Kith

The dominant intelligent species of the planet Kob. They were first discovered shortly before the collapse of the First Solar Empire and later re-discovered during the time of the Third Solar Empire.   The Kith, alongside much of Kob's fauna, closely resemble the Prototherian mammal lineage of Terra. This remarkably close similarity was unnerving to the human xenozoologists who first surveyed the Kith, and a later mitochondrial analysis was forcefully suppressed to keep its "disturbing implications" from the general public.   The Kith have a relatively primitive jaw structure and larynx, and as such can only make a limited range of vocal sounds. Their oral languages are compromised of "yips and yaps", gutteral clicks, and lisp-like hisses. In contrast, they have unusually highly developed ears capable of registering a high dynamic range of pitches and amplitudes. As such, they have a cultural fascination with more complex human speech that they are physically incapable of reproducing, and are commonly attributed with the revival of opera.    

Kith History

  Although Kobb is a metal dense planet, almost all of the easily accessible metal minerals are concentrated deep in the core, resulting in a Kith civilisation stuck with stone tools. Initial human observers used this to dismiss the Kith as "primitive and unintelligent", entirely ignoring the surprisingly sophisticated stone tooling and methods of wood working and joinery the Kith had come up with, as well as their intricate art and calligraphy.   The collapse of the First Solar Empire led to an abandonment of observations until