Kotii is classified as an Earth-like planet, though it is significantly larger and with much more livable landmass. The Jobari are the only sapient species on Kotii, and are notable for being one of few plant-based humanoid species in known space. The majority of life on Kotii is plant-based or evolved from plants, in contrast to the mammals common on most planets. Due to the nature of the Jobari, Kotii is also one of few planets considered to be at a high tech-level without any sign of negative impact on the planet's environment.
Jobari
Physical traits:
Jobari are a monosex humanoid species with an average height of 150cm. Skin is a light green with slight variations, a color that is uniform to their hair and other features. This is sometimes, but rarely, manually altered by Jobari. Technically androgynous, Terrans interpret their androgyny as female, and Jobari are willing to identify as universally female in order to avoid being considered male. The ears of Jobari come to points, and they derive significant amounts of energy to function from the absorption of sunlight through their skin.
The most famous trait of the Jobari, who may otherwise seem very similar to humans, is their fine control over their own biology. All Jobari have a significant amount of control over their own bodies on a cellular level, although they are not shapeshifters. In their most 'natural' state, Jobari are toxic and poisonous to all other known species. They are able to modify their biology so that their fluids, the gases they exhale, etc, will be more or less hostile to other forms of life. They are also able to adapt their respiratory and digestive systems in order to handle different atmospheres and process poisons.
Jobari are also theoretically venomous, possessed of needlelike retractible fangs. These are generally not used by modern Jobari, and fangs do not descend except consciously, unlike many other species possessed of similar features. While harmless to Jobari and certain other species, Jobari venom is deadly to both Terrans and N'sazz. An antidote has not been shared with the Terran Alliance, if any such things exists.
It is theorized that there may once have been a second sex for the Jobari, and certain vestigial traits seem to support this.
Intar:
The intar is a variety of tree on the planet Kotii with which the Jobari have a symbiotic relationship. Facts about intar are closely guarded, but extremely necessary in understanding the culture of the Jobari.
While the Jobari are not a hivemind in the traditional sense, they can be said to have something of a hivemind through the intar. Intar are capable of exchanging information through their roots, and their biology is compatible with the Jobari in such a way that Jobari can exchange information with intar.
When a Jobari is born, they are given an intar cutting that has been isolated from the main root system. They learn over time how to sync themselves with the intar, usually during a resting cycle resembling sleep. It can be thought as comparable to a hard drive, or backup: after the day is done, a Jobari connects with the roots of their intar to 'upload' the memories of that day. When they are old enough, the intar is planted so that it can join with the main root system, a system which spans nearly the entirety of the main continent of Kotii.
The intar forest of Kotii therefore contains all of the memories and information ever obtained by Jobari, and Jobari are able to access this information by interfacing with their intar. The preference for a specific tree is cultural rather than biological, but may also be psychological in that interfacing is easier with familiarity.
Lifecycle:
Once the intar is understood, it becomes easier to understand the Jobari lifecycle.
Jobari consider themselves to be effectively immortal. Rather than breeding, Jobari reproduce through a form of cloning. Children are not considered to be independent beings, but rather, a continuation of the life cycle of the parent. Names are reflective with this, beginning with the Jobari signifier for 'zero' and increasing by one with each child. The intar cutting given to a newborn Jobari is specifically cut from the tree of their parent, and through interface with that cutting – and eventually with the intar of the parent – a Jobari is able to 'regain' all of 'their' memories and knowledge. The death of a Jobari is considered not a true death, but instead the death of a body, one of many that they will have. True death necessitates death before cloning.
Most Jobari are only capable of cloning themselves once, with a few 'family' lines known to be able to clone up to four times. These bloodlines are forbidden from cloning more than once without explicit permission in order to keep the population in balance, as the population very rarely varies. Jobari bodies are capable of lasting between two-hundred and six-hundred Terran Standard Years, the lifespan consistent throughout clones.
Jobari are also capable of altering their biology to allow for more traditional breeding. This is referred to splicing, in that participants are splicing together their respective genetic codes. Because this effectively results in the death of two Jobari to create a new one, it is both the ultimate expression of respect and also a significant risk. It also permanently reduces the Jobari population, unless the splicing occurs between one of the rare multi-clone bloodlines. The first splice is given the name of their parents, with the identifier of zero; if they are a successful splice, then their first clone is able to be given a new name for the new bloodline.
Splicing with species outside of the Jobari is theoretically possible, but has only officially occurred once.
Culture:
Jobari consider themselves physically and intellectually superior to all other known species. They prize rationality and objectivity above all things, possibly as a result of the intar interfacing eliminating the need for empathy as experienced by other species. Their ability to control their biology also means that they can control what in other species are involuntary chemical responses. Jobari therefore consider most emotions to actually be a side-effect of poorly managed physiology.
Technology on Kotii is extremely advanced, but almost all of it exists within a framework of bio-engineering. Food, fuel, energy, shelter, everything is grown and very little is built.
The relationship between Jobari and Earthlings is technically friendly, though viewed by the Jobari with a certain amount of disdain. Jobari find the concept of males to be distasteful, and consider the breeding functions to be superfluous. Human men, in turn, responded predictably to the existence of small and elfin green women who consider themselves superior. Fetishization is extremely common, and the low likelihood of anyone in Terran Allied Space to actually meet a Jobari means little is done to combat this. The depiction of Jobari in media typically involves painting human women green, and it is a common trope to see an initially hostile Jobari woman falling in love with a human male lead. The only actual Jobari most Terran Allied Citizens are likely to have seen is one Teraka Ido, the only Jobari to have joined the TAF, and one of the crew of the TAS Theodora seen most often in Captain Robinson's famous video logs.
While N'sazz have joined the Terran Alliance since the end of the war, being in similar sectors of space has seen a great deal of hostility between the two species. The N'sazz were the first alien species encountered by the Jobari, and vice versa; it is believed that the N'sazz gender binary and its matriarchal society are why Jobari have chosen to identify as universally female. The N'sazz prize passion, emotions, and subjective truth far above rationality, making them ideological opposites of the Jobari. The war with the N'sazz is seen by many to have been a result of the hostilities with the Jobari, as N'sazz otherwise have much more in common with Terrans despite their greater physical differences.
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