Jehetma
Jehetma are a species of sapient fungoids that originated on the tundra world of Jehet Prime. These fungoids are rather unique compared to most species in the galaxy: an 'individual' Jehetma is in actuality a particularly large colony of fungi that has developed sapience. These fungi, which are the Jehetma themselves, are only capable of limited thinking. When they merge with another Jehetma fungus, the new entity has exponentially more intelligence than the two smaller ones individually. This scales up to a full-sized Jehetma, the process of which is approximately equivalent to a childhood. At a certain point, new colony additions begin demanding more resources than they provide, effectively capping the size of an individual at approximately three to four metres tall.
When the extensive growth process is complete, an adult Jehetma has comparable raw intelligence to other sapient species. However, the collective thought processes of a multitide of fungi often lead to novel and abstract thinking among Jehetma, giving them a reputation as cunning or ingenious thinkers capable of seeing 'outside the box'. While the process of growing to full size is slow, a fully-grown Jehetma numbers among the strongest sapients in the galaxy. This is not due to any hyper-dense muscles like those present on Kel-Azaan (on average, Kel-Azaan are stronger than Jehetma), but instead due to their sheer size. The large size of Jehetma also means that real estate on their homeworld was limited, so the species has become comfortable living in cramped and crowded environments (for their size).
Among Jehetma, there is a very rare mutation that occasionally appears in the population. Rather than additional additions to an individual drawing increasingly more resources for no neurological gain, these individuals have just the right component fungi that allows them to scale essentially infinitely. These 'elders', as they are called, are not bound by limits on exponential processing. Instead, they are bound by the amount of food they can eat and the square-cube law dictating their heat regulation. Jehetma elders can grow to several kilometres long and live for thousands of years, but their sheer size and heat requirements effectively require they live out their entire lives in wetlands. Additionally, after a certain point, fungi additions become increasingly devoted to memory retention and large-scale organ functions instead of active processing power. This means that, although elders can recall memories from the Bronze Age of Jehetma civilisation, they are only twice to three times as smart (based on standard intelligence tests) than the average colony.
When the extensive growth process is complete, an adult Jehetma has comparable raw intelligence to other sapient species. However, the collective thought processes of a multitide of fungi often lead to novel and abstract thinking among Jehetma, giving them a reputation as cunning or ingenious thinkers capable of seeing 'outside the box'. While the process of growing to full size is slow, a fully-grown Jehetma numbers among the strongest sapients in the galaxy. This is not due to any hyper-dense muscles like those present on Kel-Azaan (on average, Kel-Azaan are stronger than Jehetma), but instead due to their sheer size. The large size of Jehetma also means that real estate on their homeworld was limited, so the species has become comfortable living in cramped and crowded environments (for their size).
Among Jehetma, there is a very rare mutation that occasionally appears in the population. Rather than additional additions to an individual drawing increasingly more resources for no neurological gain, these individuals have just the right component fungi that allows them to scale essentially infinitely. These 'elders', as they are called, are not bound by limits on exponential processing. Instead, they are bound by the amount of food they can eat and the square-cube law dictating their heat regulation. Jehetma elders can grow to several kilometres long and live for thousands of years, but their sheer size and heat requirements effectively require they live out their entire lives in wetlands. Additionally, after a certain point, fungi additions become increasingly devoted to memory retention and large-scale organ functions instead of active processing power. This means that, although elders can recall memories from the Bronze Age of Jehetma civilisation, they are only twice to three times as smart (based on standard intelligence tests) than the average colony.
Type
Fungoid
Homeworld
Jehet Prime
Preference
Tundra
Plural
Jehetma
Adjective
Jehetman
Fungoid
Homeworld
Jehet Prime
Preference
Tundra
Lifespan
90 years (typically)
4,000+ years (rare mutation)
4,000+ years (rare mutation)
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
Jehetma
Adjective
Jehetman
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