Theksarsi Facts Sheet

Theksarsi (Original Species)

Theksarsi (sometimes called 'Theks' for short - this is neutral, not derogatory) - originate from the planet Ocera, and are the dominant and only native sentient species there.

Their natural form is lindwurm-esque, with a long serpentine body covered in suede-smooth hairless skin, usually in shades of red, orange, brown, or beige, with outliers being shades of grey or white (due to congenital leucistic mutations most commonly seen with non-Theksarsi heritage). They have two pairs of arms, with variable numbers of fingers and thumbs.

Their forearms are typically more muscular with thick padding on the fingers and palms and curved claws (similar to a cat's), 1-2 thumbs and 3-4 fingers, and are used to assist in locomotion. Their aft-arms are usually longer and thinner with straighter claws, 0-1 thumbs and 3-5 fingers. The aft-wings sometimes have wing-like digit proportions, but sans the webbing. (But with most things about Theksarsi, almost nothing is set in stone.)

They have no legs.

Their heads have long, draconic or dinosaurian like muzzles, with jaws filled with sharp curved teeth. They have 2 or rarely 3 horns, the shape of which varies greatly. They lack discrete external ears, only having aural holes behind the skull.

They have three eyes: One on either side of the face, which will move in concert with one another, and have eyelids, and a third eye set on the forehead (where the parietal organ is in animals) which moves independently, has no eyelids (but is set inside a transparent sphere in its socket), and has something akin to X-ray vision. Their third eye lacks any muscles, or physical connection to the brain; both motion and visual input through it is entirely via magic, and in dead-magic zones the eye goes blind and limp like a googly eye. All three eyes will have the same iris color and large vertically-slit pupils. Eye color is typically red, orange, or yellow, and rarely blue or grey (by the same leucistic mutations seen in grey/white-skinned individuals).

They have long tails terminating in a stinger, which can be straight like a needle or curved like a scorpion's. The flesh of the sac and stinger is harder and thicker than the body, and much darker tinted than the rest of the body, even in leucistic individuals.

The venom in the stinger is not typically deadly, but is very painful and causes localized muscle contractions where injected, and extreme gastrointestinal distress if ingested, and tastes terrible. Allergic reactions are possible. It is similar to honeybee venom in these respects. The fluid is thin, watery, mostly transparent, but lightly tinted reddish-brown. After stinging, it takes 10 minutes to an hour for the venom sac to refill.

Theksarsi's reproductive organs are internal, but not connected to their digestive system. They can be broadly categorized as "male" and "female" (with the usual rate of intersexism as animal species), but the only way to tell is by seeing these organs, which is one purpose their X-ray eyes serve. They have no sexual dimorphism otherwise. They are viviparous (gestational pregnancy with live birth), with gestation typically lasting a year, and usually birthing only singlets. Multiples are extremely rare, nearly unheard-of.

Newborn Theksarsi, thankfully, do not have their horns grown in yet, and their claws and stingers are very soft, hardening within the day after exposure to air. They do not begin producing venom until after reaching sexuality maturity.

Theksarsi do not experience estrous, menstruation, or rut.

Theksarsi are very magically-attuned. Their entire bodies have adapted to passively absorb environmental magical energy, which converts to whatever energy or nutrition is needed. They're able to eat omnivorously, but prefer meat if they do. In dead-magic areas they MUST eat once any stored calories from magic has been used up. Prolonged lack of magic will greatly slow down their metabolism and healing and cause infertility as they will cease ovulation or semen production. Any active pregnancies will abort shortly without magic to sustain the unborn, because a lack of umbilical cords means no nutrition can reach the unborn without magic transmission.

Theksarsi age much slower than humans. It takes them longer to reach both sexual maturity and old age.

Due to the extremely high temperatures of planet Ocera (the surface is mostly desert, with tropical archipelagos around the poles, and the interior cavern networks are kept hot due to a large amount of geothermal activity), Theksarsi are immune to harm from heat or fire. They have no "ceiling temperature". Conversely they are highly vulnerable to the cold, reaching hypothermia rapidly and being especially damaged by ice magic.

Theksarsi also have an elemental weakness of sorts to what is commonly called "holy" or "divine" magic. Because of this, and their frighteningly monstrous appearances, they are often termed "demons" by outsiders, and Ocera was for many years incorrectly classified as a type of Hell-plane. It is not.

(Theksarsi also are not technically unholy beings, as they do have their own creator gods, which they may or may not worship depending on the individual. Religiosity is not a prerequisite for any kind of afterlife; all Theksarsi souls are claimed by the Oceran nature deity, analogous to 'Mother Earth'.)

Many Theksarsi have some degree of pyrokinesis magic, and sometimes also electrokinesis or terrakinesis. Elementally-empowered Theksarsi tend to have more slender phenotypes, as they metabolize more energy directly into storage for magic powers rather than into muscle or fat deposits.

Theksarsi have varying degrees of telepathic and empathic abilities, with a directly proportional level of weakness to the same abilities. Extremely empathic Theksarsi with the ability to easily read minds and sense emotions have minds that are easily read by others, and sometimes when weakened will even begin broadcasting their own thoughts and emotions involuntarily to those around them. Conversely, Theksarsi with very hardened, impenetrable minds will have little to no ability to detect thoughts or emotions of others even with effort.

Theksarsi can learn and express other forms of magic, and even become wizards and the like. Therefore, powers such as teleportation, shapeshifting, healing (by non-divine means), enchanting, et cetera are not unheard of. Propensity for magic happens at similar rates as it does in other sentient species.

When a Theksarsi is born it receives a True Name from one of the Oceran deities (even if born off-world, unless somehow any contact at all from the gods is blocked). The name will be uttered through the mouth of someone present, typically the mother, and then incorrigibly attached to the Theksarsi's soul. No True Name is ever recycled. Speaking a Theksarsi's True Name aloud will mentally "ping" them, alerting them instantly to the speaker's identity and relative location and distance from them, and allow them to hear the next few minutes of following speech. Unfortunately, this connection is only one-way, and they cannot use it to respond.

Due to the ability to abuse this pinging and be very annoying to them with it, Theksarsi prefer to keep their True Names a secret and introduce themselves by a derived nickname instead, or invent a new pseudonym wholecloth. Their parents will grant them nicknames for childhood as well, for safety, and a new one is often chosen as they get older. To be told a Theksarsi's True Name is a sign of great trust. To reveal another Theksarsi's True Name without permission is an extreme breach of privacy.

Both True Names and nicknames have no associated gender, and thus again it's impossible to discern a Theksarsi's sex or gender by name alone.

Theksarsi are also completely unable to use mind-reading or clairvoyancy whatsoever to discern a True Name of one another, and also cannot perceive the "true names" (first ever assigned name, such as those given at birth, if any) for other species either. This DOES NOT include legal name changes, self-assigned names, or new appellations given in rites of passage or religious ceremonies or marriages. They can "hear" / sense that a name spoken to them is a True (or "true") name or not. It is usually considered impolite to point it out. Theksarsi who aren't used to dealing with outsiders who are assured that a name given to them is True and they can tell that it is not, however, tend to become offended. (Until the concept of how one's own culture treats names is explained to them.)