Creature:Kaiyo

The Kaiyo (Plural: Kaiyo Posessive: Kaiyo) are a race of supersapient cephalopods from the planet Kaiyo Kallin. Little is known to the rest of the universe about them, as they have been isolationist for the past 800,000 years. They are the founders and leaders of the.

Physiology and Anatomy
The Kaiyo have always been odd in comparison with other races. Their only known aspects are from the southern Kaiyo who joined the, but their DNA has changed enough over the ages that pure Kaiyo genetic material is impossible to study. The Kaiyo refuse to allow others to have knowledge of their genetics.

For the Northern and Southern varieties of kaiyo, Most of their bodies are covered by a hard shell made of mucus and various layers of calcium carbonate, copper acids, and conchiolin. Over the coarse of their life, they will seal off the previous chamber and build a larger one at the opening to the shell. The shell's many gas chambers also have glands near the youngest chamber for buoyancy. The circulatory and nervous systems will still exist through gland chamber till the next one is built. A Kaiyo can easily live without the rest, but swimming will be harder without the gas chambers. High Kaiyo have since abandoned shells for internal gas chambers. They aid in swimming, but may also provide means to levitate if trained.

Kaiyo have closed circulatory system with 3 hearts. 1 central heart pumps blood through the body while 2 bronchial hearts pump blood to their gills or respiration chambers for High Kaiyo. Their blood is blue-green when oxygenated due the having copper hemocyanin and must flow faster due to it's low content in oxygen. When deoxygenated or in the color changing cells of the Kaiyo's skin, it is colorless. The oxygen is absorbed into the blood, so they lack red blood cells.

During the course of their evolution, the Kaiyo would spend weeks at a time waiting for prey to swim by before paralyzing it with its toxic mucus. Most Kaiyo will eat once anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. After 3 months, they will starve to death. The more active Kaiyo can only go one month without food. Their diet includes large fish and crustaceans as well as some sea grasses and ice lichens. Hatchlings spend early years eating smaller fish and shrimp, then move on to large prey.

Kaiyo females will lay clutches of 1-3 eggs. Although the embryos will take 14 months to develop, they will still hatch as undeveloped larvae. After 12 years they will use their mucus to create their shells. They will seal of the entrance a with plant matter. 2 months later they will metomorphosize into young Kaiyo. They will continue to add to their shell and grow for the next few decades before becoming adults. Many Kaiyo will never mate. This has led to a population decline on Kaiyo Kallin.

At hatching they have fully developed eyes with 2 spots of sensory cells at each side of their eyes for looking both forward and backward at the same time. The optic nerve is positioned behind the retina giving them no blind spot. They can see the inclination of polarized light, both UV spectrums, and infrared light due to evolving in the twilight zone of the Yurnjii Ocean. Their eye colors include cyan, dark blue, violet, and black. Other colors are recorded, but pass as genetic defects that are killed or "cured" at birth.

A kaiyo's statocyst acts as a balance, acceleration, and sound sensory organ. It allows them to hear sounds from 10Hz to 18kHz. They may experience mild pain or discomfort after hearing sounds over 75db and may become have hearing damage or loss after sounds over 120db. They can tell their position in relation to any gravitational or magnetic fields. Strong magnetic fields the oppose the northern pole of the planet or space station can disrupt their sense of direction.

A Kaiyo's skin has a color changing property due several pigmented skin layers and a reflective upper surface. Each color changing cell can be shrunk or grown at will allowing them to show or hide lower layers and create color patterns. They may also change how light reflects of of their skin and change the polarization of the light around them. They use this ability for communication in their native language and to camouflage themselves.

They have ink sacs that they may use to create ink from mucus, melanin, and body waste. It is blue-black in color and may be released at will. Their saliva and ink has various neurotoxins that can temporarily stun victims for roughly 30-60 minutes depending on the dose and subrace. Higher doses may cause severe damage or death in younger creatures. Eating the lower layers of Kaiyo shells will produce the same effects.

Group Dynamics
Kaiyo will form shoals or families of 5-69 or more individuals. They often include Kaiyo in addition to many fish and essence spawn for the amusement of the young. The groups are often led by the eldest female. Kaiyo rarely breed, and children often die at birth or are killed as Kaiyo lack social tolerance for weakness or low intelligence. Kaiyo mothers often raise one larva. Many non-parent Kaiyo will help the larva in addition to the parents. Kaiyo larva will develop a strong bond to their families, and the old variations usually keep the outer shell created from it's mother's mucus, despite lacking the gases for boyancy.

The rare surviving children are considered of the highest importance due to the population decline of the Kaiyo. The population halves every generation. The Kaiyo barely survive by advanced medical technology that allows them to extend their lifespans and they are morally against sentient cloning. The Kaiyo fear death enough that they went to the length of stealing medical technology and information from the TIAF and Draconis. This near-extinction brought the rise of automated technology and the Kaiyo Collective's use of AI run military.

Psychology
Due to millennia alone and secluded to their own groups, they are commonly shy to anyone outside their families or close friends. Some Kaiyo can't even grasp the concepts of loneliness or boredom; however, most Kaiyo are social and almost always have a strong need for other familiar life. Sometimes, they will spend time with other Kaiyo, schools of fish, or weak psilings and elemental spawn they created. Waiting weeks for food to swim by has made them very patient. They are very stubborn to change and all normally remain in one type of lifestyle for decades before accepting a more efficient routine.

Their complex culture and brains makes it difficult understand the mind of a Kaiyo. Their minds are filled with memories they remember perfectly, so they are often lost within their imaginations and find it more difficult to grasp what is currently in front of them than other races. They have high intelligence and think with amazing speed; however, this has led to annoyance for slow thinkers and strong pride that has led to them believing that they are superior to their neighboring races. Due to their complex minds and having cephalopodian faces, many think they are either emotionless or too alien to feel anything properly; as they show their feelings through changes in color and pattern on their skin. The Kaiyo have similar opinions on the strange emotions of extraterrestrial people and may see many of them as weakness.

Entertainment
Most Kaiyo have little interest in personal entertainment. Kaiyo societies do not have restaurants. Their lack of taste sensory has made them focus purely on nutrition, and advances in technology have given every home an infinite food supply; however, some Kaiyo still practice cullinary arts while in the presence of other species. The Kaiyo are normally fascinated by music. Much of their technology plays small notes when used. Single Kaiyo can play very complex songs. Most of their simple instruments have well over 2,000 notes. They prefer to use all 4 digits of all 8 arms for music, and it is also popular for practicing dexterity and hearing ability.

Quotes
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Trivia

 * Coincidentally and unintentionally, "Kaiyo" is both a Japanese aircraft carrier at sea and a type of sushi.
 * The Kaiyo are ColorfulCuttlefish's first fiction creatures.