Physical Description: The Kcin are a reptiloid (reptile-like)
species with a carbon/oxygen physiology. The average Kcin is 2.2
meters tall but only masses 50 kilograms or so. Their most notable
feature are their wings. These leathery structures stretch from
the wrists of their long 2 elbowed arms to a point just above
the knee and allow soaring flight in gravities of 0.6 or lower.
When not in flight, the Kcin stand on two legs. Hands and feet
have 4 digits. Those on the feet are clawed and have a bird-like
3 forward, 1 back arrangement for grasping. The hands have three
long fingers and an opposable thumb, all of which are 3 jointed.
The fingers are not clawed but do have heavy nails. The head is
long and tapers dorsally into a sharp spike, with 2 ventral eyes
as well as a vestigial "third eye" on top of the head.
Kcin faces are flat and rather featureless. Nose and ears are
recessed and protected by bone. The mouth is a featureless slit
when closed but when open reveals double rows of sharp needle-like
teeth. The body is covered by tough leathery skin, usually black
in color. Besides the four limbs and the leathery wings, the Kcin
have long whip like tails which end in a sharp barb. This barb
is often used in personal combat. The species is cold blooded
and most active at temperatures from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius.
The Kcin have three sexes; Alpha Males, Beta Males, and Females.
Little is known about Kcin mating. Young are hatched from eggs
which are incubated for 4 months in hollows carved into a particular
species of tree; the "heat tree", or by artificial means.
History: The species developed in the dense jungle of their
homeworld where they adapted to hunt across the top of the forest
canopy. Their homeworld history reveals very little organized
warfare, but conflict between individuals for mating rights is
commonplace and many Kcin poems and dramas dwell on this theme.
They achieved spacefligh for a short period of time, but were
quickly preyed upon by other more technologically advanced species
and they lost control of their homeworld. Surviving refugees of
the Kcin fall were scattered throughout Dark Well Space.
Society: It is not known if any Kcin still survive. Any
that are encountered will surely have adopted the society of other
species and/or allegiances in order to blend in.