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A Brief Description:

Kriat peoples are bipedal with plantigrade, tridactyly feet, however while the people of their homeworld tend to stand plantigrade, when in motion they walk on their Metatarsus, or ball of their feet, giving their gait a somewhat digitigrate appearance. This practice was necessitated from the need to stay quiet in the ages past when the Kriat were on the low end of the food chain, and over time developed into stronger bone and muscle growth in this area of the feet, as well as a form of "paw pad" on the bottom of the foot. Each of their three toes end in razor sharp claws, another remnant of centuries of evolution to better defend in close combat.

They have five digits on each hand, as well accompanied by non-retractable claws.
Their faces are feline in nature, largely slender and long, though with mutations that would seem to be anticipated in accordance with their evolutionary traits. Their heads are adorned with large, elongated, pointed ears, most often with tufts of fur close to their base.

The height of the average Kriat varies somewhat from species branches, with the Tribal Kriat being the shortest, standing an average of 62 inches ( 5 Feet 2 Inch, 158cm), and much more variation in the Kleket Kriat (between 5 Feet and 6).
Kriat Taas through the generations grew to a slightly taller average than their on-planet counterparts, the shortest of the average being 67 inches (5 Feet 6 Inch, 170cm).

The Tribal Kriat, while small, display higher muscle density and stronger, heavier bones than either the Kleket or Taas. Kleket Kriat, while variations are vast, tend to be of more hardy build, muscle mass and height while the Kriat Taas have evolved slightly more frail with less bone density and a much more slender build.

Each of the Kriat are covered in short, fine fur colored from Light browns and tans to shades of light orange to lighter colors, and very few a stark white. Coat color variations are countless between each of the race branches.
In addition, their coats sport stripes, as varied in color and style as their base colors, with irregular placement across their bodies and ears. Their stripes, for the most part, maintain some form of symmetry across their bodies, in that, if a stripe is to be found on the left side of their body, there will most often be an accompanying stripe on the right with similar placement.

Their tails are long, once used exclusively for balance and bodily temperature control. Their tails have evolved little beyond this point, though some of the more combat sensitive Kriat have been known to use their tail as diversionary or distraction devices and very occasionally as a defense, albeit a very weak one used exclusively as a last-ditch effort to avoid an otherwise devastating attack.

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The Kriat were, thousands of years ago, little more than a nomadic, tribal peoples. They lived to hunt, fight, gather and very few tribes were settlers. Even then, there was a rift between the nomads and those who chose to build Warrens – stationary townships.
The nomadic tribes viewed the Warrens as a blight on the land with which they had lived in harmony for so long. Those who took residence within the Warrens were attacked and killed regularly. This way was one of the few things that each of the tribal councils agreed upon, that this new way of life would lead to the downfall of nature, the planet and displease the fickle gods of wind and rain.

Over time, through many decades, those in Warrens began developing the land around them, discovering properties of the earth and foliage to use to their advantage. They learned that by gathering certain plants that had been found to be non-toxic and beneficial to them, and planting their seeds and bulbs in certain types of soils, they could sustain themselves without the great need of hunting, thus putting their nomadic needs aside.
These peoples continued to work the land until more and more began to live within the now growing settlements, dotted across the landscape. Great amounts of work went into these endeavors as their planet was mostly sandy, arid plains, sparse with vegetation throughout most of the continent inhabited by the Kriat.

They became The Kleket Kriat – Those who worked the earth.

Tribal Kriat had not ceased their attacks in all this time, decades went by into centuries and through that course, the Warren's grew and the Kleket Kriat discovered ever more that the soil could offer.
They began planting great trees, found by their gatherers in the swamplands, as well as bringing along muds and waters to help them grow. These trees were found to be intensely strong and useful for everything from defense, housing, tools and weapons.
As well, the mud itself was discovered to be stronger than stone when kilned properly. Each of these utilities were also used to build defensive walls and homes of sturdy wooden supports and a combination of stone and mostly mud dried in time by the sun.

Soon some small Warren villages became centers for commerce and trade, the trees they kept and the mud they kilned into walls and defenses helped to stave off the Tribal Kriat, still waging war after centuries.
Now the Kleket Kriat had an advantage within their walls, but beyond them, they could still be attacked and slaughtered. Trade routes were regularly disrupted between Warrens, the Tribal Kriat determined to return the land to it's primal stage.
The Kleket Kriat would need to move beyond their gathering ways into an era of fighting, hopefully for the final time. Centuries had made them little more than a people who toiled away, they had no need of combatants or tribes or militia.
They would need any advantage if they were to protect themselves in combat against the Tribal Kriat.

From earth and plant and tree, armor was fashioned, plates made of the strongest kilned muds, sand and leaf that could be made – even by today's standards, aside from its weight, it can serve as a viable body armor against most light and medium attacks, melee or ballistic.

After years, the Kleket and Tribal Kriat would skirmish and war, but the Kleket Kriat had the upper hand – something that the Tribals would quickly come to understand. Their walls proved too great for primitive weaponry, their armor nigh impenetrable, their resolve unquenchable and their numbers – hidden behind their armor of earth and clay, difficult to quell. After a decade of losing battle after battle, the Tribal Counsels would abandon their quest to cleanse the planet and instead, live their lives the way they always had, as nomads and hunters.

Hundreds of years would pass yet again, and the Tribes would see change, as things tend to. A tentative trade would begin opening between the Tribes and the Kleket Trade routes, though the Tribes would not enter into commerce within any walls of any Warren. Meat and hide from hunts would be traded for vegetation and weapons, but the Tribes would openly shun and shame trading for anything for growing, planting or settlement building. This was just not their way, they believed it to interfere with the natural order of the soil beneath their feet.

Time passed and the Kleket and Tribal Kriat began to harmonize with one another. Some tribe members would even move into Warrens and begin to adapt to life there, even strengthening the Warrens by bringing their own skills and experience within their sturdy walls. Some tribes would send their members, others would outwardly condemn such actions, yet the Warrens would see Tribe members come all the same, whatever their reasons, albeit in small numbers.

Nevertheless, an age had finally come when the two peoples lived and worked together in their own ways, producing an imperfect alliance that worked in favor of the peoples of the planet.
Some Warrens that once had dotted the land grew from trade centers to great walled cities, two of particular note became melting pots of culture with all the good and bad that came with it, One to the North East, Kladentaan (Port of Ports) And one to the South, Thumhi (Center).
Territorial lines were drawn up and agreed upon by both Warren and Tribal Counsel, in an effort to maintain a balance on the planet, preserving both ways of life for ages.


Things continued like this for many generations and a balanced normality had been struck. This was life and while there were still fights and disagreements, it was, for lack of better, as perfect as it could be.


It was during this age of contentment that the planet was discovered by a more advance race of space-faring beings known as the Dh'ennen'Duul. These tall, slender creatures made first contact with the Kriat with little more than the intention of studying their ways.
The D'hennen'Duul stood tall and frail looking, their fortitude somewhat less than that of the hardy Kriat, for their time in space had spanned thousands of years and so, their bodies had adapted to such conditions.
Even with the advent of artificial gravity, they resided almost exclusively within exo-suits designed to bolster and enhance their strength and endurance while planet-side in order to withstand the relative weight of planets they would visit.
The D'hennen'Duul's appearance was largely a mystery to most who observed them, though some had been recorded as "Tall, four-armed creatures, standing bipedal, atop digitigrade, didactyl feet. They were slender and sleek, moving with both speed and grace in all they did. At the end of their extremities were metacarpus sporting but three digits each. To the best of anyone's knowledge, their skin was comprised of a soft, chitinous material, not quite scales, nor true skin." Their bare faces had never been seen by Kriat eyes.


They were welcomed with an uneasy, fragile trust from the people, though as long as things didn't progress too quickly, everything was fine. The Kriat, who had spent centuries stuck in their ways, regardless of their culture, were slow to accept and adapt to things they were not accustomed to while the Dh'ennen'Duul were a species of progress that was unfathomable by Kriat standards. Everything they did was rushed and hurried with no patience to be seen. They wanted answers to their questions, their studies and inquiries were ceaseless. Everything on the planet was analyzed and sampled, from flora to fauna right down to grains of sand.
The Kriat made great efforts to remain understanding of these new peoples from the other worlds, they had at least learned from their own history that another way was not necessarily a deficit. And so, things continued like this for many years, the Dh'ennen'Duul would continue their research, leaving no literal stone unturned, mapping out the planet and physiology of each inhabitant, and soon began using their technology to help the Kriat in what ways they could.
Medicines were introduced to treat ailments that could otherwise not be understood, what once was a death sentence for an unfortunate Kriat was little more than a stumbling block on a road to full recovery. Tools that could terraform a section of land, making it suitable for farming – a process that would take years, now could only take weeks, even weapons and armor that would mean the end of deadly hunts.


Some Kriat took to these new advancements, and again, as history would dictate to their people, some opposed it. The cycle would continue, seemingly unbroken.

Unrest would begin to settle into both Warrens and Tribelands. Unrest between the Kriat and the Dh'ennen'Duul, and unrest between Kriat and Kriat. Handfuls of Kleket Kriat would become more intrigued each day by the prospect of living beyond their planet. Some dreamed of going out and finding their gods, others were simply overburdened by curiosity of what lie beyond their own sky.

In less than a generation, many changes would occur on the planet. Counsel Elders and the people in general would see a growing distrust of the Dh'ennen'Duul, that would eventually turn to enmity and occasional hostility.
The Dh'ennen'Duul presence would begin to shrink in the communities, the technology they had gifted to the Kriat would become largely disused and shunned, save for a few ultimately useful advancements, and over time the aliens who had visited from the stars for almost a decade now, would be pushed out, back into space.

Before their exodus, however, the Dh'ennen'Duul would extend an invitation to any Kriat who wished to join them off world. Here, perhaps, their ways were not welcome or tolerated, but to those handfuls who showed an affinity for their ways, the invitation was always open.
And so, before their departure date, a trickle of a few hundred would be added to their docket, little more than immigrants who knew nothing but what they had seen all their lives and the lives of their ancestors. But now, these people would step through to a universe untold.

The Kriat Taas would be the first of the Kriat people ever to venture out to something new, just as the Kleket Kriat before them had forged into the land as a sculptor to stone, the Kriat Taas would make their home in the vastness beyond their wildest dreams.