Marae

The **Marae** are a highly intelligent race of cephalopods originating from the planetoid Proxium. The Marae and their government, the Maerian Clusters, remain isolated from the galaxy at large in a civilization located around it's titular black hole. The Marae believe in perfection through technology, leading to most Marae being cyborgs of some kind, with many completely replacing their whole bodies with mechanics. When interacting with other governments, Marae use a more simplified language.

## Biology and appearance

The Marae are a highly intelligent race of cephalopods originating from the planetoid Proxium. Though having originally possessed six limbs, two of them have been repurposed as arms while the remaining four function as legs. The arms are slightly higher than the legs, and all six limbs derive from a torso underneath the Marae's large head. The Marae are a small species, standing at only one meter tall and weighing only twelve kilograms.

The Marae's bulbous head hosts a large brain, leading to this species being one of, if not the most intelligent species in the galaxy. The Marae's mouth is in a small beak that is the only bones a Marae possesses besides their horns. At the top of the head there is two small, vestigial horns at either side. These horns do not serve any specific purpose. The Marae's yellow eyes have slit-like pupils that emerge from the side, along large vertical lids. The head makes up large proportion of the Marae's body, taking up 80% of their body mass.

The hands and the feet of the Marae have a similar biological layouts, with two larger digits and one smaller digit which each have suckers for grasping. The digits all attach to a larger stump that protrudes from the arm or leg. The arms and legs are boneless, allow a great degree of flexibility. The Marae's smooth skin is usually dark red or blue in color, with milky white patterns at the top of the head, the middle of the torso, and the bottoms of the legs. Besides this, Marae can change color, whether for emotional reasons or for camouflage. They are capable of changing to any color in the visible light spectrum or becoming translucent.

Marae are longer lived than average, living for around an average of 130 years. It is unknown how Marae biologically reproduce, with most modern Marae opting to instead used their advanced technologies to create their own personalized offspring, often being the only thing a Marae has a familial connection to. Though Marae have two sexes that are assigned at birth, the only physical differences between males and females is that males are typically dark red in color while females are blue in color.

Many Marae aren't even recognizable as their own species due to the amount of cybernetics they acquire. These cybernetics range in form and function, making no two Marae alike.

## Society and culture

The Marae remain secluded in their own government, called the Maerian Clusters, centered around the black hole at the center of the galaxy. They practice isolationism, rarely venturing beyond their borders. The Maerian Clusters consists of around 500,000 systems with scattered Maerian colonies, mainly centered around the planetoid capital, Parium. The Clusters are ruled by the Marae Main Mind on Proxium. The population of the Clusters is 92% Marae with the rest being of races that originated nearby.

The Marae believe in the perfection of oneself, mainly the perfection of the body through technology. Most of the Marae population, upon reaching ten years of age, begin to augment themselves with cybernetic enhancements. This process and choice is unique to each individual Marae, meaning almost every Marae has a unique look. These enhancements range from mere limb replacement to the transitioning of the brain into a robotic body.

Since the Marae believe in logic above all else, they come across as a cold and emotionless species. This isn't true, with many Marae either being incapable of expressing themselves, or holding it in due to their rigid culture.

The Marae are highly advanced, possessing technologies that are far more different and advanced than the rest of the galaxy, including their own advanced robotics and multiple Dyson Spheres. Due to the Marae's nearly absent sense of beauty, these technologies and the Marae cities lac any décor or coloration, mostly being cuboid in shape and gray in color.

The Marae's main language has yet to be shared and is nearly impossible for other species to speak. When the Marae rarely interact with rest of the galaxy, the language they use instead is Maerian Basic Talk, a more simplified language of their original tongue.

## History

The Marae first evolved from an aquatic species on their homeworld, Proxium; gaining sentience and developing society in an age far earlier than most other species. Due to their intellect, the Marae were able to develop space travel around 50 million YBO, constructing colonies when the Bombus had only discovered fire.

Over the process of millions of years, the Marae capital of Parium was constructed, an enormous mega-structure powered by a star in it's core. Despite their advancements and the establish of their government, the Marae never ventured beyond the core of the galaxy. Instead, the Marae began their attempts with harvesting the power of Namcharium, a process that is still ongoing.

Despite the Quersien Civil War around 2,500 YBO, the Maerian Clusters keep a grip on the core of the galaxy refusing to allow anyone to see what they are doing. Besides their secrecy, the Marae attempt to keep their status as open allies with the other major governments, with a Tipsan representative in the Outer Galaxy Coalition and the Oubdis Alliance.

## Marae in the galaxy

The Marae are an extremely populous species, with numbers in the trillions. But, they mainly keep to themselves in the Maerian Clusters. If one is allowed inside the Clusters, they would see that nearly it's entire population is Marae, with the population of the Clusters at 92% Marae and the rest being races that live nearby.

Marae take on almost every role in the Clusters, often personalizing their cybernetics to fit their jobs. Unfortunately, many lower-class Marae, who are stuck in debt, are degraded to the point in which they are merely appliances, losing their emotions and even minds entirely.

The only Marae that are seen beyond the Clusters' borders are the occasional Tipsman working in the government or the rare occurrence of a Marae explorer, observing the rest of the galaxy.