Arkatians

Basic Information

Anatomy

The arkatians are a species that closely resemble the dragons found in Terran myth, but they are a hybrid between mammal and reptile not seen on Earth. They are bipeds with the usual two arms, but a majority of the species have leathery wings as completely independent limbs, though for most these wings only allow them to glide.
Their hides are made up entirely of small, overlapping scales. These scales are resistant to most accidental damage and smaller clawed opponents or very light blades. Arkatians often have thick, prehensile tails that are usually slightly longer than they are tall.
Most arkatians have two to six horns on their heads. They have four fingered hands, with durable, non-retractable claws. Their feet are digitigrade with four clawed toes. They have long snouts full of massive, pointed teeth that tear flesh with ease.
Some arkatians, primarily from the hottest climates of Katia, may have a series of spines running from the center of their heads to the end of their tails, with the same leathery hide as their wings between them. This 'sail,' as it is called, is used for cooling, a useful feature for a species known for overheating itself from exertion. The sail can be folded for clothing that will cover the back.
They have two fully functional hearts that can continue to operate when the other fails. Two very large livers allow them to resist most toxins. Their immune system is particularly robust, leaving the species with very few natural illnesses. They have a high regular body temperature that can increase significantly during exertion. This leads to the species' well known issue with endurance, where intense exertion will burn them out quicker than any other species.
As a biological counter to this limitation, during perilous situations an arkatian may work themselves into what they call a ‘rage,’ where they will demonstrate enhanced strength at the cost of rapid physical burnout and uncontrollable fury.
Due to this natural limitation in endurance, most arkatians are calm and easygoing, not often in a rush. However, the biological factor of their rage can make them quick to anger, and as a result they prefer ending personal conflict swiftly, and if needed, with overwhelming force. Against most species, their size and strength are typically enough to quickly stop a physical conflict with little harm before a rage rises. Even if a rage does occur, the arkatian typically has enough self-control to avoid unwarranted violence, typically preferring intense intimidation in these instances. It is life or death situations, protecting loved ones or friends, or military conflict where an arkatian rage will lead to brutal results.

Biological Traits

A wide range of differing physical features pervade the species. The most notable is that 34 percent of arkatians completely lack wings. Among those that do, their wings are usually about 1.5 times wide as they are tall, and are incapable of flight. Around .014 percent of arkatians may grow wings over three times as wide as their height, allowing them full flight capabilities. They are not graceful fliers, nor quick, but can stay aloft for about an hour before exhaustion will bring them down. Occasionally, bone spikes will grow at the tips of any arkatian's wings.
Their horns are normally swept back, but some will curl around to point forward. Some may develop small horn like nubs on their jaws, but these never grow to any notable length and only strengthen the arkatian's resistance to blunt strikes at their mouths. Some may also have thick, pointed bone spikes jutting from their elbows and knees. These protrusions are fully capable of being offensive weapons, but are also a large inconvenience that many may choose to have removed. Finally, some may have a pointed spike on the ends of their snouts.
While their long tails typically drag on the ground, some individuals will sport shorter tails that don't touch the ground at all. These tails lose their prehensile ability, but many consider the smaller size more convenient.
Eye colors vary wildly, with the most common color being gold and green. Less common colors include red, violet, and blue. Colors can vary between all of these tones, such as eyes that look more orange than red.
Around half of all Arkatians have external ears that are capable of expression, while others simply have ear canals beneath their horns.

Genetics and Reproduction

Arkatians lay internally fertilized eggs. Pregnancies last for seven months before a clutch of one to three eggs is laid. From there, it takes another seven to eight months for the eggs to hatch. Hatchlings may then be breastfed by their mothers.
Arkatians have three possible sexes that make up an equal share of the species population; male, female, and hermaphrodite. The latter possess both male and female genitalia, as well as secondary female sexual characteristics. A hermaphrodite can experience pregnancy and impregnate others, but cannot produce young without a partner. Females and hermaphrodites are only capable of laying eggs once per five decades. They have no breeding cycles, but due to their long lifespans, some choose to raise another clutch sometime around 200 years of age, before females and hermaphrodites stop being able to lay eggs at around 260.

Growth Rate & Stages

A newly hatched arkatian is about three times the size of an adult human. An arkatian is considered a hatchling for the first seven years of their life, before they develop the mental capacity for complete speech and full motor controls. In this time, the hatching will triple in size. The child will begin puberty at around 19 years of age, and is not considered fully mature until they turn 33. Most arkatians will start their education at 10, when they are about a third the size of an adult, meaning they usually will graduate from the 16 year education system at around 26.

Ecology and Habitats

As a species that 'runs hot,' arkatians usually prefer dry, cooler climates, but are adaptable enough for any. Their homeworld is rather cold, owing to the vast mountain ranges covering much of it. The warmer flatlands around the equator do match the heights of temperature found in tropical environments, but are still considered 'hot' by arkatian standards.
Arkatians with biological 'sails' will fare better than the others in a hot climate, but any one of them can adapt well enough, given time.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Arkatians are omnivorous, with a strong preference for meat as the main course for any meal. Their robust physiology allows them to devour carrion, but most refrain from doing so as it is considered socially poor taste, even if the meat is not necessarily considered foul tasting. They enjoy raw meat, typically seasoned, as well as cooked and prepared. They often enjoy eating with their hands, ripping food with their claws and crushing it with their massive teeth.
Arkatian food is considered extremely spicy. This can occasionally debilitate over-confident non-arkatians looking for the 'full experience.'

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

The diversity of features on arkatians gives the species a wide range of appearances, but there are a few consistent features. All arkatians have vertically slitted eyes that widen when they focus, reaching their widest when they begin reading heat or infrared. Different toned, hardened scales run down their snouts and cover the tops of their heads, and they also go over their brows, helping them to express facial emotions.
Their snouts can be pointed, or relatively rounded out, but are always fully capable of complex mouth expressions.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Arkatians are capable of seeing into the infrared spectrum, and can see heat signatures when focusing their vision. Otherwise, their senses are unremarkable, with a notable limitation in hearing. This usually isn't a problem due the audio capabilities of yutri earpieces, but it has led to arkatians having a reputation for loud reactions - they laugh loudly, shout louder than needed, and most well known - roar loud enough to deafen others, but not themselves or other arkatians. Ironically, however, the best known way to calm an upset arkatian is to speak quietly and softly. Further, whispering into their ears is considered very sensual for them and is common among romantic partners, close friends, and family.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

It is common for names given to children in the UTO to include a form of 'cross pollination' with other race names from other species. This is especially common for children born on hub worlds because of their massively diverse populations and cultural bleeding. Arkatians born on their home worlds or into families that prefer more traditional values will have more traditional arkatian names. Arkatians have names solely associated with hermaphrodites, though many hermaphrodites take female names too. Naming conventions that are traditionally arkatian are as follows:
Male Names Celkirusk, Hurgalasehn, Imkarrik, Jhokorrak, Khardivahk, Luhrdhakil, Nezekkis, Zherisan
Female Names Ari’kaskah, Dir’navarrah, Fahne, Har’mahkrir, Heshen, Sev’gilah, Tir’kanaw, Zur’ishkah
Herm Names Angrahah, Chashaya, Jaanada, Seethrasha, Shahari, Yirshan
Last/Family Names Akradask, Kultak, Kulsah, Murkadan, Palzathan, Semkulzi

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Many Arkatians are encouraged from a young age to discover their 'Onus,' which can be best described as their purpose in life. An onus is typically the pursuit of an ideal, such as a belief in protecting the weak, or entertaining people, or exploration, or even war. Once they recognize their onus, they are conditioned to unerringly follow it, seeking to fulfill whatever role it finds them. Learning another arkatian's early on is standard in any forming relationships. For many arkatians, a fellow arkatian without an onus may be perceived as aimless or unwilling to excel. Often times, an arkatian with no onus may struggle to find work beyond menial labor or undesirable work.

History

The arkatians developed alongside the jahkatians, their avian felinoid sibling species. This makes them the only two distinctly different sapient species to have evolved congruently on one planet, with only the Ishentians having the closest historical comparison by evolving in the same star system.
Unfortunately, having two sapient species with few natural barriers, such as oceans, between them led to a long history of war. While it can be surmised that fighting began in prehistory over hunting grounds, the first recorded wars began in the lowlands along various parts of Katia's equator over territorial claims for agriculture. These conflicts lessened as terrace farming in the mountainous regions developed, but were soon replaced by wars of religion and ideology.
This interpsecies conflict eventually led to both species being almost completely unified by their respective empires around the medieval period, an early achievement exceeded only by the Rynar Collective. The Arkatian Arkilio Empire dominated most of the northern hemisphere, but had completely lost the equator. This proved to be of little concern to the species, as their powerful physiologies allowed them to carve their cities into the mountains and live at frigid high altitudes. The genetic 'defect' of not having wings became desirable for easier subterranean living and the ever growing need for mining, and has resulted in nearly a third of the species being wingless today.
The Jahkatian Laosajah Republics dominated the agricultural heartlands of the equator, and their more common ability for flight allowed them to maintain firm control over most of it. To compensate, the arkatians had to rely almost completely on terrace farming, as well as utilizing what few flatland valleys that could be found. To maximize the space as cities grew, the Empire only went further and further into the mountains. Today, the vast mountain cities and sprawling terrace lands of the old Arkilio Empire still exist, are still lived and worked in to this day.
The subterranean culture has a deep history with gemstones and jewelry, with some of the most intricate creations being used to brighten up underground life, from clothing, to monuments. In particular, the glow of erestal pervaded cities and homes, illuminating the empire. This fascination with erestal ushered in another unique development for Katia, compared to most other species - erestal power was discovered before the age of steam power.
This allotted the arkatians a significant advantage once they weaponized the crystals; they created primitive energy weapons, and the following attacks on their southern neighbors dwarfed all that had come before. Thus began the decades long Heartland War. The jahkatians resisted fiercely, desperate to maintain such an important food supply. But within years, they were pushed south of the heartlands. The Republics, filled with refugees and a dwindling supply of food, were destabilizing. Some cities seceded to form their own nations, and in response, Laosajah renewed their war with Arkilio to maintain a public enemy. They had developed their own erestal weapons, giving them the opportunity to push their draconic enemy back.
The heartlands were destroyed in the ensuing fighting as the arkatians enacted a scorched earth policy, salting and burning the farmlands whenever they were pushed back. They finally chose to withdraw northward after several years, as the absolute refusal for surrender from the jahkatians made maintaining control of the equator impossible, and the self sustainability of Arkilio had little need for it. 'Technically,' the jahkatians won the war, but the Republics were crippled and starving. The arkatians were left with nothing gained, and the public began questioning the point of the whole ordeal.
The Republics fell apart completely in the following years. Some of the now independent nation states did the unthinkable - they contacted Arkilio for help. At first, they were met coldly, but around this time, photography was becoming mass printable, and journalists were able to share with the world the state of the broken Republics. Paired with disillusionment from the war, public opinion shifted. Food, expertise, and equipment began to flow into the Republics even without official government support.
This finally began to warm relations between the species, as politicians that wished to amend the 'Great Shame' took power in Arkilio, helping to blunt jahkatian hatred for arkatians. Within several decades, the Republics reformed into the United Confederacy of Jahkatia, and pursued a joint venture with Arkilio to bring life back to the heartlands.
A long peace emerged out of the ashes, and both species achieved space flight together. They created the bubble-jump drive in a joint research effort, and were suddenly faced with the very real possibility of running into alien life. The Katian Union emerged as a cooperative space exploration and colonization effort, and together they went out into the larger galaxy.
Over the next two centuries, the Union was alone, as far as it knew. This dampened enthusiasm, particularly for the arkatians that lived through the first journeys into space, and the union's expansion began to stagnate. This growing sense of loneliness was shattered one day, when a falashai Taishayfen Alliance exploration vessel, Forlorn Hope appeared at the outer edge of the Oarla System, a system with a young agricultural colony on Oarla II.
The local fleet garrison met Forlorn Hope and exchanged first contact packages, lighting a fire of excitement among the populations of both sides. Their militaries, however, feared war. The Katians in particular were afraid of what a species barrier could lead to, and were determined to maintain positive relations, even with falashai distrust.
However, war never came, and relations warmed significantly over the next century. It had been 91 years after first contact for the Katians, but on the 100th anniversary for the falashai, the Katian Union proposed to the Alliance the idea of a union of species, to foster a safe future for all of them.
A few years later, they formed a military and economic alliance, giving rise to what would become the greatest confederate power in the galaxy - the United Treaty Organization.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

As a founding species of the United Treaty Organization, arkatians as a whole maintain a strong belief in cooperation and strength in unity. But, the culture of the onus may affect the more traditional arkatians to the point of finding nonarkatians to be lazy or uncommitted. Not all arkatians are like this, but most will find a nonarkatian's passions or dedications to something to be endearing, and worthy of respect.
Arkatians are a long lived race, meaning many will outlive their friends, and may even outlive their friends' children. Because of this, arkatians may take efforts to guide, tutor, or protect their greatest friends' children. The hope is that when the parent one day passes, the arkatian may keep a strong connection to the dead through their descendants, as well as to honor their memory.

Homeworld: Katia
Home System: Rifirn
Home Government: Katian Union

Origin/Ancestry

Dragon

Lifespan

432 UST years (237 Terran years)

Average Height

2.18 valen (26.92 meters) (88.32 feet)

Average Weight

158.621 kilofaarir (297.32 metric tons) (327.74 tons)

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Scales come in a myriad of colors, but always are in a monochromatic pallete. Arkatians may be red, green, gold, blue, purple, white, or black. Their fronts, under their jaws, and the softer hide of their wings are typically lighter, while hardened scales may be darker. However, any combination of light to dark shades may occur.
Otherwise, the species lacks any complicated patterning. To make up for this, coloring scales with semi-permanent paints is very popular.