Krillians

  Krillians are crustaceans resembling creatures from Earth's Euphausiacea order, hence human scientists often group them along that taxonomic branch. Regular Krillians have bright blue shells, coal-black eyes and stubby legs that help them crawl on the mud. Their tail tips are shovel-shaped for swimming, and they are slimmer and smaller than their Faba counterparts.       The Fabae are a mutant form of Krillian with rubbery translucent shells thick enough to function as armour, their bodies a bioluminescent bluish green and their globular eyes an oily black.     A pair of red vestigial antennae crown their heads. The tips of their bony tails end with red bulbs that help them balance when walking or running, and can be used as weapons similar to an Ankylosaurus' club.     They have six pairs of arms that evolved from their filter-legs. Originally their species, like Earth's krill, had ten pairs of legs, but three pairs have become vestigial and one pair has evolved into enlarged red hind legs that carry them about like ostriches.     Faba Krillians are larger than their regular counterparts, and have rounder bodies resembling fava beans. They are also better runners.     Krillians of both subspecies have six genders:   Bada would be the equivalent of human males,   Badana the equivalent of females,   Baden have male and female reproductive systems,   Badan have no reproductive systems,   Bade are women with male sex organs,   And Badane are men with female sex organs. All groups have vital community roles.

Fabae are a larger and stronger mutation of regular Krillians, and have been around for about 400,000 years. They have the same lifespan as other Krillians, but reproduce more frequently and are more temperamentally like humans than their siblings.

Female Krillians lay an average of 10,000 eggs at a time. Reproduction can be accomplished by all except for those born as badan (neuter Krillians, having no reproductive systems, insultingly called "eunuchs" by outsiders).     Despite this, every Krillian has the right to adopt and raise children should they not have any of their own.

Krillians have five growth stages, documented among humans as follows:     Infans: the first 9330 years. Equivalent to our "baby" stage.   Puer: 9330 to 18,660. Equivalent to our "toddler" stage.   Juvenis: 18,660 to 27,990. Equivalent to our "young adult" stage.   Vetus: 27,990 to 37,320. Equivalent to our "adult"/"middle age" stage.   Senex: 37,320 to 46,656. Equivalent to our "elderly" stage. None live longer than the Senex phase.     Krillians have children during their Juvenis stage, and retire from work during their Senex stage.

Zhigil is an ocean-covered planet, predominantly frozen due to its distance from its star, Kepler-62 (called Augaul in Krill). Its aqueous frost has resulted in its lifeforms being well-made for frigid water.     There is evidence that the other four planets orbiting Augaul (called Zhagal, Zhugul, Zhegel and Zhogol by the Krillians) may have once housed their own species, but the Krillians are the sole surviving species in the Kepler system.

Krillians are filter-feeders who rely largely on various types of plankton and smaller sea creatures for food.     The more aggressive Fabae have been said to cannibalize their Senex citizens, though this may simply be hearsay and propaganda from human groups trying to stir division among Krillian tribes.

Usually pacifistic, although mothers will defend their children to the death. Fabae are the more "warrior-like" of the groups.

No hierarchy, with communal rule instead being the default. There has never been a concept of a "ruler" in Krillian society, and even the Fabae exercise equality regardless of gender or age.     Their work is collectivist, with the community's interests taking primary focus. One Krillian does their best for the whole.

Foreign forces on Zhigil (such as humans) have made Krillian life unnecessarily complex. However, the Krillians have largely had beneficial relations with Jewish communities who have settled on Zhigil.     Their relationship with other people groups has been messy, with fights often breaking out between the Fabae and their human neighbours.

The planet Zhigil (Kepler-62f) in Dimension XVIII.

250 IQ

Krillians have no known "powers", although they claim to be able to "feel" the death of one of their own.     When in agony a Krillian will excrete and engulf itself in a cloud of gas containing specialized opioid neuropeptides, natural painkillers as strong as Earth's heroin. This gas will relieve the Krillian and severely intoxicate the threat, incapacitating them.

The regular Krillians maintain shaky relations with the Fabae, who would wipe them out should they no longer prove useful.     Fabae rely on other Krillians for trade and building supplies, and Krillians rely on Faba Krillians for weapons and transport. It's not uncommon to see a Krill merchant riding on the back of a Faba Krill, like a rickshaw driver on Earth.

Most Krillians have adopted Biblical names through their cultural exchange with friendly human communities, replacing their older names centred around the Eight Unkillables.

Beauty is considered dependent on one's intelligence. You could say all Krillians are naturally sapiosexual.

Krill have six genders: male, female, androgynous, neuter, feminine male, and masculine female. Each has a role to fill:     M: poets and artists.   F: lawyers and teachers.   A: religious clergy and philosophers.   N: scientists and engineers.   FM: farmers and food-preppers.   MF: merchants and businesspersons.     The final two groups could roughly be equated to the transgender human community, as their gender identity does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. In Krillian society they are allowed to freely operate in roles they choose, to the confusion of their close-minded human neighbours.     As with humans, Krillians often use sex and gender terms interchangeably, seeing "identity" as something fluid that an individual should decide on. A Krillian could have any identity that most strongly resonates with them, but they must work within the six roles the community has formulated.

Krillians may marry whoever they choose, irrespective of occupation, sex, gender, or even species (some Fabae have married regular Krillians).

The one who can protect the family best will raise the children, with the other partner helping as much as they can in a submissive role irrespective of gender.

Equivalent to the Neolithic period of human history, although some Fabae have started using firearms.

The Krillians speak Krill, a language written with the Latin alphabet by foreigners. Faba Krill is a dialect with five additional consonantal sounds that has rarely been written down.

It is tradition to address a stranger with the following formula:     "Zhalamu alaigunu. Obagi?" ("Hello. What is your identity?")     Once the person has provided their name and identity, the Krillian will use that name and those pronouns when referring to them. Respect is fundamental to the Krillian social structure.

No clothes, as Krillians consider their bodies naturally beautiful and have no concept of shame regarding their "nudity." Religious Krillians may wear some spiritual attire such as headwear, but there is no modesty culture among Krillians of either subspecies.

Krillians have their own unique culture centred around the idea of ontological skepticism. Asking questions is always encouraged, with many Krillian philosophers putting human thinkers to shame.

Disrespect is a big taboo in Krillian society, and is punishable by exile.

The Krillians come from a species that would have resembled Earth's crustaceans, but became the dominant predatory animals on the planet through generations of harsh environmental conditions and an abundance of food.     Over time they progressed from the icy waters to the muddy ground, their limbs and gills evolving to support their bodies on land. They began to build settlements of ice and snow, and the first Krillian cities emerged around 200,000 BCE in our calendar.

Menaxem son of Gabgabil (inventor of the Krill Runes)

Friendly interactions with local Jewish communities, hostile relations with other human groups (who have frequently tried to use them as cheap labour).