Planet: Korix
Created by Commander Calliope Zahn on 26 May 2023 @ 9:29am
Korinn life span is typically 150 years. Due to pollution, it has been effectively halved.
The Korinn communicate with clicks and trills. Can use air sacks along body to produce deeper clicks and trills that travel several miles through water. However, they have learned how to communicate with the Pyrryx using their tongues and air sacks to mimic the sounds of “air-breathers,” a general term that the resistance use for all species who live on land. Mimic is the best they can achieve: when they speak Federation standard it comes out garbled, not unlike the sound of a Terran parrot.
Hair is dyed with magnificent colors. These markings are ultraviolet, invisible to most other species. The decorations on the fur consist of lines and geometric shapes and are sign of both rank and School (more below) that the individual belongs, too.Along with markings, Korinn wear chains. The chains are a complex language all to themselves. Where the chain attaches to their bodies and the shape it makes when floating or drifting in the water might denote everything from what the person is doing that day to what job they have been asked to do.
POLITICS / SOCIETY / CULTURE
The Korinn had a particular appreciation for their environment prior to the Pyrryx. An old Korinn idiom translates roughly to: “You wouldn’t shit in your soup” a colorful reference to the fact that they all live in the ocean and doing anything to harm it means they’d be swimming through toxic waters. “Industrial” for the Korinn, involved inventing reusable and or completely bio-degradable materials. This idea is a keystone of their society, which also meant that wars between Schools – when they were fought, which was rare – were mainly fought with sonic weapons.
Allied/related schools would gather at their traditional spawning sanctuaries. ‘Schools’ (think clans) were once how the species were socially/culturally/politically divided. Individual family units did not exist: an individual would breed with several different mates in their school or with others from closely allied schools during spawning. Leadership of the Schools is held by the Crest. Each There are councils of crests, the leader of each School belonging to that Great Spawn (more below). Traditionally, they act as judges, mediators, and legislature. The Crest is elected by a School and holds the position for life, although they have also been removed or split schools, although in more modern eras this is rare.
Schools that had no spawning sanctuaries - the Spawnless - would be invited to take part in a spawning at one of the Great Spawns. This benefited everyone as it extended the genetic pool of a Great Spawn and allowed the spawnless to procreate and ally themselves (at least for a time) with a Great Spawn. Despite this, the Spawnless were generally seen as second-class. One a global level, they rarely rose to positions of prestige.
SPAWNINGS
Spawnings were events that occurred at different times across the planet and were of a singular importance to the Korinn.
Female Korinn gestate for only a month before giving birth to a Korinn ‘pup.’ Pups are not kept with the birthing female, but divided up between Schools as agreed upon prior to the start of the Spawning. The Korinn do not have nuclear families, but rather the School is thought of as a whole family and raising, protecting, and loving the pups are the responsibility of all. Korinn reach their maturity at age 30, after which they are free to partake in the Spawning.
Spawnings were events that occurred at different times across the planet. Allied/related schools would gather at their traditional spawning sanctuaries. The schools that had these sanctuaries were known as the Great Spawns. (**For instance, the Free Wave School and the Razor Fin School were two of 17 schools that used the Tiss’Kot Sanctuary that was carved into a great reef. The schools then could refer to themselves as ‘The Free Wave School of the Great Spawn Tiss’Kott or ‘The Razor Fin School of the Great Spawn Tiss’Kot.’ Collectively, those 17 schools of Tiss’Kot could be called the Tiss’Kot Great Spawn.**) There were 307 sanctuaries scattered across Korix’s seas.
Tiss’Kot was the oldest and most prestigious Great Spawn, often referred to as the ‘First Spawn Sanctuary,’ the cradle of Korinn civilization. It was built into the Great Reef so that the reef grew into and around its upper most chambers. These chambers were meeting places with dazzling skylights carved from crystal showing various scenes from Korinn history, culture, or mythology. The Constellation Chamber - a place where Korinn once gathered to hear the Crests of the Tiss’Kot pass judgment or laws, discuss science or art - was most famed. Its ceiling was an unbroken crystal, carved with all the constellations in Korinn’s sky.
The rest of the chambers are carved deep into the undersea mountain that the Great Reef sits on. These chambers, which descend a thousand-feet down, are lit by ultraviolet light and have spectacular murals depicting any number of topics (including the Spawning). These chambers house the Korinn who have come to spawn, as well as where the Spawning itself, and the birthing chambers.
PYRRYX ARRIVE
However, since the arrival of the Pyrryx, schools have broken down and no traditional Spawnings have occurred.
Now an individual considers themselves part of the Irix, the resistance, or the Z’ala, those who collaborate or worship the Pyrryx. (Internally, it should be noted, both refer to themselves as the ‘Great School.’). Despite the division, many Korinn still can’t help but refer to themselves as belonging to one of the multitude of Schools, though with each passing year these Korinn decrease in number.
The majority of Korinn are the Irix – the resistance. They live almost exclusively in the abyssopelagic zone where they are hard to locate. They reside in submersible spheres, each holding a dozen Korinn. They are made from a pitch black material that scatters scans, making them hard to locate. For the away team, the Irix will send out a homing signal for the Arrow to lock on to. These spheres can be linked or unlinked and scattered as need be, depending on the threat.
The Z’ala Korinn – the collaborators – live in two lagoons on the north and east side of an extinct volcano located on a four-hundred-square mile island of the planet, the only land mass on the surface. They consider themselves the elite of Korinn and manage mine operations and oversee slaves in other tasks. Sometimes, out of religious devotion to the Pyrryx, a Loyalist will willingly enter slavery, although they are in the minority and are given special treatment.
HABITAT
The Korinn traditionally inhabit the epipelagic zone. However, they often colonized the Mesopelagic Zone with “twilight” cities, submerged settlements that run harvesting operations in the lower layers of the ocean.
They harvested the raw materials they needed from deep within in the ocean. Physically, they can withstand the pressure of the deepest portions of the Bathypelgic Zone and they harvested raw materials and food from the ocean and the ocean floors in this region. In their “industrial” – or as they term it, their “adaptation” – age, they invented submersibles that could easily descend to abyssopelagic and hadalpelagic zone of their oceans, accessing more raw materials.
For five or six centuries prior to the arrival of the Pyrryx, the Korinn had begun to explore the shallows and air of their planet. Three decades before the arrival of the Pyrryx (20 yrs ago- so a total of ~50 yrs ago), the Korinn developed a space program
ARCHITECTURE
Traditional Korinn architecture consists of lightweight structures that look like teacups resting on saucers turned upside down. Anchors that can be pulled up often dangle from the bottom. The entry to these structures are several circular openings in the bottom, often covered by a thin mesh.These are large structures, holding several dozen Korinn.
While not found out in the oceans any longer - they were built for the epipelagic zone and thus unable to withstand the depths the Irix live in now - they are still found around the central island, housing for both the Irix and Z’ala.
MINING OPERATION
The mining operation has one entry shaft drilled into the bed of the large oval bay on the west side of the island. Once inside there are several branches that snake out in various directions. It is entirely filled with water.
The Korinn slave miners use high-pressure water chemicals to extract the raw Kelbonite ore. The ore is taken to a large smelting plant, built like a pier the juts fair out into the bay. Black smoke from several smokestacks drops a fine layer of ash on the water, turning it a sickening color of brown.
Hair is dyed with magnificent colors. These markings are ultraviolet, invisible to most other species. The decorations on the fur consist of lines and geometric shapes and are sign of both rank and School (more below) that the individual belongs, too.Along with markings, Korinn wear chains. The chains are a complex language all to themselves. Where the chain attaches to their bodies and the shape it makes when floating or drifting in the water might denote everything from what the person is doing that day to what job they have been asked to do.
POLITICS / SOCIETY / CULTURE
The Korinn had a particular appreciation for their environment prior to the Pyrryx. An old Korinn idiom translates roughly to: “You wouldn’t shit in your soup” a colorful reference to the fact that they all live in the ocean and doing anything to harm it means they’d be swimming through toxic waters. “Industrial” for the Korinn, involved inventing reusable and or completely bio-degradable materials. This idea is a keystone of their society, which also meant that wars between Schools – when they were fought, which was rare – were mainly fought with sonic weapons.
Allied/related schools would gather at their traditional spawning sanctuaries. ‘Schools’ (think clans) were once how the species were socially/culturally/politically divided. Individual family units did not exist: an individual would breed with several different mates in their school or with others from closely allied schools during spawning. Leadership of the Schools is held by the Crest. Each There are councils of crests, the leader of each School belonging to that Great Spawn (more below). Traditionally, they act as judges, mediators, and legislature. The Crest is elected by a School and holds the position for life, although they have also been removed or split schools, although in more modern eras this is rare.
Schools that had no spawning sanctuaries - the Spawnless - would be invited to take part in a spawning at one of the Great Spawns. This benefited everyone as it extended the genetic pool of a Great Spawn and allowed the spawnless to procreate and ally themselves (at least for a time) with a Great Spawn. Despite this, the Spawnless were generally seen as second-class. One a global level, they rarely rose to positions of prestige.
SPAWNINGS
Spawnings were events that occurred at different times across the planet and were of a singular importance to the Korinn.
Female Korinn gestate for only a month before giving birth to a Korinn ‘pup.’ Pups are not kept with the birthing female, but divided up between Schools as agreed upon prior to the start of the Spawning. The Korinn do not have nuclear families, but rather the School is thought of as a whole family and raising, protecting, and loving the pups are the responsibility of all. Korinn reach their maturity at age 30, after which they are free to partake in the Spawning.
Spawnings were events that occurred at different times across the planet. Allied/related schools would gather at their traditional spawning sanctuaries. The schools that had these sanctuaries were known as the Great Spawns. (**For instance, the Free Wave School and the Razor Fin School were two of 17 schools that used the Tiss’Kot Sanctuary that was carved into a great reef. The schools then could refer to themselves as ‘The Free Wave School of the Great Spawn Tiss’Kott or ‘The Razor Fin School of the Great Spawn Tiss’Kot.’ Collectively, those 17 schools of Tiss’Kot could be called the Tiss’Kot Great Spawn.**) There were 307 sanctuaries scattered across Korix’s seas.
Tiss’Kot was the oldest and most prestigious Great Spawn, often referred to as the ‘First Spawn Sanctuary,’ the cradle of Korinn civilization. It was built into the Great Reef so that the reef grew into and around its upper most chambers. These chambers were meeting places with dazzling skylights carved from crystal showing various scenes from Korinn history, culture, or mythology. The Constellation Chamber - a place where Korinn once gathered to hear the Crests of the Tiss’Kot pass judgment or laws, discuss science or art - was most famed. Its ceiling was an unbroken crystal, carved with all the constellations in Korinn’s sky.
The rest of the chambers are carved deep into the undersea mountain that the Great Reef sits on. These chambers, which descend a thousand-feet down, are lit by ultraviolet light and have spectacular murals depicting any number of topics (including the Spawning). These chambers house the Korinn who have come to spawn, as well as where the Spawning itself, and the birthing chambers.
PYRRYX ARRIVE
However, since the arrival of the Pyrryx, schools have broken down and no traditional Spawnings have occurred.
Now an individual considers themselves part of the Irix, the resistance, or the Z’ala, those who collaborate or worship the Pyrryx. (Internally, it should be noted, both refer to themselves as the ‘Great School.’). Despite the division, many Korinn still can’t help but refer to themselves as belonging to one of the multitude of Schools, though with each passing year these Korinn decrease in number.
The majority of Korinn are the Irix – the resistance. They live almost exclusively in the abyssopelagic zone where they are hard to locate. They reside in submersible spheres, each holding a dozen Korinn. They are made from a pitch black material that scatters scans, making them hard to locate. For the away team, the Irix will send out a homing signal for the Arrow to lock on to. These spheres can be linked or unlinked and scattered as need be, depending on the threat.
The Z’ala Korinn – the collaborators – live in two lagoons on the north and east side of an extinct volcano located on a four-hundred-square mile island of the planet, the only land mass on the surface. They consider themselves the elite of Korinn and manage mine operations and oversee slaves in other tasks. Sometimes, out of religious devotion to the Pyrryx, a Loyalist will willingly enter slavery, although they are in the minority and are given special treatment.
HABITAT
The Korinn traditionally inhabit the epipelagic zone. However, they often colonized the Mesopelagic Zone with “twilight” cities, submerged settlements that run harvesting operations in the lower layers of the ocean.
They harvested the raw materials they needed from deep within in the ocean. Physically, they can withstand the pressure of the deepest portions of the Bathypelgic Zone and they harvested raw materials and food from the ocean and the ocean floors in this region. In their “industrial” – or as they term it, their “adaptation” – age, they invented submersibles that could easily descend to abyssopelagic and hadalpelagic zone of their oceans, accessing more raw materials.
For five or six centuries prior to the arrival of the Pyrryx, the Korinn had begun to explore the shallows and air of their planet. Three decades before the arrival of the Pyrryx (20 yrs ago- so a total of ~50 yrs ago), the Korinn developed a space program
ARCHITECTURE
Traditional Korinn architecture consists of lightweight structures that look like teacups resting on saucers turned upside down. Anchors that can be pulled up often dangle from the bottom. The entry to these structures are several circular openings in the bottom, often covered by a thin mesh.These are large structures, holding several dozen Korinn.
While not found out in the oceans any longer - they were built for the epipelagic zone and thus unable to withstand the depths the Irix live in now - they are still found around the central island, housing for both the Irix and Z’ala.
MINING OPERATION
The mining operation has one entry shaft drilled into the bed of the large oval bay on the west side of the island. Once inside there are several branches that snake out in various directions. It is entirely filled with water.
The Korinn slave miners use high-pressure water chemicals to extract the raw Kelbonite ore. The ore is taken to a large smelting plant, built like a pier the juts fair out into the bay. Black smoke from several smokestacks drops a fine layer of ash on the water, turning it a sickening color of brown.
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