Vakari
| Vakari | |||||||||
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| Characteristics | |||||||||
| Height: | 5'6 to 6'6 | ||||||||
| Weight: | 160 to 280 lbs | ||||||||
| Lifespan: | 300+; Currently Unconfirmed | ||||||||
| Diet: | Omnivore | ||||||||
| Skin Tone: | Blue to Dark Blue | ||||||||
| Eye Color: | Various shades of Purple, Pink, or Grey | ||||||||
| Blood Color: | Purple | ||||||||
| Natural Weapons: | Retractable Claws, Retractable Fangs, Paralytic Venom | ||||||||
| Capabilities (Average) | |||||||||
| Punch Force: | 22'000 Newtons | ||||||||
| Kick Force: | 38'000 Newtons | ||||||||
| Lift Strength: | Five times body weight | ||||||||
| Bite Strength: | 820 psi | ||||||||
| Speed: | 40 MPH | ||||||||
| Reaction Time: | 70 Miliseconds | ||||||||
| Hearing Range: | 10 Hz to 60 kHz | ||||||||
| Eyesight: | 20/6 | ||||||||
| Status | |||||||||
| Identity: | Known | ||||||||
| Years Active: | |||||||||
| Citizenship: | |||||||||
| Occupation: | |||||||||
| Education: | |||||||||
| Marital Status: | |||||||||
| Known Powers and Abilities | |||||||||
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| ReldinBox Template |
The Vakari are a recently discovered race of extraterrestrials hailing from a star system within the Carina Nebula. They made voluntary contact with GATEWAY station, peaceably submitting to security procedures and decontamination protocols.
Physiology
Despite their close resemblance to humans, a Vakari's body is in many ways structured closer to that of a predatory animal. They possess the speed and agility of a hunting cat, and strength comparable to a great ape. Their bone density is roughly three times greater than that of an average human, granting them superior resilience as well as reducing their risk of injury when making powerful strikes. A Vakari's senses are similarly keen, with vision, scent, and hearing to rival our planet's most effective predators.
A Vakari's eyes possess traits similar to the 'eyeshine' that grants nocturnal predators superior night vision, with one particularly notable advantage: built in bioluminescence that allows them to see in total darkness. This is believed to have evolved during a several year period when their planet's unstable rotation slowed greatly, casting one side of the planet in near-perpetual darkness while the other became a sun-baked wasteland. Most Vakari are thought to have inhabited the latter side, forcing them to migrate underground to find water and escape the sweltering heat.
In times of bounty, a Vakari can gorge itself on food and water in preparation for the next shortage. If a Vakari has eaten and drank their fill and expends only minimal effort, they can survive up to two months without food or water. This is in part due to their oval blood cells, which resemble those of a camels; their shape allows them to flow with greater ease when blood thickens from dehydration, as well as to expand well beyond their normal size, allowing the Vakari to consume and store a larger volume of water than most other mammals.
One of the Vakari's most unique abilities is their near-complete control of their metabolism, which they're believed to have evolved in response to frequent food shortages. If expending only minimal effort in temperate conditions, they can survive nearly two months without food. Conversely, if well fed they can burn energy rapidly to perform incredible feats of strength and speed. Accelerating their metabolism also speeds their healing, allowing them to recover from serious injuries in days instead of weeks.
Psychology
Unlike most sentient species whose instincts dull as they achieve greater intelligence, Vakari possess two distinct mindsets that they can switch rapidly between. One is a 'cognitive' state mostly identical to ours; their instincts take a back seat as they focus on rational thought and complex problem solving. The other is a primal, instinctual state similar to that driving a predator as it hunts or defends its territory. The Vakari are not, however, completely feral in this state; Their reasoning still serves an advisory role as they allow themselves to otherwise be lead by their instincts. The result is a transformation into an even deadlier warrior, intelligent enough to use weapons while remaining unimpassionately guided by their senses.
This shift is more obvious in some Vakari than others. Ones with empathic personalities seem like two completely different people, whereas more aloof individuals seem much the same in either state. 'Aloof' and 'empathic' aptly sums up the two most prevalent personality traits displayed by the species, most of whom display some measure of both. A Vakari may display an abundance of affection one moment only to be dismissive the next, or conversely seem to largely ignore a person before suddenly offering inordinately kind words or gestures. It often takes several encounters with any given Vakari before you're sure where you stand with them, and even then it can be hard to tell.
Social Interactions
When observing a pair of Vakari interacting socially, it may sometimes seem as if they're entirely oblivious to one another's cues. The most common of these scenarios is one Vakari acting overly affectionate or talkative while the other appears to try and ignore them. Sometimes this is simply a matter of cues too subtle or personal to be picked up by the observer; other times, the scenario is much as it appears, though it tends to be a matter of the Vakari purposefully ignoring one another's hints rather than missing them. While such behavior would appear rude to most, the Vakari seem to view it as a sort of game to be won by the most persistent.
If one party is particularly insistent on being being left alone, they tend to lash out or make threats rather than asking. A shove, slap, or threat of greater violence tend to be the most common. Luckily, most Vakari are well aware of their lethal strength and are adept at pulling their punches; even if startled while in their more primal mindset, they're typically able to assess the nature of a threat and adjust before dealing a lethal blow. Vakari are markedly less likely to play these 'games' with other species, and when they do are less likely to resort to violence unless explicitly challenged. While they're often taken aback if simply asked to desist with a given behavior, they tend to be respectful of the request.
Homeworld
The Vakari homeworld of Verkahn (Crucible) orbits an F-type star known as Shahl (Radiance). Both the planet's rotation and revolution are unstable, causing violent shifts in temperature and weather patterns as well as an irregular day and night cycle. Verkahn's oxygen levels are nearly three time that of Earth's, and most of its landmass is blanketed by lush jungle. Its flora and and fauna can reach massive sizes, comparable and at times larger than the great beasts of Earth's prehistory. Nearly every animal on Verkahn is predatory, omnivorous, and possessed of natural weapons. This has led to a violent ecosystem where thousands of species prey upon each other at any opportunity and wage massive wars to control fertile tracts of land.
The Vakari are thought to have evolved from the Vikair (lesser hunters), seven foot tall ape-like creatures sharing characteristics with both gorillas and tigers. Other mammals include tusked and saber-toothed felines, ram-horned canines, and squirrel-like rodents covered in venomous spines. Reptilian beasts similar to dinosaurs stalk the jungles, and massive serpents slither through the trees, some coiling around trunks and hiding stinger-tipped tails among roots to blend in and ambush their prey. Great birds with twenty foot wingspans patrol the skies, swooping down to batter prey with claw-tipped wings or rigid, blade-like feathers before carrying them off in razor sharp talons.
Verkahn's plant life is in many ways even more frightening than its fauna. While some utilize only basic defenses such as thorns or poisons, others will actively seek to consume other plants or even animals. Carnivorous trappers creep across the ground on tentacle-like vines, lashing out with thorny appendages at unsuspecting prey before dragging them into its maw for slow digestion. Flowering vines use vibrations to mimic calls or even basic phrases, luring their victims in before constricting them and consuming their fluids through hollowed barbs. Strains of parasitic fungus similar to Earth's Cordyceps will infect their chosen host's nervous system, causing erratic or violent behavior designed to spread the infection before bursting out of and consuming their prey.
The deep, roiling oceans that cover approximately 60% of Verkahn's surface host a terrifying ecosystem of their own. The majority of the planet's aquatic life shares the same omnivorous diet as their terrestrial counterparts, and as such regularly clash in violent feeding frenzies. Cephalopods lash out with barbed tentacles while shark-like predators battle schools of needle-teethed fish, only to all be swallowed whole by a titanic terror rising from the depths. Some species even use Verkahn's violent weather to hunt on land: creatures resembling kronosauruses covered in bony plates often ride the waves of tsunamis, their armored hides absorbing the impact before rushing forward to drag any food they can find back to their watery habitat. While the Vakari at times built and ships sailed the oceans, their crafts were typically small and built for journeys to islands no more than a few dozen miles off the coast. Frequent storms and aggressive sea life made extended voyages tantamount to suicide.
