Cessins

'''Art copywrite Ashely Cope. We are not worthy.''' ====== ===== The Cessins are a diminutive race that evolved from native primates on the jungle moon of Cess. Once treated as slave labour, they have since proven themselves to be a strong and unified star-faring species.

Cess, The Jungle Moon
Cess is the fourth closest moon of the gas giant Phaeledus in the Bwa'hai System. Cess is the largest of the four planetary satellites, measuring 1,900 miles in diameter.

The surface of the moon is covered in thick dense jungle copses and large bodies of fresh water. It is an extremely humid world, with surface temperatures of around 100 degrees in summer and 60 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Thick cloud cover is almost constant year round. It rotates around it's home star, Bwa'hanai, every 365.7 days but has only two recognized seasons: Dry and Wet. It has a 24 hour day/night cycle, with 8 hours of daylight and 16 hours of night during the nine month long Wet Season and 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night during the three month Dry Season.

During the Wet Season Cess is rocked with terrific hurricanes and typhoons, which forced the natives underground in order to survive.

Cess exports a variety of wood, vines, and exotic fruits to other worlds, as well as numerous bird species that are desirable for their beautiful plumage. Cess' greatest treasure, however, is the Acala Tree. The sap from this tree, when processed, creates a pain killing medication known as Spyce. The regulation and export of Acala Sap has brought a booming economy to the Cessins, which they use to further advance their technology.

Cessin History
The natives of Cess are a beautiful race of humanoids whom evolved from lemur-like primates. They were discovered when another race in the same solar system, The Misao, began sending out radio signals in search of intelligent life. Much to the Misao's surprise when they, calculating that if any intelligent species picked up the transmission it would takes decades to receive a response, got an answering signal approximately 19 days later. The Misao triangulated the source of the response to Cess and investigated, thus discovering the Cessins.

It was the Misao whom introduced the Cessins to interstellar travel, and to this day they regret it. What neither the Misao or the Cessins themselves expected is that the Cessins, owing both to their naivety of other species and their physical attractiveness, were subjugated and made into slave labour. Of course the Misao protested but they were but one species against many so there was nothing they could do as for the next century and a half the Cessins were regulated to the status of personal property.

That all changed with the coming of the Intergalactic Concord Faction. The Concord, backed by numerous species including the Misao, assisted the Cessins in fighting for-and obtaining-their independence. Once proclaimed a Free Peoples, the Cessins aligned themselves with The Concord and are now considered a valued and valuable star-faring race. They are staunch members of The Concord for the most part but have also branched out into other Factions, especially the Salvager's Union.

Appearance
Cessians are a small people, with males and females alike averaging three feet tall. They weight around the area of 70 pounds. They have perfect body symmetry, uniformly dark skin free of mars or flaws, and overly large eyes that sometimes give them the appearance of staring. By human standards they are almost etherically beautiful. They have silver, white, or brown hair and grey to light green eyes. The species have prehensile feet and a tail.

Society and Culture
Cessin society is based on perfect unity. There is no such thing as the individual, there is only the family unit. What belongs to one Cessin belongs to everyone in the family unit and this outlook extends to everyone a Cessin spends a prolonged amount of time with. Thus, a ship's crew, or co-workers, or a group of friends becomes the Cessin's family unit; loyalty and love are absolute and unwavering.

The Cessin mindset has molded a species that is honest, aimiable, and astonishingly generous. The very concepts of theft and deceit are alien and puzzling to these gentle and innocent creatures. Because of their trusting natures many other species believe that the Cessins are easy to take advantage of and indeed in some ways they are but the Cessins are also a very shrewd people able to detect when they are being manipulated. A Cessin will never lie to, betray, or hurt from their adopted family unit but that does not mean they are incapable of realizing the propensity of others to do so. Cessins have a reputation of enacting a horrible vengeance on anyone that leads their family unit or a member thereof to harm and so someone taking advantage of a Cessin's family unit is playing with dynamite.

Cessin clothing is most often utilitarian rather than ornamental, with jumpsuits, tunics, and baggy trousers being common. Shoes are abhorred, as they hinder the Cessin's ability to make full use of her prehensile feet. Clothing with lots of pockets and backpacks, purses, or handbags as accessories are much preferred, Cessins love to carry their worldly possessions with them in order to distribute them among the family unit as needed. Both sexes wear their hair long, with females showing a marked preference for elaborate braiding. Facial hair is extremely uncommon among Cessin males.

Cessins are omnivorous, subsisting on a diet of fungus, insects, cave fish, frogs, and snakes. Their expansion across the universe have introduced them to many different types of food products but they modestly retain a fondness for their familiar home world tastes and textures. They have developed a distinct fondness for dairy products, which are not readily available on Cess.

Cessin society is patrimonial, the line is traced through the male. Cessins marry monogamously and for life. They have an average lifespan of 85 years and are considered mature at 14. They sometimes marry outside of their own species, but such unions do not produce offspring unless the significant other is human. Cessins and humans are genetically compatible but all offspring are always either human or Cessin, there are no half-breeds.

Cessins are ambitious, inquisitive, friendly to a fault, excitable, adventurous, and have great sense of humours. They tend toward professions that allow them to mingle with others as often as possible so they can often be found employed as administrators, assistants, cooks, consultants, event coordinators, spacers, explorers, merchants, and technicians.

Relations with Others
Cessins get along very well with everyone. They bear no grudges, so their time spent as slaves has been forgiven and forgotten. They are especially fond of humans and Misao and can be found co-habitating with these two species frequently. Anywhere there are sustainable colonies there are Cessins.

Frailties
Cessins cannot bear to be alone. Loneliness is more than just a sensation for a Cessin, it is a death knell. Without a family unit, a Cessin is lost. A Cessin that is incarcerated without access to another being will quickly sicken and die, often within 30 to 60 days.

Because their entire outlook is convivial, Cessins have no concept of personal space or privacy. Their tendency of entering rooms without knocking, openly discussing embarrassing secrets, or barging in to share bathroom facilities has made for many an awkward moment.

Racial Traits
All Cessins have the following abilities in common:
 * Prehensile feet and tails: Feet can act as a second pair of hands, allowing them to climb with amazing speed or manipulate tools with precision. The tail can act as a third arm but cannot perform delicate tasks.
 * Dark Vision: All Cessins can see in the dark as if it were the middle of the day.
 * Enhanced Hearing: A Cessin can hear a whispered conversation clearly out to 45 feet.
 * Perfection of Form: All Cessins have perfect body symmatry and don't have any physical flaws. They do not scar. They are considered extremely attractive and desirable by many other races.
 * Bump of Direction: Cessins have adapted to an underground environment and so can always determine the direction they are facing.
 * All Cessins speak their native language of Cess, as well as the Spacer Trade Language, and often speak the language of whatever racial community they are a part of.