Races - Caspiez

Summary

Caspiez are the men and women destined to live in space. Born in the heavens most would live out their days and die there just the same. Starlight is the perfect sleep-aide and the steady rolling pressure of fluxing gravity a comforting blanket.

Description

Caspiez (Casp-e-ez) were the first race that gained notice as being something outside of traditional humanity. Their rise to acknowledgment paved the way for all the later races who arose in colonization efforts.

The Caspiez are on average a few centimeters taller than normal humans, but for all intensive purposes look the same. Lanky and tall they are unassuming and of varied cultural origin, but on the inside, its their anatomical differences that set them apart.

Some less-educated believe the Caspiez discovery the result of simple outpatient surgery that noted far-too-many abnormalities first documented over 1,000 years ago. However, for the truth is far more interesting - linking the Caspiez to some of the greatest explorers in the history of mankind. Their roots are in the stars, and no one needs forget that the Caspiez are at home there, always.

Notable History

Sleeper Ships

Travel was once a far different prospect, with slow moving voyages taking years in slower moving sleeper ships. These ships were the ones used to first reach Pluto and then push forward, the crews laid into as deep a stasis then possible by science. Thus hibernated their journey through space unknown until a destination was nearly reached and manual controlling actions necessary.

Caspiez were not recognized as a significant schism in the Terran species until Commander Caspie survived one such doomed expedition into the inner Oort Cloud.

It was later learned that Caspiez originated from the children of the first Generation-class ships and how the deep-sleep tanks altered them. The longer the journey, the greater the genetic changes in non-adult passengers. This explains why the first deep-space generations born on new colonies were majority Caspiez. The outer-rim of the Sol system is what many cal the birthplace, and true home of the Caspiez - a group who more powerfully than most shun Terran ties.

Game Mechanics

Equilibrium

The internal composition of the Caspiez body allows them to shrug off the shifting magnetic fields, gravity fluxes, and solar anomalies more easily than normal humans and other planet-born races. When most fall - disoriented and unconscious the Caspiez are known to remain standing, often times the savior of an otherwise doomed ship trapped in the ebb of space.

Hibernation

Space is rough, even today the universe is not forgiving - but in the early days of space-travel that begot the Caspiez it was notably harder. As some of the first deep-space travelers and explorers these men and women slowly tapped into the dormant ability in men to hibernate. Like some animals on Earth they were able to sleep less frequently, in short-bursts of long-duration rest where their bodies slowed, needing next to no nourishment.

On average a Caspiez hibernates 3-4 days, and must only do so once every two to three weeks depending on the person. In some rare cases long-term hibernation develops and a Caspiez will rest for a week solid before waking from what anyone else would call a coma, at which point reports hold they need not sleep for a month or more. Such extremes are rare.