Creature:Chh'githet

Chh'githets, sometimes shortened to "thets", are a sapient species endemic to the planet Bhhgwythn, distinctive by their head as a set of interlocking "rings" surrounding an eye. They are the eponymous founders of the Chh'ghithethran Empire. Though they have only been recently discovered, mostly due to a stubborn unwillingness to send any signals or transmissions, their communication with other species has been majorly positive. Since their discovery, some stray thets have ended up in other empires' civilizations.

Biology
Chh'ghithets are bipeds covered in soft feathers, which are noticeably thicker around their chest. They have two pairs of wings attached to their shoulders resembling that of insects, but made of keratin instead of exoskeletal membrane. Their hands end in claws and have three fingers, one of which is an opposable thumb. Their feet, however, have five toes (including one dewclaw) and resemble amphibians' with more adhesive toepads. Notably, their toes have vestigial claw/nail structures within them, suggesting that at some point their feet more closely resembled their hands.

Their "heads" are made up of rings in different sizes surrounding a single, functional eyeball. Despite their appearance, the rings on thets seem to be made of reflective organic minerals (similar to pearls, fish scales, or certain insect exoskeletons) rather than metal.

Chh'ghithets seem to have all fully functional structures for every system found in most animals' bodies except for the digestive system, which exists only as vestigial structures within their bodies, most likely due to their apparent lack of a mouth. How thets are meant to survive without eating remains a complete mystery. Due to their lack of a mouth, thets breathe through cutaneous respiration.

Evolutionary History
Currently, the evolutionary origin of the Chh'ghithets are unknown. The fossil record of thets on Bhhgwythn seems to be very recent and extremely abrupt, further evidenced by the lack of biological resemblance to any other species on their home planet. Their lack of planetary evolution history, as well as their impossible floating head, seems to suggest some kind of artificial creation or genetic modification followed by introducing the newly-designed thets to their home planet.

For Chh'ghithets, their biological ancestry is often chalked up to divine intervention (usually worded as "mistakes into bigger mistakes"). Though they do have a widespread belief in evolution, they are aware of the apparent improbability* of their anatomy, and previous efforts to research their own origins have come up fruitless. Due to their strong belief in religion, some thets widely prefer the idea that they were created by higher powers rather than a foreign, intelligent species.

At some point, a Chh'ghithethran philosopher proposed that the tangible form of a god, Xaabhath, was meant to resemble an evolutionary ancestor, as Xaab was known as one of the oldest gods known and has the same bodily structure as a thet, only with a triangular head with pointed ears, fangs, three eyes, and two horns. The hypothesis has been criticized for its lack of evidence and it, as well as the god Xaab itself, is not widely known or believed.



History
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Technology
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Culture
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Religion
Many thets hold apocalyptic, cosmicistic or omnistic beliefs and are tolerant of foreign religions.[citation needed] Their belief revolves around many formless, cosmic gods that walk the galaxy, apathetic to their struggles. Since the fate of their species is determined by the gods they believe in, violent, chaotic cataclysm is an inevitability.

Some Chh'ghithets hold almost cult-like devotion to their religion, believing that if they appease their gods, their destruction in the apocalypse will be quick and painless. Some of these devotees, as they are referred, are openly denounced by fellow believers in these gods.

The beliefs of Chh'ghithets are reasoned with the circumstances of biology, several catastrophic geological events that preceded their presence on Bhhgwythn, and the effects of industry on their environment.

Because of the omnism of some thets, they can be easily swayed into the religious beliefs of other cultures, even if they still hold onto bits of their own.

Important Individuals
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Trivia
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