Zetylians

### Diet

Omnivorous. Virtually any form of biomass that does not contain a surplus of harmful chemicals.

### Civilizations Occupied

Zetylian Hegemony (400,000-200,000 B.C.E.)Gleaming Sisterhood (320,000 - 110,000 B.C.E.)

Community of Free Peoples (110,000 - 80,000 B.C.E.)

Coalition of Intelligent Organisms (2300-14500 C.E.)

The **Zetylians** are an advanced species of humanoid entities from the planet **Zetylu**, in the Andromeda Galaxy. Created by the Serphiads to be the first line of defense for Tixax, the Zetylians are a notably xenophobic species, maintaining a strict isolationist policy in their government, the Zetylian Hegemony. This trait is what led them to instigate the First Cluster War with the Kaeolians many hundreds of thousands of years before the dawn of mankind, who mistakenly wandered into Zetylian territory and provoked violence.

## Biology

Biologically speaking, Zetylians are some of the most perfect creatures to ever exist in The Cluster, thanks to being the product of intelligent design at the hands of the Serphiads. They are a humanoid race, and bear the closest resemblance to normal Humans out of all humanoid species that have ever existed in The Cluster. They possess bright blue hair and completely blue eyeballs, which glow with a faint luminescence in the dark. Their skin is pure white in coloration, possessing absolutely no pigmentation whatsoever. They stand on two feet, but unlike Humans, Zetylians do not possess toes, their feet are completely uniform in structure. Also unlike Humans, Zetylians do not grow hair on any part of their body aside from the tops of their heads.

Though they are unassuming on the outside, Zetylians are extremely powerful creatures. They have intelligence and strength rivaling even the smartest and strongest Humans to ever live, and their bodies are unnaturally resistant to damage. They are immune to nearly every kind of disease in existence and are able to live for centuries thanks to their regenerating telomeres. Zetylians have vastly better control over their internal body temperature than many other creatures, able to survive in both extremely cold and extremely hot environments. All of these incredible abilities are the product of ultra-advanced Serphiad biomechanical engineering, as part of their plan to build the ultimate guardian race for Tixax. These abilities eventually became one of the greatest strengths the Zetylians had during the First Cluster War, as they were much stronger and smarter than Kaeolian soldiers during planetary invasions, forcing the Kaeolians to rely heavily on robotics and genetic engineering just to match the Zetylians in combat potential. This is also what led to the creation of Alek Leagr during the Paragon Project, as the Kaeolians figured the only creature that could realistically trump the Zetylians in combat would have to be a Zetylian itself.

## Homeworld

Zetylu is a temperate and calm world, speckled with bright blue oceans and continents filled with lush green foliage. From a distance, it is unremarkable, which made it the perfect place for the Serphiads to place the first pieces of Zetylian civilization. Originally, the planet was completely inhospitable, possessing no atmosphere and a boiling hot surface that forbid the existence of liquid water. Using huge force projectors and terraforming complexes, the Serphiads moved Zetylu into a more suitable orbit around its star and gave the planet a uniformly temperate climate, allowing the Zetylians to thrive on the planet surface. Since the Zetylians were given highly-efficient Serphiad technology, they did not have to rely on the natural resources of Zetylu significantly, allowing the planet to remain ecologically healthy even during the large period of time the Zetylians resided upon it.

At the height of Zetylian civilization, Zetylu was a perfect representation of their militaristic xenophobia. Covered in ground-to-space cannons, ship hangers filled with defense fleets and shield complexes, the planet possessed tougher defenses than any other Zetylian colony in existence. Though the Kaeolians launched numerous direct assaults on the planet, none were successful, as its defenses proved too powerful to breach. This defensive infrastructure was more or less the greatest advantage the Zetylians had over the Kaeolians during the First Cluster War, as though they were far fewer in numbers compared to the Kaeolians, most Zetylian colonies were significantly better fortified compared to Kaeolian colonies, reducing the losses they suffered during invasions.

Zetylu also acts as the location of Tixax's vault where the ethereal entity continued to reside after it was created by the Serphiads. This vault is kept in a state of quantum uncertainty, which means it can only come into existence when under direct observation, or with the help of a Serphiad Quantum Lock, which confines the vault to a set position. The vault can only come into existence underneath the surface of Zetylu, preventing any potential enemies of Tixax from finding it and destroying it elsewhere.

## Psychology

Zetylians are spiteful, xenophobic creatures, harboring an innate distrust of all other intelligent life. They will gladly destroy anyone that intrudes upon their territory, and will viciously attack civilizations that display acts of aggression towards them. This xenophobia is largely the creation of the Serphiads. Unable to predict the technology future civilizations might possess, the Serphiads worried that an alien race might eventually discover a way of deactivating Tixax's quantum uncertainty defense system, allowing them to find (and possibly destroy) the entity, releasing Red Six Trillion back into The Cluster and spelling doom for all intelligent life. The Zetylians were created as an extra layer of defense for Tixax, destroying encroaching aliens before they have a chance to look for Tixax. Being such a xenophobic species, the Zetylians would never think twice about attacking intruding civilizations, and combined with their highly advanced Serphiad technology, their ability to destroy possibly dangerous civilizations would remain unchallenged.

What the Serphiads could not have predicted, however, was the existence of a civilization that might equal the Zetylians in terms of total power. The Kaeolian Empire proved to be an even match for the Zetylian Hegemony, disrupting the prediction made by the Serphiads about the fate of their creations. The ruined state of Zetylian civilization at the end of the war ended up becoming a very humbling experience for the survivors of the war, as it was only then that they realized the lack of dominance the Zetylians had in the universe. The Bedlam Society, which, effectively, was the only remaining relic of ancient Zetylian culture, focused its efforts more towards survival of the Zetylian species than annihilation of other alien species. Zetylian xenophobia became significantly less pronounced as Zetylian survivors were integrated into the emerging Coalition of Intelligent Organisms, and though they never trusted other alien species completely, they did become much more willing to cooperate with them for the good of civilization as a whole. Zetylian inhabitants of the Coalition gained a particular fondness for the Humans, due to their biological and psychological similarities. Though the former was the result of the Kaeolians, the latter is largely attributed to the influence the Bedlam Society had on Human civilization even before the creation of the Coalition.