Ch'tar

Captain Leman of the DHS Blackbird stood on the observation deck of his ship, waiting for history to be made. Below him, there was a quiet chatter of anticipation as his technicians hurried about, making the final preparations for the grand experiment. The opening of the Stargate.
The massive ring stood before them, stretching from floor to ceiling and wall to wall of the modified docking bay. Nearly 2000 feet in diameter, the Stargate stood triumphantly as a symbol of the power of the Divine Hand.
"Captain, sir". Leman turned toward his chief technician, who stood nervously a few paces away. "It's ready".
Leman nodded. "Turn it on. Prepare to receive the boarding party from the Sovereign".
The technician scurried away, shouting out orders as he went. Soon, the room was quiet, save for the clicking of switches and buttons as the gate was powered up. Below, Leman's finest soldiers gathered, waiting to greet their visitors from the other side of the gate. With one last command from the technicians, the Stargate began to hum, a soft blue light emanating from it's frame.
For a moment, nothing happened. Leman tapped his foot impatiently. Leaning forward onto the comm, he was about to contact the soldiers down below, when he was suddenly blinded by a brilliant flash from the gate. As the light cleared, he eagerly looked down to the docking bay. Standing before his greeting party, was a single figure, obscured by a vacc suit. Not the boarding party he had expected, but that was of no matter. The Stargate had worked!
He turned excitedly to his science officer. "Update the logs. We have a successful transfer".
The comm blared to life, interrupting his moment of triumph. Leman turned, confused, back towards the docking bay. Below the single figure had removed the helmet of his vacc suit. Leman recoiled in shock and disgust. The creature's elongated head whipped around as it shielded it's eyes from the low lights of the docking bay. A mass of tentacles writhed it the end of it's face, and beady eyes scanned the assembled men before it. A single member of the Blackbird's soldiers approached, gun raised. The creature, seeming to panic at the raised weapon, reached out, a placed a now ungloved hand on the man's shoulder.
The soldier looked down at the hand, confused. A moment later he dropped to the floor.
Leman could hear the confused cries of the soldiers through the comm, the murmurs of disgust from his bridge crew as they watched in horror. A second man ran to the collapsed body and rolled it towards him, seeming to check for any marks or wounds. Suddenly, he dropped to the ground as well.
Gunshots rang out across the docking bay as panicked soldiers began to fire at the monster. Others turned and ran from the docking bay. Still more watched, stunned, as the creature made it's way out of the room, towards engineering.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Ch'tar are a humanoid race with vaguely cephalopod-like anatomy. Their heads are elongated and end in a set of feeding tentacles, and they have four small eyes which are extremely sensitive to light. Their hands and feet are also tentacle like in appearance, and their skin has a green-grey hue to it.
All Ch'tar are born with latent psionic abilities, although for the majority of the population they are fairly minor. All Ch'tar are capable of giving psionic suggestions to less intelligent creatures, more extreme cases can use this ability on more complex life forms, including other sentient life. Extremely rarely Ch'tar savants will be born, who can have access to any number of psionic abilities from telekinesis to psionic attacks.

Ecology and Habitats

The Ch'tar's eyes are extremely sensitive to direct light, so they prefer planets and ecosystems where light is greatly limited. Because of this, they tend to build their societies in dense forests and jungles, or occasionally even underground. During the height of their space fairing era, they tended colonize planets which had short days and long nights, or other phenomenon which limited the amount of light received by the surface.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Ch'tar have extremely good dark vision. They also have nictitating membranes, allowing them to see underwater and in harsh conditions without damage to their eyes. Their sense of touch is also noticeably more sensitive than a human's.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

The most alien part of the Ch'tar is the symbiotic relationship they have with the Ch'tot. The Ch'tot are microscopic insects that live inside the bodies of the Ch'tar. Many of the functions found in the human body, such as the immune system, digestive system, and waste disposal, are achieved inside the Ch'tar by psionically controlling the Ch'tot. This limited control over the Ch'tot has additional perks as well. For example, a Ch'tar may be able to order more of their Ch'tot to a wounded area on their body, allowing for accelerated healing.
The Ch'tot are constantly swarming on the bodies of the Ch'tar, being passed between members of the species every time they share physical contact. However, the insects will be transported to any other living being the Ch'tar touch as well. While the insides of a Ch'tar are generally tough and leathery, beings with weaker organs and tissues can be killed by Ch'tot entering their bodies, as the insects rapidly feed on the creature's innards. Because of this, many creatures, including humans, can be killed within minutes simply by touching a Ch'tar, as microscopic creatures enter through their orifices and chew through their veins, arteries, or organs. It is only by wearing a completely sealed suit that a human can safely touch a Ch'tar, or any other being that has been infected with the Ch'tot.

Civilization and Culture

History

Much of the Ch'tar's history from before the space age is forgotten, due to a near extinction level event in their past. It is widely believed that a fatal disease nearly wiped out their population on their home planet. This disease targeted many of the most vital parts of the Ch'tar's anatomy, and could often be fatal within weeks or even days. It was only by broadening their latent psionic abilities that the Ch'tar were able to survive. Learning to psionically command the Ch'tot to replace many of their body's natural features, the Ch'tar were able to narrowly escape total erasure.
This event was one that forever changed the Ch'tar race. Due to their new symbiotic relationship, their lifespan was greatly increased, as many of their body's functions were now taken care of by a constantly reproducing supply of microorganisms. They also quickly discovered their other new abilities, such as accelerated healing. They saw that more powerful users of psionics were able to greater control the Ch'tot, as so their culture evolved to revere and admire powerful psionics. The Ch'tar were a deeply spiritual and scholarly race, and the study of psionics was seen as one of the most noble professions one could obtain.
Eventually, after hundreds of years of war and struggle, the entire Ch'tar home world was unified under a single government, a council of powerful psionic users. It was not long after this that the Ch'tar entered the Space Age, and began interacting with other space fairing races. It was then that the Ch'tar realized that, unlike the animals from their home world, other races and creatures had not evolved to have an immunity to the Ch'tot. To many races, their touch would be fatal. Unfortunately, this discovery came too late, and the Imperium world of Sratar lost nearly 10,000 citizens after initiaing contact with the Ch'tar, in addition to major damage to the plants and animals of the planet's ecosystem. This took place at the height of the Hyadian Imperium's genocides, and placed the eradication of the Ch'tar as one of the Empire's most prioritized missions.
Despite their deadly abilities, the Ch'tar were not a war like people, and their technology was easily outmatched by the Empire's. In a second near extinction event, the entire population was nearly wiped out, this time coming down to under 100 members. The only survivors of the Imperium's genocides were a group of Ch'tar who managed to overtake a human science vessel, but were placed inside a stasis field as a form of quarantine. There they remained until nearly 300 years after the collapse of the Empire, after which they managed to free themselves by hijacking an experiment conducted by The Order of the Divine Hand. Now, with the Ch'tar released back into the universe, and their number dropping to only a few dozen, they search for an uninhabited planet to quietly rebuild their society.

Lifespan

600-700 Years

Conservation Status

Near Extinct. Fewer than 100 remain.

Average Height

5-6 feet

Average Weight

100-130 lbs.

Natural Killers

Because of their innate ability to kill nearly any creature they can touch, many Ch'tar became bounty hunters after their return to the Hyades Cluster. Although most don't particularly enjoy the work, and worry about causing damage on a larger scale, it is one of the quickest ways to make money for the Ch'tar's small community.

Kito'rah

A group of under 100 Ch'tar managed to escape the genocides of the Hyadian Imperium when they were trapped in a pocket dimension intended to quarantine them. After their release, a Ch'tar by the name of Kito'rah became the new leader of the race. One of the most powerful physics the Ch'tar have ever known, he is capable of control his Ch'tot to the point where he can safely touch other beings.