Aquris

A sentient species originating on the Leosus Ring World.
Aquris evolved under the ocean, while retaining their ability to survive on land. As such, they are highly adapted for undersea life, and have constructed various underwater cities despite being roughly humanoid shaped. They have also occupied several islands in particularly deep sections of the ring world.
They have large, webbed fingers which assist in propelling them through water. Their feet also has a large, retractable fin. While opened, this makes it hard to walk on land, however. There is also another, retractable fin used for steering and guidance at high and low speeds. This is located near the respiratory duct on the back of the torso.
They also largely enjoy riding waves emitted from various ships in motion in the water.
Aquris skin colour often varies between shades of green and blue. This is not always the case, though, and some ethnicities of Aquris can even have crimson skin, though this is rare.
They are also on average slightly taller than other races.

Basic Information

Dietary Needs and Habits

In their early history, they relied primarily on fish for food. As a result, Aquris are carnivorous. Farming has become more efficient later, so that took over. Aquris bodies require more energy than most other races due to the energy intensity of their swimming and underwater breathing operations, so they can often speed up metabolism to travel through water rapidly. Other than this, food is processed similarly to most other races, just with more measures to account for the more likely swallowing of salty water.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

They evolved with thicker eyes allowing them to see underwater without the eye being damaged. Aquris ears are smaller because sound travels more effectively through water, but are also designed to be able to hear on land and underwater. Due to this, they have incredible hearing underwater but less effective hearing in air. The small ears also help to streamline the body better. They also touch feel.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

Almost all Aquris technologies are easily usable underwater, or assist other technologies become underwater. This phenomenon has persisted from their stone age and remains accurate today. They now have cybernatic implants making the muscles that they rely on for swimming stronger, and have acess to the technologies of the HF, though they tend to modify them for underwater use.

History

Early in their history, they had to ward off attacks from various other races of the ring world. These could initially only sail using large, slow and vulnerable boats, giving the Aquris a huge advantage in naval combat. Due to this, the other races began to fear ocean travel as they still had no idea what was causing the boats to never return. This happened to about 1 in 18 boats.
It was only years later, when propulsion and material technologies improved, that the Aquris were truly discovered. Some boats began to actually survive to tell the tale of being attacked by newly discovered underwater people. To counter this new threat, these ships were always armed with machine guns (a viable technology at this time)

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Physiology

Gore Spoiler

Aquris have 2 'modes' for respiration. When they are exposed to the air, they can breathe like most other sentient species, with several large lungs. While under the water, this will not work however. The 2nd mode involves taking in water from the outside and pumping it through a seperate path out of the esophagus and into a large internal gill-like organ, and then it expels the deoxygenated water through a body entrance on the back which closes when not in use. The pumping operation requires a lot of energy, but can also provide the body with a very large quantity of oxygenated blood. In air, the lung is used for speech. Underwater, the muscles in the gill organs can contract and, if done correctly, can make sound waves travel through the vocal cords and out of the mouth. This allows Aquris to speak underwater. Aquris cannot swallow or breathe air while their esophagus is full of water. They can empty it by using peristalsis and regurgitating the water. Any food that somehow ends up in the gill organs can be cleaned in a similar process. The later of these can be quite painful to Aquris however. In the extremely rare case the gill fills with water in this situation, the food can break apart and destroy the gill organ.

Lifespan

1200

Average Height

2.2 m

Blood Colour

Green-Yellow