Iliene
Physical Description
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The Iliene generally stand 5 to 6 feet in height with thin, fragile
builds and long stickish limbs ending in three-fingered hands plus
opposable thumb. They have long skinny legs and wide, flat feet are
split into two-toed "hooves" and they stand with their knees
cocked a bit, further reducing their height. They are hairless with
thin, translucent skin that comes in a variety of colours from red to
gray to black. They have large heads with two loose-skinned,
pug-textured lobes. Their faces are low-set on their head. They have
big, slanted, almond-shaped black eyes set into a pair of textured bony
ridges that taper together into a wide flat nose. Their lips are very
thin and range from pale purple to bluish depending on their skin colour.
Their ears are like gill-holes hidden in their head-folds. Their hearing
is weak but their thin skin is naturally sensitive to vibrations and
consequently sound waves. They sense conversation more than hear it.
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Their brains are small, compact, and efficient. A
particularly active outer layer of their brains, the vociferate cortex, is dedicated to the
broadcasting and receiving of brainwaves. They tend to think and react
somewhat collectively. They are not a group mind but cannot help being
affected by the minds around them. They gravitate toward and feed off
successful individuals, learn skills by osmosis, decide without
discussion. They don't hear thoughts so much as have access to
"what's Zen". The group thought has largely supplanted emotion
as a trigger for action. In the Community, they have an almost eerie
sense of things they can't see since they partially sense things
perceived by others around them.
Their DNA is very similar to that of the Immasu.
Personality
Scientific and mathematical, precise and literal. Sensible, logical,
emotionless. Strong, psionic sense of community.
The Kharkosanth Iliene have a darker personality,
believing that intelligence and guile are the key to the survival of
intelligent races in the face of approaching entropy and chaos. By
subjugating and using those around them, they can structure and save the
universe.
Aptitudes
Generally great pilots but poor explorers. It feels very silent and
lonely to be away from "the group". They make decent combat
pilots as they sense what's going on and what's going to happen but lack
the killer instinct and spontaneity to make bold or daring moves.
The Kharkosanth Iliene are great plotters and schemers.
They went a bit crazy when they split from the Community, their new
Community is a bit noisy and buzzy.
Culture/Political
The Iliene tend to live for the good of the collective whole, the
Community, with little regard for individuals. When dealing with other
species, heroes are good if they contribute to the Community, bad if
they work against it. The Iliene have a natural sense of
"right". Leaders are almost pointless, since everyone just
kind of knows what they should be doing when, Community decisions just
come about.
Due to the uncomfortable psychic silence that occurs
when alone, Iliene tend to gather together when possible. They live
extensively through the
Bjaki Federation
and Kharkosanth
Empire and have a lesser, though still relatively large, population
in the Core
Commonwealth. Before the Dark Age,
the Iliene formed colonies in the
Farrago whose
descendants would become the Immasu.
Attitude to Death
Not a big deal. There's a sense that it's the natural order and that
the departed lives on in the thoughts of his fellows and lives on in the
form of the Community.
Breeding
Ritual, organized.
Language
Surprisingly limited. Many intents and directives are conveyed
through group thought and are unnecessary in vocabulary unless dealing
with other races. Emotion words are limited.
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