Myphym

The Myphym are a race of cephalopods and a member of the Interplanetary Oversight Commission. Their homeworld, part of the TRAPPIST-1 system, is Those Familiar Shoals Rippling Past the Surface.

## Biology

The Myphym are an amphibious, cephalopod-like race. Their home planet is much lighter than Earth and almost entirely covered by shallow oceans, with large swaths of land that appear and disappear with the volatile tides. As such, the Myphym's bodies, composed of a hundred thin tentacles, have evolved to reshape themselves to adapt to different conditions: the tentacles twist around each other to form limbs, allowing the Myphym to shift from bipedal to quadrupedal to arachnoid forms. They can breathe water or air, but breathe air with some difficulty; Myphym ships usually have some air chambers and some water chambers, though many Myphym have adapted to oxygen-oriented conditions on human ships.

The Myphym's natural lifespan is 130-160 years; however, there are some Myphym who are, due to biological modifications, functionally immortal. These Myphym need to go into hypersleep once every two hundred years in order to maintain their immortality; a hypersleep session lasts an average of forty years, though sleeps of up to a century have been recorded. The older an immortal Myphym becomes, the longer they need to sleep, though how exactly this works is not well-known due to the scarcity of extant immortal individuals.

## Society

Though Myphym have complex emotional relationships with those closest to them, Myphym society is highly individualistic, placing high significance on personal responsibility and the capacity of individuals to effect change. As a rule, Myphym tend to care extremely deeply about those closest to them but very little about broader social structures or out-groups; kinship networks and alliances have historically mitigated this tension.

Myphym are also highly intelligent, analytical and adaptable. Their long lifespans mean they have almost twice as much time as the average human to specialize in their fields of interest, and very few Myphym retire before death; as a result, they are known for their patience and methodical approach to problems. Due to their deeply-ingrained belief in their kinship networks and their focus on personal responsibility, Myphym can be prone to drawn-out quests for revenge if they are slighted or if their loved ones are hurt.

Myphym are generally monogamous. For many Myphym, monogamy means the commitment to outlive your mate; while humans often emphasize dying together or at the same time as the ultimate ideal of marriage, Myphym see outliving one's partner and living with the burden of their loss as the paragon of romance. For immortal Myphym, this ideal is especially powerful: with a few exceptions, immortals often prefer to mate with mortals, meaning they expect to outlive - and have outlived - many partners. It is common for an immortal to go into hypersleep after their mate dies, taking one mate per waking cycle.

Myphym don't have any conception of gender or gender roles, and are very confused by the idea when confronted by it.

## History

The Myphym began as a highly tribal species with hundreds of thousands of languages and cultural traditions. The species' earliest history is marked by almost constant wars between these tribes, only stemmed by the development of a complex structure of kinship networks, intermarriages and fostering systems. From these networks came more permanent settlements, the development of technology, and eventually, a deeply-ingrained class system that shamed the impoverished masses for their perceived inability to succeed.

At the height of this class conflict, the Myphym developed the ability to alter their biological makeup, making individuals functionally immortal; however, the prohibitive cost of the operation meant that only the richest Myphym could undergo the procedure. The upper class became effectively god-like, and for some centuries ruled over an overpopulated underclass. This inequity was untenable and eventually sparked a bloody revolution that plunged the Myphym into chaos that lasted nearly a century. When they emerged from this chaos, the majority of the immortal upper classes were dead; the procedure was outlawed, and its technology destroyed. The new society relies once again on kinship networks; Myphym are encouraged to marry outside of their social class and receive benefits for taking jobs away from their homes.

In the midst of their efforts to rebuild their society, the Myphym were discovered by the Zoarari, who had discovered spaceflight. The species' first contact was largely peaceful, and the Zoarari's notions of citizenship and society served as a model for the Myphym. There are many who theorize that the Zoarari secretly made first contact with Myphym revolutionaries just prior to the revolution, and that their ideas inspired them; these rumors are unsubstantiated, however.

## Naming Conventions

Myphym names are full sentences. When a Myphym is born its name is simple, given to it by its parents and often with the influence of its kinship network; as it ages and accrues experiences and memories, it adds adjectives and clauses according to the importance of the experience. Some of these additions occur at codified times, like when a Myphym has a child or chooses a mate; others work more like Sobriquets, added to commemorate momentous unique occasions in a Myphym's life. Immortal Myphym keep up this custom as well; their names sometimes stretch to paragraphs or even pages in length.

For obvious reasons, Myphym usually go by nicknames or shortened versions of their full names, though they often change which nicknames they prefer as they age.

Example:

At birth, a Myphym is given the name

*"A river cuts across the island."*

When they experience a childhood loss they become

*"a winding river cuts across the island."*

 When they overcome that loss and push forward with their life they change their name to

*"a winding, clear river cuts across the island."*

When they graduate from their education and begin their career they become

*"A winding, clear river cuts straight across the island."*

When they choose a mate they become

*"A winding, clear river cuts straight across the island, and it glows with the sunlight."*

When their mate dies, they become

*"A winding, clear river cuts straight across the island, and when the sun hits the trees just right, it seems to glow."*

 When they travel offworld to live on another planet they become

*"A winding, clear river cuts straight across the craggy island, and when the sun hits the trees just right, the river seems to glow."*

Depending on when they met, friends may know them as "river," "clear," "glow" or "sunlight."

Generally the sentences follow the same concept - on their own they would make sense grammatically, and may even tell a story, though they may make less sense without context.

## Major subgroups

* Tendrils of the Revolution
* Immortal Myphym