Delkar

Kuroshi

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Name: Delkar

Biology: The Delkar are a semi-humanoid shape shifting species. Their bodies resemble that of mangled corpses covered in tentacles, though they remain fully alive and well. Their shape shifting ability is limited to two forms, with one resembling that of a humanoid and the other being more canine-like in appearance. Their bodies are like clay, and adapt to what is needed. In truth, their shape shifting isn't "real" shape shifting, only being able to transform between the two forms with relative ease and needing to put more focus to adapting further than that. That being said, they can shift around body parts and such to a limited degree to shift around organs, manifest limbs or appendages, etc. given they can concentrate on the initial change in form. Their monstrous look isn't just for show though, their tentacles and teeth being as sharp as needles and their bodies having an almost unnatural vitality to them. Their tentacles and most parts of the body aside from the head, brain, and vital organs can regenerate over a short time. Wounds are never really closed, but rather new body parts form over time. This regeneration isn't all-powerful and it can take a Delkar a week or two to regenerate something like a hand or a month and a half to two months for something like an arm, leg or tentacle.

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Breeding: Delkar breed sexually, but can only reproduce with other members of the species. There are male and female sexes. They breed similarly to other species that reproduce sexually, and their gestation period takes roughly ten months. They grow to maturity around the age of twenty to twenty-five, after which aging slows to the point of it seemingly freezing until they reach the age of two-hundred. After two-hundred years alive the Delkar again begin to show the signs of aging, and usually live to be around two-hundred and fifty years old. For one-hundred and eighty years Delkar remain in their prime for the purposes of procreation.

Strengths: They are naturally dexterous, agile and able to use shapeshifting to flow into movements and gain momentum easily. As noted, their teeth and tentacles are as sharp as any needle or sharp blade. A Delkar can use their tentacles to stab, grapple, whip or simply intimidate opposition like they do to most non-sentient animals they hunt. In both their animalistic and more humanoid form their tongues are just as sharp as their tentacles, and can be used in tandem with the tentacles to possibly throw off an opponent. This tongue also comes equipped with an ink shooter to be used as a "smoke bomb" while underwater when they feel overly threatened. When traversing the water a Delkar can swim faster than they can run on land. Shapeshifting is the major defensive and offensive force behind a Delkar, being able to change the density, texture, color and size of their bodies.

Weaknesses: Aside from the social ramifications of looking like a monster straight out from a horror movie, they are strangely weak to extreme heat. They strongly prefer cold moisture filled climates found on water worlds, forests, jungles, etc. Planets such as Mustafar, Lola Sayu and the like can weaken their bodies if directly exposed to the molten hot environment of the planets without proper protection. Even planets such as Tatooine and Jakku can give mild discomfort when visited. Given that their bodies warp and shift around a great deal some armors can also be.. awkward to say the least, Delkar strongly prefer non-bulky armor to allow them to freely shapeshift and move without issue, for the purposes of combat they cannot wear any form of heavy armor.

Diet:
They are omni-carnivores, preferring meat but not being opposed to plants.


Behavior/Temperament: They are for the most part reserved, and don't pay much mind to people interacting with them. They are for the most part friendly to outsiders and like to judge people based on their actions rather than beliefs or appearance.

Communication: Delkar communicate through the use of basic and sith mainly.



Culture: The Delkar are rather spiritual, and their religion is roughly similar to that of ancient Egypt, respecting death being a major aspect of it. Delkar have many gods and demigods in their belief system as listed here: Raava - god of the ocean and death, Dekal - god of the afterlife and gatekeeper to the underworld, Ferra - goddess of the earth and life, Devar - goddess of the force and gatekeeper to paradise, then finally Alabel - god of the sun and king of all gods.

Many Delkar only ever worship one or two gods at a time in addition to Alabel, with each coming in with specific tasks and functions in a Delkar's life. Alabel and Ferra are often the first to submit to, being the two major gods for a newborn Delkar and parents of newborn Delkar. Ferra shares the spotlight with Alabel for about twenty or thirty years as a Delkar grows up, then they shift to worshiping Alabel and Devar in hopes of being delivered into paradise in the afterlife. These two gods are a mainstay for Delkar up until they reach their later years, after they reach the age of two-hundred focus turns to Alabel and Raava, hoping their death will be fitting and offer little suffering. More often than not Dekal will also be worshipped as a way to keep out from the underworld immediately after their death at the hands of Raava. Dekal, though gatekeeper to the underworld, isn't seen in much if any negative light. All gods the Delkar believe in are praised and worshipped at least once in a Delkar's lifetime.

Their governmental system resembles that of a monarchy, with the major ruling body being chosen by their above mentioned gods. The king or queen is said to be a direct line to Alabel and is rarely opposed as to respect Alabel as well as the other gods. The king or queen will often choose a small group to rule along with them, each leader representing the five gods. Each ruler becomes the believed mouth piece of their respective god.

Whenever a leader happens to die a large temple is made to house their body and prized possessions, or at least a room to house their body and possessions. Every time a new representative of Alabel is found the remaining representatives for Raava, Ferra, Dekal, and Devar are killed or commit suicide in order to allow the new ruler to choose their own representatives. A temple is built for every new line of rulers, and each ruler is entombed in one of the rooms inside with the representation of Alabel getting the biggest room inside the tomb.

Delkar names aren't too different in structure from many other species. Names are often inspired by the sith language, though at times Basic as well, and are simply "[Lastname, Firstname]".

History: The Delkar began as aquatic humanoids with tentacle appendages from an unknown water world. Natural evolution lead them to have strange abilities, which mainly included shapeshifting. Their horrific appearance kept them safe from predators, looking like they were made of completely rotten flesh and bone or alien undersea plant life when used in combination with their shapeshifting. For the first few hundred years the species would live underwater near islands. They were a hunter gatherer species, preying on turtles, sharks and other creatures as they swam by their settlements. They were also able to grow algae and different seaweeds to help sustain themselves underwater.

Some time during their raising sentience, a sith temple began construction on one of the bigger more major islands of the planet. The delkar were wary, to suddenly have strange people on their planet using the limited land in order to build whatever it was they were building. During that time the Delkar strayed away from the island, trying their best to keep away from any foreign object or individual. Over the course of seven years the temple was completed and utilized by the sith, storing holocrons and other forms of knowledge inside in addition to the corpse of a long dead sith. The temple was less of a temple and more of a tomb full of dark side teachings. As for why the sith would bury a sith lord in such a place, that is unknown. Probably a final mockery by letting their body rot and decay on an unnamed water world, maybe they were unworthy of Moraband and entombed themselves in a personal tomb instead. Whatever the case, the sith was weak and undeserving of a proper burial in the eyes of most.

Over the next hundred years the temple became worn down, forgotten. The mob mentality labeling the sith entombed there as worthless deterred acolytes and sith alike more and more as time went on. Another century later and the temple became flooded, a rising tide totally consuming it over many years of no upkeep. It was finally lost to history, or so it seemed at least.

Back to the Delkar, they were busy adapting to life on the surface world. The construction and unknown presence caused them, in addition to other species on the planet, to flee that immediate area and find new places to settle. The Delkar migrated far, very far, from the temple's site and ended up several hundred miles away. From there they resettled, but this time on land. Clustered islands full of plants and basic mammals offered a more habitable living condition to the previously scarce mounds of sand and dirt with little to no life. They actually had trees and wood to build structures as opposed to rocks and stone. They didn't have to worry about hiding from predators they would while in the water.

For the next few centuries the Delkar would live on land, using their shapeshifting abilities to mimic the figures they saw building the mysterious temple. They became more human-like, walking on two legs and even adopting mannerisms belonging to the long gone strangers from the sky. For years they lived peacefully, not disturbed by anything of note for generations as they prospered greatly on their home planet.

That all changed when an explorer and historian went back to study the now ancient roughly thousand plus year old living conditions of their ancestors. Study of past settlements were fine, but something that was odd was the abandoned sith temple. It was almost calling to the historian and their crew, a dark aura emanating from the building that was lost to time. They naively went inside the structure, exploring it's many rooms and script etched into the inner walls. Soon to follow, the explorer and crew collected all that they could from the site from holocrons to scriptures. It was apart of the Delkar history, or so they originally thought.

Once the teachings and belongings of the dead sith lord were brought back to Delkar society at large they were held by the government, them being unfamiliar with the technology before them or even how to operate a holocron. Even if they weren't aware how to operate the technology or read the teachings, they wanted to learn. It was apart of their history and they wanted to learn from it, and they eventually did. Over many years the script was translated and the holocron was unlocked with the help of a few scientists. What came next was.. strange to say the least. Darkside corruption spread like wildfire, though unknowingly. Delkar just went along with what the teaching said in mass, interested in the ideas that were perpetuated by their ancestors. Soon enough sith culture, or at least what was recorded, melded and mashed in with the Delkar's own culture and society.

Sum odd five-hundred years later the Delkar were rediscovered by space faring folk, but this time was different from the last. They communicated with their visitors that ended up aiding in the migration of the species to a new planet. The tide overtook most land masses on the planet, and after so long away from undersea life they weren't too keen on returning. Within the span of two years the entire Delkar species was transferred to the unpopulated planet of Rothana by the Republic. From that point on, they occupied Rothana unchallenged. They rebuilt their society and culture on this new planet, and after obtaining hyperdrive technology went off on their own into the galaxy at large.


Planet: Unknown origin planet; current residence on the snowy planet of Rothana.

Technology: Delkar have tech on-par with that of the rest of the galaxy.

Intent: Aside from my personal love of horror, I felt as though a species based on the Tindalos Hounds of Lovecraftian lore would be an interesting idea to play around with. Though we have shape changing species in star wars, I like how this one isn't a perfect example of it. In addition to basing them off of Tindalos hounds, I also took inspiration from mimic octopi that would change their appearance to appear more dangerous or fade into the sea floor as a plant, rock, etc. In general the idea of a shapeshifting tentacle creature seemed really appealing to make a species for, and I guess my major reasoning would be to give more displays of a sentient alien evolving from sea life, I also thought the evolution of an alien cephalopod literally being able to shapeshift into a more human form in order to communicate with other races was a nice concept since most cephalopods are known to camouflage and warp their body already. Delkar are more or less that but to the extreme with a bit of sci-fi elements mixed in. I also liked the idea of a species having a belief system not to dissimilar to the ancient egyptian gods.

Credit to all artists for the images used, and specific credits to H.P. Lovecraft for the visual description of the Hounds of Tindalos in his many writings.
 
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Malon

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To what degree can they shift their organs? I can see that being a bit of a pain in PvP rulings in the future.
 

Kuroshi

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An inch or two at most. An octopus has no skeletal frame and can shift around as much as they want, but since the Delkar would have a skeletal frame to give better support to their bodies they'd have a lot less wiggle room when it comes to shifting around organs.
 

Malon

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