Detlimse

A detlimse (dɛtˈliːmz.eɪ̯) is a member of a species native to the central mountains of the planet Raljikka. Far larger and longer-lived than any other sentient species found in the Ealdremen System, detlimsper are an uncommon sight outside of territories they have historically controlled and primarily congregate in regions where they have had a long enough — or simply strong enough — presence to have infrastructure built with them in mind.

Overview

Detlimsper are a quadrupedal sentient species with enormous lithe and serpentine bodies covered in a mix of often lustrous scales and thin silky fur along their backs.

The species as a whole is often regarded as isolationist and not inclined to interact much with outsiders with a variety of factors generally thought to contribute. Chief among them is that the detlimsper have drastically different anatomy to even other quadrupedal Kin in Ealdremen, with significantly longer bodies and a resulting difficulty in fitting in spaces made for other species' use in mind. Sociological differences between other species are thought to also lead to the detlimsper being more isolated than other Kin, as detlimsper typically live in hierarchical societies with clearly defined social roles and rankings relative to one another.

Etymology and other names

Detlimse is thought to originate from an archaic Kötadan word for populace, dzjatlintser, of which many languages native to the detlimsper have cognates. Modern linguists suggest that this word, and many others, were subjected to Morish conditioning that caused the language to lose sounds difficult for native Morish speakers to pronounce. However, surviving Estvoldian historical records indicate that Morish speakers had little direct contact with the detlimsper during initial contact. As a result, it is unclear how Morish conditioning may have come to influence the various languages spoken by the detlimsper; it is possible that other languages known to have been greatly influenced by Morish, such as Alaminn, may have in turn passed on similar alterations to their neighbors long after Estvoldian explorers left Raljikkan territories. Alternatively, these shifts may have occurred during the Millennial Calm when interstellar trade and contact became much more common. Proponents of the Millennial Calm-era theory are quick to point out that detlimse languages sometimes bear markers of Nicta-slio conditioning, including in the very word detlimse possibly shifting from ending with a typical archaic Kötadan -er plural to -e, a sound common throughout Nicta-slio.

Biology

Physiology

Locomotion

Detlimsper have a quadrupedal symmetrical gait at slow speeds, moving each limb roughly the same amount of distance each step and moving one side's limbs in unison before moving the other. When they run, their gait becomes asymmetrical. They have digitigrade feet and use all four limbs to move and are naturally land-based in their locomotion. An average detlimse in good health can maintain a running speed of about thirty to forty kilometers an hour depending on their size. Smaller detlimsper tend to be capable of greater bursts of speed. However, regardless of size, a detlimse can typically only maintain this speed for about five to ten minutes depending on the individual's fitness and training.

Generally, detlimsper are too heavy to climb for any sustained amount of time; their relatively short limbs struggle to keep maintain their full weight on vertical or near-vertical surfaces. They are relatively adept at swimming, where they tend to "slither" through the water like aquatic serpents with minimal movement from their limbs. This method of aquatic movement enables a detlimse to make quick turns in the water relative to other non-aquatic Kin.

Reproduction

Compared to other Kin, the seemingly convoluted means and rare circumstances by which detlimsper successfully reproduce is thought to be a major inhibitor of the species' potential to rise to greater political power in any broad sense. Detlimsper take many years relative to other species to even be biologically capable of sexual reproduction. Though they are fully-grown before this point, detlimsper that are biologically capable of producing eggs will not do so until they are approximately two hundred years old, with some being as old as three hundred before this occurs. Before this point, they are indistinguishable from both detlimsper that are capable of producing sperm, which generally begin to do so around one hundred and fifty years old, or detlimsper that are incapable of producing either sperm or eggs. Further complicating the matter is that some detlimsper are capable of producing both, though not always at the same period of their lives, and it is generally not known if someone can or cannot until it "happens".

Of these distinct "sexes," about fifty percent of all detlimsper are generally capable of producing sperm, thirty percent are capable of producing eggs, almost twenty percent never produce either throughout their lifetimes, and the remaining detlimsper will produce both at some point during their lives. It is thought that the "infertile" detlimse subset is a leftover adaptation for overall population control when such an enormous species would put strain on the environment and result in intense competition even among relatives for survival; siblings or older offspring of a previous clutch could assist in tending to a nest of eggs without adding further to a crowded population.

Detlimse eggs have porous soft shells surrounded by a jelly-like substance and must be laid in freshwater, where they are externally fertilized. The jelly dissolves as the shells harden, a process which can take several days. During this period, the eggs are especially vulnerable, and they must be monitored even if laid in a controlled and enclosed environment, as the slightest deviations from survivable temperatures can kill the eggs near-instantly. Because detlimse eggs are externally fertilized and can be fertilized for up to several days after being laid, it is relatively common for a given clutch to have multiple parents, and some eggs may grow twins that have different parents. The eggs then take approximately five hundred days to hatch from fertilization, and in modern times, eggs are often removed from the water within a few days of their shells hardening. While there is no immediate detriment to eggs remaining in water "longer" than strictly necessary, detlimse parents or other tenders of such eggs typically find caring for the eggs easier if they are on dry land.

Unsurprisingly, many detlimsper have taken to artificial means or assistance in reproduction to improve the success rates of reproduction. It is common for detlimsper to store eggs or sperm in repositories built to house either element and then wait for an opportunity to use a controlled environment to fertilize the eggs; in situations where it may be desirable for a given clutch to have multiple parents, these controlled environments can also ensure fertilization occurs in desired percentages (such as fifty percent being fertilized by one parent and fifty percent by another). These facilities are expensive in "social currency" and have lengthy waiting periods, however, and they are may be inaccessible to less eminent detlimsper.

Related species

Although scientific research on the species is limited especially in the realm of genome sequencing, the kurmatti species is widely thought to be related to the detlimsper on account of anatomical similarities. Kurmatti, like detlimsper, have meters-long bodies covered in scales and fur, and have historically occupied similar ranges to the detlimse people. However, kurmatti have multiple gaping jaws along their serpentine forms and ravenous, all-consuming appetites to match their grotesque forms. Translated records from the Millennial Calm suggest that the kurmatti are a relatively new species, or at least newly acknowledged, as reports from around 3462 CGC comment on them being "unseen except by the detlimse [sic] before the 3300s". Under the assumption that this report is both correct and translated accurately, it is not clear at what point the detlimsper were aware of the kurmatti, though the description of the kurmatti loosely aligns with pre-Estvoldian beliefs of detlimsper exiled from society, modernly understood to be detlimsper who lacked "eminence," the detlimse concept of social status and position, and how those two concepts correlate to the ability to manipulate magic.

Subspecies

Native to the Ijan Khezzem state of Zaman is the ijanten detlimse, also known short-handedly as simply "ijanten" in many languages. Ijanten detlimsper are noticeably smaller than members of the main detlimsper species and tend to have less full manes, but more pronounced horns relative to their size. Unique to this subspecies is that their eminence tends to correspond to the luster of their scales; other detlimsper have no correlation between scale luster and their social standing in society.

Sociology

Integral throughout all detlimse cultures is the concept of "eminence". Eminence is a measure of an individual detlimse's power and responsibility in their community. While outside cultures may associate eminence with leaders with absolute authority, eminence can come from different roles in society and manifest in different ways, and a detlimse can be a follower to someone else while having eminence over others. From eminence, detlimse societies stratify themselves and maintain a strict order with linguistic cues to make one's position in not only society, but in the context of the people they are speaking to, abundantly clear. For someone to improve their standing in society, they must earn it by occupying higher roles of responsibility — and thus gain eminence. These ascensions through society are often regarded as slow even by detlimse standards, let alone those of shorter-lived species; anything "too fast" is a disruption of society and tends to result in a societal loss for the detlimse moving too quickly in accruing eminence, as their community will "see through" them and rebuke their right to rule. However, a rare few detlimsper are shrewd enough to navigate these social pitfalls and achieve their goals in relatively short spans of time, and it's often only with historical distance that anyone realizes how rapidly someone rose to power.

Universal to eminence is the correlation with the ability to manipulate Chrono; more "eminent" detlimsper have inherently superior magical ability and potential, and they lose this ability if their status in society dwindles or if they leave their community.

Notable cultures

Zaman

The Raljikkan nation of Zaman is the most prominent and populous country (or territory of equivalent importance and power) to be governed by the detlimsper and to have a detlimse-majority population. Zaman has not been governed by a non-detlimse individual in any capacity since the end of the Second Imperial-Alliance War in 3045 CGC; prior to this, there were a few periods of history where the country was subservient to other major political powers such as the Alamír Empire. Because of this, Zaman has a history of staunch independence and refusal to rely on other nations except on their own terms. It is said that to do business with Zamanites, it's necessary to make it seem like it was their idea to begin with, as they are likely to perceive anything else as a show of disrespect at best and an attempt at seizing power at worst. On the other side, Zaman has a historical tendency of absorbing smaller nations or incorporating other countries into their own; if they make frequent use of a country's resources through trade, they are likely to try to gain political power over that nation and make it part of their own. Zamanites do not associate themselves with terms such as "empire," though other countries (particularly those they subjugate) are unlikely to see it in the same way even if Zaman does not go to war to secure the resources it seeks.

Social status

As a whole, there are no detlimse nations that are presently allied with a major political power. It is popularly held that the detlimsper have no interest in such an allegiance because they would need to "submit" to powers above them. In the past, various detlimse cultures had associations with the Alamír Empire and eventually the Nazdrovie Pact, where they tended to occupy fringe parts of society due to their dramatically different anatomy and much greater size than the other species within either faction. They struggled to integrate into these factions' center of power or meaningfully participate in the interstellar warfare that dominated these eras. As a result, detlimsper rarely rose to positions of importance during these stretches of history, and these historical periods are regarded as eras of "unimportance" for the detlimse species, as even the most powerful members of their society were subservient to others and consequently lacking in eminence.

Detlimsper who have a great amount of eminence and occupy high positions of power in their society tend to be frustrated in interactions with concepts of "power" in other cultures, where a detlimse's power does not always translate adequately. These cultural misunderstandings are known to occur frequently, and special mediators are often on hand when important detlimsper are meeting with counterparts in other governments or societies.

Alamír Empire

As a Raljikkan species, the detlimsper have a shared history with the Alamír Empire. When the Empire was first formed, the detlimsper initially did not agree to the alliance and wished to remain autonomous and handle the colonists from Estvoled in their own way. When the imperial forces started to show success in driving out the Estvoldians, various detlimse nations took this as a sign of proven power and allied with the fledgling faction. As the Alamír Empire grew, the detlimsper did not feel their power was growing in relation to it, and they soon forsook the Alamír Empire for the Nazdrovie Pact when the opportunity arose.

The detlimsper have not allied with the Empire in any great numbers since its reformation in 4142 CGC, and to date not a single government under detlimse control is officially affiliated with the Empire. A relative few detlimsper as individuals view the revival of the old empire as "rightful eminence" and follow it.

Nazdrovie Pact

The detlimsper were part of the Nazdrovie Pact from the Second Imperial-Alliance War, but unlike many other nations that made up the group during this part of history, every detlimse nation withdrew officially from the Pact when the Alamír Empire dissolved. They have not since sought to rejoin the Pact, and the Nazdrovie Pact's own attempts at courting the detlimsper back have been called "token" at best and "insulting" at worst.

Gerualdi Union

Individual detlimsper are sometimes drawn to the Gerualdi Union notions of societal stratification by wealth and status or rankings and roles within corporations. Such detlimsper tend to be regarded as unconventional but diligent workers, and their long lives often result in detlimsper eventually rising to the top of whatever corporate hierarchy they have found themselves in. However, there are just as many detlimsper who hold contempt for the Union's structure, viewing it as equally possible for the "undeserving" to rise to positions of high power and remain there. In spite of this attitude, the often-esteemed detlimse members of the Union mean that detlimsper overall have a positive reputation within the Gerualdi Union, and other detlimsper hoping to rise the ranks in the Union tend to benefit from this association.

Distribution

Because of their enormous size and relatively slow rate of reproduction, detlimsper are not particularly populous outside of territories they have historically claimed throughout Raljikka. Even within these territories, their populations are relatively stagnant year over year.

There are an estimated one to two million detlimsper living throughout the Ealdremen System outside of the planet Raljikka and around 360 million within Raljikkan territories, and approximately 320 million of these individuals live within the detlimse-controlled nation of Zaman.