Khepri

Native to the desert planet Ibis, the Khepri are a sexually dimorphic species with a culture centered around a matriarchal society.

Females look similar to humans of the galaxy, with two arms and two legs and a head which resembles a beetle. Juvenile males have two sets of arms, two legs and beetle heads and upon reaching sexual maturity either shed their humanoid bodies and 'ascend' to become a Nefek or remain in their juvenile form as a squib. A Nefek looks like a giant beetle and in this form, it loses communicative and some cognitive abilities.

**Female Khepri** are known for their decisiveness, inquisitiveness, and self-reliance. They have a habit of translating the world around them to their values. For instance, they view Hutts as 'ascended' males as they must have shed their juvenile bodies in the same way juvenile Khepri males do and assume most other humanoids are female until it is stated otherwise. Severely hierarchical and tribal, they are used to being in close-knit groups of other females.

**Juvenile Males** (nicknamed "**Squibs"** by Nago but called **Khered** in their native tongue) are complacent to a fault, and oftentimes seen as bumbling as they tend to exuberantly perform which task they work on, however they are dexterous and incredibly hard-working.

**Nefek** resemble large beetles and while as juveniles they had communicative and higher cognitive abilities, this doesn't seem to be the case with Nefek, who lose these and gain the ability to fly. Some females view them as little more than animals, whereas other groups seemingly venerate them. In this form, males seem to live to incredibly long lifespans and don't seem to stop growing as they age.

## Stats

### **Female Khepri**

**Attribute Dice:** 12D
**DEXTERITY 2D/4D
KNOWLEDGE 2D+1/4D+1
MECHANICAL 2D/4D
PERCEPTION 2D+1/4D+1
STRENGTH 2D+1/4D+1
TECHNICAL 2D/3D**
All khepri raised on Ibis can speak a language using the 'legs' and 'wings' of their head with each other. This language has not yet been deciphered by outsiders.
*Head Carapace:*
Provides +1D to all energy and physical attacks targeting their head.
*Mentally and Physically Tough:*
Add +1D to opposing Intimidate and Willpower rolls and, when you first make a strength check for damage, re-roll any ones.
**Move:** 10/12
**Size:** 5'6 - 6'4''

### **Juvenile Male Khepri or "Squib"**

**Attribute Dice:** 12D
**DEXTERITY 2D/5D
KNOWLEDGE 2D/3D
MECHANICAL 2D/4D
PERCEPTION 2D/4D
STRENGTH 2D/4D
TECHNICAL 2D/3D**
Provides +1D to all energy and physical attacks targeting their head.
*Dexterous:*
Can take two actions in one turn without penalty.
*Language:* Unable to speak common, they communicate through a series of chirps and squeaks.
*Age:* Upon reaching their 12 galactic standard year, roll a d6. Add +1 if either condition is true: If character has more than 1 force points, and/or if character has more than 20 character points. On a 6, the character enters coma and in 2d6 minutes they become a Nefek.
**Move:** 10/12
**Size:** 2'8 - 4'2''

### **Average Nefek Khepri**

**DEXTERITY 1D
PERCEPTION 3D
STRENGTH 5D**
Provides +1D to all energy and physical attacks.
**Move:** 14 (crawling) / 20 (flying)
**Size:** 3 feet long to unknown

## Background

The native species of Ibis are born from eggs generally buried in large groups underground by the females of the species and upon birth, due to the Khepri’s dimorphism, are either sorted as male or female. Males are very common, and have humanoid bodies with four arms, two legs and heads that resemble beetles. Upon reaching sexual maturity the young males will either become a Squib or a Nefek.

Squibs retain their short bodies and cannot reproduce. They are the bulk of the Khepri society and work under the guidance of the females to build and improve their society. While not as intelligent, they are diligent workers and understand basic and communicate (however, for some reason, while the females can speak basic, males cannot). Left to their own devices, they are not hostile or aggressive and will look to build, create, or make as their primary goal to improve their culture or their infrastructure.

If a juvenile male passes the time when he should hit puberty and nothing happens, he is a squib. If he hits puberty and goes through the maturity, his body will wither away and his beetle head will gain strength, legs, and wings, and he will 'ascend' to become a Nefek. These mature males look like giant beetles and it is a semi-rare occurrence in Khepri society. They will continue to grow over the years and while there are stories of massive Nefek, most can be found in temples watched over by Khepri females. They can fly (although seeing a Nefek fly is rare) and are excellent burrowers. However, for some reason in this state, they lose the ability to communicate and seem to lose most of their cognitive functions. Some sects of Khepri religion venerate the Nefek in this form and others see them as barely more than animals at this point.

Females are less common than males and have two arms, two legs and similar beetle heads. When they reach sexual maturity, their bodies continue to develop (unlike males of either caste) to a point in which they resemble near-human females, with the exception of their beetle-like heads. They are led by separate “speakers” who govern the squibs, laws, religion, and their society. There is a Speaker of Speakers who governs them and meets with the representative of the larger galaxy.

Dynamically, women are seen as intelligent, efficient, decisive leaders while men are seen as workers, needing guidance, or, in their Nefek form, as savage, divine beasts. Female Khepri will also assume any humanoid adult is a female, as their males stay as the short squibs or the large Nefek.