Tseibajeen ((t)-SAY-Ba-JEEN)

Masters of Land Sea and Star

Also known as "Celestial"
PLEASE NOTE *** IMAGES ARE OUTDATED, AND DO NOT REFLECT THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THE SPECIES***

The Tseibajeen are the most numerous sapient species in the galaxy, and the citizens of the Celestial Empire. They are capable of breathing both on land and in water, due to having both lungs and gills. They dwarf humans in height, standing head and shoulders above them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The tseibajeen have two arms arms and two legs. They have two hands, with three fingers on each hand, two fingers and a thumb. Their feet have three toes splayed like a bird's talons, but without claws. Their legs are digitigrade in structure. Their torso is very humanoid in overal shape, except it branches out into two legs and a tail. Their head is a little bit larger than a human's head, due the size of their brain. Despite their pseudo reptilian/fish appearance, they are warm-blooded. They rely on both lungs and gills for respiration, however their gills are significantly more effective than their lungs, with their lungs serving as a sort of backup when their gills dry up on land.

Biological Traits

Tseibajeen have extremely muscular legs and a thick muscular tail. This muscle is both natural, and due a result of intense military training. Their legs are digitigrade with 2 "knees" (one facing forward, and one facing backward.) When a Tseibajeen fully extends their legs, they become even taller, but that makes it difficult to balance, even using their tail to help. Tseibajeen respirate primarily through their gills, but they can also breathe through their lungs. Their gills are capable of fully supplying their body with oxygen, even when on land. However, their gills become completely ineffective when they dry out, so their body a secretes thin fluid which coats their gills and prevents them from drying out. This allows them to survive on land for several hours at a time, but can also cause them to become dehydrated within hours depending on the natural moisture in the air, and whether they have access to drinking water. Their lungs aren't as developed as a human's lungs, and therefore they cannot rely on just their lungs to breathe. Their large powerful tail is used to swim when in water, and also to balance when on land. Their upper body is structured in a way that could be described as humanoid, although a bit elongated by comparison. They have no hair on their head, or on their body. Short term exposure to saltwater isn't a problem, but continued submersion in saltwater will gradually dehydrate them within an hour, causing death. Saltwater causes intense pain on any oriface exposed to it.

Genetics and Reproduction

Female Tseibajeen lay eggs, which can be fertilized by males internally via intercourse, or through external fertilization. An egg grows inside a female over the course of approximately 6 months, and then expelled is from body when it contains enough nutrients to develop into offspring, or is approximately 10" in diameter. If an egg remains unfertilized for approximately 1 week while outside the body, it will normally shrivel up and die. However, the Celestial Empire have produced artificial methods to indefinitely prolong the lifespan of an egg. The fertilization of an egg can occur independently of its size. It is possible for an egg to be fertilized before it has reached its full size without any negative effects on the offspring. The egg will simply continue to grow within until it is large enough to be laid. When an egg has been laid, it must be kept incubated in clean warm water, but it can survive for short periods of time on land as long as it doesn't dry up.

Growth Rate & Stages

The life-cycle of a tseibajeen has several distinct stages.

Egg Stage (-10 months - 0 months)

An egg will start off translucent a red color in early development but becomes clearer as the embryo reaches the end of its incubation. The embryo within is clearly visible as it grows within, and possesses little to no self awareness. When the egg is ready to hatch, the skin that covers the egg dries up and disintegrates make it easier for the hatchling to escape. An average egg is about 10" in diameter, but this size varies and is relative to the size of the mother.

Hatchling (0 - 11 months)

A newly hatched Tseibajeen is about 14" in length from head to tip of tail immediately after hatching from an egg. They are incapable of regulating their body temperature, and possess no body fat, so they are best kept within a body of warm water.Hatchlings are completely androgynous in appearance, appearing neither male nor female. Without DNA examination, one cannot tell the sex/gender of the hatchling. In fact, this typically remains a mystery to even the hatchling for much of the beginning of its life, even well into the juvenile stage. Upon hatching, its legs are disproportionately small and fragile, and do not function. Their lungs aren't developed at this stage, and they are fully reliant on their gills in order to breathe, making them fully aquatic at this stage. Attached to their belly is a red yolk sac, which contains enough nutrients for it to develop into the next stage of its life. They are capable of moving around, but their yolk sac prevents them from moving very far or very fast in the water, and they spend most of their time sleeping in this stage. Because of this yolk sac, they are not reliant on their mother for nutrition, and. They are very independant, and will usually be fine as long as they are kept warm, hydrated, and oxygenated. As they continue to grow, their yolk sac shrinks until all that remains is a red patch on their belly, giving their belly a reddish hue. Once they climb out of the water and begin to walk on land on their own, they are officially recognized as juveniles.

Juvenile (11 months - 14 years)

At the Juvenile stage, they are able to walk around on land, eat solid food, and breathe air. There may be remnants of their yolk sac remaining, but this will disappear within the first few months of this stage. They have the intelligence of a toddler at this stage, and can be educated and taught to become a part of their community. They continuously grow and and mature, becoming bigger and stronger. Aside from growing in strength height and intelligence, there is very little difference between a young juvenile and a mature juvenile. Once a Tseibajeen reaches the age of 15, their puberty starts, and beginning the transition to adulthood.

Puberty (15 years - 21 years)

Puberty begins at approximately 15 years old. This is when differences between the males and the females begin to develop. For most, this is also when they find out if they are a boy or a girl. Both boys and girls start at around 4 feet tall at the age of 15, but they rapidly increase in height until the age of 21. Males typically grow to about 7.5 feet tall, while females grow to about 6.5 feet tall. External differences between males and females begin to appear at 15 years old.

Males (15 - 21 years)

During the development of males during puberty, their voice deepens, they develop larger upper body muscles, and their face becomes more masculine. Their male reproductive organs develop and become functional. A male tseibajeen reaches the height of about 7 feet tall at the end of their puberty stage, and are distinctly masculine in appearance.

Females (15 - 21 years)

During the development of females during puberty, their hips begin to widen, and their lower abdomen becomes larger, and their face becomes more feminine. Their upper body muscles develop as well, to a lesser extent to a male. Their female reproductive organs develop and become functional, and their body starts to produce eggs which they lay every 6 months. A female tseibajeen reaches the height of approximately 6.5 feet tall at end of their puberty stage.

Adulthood (21 years - eol)

In the Celestial Empire, a tseibajeen is legally considered an adult at 21 years old, but their bodies usually continue to grow a little bit more. Most males continue growing until 25 years old, and can reach the height of 9 feet tall. Sometimes, they can be as tall as 10 or even 11 feet tall, but these are incredibly rare occurrences. Females also continue growing until 25 years old, and usually reach the height of approximately 7.5 feet tall, but like males, they can grow much taller, although to a lesser extent. Some females can grow as tall as 10 feet. As they grow older, their skin gradually loses colour and becomes wrinkled. Most tseibajeen live to about 250 years old, but some have live for over 300 years.

Ecology and Habitats

Natural Habitat

The ancient lives of the Tseibajeen took place on the home planet of the Tseibajeen, Tseiba. They live tribal lifestyles similarly to ancient human tribes, with the difference being that their tribes were typically tied to bodies of fresh water. They built their own buildings of of clay, sticks, mud, or whatever material they can get their hands on in their environment. Most Teibajeen would typically spend most of their time on land, due to ease of communication, and most technology failing to work underwater unless waterproofed. However, they usually sleep fully submerged in warm water.

Current Habitat

In current events of the timelline, Tseibajeen can live in several types of environments, depending on class and lifestyle choices.

Commoner tseibajeen typically grow up and live highly regimented lilfestyles with their squads. Typically their buildings have both underwater and abovewater sections, and are made up of clay, plaster, metal and/or plastic, with a far more futuristic/modern style, a far cry from the older buildings of ancient Tseiba. Their houses are part of larger apartment buildings.

The Nobility life in far more luxurious buildings. They are similar to the buildings of commoners, but are isolated and are not part of an apartment building, and are much larger.
The Outcast class live lifestyles far more similar to the ancient tsiebajeen, but in much harsher conditions due to the planet that they are exiled upon. Usually they are exiled on desert planets with lilttle to no water. Few survive, but those who find bodies of fresh water make their own tribal societies remniscient of the ancient tribal societies, where they scavenge and partake in hunter-gatherer lifestyles.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Natural Habitat

In their Natural habitat prior to the existence of the Celestial Empire, the diet of a tseibajeen consists primarily of meat. Tseibajeen also enjoy eating fruit, but they don't get very much nutrition out of it, aside from the sugars.

Current Habitat

The current Imperial diet for an average Tseibajeen is much different than the natural diet. Most commoners have access to synthetic forms of food, which are a sort of gritty biscuit. This synthetic food has all the nutrients they need to live healthy lives, but it doesn't taste very good. Those who live in better conditions, usually Nobility have a much more lavish diet, and indulge in the fattest meats, and the sweetest fruits. Ironically, these fatty meats aren't as nutritious as the synthetic food sources, which sometimes leads to health problems

Behaviour

Natural Habitat

In their natural habitat, tseibajeen live in close-knit clans consisting of immediate family and friends. The size of their clan was dependent on the size of the body of water they had access to, or how large of a claim they had. More space meant more hunting grounds, which meant more food for more people. Tseibajeen were not at the top of the food chain, and were constantly under the threat of both land and water predators. Being amphibious, they could flee onto land to escape an aquatic predator and flee to water to escape a land predator. When a clan decides that a predator has become too much of a nuisance, they make the decision to either leave, or fight the predator. Either action is a risk, if they can't find a new body of water within several hours, they all die of dehydration, and if they fail to kill the predator, they get eaten. Larger clans stood a better chance at fighting predators.

Current Habitat

Tseibajeen don't have to deal with any predator species anymore, due to their dominance in their planet's ecosystem. They've completely changed the ecology of the planet to suit their needs. Their former predators are all either extinct, or in captivity. Most Tseibajeen no longer hunt, but they do farm certain types of animals either for their meat or to be processed into synthetic food.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Tseibajeen have an extremely hierarchical Galactic Empire. Within this empire, blood relations mean very little if anything when one is not of the nobility class. Both males and females usually take the same roles, even if males tend to be bigger and stronger. All citizens are indoctrinated into a rigid social structure shortly after they are hatched, where children are raised away from their parents, and have no understanding of the concept of a "parent". These children grow up in a very strict environment, where they develop close bonds with their assigned Squadron. A Squadron is a group of tseibajeen of approximately the same age, who are meant to stick together forever starting from childhood, through military service, and well into adulthood. Since an equal number of males and females are assigned to each Squadron, it's expected for squadmembers to mate and reproduce for the glory of the Celestial Empire. Special care is taken to ensure that no blood relations exist between members of a Squadron. It is believed among the higher authorities that this relationship will foster camraderie and loyalty to each other and to the Empire. For each Tseibajeen, mandatory military service for a squad begins at 17 years old, then ends at 27, but Squads can choose to continue service for as long as they desire, or until deceased. Deceased squad members get replaced by a new member. In the event of a disaster where there is only one or 1 sole survivors, they will be reassigned to another group. The existence of a replacement squad is dependent on availability. In the Celestial Empire, breeding is considered a privilege, not a right. It is heavily linked to one's military service, and performance.

Facial characteristics

A Tseibajeen has very narrow yet very humanoid eyes. Their iris is normally magenta on the inside around their circular pupils, and fades to red where it meets the schlera, which is white. Their noses are pointed like the nose on a Caucasian Human. Their ears are flat, and covered in skin like a drum, which appear to be circular disks flush the sides of their head. Their "eyebrows" are natural pigmentation on forehead. They don't have hair on their head or on their face.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Natural Habitat

Tseibajeen naturally live along freshwater coastlines with their clans.

Current Habitat

Due to galactic dominance and technological advancement, they often live in continent sized ships which orbit planets within habitable zones.

Average Intelligence

An average Tseibajeen has a slightly higher mental capacity compared to an average human. However, they are burdened with highly impulsive tendancies which prevent them from fully utilizing their mentlal prowess, and can come across as stupid or short-sighted. As they age they improve their ability to focus on tasks, and think through their problems.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They don't have any significant sensory capabilities beyond what a human is capable of. They have two eyes, and two flat drum-like ears on the sides of their head. Their nose and mouth are much like a human's, and they contain taste-buds that allow them to taste flavours and smells. One additional sensory capability they have is the presence of taste-buds on the tops of their feet, their forehead, and the backs of their hands. These taste buds allow them to taste impurities, salinity, and toxins in water, allowing the test the safety of a body of water before submerging themselves in it. A tseibajeen can tell if a body of water is safe simply by sticking their hand in it and tasting the water.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Names are exclusively for the nobility, and are commonly passed down from parent to child.
Commoners are given ID numbers according to this pattern: PPYYYYY-BBB-SSSSS, where "PP" is an alphanumeric representation of the planet they are from (ex: TB = Tseiba, ZX = Zaxan, there are thousands of other planets in the Celestial Empire, each with their own shorthand 2-digit alphabetical representation) YYYYY is a representation of the year they hatched from their egg. The Celestial Empire has existed for over 10,000 years, so the year of their birth is represented by a 5-digit number. BBB is a number representing the batch number that their egg was from. Usually, batches are grouped by day. since there are 516 days in a Celestial Empire year, usually there are no more than 516 batches, but sometimes batches are split into two if there are more than 99999 eggs in a batch. SSSSS is a 5-digit number representing the sequence that they hatched in their particular batch. The first egg in a batch to hatch is 00001, the second one is 00002, and so on. An example of a commoner's ID number is TB51038-115-00450. (They were hatched on planet Tseiba in the year 51038, and they are the 450th egg to hatch from the 115th batch) One of the first things a commoner learns to do before they can read and write is memorize their ID number. Most commoners go by nicknames given to them by their fellow squad mates. These nicknames can consist of numbers from their ID, or some object they are known to like, or an activity they are known to enjoy.

Major Organizations

Celestial Empire The empire that every Tseibajeen is born into.

Beauty Ideals

Tseibajeen in higher classes enjoy wearing large amounts of jewelry, particularly large ring-like ornaments such as bracelets, tail rings, or anklets. Females in particular also love to get piercings. The types of piercings they get are the same types of piercings that humans get, except for their ears due to their anatomy. One piercing that they can get that humans cannot get are gill piercings. Their gills, which reside upon their sides below their rib-cage, have fleshy tabs, which can bear a piercing. In terms of physique, tseibajeen beauty ideals prefer those who are tall and muscular.

Gender Ideals

In the Celestial Empire, most jobs are considered fair game for both males and females, but they actually have a reversal of human gender norms. Males are typically seen as the gentle emotional and nurturing type (despite their size), while females are typically seen as assertive and stoic. During childhood, a Tseibajeen will live completely unaware of their own sex/gender until they start seeing changes during puberty.

Courtship Ideals

For commoners, relationships are assigned by the Celestial Empire the moment they are sorted into their squads, with the intention that one's squadmates will also be their mates. Almost all squads consist of an even number of males and females, with the expectation that they will provide numbers to the military. Breeding is considered a privilege, and not a right. It is a privilege that extends only to those who have "earned" the right.
For the nobility, courtship is a highly one-sided process, and is highly polygamous, with the noble in question being the one with multiple mates. It is very rare for a noble to have a single romantic partner.

Relationship Ideals

Most Tseibajeen have a deep personal, yet also extremely hedonistic relations with their Squadron. After military service, those who still have the right to breed live in luxury. Usually the Squadron will choose to live together for the rest of their lives.

Average Technological Level

• Interstellar transportation
• holographic disguises
• short-range teleportation
• rapid water desalination

Common Dress Code

Military

• form-fitting black bodysuit, with thick metal plates over vital areas and on limbs.
• helmet covering all of head, with glass faceplate
• skin showing around gills, tail, and fingers

Casual Dress

• Form-fitting clothes

High Dress

• clothes with lots of skin showing, and also flowing fabric
• Ringed jewelry that wraps around parts of body without touching, around ankles, around tail in multiple locations, above head like halo

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

• Practicing of eugenics. The "right to breed" only extends to those actively serving in the military in some form. Additionally, those who have proven their worth get to keep their "right to breed" when they finish military service (this is the ultimate dream for a Tseibajeen)
• Those who finish military service and haven't earned the "right to breed" after service are sterilized. This has led to a high rate of depression and suicide among retirees, especially to those who were demoted, since their bloodline has ended

Common Taboos

• Abandoning military service without proper discharge is grounds for termination. this is most common for those who have been demoted, and are nearing the end of their military service.

History

Life on Tseiba

The Tseibajeen originated on the planet "Tseiba". Being a freshwater amphibious species reliant on the presence of freshwater, their numbers were always quite small, ranging in merely the lower millions. Quality of life was quite poor due to the small amount of available freshwater lakes. The Tseibajeen grew tired of having to share their meager portions of water, which they relied on to drink and to respirate, and eventually decided to desalinate the entire ocean of Tseiba. Using their advanced water filtration systems, they gradually reduced the salt of their oceans until they reached survivable levels. This process took over a century, due to the sheer mass of the ocean. This came at the cost of 99% of the wildlife that were adapted to the saltwater environment, but in the minds of the Tseibajeen, it was us or them. They considered the process to be a great victory. They replaced the dead wildlife with freshwater wildlife from the lakes, bringing life back to the ocean. The Tseibajeen had conquered their planet and made it theirs.

Early Space Empire

The Tseibajeen Invented faster than light technology over 50,000 years before humanity did, and also before anyone else. As a result, they were able to conquer the majority of the Milky-Way galaxy long before humanity had even left the solar system. They had very little resistance conquering whatever they touched due to their level of technological advancement. After thousands of years of easily taking control of whatever worlds they wanted, the civilization developed a superiority complex, and had started to call themselves "Celestial"s instead of "Tseibajeen". This common belief was called the Celestial Truth, and it became the core belief system of the Celestial Empire.

Discovery of humanity

Early discovery of humanity was a major milestone for the Tseibajeen, and a major blow to their ego. It was the first time they had ever encountered another species which had access to FTL tech, and they didn't like the idea of sharing the galaxy with them. The first sign of humanity was when a automatic explorer drone wandered into the space within a star system that they controlled. They captured the drone, and extracted its navigational data (which was partially corrupted due to the EMP they used to immobilize it). They used this navigational data to conquer many human controlled planets, destroying the human controlled interstellar civilization. The Tseibajeen didn't think of humanity as much of a threat, but the existence of a species that had the same interstellar capabilities that they did was a major blow to their ego, and was the primary driving for behind their campaign against them.

Kairothia

When the Tseibajeen initially discovered Kairothia, they had no idea that there were humans settled on the planet. They saw the planet as the perfect location to settle, and build cities on, due to the temperate climate and presence of fresh water. This is where the game takes place.

Common Myths and Legends

Commonly believed myths:

• It is commonly believed among the tseibajeen that they are gods whose natural duty is to establish and maintain control over all of the Galaxy

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Tseibajeen consider themselves to be the one superior species to every other species in the galaxy, since they've never met another civilization that had a galaxy spanning empire like theirs (until now). They don't really care about the wellbeing of other species and are largely indifferent to their presence on other planets. Tseibajeen strongly dislike humans. Since humans have been found on multiple star systems, it challenges their perception of their own superiority, which they derive from their ability to travel between multiple star systems within a short time.

Lifespan

250 years

Average Height

An height of an adult Male Tseibajeen averages at about 9 feet, but they can be as tall as 10 or even 11 feet. Females average about 8 feet tall but can grow as tall as 9 or 10 feet tall. Fully stretching their legs adds an extra 1.5 feet to their height.

Average Weight

250 - 350 lbs

Average Length

11 feet from head to tip of tail.

Average Physique

Tseibajeen are known for having an extremely muscular body, with a layer of fat that masks the contours of their musculature. Males have broader shoulders, while females have broader hips. Unlike Humans, female Tseibajeen don't have breasts, since they don't lactate or nurse their young.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Their Body is naturally a light faded cyan colour, but it can also change colour if the water contains certain impurities. For example, high iron content in water can tint their skin red. The forehead of a Tseibajeen has an elaborate pattern of pink, red and purple pigmentation, which blends into their "eyebrows". This pattern is unique between each individual, and is mostly symmetrical on left and right. Males tend to naturally have more elaborate patterns, and this pattern can even extend down to nose and cheeks. Females tend to have more subdued patterns. Both will often use makeup to fix imperfections in the symmetry of these pigmentation patterns, or even enhance the pattern for formal events.
As a Tseibajeen ages, their skin begins to lose its natural cyan color and fade to a more grey or white color. Impurities in water will affect their skin more as they age as well. Some will artificially tint their skin to a cyan color to counteract the affects of aging.

Geographic Distribution

• Tseiba

Related Organizations

• Celestial Empire
• Celestial Truth