-Other Races: Sen-
The Sen are a large race that occupy the moon of a gas giant within a single-star system. They are reclusive and only venture off their planet to mine or extract resources from neighboring celestial objects. While they used to occupy the surface of their world in the past, the majority of their civilization now resides underground to avoid capturing extraterrestrial interest. As a result they are often mistaken for animals when they are seen above ground.
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Biology
Sen are built like anteaters, with two large forelegs brandishing huge claws that are folded up when not in use. The claws have broad faces, making them good for digging. By contrast, a very small pair of arms with four claws each sit on the Sens' huge chest, which have a decent amount of strength for their size and placement but are prone to fracturing. The back paws are broad like lion's paws, but bear weight more than they are locomotive, and a thick, heavy tail that isn't particularly agile sits behind them. Aside from the strangely-small arms, the Sens' most distinctive feature is the head: broad, beaked, and topped by two very long antennae streaked by thin filaments. Sen have no eyes or nostrils, leaving perception focused on smell, sound, and vibration sensitivity taken in by the antennae; the Sen use this to navigate using ultrasonic echolocation by humming in their throats. Taste is nearly nonexistent, only capable of detecting when something is edible, inedible, or spoiled. Remarkably though, Sen beaks are sensitive to the temperature of things eaten, which is important considering many organisms on their home world defend themselves with bio-cryogenics; more than one visitor has had his mouth frozen shut by a fruit or grub.
Sen have short fur that lengthens on the hocks, neck, and tail tip. Their backs and heads are adorned by irregular scale plates that are rather dense and able to withstand a lot of impact. The beak, claws, and plates are a lot glossier than the fur and almost reflective. Coloration has minimal range, with any near-black color - including black itself - being typical. Albinism does not seem to occur. The width, length, and height ratios vary the most among Sen individuals and, curiously enough, seem to not be hereditary, but rather environmental in source. Study of the Sen environment shows that the narrow landmasses are often soaked by water thanks to the surrounding seas, and occasionally all of the moisture whips up into a storm that can radically change the temperature and moisture of other regions of the globe for quite a long time; sometimes it doesn't pay to live on a gas giant's moon. As a result Sen have adapted to changing their physical structure depending on the food, stress levels, ambient temperature, temperature consistency, blood pressure and thickness, and other minute factors that effect the mother. So if a Sen used to warm seasonal forests is suddenly plunged into a wet winter, her offspring will significantly more compact and fluffy compared to her. Unfortunately it also means that a sick mother Sen can have complicated offspring that are even more unlikely to survive than her, resulting in Sen taking mother wellness extremely seriously.
Sen are often misinterpreted as slow, lumbering beasts, but anyone who knows of an animal of such description knows to steer clear of them because weight just means more momentum and more impact; and indeed, you do not want to be hit by a charging Sen! Despite the lack of thrust in the back legs, the heavyset, fluffy forelegs can propel a Sen to 0 to 40 mph in mere seconds, and thanks to spinal alignment their heads make great battering rams. This same advantage can be used defensively, allowing a Sen to brace and absorb an obscene amount of kinetic energy; as long as they're on solid ground, anyway. While male Sen do enjoy practicing these charges, their advanced society doesn't call for this ability anymore, so Sen see it as a relic of the past and headbutting is only done playfully or to send a message of personal space. Unusual for such a heavy quadruped, Sen can also climb trees like bears with enough practice, but they are limited by their immense weight and the diameter of the trunk, and not many regions have trees big enough to climb anyway.
Sen have short fur that lengthens on the hocks, neck, and tail tip. Their backs and heads are adorned by irregular scale plates that are rather dense and able to withstand a lot of impact. The beak, claws, and plates are a lot glossier than the fur and almost reflective. Coloration has minimal range, with any near-black color - including black itself - being typical. Albinism does not seem to occur. The width, length, and height ratios vary the most among Sen individuals and, curiously enough, seem to not be hereditary, but rather environmental in source. Study of the Sen environment shows that the narrow landmasses are often soaked by water thanks to the surrounding seas, and occasionally all of the moisture whips up into a storm that can radically change the temperature and moisture of other regions of the globe for quite a long time; sometimes it doesn't pay to live on a gas giant's moon. As a result Sen have adapted to changing their physical structure depending on the food, stress levels, ambient temperature, temperature consistency, blood pressure and thickness, and other minute factors that effect the mother. So if a Sen used to warm seasonal forests is suddenly plunged into a wet winter, her offspring will significantly more compact and fluffy compared to her. Unfortunately it also means that a sick mother Sen can have complicated offspring that are even more unlikely to survive than her, resulting in Sen taking mother wellness extremely seriously.
Sen are often misinterpreted as slow, lumbering beasts, but anyone who knows of an animal of such description knows to steer clear of them because weight just means more momentum and more impact; and indeed, you do not want to be hit by a charging Sen! Despite the lack of thrust in the back legs, the heavyset, fluffy forelegs can propel a Sen to 0 to 40 mph in mere seconds, and thanks to spinal alignment their heads make great battering rams. This same advantage can be used defensively, allowing a Sen to brace and absorb an obscene amount of kinetic energy; as long as they're on solid ground, anyway. While male Sen do enjoy practicing these charges, their advanced society doesn't call for this ability anymore, so Sen see it as a relic of the past and headbutting is only done playfully or to send a message of personal space. Unusual for such a heavy quadruped, Sen can also climb trees like bears with enough practice, but they are limited by their immense weight and the diameter of the trunk, and not many regions have trees big enough to climb anyway.
Society
Thanks to a lack of versatile vocal chords, Sen language is based off of patterns with clicks and whines made with the beak and throat, similar to Morse Code, so Sen never have a problem with different sounds or accents but will always have problems with other languages. Their language is standardized, which makes the sciences and organized labor easy for them; this coupled with their smaller arms allowed them to excel easily in engineering and construction. Similar to social insects, Sen have just the right mindset for working together in a steady, unstoppable manner, and live comfortably off of one meal a day. Each Sen in a project also has a single job that he picks; if there aren't enough Sen for a job, they just find more Sen.
As soon as the Sen figured out this practice they've been able to construct a lot of their society very quickly. However, very little is actually known about Sen society because it's all subterranean, and the entrances are well-hidden. Their advanced technology has almost eliminated the need to ever surface again. What is known is that the Sen have an extensive data-distribution network in the form of "pulse circuitry", which is similar to fiber optic cable but with sound; this implies that Sen probably have a large base number for calculations, at least for computers, as there is a very large range of sounds. It is also known that Sen have cloaking devices, sampling tools, and a very efficient, quiet air-cycle system for their underground world. It is also known that Sen tend to be very parental toward their inventions, protective yet seeking improvement and willing to let go. They also dislike sharing information about themselves or their advancements and don't seem to have vehicles of any kind... and that's about all that we know. Some attempts have been made to go to the Sen homeworld, and it's not too hard if you know how to avoid hitting trees on the way down, but so far no Sen has allowed anyone to visit the underground portion of their home; they just have a friendly above-ground reception for the visitors and answer any questions they have.
As soon as the Sen figured out this practice they've been able to construct a lot of their society very quickly. However, very little is actually known about Sen society because it's all subterranean, and the entrances are well-hidden. Their advanced technology has almost eliminated the need to ever surface again. What is known is that the Sen have an extensive data-distribution network in the form of "pulse circuitry", which is similar to fiber optic cable but with sound; this implies that Sen probably have a large base number for calculations, at least for computers, as there is a very large range of sounds. It is also known that Sen have cloaking devices, sampling tools, and a very efficient, quiet air-cycle system for their underground world. It is also known that Sen tend to be very parental toward their inventions, protective yet seeking improvement and willing to let go. They also dislike sharing information about themselves or their advancements and don't seem to have vehicles of any kind... and that's about all that we know. Some attempts have been made to go to the Sen homeworld, and it's not too hard if you know how to avoid hitting trees on the way down, but so far no Sen has allowed anyone to visit the underground portion of their home; they just have a friendly above-ground reception for the visitors and answer any questions they have.
Trivia
- Sen were one of three races that were created originally for an online roleplay.
- Sen rarely move when talking because echolocating and speech both use the throat, so unless they're talking loud enough they have a hard time hearing where they are.
- Sen are able to learn other languages but have to supplement a lot of hard sounds with their beaks. They don't care for the harsh sound, and their language and names reflect this, as they stay away from anything menacing or sharp. Sen have a lineage name along with a singular one, such as Husen Jisopif, Ayla Nestikayten, and Dislunor Epil.
- Some species are able to clearly hear the low humming Sen use to echolocate, which is described as a periodic deep tone, barely audible for a human. Because Sen throats don't vibrate very well it's often been mistaken as a sound from a device.
- Dimorphism is evident in size and slenderness alone, with females being larger yet slimmer than males.
- Sen are omnivorous but favor fruit and fish. They prefer their food to be warm because the cold is a common defense mechanism on their planet, so they tend to cook everything they eat. Ice cream terrifies them.
- Echolocation is incredibly accurate; Sen have been observed describing textural details about objects they "see", something that sound is ambiguous about for most other species. Sen with impaired antennae lack this efficiency.
- Sen have not been seen with garments and are rarely seen with their own technology.
- There are odd, tall, porous trees on the Sen homeworld. They look almost pruned and air filters into them, but not out. They're suspected to be air conduits for the subterranean ventilation system.
- Sen are a longer-lived species, able to live for a couple hundred years before degradation sets in. They grow very slowly, and being easy-going, docile creatures, they keep their mortality rate quite low.
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