K'Mrent

## Biology

This species is a bit on the short side of the galactic average, but they do seem to be quite durable! Due to the typical low-intensity illumination their world receives and their status as a cave-dwelling species, their eyes are well suited for low light situations. This does come at a cost of being overly sensitive to lighting levels that most creatures would consider comfortable. Outside of their home system, they must either have implants suited for higher light levels or wear ‘Sun goggles’, light-sensitive tinting goggles.

This species also appears to have the ability to sense the emotions and thoughts of other creatures. This extraordinary sense is quite sensitive and difficult to suppress through willpower alone, leading to the ‘Sea of Emotions’ that many K’Mrent describe their daily lives to feel like. This trait has allowed them to very quickly pick up various languages and have an uncanny ability to sense hidden danger. It does have a pretty severe downside, however. A K’Mrent who is isolated from other living creatures will often feel deeply depressed or anxious. It likely is a factor in their reluctance to travel into space, despite having the ability to.

Perhaps one of the more bizarre oddities of this species is the fact they are a single-gender species. Each healthy member of the species has all the necessary parts for reproduction, all of which are stored within a cloaca. As one might guess, this predisposes them to being an egg-laying species. Clutch sizes range between 1-3 semi-hard shelled eggs.

## Society

### Language

There are two distinct dialects that make up the K’Mrent Language. There may be sub-dialects depending on an Undergrowth’s local culture, but they are similar enough to the primary dialects to be compatible. As soon as they made contact with the galactic community, they quickly adopted Galactic Common as an official secondary language.

#### K'Mrent Emotive (Sense-Speak)

Often referred to and translated as ‘Sense-Speak’, this is the primary way K’Mrent communicate with each other and has been as such since the beginning of their known history. It is an oral, mental, and physical language utilizing both large and barely imperceptible gestures of their body, face, ears, and antennae. A truly remarkable amount of nuance and range of expression can be gleaned from Sense-Speak, far more than even the most moving speakers of Galactic Common can muster. To form complex or modern concepts, they use compound concepts and words. Due to the intensely physical, emotional, and complex nature of this language, most outsiders cannot fluently communicate in Sense-Speak, if at all. Through the use of visual translation software, it is possible to interpret a conversation, though some nuance may be lost.

#### K'Mrent Written (Machine-Speak)

The rough translation of this dialect is ‘Machine-Speak’, and is a clue to its primary use. As their technology advanced, their need for a written language increased. It is highly standardized and well suited for the coding of complex computer systems, a stark utilitarian contrast to the flowing, emotional Sense-Speak. While it cannot carry the nuance and depth of Sense-Speak, it is at least able to convey most concepts clearly. As a purely worded language with strong structure, anyone with the intelligence to learn another language should be able to learn it.

#### Galactic Common (Commonwealth Standard)

K’Mrent’s Emotion Sense aided in the rapid adoption of Galactic Common as a secondary language, surprising their first contactors with how quickly they were able to communicate back. While a K’Mrent will prefer to use Sense-Speak, most have learned Galactic Common to reliably communicate with Outsiders for trade and diplomacy.

The concept of pronouns, especially gendered ones, are consistent stumbling blocks for the species. As their species lacks the concept of gender and gender roles, this often leads to faux pas ranging from awkward use of names in place of pronouns to using the incorrect gendered pronoun. Sense-Speak and Machine-Speak do have ‘proto-pronouns’ in the form of ‘clutchkin’ and ‘this/that one’, but they often refer to each other by name.

Despite the stumblings, the adoption of Galactic Common has given words to concepts they struggled to express in Machine-Speak, resulting in Galactic Machine-Speak, a significantly more complete language that is able to express more nuance and concepts than Traditional Machine-Speak, while still be similar enough to be compatible.

### Societal Concepts

The average K’Mrent lives in large communal dens, for practical and psychological reasons. Practically, it’s energy-intensive to burrow additional caves and dens, it would be prohibitively expensive for each member to have their own personal dens. Psychologically, the close proximity to other kin stimulates their Emotion Sense, something they cherish greatly. Young are hatched and raised in the den’s nest in large clutches with no distinction between blood-kin and clutch-kin. Traditionally, the family unit is the den itself, rather than a distinct family. Often, a K’Mrent may not even know who laid their egg! Much of their work and play is a communal act. If you can think of a way to make an activity communal, they’ve probably done it! The only real exception is situations and activities that require an environment that is sanitary, sterile, and/or is otherwise hazardous to K’Mrent.

As a result of this closely knitted cohabitation, there is little to no expectation of privacy or personal space, bordering on these concepts being foreign to them. This has also led to a very weak view of personal property, with most material objects being shared among the den. Tools, equipment, furniture, and even clothing are viewed as public resources, rather than personal objects. Personal objects tend to be limited to small trinkets, decorative cloths, and other items that for various reasons could only be used by that K’Mrent. Their hide, fur, and scales are well suited for their habitat. As such, most K’Mrent have chosen to continue to use this natural protection and instead use colorful trinkets and cloths to express themselves, often matching or complementing their natural bioluminescent patterns. When they do wear substantial clothing, it is often exceptionally practical, high visibility, and well suited for the hazardous work it’s designed for.

Whether a result of their tight quarters living or a natural inclination due to their Emotion Sense, the K’Mrent are typically an exceptionally extroverted species. So much so that even a member they would consider introverted would appear as an extrovert to the galactic community! This inclination towards extroversion feeds into their very liberal views of the body and relationships. Sexuality is treated as a fact of life, rather than a taboo subject. This has lead to a very sex positive society, competent sex education, and widely available and stigma-free contraceptives. K’Mrent also tend to be open with their desires and are unafraid to ask. This frank, honest view of intimacy results in very fluid yet extremely strong bonds with many of their kin. The closest analogy to their view on relationships is that of polygamy, though they have a weak or nonexistent concept of marriage or exclusive relationships. It also has resulted in a (partially justified) reputation of the K’Mrent being a highly promiscuous species.

All of these desires and traits have resulted in a species who cherishes shared experiences. Celebrations, events, concerts, and get-togethers of all sizes and lengths are delights for all the senses, possibly even overwhelming for outsiders! These experiences are quite common too, interspersed between periods of work and of enough number that all shifts of work get to experience it.

### Population Organisation

How their cities and homes are organized hasn’t changed much from pre-unification ways, most of the notable changes are in efficiency and complexity of their cities. The most common way their civilization is organized, from largest to smallest units are: Undergrowths, Halls, and Dens. As most of the population lives and works underground, extensive and thoughtful tunnel design is paramount to the safety and comfort of their kind. Often the most important jobs in the Undergrowths are tunnel design and construction for this reason.

#### Undergrowths

These huge, sprawling complexes are essentially structured as City-States, as they were once such entities. They consist of massive networks of underground tunnels, with partially above-ground structures. These above-ground structures tend to be logistics and supplemental energy buildings. Not every Undergrowth has a Starport, but those that do often have large above-ground support buildings and Outsider-centric businesses and support buildings. Due to how self-contained Undergrowths tend to be, each one has their own culture and traditions.

The already formidable defenses of simply building underground are usually even further fortified depending on its visibility to outsiders, importance, or age. An old and/or vital Undergrowth is likely capable of sustaining orbital bombardment for a prolonged period of time, often long enough that it is either prohibitively expensive to continue bombardment or resorting to cruel weapons.

Even the most simple of Undergrowth is built with flood control in mind either by location, infrastructure, or novel tunnel design. Most Undergrowths also deploy false and hidden entrances with 1-2 Main Entrances that are visible, heavily guarded, and designed to be quickly and safely collapsed in the event of an emergency. Should a catastrophic situation happen in which the Undergrowth is no longer safe, there are multiple safe routes for an Undergrowth to be evacuated.

#### Halls

These can be thought of as Districts, these sections often present themselves with dedicated purposes, such as Maintenance Halls and Foundries, or house entire subcultures and business types.

#### Dens

These are the individual communal homes and businesses within Halls. They are built to be efficient, yet pleasant to live and work in. You’ll often find dens subdivided into smaller sections to fit their need.

### Governmental System

Governing bodies and power often ebb and flow much like the fluidity of K’Mrent social patterns.  Laws are often unspoken agreements, solidified by the silent, yet firm approvals their fellow K’Mrent give. That being said, the Discovery Era required the official ratification of laws to satisfy the galactic community. They are as flexible and fluid as the old unspoken agreements when applied to K’Mrent and more rigid when applied to Outsiders. There are two areas of law that are noteworthy, though.

There is a lack of or extremely loose laws governing public decency. They view their natural fur and scales as sufficient protection for daily life. The very loose laws surrounding this are for hygienic reasons, ultimately. Outsiders are assumed to follow their flag of convenience’s rules on public decency, though Starport Authority rarely enforces this.

Due to the lax view on property within the Undergrowths, property law is but a footnote that is to be resolved between the involved parties or through a mediator. However, the Starport Property Amendment was created to deal with Outsiders to smooth over trade disputes and miscommunication. In Starports, there are strong property laws regarding Outsiders interacting with K’Mrent.

As times and stakes have changed, the K’Mrent government structures have changed and adapted, there’s 3 distinct eras of government structure: Pre-Unification, Unification, and Discovery.

## History

### Pre-Unification Era

This was the era where Undergrowths functioned as independent City-States. During these times, the power structure for each Undergrowth was different and truly fluid. There were loose councils of neighboring Undergrowths for large projects, mutual defense, or emergencies.

While there was violence between Undergrowths, this was rare and often revolved around territory disputes or resource raiding. Loss of life was minimal during these skirmishes. Large scale war has not been recorded in their known history.

### Unification Era

As their technology improved and communication between the Undergrowths was more and more possible, proper alliances started to form and ultimately, the first planetary government was formed as the K’Mrent Collective.

It was at this time that organization and power structures were defined and expanded, though much of daily life was still very flat and spontaneous. During this time, the Seers and Oracles were created.

A Seer is the representative of a Hall, serving the wellbeing and interests of those under them. They are elected by their Hall every 10 years and can only serve one term. Should they prove to do a poor job, they can be recalled.

An Oracle is the appointed leader of the Undergrowth. Their purpose is to manage and enact policies that affect the Undergrowth as a whole, as well as communicate and coordinate with Oracles of other Undergrowths. Oracles are elected from and by the Seers of the Undergrowth every other year and can be incumbent until the end of their Seer term.

It was during this era that the Tel’Kra Equatorial Solar Array was designed and completed. Up until this point, the populace were unsure if this was the way forward, questioning the division of power up among a few elevated K’Mrent. The completion of this grand project showed the unmistakable power of all Undergrowths working in unison for a singular goal and washed away any doubt that this was the way forward, and that a golden age was upon them. This project was the beacon for all of the galaxy to notice the K’Mrent, ushering in the Discovery Era.

### Discovery Era

With the introduction into the Galactic Community, the K’Mrent realized their current structure will not survive the deeply political power struggles that go on at this scale. As a result, they’ve created a more outward facing, and unilaterally acting part of their government: The High Oracle. With this major shift also comes with a new banner: The Realm of Tel’Kra.

Much like Oracles being elected by and from the Seers of an Undergrowth, the High Oracle is elected from the pool of Oracles currently sitting. This elected Oracle is elevated to the position of High Oracle, and a new Oracle is elected in their place. The High Oracle will hold this position for 25 years.

They are charged with the defense of the Realm from external threats. As part of this, they are given the power of appointing advisors and diplomats to help managing the Realm and to interact with the Galactic Community. To further aid in this duty, they are given the role of the supreme commander of the Tel’Kra Defense Fleet and the power of Mandates: Realm-wide decrees of action to be taken by Oracles and Seers in service of the Realm.

As a Mandate of last resort, the High Oracle may declare a Mandate of War. Should the Realm agree to this Mandate, power structures are suspended and the High Oracle becomes the sole legitimate power in the system with the express purpose of defending the Realm at all costs. Due to the dire nature of this Mandate, when the threat to the Realm is removed, the High Oracle is to rescind the Mandate and abdicate their position. There is serious concern if the High Oracle would abdicate, but considering the dire circumstances that would have to happen for this Mandate to even be considered, it would be the least of their concerns at that moment.

Despite this, Undergrowths are still rather autonomous in their management. A Mandate may be ignored by an Undergrowth, but to do so would be frowned upon, especially if deemed a just Mandate by the Undergrowth’s populace. Refusal could very well end an Oracle’s leadership early by recall! Power within undergrowths have been more solidified overall, but for the average K’Mrent, life hasn’t changed much in these times beyond their concepts and mind being broadened by access to information and entertainment beyond their world.

## Technology

One of the more interesting traits of K’Mrent technology is that much of it is a rediscovery of their past achievements (or rather, the achievements of their Progenitor species). Despite this, they have come up with novel applications of reverse-engineered discoveries as well as their own accomplishments.

### Power Generation

The K’Mrent have a fairly diversified set of power tech that they utilize quite efficiently. They have not yet developed Matter-Antimatter reactors, but what tech they do have is powerful enough for solar system travel and, at best, travel to very close stars.

#### Solar

Solar power has a unique challenge on Tel’Kra. Due to the thick atmosphere the planet has, the efficiency of solar power takes a huge hit vs other M-Class planets. However, the axial precession of the planet has allowed them to utilize equatorial arrays quite effectively. This makes up one of the largest novel terrestrial K’Mrent projects: Tel’Kra Equatorial Solar Array (TKESA). TKESA provides much of the planet’s residential and commercial power needs, with other renewables making up the shortfalls.

#### Other Renewables

Wind, Tidal, and Hydroelectric plants are quite viable options on Tel’Kra. The thicker, humid atmosphere lends itself to frequent, powerful storms. So long as wind and tidal generators are overbuilt and fortified, they can provide quite powerful sources of power. Special care has to be taken with hydroelectric dams as they need quite high overpour tolerances and emergency spillways to deal with monsoons.

#### Nuclear

Fission and Fusion-based reactors are common terrestrial power for this species. They are almost exclusively used for defense and industrial use. The most notable use of these reactors is for the Industrial Nanoforges that form the backbone of their entire modern society.

Fission reactor designs are primarily Thorium-based. These are relatively safe and simple to build. Most Starports have a Thorium reactor to supply planetside power to repair platforms and docked ships.

The most recent development is the Fusion reactor. These are a mix of novel designs and rediscovered plans from their past civilization. These are powerful and small enough to generate a warp field capable of handling Warp 1.2!

#### Fossil Fuels

This species has by and large abandoned fossil fuels, however in emergencies and in the truly ancient Undergrowths are natural gas backups.

#### Explicitly Programmed Nanites (EPN)

The pinnacle tech of the K’Mrent. This is the biggest rediscovery and reengineering project currently. EPNs, as the name implies, are nanites that require explicit instructions to function, and will do nothing if given a general task. They are capable of disassembling and reassembling molecules at an elemental level, allowing them, with enough knowledge, to make anything into any other thing. You can think of EPNs has extremely high tech 3D prints that work in all axis with multiple materials at the same time! These limitations remove the possibility of using EPN has a Grey Goo Weapon. Interestingly, while in ‘recycle mode’, the EPNs require geofencing in a relatively small area vs the maximum construction volume capable. They will fail to disassemble anything without this data. This mode of operation is not well understood by the K’Mrent.

Energy requirements scale with the strength of molecular bonds. It is limited to existing atoms, rather than assembling new ones. Therefore, they must have the required elemental materials available at assembly. At the cost of significant energy consumption, assembly can be done massively parallel. EPNs are powered wirelessly and have little to no onboard storage, this further reduces the risks of a Grey Goo Incident to never.

The K’Mrent are still in the process of understanding this technology further. They have managed to make their own large scale Industrial Nanoforges, however these are significantly less efficient than the ‘Relic Nanoforges’, forges recovered from ancient ruins.

Out of all of the technologies they possess, this is one they are highly protective of. There have been incidents where they have broken their no-kill rules over Outsiders trying to understand the Nanoforges!

### Weapons and Defences

Due to the requirement of constant wireless power and geofencing limitations, there’s little to no tactical use for EPNs. You could maybe push someone into a Nanoforge in recycle mode, but then again that’s no different than pushing someone into a trash compactor. Slow and agonizing.

Self-repair defense systems are a possibility, however the energy requirements to do this at reasonable speeds is extreme, likely needing Matter-Antimatter Reactors to achieve! Not to mention a stock of filler material to do so. You could also, in theory, make reactive-constructive armor, but the above energy and matter requirements means this would only be useful on defense starships in short bursts.

### Medical Technology

There are special variants of EPNs called Medical EPN, or MEPN. These are larger than conventional EPNs, but still small enough to interact with cells. Coupled with less complex computational resources and memory modules, this allows for a small amount of on-board energy storage.

These are designed with-single-use instructions with no way to reprogram them. This allows them to be stored in various ways for immediate use externally and internally. Medication often involves MEPN and due to pre-programmed instructions little to no medical training is needed to use them. However, it’s unwise for a non-K’Mrent to use MEPN as it’s explicitly programmed with their genetics and physiology in mind!

#### *E-Gel*

Emergency Gel is MEPN suspended in a shelf-stable organic gel that the body will readily accept externally or internally. This general purpose gel is often what is thought of as MEPN. There are two main variants of MEPN. MEPN-K and MEPN-P.

MEPN-K is an E-Gel programmed for K’Mrent biology. MEPN-K is ready to use out of it’s container. Upon application, it can mend most physical injuries. It is not the most efficient use of MEPN, but it requires no medical training at all. Effectively, it replaces most of what most species would use in medkits. Under no circumstances should MEPN-K be used on non K’Mrent, the complications could be fatal!

MEPN-P is programmable E-Gel. With a vitals scan, this gel can be fully adapted to the exact biology of it’s target subject. Further programming by a medically trained individual can allow it to do more than just simply repair biological damage. This is the most efficient use of MEPN, though it’s not suitable for field emergencies. There has been research into “Trauma Kits” with pre-programmed MEPN-P for each individual carrier.

There are some Grey Market variants of MEPN made by some unscrupulous K’Mrent doctors. These are often programmed with the most generic set of instructions and special tweaks the doctor feel works best for their patients. Complications sometimes happen with these unregulated E-Gels, but they could be useful in not-dying!

#### *Meditank*

E-Gel alone can’t regrow lost limbs or repair truely catastrophic injuries. In this case, meditanks are utilized in extreme emergencies. These tanks are filled with constantly recycled and reconstituted distilled water and MEPN-P. As these are for extreme emergencies, they are designed to be used by untrained personnel. Meditanks require huge amounts of MEPN-P, making them not resource effective for anything other than extreme emergencies.

#### Recreational Drugs

While MEPN could make truly impressive and pure recreational drugs, most K’Mrent don’t bother as their homeworld has enough natural recreational substances to satisfy.

### Agriculture

By far the most immediately useful application of EPN is in the agriculture sector. Use of EPNs to create extremely powerful fertilizer and extreme-yield genetic modifications has resulted in a population explosion when it was first employed and the first massive crop yields happened.

## Notes

* The name *"KMrent"* and all associated concepts are the property of *Zanibar* and cannot be reproduced, used or altered without their permission under *B.E.G. Intellectual Property Agreements 2019.*