Ithila

Name:  Ithila

Homeworld:  Ixen Tonash

Average Lifespan:

Gender(s):  2
Male:  Wenidi (singular)/Wenidochi (plural)
Female:  Sēti (singular/plural)

Notes:  Ixen Tonash, the Ithila’s homeworld, developed in a gravitational nexus of sorts - tidal tugging as other bodies lived and died in their orbits around their shared primary rendered it a heavily geologically active world.  This near unending reign of volcanoes on the surface fills the atmosphere with enough particulate matter that the entire species evolved and rose to dominance without so much of a glimpse of the stars beyond.  The volcanoes bringing up molten lava to the surface provides enough heat to negate any cool down effect such a lack of sunlight would cause;  additionally, the clouds are only semi permeable, so a good percentage of heat is reflected back to the surface instead of escaping out into space.

Another effect of the tidal ripples across the system, Ixen Tonash is constantly bombarded by meteorite impact events.  Though unable to actually ‘see’ space, the native Ithila‘s readily accepted the concept of its existence through these extraterrestrial visitors.  That is, once they advanced to the point of not treating these events as part of their religion and began looking at things with an eye for science.  Even before this point, meteorites stood as a valuable source of resources through the Ithila’s history.

Unlike other similar worlds, Ixen Tonash’s ecosystem scrubs out enough of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to keep surface pressure from climbing over an average of 30 kilopascals at the equivalent of sea level.  With the constant shaping and reshaping of near the planet’s entire surface, the overall mostly flat geography means few points rise to levels above this zone.  As such, the Ithila evolved to be able to tolerate a very narrow range of atmospheric pressures as typically found on the surface.

Due to evolving on such a world, the Ithila require special environmental suits when interacting with off-worlders.  These allow them to retain not only the particle count in the air they breath, a level humans would consider toxic, but block out ultraviolet radiation (which they first experienced through artificially creating it and finding it desiccates their bodily tissues) and keep their bodies in an atmospheric pressure humans would suffer deprivation in.

Of note, due to their homeworld’s near ever changing surface, Ithila civilization developed to be highly mobile.  Static structures didn’t last long in the ever changing seas of molten rock and unpredictable meteorite impacts.  Though this drove much of their civilization to exist underground, the components on the surface had to be able to move at an instant’s notice.

With the need for cooperation paramount in their survival as a species, Ithila evolved to be able to link with each other’s nervous systems - special nerve bundles at the end of each limb are touched to special bundles behind each ear on another individual and special hairs intertwine to lock things into place.  Of interest, this evolved before the species developed proper manipulators and they specifically designed their environmental suits to facilitate this.