Sagen

The **Sagen** are a bipedal warm-blooded species with a dark grey body and golden details on their arms, legs, horns, and tail.

They're the Black Core Species and live on Vulmion.

## History

Over the course of their history, there are not that many events. Due to the planet’s lack of resources and food, Sagen never fought each other over resources. Instead, Sagen huddled together under one nation known as the Higher Minds, 6 individuals in 6 cities who are elected as the wisest figures of the cities populations.

Originally, Sagen had the Black Mind, an autocracy ruled by the Black Almighty. However, the Black Exotic Core became a macguffin for many corrupted citizens, leading to fighting, small wars, and enemies. The Sagen decided to do what was best for their small communities and hid it away in a lost artifact known as the Broken Clock, a large stone monument that hides the Black Exotic Core.

## Habitat and Population

Sagen live in large communities spread throughout Vulmion. Since Vulmion is a desolate wasteland with not many resources, the Sagen have been reduced to around 500 million in population. Every community has roughly a million, with a stabilizing birth and death rate. To make sure this never changes, the Keep the Population Stable Act has made sure that for every person dead, there will be a child born.

Sagen cities are found dotting the landscape of Vulmion. Due to it's very basic landscape, there is no advantages or disadvantages to picking a specific area. However, many due enjoy living on the equator as it gives more sunlight for the cold planet.

A Sagen city can be spotted with it's large geometric structures, taking the form of metallic cubes and triangles.

## Biology & Psychology

Sagen are quite small compared to other Core Species. They stand at roughly 4 - 5 feet tall, and weight 100 - 125 lbs. Although Sagen are not for violence, they have maintained two horns on their head, though they are not as big as they used to be. In modern times, Sagen horns can grow to a few inches long. Sagen come in a black to dark grey coloring, with gold rings on their horns, arms, legs, and tails.

A Sagen's diet composes of soups and liquids, created by their Matter Reorganizers. Sagen's have also lost some of their sense of taste, due to eating very few things and not requiring it to identify hazardous foods. Another effect of the Sagen's poor diet is the lost of their teeth, as liquid food cannot be bitten into. Another contributing factor to a loss of teeth is a Sagen's relative pacifism.

The lighting of Vulmion is dim due to the dense clouds and the small dwarf star it orbits. Sagen eyes have adapted to this low lighting, allowing them to see well in dimly light areas. However, this does not give them night vision.

Sagen's lay eggs like most Core Species. They usually lay 1-2 eggs, with an incubation time of 15 months. A Sagen's childhood is 12 years, with a teen phase lasting 4 years. Sagen usually live up to 150 years in total. They have the longest longevity of any species.

Despite living on a cold planet, Sagen have not developed any fur. This may be due to the fact that they barely go outside and instead rely on the warm heating within their buildings.

A little quirk that Sagen have developed is their impressive ability to keep track of time. This may come from their exposure to the Black Exotic Core.

## Society

Sagen society can be described as “dull”. Sagen don’t really do much, since they didn’t have the materials to make much and there are not that many jobs available. Food is automated as soups which is really their only source of nutrition and water. Toys are pretty much just sculpted rocks. Machines are low-tech and need frequent repairs.

The main part of their society is their sense of community and belonging. Sagen are highly social and highly empathetic. They find enjoyment in working with each other and talking about their days. They love discussing ideas, topics, and thoughts with their friends and families. Walking along the metallic cities, you can see groups of them gathering around and chattering about whatever they’d like.

Sagen don’t really have much politics. Mostly, politics is considered to be large lectures held by two competing candidates for a position within the Higher Minds. This rarely happens though, since the position is held for life and Sagen lives for a very long time.

## Culture

The most valuable part of a Sagen's culture is their philosophy. Many years of being stuck on a boring planet, as lead them to seek ways to escape their boredom, mostly by asking themselves hypothetical questions about existence, morality, etc. and debating this between their fellow citizens.

Sagen’s have developed a sense of pacifism, trying to keep all fights at a minimum. They started to settle things through talking it out, rather than pulling out their fists. A Sagen with anger problems never truly existed as they are trained to be capable of handling their anger through other means. They say that they have developed pacifism from their philosophical talks, where, in *The Debates of the Higher Minds* Vol.23, they discussed why people would lash out and how one can mitigate these violent tendencies.

Sagen also have a love for art and sculpting. The bioluminescent bacteria that cover the large spiral rocks of Vulmion acts as a brilliant glowing blue paint, which is used to make symbols, hieroglyphs, signs, and decorate their sculptures. A Sagen’s sculptures try to capture the beauty of the Sagen body, capturing in detail the scales, veins, teeth, muscles, etc. Some notable works are the *Hands of Life*, *Confusion & Grasping*, and *Shapes of our Anatomy*. Although the first two focus on details, the last one focuses on the basics of the form.