Name: Tsukam
Homeplanet: Tsuka
Sentience: Sentient
Strengths
Energy and matter manipulation
Superior intellect
Agile and quick
Highly adaptible
Can detect energy
Weaknesses
Physically weak
Altered perception of time due to long lives
Don't play well with others
Do not react well to heat or cold.
Don't touch the tail
Energy/Matter manipulation is very physically draining.
Notes on Energy/Matter manipulationThe energy and/or matter manipulation ability useable naturally by all Tsukam is a very flexible power, difficult to control and requiring rigorous training to be used to the peak of it's ability. The degree with which this power manifests itself is individual to each Tsukam, and while those with lesser power can train further it will take them far more effort than those naturally born to the higher reaches.
Given enough time the Tsukam can create near anything, although simple items are no problem larger or more complex creations can inflict a severe amount of strain on the maker. When tackling more difficult projects Tsukam will often band together to share the strain, the more Tsukam gathered on a single creation the faster it will form and the less strain each will feel. Lacking numbers a Tsukam will be forced to work in several sessions, as the large amount of strain cannot be endured and so breaks must be taken to minimise the risk to the maker.
Appearance
The Tsukam as a people are humanoid and usually between six and seven feet tall, each having quite a lithe physique without an ounce of fat and very little muscle beyond what is necessary. Each Tsukam's head has a large, tough bony ridge that protrudes out to the front that contains it's olfactory organs as well as the organs relating to sight and hearing, underneath of which is a mouth full of small but sharp teeth. Tsukam skin is white and leathery to the touch, with tarnished silver bone plates covering parts of the torso and limbs, although most Tsukam will colour the plates to represent their house or profession so to find one with the simple silver is uncommon. On each hand a Tsukam posesses three digits and aposable thumbs, and on each foot there are three toes that can amply support their weight.
Their bodies are entirely hairless and instead atop their heads they have two Enkae (Tentacle like protrusions typically up to two metres long that allow them to detect and visualise energy to themselves), smaller versions are also found along the outside of the forearm and similarly on the thigh, although these are typically no longer than thirty centimeters.
Tsukam have typically long legs and a tail that can reach several metres in length, splitting at the end into a number of Enkae that are especially sensitive and usually used alongside their hands in everyday tasks, each Tsukam has a preference in whether or not to use their tails in their work and how to hold it when not in use.
Although these are the traits that all Tsukam share they are not clones or replica, each has individual features such as varying heights, weights, body proportions and Enkae sizes as most other races would. The one thing of note is that Tsukam have only one gender and no reproductive organs to match, instead when another Tsukam is desired and requirements have been met they will be formed by two 'parents' from energy and given life as a child. From the point of their formation they grow to physical adulthood within three years, and will live indefinitely provided they are not killed by some external factor.
Culture
The Tsukam, of the Tsukam'akai Empire follow a strict hierarchy, working together for the betterment of their species as a whole with no desire to do otherwise. Each is trained through their childhood in the usage of their abilities of energy and matter manipulation and only once they are considered proficient given the title of Malloc (Maker). Gaining this title is every Tsukam's duty, for only then are they truly a member of their house, and welcomed as equal among the majority of the Tsukam. Only after gaining the title of Malloc can one begin to work in earnest, with access to all of the shared information and resources that the Tsukam have gathered over the course of their learning.
Once one has achieved the title of Malloc, the next step up would be to become the Malloc'ar, this being the maker within their family that has been deemed to have contributed the most to the Tsukam'akai, making them the head of the family. Each family belongs to one of the clans of the empire, and each clan may have up to a thousand families within it and then. From among those families the most proficient Malloc'ar is chosen to lead their clan as the Malloc'ka, a great honour to the family of the chosen member, a position of authority yet also of responsibility of those under them. Alone above the Malloc'ak was tha Malloc'akai, the most proficient of all those who had gained the title of Malloc and by that right the ruler of the empire, with undiluted power over every facet of Tsukam life should they choose only to wield it. The current Malloc'akai has ruled since the founding of Tsuka and is considered the strongest Malloc to have ever been.
Chain of Command
Malloc'akai
^
Malloc'ka
^
Malloc'ar
^
Malloc
^
Those without title/Gemen
The Tsukam are an incredibly driven people, all that achieve the title of Malloc will take on an innumerable amount of projects either consecutively or in a queue and work to the completion of it with no divergence from their aim. All menial labour that might distract a Tsukam from their work is done by the Gemen, the remains of their ancient opposition now in servitude to them through a quirk of their own culture that involves swearing fealty to the people that best them.
Military careers among the Tsukam are rare in relation to the number that choose other careers, but not unheard of. War is not a priority for the Tsukam, above all the priority is technological advancement in all fields. Should they want to declare a war however they have learned from the mistakes of their past and are now able to field enough of a force should they decide to utilise it, with no qualms about destroying any of the lesser races to take a planet or gain something that they desire. Most of their warfare is done through utilising other races, even through the superiority that they fervently believe in they have intellect enough to be aware that they themselves are not suited all that well for combat and so utilize other methods to enhance themselves or fight through others. The only exception to this rule are those who fail to become Malloc, with the true path of their people forsaken to them they inevitably end up in the military, seeking to win glory for their houses with their valour in combat, or at least honour in their death.
The death of a Tsukam is not what it would be for the majority of other races, it is instead only a temporary state. Given their nature as beings of energy, and being that energy cannot truly be destroyed, upon reaching a state where their bodies can no longer support themselves in life a Tsukam's energy will form into a core. While in this state a Tsukam retains full consciousness despite being a roughly ovoid shape approximately thirty centimetres in diameter. When in this form a Tsukam cannot affect it's outside surroundings without assistance of some form, and can only communicate with other Tsukam, they are fully aware of their surroundings and able to access all of their memories and brain functions as they would normally.
Once a Tsukam is rendered into their core they can only be returned to their original state through the help of another Tsukam, with it being an incredibly taxing and lengthy process for most Tsukam to perform, and even with additional assistance still is quite an extensive process. After completion however the Tsukam is returned to their normal form in perfect condition, although they may be weakened for several hours afterwards as they recover their strength. Tsukam retain all memories while in their core form and also once they are reformed.
History
The Tsukam first originated in a far away universe, settling and quickly becoming a major civilization due to their rapid advancement in science and technology and colonising many planets to form their empire. They were a proud people who saw all other than Tsukam as lesser beings not worthy of their time, causing them also to be a very isolated people with not many allies and many who would look the other way were they in trouble. Primarily amongst those who wished them harm were the Gemen, another race that had grown to power in the universe, although they far more from military might than from any other factor.
A mighty war ensued when the Gemen attacked, and the Tsukam quickly crumpled under the onslaught, having had no mind for war nor any preperation for it, it was only through the quick work of their best minds and master makers that they began to produce their own machines of war capable of fighting back against the Gemen. Once they'd started fighting their superior technology quickly shifted the tide into their favour, and it was very soon that they found themselves accepting a surrender from those that remained of the Gemen race, those few survivors what was left of the once colossal empire.
Over time the Gemen proved themselves highly useful in roles that the Tsukam did not desire to fill, allowing them instead to focus on their projects and research. By no means were the Gemen slaves, the Tsukam were not stupid enough to enslave them, instead allowing them their own societies and ensuring each lived happy and healthy, there was no worry of rebellion as they were treated well and it was by the Gemen's own cultural snare that they'd ended up in service to the Tsukam. It was a prosperous time as the empire recovered and even outgrew where it had been before the war, continually advancing as was it's aim until the convergeance came.
It was far stronger than they'd anticipated, stronger than they could fight off and so instead their only choice was to defend themselves as best as they could. Tsuka seemed the only planet being hit by the violent energies that rendered the surface unsafe, and so it's entire population descended underground and entered stasis to wait the convergeance out, hoping that when it was done they'd still live. Unfortunately the pure power of the convergeance destroyed all sensors and most automated release systems bar a few, so that the Tsukam remained in stasis far past the point of the convergeance's passing.
Subject: Tsukam 
