Hailing from the world of Qanir Gamma, the Cavyrns’ world is in many ways similar to what one can define as your typical habitable planet, having vast seas of water and a nitrogen-rich atmosphere. However, despite these similarities, there are a few glaring differences. Instead of a planet, Qanir Gamma is a moon that orbits the larger Qunir Alpha, a gas giant much closer to its sun than the outer planets of the Sol System. Between its much smaller mass and proximity to the much larger celestial body, the atmosphere on Qanir Gamma is very thin, only about a third as thick as that of Earth. A massive impact in the moon’s formation left it heavily off-kilter, having an axial tilt of almost 28 degrees. With these conditions, most life on Qanir Gamma has mostly stayed within the oceans. Nevertheless, of the life that has managed to live and even thrive in the relatively harsher terrestrial biomes is the highly intelligent Cavyrn.
With a hard shell and 6 legs, the Cavyrn somewhat resemble the arthropods of Earth, but unlike them, the body is supported by an outer shell of cellulose, held in place by a mesh of cartilage. Each of the six two-meter-long legs has three armored segments, which end in an un-armored foot; flexible and nimble, its feet allow it to gingerly tread over the rocky shorelines. At the origin of each arm lies a small repository opening, leading to one of eight miniature lungs in the first segment of the respective arm. Each lung keeps the leg it’s attached to oxygenated, except for the back two, which also sustain the main body. At the front of the body lies a vaguely pyramid-shaped hardened dome, from which two smaller arms emerge. While these were once the same as the creature’s standard limbs, they have since lost their first segment and gained a highly mobile tendril.
History
Descendants of semi-aquatic piscavores, the ancestors of the Cavyrn would follow the Qanir’s equivalent of the salmon run; they evolved to have high intelligence and keen memory, as it was necessary to carefully remember where and when their water-bound prey swim upstream, and be ready to reap their fill. Furthermore, since these seasonal migrations would attract many Cavyrns to the same location and the Cavyrns had better chances of a catch working together than alone, they learned to be more social. With it, came further enhancements in intelligence and the birth of the moon’s first truly sapient species.
They would soon after begin using tools fashioned from local wildlife, beginning their early steps towards civilization. Some of the first discoveries of the Cavyrn was the domestication of their food, lowering their reliance on seasonal migrations. This enabled permanent societies to form their own food sources, with the manipulation of water through trenches and levees, creating great shallow pools for aquaculture. Once the Cavyrn moved from sharpened stone to forged metal, taking advantage of the moon’s large metal deposits, they began to forge not only tools but great inventions, as through the observation of their star’s cycles, they could pin down the migrations they once relied upon.
Great kingdoms and empires would spread across the Qanir Gamma, fuelled by the metal they had begun to forge. Like the humans on Earth, the Cavyrn would eventually harness rotary power, but while humans turned to steam, the Cavyrn turned to rivers and streams. Great waterwheels would power mills and bellows, and while they would never discover gunpowder, Ammonium-nitrate propelled boiling water would become their ammunition of choice, which would eventually lead to their discovery of solid-fuel rockets. With this power discovered, the Cavyrns at present are just beginning to send probes into orbit.
This entry was made by community member, SpaceGodzilla