Kurinnurii

The Kurinnurii are a space-faring species hailing from Kurinnur, a cold planet orbiting the star Thitt, located in the middle region of Moebhakk Arm of the galaxy Liimaara.

Etymology
Prior after first human contact with the kurinnurii, they were designated as Xray aliens and Xrays as a placeholder denominator. They were also granted various nicknames by human media and institutions; often based off their anatomy and likeness to other mammalians.

The kurinnurii stems from the name of their planet of origin; the homeworld Kurinnur, meaning "home" in many of the kurinnurii languages. Although usage and definition of the word was disputed between kurinnuran and kurinnurii, the latter received the most popularity and usage from a widespread range of languages, the former remains in limited usage by few other languages. - It should be noted that kurinnurii is both singular and plural, and kurinnuran is singular, suffixed with -s for plural (kurinnurans).

Evolution & Rise to the Space
First records of the kurinnurii's appearance date billion years back, starting out as predators who lived solitary lifestyles and were quite careful about their own territories. Their evolution was emphasized on the notion and the style of survival, their lives dedicated on hunting down prey. Which was a requiring task that needed cunning and thinking to outsmart their prey, often forcing or luring them into traps or dead ends.

Millions to billions years of evolution has moulded the kurinnurii to the environment of Kurinnur, a cold boreal-like planet with many deserts and an atmosphere containing hydrogen, methane, and ammonia. They developed higher intelligence, which paved them the way to a higher civilization. As solitary have difficulty to develop a communal society, but thankfully, this problem grew rather trivial; the kurinnurii developed increasingly social and communal behaviours. They started to hunt in groups to take down prey, and live in company of other members. This was promoted by their natural reproduction and instinct to parent their offspring, but also altruism; their individual survival became a survival as a genus. This behaviour would grow increasingly more natural.

From there, the kurinnurii communalism gain to create larger and more organized societies with relatively complex social systems in place. Growing to larger civilizations with the time. Although the history is not peaceful as one would hope for, the societies and their interested were largely diverse and depended on the circumstances they were formed, they would also often dispute about their territories and where the border would be drawn, on both the map and on their cultural values. This of course encouraged violent methods and consequences when no other options were possible; ironically enough, this encouraged a technological and intellectual revolution in order to try gain the edge over their enemies.

Present
Ruled by the fact there is a limited occurrence of habitable cold planets with hydrogen-methane-ammonia atmosphere, Kurinnurii are both fond and careful of such planets. Thus, shaping them into expansionists who would rather not pass up a good opportunity to colonize a planet they can inhabit, without the extra assistance it takes to create an limited area habitable on an world inhabitable to them. They were also, and still are, protective of these worlds, since they are rare and difficult to find. In present day, a majority of known Kurinnurii population reside in artificial constructed habitats in space or on inhabitable worlds. Many of these space habitats are spinning, generating comfortable artificial low gravity for the occupants. But some do not offer this luxury, some lived a life filled with activity combating the atrophy caused by extended time in microgravity or zero gravity. This had accelerated development of technology that now allow the Kurinnurii to live a normal life in zero gravity environment with no extra measurements required to maintain health, or to combat atrophy. It allows them to live in space under same conditions as life on the surface of a planet, albeit without gravity.

Physiology
Evolved from hexapedal fauna, the Kurinnurii are lithe creatures who naturally walk on all six limbs, but are enabled to other gaits; quadrupedal and bipedal. Moving with two pair of limbs, sparing the third pair as arms for advanced interaction; or one pair for locomotion and two pair filling the role as arms. As bipedal, they stand up-straight, and reach roughly four meters or at least thirteen feet in height.

Their torsos consist of an upper body of two ribcages and an less than equally large abdomen for lower body. The spine continues from the pelvis into an external appendage, forming a tail vaguely the same length as the torso or the legs - half their height. All their limbs are equally spaced in pairs from shoulders down to hips, and sport feet fully capable of grasping with help of three proportionally large digits, each foot has an opposable thumb and two longer toes or fingers, they all feature long retractable claws. The head has a muzzle with a pair of nostrils, the mouth is decorated with sharp teeth and remarkably long canines and premolars. Along with long angular ears and four forward-facing eyes with elliptical pupils. An anatomy fit for hunting and feeding on prey.

The Kurinnurii homeworld, Kurinnur, is a planet with cold climate, and in the light of this, they are covered in insulating fur. A long, thick coat covers the entire body of a kurinnurii, save for areas around their eyes, nostrils and lips, where the growth of hair is shorter. Growth of fur is more extreme at around the neck down to the chest. A mane grows from back of the head and neck, and on the back from the base of the neck between the shoulders down to the tail's base. From here the fur becomes more bushy, making the tail more thick in appearance. In addition to serving as natural insulation, kurinnurii fur is almost waterproof.

As a species evolved from predatory nature and sociality, in form of nomadic hunter groups, they had become an intelligent and social species. While they are omnivores, their most reliable source of energy and nutrition comes from any products of their prey; meat, bone, organ tissue, etc. As such, their diet is primarily meat, and allows smaller amounts of herbs, plants and products from vegetation, as alternative or extra supplement of nutriments. Their social nature form families often so called packs, whom in turn form larger groups with other packs. These bindings are best described as helpful towards and protective of these involved. Family bonds tend get stronger as the more time they spend with their relatives.

Kurinnurii are a part of a minority, nitrogen-carbon-based life that breathes hydrogen and with a metabolism that produce methane and ammonia as waste, in contrast to the typical carbon-based life that breathes oxygen, and produces carbon dioxide and water as part of their metabolism. Their habitats outside the homeworld are, at worst and without assistance of modern technology such as artificial habitats or isolated settlements, restricted to rare worlds that share the same conditions as those of Kurinnur.

Reproductive system


One of the most outstanding features about Kurinnur's life, and by extension the Kurinnurii as well, is the unique sex-determination system. While the genetics remains the same and use chromosome pairs, there are three fundamental and naturally occurring chromosomes; A, B and ii - using three instead of two as compared to the two-chromosone equivalent found on Earth. As a consequence, the system determines four different sexes; Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omega. Based on six different genotypes (combinations).

Diet
Kurinnurii are omnivores; allowing them to consume and live on plant and animal materials, although most specimens follow a strictly carnivorous diet whenever the source of food is available. As their biology is specialized in digesting meat and other animal products and thus gain little less from less carnivorous diet.

Their diets vary with whichever food resources are available in region of habitation and within societies; diets are influenced by cultural and societal conventions. A majority of their food sources are limited to the same biochemistry that of the kurinnurii; i.e. the kurinnurii, as hydrogen-carbon-based life, cannot feed on oxygen-carbon organic matter since it is either toxic or inedible to them.

Psychology
Their role in nature of Kurinnur was predators chasing and consuming prey, a lifestyle that had lot of demands; requiring good analytical senses and cunning; they were also solitary by nature, spending very little time interacting with other members of the same species. By evolution, they eventually stepped outside their constraints and developed sapience - the development focused on survival - and communal behaviour encouraged by their increasing intelligence and ability to think. The kurinnurii have a small limbic system, they would be in theory be emotionless and natural sociopaths, lacking empathy. The latter is true for the kurinnurii, who can feel and understand all imaginable emotions, but they understand almost only their own and often not affected by others' emotions. The limited size of the limbic system comes with the cost that causes major difficulties understanding emotions and expressions made by members of same species.

With limited next to no empathy, they have a specific definition of art and often do not express it emotionally; unable to find or understand a connection between art and emotions, kurinnurii will often take literal or rational approaches to understanding art. To themselves, body language serve its purpose to address one's thoughts, approval, disapproval, or needs to the other(s). For those outside their kind, the body language is easily misunderstood as emotional grimaces or expressions.

Generalized, the kurinnurii are viewed as animalistic, insensitive, sociopathic, and difficult to trust - but cunning and easily rational.

Behaviour
Kurinnurii are solitary but intelligent creatures; naturally sociopaths and uninterested in social entropy outside kinship, yet drawn by natural instincts such as procreation and altruism. Although, they are capable of using systems of communication for self-expression, exchange of ideas, and organization, and with instinct to survive, they have formed large complex social structures to enhance survival, as both individual and a species, either through cooperation or competition with other groups. Varying from smaller kinship to complex societies, the kurinnurii had established social norms, values, rites, and a mutual interest in discipline and survivalism, these together form the foundation of kurinnurii society.