Kyrrztli

Kyrrztli are able hunters and raiders, bringing their keen senses, stealth and psychic training to bear in their predatory outings, which has turned them into a force to be feared by most other races.

## Personality

Kyrrztli are patient and calculating, known to wait for absurdly long periods of time while hunting or warring, until their enemies tire, starve or simply give up. Although they value community (and will aid their allies to the best of their ability), they are largely unfamiliar to the concepts of emotion and personal attachment, which makes them frighteningly cold to the minds of most humanoids. It's said that a kyrrztli by your side is one of the best allies you might have, but the moment you turn your back, the very same kyrrztli might turn into your worst nightmare.

## Physical Description

Although they come from the same basic genetic stock as most humanoid races, kyrrztli have an insectoid nature and look much like humanoid bugs. Their skin is a thin but tough chitinous tissue, in tones varying from creamy white to sandy-yellow to mossy green to dark brown, usually mottled with darker specks. They have thin limbs and torsos with segmented carapaces. They have three articulated digits in each hand and foot, and their heads look largely humanoid but with large multifaceted eyes, no visible ears and nose, a multi-articulated mouth and a pair of antennae above their eyes. They have a thin layer of clear hairs throughout most of their bodies, but mostly in their heads and limbs. They average about 5 feet tall and little over 100 pounds. Kyrrztli rarely bother with clothing, preferring instead to wear utilitarian fixtures like leather belts, sashes and straps to hold their weapons and tools, as well as decorative items such as bracelets, necklaces and circlets.

## Relations

Most other races distrust kyrrztli, owing to both their predatory nature and their alien psychology. The feeling is largely mutual, though, and kyrrztli tend to keep to themselves, rarely interacting with other races outside of warfare and raiding. They have a keen sense of opportunity, though, and will gladly trade or ally with other races when convenient.

## Alignment

Kyrrztli are significantly collectivistic, due to their dulled sense of individuality and instinctive drive to protect their species; however, despite their collective nature, they are also loners, unable to form personal connections and accustomed to operating as free individuals, leading to an anomist bent to their alignment. Therefore, the prevailing alignment of Kyrrztli is Cooperativist. Some will stray from this tendency, however; those often go adventuring among other races, as they have trouble fitting kyrrztli society.

## Kyrrztli Lands

Kyrrztli originally hail from the desert mesas and canyons of Rancent's World, but have spread to many parts of their homeworld and beyond. Their greedy expansionism has led them to encroach into the lands of many other peoples, often with temporary settlements they abandon once local resources are depleted. They are among the few races to have significantly explored 9911 Maenali IV, which they discovered many centuries ago, long before humans.

## Language

Kyrrztli have a strange language, composed of trilling, chirping and buzzing sounds. It can be learned and spoken by most humanoids, but its prevalence of tight high-pitched vowels and chirping consonants sounds weird to most. They have their own writing system, a syllabary comprised of flowing symbols with diacritical markers for vowel pitch, which is written vertically from the bottom up.

## Names

Kyrrztli receive a brood designation upon birth, which reflects not only their parentage but also the general place and time of their birth. Since they are born in very large numbers but few of them survive infancy, kyrrztli do not receive personal names until somewhat late into their development, around the time they are learning how to speak and stalk. Although the youngling has some agency in choosing his or her own name, it is mostly chosen by one's brood tutor. The traditional order is brood name first, then personal name; however, brood names are rarely used outside one's homeland.

### Brood Names

Zit'lillil, Ghyrrikti, Krikryzzi, Zikhyzidi

## Adventurers

Being natural hunters and raiders, Kyrrztli are wont to roam the world looking for loot to collect, which is highly conductive to an adventuring life. Most, however, tend to return periodically to their homeland, to enjoy the fruits of their raiding. Kyrrztli who do not fit well among their peers may choose to set out into the world, living among other races or simply moving constantly from place to place, always looking for the next opportunity to acquire knowledge and riches.