Kasatha
ka'SAA(H)-tha(h)
Basic Information
Anatomy
Kasathas are grey-skinned humanoids with four arms and pure black eyes. Lacking a protruding nose, a kasatha’s head is smooth and elongated, with skin stretched tight to a skull extending backwards far beyond the edge of the neck. While lean compared to humans, kasathas have more advanced muscle fibres that grant them surprising strength. Physical differences between kasathan genders are slight and easily overlooked by other races.
Growth Rate & Stages
Maturity is reached at 25 years of age.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Kasathan society is generally matriarchal and nomadic, organized into myriad 'great families,' clans, and subclans, with individuals and family units roaming as their whims take them.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Kasatha Name Generator
Plural: Kasatha
Kasatha go by their first names, though their full names always encompass additional names denoting parentage, clan or subclan, relation to the Great Families of Kasath, and connection to historical heroes - it’s not uncommon for a kasathan’s full name to include half a dozen such elements. For instance, a kasatha who introduces himself as 'Isu' might properly be named “Isu Cocretia Qaru Maras of Clan Tarma, House Hadulan, soul-splinter of the line of Ru.”
Plural: Kasatha
Kasatha go by their first names, though their full names always encompass additional names denoting parentage, clan or subclan, relation to the Great Families of Kasath, and connection to historical heroes - it’s not uncommon for a kasathan’s full name to include half a dozen such elements. For instance, a kasatha who introduces himself as 'Isu' might properly be named “Isu Cocretia Qaru Maras of Clan Tarma, House Hadulan, soul-splinter of the line of Ru.”
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Kasatha were technologically advanced when humanity was still huddling in caves, yet they long ago plateaued socially and technologically, learning the importance of stability and balance after a series of near-apocalyptic disasters.
In Kasathan culture, the answer to any question lies somewhere in the past. The fact that their homeworld’s records extend further back into the Gap than any Pact World only encourages their veneration of history. This leads to a culture steeped in customs that can seem bizarre to outsiders, from the common requirement to hide one’s mouth around all but one’s most intimate companions to an ironclad belief in the superior dignity of wielding melee weapons over projectile or energy weapons.
In Kasathan culture, the answer to any question lies somewhere in the past. The fact that their homeworld’s records extend further back into the Gap than any Pact World only encourages their veneration of history. This leads to a culture steeped in customs that can seem bizarre to outsiders, from the common requirement to hide one’s mouth around all but one’s most intimate companions to an ironclad belief in the superior dignity of wielding melee weapons over projectile or energy weapons.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Each kasatha follows a unique set of traditions, combining common rituals with new ones they create. Each kasatha gains more and more traditions over a lifetime so that the oldest kasathas spend much of their time honouring the past.
This accumulation of personal customs begins during the Tempering, a yearlong walkabout all kasatha undergo at the end of adolescence. During this time, young kasatha are encouraged to test their limits, learn from other cultures, and engage in normally improper behaviour in hopes of coming to appreciate the value of tradition.
This accumulation of personal customs begins during the Tempering, a yearlong walkabout all kasatha undergo at the end of adolescence. During this time, young kasatha are encouraged to test their limits, learn from other cultures, and engage in normally improper behaviour in hopes of coming to appreciate the value of tradition.
History
While they knew that, on a stellar scale, the sun of their home planet was near death, tradition kept them from entertaining the idea of colonising another world until shortly after the Gap. Then, their progenitor race - the plane-hopping witchwyrds - returned and told them of the perfect world: a place called Akiton.
Determined to settle this promised land, the kasatha began construction of a great, slower-than-light colony ship. Hundreds of years later, the worldship Idari arrived in the Pact Worlds system. To the crew’s surprise, however, local technology had advanced, and the kasathan juggernaut found itself too vulnerable to risk invading Akiton. Instead, while many kasatha emigrated peacefully to that planet and the surrounding worlds, the majority elected to remain aboard the Idari in an orbit between Verces and the Diaspora, tending its rotating-drum farms and manufacturing bays while trading with other races.
Determined to settle this promised land, the kasatha began construction of a great, slower-than-light colony ship. Hundreds of years later, the worldship Idari arrived in the Pact Worlds system. To the crew’s surprise, however, local technology had advanced, and the kasathan juggernaut found itself too vulnerable to risk invading Akiton. Instead, while many kasatha emigrated peacefully to that planet and the surrounding worlds, the majority elected to remain aboard the Idari in an orbit between Verces and the Diaspora, tending its rotating-drum farms and manufacturing bays while trading with other races.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Their conviction that most other races don’t truly understand the importance of personal dignity means Kasathas rarely bother to teach their customs to outside races, which leads to their reputation as being mysterious, standoffish, wise, or all three.
Kasathas strive to maintain open trade with all races, yet they find some more amicable than others. They see Vesk as brutish and shameful in their focus on conquest by any means, and Ysoki as loud and undignified. They get along well with Lashunta, who properly respect the knowledge of the past, and they are intrigued by both Androids and Shirrens - races they see as young enough to be led down proper paths. Humans often confuse them; just when they’re ready to write all Humans off as capricious, they meet one whose sense of honour almost matches their own.
Kasathas strive to maintain open trade with all races, yet they find some more amicable than others. They see Vesk as brutish and shameful in their focus on conquest by any means, and Ysoki as loud and undignified. They get along well with Lashunta, who properly respect the knowledge of the past, and they are intrigued by both Androids and Shirrens - races they see as young enough to be led down proper paths. Humans often confuse them; just when they’re ready to write all Humans off as capricious, they meet one whose sense of honour almost matches their own.
"Tradition is our life, my son. Tradition guides us when we are unsure of the path ahead, to steady us when our heart wavers. And now, you will leave and find your own traditions - but do not forget the ones your parents have taught you.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Lifespan
100 to 140 years
Average Height
1.8m (6ft) to 2.1m (7ft)
Average Weight
54.43kg (120lbs) to 91kg (200lbs)
Kasatha originally brought the philosophy of star cycles and cosmic balance to the Pact Worlds, and to this day most solarians are kasatha, though their physiques and love of duelling also make them excellent soldiers, and the study of ancient traditions turns many into mystics. Kasatha undergoing the Tempering make perfect explorers and adventurers, and in recent generations these walkabouts sometimes turn permanent.
Playing as a Kasatha
Many kasatha are lawful neutral, as befits their focus on custom, though younger ones can often be more chaotic, idealistic, or self-centered. You likely:- Seek wisdom in history and find dignity in customs and tradition.
- Strive to maintain balance and stability in yourself and your comrades.
- Use ranged weapons when necessary but find melee weapons inherently more honourable.
- Keep your mouth hidden behind a scarf in public, carefully tucking food under it and using straws to drink.
- Don't understand your customs and mistake your veneration of the elegant past for primitiveness.
- Resent your aloofness and assume you think you're superior to them.
- Fear you want to invade and colonise their home.
- Respect your cultural knowledge, but find you stodgy and inflexible.
Kasatha
Talents
Kasatha begin with the following Talents:- Desert Stride: -b from nonmagical Difficult Terrain.
- Historians: Kasatha receive Knowledge (Lore) as a career skill.
- Four Armed: Kasatha may always take an additional Maneuver without the Strain cost.
Languages
Kasatha begin with the following languages:Archetype Abilities
3
2
2
1
3
2
- Starting Wound Threshold: 10 + Brawn
- Starting Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower
- Starting Experience: 55
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