Krark

The Krark are an alien species, sometimes also referred to as "Raptoids", from the homeworld of Kyrril. They are the dominant species in the Stellar Republic and can largely be found within its territories. While biologically not the least correct, they are often described as "birds without wings", as they possess a beak and feathers.

General Physiology
Comparative Xenobiology considers the Krark to be semi-reptiloids of small size, standing upright, though forward leaning, on two of their four extremities and thus possessing two "true arms", with four claw-tipped fingers each. Their average length has remained constant around 1,80 meters (head to tail-tip) for the last 250 (terran) years of their evolution, though they appear smaller due to their cowed natural posture.

Krark are covered in colorful feathers and any color of the humanly visible color spectrum appears naturally within the Krark population, with feather colors varying greatly between individuals and being dependant upon environmental influences, as feathers are enriched with wasteproducts released from the Krark body. Stemming from a low-gravity environment, the Krark have – like most species of Kyrill – not developed a solid skeleton. Their bodies receive stability from a cartilage-like substance. The most massive part of the Krark is their beak, consisting of horn similiar to Terran birds or squids.

Their digestive system is very simple, consisting mainly of a large stomach connected solely to the mouth. Feces thus have to be "spit out" by Krark.

The species creates a wide variety of sounds through breath manipulated by their tongues. They have a very fast metabolism, supplied through a complicated blood-lymph system and a highly developed central heart.

Overall, the outer appearance of a Krark has been compared to the prehistorical raptors on earth (hence the name "Raptoids").

Senses
Being able to see, hear, smell, taste and feel, a Krark possesses the same basic senses as a human. Krark possess one pair of eyes, located on the front of their head. Their depth-perception is limited, but they possess a large field of view. Their color-perception reaches far further into infrared spectrum than that of humans, owing to the dense cloud-layers of Kyrill. However, they have a generally limited perception of colors, including those of their own feathers. This is a trait they share with most life on Kyrill.

Krark have almost no sense of smell, detecting smells only through a layer of receptors located on the inside of their throat. Similiarily, a Krark hears through the inner tissue of its mouth as well, which reduces their ability to hear silent sounds.

Krark have a very sensible perception of air humidity and pressure through several receptors lining the tissue of their lungs. This gives them an intuitive knowledge of weather phenomena and furthermore a deep emotional connection to these environmental factors.

Diet
Krark are a vegetarian species, largely unable to digest meat or even most animal byproducts. Their natural diet consisted of various fruits growing in the marshes of Kyrill. The advent of civilization has added numerous nutritious roots and grains, which became stomachable through cooking or other methods of processing.

A healthy nutrition for a Krark consists of large amounts of fruit-sugars and only small amounts of fats and proteins. As fruits contain large amounts of water, Krark rarely ever consume additional water, though Krark society developed a rich tradition of fruit-based – often alcoholic – beverages.

All cooking-traditions of Krark society make excessive use of herbs and spices, considering the limited ability of the Krark to taste or smell.

Reproduction
Krark procreate through sexual reproduction and the Krark species is divided into two sexes with rare cases of inter- or multisexuality. However, the sexes are completely undistinguishable beyond the cellular level and Krark society has never developed any divisions between "male" and "female".

Krark reproduce seasonally every 513 (Kyrillan) days – though mating season is initiated hormonally by environmental triggers and it is thus possible to artificially trigger it at wish. During this period, Krark will release either sperm or eggs through the tissue of their stomach and deposit it along with hundreds of other Krarks in secluded bodies of water. In the past, these used to be hidden swamps or small lakes. Nowadays, articifial and professionally supervised secure pools are used, though different faiths and subcultures exist who propagate a "natural birth". The species draws no joy from the process and its members see it as mere technicality to create offspring.

Krark will spend their initial 5 (terran) years in an amphibic stadium, before leaving the pool of their birth, upon which their social developement will begin and they will start to emulate the behaviour and language of the Krark around them. It takes about another 5 to 8 (terran) years, before a Krark is considered an adult, usually marked by his or her first mating season.

Language
All Krark languages are based on a number of croaking and rasping sounds, similiar to the voice of a raven. Their English name, Krark, emulates this fact within the capabilities of human language.Since the advent of space travel, a unified language - the Caw - has been enforced by authorities and other Krark languages have died out or been degraded to regional tongues spoken in addition to Caw.

Society
Throughout its developement and even beyond the exploration and colonization of space, Krark society would remain divided mainly into two large groups, each containing dozens of distinguishable cultures. These categories can roughly be translated as "stargazers" and "planetgazers", and they refer to which side of Kyrill a Krark and its culture originate from – either the backside of Kyrill, where the sky beyond the cloundcover reveals numerous stars or the planetfaced side of Kyrill, where the sky prominently features the gasgiant "Arrak" throughout day and night.

As the differences between front- and backside of Kyrill also included various environmental factors – such as daylight times and not least the radioactive bombardement which Kyrill faces by its planet, cultures on either end of the moon would very early develope different answers to the challenges of nutrition, social life, mating rituals, raising of children, as well as religions and arts.