Zatenheim

Sentient species with the homeworld of Psi Kaus IV, which orbits one of the largest and hottest stars known to the Hyperion Federation.

The Zatenheim are a silicon based lifeform that can withstand temperatures up to about 500°C but cannot survive below about 450°C under normal circumstances. This can be enhanced using bioengineering or technology. When modified, they can become able to withstand direct contact with some colder lava, but probably not swim in it. Some individuals have been modified to the point of speciation. Some of these can swim in certain kinds of lava for short periods of time.

The species also has magnetic perception. This allows them to identify the direction of the North and South poles of the planet at any time.

Due to the temperature of their home star, they cannot see any light within the human-visible spectrum. Instead, they can only see high frequency UV light. Without the assistance of technology, it can be difficult for them to communicate with other sentient species, not to mention the totally different atmospheric conditions they need to survive. Although the homeworld has a thick atmosphere they can still see clearly as high frequency radiation has higher penetration power.

Like most other civilizations, they were largely xenophobic before making first contact with the HF. However, over a period of several hundred years the HF has proven itself to be trustworthy and the native species eventually became less xenophobic.

Like the Xalarin, they will give off a massive heat signature.

The zatenheim are a relatively large sentient species. They can grow up to about 4m tall on average and have a more round appearance than a human. Their weight is distributed onto wider, but fairly short legs which somewhat slows them down compared to a human, but due to the scale difference a zatenheim can still run about as fast as a human. The zatenheim's head has 2 eyes, which allows them to perceive depth. Their eyes have fairly thick skin which protects them from the atmosphere. This skin is transparent and allows light through. The zatenheim have weaker hearing than in humans because of the higher pressure of their atmosphere, and sound travels much more effectively through this environment than that of humans. They can still hear effectively, as long as they remain in high pressure environments. Reverberation still allows them to detect large objects approaching them.

The zatenheim come in several shapes and sizes depending on ethnicity. Almost all of them are significantly larger than humans but the shortest ethnicities would typically grow to around 3.7 m in height and the tallest, around 4.4 m. Between individuals, their builds can vary as well with some being more muscular than others, and curves, skin colour, eye colour and so on will vary a lot too. The zatenheim usually have darker or more red skin colours.

As all lifeforms of their home planet have evolved for very hot conditions, it normally takes a lot more energy to cook food. This was typically done using lava in their primitive eras before developing high temperature technologies. As a result, almost all of the zatenheim population is located closer to the lava sources and oceans, but now it is possible to live far from the lava.

Biology

As the atmosphere is usually so thick with fairly toxic chemicals, their biology has adapted to resist these toxins. Their mouth contains an acidic saliva which breaks down food more significantly than the mouths of other species, allowing the zatenheim to have no stomach. However, they have a thin esophagus and intestines so they cannot swallow thicker substances or large objects. Their intestine walls are also covered with a substance that protects them from any toxins they might have swallowed and these materials are excreted as normal when they reach the end. The zatenheim respiratory system is not unlike that of humans, other than the lung takes a vastly different shape. The zatenheim have a sperate orfice on their head for breathing, so that their digestive and respiratory tracts are not connected. The zatenheim also have no heart, instead, the blood is moved around the body through their veins and arteries which will lift used blood up to the lungs via peristalsis to be oxygenated, then distributed to the upper body through a similar artery. As blood is used, it will return to the lower areas of the body. However, these lower areas would also need oxygenated blood so there are several smaller arteries directly from the lung which serve as outputs to lower areas of the body. This gives the zatenheim a lot of internal room for their organs which allows them to be very endurable and they can last a long time without food.