Venusians

History

Hailing from Bet Universe, the first alternate world ever discovered to host a known parahuman population, Venusians evolved on a much more inhabitable Venus with close to earth-like conditions (although much warmer)

Earth Bet’s history was forever altered when in 1926 they made contact with their Venusian neighbors through radio signal. Over the new few decades, the world became gripped with the contact and years were spent working on improving relationship with the aliens.

In modern earth Bet, Venusian and Human interactions are common with members of both species having migrated to the other’s home world. With the discovery of Earth Aleph, a few hundred Venusians have moved there, many to study Earth Aleph’s much more different Venus.

Physiology

Biochemistry

Venusians are one of the alien species whose biochemistry is incompatible with terrestrial biology. As such humans and Venusians cannot safely consume the organic matter from the other species’ native planet. Venusians have a similar biochemistry to the Yevri. Despite their reptilian appearances, Venusians are warm-blooded.

Morphology

Venusians are tall reptilian creatures who stand around seven feet tall if they stand straight. However they tend to hunch down quite a bit making them look small than they actually are.

Venusians have stocky body with a short but thick tail. Four limbs with four fingered hands and five toed feet – one toe being a backward facing dew claw. Venusian digits end with a thick nail. Venusians are digitigrade, walking only on their toes, and thus look like they have an extra joint at their legs, which is actually their ankle lifted above the ground.

Venusians are covered in diamond shaped scales from head to toe. The scales are typically blue or teal in color, with brightness varying between gender; with males having lighter colored scales while females are darker.

Venusians have triangular heads with two pairs of eyes which have wide gold, green or blue colored irises taking up most of the eye and slit pupils. The top of their cranium along with their chin are decorated by small tentacular appendage which serve to communicate mood.

Sexual Dimorphism

Venusians have very little apparent sexual dimorphism between male and female individuals, with males having lighter colored scales while females are darker. Venusians have no outer genitalia. Other small distinctions exist in skull and body shape but are very minor and typically go unnoticed by non-venusians.

Life Cycle & Reproduction

To reproduce, two opposite sex Venusians are required. After the two have determined each other as desirable reproductive partners, the male will lay a sperm sack which the female then absorb through her genital opening.

Although they give birth to live young, Venusians are not placental animals, instead relying on internal eggs with very little interaction between mother and child which develop feeding on a yolk. As such the female does not lay eggs once fertilized, rather keeping it inside of herself and the young hatching within its mother’s womb.

Newly born Venusians only remain helpless for very short amount of times (Around five to six weeks of earth-time) during which the mother will store food inside of her throat crop and produce a ‘milk’ to feed her young.

About two weeks after birth, Venusian young already begin crawling about. At the month mark they begin eating solid food and by the six week mark most are relatively independent, foraging for food themselves (although they need not to do so in modern times where community provide for them) and only relying on older Venusians for protection and education. After the initial period where the mother must take care of her newly born, children are typically raised communally and are not seen as belonging to the parents.

It takes about thirty years for Venusians to reach reproductive age and full size but their intellectual development being much faster. An eighteen months old Venusian has the cognitive capacity of a human first grader.

Psychology

As born foragers, Venusians are naturally curious and inquisitive. Typically exploring every corner of their habitat and looking for hidden things. As such Venusians have developed a reputation for snooping around. This curiosity extend to intellectual matter with Venusians always being happy to discover new things. Due to their hyper-alertness, Venusians tend to struggle maintaining focus when not stimulated. Venusians have a natural instinct to hide food away.

Mating

Venusians do not form romantic or sexual partnerships with other of their species. With reproduction being a matter of choosing a partner with desirable traits to pass on to the next generation.

When a female enter the first phase of her reproductive cycle and begin forming an egg within the womb, pheromones she emit cause other females who spend prolonged amount around her to also enter the breeding period.

After approximately two weeks of earth-time, the egg becomes ready for fertilization. At this stage, the males of the coterie typically begin ‘fighting’ through a series of friendly contest to impress females by displaying skills, intelligence, health, attractiveness, glib or strength. Once the females have made their choice of partner they will retire privately with their chosen reproductive partner.

Since reproduction is purely functional, lacking an intimate or pleasurable component, and the Father not being considered having any special ties to the resulting child, competition for reproductive mates are generally friendly and done in good spirit.

Culture

Dwellings

Venusian dwellings are typically composed of small individual rooms constructed in a modular fashion arranged around a communal room which they share with their family unit. Communal rooms typically hold the food processing units along with space for the care and education of children.

Lifestyle

Family Life

As Venusians do not form couples, their family units (called Coteries) are instead composed of themselves and close friends. Once children have passed the initial helpless stage they are free to adopt another ‘family.’ Although in practice most stay with their initial caretakers until maturity where they will form their own coterie.

Meals

Venusians are particularly voracious and do not adhere to a meal structure, eating whenever they are hungry. Venusians are omnivores and able to eat virtually anything with compatible biochemistry although favor fatty meats and sugary foods. Venusians are highly resistant to food borne toxins and are fully capable of safely eating carrion and spoiled foods.

Rather than complex meals, Venusian foods are typically packaged like snacks and small enough to carry. Most foods are meant to be prepared in large quantities and easily separated into portions as such many foods are presented as stews, soups, salads or other mixes or small bites.

Young Venusian are well known for their love of foraging and hunting which they favor over prepared meals. As they grow older, Venusians switch over to prepared foods to more easily engage with their passion and society.

Clothing

Venusian clothing tend to be fairly varied, although the top pieces are similar to human’s in style all bottom pieces typically have to compensate for their tail as such clothes are divided into two groups: those which keep the tail within the clothes and those which allow an opening so that it may move freely.

Religion

Venusian Polytheism

One of the largest religion on Venus, the nameless religion is widely spread due to conquest and colonization by the religion’s initial adherent. The Faith believes in thousands of different deities representing many elements of Venusian life.

Individual believers however are only expected to hold a handful of deities’ rituals to heart; the creators, their chosen profession patron deity, the patron of their ethnic group and other personal protectors.

Worship is typically done with the aid of statues representing the gods and by making symbolic offerings, typically foods (which are blessed and eaten by the believers) and perishable decorations such as plants.

Language

Venusian languages are notoriously hard for humans to pronounce, typically having a very high speech speed and many syllables hard to pronounce in quick succession. Venusians however are capable of speaking many human language although they tend to extend ‘S’s and have difficulty pronouncing ‘B’s and P’s.

Venusian names are typically composed of a given name along with their mother’s name preceded by Sja/Svi (Meaning daughter/son of)

Human-Venusian Relationship

After nearly a century of contact, Human-Venusian relationships have remained peaceful which both species benefiting a lot from the other’s presence. Although there was historically a lot of opposition to Venusians on earth, the decades have calmed the hysteria down and anti-Venusian sentiments have become a fringe opinion.

Trivia

• Venusians are equally agile on when all four or bipedally.
• Venusians are incapable of producing suction with their mouth.
• Venusians evolved a blue-tint to be able to camouflage with the Venusian foliage’s natural blue tone.
• Approximately every seven and half month Venusians enter the reproductive season where females begin developing an egg. If the egg is not fertilized it is then reabsorbed by the body.
• Venusians are capable of slowing down their metabolism and entering a voluntary hibernation. Hibernation typically help Venusians get rid of stress hormones and as such most Venusians undergo periodic hibernation.
• Venusian sense of smell is extremely developed and comparable to a bloodhound.
• Due to their homeworld’s generally warmer climate, Venusians are capable of tolerating high temperatures but struggle to maintain body heat at low temperatures.