Cephloid

Cephloids are a hyper-intelligent semi-humanoid cephalopodic race of psychics from Reeferon, who are a major force in intergalactic affairs due to their dominance in the banking industry.

Biology and appearance
Cephloids are large beings, as they evolved on a low gravity planet. Their torso is humanoid, with two long arms that end in articulate 5-fingered hands. However, their heads resemble that of a squid, elongated and with a cephalopod fin along each side of the upper cranium, which is also covered in a mantle. Their gills are located on the backs of their heads, along with the vestigial remains of a siphon used for jet propulsion, now used to excrete excess water. They are capable of breathing both air and water. They possess a single, inexpressive cyclopedic eye, which is surrounded by near-invisible pseudo-eyes that allow the Cephloids to experience the depth perception of any standard humanoid, translated through wavelengths beyond that of human vision. Below their eye is their grey beak-like mouth. The lower half of a Cephloid is made up of eight long, articulate tentacles, which have suckers on their inner halves. Limbs that are lost can regrow within a short period of time. Although Cephloids do not possess a true skeleton, their bodies above their waist possess rigid bone-like structures, allowing their arms and hands to possess high levels of articulation, while also keeping their upper bodies rigid and able to stand up straight, providing protection to vital organs located within their torso. The most notable bone-like structure within a Cephloid is a skull protecting their brain, and keeping their large craniums upright when out of a watery environment. This pseudo-skeleton, while rigid, is not as durable as the skeletons of most humanoids, mostly due to the low-gravity environment that Cephloids evolved on, although it can heal far faster. Their skin is reddish, although their evolutionary ancestors were known to possess controllable chromatophores to change the coloration and pattern of their skin. Although their race was originally carnivorous, later Cephloids evolved to be able to eat certain plants that grew on and around Reeferon's landmasses, making them omnivorous. Cephloid lifespan is 2000 standard years, and it takes almost 120 standard years for a Cephloid to reach maturity. All Cephloids are hermaphrodites, sporting both male and female reproductive organs. However, they reproduce without physical copulation, with one Cephloid laying eggs while another fertilizes them through a spray. While capable of self-fertilization, early Cephloids would scan eggs for the most suitable to fertilize. Eggs and sperm are each deposited through their own orifice, located on the underside of their bodies between the tentacles. Due to their method of reproduction, they are incompatible with any other species. An ink sac organ is also present in Cephloids, able to spray out black ink on command through another orifice in the same area, the same which serves to expel waste. The most notable features of Cephloid physiology are their natural psychic abilities and their extremely high intelligence, which they develop at very young ages. Cephloid intelligence is known to far surpass that of other mortal species, most notably seen in their management of the Neuron Institute, utilizing a proficiency in mathematics that most species would rely on computers for. Their intellect and highly complex brain has also enabled them to create incredibly advanced technologies, sustain multiple types of vision at once, and gives them mastery over their psychic abilities. Their most commonly-seen ability is their ability to psychokinetically hover, something they are able to do tirelessly. They can also use this ability to glide through high altitudes, although they rarely move at any pace faster than the average walking speed of a human. Attempts to strike a Cephloid are almost always fruitless, due to their use of telekinetic force fields, which can absorb or deflect physical force, explosions, flames, energy bolts, and ballistic rounds. Cephloids, while capable of an alien speech made up of clicks and screeches through their beaks, normally speak telepathically. They are able to scan the minds of unshielded less intelligent species, able to acquire the knowledge of how to fluently speak entire languages from such scans, and do not require cybernetic or handheld universal translators. Despite being hermaphrodites, Cephloids are known to have male voices in their telepathic speech. Cephloids can also psychokinetically manipulate multitudes of objects simultaneously, in sizes up to their own size, and are able to manipulate living beings. Their psychokinetic manipulation of living beings often involves psychically pushing, pulling, lifting, lowering, throwing, choking, or striking with invisible blunt force, as such abilities are usually used defensively. While presumably able to generate plasma-like blasts of pure psychic energy to use offensively, none have been recorded doing so. Their ability to read minds can extend to hypnotic suggestions, and through cybernetic enhancements, Intellectual Authority officers can use an amplified version of this ability to cause forced "deactivations" of the frontal lobe of less complex brains, akin to a reversible lobotomy, although such actions require close proximity, including physical contact. Due to their incredibly complex minds and psychic mastery, they display high resistances and even complete immunity to psychic abilities used by the less intelligent. Their logic-wired brains naturally suppress many forms of emotions, which become more apparent with age.

Habitat
General habitat: Aquatic/Maritime

Gravity: Light

Pressure: Standard

Atmosphere: Terrestrial

Ambient concentration of Celestial Energy or Magic: Irrelevant

History
Cephloids arose on Reeferon, originating as a cephalopodic creature with minor psychic abilities, known as Cephs. The Cephs had eight tentacles for locomotion, with two frontal limbs with gripping appendages. They were hunted by a predator known as the Lockjaw, and yet managed to sustain stable numbers throughout their early history. The Cephs grew more intelligent, forming early societies and creating rudimentary tools while still underwater. Their psychic abilities grew as a result, and Cephs began to reach the islands of Reeferon, seeking ways to reach the surface. Their bodies became more articulate and humanoid, especially their upper halves, with their bodies now propelled by psychokinesis and not jet propulsion, which made their siphon become more and more vestigial, until it became nothing more than a drain for any water that got through their mantle. The proto-Cephloids evolved from the Cephs, now more humanoid and able to breathe the air outside of water, also becoming omnivorous rather than remaining pure carnivores. They began creating new civilizations on land, rapidly growing and developing, mining valuable resources from the sea floors where they originated. Scientific and technological aspects were put at the forefront of their society once they gained an organized government, and their proficiency in developing and utilizing mathematics allowed them to quickly achieve their goals, while they rapidly evolved into modern Cephloids, whose lifespan dwarfed that of their predecessors. Once they had achieved spaceflight and advanced levels of technology, Reeferon was gradually cyberformed, becoming an ideal and completely controlled terracity. Planetary income was made through a Cephloid-run commerce guild, which interacted with other races and became highly successful. Their government evolved into a cyberocracy, organized as the Cortex Institute, dealing with other species and states among the stars. While Reeferon's economy was originally built off of their manufacturing capabilities and exports of advanced technology, the Cortex Institute placed services at the forefront of Cephloid activity, forming a post-industrial society, building off of the success of the commerce guild. The guild was reorganized as the Neuron Institute, becoming a large interstellar bank, giving the Cephloids heavy influence in intergalactic affairs. During this time, the Cortex Institute passed laws and regulations of emotional suppression, allowing the Cephloid logic to extend to greater levels. For millenniums, ranging from before the formation of the Eiel Kingdom to the time of its expansion, the inner Nostrom Cardinal Galaxy was not yet developed enough for interstellar trade, and thus the Cephloids focused on outer rim and extragalactic commerce, as such locations held early hyperspace-faring civilizations. While the Cephloids had power in the outer rims of the Nostrom Cardinal Galaxy and an expanding number of extragalactic locations held over thousands of years, they saw another power rising in the core sectors of the Nostrom Cardinal Galaxy: The Commonwealth. Although the Cephloids saw the new Britonican state as a belligerent one, they could also calculate how valuable a peaceful alliance with the Commonwealth could be, as it would prevent a war between their states and allow a greater ease of commerce. The Neuron Institute soon became the official provider of Commonwealth credit, providing the greatest economic security and growth the Commonwealth had known. However, the Cephloids remained neutral in almost all Commonwealth affairs. As Commonwealth wars of conquest raged on during its four millenniums of operation, the Cephloids had focused on expanding intergalactic affairs, creating a rapidly expanding banking network though the Neuron Institute. When the Commonwealth fell, the Cephloids quietly cut their ties to the Commonwealth and set out to build new ties to the states forming in its place, such as with the United Republic of Amer Prime, and even the newly-reformed Eiel Kingdom. Over the next centuries, they continued to expand across space, becoming even more influential in intergalactic affairs, and gaining a strong presence on the borders of human-dominated space, a notable act despite the dominance of human-like species in their home galaxy. They remain neutral in most intergalactic affairs.

Society
Cephloids are a society of intellectuals focused on logic and reasoning, suppressing what emotions they would have left after natural suppression. Since a very young age, only 10 standard years old, they are taught advanced academics, as they are able to comprehend such subjects by that time. Once they are able to, almost all Cephloids are employed within the expanding Neuron Institute. Cephloid clothing, whose designs have not been updated for centuries, often only covers their torso, consisting of armor-like plates or strange robes, which almost always house technology, and are sometimes referred to as the last piece of Cephloid artistic expression, with designs and colors, while usually dull and generic, often denoting rank and positions. Cephloids in high positions in the Cortex Institute, such as the members of the Neural Council, and members of the Intellectual Authority, are known to wear strange jumpsuits that cover even their tentacles, often with cybernetics implanted within them, while Intellectual Authority officers also wear cybernetic helmets and armor. All Cephloids are known to wear a piece of technology fitted to their undersides, covering their orifices, meant to collect any waste they expel and convert them into oxygen, expelling the invisible, odorless gas, so that Cephloids do not waste time in lavatories. Cephloid technology often cannot be interfaced by other species, as they could require up to 10 limbs to operate or have no manual interface consoles, operated through brainwaves and psychic abilities alone. Despite their suppression of emotions, Cephloid leaders could recognize that most species need emotions to properly interact with others. For that reason, Cephloid children employed in the Neuron Institute can sometimes act as emotional translators, using their natural emotions to better advise further actions. Cephloids are also known to be indifferent to or disapproving of the less intelligent, seeing their low intellect as an inferior trait in regards to the physiology and evolutionary scale of a species. Certain young Cephloids are known to outright resent the less intelligent, with one even creating a race of androids to satirize humans and other similar species.

General characteristics
Type of government: Cyberocracy

Technology level: Highly advanced

Proficiency in magic and other abilities: Proficiency in various psychic abilities

Cultural traits: Emotionless and logic-favoring, look down on the less intelligent.

Population: Stable