Crinrai

Plural:Crinrae
Vaguely humanoid insects, slowly evolving from insects to mammals.


Physical Traits and Appearance

Usually 8'-ish.  6'-7' for the smallest adults, tallest ones can roughly attain 10'5" or more.

Limbs

They have two pair of arms, one "strong" pair, which is larger and more muscular, but has no touch sense, and a "weak" pair, which is thinner, smaller, less muscular but has a sense of touch, usually used for everything else than bashing. Their arms have a fourth, elbow-like joint that they use to bend their arm to larger angles.

Their strong arms have long blades sprouting from the first elbows. They grow to their full size (usually 2'-3' but can attain up to 5') during puberty. Non-fighting castes who have them tend to file them or chop them off altogether. Warriors, on the other side, tend to sharpen and sculpt them.

Their hands have 3 fingers and a thumb. The fingers of strong arm hands have sharp claws at their tip, and weak arm hands have smaller, duller claws.

Crinrae have long legs, that are often slightly bent forward. They can extend them to full size in order to reach their maximum height, although they rarely do this. Since crinrae are very tall, they can't enter some places without kneeling or bending their legs slightly.

Facial Features

Their eyes are actually quite small. The two main pair are located in a pair of cavities in the head, both covered by thick dark lenses which protect them from the sunlight, as crinrae eyes are very easy to damage. The last pair is smaller and have the same kind of lens too; although they aren't located in a cavity.

They have extremely sharp and very large teeth along with a back row of larger, dull teeth that are used like molars. An adult crinrai's full dentition is around 32 teeth (16 per row). They lose some during their life, and they easily grow back, but losing a lot of teeth at once (e.g during a fight), they tend to grow back strangely, sometime pointing backwards or bent to the side. In which case they remove said tooth, wait until it grows back normally, then does the same thing to the affected teeth.

Crinrae have a long tongue which ends in a small point. When fully extended (it's usually folded inside their mouth to prevent them from being torn apart by their teeth), it usually goes down to their neck.

On the side of ther mouth grows a pair of mandibles. They are almost invisible at birth, but slowly grow to a rather large size (around 7" or more for the largest ones). Those are remnants from evolution and aren't used for fighting or eating anymore. Their base is, however, wrapped in muscles, which allows the crinrai to make those mandibles jiggle and twitch at will. It is mostly used to silently show strong emotions, such anger or sadness.

Crinrae have four small nostrils right under their eyes. They are way less developed than a human's nose and have a very simplified sense of smell.

They don't have external ears. There is just a pair of holes on the side of their head that lead straight to the internal ear.

They have antennae on the back of their heads. Usually 3" long and composed of 7 segments. They work as a telepathic amplifier. However, almost all crinrae have no way to send telepathic messages. Only recieve them.

Exoskeleton

Their exoskeleton is made of two parts. The "skin", lower layer which is thin, and more flexible (but still stronger than human skin), and the "armor", a second, thicker, heavier layer of bone that covers the shoulders, torso, legs and feet. Wearing non-organic armor on the uncovered limbs is viewed as a sign of weakness. Exoskeleton colors range from bright green to dark brown.

Armor is something very important for the crinrae. Warriors frequently compare their armors, as having more scars, dents and other damage marks show that they are stronger than the rest.

It also is removable. It is very hard, but some drones and females have more ease. With some training, it gets pretty easy to do. Drones often do it to lower the mass they carry, making their job less tiring. However, it is heavily frowned upon and higher drones don't do it for the sake of their honor. Once removed, the armor can't be put back. The crinrai has to wait for several weeks for the armor to grow back.

Crinrae are quite heavy, smaller ones weight around 295 lbs, tallest around 450 lbs.
Without their armor, however, they are way lighter, often losing up to 200 lbs.

Organs, Internal Workings and Reproduction

Crinrae work much like humans, having the same kind of organs,  most changes are shape and size, as crinrae have larger organs due to the fact they need way more energy than humans. The main difference is that crinrae have four lungs instead of two, although they are slightly smaller than human lungs.

Due to the fact that they have an exoskeleton, most of their organs are located in a bone cage inside their chest, which is very congestioned due to its small size and the large organs.

Due to their fast metabolism, they are extremely vulnerable to poison, and a large enough wound will make any crinrai bleed to death in a matter of seconds.

Reproduction is a bit complicated for crinrae. Crinrae children either spawn directly from their father (a Tharsen using a host) or their mother (karnosian only), although they are exactly identical to their parent. The only way to truly procreate for Crinrai is a Tharsen and any female caste (karnosian are preferred, although it's common for the other castes to be used when there's a lack of them).

It is possible for any other caste pairing, whether male/male, male/female and female/female to mate, although this is purely for recreational purposes. Only Tharsena, Karnosi or a pairing of a Tharsen and a female can spawn new crinrae.

Children are usually born in group of 2 to 6, and usually have a fraternal relationship to eachother. They also consider the tharsen and Karnosi that gave them birth their parents, and give them utmost respect. Karnosian children stay with their mothers and tharsena children stay with their fathers. The rest is either sent to the Tharos Novo or culled if they are outcastes (although some mutants are hidden by their mothers, which is why there's such a lot of them alive.)

There are very long periods where fertility rates suddently fall to near-zero levels. Those are called "birthless times". Tharsena and Karnosian usually spend their days praying, since reproduction is useless.

Gods and Worship

There are Four Gods:

Hvrasi
"Dangerous" elements (fire, water), War.
Patron god of the Hvrasion caste.
Pictured as a black, giant Crinrai with a overdeveloped exoskeleton, two pair of armblades and a large number of spines. He is also mute. Hvrasi is Karnos' twin. Legends say that Hvrasi is building a gigantic creature with the bodies of the warriors, that he would use to kill Aeyana and take over the Pantheon.

Karnos
Death, afterlife, body.
Patron god of the Karnosian caste.
Pictured as a blue Crinrai with no features. No armblades, antennae, eyes, mouth or anything. "Speaks" using telepathy.
Welcomes the dead crinrae to afterlife. Created the crinrae in the image of the other gods, but "downgraded" them to prevent Hvrasi's belligerent nature from making them warmongering monsters. (Which only partially succeeded.)

Tharsa
"Good" elements (water, earth), life, emotions.
Patron god of the Tharsen and Tharsi caste.
Pictured as a smaller, white and frail crinrai female. Created the emotions of feelings of all crinrae. It is said she weaves a gigantic outfit with the emotions of the dead. She is making it in order to protect Aeyana from Hvrasi's monster.

Aeyana
Psionics, leader of the pantheon.
Patron god of the Aeyanarsia caste.
Pictured as a colossal pure green, shining crinrai with eight pairs of arms, each wielding a different weapon. She gave the psionic powers to a few crinrai females to make them the leaders of their race. Legend says she fell in a millennium-long sleep after she gave the gift of sentience and psionics to the crinrae, and the she will wake up, giving them a new power, before falling into stasis again.


Note on elements: Air is not considered an element by the crinrae. Water is good and bad as it is the source of life, yet can kill (floods, drowning...) easily.


Death

Crinrae death is composed of three phases, each having a strong religious sense.

 - "Collapse"
The crinrai brutally curls into a ball. This can hurt their opponent as they often slash whatever is in front of them with their armblades while curling. This phase symbolizes the soul shielding itself before its escape.

 - "Escape"
The crinrai's armor dislocates. If the death was slow (poison, old age...) it just slides off gently. Otherwise, if the death was instantaneous (decapitation...) The armor is violently projected in  all directions, often landing several feet farther. It is projected with enough force to knock out, or even kill other creatures. This phase often symbolizes the freeing of the soul. This phase is the reason that executions almost always consist of poisoning or hanging.

 - "Wither"
The crinrai's "skin" exoskeleton decomposes in several thin, almost transparent layers. It starts to peel off in small chunks slowly and is often carried away by the wind, like the petals of a withering flower, hence the name. This phase symbolizes the soul leaving the material plane, and ascending to afterlife.

All crinrae are buried in the cemetery of their hometown, even if it was destroyed. If an enemy destroys a city and its cemetery, the entire race gets extremely angry, and often counterattacks with full force, even if the attack is suicidal (and they often win in that case.) Higher castes get ceremonies, and more ornate tombs. Friends, lovers, and relatives goes to pray for Karnos on the tombs.


Caste system

Males make the workforce and army, only a select few are considered more "important"

Cthorac(singular)/Cthoraci (Plural)
Pronounce "Shtorac"/"Shotraki"
Lowly workers. Takes care of most constructions, mining, farming, et cetera. Their armblades are long, but extremely dull. Their antennae are usually larger than the other male's.
Chtoraci do not mind being the bottom of the social ladder, and happily do whatever they are ordered to. (In most cases.)

Rakthos/Rakthosi
Pronounce "Ractos"/"Ractoci"
"Higher" workers. Builds the most important structures (churches,palaces for the females...)  Usually have a heavier exoskeleton than Chtoraci. They have dull, small armblades. Small spines grow on their back after puberty. They also have thinner and smaller antennae.

Hvrasion/Hvrasioni
Pronounce "Vrasion"/"Vrasioni"
Warriors. Taller, stronger, and better-armored than everyone else. Usually pretty fearsome fighters. They have retractable armblades. Their exoskeleton is quite thicker than the other male's, and is usually darker. they adorn it with blood and warpaint.

Hvrastos/Hvrastosa
Pronounce "Vrastos"/"Vrastosa"
Subcaste of the Hvrasioni, those are warriors that are considered heroes. The Hvrastosa is the smallest male caste (around 1% of the total male population). Hvrasioni brothers of Hvrastosa are directly promoted to Hvrastos status, which tends to stir up anger in the non-promoted Hvrasioni ranks.

Tharsen/Tharsena
Pronounce "Tarsen"/"Tarsena"
Breeders. Highest basic male caste. There's few of them (around 7% of the males are Tharsena). Live in the palaces with the females and serve them directly. Their exoskeleton tends to be thinner and brighter. They are also weaker than the other males, and thus are unsuited for combat. They have no armblades.
Capable of parthenogenesis, as long as they have another humanoid creature for a host. There are a few "white" (more like bright desaturated green) Tharsena that are considered more valuable, and thus are given a better treatment than the others (they don't need to serve the females).

Females only make up around 1/3rd of the total crinrai population. Being the political and religious leaders of the crinrae, they are by far the most important of their species.

Tharsi(singular)/Tharsia (Plural)
Pronounce "Tarsi"/"Tarzia"

Often called "nurses", tharsia take care of the wounded hvrasioni, hvrastosa, rakthosi and tharsena. They also feed and raise crinrai babies. They are by far the most appreciated caste, thanks to their (often) nice and cheerful behavior and their job.
Tharsia are by far the smallest of all crinrai castes, merely attaining 6'-7' at full size. Their exoskeleton tends to be brighter and more colorful than other crinrae. Combined with their rather small armblades and lack of armor, they are easy targets on the battlefield.

Spathen(singular)/Spathas (Plural)
Pronounce "Spaten"/"Spata"

Spathas are the female part of the army. Working with the Hvrastos, they are the most agile soldiers of the army, thanks to their more slender physique compared to the hvrasioni.
Spathas are one of the only two female castes who have armor. The main difference between the male's and their is that female armor is hollow, which make it way lighter, and thus gives them a larger palette of movements and make them more agile. Spathas are masters of swordplay, as they are trained as soon as they can walk. They are by far the most feared crinrae.

Karnosian(singular)/Karnosi (Plural)
Pronounce "Carnosian"/"Carnoci"

Almost always refered to as "Mothers" (with a capital M as a mark of respect) by all the castes lower than this one. Karnosi live in large and beautiful palaces in company of the Tharsena. They are the ones who give birth to almost every single crinrai. Karnosi are the political leaders of the towns they inhabit. Each Karnosian takes care of a single aspect of the town's life and economy, in cooperation with the others. Karnosi also work as tutors for other Karnosi, and other young high-castes. Karnosi lack armor and armblades, making them effectively defenseless. They learn martial arts and swordplay at an early age to have a way to fight for themselves.

Aeyanarsia(singular)/Aeyanarsian (Plural)
Pronounce "Ayanarcia"/"Ayanarcian"

Referred to as "Matriarchs" by all the other castes. Matriarchs are the religious leaders of the crinrae, as they are the only caste having the power of telepathy. There is only one Matriarch per town, and she controls every aspect of the town's religious life. She decides who must pray for which god, when churches must be built, who can be buried and who can't... They also work as public executors when a particularly heinous criminal is caught. Matriarchs are almost white, and have way larger antennae than everyone else. They lack armblades but are the only non-warrior females to have armor.

Outcastes are either male or female, but are rejected from crinrai society due to biological differences.

Hydros(singular)/Hydrosan (Plural)
Pronounce "idros"/"idrosan"

Also known as the "gilled breed", the hydrosan are crinrae born with the ability to breathe underwater. Both male and female hydrosan have the same biological settings, meaning there is no proper hydros "caste" whatsoever, which led them to be rejected by most crinrae. The main physical difference is the color. Hydrosan are tealish blue instead of green or brown. Since their gills are hidden under their armor and their fins only develop after puberty, hydrosan tend to hide as spathas or rakthosi.
Their mere existence is due to a genetic remnant from their ancestors the fishes. It sometimes "reactivates", thus creating a hydros child. Hydrosan make up by far the largest outcaste population, since around 10% of all crinrae are hydrosan.

Stoma(singular)/Stomae (Plural)
Pronounce "stoma"/"stome"

Also known as the "dark breed", stomae are born without antennae and with pitch black exoskeletons, which give them a rather ominious appearance. Thought to be the avatars of Hvrasion, they are kicked out of their towns at birth to "prevent any further damage to the society" (although there wasn't any recorded damage done by stomae whatsoever). Stomae often regroup in small settlements and try to recreate city life, although in a more tolerant way. Some even rescue starving wanderers and other such acts of generosity. Even though, they are considered monsters by pretty much everyone. Their only particular power (apart from being almost invisible at night) is that they are immune to telepathy, and thus resist the Matriarchs' mind control.

Tharkos(singular and plural)
Pronounce "tarcos"

Also known as the "ferals", Tharkos are heavily mutated crinrae, which leaves them with unfinished exoskeletons and organs, often leaving large holes in their skin which lets everyone see their insides. Ferals are utterly insane, acting more like rabid dogs than normal crinrae. They are often culled at birth, but some matriarchs use them as their personal bodyguards, as they are heavily vulnerable to mind control. Ferals are feared by pretty much everyone thanks to their scary, shriveled body, and their strange behavior.

The Avatars

Rumors say that a very small group of extremely powerful psionics wander around the planet. Only a few saw them and even less are absolutely sure of it. They are rumored to be chosen by the gods, although no crinrae saw an Avatar in a town, nor saw any became one.

Matrirachs often dismiss those rumors as lies spread by drones who want the leaders to step down.

The Queen
Thanks to evolution, there is no such thing as a "queen" anymore, as they were replaced by the Karnosian. However, if a town needs a large number of children, one can heavily mutate and turn in a bloated, child-spawning monstrosity called a "Karno-ara". This term is usually used as an insult towards other karnosian, and thus no more respect is given to the mutated Mother.

The Children

Crinrae children are considered quite important.
Every group of children born from a female (mostly Mothers, but rarely other castes, which is usually frowned upon) is assigned to a tharsi nurse, who will take care of them until they turn 2 1/2. They are then sent to the Tharos Novo. (read the Tharos Novo section of City Life and Administration for more info) Tharsena are usually raised by their father instead of being sent to the Tharos Novo. Karnosian and Aeyanarsian are raised by their mothers.
Children pretty much have 3 "parents", their father and mother, which they see rarely (unless they are the same caste as them), and their "Nurse". Although nurses tend to be more liked by children, direct parents still get the most respect.


City Life and Administration

Crinrae live in many towns, settlements and colonies.

Large towns are rare, and are usually far from eachother. However, they contain enormous amounts of crinrae, often in a rather confined space, causing an humongous population density. They are still considered by far the most comfortable places to live.

Colonies are often created on newfound islands or unexplored regions. They are smaller, more primitive cities, and house far less crinrae. However, a lot are compelled to join newly created colonies, although only a few of them manage to quit their town (quitting your hometown is extremely frowned upon,) and help the colonists.

Settlements are very small, almost tribal groups of crinrae (usually one or two families) that implant themselves on a patch of land they claim their own and live (most of the time) peacefully. They are mostly created by outcastes and exiles, although a few were founded by matriarchs.

Towns are extremely organised, they are divided in several districts, each serving their own function.

The Dominion is the administrative core of the city. It usually features a plaza, where public executions, trials and large religious and cultural parties are held. There is almost always a small palace where the town's Matriarch resides. There is, sometimes a guard made of Hvrasioni patrolling around the district.

The Thanos is a district reserved for the Mothers, the tharsena, some tharsi and their (possible) servants. It contains, most of the time, only one, large palace for the Mothers, tharsi and tharsena, and sometimes a few homes for the servants. This is by far one of the most important district in any city.

The Hvranos is the military district of the city. It houses several barracks, training facilities, weapon factories and sometimes small mansions for the Hvrastosa. Spathas live in separate, more comfortable barracks. Chtoraci often clean up the facilities when there isn't much constructions going on.

The Rakos is often considered a slum by the other castes, and is where the chtoraci and rakthosi reside. It is often separated in two (one side for the chtoraci and one for the rakthosi), and most houses are made from material leftovers from previous constructions. The Manos is usually a very dirty and poorly equipped place, so much that sometimes, the chtoraci don't even have any access to electricity or even water.

The Tharos Novo is part of every city, small or large. This is the place where all children, but tharsena and high female castes are sent (unless they are deemed undisciplined by their parents or if the children request to join it). In this place, children create their own, smaller-scale version of the society. Children leave it when they attain adulthood.
During birthless times, everything in the Tharos Novo is destroyed and the materials are used for new structures.

The Hastos is a small district, where crinrae that aren't part of the town reside. Think of this place as a large bunch of hotels and inns. However, depending on your caste, you are only allowed to live here for a limited (usually short) period of time. The Hastos is often viewed as a very comfortable place. Some crinrae wander from town to town exclusively because the Hastos give them a better place to live.

The Logos is like a recreational district. It houses shops, bars and other recreational structures. It's usually deserted during most of the day, and tends to fill up during dusk. The access is usually banned to Chtoraci. It is also a place usually filled with criminals, which explains why Matriarchs tend to put more guards in those districts.

The Crinrae's Homeworld and Time

The homeworld of the Crinrae is called T'Criss (pronounce tekris, like tetris)
T'Criss is a very large planet, around three and a half times the size of the earth.

T'Criss is a rather dark planet. Since it spins around a red dwarf, it doesn't recieve much heat, and all the plants are black or very dark colors. The temperature randomly hovers around -4 F° (-20 C°) and 59 F° (15 C°)

A third of the planet is covered in oceans, who rarely freeze thanks to high concentrations of salt. There are a few hundred of lakes and rivers around the planet that are often used as water sources.

A day on T'Criss takes around 31 earth hours. Weeks are composed of eight days, Ayeni, Karno, Thari, Hydro, Hvrasi, Pyro, Cori and Psio.

A month is made of 8 weeks. There is 8 months, Ayenas, Karnat, Tharos, Hydrat, Hvrasios, Pyront, Corinos and Psionat.

Each year thus lasts for 512 days (15 872 hours), which is 1,8 times longer than a earth year. (365 days - 8 760 hours)

Crinrae are considered adults when they attain 9 and a half years. (which is around 17 years for us.)

Culture and Technology

Even though crinrae are war-mongering species, they can't stand extended periods of war, and thus slowly drifted towards peace, and the development of arts.

Crinrae currently have a rather anarchic technologic development, which explains why they have high-end technology in some place, and primitive skills in others.

Arts

Higher castes tend to be well-versed in the ways of painting, music, and writing, although there are some low-castes artists with renown. Crinrae have horrible singing voices and thus don't consider singing an art.

Crinrae paintings are usually very strange. Their works would fit in surrealism and abstract art. They are also very colorful and bright. Black is rarely used.

Their music is a mix of classical music and random genres, which often leads to rather strange, often bad musical pieces. They tend to favor classical instruments such as pianos, harpischords, violins, and such.

Crinrae books are usually rather long, as they are written and read by high castes who have a lot of free time. Crinrae tend to prefer historical stories instead of fiction and such genres.

Technology

Although they have no sciencist caste proper, Crinrae still develop their technology thanks to some low caste geniuses and high castes with a lot of free time and a love for technological advance.

Energy

The crinrae learned to harness the energy of the wind and water. They also know how to use coal to get electricty, although they avoid it completely because they are very vulnerable to pollution. Crinrae cities are thus topped with a flurry of windmills, and many rivers have large dams used to power nearby cities. Crinrae do not know about nuclear fission and thus do not have any idea of how a nuclear/fusion plant would work.

Communication

The crinrae quickly found out how to use radio waves to transmit things from city to city. After a few decades, they managed to create a souped up version of it they use as an equivalent to our internet, although much slower, so they only use it for simple things. Cities tend to have large antennaes used to relay radio waves between cities. Said internet is used by small, weak computers (as powerful as computers in the 70'-80's).

Transport

By far one of the achilles heel of the crinrae's technology, there is no motorized transport whatsoever. Crinrae still use animals as a way of locomotion, especially for agricultural purposes. They did develop boats, although they are extremely uncomfortable on the sea, and ship crews tend to get demoralized extremely quickly.

Astronomy and Space

Crinrae still use the stars as a way to find cardinal directions, but still have no idea of what is in outer space. They know that their planet isn't the center of the universe and turns around a sun. They discovered 2 other planets:

-Attecos is a small planet, roughly venus-sized. It is very close to the sun and thus suffers from ridiculously high temperatures. It is often called the "scorched sphere" by the other crinrae. It is also an euphemism for hell.

-Ikarion is a gigantic, purple gas giant, at least two times the size of T'Kriss. It is often used as a symbol for the pantheon. It is said that Aeyana hides under the thick shell of purple fog.

Industry and Construction

Crinrae know how to process coal, iron, steel, copper, bronze and other metals. However, they do not know how to make aluminium or titanium yet. They mostly use this knowledge for weapons.

Crinrae do not know what gunpowder is, and thus do not have such things as explosives.

Wood is mostly used for weapons and some structures. Higher class structures use rough or smoothed stone. Concrete wasn't discovered yet.

Crinrae structures tend to be taller than wider, so they use wooden scaffoldings to attain higher places.

Electronics

Crinrae managed to create simple electronic objects, such as clocks, lamps, alarms, et cetera.
After their sudden development in electronic technology, they developed the radio, a variant of the phone using radio waves, and a simple computer that can only run extremely simple programs and is purely text-based. It is often used to relay messages.