Psioni (Swamp Chioni)

## General Overview

The Psioni, as they've been nicknamed by the crew of the U.S.S. Nemesis, was a portion of the Chioni species that lost contact with the main populations of the Lost Colony Cetacean, having been isolated to the swamps of Hsluam in the Lost Colony Cluster.

Unlike other subspecies of Chioni, this subspecies seems to possess use of psionic capabilities, due to having been conditioned to the overabundance of psionically active biomatter in life local to the planet. As such, generational breeding caused the Psionic to acclimate to the process of harnessing the planet's vast psionic network, eventually learning how to synchronize their minds to the vast network of minds throughout the planet's biosphere. This acclimation however has left them somewhat physically atrophied due to the common use of telekinesis that many of them have developed, as oftentimes they are able to simply defy gravity by self-levitating their light lanky bodies.

Their local society believes in a force known as the "Lifestream", the way they describe the planet's natural neural networking that suffuses the entirety of the planet's biosphere. Though discipline and mental consoling with the local biology, the Psioni are able to utilize this to keep contact with each other across the planet, each psionic lifeform acting as a relay to convey information. Additionally, the Psioni possess a relationship with nature local to their homeworld, able to persuade plants to shape into shelters for them, in exchange for the plants being tended to and serving as their "eyesight", forming a mutual relationship and creating a shamanistic belief that Nature must be given tribute as much as one must accept from nature to live. As such, the Psionic have a deep respect for life, and are extremely sensitive to emotional emanations, able to sense surface turmoil and ulterior motives from others around them. As an act of keeping open with each other, Psioni will often share memories with each other, and upon one's death, allow themselves to imprint upon their loved ones, leaving a fragment of themselves in their minds post-mortem to pass on their knowledge and experience.

A side-effect of their technological and cultural regression, their vocabulary is frequently primitive, often choosing to "mindspeak" what they mean in raw thought, though they are still capable of verbal speech as constant telepathy can sometimes mentally exhaust an individual. As such, much of warp-period technology is extremely alien to them, often choosing to ask the crew of starships to allow them to read their thoughts to understand how the technology works. Despite being a highly low-technological species, Admiral Kirv Goldblade chose to honor the Chioni's desire for reunification, and reunite the wayward Chioni with their lost kin. As such, the Psioni known as Nofo Hrasu volunteered to be the representative for his people to work towards reuniting the lost extended families of the Chioni people.

The Psioni's abilities come at a cost however. They only are able to harness their psionic abilities by eating biomatter local to Hshluam, which acts as a psionic enabler to their species due to their evolution adapting to better be compatible with harnessing this biological phenomenon. Prolonged deprivation of Hshluamic nutrients will diminish their psionic capabilities and may often induce significant withdrawl symptoms, including paranoia, psychosis, and frequently complaining they can no longer feel any life around them, feeling that everything is dead due to being unable to telepathically sense anything anymore.