Octopoids

The Octopoid race is not originally from this planet, but arrived around 4000 years ago. Their original homeworld was rendered uninhabitable by a meteor impact, and they sent out colonization ships in many directions in order to find a habitable planet.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Octopoids are quite tall and vaguely humanoid in shape. Their heads are big, resembling an earth octupus's mantle, containing not only their brain but also their respiratory and digestive organs. They have eight tentacles, the two most dextrous ones located besides their head, functioning as their hands. Most of their "torso" is made up of six thick, long, muscular tentacles, providing height and locomotion. The six "legs" can be used as hands in a pinch, but less accurately (albeit with more strength due to the greater musculature) than the tentacles besides the head. At the intersection of the tentacles, at the centre of their face, a sharp beak is placed. On opposite sides of the beak there are two large, black, almond-shaped eyes, taking up most of their face. In the middle of their forehead there is a small patch of light-sensitive cells only clearly visible if one knows where to look, forming a primitive "third eye". On either side of their head sits a vestigial fin, taking the shape either of a single pointy appendage or three appendages with webbing between them.

Biological Traits

Octopoids are eusocial, and develop into one of six castes at puberty. A few become Queen Mothers or Drones, and develop fully formed reproductive organs. Others become Caretakers, developing glands excreting a nutritious fluid fed to larvae and younglings. Some grow into Warriors, developing thicker skin and greater musculature. Most grow into Workers, who do not exhibit any distinctive traits. A sixth caste was artificially engineered on the homeworld, a caste of Technicians, who exhibit greater intelligence, bigger heads and are generally taller than other members of their species.

Genetics and Reproduction

Octopoids are eusocial, meaning that only a small number of their species ever reproduce. Every colony of Octopoids has a single Queen Mother, who produces thousands of eggs daily. A number of these eggs are fertilised by the Drones as needed, who die soon after. These eggs are kept in tanks containing a liquid mimicking the oceans from their homeworld, creating the ideal environment for the eggs to gestate for a minimum of about 160 days. The gestation time is dependent on the eggs' environment, and it is not uncommon for the gestation process to be slowed down or even temporarily halted with little ill effect on the resulting younglings for planning purposes.

Growth Rate & Stages

The eggs hatch as paralarvae, and only a few survive until the next stage. The ones that do, reach the next stage of younglings in under a year, moving out of the water and breathing air, and display intelligence roughly equivalent to a human toddler. At this point, they do not show the traits of any of the castes, and are cared for by the Caretakers. Between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, they start to exhibit traits specific to their caste. At this point, they are separated for purposes of education. All except the Drones remain with the colony; young Drones are sent off to an allied colony to fertilise the eggs there. Heiresses, that is young Queen Mothers, do not become fertile until the Queen Mother present dies or is rendered infertile. At this point all available Heiresses become fertile at once and have the biological urge to attack and kill their competition. Nowadays, it is usual that one Heiress is chosen beforehand, and arrangements are made to either send other Heiresses off to start their own colony or to hormonally suppress their transformation into Queen Mothers.

Ecology and Habitats

Little is known about the exact details of the Octopoids' homeworld, other than that it was quite similar to this planet. They seem to prefer low-lying areas such as coasts, marine forests and plains over hills and mountains.

Dietary Needs and Habits

It is unknown what the Octopoids' diet was on their homeworld, and they admit they have genetically engineered themselves to be able to consume foods native to this planet. It appears they were originally carnivorous, given their front-facing eyes and sharp beaks. The main part of their diet seems to be meat, and they regularly consume insects, fish, reptiles and fowl. However, they also consume a variety of mushrooms and other fungi.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Octopoids live in colonies consisting of a single Queen Mother and her offspring. The Queen Mother does not hold any official political sway, although it is often said that one does not easily say no to the Queen Mother. Political power is in the hands of the Warrior and Technician castes, forming councils. Inter-colony relationships are deemed very important for the persistence of the colony, and Octopoids tend to form complex networks of alliances.

Facial characteristics

Large black eyes, a sharp beak and vestigial fins resembling ears.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Found in small colonies on every continent.

Average Intelligence

Highly intelligent, sapient.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

As sapient creatures, they can form a deal with a Fae or an Eldritch Glitch to become a Witch, even though they are not native to this planet.
Octopoids have some measure of limited telepathic ability, though it is largely limited to detecting the presence of colony members and communicating distress.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

In official documents, Octopoids are addressed with their caste title and a number that indicates their colony and hatching date. Informally, they are given a name by their primary caretaker as a youngling at first, and choose a name of their own after transitioning into their caste.

Relationship Ideals

While Octopoids do not form romantic relationships centred around reproduction, they do form close emotional relationships with another member of their species, usually for their entire lives.

Average Technological Level

They are the most technologically advanced species on the planet.

History

The Octopoids originate from an unknown home planet in the order of several hundred light years away. The planet was rendered uninhabitable by a meteor impact, and self-sufficient mother ships were sent out in several directions to find a new habitable planet. After several generations, they found this planet, unaware that it was already inhabited by the non-biological Clay People who had started forming their own low tech civilisations. Several colonies had already been established until the Octopoids found out that the world was already inhabited. It is unknown if any of the other ships made it to a habitable planet.
Over the course of centuries, interspecies relationships between the Clay People and Octopoids have been generally friendly. The Octopoids have given the Clay People small but substantial help in developing their own technologies, specifically allowing the Clay People to develop technologies that had only been possible due to an industrial revolution in spite of the planet's fossil resources being depleted by the Ancients.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The Octopoids regard the Clay People as kin, and largely respect them as a fellow intelligent species. It is often said that they feel a protective urge towards them, realizing how precious sapient creatures are, or alternatively that they have adopted these orphan automatons out of pity.
However, their relationship with the Fae is more complicated, since the Octopoids initially assumed the Fae were hostile and regarded them as invaders. However, they soon learned that the Fae care very little about the goings on in the physical realm, but they were not prepared to deal with the Fae trying to make deals. The Fae attitude is to regard all physical beings as pawns or toys, and all that do not belong to their courts as potential enemies. The Octopoids, on the other hand, value cooperation, and these attitudes clashed numerous times, with Octopoids who did not know how to deal with Fae making deals with them that were radically not in their favour.

Lifespan

100 years, much shorter for Drones

Average Height

1.80m

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Green, ranging from greyish green to mint to bright neon