoughts of their kin, they are quite emotional and are extremely open to each other. Their ethos is for the greater good of their kind. Most of the species lives on their homeworld in large underground complexes called Undergrowths. Most of the entrances to these Undergrowths are hidden and ‘main’ entrances are guarded and easily collapsible. With increased traffic to their system from traders, they’ve built large above ground spaceports around these exposed entrances.

### Language

K’Mrent’s communicate in a mixture of spoken language, telepathic cues and phrases, semi-feral noises that sound fairly similar to that of a Sol cheetah, and subtle wiggles of one’s antennae. As a result, this telepathic-oral hybrid language is all but impossible to translate. They do have a written version of their language, though it lacks much of the nuance their spoken and telepathic language holds. For quite some time, K’Mrent did not have a written language because of how difficult it was to express the complex concepts they could with their telepathic-speech could. Written word was only developed to communicate with and program machines as well as long distance communication between Overgrowths where telepathic communication could not reach.

### Societal Concepts

Most K’Mrent have no concept of personal space, living in large communal housing. As a part of it, most K’Mrent share thoughts freely with their kind. Ideas and feelings freely broadcast to those around them. As a result, privacy is also something that is forigen to them.

They also have a weak concept of possessions. Tools, resources, food, and water are given and received when needed and asked. Even clothes are considered nothing more than tools for more dangerous jobs. Often, a K’Mrent will keep small personal trinkets on them if they have sentimental value, but beyond that they wear decorative accessories as a form of expression, relying on their fur and scales for daily living instead.

Trading with, doing diplomacy with, and generally interacting with outsiders requires clothing as tools, of course.

#### Relationships

K’Mrent form lifelong relationships with their kind, with friendships and partnerships being one in the same. There is no concept of marriage or monogamy within their culture as well. With the species being so close knit to each other, a normal greeting and behavior to them are hugs and kisses, with handshakes seeming utterly impersonal and detached.

#### Mental Merging

To a K’Mrent, true intimacy is with being mentally open to each other. As this continues and they grew closer to one another, so to do their minds. Roughly translated from their language as ‘Mental Merging’, over time individuals can become so close that their consciousness will bleed into each other’s minds. Usually this takes the form of the other finishing a thought or sentence or even them speaking in unison. With their mental barriers to each other gone, it is effortless for them to dig into each other’s deepest thoughts and can even feel each other strongly far beyond what they could normally feel, and to most this is considered most intimate one can be. But be warned, forcibly isolating merged K’Mrent from each other will cause immeasurable emotional distress to both.

## Galactic Relations

The K’Mrent are new to the galactic community as up until they developed the Telepathic Node, they were completely unable to leave their homeworld. Up to this point, the only hints the galactic community saw from them were alien probes and unmanned spaceships exploring. Upon finding the origin of these probes , they initially thought the race was long extinct, as they found no sentient life on Tel’Kra. During the first expedition, the K’Mrent nervously showed themselves and first contact was made. Thanks to their innate telepathic abilities, they were able to quickly learn Galactic Common and communicate with this expedition. After gaining their trust, the expedition was allowed inside an Undergrowth and they quickly realized the K’Mrent were not a primitive society, but instead a highly advanced one that had not become spacefaring. There were quite a few faux pas committed by the K’Mrent due to their wildly different society, but aside from that First Contact went acceptably.

After some time of interacting and trading with the K’Mrent, a few species decided that the K’Mrent would be spacefaring, if there were any other species. They collaborated with the K’Mrent to create the Telepathic Node, the most critical technology for them to reach the stars. After a few rounds of miniaturization, these Nodes found their way onto the very first manned K’Mrent starships, allowing the K’Mrent to finally leave their homeworld.

It became clear to the K’Mrent that their direct democracy could not cope with the pressure of outsiders and galactic affairs easily. As a result, they agreed to create the outward facing monarchy and appoint a High Oracle to serve as both their figurehead and the primary diplomat of the species, which improved relations with other species. Their defence force was formed and led by the High Oracle after they were attacked by pirates and had to rely on other species to defend them. They quickly figured out that the distances at which space combat happens are beyond what their telepathic abilities can sense and that the vacuum of space isolates them from other ships as well. This gave them the ability to defend themselves in space, though this did cause concern among their society, as this is the first time they could kill without causing them distress.

Despite having a more organized diplomacy sector with the appointment of the High Oracle, diplomacy still proved problematic. Their culture and mannerisms caused friction and misunderstandings quite often. Most view them as inept, diminutive annoyances. They have been making some progress in changing this perception, but most species still treat them like children. The species that helped them and initiated first contact, however, have a deep understanding of their culture and have formed quite strong bonds that the K’Mrent rely on greatly. With their help and the painful experiences they’ve had, the K’Mrent have developed guidelines and training for their diplomats, as well as outsider-specific laws and rules for their colonies and territory.

## Rediscovery Age

As a result of their ability to leave their homeworld, they were able to more easily explore their lush garden homeworld. All over the surface of their world dots ruins that predate the birth of the K’Mrent. To this point, they assumed it was a long-dead and very advanced species that created these ruins. In fact, some of their technology, such as EPNs, were derived from tech and schematics found within these ruins. With the advent of ship-grade sensors, the help of allied historians, and the ability to collaborate with the Undergrowths more efficiently, they discovered something that would shake the core of their society. These ruins were not of some unknown species, but are of K’Mrent origin!

This realization emboldened the hunt for answers and within one of these ruins they found messages. The language was familiar, but still alien to the K’Mrent. But one phrase stood out that was repeated over and over again, “War in the Heaven”. It almost sounded like a warning.

In any case, these discoveries have led to the K’Mrent questioning their origin in the universe, but most importantly, what is the truth of their origins? As a result of these findings, they have dubbed their current age, the Rediscovery Age.

## OOC Info

Please keep this info in mind and adhere to it when roleplaying as K’Mrent.

### Appearance

* There is an in-progress avatar that visualizes the K’Mrent, until it’s ready, contact nagachief.darkstone or use the K’Mrent Snaggletooth Mod.
* Basic jumpsuit body textures will also be provided upon request.
* K’Mrent have little to no sexual dimorphism.
* K’Mrent in their colonies or on their homeworld wear decorative accessories and generally only wear clothing when needed, such as hazardous work. Outside these places, they wear clothing out of respect for other races, but generally wear simple clothing or jumpsuits.

### Your Abilities and You

K’Mrent’s telepathy seems to be connected to the Nexus in some way and requires some kind of atmosphere to use. The exception is within the Nexus. As such, a K’Mrent cannot sense anyone in another ship while in space. All K’Mrent are capable of hearing surface thoughts and emotions passively. K’Mrent’s abilities become harder to perform and fuzzy the further away from the K’Mrent the target is.

* **Accurate** - 0 - 25% of max range. Can tell where someone is accurately relative to the K’Mrent. Effortlessly can read surface emotions/thoughts. Does not require much effort to do anything they are trained within.
* **Fuzzy** - 25 - 50% of max range. Can tell the direction someone is in. Surface emotions/thoughts are fuzzy and require quite a bit of effort to scry. Trained abilities require quite a lot of effort to do. This is the max range of Telekinesis, and is very draining on a K’Mrent.
* **Noise** - 50 - 100% of max range. Can tell something is in a general direction. Emotions and thoughts are basically unintelligible noise at this range. Attempting trained abilities at this range is dangerous and require immense effort.

Anything beyond their passive ability requires rolls. No exceptions. You MUST ask the person in question in IMs for consent and to work out the difficulty of a roll. If they decline, no means no. You may continue to keep on rolling after failing to win a roll, at the risk of endangering yourself. Seers trying to attempt telekinesis start at 3rd Roll, Oracles start at 2nd Roll. Oversized objects is one roll up. Fuzzy causes all rolls to be one roll up, Noise causes rolls to start two rolls up. These penalties are non-negotiable. If you don’t want to suffer them, don’t overexert yourself!

#### Roll Penalties

* **1st Roll** - Normal Effort.
* **2nd Roll** - Causes Minor Overexertion
* **3rd Roll** - Causes Major Overexertion
* **4th Roll** - Causes Acute Overexertion
	+ Roll 1d20
		- 1 = Chronic Minor Migraine
* **5th Roll** - Causes Terminal Overexertion
	+ Roll 3d20
		- First 1 = Brain Damage
		- Second 1 = Coma
		- Third 1 = Death
* **6th Roll** - ***Instant death, do not pass go, do not collect $200.***

#### Overexertion Recovery Times

Recovery times add up! (ie: Major = 2 weeks for Major, 1 week for minor)

* **Minor** - 1 Week
* **Major** - 2 Weeks
* **Acute** - 1 Month, chronic symptoms are permanent
* **Terminal** - 2 Months, if you didn’t die. Chronic symptoms and brain damage are permanent.

K’Mrent are the most comfortable when they are within a Sea, an area that reasonably would have at least 50 people in it. They often refer to these areas as Seas and name them accordingly. For example, Sea of Station 137 would refer to the population of Station 137. Below this 50 person threshold, a K’Mrent would become more and more anxious and stressed out. Suddenly cutting off a K’Mrent from anyone is a good way to throw one into a full blown panic attack! To prevent this, telepathic nodes are artificial stand-ins for Seas. Ships, colonies, cities, and stations that K’Mrent are permanent residents of or frequent often have Telepathic Nodes. Telepathic nodes are a little expensive, but are generally compatible with most communication relays. Think of them as essentially Wi-Fi access points, but for K’Mrent brains.

K’Mrent do not normally participate in combat, as they are able to feel the pain of others. However, some K’Mrent have either been desensitized or have become anti-social in some way and aren’t affected by other’s pain. K’Mrent will often be scared of and avoid these “Ma’Rav”, or Dark Ones.

K’Mrent that are outside of their homeworld or colonies are normally trained and have the title of Seer or above, however, it’s rather rare for an Oracle to be traveling due unless they are on a diplomatic mission. It’s strongly recommended to be a Seer. All Seers and Oracles are trained to deal with non-K’Mrent as well as taught galactic law and more importantly, taught about non-K’Mrent’s sense of personal space, culture, and that they have to introduce themselves verbally to others. Granted, not all K’Mrent take this training to heart and tend to come across as cuddly, socially inept creatures. Sometimes even those that take their training seriously slip up from time to time. Nobody is perfect, after all.