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An Alien Race

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This page is divided into the following sections:

Click on the section names to return to the top of the page.


Back to the Top The Tkii System

Tkii is the sun under which the Txkri species evolved. It is an orange dwarf star (classification K0V) with a radius of about ninety percent that of the Sun. a mass of some eighty-two percent of it and a luminosity of some eighty-one percent of it. At four billion years old Tkii is some half a billion years younger than the Sun. Because of its lesser age the Tkii system is slightly metal-rich compared to the Solar System.

Xti, the home world of the Txkri, is a moonless world somewhat larger than the Earth which orbits within the habitable zone of Tkii, that is roughly as far from Tkii as Venus does from the Sun.

Including Xti, the Tkii star system is as follows:

Closest to Tkii lies Krixttk, a small, hot, airless rocky world some 1600km in diameter [smaller than Mercury in the Solar System], which orbits some 0.2 AU from Tkii [significantly closer than Mercury].

Some 0.3 AU from Tkii [a little closer to Tkii than Mercury is to the Sun] lies Rkrttok, another small, hot and airless rocky world, some 1900km in diameter [again, smaller than Mercury].

Outside the orbit of Rkrttok is a narrow asteroid belt known as Xtx-Tkii [the Claws of the Sun]. This is some twenty million kilometres wide [perhaps an eighth the width of the Asteroid Belt in the Solar System], whose bodies average some fifty metres in size, though with a few up to tens of kilometres in size [all much smaller than the Asteroid Belt in the Solar System]. The objects in the belt are fairly metal-rich, but obviously water-poor due to the heat they receive from Tkii. Beyond Xtx-Tkii there is a large gap between it and the next worlds out from Tkii.

Beyond Xtx-Tkii orbits Toktrkt, a small gas giant intermediate in size between Neptune and Saturn in the solar system [about 71000 km in diameter] which orbits roughly as far from Tkii as Venus does from the Sun. Toktrkt has a density of some 30% that of the Earth, giving it a dense rocky core, a mass of some 52 times the Earth and a surface gravity of some 3.9 times that of the Earth. Its axial tilt and the plane of its moons is some 23° to the plane of the Tkii system. It circles Tkii in some 235.5 Earth days [0.645 Earth years; almost 8 Earth months]. It has three significant moons:

All of Toktrkt, Xti and Kriktrt are at about Venus' distance from Tkii, and have very little orbital eccentricity. The Trojan point arrangement in which they orbit would probably not be stable over the long term in a system with more large bodies in it than this one, but as the gas giant Toktrkt is the most massive object in the system by far (apart from Tkii) and is sufficiently large compared to Xti and Ixttx it has worked over billions of years.

Xti, the Txkri home world, lies at the trailing Trojan point of Toktrkt. Like Toktrkt it orbits roughly as far from Tkii as Venus and like it circles Tkii in some 235.5 Earth days. It is moonless. Xti is described in more detail below.

Kriktrt, another small rocky world some 1440km in diameter [again smaller than Mercury in the Solar System], lies at leading Trojan point of Toktrkt. Like Toktrkt and Xti it orbits roughly as far from Tkii as Venus and circles Tkii in some 235.5 Earth days. It is airless and waterless apart from a few permanently-shaded areas close to its poles in which ice is found. It has an axial tilt of some 18° and rotates on its axis in some 14 hours. It has an average temperature of 53°C, but this varies from -105°C to +71°C over the course of its day. Its density is 1.06 times that of the Earth giving it a surface gravity of some 12% that of the Earth. It has very little geological activity. As a small, fast-spinning body without a major moon Kriktrt wobbles on its axis over time [this is like Mars in the Solar System whose axial tilt varies from 15° to 35° over 124000 years, and perhaps 0° to 60° over tens of millions of years]. This occurs on much shorter timescales for this world than for Mars or Xti.

Beyond the orbit of Toktrkt, Xti and Kriktrt there is a large gap. Beyond this, some eight times further from Tkii than them [about as far from Tkii as Saturn is from the Sun] is a small moonless airless icy world some 3600km in diameter, in an eccentric tilted orbit. It is known as Krxittrxtrt.

At about one and half times as far again [about as far as Uranus is from the Sun] there is a smaller moonless airless icy world some 2200km in diameter again orbiting in an eccentric tilted path. It is known as Trrtrkkrxrtr.

Beyond that there is a cometary halo, and then interstellar space.


Back to the Top Xti

The Txkri home world is named Xti. It is an Earth-like world some 14400km [9000 miles] in diameter [12.5% larger than the Earth] with a density some 1.08 times that of the Earth, giving it 1.54 times its mass and 1.22 times its gravity. Xti is a dry world with some 48% of its surface covered by ocean [compared to some 71% for the Earth]. Its total land area, due to the larger size of the world and the smaller ocean area, is more than twice that of the Earth.

Its atmosphere is an oxygen-nitrogen mix with no significant taints from a human perspective, at a pressure some 115% that of Earth. The sky of Xti is dark blue with a hint of green to it. The dense atmosphere of Xti does mean that its winds and weather are very forceful.

The nights of Xti are very dark because of the lack of a moon. The brightest night-sky object is the gas giant Toktrkt. And of course there are no eclipses on Xti.

Xti has two major continents separated by a series of seas, three minor continents, and various major islands and archipelagos. One major ocean covers almost half of the surface of Xti. The world has twelve major tectonic plates and fifteen major active volcanoes. It rotates on its axis in some 34 Earth hours, so its year is slightly more than 166 local days [235.5 Earth days].

Maps of Xti

Thumbnail of Xti maps

Video of a flight around Xti

Thumbnail of video
Note that this is some 17MB in size

The base temperature of Xti is some 37.5°C [compared to about 15°C for the Earth]. +21°C at equator, -49°C at the poles; +8°C at the end of the day, -17°C at the end of the night, giving a polar minimum of -28.5°C and an equatorial maximum +66.5°C. Over time variations in solar activity and orbit have given Xti a number of ice age periods.

Xti currently has an axial tilt of almost exactly zero, so it has no seasons. However, because of its lack of a moon, Xti is subject to large chaotic variations of its axial tilt over time [this is like Mars in the Solar System whose axial tilt varies from 15° to 35° over 124000 years, and perhaps 0° to 60° over tens of millions of years]. These variations in axial tilt cause environmental shifts that (among other things) have driven evolution over the lifetime of the planet.

Because of its smaller amount of oceanic coverage relative to the Earth, much of the surface of Xti is dry, and includes cold deserts away from the equator. Xti does have small ice caps, however.

The dense atmosphere of Xti extends higher and also holds more water than that of the Earth [as denser air holds more water vapour than less dense air; likewise hotter air holds more water vapour than colder air], so the interiors of its large continents are not as dry far from the sea as they would be on the Earth.

Xti has very small (entirely solar) tides and weak storms. Its weather is driven mainly by the Coriolis effect, though this is weaker than on Earth due to the slower rotation of the world, and also by temperature differences between the poles and equator and between day and night.


Back to the Top The Life Forms Of Xti

Because of its somewhat higher density than the Earth Xti has had more natural nuclear reactors over the course of its early years. These drove evolution somewhat faster than on the Earth. As an effect of this multi-cellular life has existed on Xti for more than three billion years [much longer than it has on Earth]. Another effect of this is that Xti gained an oxygen-rich atmosphere more quickly than did the Earth.

Biochemically speaking, the life forms of Xti are not very compatible with life from Earth. There are significant differences between the chemistries of the two ecosystems, so that neither is particularly nutritious to the other, and in many cases will produce poisoning or violent allergic reactions in them. There are some things that the creatures of each world can eat on the other, but in both cases deficiency diseases will be an inevitable consequence of doing so over a long period. As part of these differences, the blood of the dominant animal groups on Xti is a bright orange-yellow colour.

Microorganisms from each world may well adapt to the other ecosystem quite quickly, with more complicated life adapting more slowly, if at all. Plants would certainly have problems, to the extent that it would probably be necessary to sterilise the soil of the other world and potentially fertilise it with required nutrients to grow them. In addition to this each may have problems with the different spectrum of light of the others sun, as well as with the different growing seasons of the other world. [However, depending on the motivations of the Txkri or the humans in coming to the others world then this may or may not be such as issue...]

Because of the variations in axial tilt of Xti over time plants and animals do follow seasons for things such as breeding. At present these are not synchronised with those of other species. However, they can be so, so that when the planets axis of rotation tips again living things across the world will begin to time their lives by the seasons once more.


Back to the Top Sources Of Energy

The majority of life forms on Xti derive their energy, either directly or indirectly, from photosynthesis of the light of Tkii, in much the same way as the life forms of the Earth derive their energy from the light of the Sun.

In addition to this, as on Earth a minority of life forms derive their energy from chemosynthesis of chemical energy from geothermal sources.


Back to the Top Xtian Reproduction

All of the dominant life forms of Xti - both plant and animal - have sexual reproduction, but with only one gender. Rather than producing either eggs or sperm as sexual life forms do on Earth, to reproduce an Xtian organism grows a 'hemi-egg', a structure containing half of the genetic information of the organism which forms what are essentially a set of disposable genitals for the organism [this is not unlike how deer re-grow their antlers every year]. Thus all life forms on Xti are of one gender, one that is neither male nor female in Earth terms, but is a combination of the two.


Back to the Top Plant Life

Photosynthesis on Xti uses different light-absorbing chemicals to the chlorophyll used by plants on Earth, ones that are more efficient absorbers of electromagnetic radiation at the most common frequencies emitted by the star Tkii. Because of this the vegetation on their world is a dark purple [as it reflects red and blue light]. This means that, from space, Xti appears both similar to and different from the Earth, with blue seas, brown and yellow deserts and so on, but purple where the Earth would be green from vegetation.

Some plants are very efficient at extracting moisture from the air, enabling them to live far from water, and so enabling animals to live in such locations too. Others make use of underground organs analogous to tubers to store moisture for times of need.

Many long-lived plants on Xti - its equivalent of trees - have two forms, which differ depending on the seasonal cycle as they mature. When the world has an axial tilt such that it has significant seasons then plants have leaves analogous to those of Earth plants, which form a fractal structure adjustable by the plant which catches sunlight from all directions [much as plants on Earth do]; some plants also become deciduous during these times. When their world has very little tilt, as at present, then the plants instead grow a single flat disc of leaves all aligned at the sun, which follow it across a roughly fixed path in the sky. Plants during this period are not deciduous and instead replace the leaves making up their disc piecemeal, as required. These disc-like canopies have ragged edges due to their being formed of discrete leaves.

All tree-analogues begin as 'bushy' saplings not unlike Earth trees, but as they mature they take into account the seasons (or lack of same) and either continue in that form or develop their canopy into a more disc-like form.

Short-lived plants and plants in equatorial regions generally have only one form. Equatorial plants use the leaf-disc strategy a great deal.


Back to the Top Vegetable Reproduction

As with all of the major life forms of Xti, its plants have a single gender but sexual reproduction. There are the equivalent of flowers, which attract animals that transfer hemi-eggs from plant to plant on their skins, allowing them to meet, merge and grow into new plants. Other plants grow fruit containing hemi-eggs to attract animals; when eaten the hemi-eggs remain in the digestive system of the animal until they either die or meet another hemi-egg, at which point they merge and are passed out of the digestive tract of the animal to grow into a new plant. In a very few species the plant hemi-eggs, once joined, poison the animal that has eaten them. This then acts as a ready-made source of fertiliser for it. Some plants are wind-fertilised, with airborne hemi-seeds with a halo of fine threads by which contact is made with other seeds of the same species.

Vegetative reproduction is also very common among the plants of Xti, usually in parallel with some means of sexual reproduction. Most commonly this is by means of runners [stolons], so that in some places all the plants of a given type in an area are actually clones of some original plant. The equivalent of grass on Xti is a group of plants which are essentially little more than rooted runners covering the ground; these quickly grow back from the roots when eaten by herbivores.


Back to the Top Animal Life

The dominant form of animal life on Xti evolved from something roughly barnacle-like, an ancestral creature which had an exoskeleton of linked bony plates with limbs at both ends driven by muscles attached to the plates. This exoskeleton allowed the creatures to become larger as growth occurred outwards at the edges of the plates.

Primitive life on Xti continued (and in some species still continues) to use this body plan, with an armour-plated exoskeleton protecting its internal organs. In more advanced creatures the exoskeleton has been internalised, its form changing from large flat plates into an endoskeleton, but not one of straight bones, ribs and so on as in Earth vertebrates, but one formed of what are basically geodesic elements.

With evolution for speed and so on in some groups of creatures the original thick armoured plates have evolved into lighter structures with holes in them, though they often remain wider and thicker over vulnerable regions. Some groups have a skeleton made up of cross-shaped bony elements; others have structures consisting of three 'spikes' meeting at a central point. Some have skeletons built from triangles of bone jointed on the corners. Others still have kite-shaped bones, where the diamond-shaped plates have retained four joints but also evolved for lightness and continuing strength.

By the present day the dominant group of life forms on Xti have two rings of five diamond-shaped plates with ball-type joints at each corner. On one end this joins the plate to its adjacent front or rear plate. To either side it joins to two other plates in the same ring. On either end the joint acts as an attachment point for a limb.

The front part of body contains the digestive and reproductive organs, with the rear part containing the respiratory organs which draw air in and out through an orifice on the rear face of the body. The brain is very decentralised and consists of a series of ganglia distributed down the length of the centre of the body. They have no head as such, just a collection of mouthparts and other limbs in the centre of the ring formed by the end of the body plates. These form part of the skeleton and vary greatly between species, but are usually half a step out of phase with the five outer limbs and consist of manipulative appendages of various kinds. At the centre of this ring of mouthparts is a five-way mouth. The hemi-egg also grows from this area, so for these creatures sex is analogous to a kiss.

Click on the thumbnail below to see a rough sketch of this body plan as it applies to the Txkri:

Thumbnail of Txkri skeleton image

All limbs of the ancestral creature had an eye at their tip. However, limb specialisation over time means that these are vestigial or entirely absent in many modern species. All creatures have strong reflexes to protect their eyes and other vulnerable regions, much as Earth animals do.


Back to the Top Animal Reproduction

Animal hemi-eggs consist of a central hemispherical blob, flat face outwards, with a tough keratinaceous outer surface. It contains nutrient reserves for the egg and a rudimentary circulatory and respiratory system. Extending out from this are a set of fairly small (relative to the size of the central region) interlocking petal-like structures. When two hemi-eggs meet the petals of each clamp around the body of the other, interlocking firmly, then with a twisting and wrenching of the body the new egg falls off. When two hemi-eggs join there is pleasure for the individual involved, then also more pleasure in the loss of the sex organs as they detach from the parents to form an egg.

The two hemi-eggs then grow together into a full egg inside which a new member of the species develops.

The hemi-eggs are not that complex but have the potential to become more so if triggered, not unlike a birds egg on Earth. The external parts of the hemi-egg, from the parents, become protection and nutrition for the new organism, while the inner parts are analogous to joined gametes that grow into an embryo.

All animal species have a mating season during which all adults grow hemi-eggs in synchronisation with one another. With the growing of the hemi-egg comes a drive to mate. They have no vulnerable sex organs for the rest of the time, and no period of vulnerable pregnancy. In addition to being their means of reproduction, in most animals the hemi-eggs are also a form of sexual display, their thickness (they all have about the same diameter and a flat leading face) indicating the genetic fitness of an individual [not unlike the size of the antlers on an Earth deer]. When the hemi-egg is present it is fairly large and obvious, and also fairly inconvenient for an animal as it is quite sensitive to temperature, touch and so on [it is very roughly analogous to a human man walking around with a permanently erect penis]. Because of this animal are both quite happy to have it, but generally quite happy to get rid of it as well.

Each species has a hemi-egg with different numbers of 'petals', different 'interlocks' and so on. This means that successful matings between individuals of different species are physically impossible.

Unfertilised hemi-eggs wither, shrivel and die in the parent before falling off. In animals this is without the sense of pleasure that comes with a mating. In most animals the dead hemi-egg is usually eaten by the organism to re-use its resources and nutrients [not unlike Earth mammals eating the placenta of a newborn individual].

Animal eggs can drown, suffocate, be poisoned and so on. They are also vulnerable to egg-eaters, parasites and other dangers. They can be buried for thermal stability, though different species have different strategies for this. Animal eggs hatch by their 'unlatching' the two halves derived from the hemi-eggs that formed it. These then fall apart or are pushed apart by the baby inside, allow it to exit. The animals of Xti never have multiple births.

Animal young emerge from their egg as miniature adults, largely physically developed, and able to move, feed and so on. In unintelligent animals they then have little to do but grow to adult size. In more intelligent species, culminating in the Txkri themselves, young begin as very much non-sentient animals that must be looked after and nurtured. As time passes their increasing size and maturity allows the development of higher and more complex mental functions which culminate in (in the Txkri) their becoming a fully developed member of the race [this is not unlike the Race from the 'Worldwar' series of books].


Back to the Top Thermoregulation

There are no warm-blooded animals on Xti; they are all cold-blooded, with animals instead relying on the environment to maintain a stable body temperature. Creatures that live in cold regions have adapted to cope with the temperature of the environment in which they live, even on the ice caps, with biological 'anti-freeze' stopping the animals that live there from freezing.

As part of their thermoregulatory systems many animals, including the Txkri, have large thermoregulation fins on their bodies, with, often, at least one limb being dedicated to supporting one of these. These fins are held perpendicular to the sun to absorb heat when it is cold, and parallel to it to minimise heat absorption when it is hot.

Many animals - including the Txkri - are also covered with mobile feather-like protrusions. These help with thermoregulation, much as the large fins do, and are a hold over from the times when the planets axial tilt produces seasons, as well as an insurance against when it occurs again in the future. Even though they are cold blooded the feathers help them acquire and retain heat. Because they are used for thermoregulation, these 'feathers' are very light on one side and very dark on the other. Their orientation is normally controlled instinctively to ensure a constant body temperature. Creatures from hotter climates have the dark side of their 'feathers' less dark. Those from colder climes have the light side darker to assist their thermoregulation. This gives rise to regional (racial) differences within a species. The 'feathers' grow from the base, and are somewhat segmented. As they grow the ends dry and become tatty from everyday damage until they snap off at a segment, keeping them at a roughly constant length.

Smaller animals migrate based on temperature, though within narrower bands than is the case on Earth due to their cold-blooded nature. They are guided by the position of Tkii [their sun] in this. Even though there are no seasons on their world at present, they retain the instinct for this from times when it did. Even now they migrate based on time rather than anything else. Some creatures hibernate rather than migrate, often because their migration routes are blocked by mountains, seas and other geographical barriers. Many creatures do one or the other based on their situation.

Larger animals are effectively warm-blooded because of their body mass, and so migrate less or not at all.


Back to the Top Types of Animal

Animal life on Xti is at least as diverse as that on Earth.


Back to the Top Land Animals

There are two common types of large land animals:

  • Quadrupedal creatures. These have a pair of legs at each end of the body. At the front three eye-tipped limbs provide flexible vision, and at the rear three tails provide balance and also perform thermoregulation and signalling tasks. Thermoregulation fins run from each tail along the back and to the corresponding eye stalk at the front of the body. The Txkri themselves are part of this group of creatures.
  • Upright five-legged creatures, evolved from the same ancestral body plan, but upended; some are tall and thin, in a giraffe-like manner with tall tapering bodies and long legs; others are short and squat. Some use their upper limbs as hands; others have lost their upper limbs, or have them as all eyes, or just five eyes around the top of the body. Some have evolved a quadrupedal gait with the fifth limb having developed into a manipulator limb not unlike an elephant's trunk. Some are short cylinders with all ten limbs adapted for climbing, analogous to a monkey; other climbers are similar, but with a long, thin, flexible body.

In addition to this some creatures have their body plan inverted relative to that of the Txkri, in that they have two limbs on top and thus two eyestalks and tails, with three limbs beneath. In most cases the central limb is adapted for some non-walking purpose, such as gathering vegetation, capturing prey, or as a weapon.

In one isolated island continent there is a group of animals who walk on six limbs, but who go sideways relative to the other creatures of their world, such as the Txkri. That is the axis of the cylinder of their bodies is perpendicular to rather than parallel with the direction they walk in. 'Sideways' creatures include 'biplane' flyers, with two pairs of wings, one above the other.

The largest land animals are roughly the size of Sauropod dinosaurs such as Diplodocus, with masses of more than 100 tonnes. Their cold-bloodedness allows them to reach these large sizes, even taking into account the higher gravity of the world. The most common of these types of animal are of the upright five-legged type, with 360° vision and mouthparts in the centre of their underside. The fifth leg has become modified into a striking weapon. Different species within this group are of different sizes, with different striker types; some are spikes, like Stegosaurus, while others are more club-like, like that of Ankylosaurus.

There were a number of (now extinct) predators in which the five mouthpart-limbs had evolved into large, fierce and baroque weapons for grabbing and killing prey, for example long strong limbs tipped with spikes and claws, or barbed spears for stabbing, or combinations of both.


Back to the Top Flying Creatures

There are flying animals [bird-equivalents] on Xti. Most of these are also based on the same body plan as other animals, but modified to give two walking limbs and a single vertical tail at the rear, three eyes (which may be on stalks) at the front, and two pairs of wings, one at each of the front and rear. This helps them to fly in the higher gravity of the world.

The largest flying creatures on Xti are roughly the same size as the largest flying things on Earth, with the higher gravity of Xti being counterbalanced by its denser air.


Back to the Top Sea Creatures

There are two major types of sea creature [fish-equivalents].

  • Some are tube-like, moving via water-jet propulsion.
  • Some are swimmers, with two rings of five fins at front and rear of the body.

Back to the Top The Txkri

The Txkri are a race of obligate carnivores [creatures that, like cats on Earth, simply cannot digest non-meat foods] that evolved in the widespread savannah and semi-desert regions of Xti. They evolved from a type of creature that hunted in groups by herding its prey [not unlike wolves or dolphins on Earth], giving them a social structure from which their civilisation has developed. As intelligent hunters they also have a significant amount of curiosity.

They are quadrupedal with three eye-tipped limbs at the front of their body and three thermoregulatory tails at the rear. They are perhaps a metre high not counting their eye stalks, with bodies roughly a metre and a half long and their tails adding another two metres or so to that. They mass roughly the same as a human. Their skins are covered with mobile reddish-purple thermoregulatory 'feathers'. Only their 'faces' (the front face of their bodies) do not have these 'feathers' as they are hard to clean if they become covered in food or blood.

Click on the thumbnail below to see a very rough sketch of a Txkri:

Thumbnail of whole Txkri image

Txkri can bend and flex their bodies, and also its change cross-sectional shape to some extent. It is normally circular, but they can flatten it so as increase or reduce their cross-sectional area relative to the sun for thermoregulation. They cannot shrink or stretch themselves along the length of the body because of the rigidity of their skeletal plates. They can curl up their tails to fit into confined spaces such as vehicles and space suits.

Because of their physiology they have vulnerable points to the rear, where their lungs are located, and on their flanks where there are holes between their skeletal plates. Because of the location of their breathing orifice in the centre of the rear of the body, Txkri can hold their breath by clenching it shut, but they cannot breathe when submerged as it is below the waterline. In addition to this they also cannot swim effectively in anything other than warm water as their body temperature will drop, they will become lethargic, and eventually drown and sink.

The Txkri mouth is in the centre of the front of the body, with the anus directly below it, and the location from which the hemi-egg grows above it. The mouth has a five-way opening [like a sea urchin on Earth], with five slicing teeth at the opening, with two rings of five grinding teeth further in, for mastication. They have two hearts, one in the front half of their body and one in the rear half. These connect to the same circulatory system and together pump blood around the entire body. It is possible for a Txkri to survive with only one functioning heart, but Txkri in this condition are incapable of any great degree of physical activity.

The mouthpart limbs of the Txkri consist of five handling limbs, positioned half a step out of phase with the five outer limbs (so a down-ward pointing pentagon). The lowest handling limb is thick and strong, but not terribly dextrous, with a large, wide hand on a short, thick arm. The hand consists of a rigid central digit that hinges up and down at the base with a smaller, more flexible 'thumb' on each side of it. The other handling limbs are similar, but more dextrous, thinner and weaker. The inner surface of their digits, as well as the soles of their feet, have a sandpaper-like surface [not unlike shark skin] for grip.

Txkri in an uncivilised state live to some 46 Xti years [30 Earth years]; with proper medical care they can, like humans, live much longer, up to about 150 Xti years [100 Earth years]. However, because Txkri medical science is, to say the least, haphazard, average Txkri life-spans are less than those of modern-day humans, at some 85 Xti years [55 Earth years; this compares to about 66 Earth years for humans in 2008]. They continue to grow over their whole lives, though at a slower and slower rate the older they get. Thus the oldest Txkri are also, in general, the largest.

Txkri are considered to be adults at the time of first mating, which is at about 23 Xti years [15 Earth years] of age, when their equivalent of puberty happens. Mating urges make this almost irresistible. There are a number of rituals before, during and after this time.

Txkri can, with training, override the instinctive control of their 'feathers' to take conscious, if crude, control of them. This can be used to provide camouflage and so on. Because the instinctive control of the 'feathers' is least required at those times of the day when the temperature is ideal for them (morning and afternoon), their colouration at these times is 'average', that is a mixture of dark and light, and conscious control of the feathers is easiest at these times; it is harder and often impossible at other times. Because of this the periods of ideal temperature in the day are also the ideal hunting times for primitive Txkri.

Because there is geographical and environmental separation of different regions on Xti the Txkri do have distinct races in a manner not dissimilar to that of humanity, with differing skin and feather colours and also minor differences in physical characteristics depending on their region of origin.

Although they are carnivores, because they are cold-blooded unlike mammals they do not need to eat very often and so can support a higher population density than would be possible with warm-blooded carnivores. Thus there are some seven billion Txkri living on Xti.

Because of coming from a fairly dry environment they are also reasonably efficient at getting water from their food, and so do not need to drink very much.

Coming from an environment where, in a primitive state, the availability of food was very variable, it is possible, and indeed common, for Txkri to overeat when food is plentiful. Their bodies store excess food as the equivalent of fat. This mainly occurs along the underside of their body.

Like the other animals of Xti, the Txkri need to sleep for perhaps a third of the day [some eleven hours and twenty minutes per day]; this is not unlike human sleep, although it is at least partly triggered by the cold of night. In a small percentage of Txkri, however - perhaps one in ten - different ganglia seem to sleep at different times, so that that individual will be perhaps half asleep for half of the day [seventeen hours or so] and fully awake for the rest [this is not unlike how some Earth animals sleep].


Back to the Top Senses

The Txkri senses of smell and hearing are located on their limbs, in the same area as their eyes. Thus there is a major sensory nerve trunk running along the length of each eye stalk. Smell and voice are not associated with breathing in any way. Hearing is via sound-sensitive tympanal organs [not unlike those of insects on Earth] and has a limited frequency range and sensitivity compared to human hearing. Their sense of taste is in their lips and is roughly comparable to the human sense of taste; they do not have a tongue as such.

Because of their ability to widely separate their eyes and direct them in all directions, they have very good all-round vision, and much better depth perception than humans. The resolution and night-vision capability of their eyes themselves are roughly the same as those of human eyes. They are not as sensitive to colour as humans, detecting only two colours - in the red and yellow regions of the spectrum - rather than the red, green and blue of humans. On the other hand they are somewhat more sensitive to motion than humans.

Their sense of smell is very acute, deriving from their evolutionary background as carnivores with the ability to track prey over long distances. Although not as acute as in their non-sentient ancestral forms it still allows them to track prey and so on by scent; they would be able to track humans by scent in this way too. They can also consciously release scented chemicals from themselves as a form of speech.


Back to the Top Communications

The Txkri have three modes of speech:

As far as an individual is concerned all three modes of speech 'feel' the same, that is they are interpreted to give the same meanings [much as a hearing human who also knows sign language might interpret speech they hear and speech they hear expressed as sign language in the same way in their minds]. However, they do know which mode it is, of course, and will shape their speech accordingly; there are some things it is taboo to talk about in a some modes of speech.


Back to the Top Txkri Neurophysiology

The way in which the minds of the Txkri work is derived from the theory of the bicameral mind. This argues that the human brain was once in a state referred to as a bicameral mind in which cognitive functions were divided between one part of the brain which appeared to be 'speaking', and a second part which listened and obeyed. It is speculated that as humanity developed more complex societies and large cities, and also had to interact with new groups, such as migrating tribes, or had to survive as part of such groups, the inability of these bicameral minds to cope with increased societal complexity under these circumstances forced these ancient humans to become more flexible and creative. This drove the evolution of a neurological adaptation to social complexity which manifested as the integration of the brain into a single conscious self, with self-awareness, consciousness, and the required flexibility and creativity. Humanity was forced to become self-aware or perish.

In humans, even when (and if) they developed past the bicameral state they retained religion perhaps from those bicameral times, and also as a way of explaining the world, a sort of proto-science. But they could stand apart from it and take it or leave it as they chose. With the Txkri this is not the case. Their religion is hard-wired into them and is more immediate to them than it is to all but the most hard-core of devout humans.

Although this may not be immediately obvious to someone new to the Txkri, they are not, as a species, conscious in the same way that (for example) humans are. The arrangement of their brains in the form of a string of physically separated ganglia along the length of their bodies means that the different parts of their brains have never (and probably cannot naturally) become or evolved into a fully linked together form and so integrated into a single conscious whole, into an entity that a human psychologist might call conscious.

Instead each ganglion forms part of a hierarchy of cognitive functions, which from the perception of the other ganglia (and thus to an individual Txkri), talk to one another [whereas in a human they are linked into one at a level below that of the conscious mind]. They do not have the self-awareness characteristic of consciousness as most humans experience it. Thus, rather than making conscious evaluations of the world and events in it, the Txkri hallucinates a voice - a 'god' - giving advice or commands, and they obey these voices without question. They are guided by mental commands believed to be issued by external 'gods', although of course in reality these commands come from a different part of the brain of the individual Txkri.

Because of their multiple ganglia the Txkri do not have a bi-cameral mind, but a multi-cameral mind. Combined with the natural creativity that they have inherited from their predatory background this gives them enough mental flexibility to be able to create and cope with a complex society, adding up to something not unlike a monolithically sentient entity such as a human without their having made the push into truly conscious cognition. They remain semi-conscious entities driven by 'voices', disjointed and almost 'run by committee'; from the perspective of human psychology this would make them effectively schizophrenic [it is speculated that schizophrenia in humans has its origins in, and is a holdover from, the bicameral mind]. They are not introspective.

As part of this the Txkri have never left the period of what is referred to in humans as mythopoeic thought. They do not think in terms of generalizations and impersonal laws; instead, they see each event as an act of will on the part of some personal being, on the part of a god or gods. They see most things as persons, or parts of persons, rather than as inanimate objects. From the point of view of the Txkri animals, plants, the world and so on all have their own gods too, which drive them to act as they do, rather than their being inanimate objects with their behaviour deriving from impersonal external laws. This has greatly affected the development of their science and technology, and also their treatment of the dead.

Each individual Txkri, like every individual place or thing, is considered to have their own gods who drive that individual to do certain things and act in certain ways. This has, over time, given rise to leaders, social hierarchies and so on. The vast majority of their cultures/religions see everything as a hierarchy, of which the lower level contributes to the one above it. So the gods (ganglia) act to make up the individual [the gods controlling an individual are effectively their opinion and drive as much as anything else]. Individuals act to make up their social group, that make up civilisation, the world, and the universe as a whole.

Because of their need to survive as herder carnivores in an environment with many larger, nastier predators, the Txkri are, as a race, more creative than humans, but also more flighty, more 'butterfly minded', because they can be struck by 'great' ideas. The Txkri are also considerably less rational than humanity. They have more religions and superstitions than mankind. They are more emotional. More combative. Much more prone to sweeping changes, fads and fashions, as well as to irrational hatreds of other fashions and so on. Their economy is subject to even more irrational variation than that of humanity.

Despite this individual Txkri also abide by their place in the social hierarchy, and though they may have ideas they do step outside their place, their position in the hierarchy. But they will struggle to rise through the hierarchy to have their ideas adopted. So they are competitive and combative, but also obedient. This too has kept their society fragmented and slowed their technological development.

In each Txkri the 'camerals' of their minds include, in hierarchy order as represented by the number:

0. Ikt, instinct, which is referred to as the Silent God; it is at the top of the hierarchy of personal gods.
1. Txtx, an input filter, which pays attention to the outside world and notes what sensory inputs should be dealt with.
1. Tkrr, creativity; effectively, the Muse of an individual.
2. Kttx, an idea filter and executive function that makes decisions on which of the information passed to it from above should be acted upon.
3. Ktirr, the 'do-er', that is the individual that interacts with the rest of the world based on the orders of the gods.

When referring to the gods of a specific individual, they are referred to as <person> - <god>.

Their five handling limbs are also named for these five personal gods, in hierarchy order from those at the top. Ktirr is the lowest, most muscular limb, as it is the most physical. The top two limbs are Ikt and Txtx. The middle pair of limbs, the longest and most dextrous, and Tkrr and Kttr. They do not have left or right as such, instead referring to direction by the name of the limbs.


Back to the Top Txkri Culture And Society

The basic Txkri social unit is the couple, based on the common genetic investment the two parents have in any given egg. However, around that core different Txkri societies vary greatly. The lack of a male gender as it is understood on Earth means that there is no drive for some of the population to spread their seed as far and wide as possible.

Beyond the couple, Txkri society is generally based on a hunting pack group or tribe, who in prehistory worked together to hunt and also care for all the eggs of the group communally, dividing the labour among members of the group in any of a vast number of ways. These included rotation of tasks among all members of the group, or roles being fixed by ability. These packs/tribe groups are long-lived, very much like human tribes or towns and villages, their members linked together by links between couples, between parent and child, and also between co-workers and individuals with common interests.

The Txkri do have non-sexual love and friendship. But there is no sexual love; that is replaced by the lust and aggression of the mating season.

Although the Txkri do have money, much of their economy runs on direct barter rather than through the intermediary of cash. Because of the highly religious nature of Txkri society much of their society also runs on a form of gift economy in which goods and services are given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future return but where fairness is maintained by the existence of strong social and religious rewards for solidarity and generosity.

Some Txkri groups have an equivalent of the potlatch, ceremonies in which the leaders of a Txkri group host and feed the other members of the group and give gifts to re-distribute and equalise wealth. All of these ceremonies include rituals to the gods as an integral part of them.

The Txkri consider there to be two types of food animal. Ones that are farmed and so are considered to be of lower quality and so for those lower in the social hierarchy, while wild ones are considered of higher quality and so for those at the top of the social hierarchy. The social hierarchy also determines who gets the best and worst parts of food animals.


Back to the Top Conflict Resolution

In human terms perhaps the closest equivalent would be a community in which everyone - male and female - became filled with lust and aggression for a short time each year; everyone wants to mate and all the men and women fight (in a non-fatal way) among the other members of their gender to establish a pecking order which determines who mates with who; lust makes everyone want to mate with the best of the other gender, while their aggression makes them want to fight for them; thus the mating season.

As a race descended from pack hunting carnivores trial by combat is the means by which most conflicts are decided in their societies. Most of these trials are during the breeding season, when an intense period of non-fatal combat defines who mates with who, and thus also the social hierarchy of the next year. This combat is not of the berserk, killing, civilisation-destroying kind, though little gets done in the mating season. Also, this trial by combat in order to determine who mates with whom is not something in which the stronger simply force themselves on the weaker; everyone involved wants to mate, and the combats simply determine with whom.

Because of this system the Txkri social hierarchy tends to be rigid, but capable individuals have mobility within that hierarchy.

In many Txkri cultures matings do not occur until all trials by combat are completed and the social structure for the next year is finalised. This arises because each Txkri has only one chance to mate per breeding season so none of them wish to waste it, or take a worse mating when a better may become available if they only wait.

Even outside the breeding season the Txkri are quite combative, though again in a generally non-fatal way, with the challenge/submission system forming a major part of their society.

All of this leads to Txkri leaders often being young, fit and vigorous, but with older advisors. It also leads to Txkri in general being very polite and well-mannered, and can lead to very rapid changes of leaders and governments if they only last a single mating season [some eight Earth months]; this does not happen very often, however.

It has also led, over time, to the evolution of treachery, fight rigging, martial arts, poisons, concealed weapons and so on to allow. Different Txkri societies have, or have had, greatly varying attitudes to these techniques, form full acceptance to their being despised as cheating.

A very few Txkri have the self-control to resist the mating urge when it occurs. Some Txkri cultures consider these individuals to be mad; others consider them to be very holy and in touch with their gods.

Undesirables - however they may be determined among a given group of Txkri - are sometimes confined to prevent them taking part in the mating season breeding and trials by combat. There are many instances, historically and otherwise, of largely political plots and conspiracies to do this, and thus to prevent individuals taking part in the trials by combat that determine government and so on.

In some cases, where it is considered to be inappropriate, trial by combat has been replaced by other trials, such as competitive exams or similar.

A side effect of all of this is that there is not and never has been an equivalent of slavery among the Txkri; the urges that drive the mating season and the trials by combat involved in it, which give everyone a chance to rise in the group, bias them very much against the different treatment of individuals simply because of their origin. New arrivals in a group may be treated as at the bottom of the social hierarchy until they prove themselves, and known criminals and so on may also be excluded, but this is considered to be a very different thing.

Another effect of the Txkri social hierarchy is to determine which Txkri can travel away from their homes, how far, and by what means. As with everything else this can change for an individual depending on their performance in the annual breeding season trials by combat.


Back to the Top Social Structure And Government

Unsurprisingly, all Txkri government is theocratic, ruled by the gods via priest-lords who are appointed by the gods. There is no division of authority; the legislative, executive and judicial functions of government are combined into a single elite council. The gods are also the source of the law, making all government a theonomy.

The positions of the priest-lords are normally hereditary ones. However, given the nature of the Txkri there are fairly frequent instances of prophets and religious leaders who rise up out of the populace via the trial by combat system. Some die, some take over a place, and some become part of the existing establishment.

Priests who have devoted their lives to a specialised field act as the equivalent of judges, generals and so on.

Tithes from the non-priestly Txkri support and maintain the priesthood and thus the government.

All of the successful societies of Xti have evolved ways to use and channel the creativity of their people and prevent it from disrupting the regime. Dictatorial regimes (of which there have been many) channel it into the arts, and also sometimes the military or the church, with the result that many of their cities are wildly decorated, in addition to the normal religious decoration of buildings and other artefacts.

Others encourage or have encouraged social and technological innovation, with what has come to be seem as a 'combat of ideas' as the equivalent of trial by combat in this sphere. A verbal conflict in which the ideas of an individual can be challenged and debated over in a fierce (peer) review and judging process, where ideas are tested by the combat of ideas and if successful rise up the hierarchy of ideas or knowledge.

Although this system is effective is can also hold back ideas arising from clever but non-combative individuals.


Back to the Top Eggs and Young

Txkri couples remain together for the first year after mating to help raise their child [if it survives, as many do not in the primitive state]. If the parents of a given child are split up during the next breeding season then the stronger Txkri keeps custody of the children while the weaker may visit them. Thus over the course of many breeding seasons an individual can come to be tied to many extended families and may also have a great many half-siblings.

The number of successful eggs a group of Txkri has is proportional to the available food supply. From their most primitive days the Txkri have eaten those eggs which failed to hatch - of which there are always a significant percentage - in a ritual to placate the gods of the dead eggs and ensure that they have a change to be hatched again at a later stage. Some groups have (and still do) practise population control by destroying, and sometimes eating, eggs deemed to be excess to requirements; which eggs are deemed to be such is usually determined by where in the social hierarchy their parents stand. This has the corollary that the Txkri can, if they wish, increase their numbers very rapidly by caring for all of the eggs laid in a given breeding season.

Among most of the Txkri race the swapping of eggs between different groups has long been used as a form of diplomacy, not unlike fosterage among humans.

Txkri eggs from a given grouping are hatched in a crèche under the supervision of the priests of the group and the parents of the eggs involved. Once they hatch young Txkri are cared for by their biological parents and also the priests of the group, who provide a crèche and the equivalent of nursery care for the young. As among humans grandparents are also important in the social system and in the raising of the young.

As they grow older young Txkri are formally educated by the priests of their community. However, as all skills, technology and so on are seen as rituals which entreat the gods to grant a given boon, all professions have a major religious element to them, so that there is no dividing line between religion and the rest of an individual's life - they are one thing.

As they grow up young are filtered by means of various forms of divination into professions 'as the gods command'.

In some Txkri cultures when they reach adulthood some young Txkri are expelled from the group to wander the world. Some later rejoin the group, while others join other groups. Sometimes these exiles are selected by lot. Sometimes they are the losers, or more rarely the winners, of trials by combat.


Back to the Top Txkri Religion

Because of its being fundamentally hard-wired into them as part of their neurophysiology, the Txkri religion is a far more integral part of them at both a racial and a cultural level than is the case for humanity. However, again because of its hard-wired nature, all Txkri religion is fundamentally very similar, much more so than is the case with human religion, although the more superficial aspects of their religions show a vast degree of variation. Needless to say concepts such as secularism and atheism are literally inconceivable to the Txkri.

At its heart the religion of the Txkri is a form of animism. Each individual Txkri is considered to be linked to a number of gods [corresponding to its 'camerals']. Individual Txkri are considered to have a soul or spirit, which is considered by most to be the god Ktirr, the lowest of the hierarchy of personal gods, below the two levels of the disembodied personal gods.

Beyond the individual each social group is considered to have its own god, and also to be accompanied by the spirits of its ancestors, all of whom work for it. Although there are personal gods, there are no household gods. The hierarchy of these gods and spirits, as determined by history - including wars, inter-pack fighting and so on - is what determines the structure of their society. The gods of the Txkri are part of, and parallel to, the world and life. They were born with it, and with the world itself, and with things in it, and with individuals.

Beyond the Txkri themselves every mountain, lake and geological feature of any significance, as well as significant individual trees and so on are considered to have their own deities. All vehicles, houses, cities, districts and so on have their own deities, who are considered to be responsible for the successes, failures, errors and so on of that thing. The world of Xti is a god. The clouds and the sky are gods. The stars in the sky are gods. Everything is alive. Everything is part of a spiritual as well as a physical world. And for things to be well, everything must be placated and kept happy.

Most events in the natural living and un-living worlds are considered to be a trial by combat of the gods involved land against sea, sea against sky, trees against grass, plants against weather and so on.

All gods are considered to be the same, but all different, as individual Txkri are the same, but also all different at the same time. Also, the gods are not omnipotent, omniscient or omnipresent. Most of them are very limited, with small spheres of influence. None of them are the Txkri equivalent of anthropomorphic. Because of this the Txkri religions are dharmic ones in that they recognise that there are many ways to the One Truth.

Despite this Txkri religions do have schisms, re-joinings and so on. Religious violence, pogroms and so on are quite common among them, as are sweeping religious and social changes. Over time there have been, and may still be, conflicts of different levels of intensity between these different branches of Txkri religion.

The Txkri religions are not concerned with dogma or personal salvation, though the gods are considered to react to the moral conduct of mortals and of each other. Instead the natural order of the world, the Txkri, and society as a whole is venerated and considered to be maintained by the rituals and so on that are performed, with the gods and the Txkri as part of it all.

As part of this maintenance of the natural order the Txkri have a great many taboos and other religiously-based restrictions. Some of these are race-wide, for example against incest, and developed for the same reasons the incest is normally prohibited among humans. Some apply to smaller groups, for example families or professions, or even to individuals. Some are taboos of areas rather than behaviours. Many of these change over time.

There are considered to be two levels to the hierarchy of the gods, extending the hierarchy of the mortal Txkri to a higher level. The lower level includes the gods that talk to individuals, the higher the ones that only talk to the lower level gods [these represent the two layers of 'camerals' in the Txkri mind]. The higher level gods are more general things and concepts that are considered to be shared across many or all Txkri.

Very widespread gods include:

  • Hunger
  • Eating
  • Food
  • Lust
  • Anger
  • Violence
  • Combat
  • Victory
  • Inspiration

Each hemi-egg is also considered to have its own gods, who are born with it and which combine with those of its mate, as the physical hemi-eggs do, to produce the gods of the new individual.

As part of this they have a strong concept of the religious significance of the joining of things into a whole. However, they do not have a concept of the unity of opposites [analogous to the human concept of yin and yang] but instead their equivalent concerns the unity of related halves.


Back to the Top Txkri Cosmology

In the view of the majority of Txkri the universe never began and will never end. Instead it undergoes a constant cycle of recombination and shattering. Some things at a given level in the hierarchy of the universe either recombine or breed with other things at that level to create new things at that level, much as the Txkri breed among one another. Other things at a given level shatter - usually when they die - into and form the basis for things at the next lowest level of the hierarchy of the universe, with things shattering smaller and smaller, over and over again, throughout time, ad infinitum, without a beginning or an end.

The discovery of the larger universe of stars and galaxies, and the smaller universe of atoms and so on has simply confirmed this view to them.

As part of this it is considered that when something dies its personal gods are shattered and scattered by the experience. Some become the gods of new things; some combine with other fragments to create new things; some become the seeds of new smaller things, creating smaller life and objects, and some remain to watch over their kind, or their families.

A smaller, but still large percentage of Txkri consider that there was once a primal unified, un-shattered deity known as Tk [All], and it was the death (perhaps of loneliness) and shattering of Tk in the Big Bang that created the universe and began the cycle of recombination and shattering that eventually led to the universe as it is today. They consider themselves the children of Tk, as is everything else.

Some Txkri consider that higher-level things 'midwife' the lower level things that are created from them. In this view the universe midwifed the galaxies; they nurtured the stars, which nurtured the planets, which nurtured life, which nurtures itself and the microbes beneath it. They in turn nurture the molecules, which nurture the atoms, and so on...

A few Txkri believe that Tkii [their sun] or Xti [their world] is the (or an) egg of the gods from which something - opinions differ as to what! - will eventually hatch. These is the only real Txkri end of the world-related beliefs [eschatology].


Back to the Top Rituals

It is considered that the gods drive the world but also that they only drive it well if they are happy. They are kept happy by the appropriate rituals and so on. Offerings to the various gods, of differing sizes and cost depending on the god and the desired outcome are also made. The gods are also believed to have their own rituals to appease and influence other gods.

Because the gods speak directly to each individual Txkri, internally, the religious life of the Txkri is not dependant on the religious establishment and holy writings as such. Thus there is no rigid religious hierarchy among the Txkri, and no centralised authority dictating rituals, though these do play a role.

Instead major rituals normally grow up out of the populace as a whole as certain ones become popular and spread through the populace. Thus rituals change and shift over time, and more minor ones are very individual. There is constant innovation in rituals as leaders change and individuals seek to better themselves and others by making the gods happy, or happier than they currently are. This drives advancement as new things are tried, of which some are correct (that is, adhere to and/or exploit the laws of nature), so are more effective and are thus kept and expanded in an evolutionary process. This, rather than a scientific method as such, is what has driven what passes for science and technology among the Txkri.

To humans these constant rituals and so on may appear to be an alien form of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Which in a way is true!

Because the gods talk to the Txkri all of the time there are a very great many rituals involved in all of daily life, with minor ones to do with all tasks, all the time, and more major ones less frequently. Small-scale rituals are almost an automatic response of individual Txkri to events and their own desires and needs. Larger rituals at certain specific times are organised and directed from above.

Particularly important rituals are:


Back to the Top Divination

The Txkri have many and varied rituals of divination and prophesy, but these work for them about as well as the equivalent rituals do for humans [that is, only by coincidence]. They do, of course, have any number of rationalisations for those cases when they do not come true.

Astrology, based on mating and hatching times as well as the year, time of year and planetary positions, is important in the lives of Txkri. Further astrological predictions are made as their lives progress. However, these later predictions are much more like what humans would call psychometric testing and the streaming of individuals into roles in society.

Because of this many of the Txkri change profession/role from time to time over their lives, as the gods will it.


Back to the Top The Number Of The Gods

There are vast numbers of gods, far more than the number of currently living Txkri. The accepted number of Txkri gods, counting all those of individuals, places and so on is roughly 600 billion (1510 or so) [note that the Hindu religion recognises some 330000 deities, and Shinto recognises eight million kami]. These range from analogues of small gods, minor deities of places and things of little significance, to analogues of numina and kami, somewhat more powerful versions of the same, and so on up to the major gods of things such as a mountain, the sky and the world.


Back to the Top Ageing and Death

Older Txkri are listened to by the younger for their wisdom and experience, and that of their personal gods. At least partly this is because they are closer to the gods above the Txkri in the hierarchy of the universe.

The bodies of the dead are also treated as though they can still hear and respond to the living, and like the aged are often consulted for advice and their opinions. Because of this the Txkri mummify the bodies of the dead, then dress them and seat them among the living, so that their advice and wisdom may be sought for longer. When a mummified body falls apart its bones are interred in an ossuary. As among the living there is a hierarchy of the dead, that is, with some being listened to - and considered worth listening to - more than others.


Back to the Top Sacred Things

The only sacred items possessed by the Txkri are fetishes, charms and amulets. The gods of the items are placated in those items. There are no real sacred items beyond that, though there are sacred places. It is not unknown for landscaping and gardening to be applied to sacred places to please and placate the gods who reside there [this is analogous to Feng Shui].

As part of this items, buildings and so on are decorated to placate and please their gods [this is not unlike the way Indian and South-East Asian temples and so are elaborately carved and painted], and all buildings, and often also rooms and other areas within buildings, have their own shrines, most of them very small, for their own gods. Large and complex items, artefacts, buildings and places can thus have a great many gods associated with them.

Many Txkri cultures use different drugs to help them communicate or commune with their gods. These, and any plants or animals that they are derived from, are also considered to be gods in their own rights.


Back to the Top Txkri History

Because of their creativity and irrationality, as well as their lack of introspection, the Txkri are the reverse of traditionalist, and have little respect for or interest in the past. Because of this very little is known of their history, even to themselves. Xti is littered with the relics of previous civilisations, but a major programme of excavation would have to undertaken to gain information from it.

A detailed investigation of their past would reveal that the proto-Txkri originally lived as couples and shared the top of the food chain with a large solitary uber-predator with baroque jaws [equivalent to the Tyrannosaurus Rex perhaps]. Unable to physically compete with this creature they instead developed the ability to live and hunt in packs, as well as creativity and intelligence to allow them to hunt more effectively.

The cleverness of the proto-Txkri as hunters drove population growth. This drove creativity as they were forced to hunt different and cannier prey, as well as deal with competition from other Txkri. This eventually drove them into sentience, and the farming of their prey animals.

Note that from their perspective they do not make fire, they call on and placate the god(s) of fire, who gift them with it after the appropriate fire-starting rituals are performed.

They invented the use of fire when under population pressure which forced them to expand out of their 'comfort zone', that is, the region where the ambient temperature is the same as their preferred body temperature, into colder regions. The use of clothing, heated rocks, shelters and so on to maintain body temperature also developed during this time. Communal care of eggs and their young - shelters and so on - also helped to drive the development of technology.

As part of their taming of fire the Txkri discovered that hot cooked food could help keep them active in low temperature conditions, and adopted its use. From this they discovered that some meats tasted better or became edible when cooked and also the preserving of food, as well as cooking and cuisine generally. Later they also discovered that cold things could regulate temperature downward in hot climes and this too became added to their societal knowledge. They also developed shelters for use in hotter than comfortable climes by providing shade and avoiding activity in the hotter times of day.

The use of egg marking to identify which egg belongs to whom drove the development of writing.

As their civilisation developed they went from hunters to herders of their prey animals. As their population expanded further this led them to the development of agriculture, not for themselves but for their food animals. And from there it led to villages and complex civilisation as the need to farm forced Txkri into living in a fixed location. This led to their first wars over the best farming locations. During this time the uber-predator with which the competed for food was rendered extinct.

The Txkri as a species have been sentient for millions of years [Earth or Xti years], with the current Txkri species actually being significantly and noticeably evolved from the original sentient Txkri.

Over this very long time period the Txkri have had a great number of civilisations rise and fall, rebuilding each time. This is partly because of their neurophysiology and religion driving their behaviour in directions not conducive to a continuing civilisation, and also because they can, at times, suffer very rapid changes of leaders and government. As such their history has been a very haphazard affair, with no particular drive towards overall advancement and improvement.

The heights they have reached before a fall, and the depths reached during that fall, have varied a great deal over time. However, because of this sequence of civilisations many of the resources of Xti have been used over and over again, and their environment of their world is far from pristine, and is almost totally lacking in deposits of minable metals and fossil fuels. However, the understanding that there are gods of animals, plants, places and so on has tempered the environmental damage done to Xti.

Because of their many cycles of civilisation many types of large animals are extinct on Xti, and all of the species of very large creatures there are long extinct. Farmed animals survive, in both tamed and wild forms, and there are also large hunting preserves for the rich.


Back to the Top Txkri Settlements

Most Txkri settlements, and in particular all towns and cities of significant size, are quite haphazard in both layout and architectural design. As among humans, styles of architecture, number and type of buildings (such as skyscrapers) and the appearance of the skyline vary greatly among the different Txkri cultures and settlements.

Most settlements are built on sites that have been repeatedly built over, and with the Txkri lack of reverence for the past only buildings and so on that continue to have a use survive. Others are remodelled or demolished to allow new uses of the site. Because of their ancient roots most cities are built on mounds raised above the surrounding landscape. In some cases cities have moved as the mining of the old cities for resources has undermined the city above; in some cities this has happened many times.

As might be expected, cities are filled with the constant noise of the Txkri going about their daily lives, but in addition to this there is also a constant background noise of rituals taking place. Some of these are small local, or even individual, ones. Others are more major ones involving whole districts or even an entire town or city, in which case its everyday business halts until the ritual is complete.

Perhaps unexpectedly, given the theocratic nature of their society, there are actually very few dedicated temples in their cities. Instead, because of the deep integration of religion into everyday Txkri life, all buildings and significant open spaces, such as markets, have a religious aspect to them, and are built and decorated to venerate and placate their gods. Because of this most buildings are ornately carved, painted and so on, and almost all rooms and significant spaces have at least a small shrine to their gods.

Despite this there are some religious buildings and monuments dedicated to the gods of larger things, such as whole cities, or to specific events.

Because the Txkri body plan is horizontal rather than vertical so that they average a metre or so in height, the rooms and hallways of Txkri buildings, and also of their vehicles and so on are perhaps half as high as those of the human equivalent - 1.3 to 1.5 metres [4 to 5 feet] high. As with human buildings, some Txkri structures have high-ceilinged spaces, but most would be too low for a human to stand upright in.

As another side effect of this, the Txkri use ramps rather than staircases in their buildings. They are aware of stairs, but prefer not to use them.

Because of their cold-blooded bodies, when the technology is available to do so [which has been the case from an early stage in their civilisational development] Txkri will temperature control their buildings and other structures to keep their body temperature at an optimum level.


Back to the Top Numbers And Time

The Txkri count in different bases depending on the situation, using:

All of these are represented differently in their languages, so although a given number, such as one, represents the same number of things, what is represented, what can be represented, and how, varies with which base is being used.

The basic unit of time for the Txkri is the day.

Beyond this time is measured in cycles of five local days [roughly a week in Earth days]. This is the interval between days on which they feed, and arises because as cold-blooded creatures they eat much more infrequently than mammals such as humans [on Earth the komodo dragon eats perhaps once a month; but the Txkri do eat more frequently than that]. They also drink roughly this frequently. This five day cycle is the Txkri equivalent of the week.

They have a longer cycle, equivalent to a year [and in fact it is basically a local year] based on time between mating seasons, though this can vary somewhat from year to year, and is of course not linked to any season.

Within each year there are eight other sub-divisions of time, based on the times in each year when that number of prominent constellations first appear in the night sky. These eight cycles are of very different lengths, because the constellations on which they are based are not evenly arranged around the sky.

All Txkri calendars use dating systems by which years are counted from major events. These may be the accession of a high priest, particularly major meteorological and geological events, or any combination of these and other things.


Back to the Top Language And Writing

There are a very great many languages in use by the Txkri, even more than among humans on Earth. As with human languages the number of speakers of each language varies a great deal, and in particular there are a number of languages originally spoken by groups that are now or once were dominant which are found among all Txkri groups and which serve as lingua franca among them.

Written scripts among the Txkri tend to be ideograms based on tail semaphore gestures. Some Txkri, particularly those who commonly engage in public 'speaking' paint bright colours and patterns on their tail semaphores for extra visibility.

Because of the long history of the Txkri, and their disregard for history, there are at least as many dead and lost Txkri languages as those currently used.

The Txkri use the equivalent of ve/ver/vis gender-neutral language instead of he-she/him-her/his-hers.

The words used here are all in Xkt, the most widespread of the Txkri languages in common use [it is roughly as widespread as English on Earth in 2008]. There is a separate page for generating words in this language.


Back to the Top Names

Txkri are given personal names according to the astrological predictions made at the time of their hatching. There are a vast number of names available, varying with region and culture not unlike those of humans, and originating from gods, heroes and so on.

Because eggs are incubated and hatched in groups, the Txkri do not have family names as such; instead each Txkri is named after the pack/group of which their parents are a part. This does not, of course, stop Txkri being ejected from or leaving this group in later life.


Back to the Top Crime And Law

As far as the Txkri are concerned, all events - good and bad - are caused by the gods. When undesirable events such as death, disease and crime occur they consider that they have arisen from one of three possible sources:

  1. The individual involved has not been abiding by the gods, that is, not obeying the gods direct commands to that individual, and/or not obeying the priests who pass on commands from the gods.
  2. The gods are unhappy with the individual for some reason, and are punishing them by killing them, making them ill, or telling them the wrong things so that they commit crimes. This can occur, for example, if a Txkri has not performed all of the rituals they should to placate all of the gods they should.
  3. Someone else is not abiding by the gods or has invoked their wrath, and this is malignly influencing individuals beyond the person responsible. This can arise from either of the other two causes.

Because of these three things being considered to be the sources of all disease, death and crime, medicine and jurisprudence share some significant elements, mainly those parts that revolve around determining which of the three causes is behind a given undesirable event and then doing what is necessary to deal with that cause. Trial by combat is often involved in this. All such determinations are made by priests, who act as lawyers and/or doctors in each case.

Because of the ways that disease is considered to arise, Txkri medical treatment can be very ... odd, and can also be extremely arduous and painful for the individual concerned.

If the cause of a problem is determined to be not abiding by the gods, then the individual involved is punished to teach them to listen to the gods in future. This can involve beatings, torture, starvation and so on as determined by the judge or judges of the case. It can also require the individual being barred from breeding, or even mutilation, exile or death for incorrigibles and repeat offenders. In the case of exile the individual is usually marked or branded on the face so that all are aware of their crime.

If a problem arises because the gods are unhappy with an individual then they must be placated via rituals done to or over the individual affected. This is a less arduous process. However, for some afflictions, injuries and diseases in particular, the placating of the gods often involves what is basically medical treatment wrapped up in religious trappings, although this can be very haphazard.

If someone else has caused the problem then the actual individual responsible must be located and treated with whichever cure is considered most appropriate.

Txkri law varies with the position in society of the individual in question. The higher up the social hierarchy one is the more likely it is that the gods are angry with one and so must be placated; the lower one is the more likely it is that one is not abiding by the gods and so must be punished.


Back to the Top Arts

Txkri symbols tend to be two- or five-fold designs. Circle, sometimes divided by a jagged line representing the joined halves of an egg, are also frequently used in Txkri designs.

A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol
A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol A Txkri symbol

Because of the three distinct modes of communication of the Txkri, opera, poetry, theatre and public speaking are very blurred together among them. Dance also blurs into these arts, and addition is often used for religious purposes, in a manner not unlike that of the Whirling Dervishes on Earth.

The recording and replaying of scents, both of individuals, as part of the mummification process, or of 'spoken' scents, also form a part of Txkri art.

Landscaping and so on are widespread forms of art that are performed as rituals to encourage and propitiate the gods of a place or a landscape.

In the same way that the corpse of an individual is considered to still be a link to and from their personal gods, paintings, sculptures, photographs and other representations are also considered to be a link to the gods of the individual thus represented. This is considered a good thing. Criminals and so on will generally have their representations removed not to erase them from memory (although this may also be a factor) but to remove the malign influence of their gods on people.


Back to the Top Dress And Decoration

Because of their being fixated on sex during the mating season and entirely uninterested in sex outside of that time, Txkri do not wear clothing out of modesty. Thus when they are in an environment that is comfortable to them they will wear harnesses and carry bags to hold items they wish to carry with them, but nothing else.

In hotter climates they will wear clothing that allows them to keep cooler than the surrounding environment [equivalent to the human Djellaba], while in colder climates they will do the reverse. With the advent of technology that allows them to do so, Txkri use clothing that has integral chemical or electrical heating or cooling elements [the chemical forms of these are equivalent to hand warmers and cold packs]. Because of their greater requirement for them, the Txkri versions of these technologies are more advanced than the human equivalent.

In terms of appearance Txkri clothing is just as varied as that of humans, taking into account their very different body plan. Thus Txkri clothing has to allow free movement of the limbs, mouthparts, eyestalks and tails, and for preference avoid constricting the thermoregulatory fins along their backs. Because of these factors Txkri clothing tends to be considerably more complex than that of humans.

Clothing can be just as decorated as all other Txkri items, to placate and please the gods. Txkri also use jewellery, makeup and so on to decorate themselves for the same reasons.


Back to the Top Txkri Food And Drink

As obligate carnivores the Txkri only eat meat, including fish. They can also digest animal products such as eggs. However, they are fully aware of the benefits cooking, sauces, herbs and spices can bring to foods, so their cuisine is a very varied one, including dishes of spiced and un-spiced raw and cooked animal flesh, with and without sauces and so on.

The Txkri consider there to be two types of food animal. Ones that are farmed and so are considered to be of lower quality and so for those lower in the social hierarchy, while wild ones are considered of higher quality and so for those at the top of the social hierarchy. This derives at least partly from the hunt being seen as a legitimate trial between the gods of the hunter and the prey, while this is very much not the case for farmed animals. The social hierarchy also determines who gets the best and worst parts of food animals.

Txkri drink water, much like humans, although they need to do so much less often than a human. Like humans they flavour their water with any number of things, including herbs, spices and fermented products of various types.

There are things that will intoxicate them, drugs and so on. These are biochemically very different to any human equivalents, so Txkri intoxicants would probably have a bad effect on humans, and vice versa.


Back to the Top Domesticated Animals

In addition to domesticated food animals, the Txkri have a number of species of small flying things with which they originally had a mutualistic relationship, not unlike that of an oxpecker on Earth, providing cleaning and parasite removal to them in exchange for food. This relationship has persisted into the technological age, though the creatures have become more pets now than practical associates.

Likewise a number of other species, analogous to hunting dogs, cats and so on, also live with them.

Not all Txkri live with such pets, but many do.

Over the years, like domestic animals on Earth, these creatures have been bred into any number of specialised forms and breeds.


Back to the Top Technology

What humanity might consider to be science, the Txkri consider to be worship and ritual to a specific end. There is no underlying framework to their knowledge (which is not science!) and technology, but instead everything has an empirical basis. This has and does allow them to advance, but much more slowly and haphazardly than humanity has done.

Because of this the level of development of different Txkri technologies vary significantly from one another. Their technology is powered by a mixture of environmental sources (solar, wind and wave power) and nuclear power (in particular breeder fission reactors). Air and space transportation technologies are particularly poorly developed because they are the newest to be developed.

Because of the rather haphazard nature of Txkri technological development there have been a significant number of instances of technologies being invented and reinvented from different sources. Partly because of this there is a great lack of standardisation among Txkri groups, in terms of different measurement units, component sizes, connector types, electrical standards, types of materials and so on.

Another side effect of their haphazard technological development is that the reliability and safety of their artefacts can be quite low. The Txkri tend to accept this as the vagaries of the gods, though of course they are more than happy when a new ritual [new way of doing something] pleases the gods and makes them less likely to cause damage and breakages.

The Txkri do have mass production and industry not entirely unlike that of humans. However, ritual and religion are present at all stages of the production process, from blessing the raw materials and parts at the start of assembly, to small rituals done by the workers as things are put together, to larger rituals done upon completion in which the gods of the items made are appeased in the hope that the item will last long and be reliable.

Expansion into space outside the orbit of Xti has been slow due to Xti's lack of a moon to act as a stepping stone. Instead they had to use near-planet asteroids, the closest of which is much further from Xti than Earths Moon is from the Earth.

Obviously artefacts of all kinds, from tools to furniture to vehicles to weapons, that are made for Txkri would be very difficult and awkward for humanoid creatures to use, and vice versa. Txkri furniture does not use chairs; instead they use cushions or form-fitting cradles over which a Txkri drapes itself.

Some technologies have developed differently than was the case with humans due to the different body plan and so on of the Txkri. For example, although they have had sailing ships for a very long time, these have from their inception been built so that their sails can be adjusted and operated from the deck rather than the crew having to climb into the rigging to do so.

The Txkri body plan also means that they are not good at throwing things, and that with rifle-type projectile guns, they literally fire from the hip, bracing the gun butt against the hip of a front leg with an eye stalk going down to sight along the gun and aim it; bracing against other less robust parts of the body is painful and potentially even damaging. Their five arms also means they can handle more than one gun at a time.

Another effect of this is that Txkri melee weapon combat is considerably more complex than the human, again because with their five hands they can thus wield five weapons and/or shields at the same time. Of course this is less relevant to combat in a technological age, but the skills still persist among parts of Txkri society as fencing does among humans.


Back to the Top Technological Philosophies

Assuming the Txkri develop cybernetic implants, and in particular ones that link into and enhance brain function, then there are at least three possible paths they can take, which will very likely compete and be in conflict with one another.

There could thus be two competing groups of Txkri seeking to convert humanity to their way of thinking. No good is likely to arise from this...


Back to the Top Other Races

The Txkri would certainly see elements of themselves in humans, in particular in human attitudes to certain matters, their anthropomorphosising of things, places and so on. However, they would also see humans as over-evolved, as having gone to far away from their gods, from the voice of their gods, as a race of naturally-evolved Toktktrtr. In the eyes of these Txkri humans need to be saved, and returned to a state of being which is in touch with their gods.

There could be unpleasant brain experiments performed on humans by the Itoktok Txkri to find out how to link them into their hive mind, or by the Txxtkr to split them into a godly form [revert them to a bicameral mind] and thus return them to their proper 'godly' state.

Obviously artefacts of all kinds, from tools to furniture to vehicles to weapons, that are made for Txkri would be very difficult and awkward for humanoid creatures to use, and vice versa. The low ceiling height of Txkri buildings and vehicles could also be a problem for humans who try to use them.

Although both humans and Txkri should be able to learn to comprehend each others audible languages, neither would be able to speak that of the other with any degree of accuracy, because their sound-producing organs are simply too different. Technological aids would allow them to do so, however. Each race could learn sign languages of the other, although with their greater number of arms the Txkri would have the advantage in this.

Assuming a level playing field in terms of technology and force levels, it is likely that humanity would win a confrontation with the Txkri. This is because Txkri neurophysiology means they lack a true scientific world view, instead relying much more on trial and error, and luck, to advance. This makes them significantly less flexible and adaptable than humanity, and so puts them at a significant disadvantage.


Back to the Top Notes

The Txkri race was inspired by a request Chris Nuttall, one of the more prolific authors on the AlternateHistory.com discussion forum, for "an alien race with a religious reason (or something akin to one) for attacking and taking over Earth. Not a reason for genocide, but one for invading." So, here they are!

When writing Txkri, to give an idea of the world for their perspective they should probably be written so as to make clear that from their point of view their 'gods' really do talk to them inside their heads.

I have deliberately not specified very much about Txkri technology, apart from saying that they have gone into space and colonised their own solar system. This is entirely intentional, as it makes the race reasonably generic so that they can be tailored to fit into different backgrounds as required.

The Txkri were created with the help of my Ur-Creature Generator using the rules from GURPS Uplift, extended using my own ideas. Their solar system was generated with help from the star system generation system of the Traveller roleplaying game, again extended using my own ideas.

The map of Xti was generated using the Fractal Worldmap Generator site using a seed of 21354651, iterations of 5000, percent water of 48, percent ice of 3, scroll degrees of 260, projection type of square and height of 500. MATLAB was used to transform it into a globe and generate a movie of flying around it. The MATLAB code to do so can be found here; this is a MATLAB m-file, which is basically a plain text file.

The Txkri Word Generator is derived from Traveller alien word generator software found at the Welcome to The Patinir Belt site.

The background used on these pages comes from Iridia's Backgrounds.

The font used for the banner on this page is called Morgenstern and comes from the dafont.com site.


Send any comments to me at tony {dot} website {at} clockworksky {dot} net.


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