Unreviewed Keptuvé Karis - Spider Soldiers

[Erebus Ignosi]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: Create a sentient arachnid Sithspawn to serve the Sith as elite warriors and hunters
• Image Credit: Jodie Muir, George Kambadais
• Canon: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: Knobby white spider, Erebus Ignosi

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Name: Keptuvé Karis (Sith for "Spider Soldier")
• Designation: Sentient
• Origins: Keptuvé Karis were first created on Dagobah from the world's native knobby white spiders, but being Sithspawn they are not a naturally occurring race and are created rather than born.
• Average Lifespan: 150 standard years
• Estimated Population: Rare
• Description: The Keptuvé Karis are a Sithspawn race created from near-Human biological tissue fused with knobby white spiders through the application of potent Sith alchemy, resulting in a creature humanoid from the waist up with an arachnid lower body. Their mouths possess sharp teeth and mandibles, and their humanoid body is a dark grey while their spider body is covered in a bone white exoskeleton.

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

• Breathes: Type 1 atmosphere
• Average Height of Adults: The average Keptuvé Karis stands at about 2.44 meters (or 8 feet) tall.
• Average Length of Adults: The arachnid portion of the Keptuvé Karis has an average length of 1.52 meters (or 5 feet) long
• Skin Color: The humanoid portion of a Keptuvé Karis is typically dark grey, while the arachnid portion is a stark, bone white, owing to their creation from Dagobah's knobby white spiders.
• Hair Color: Keptuvé Karis typically have either black or white hair.
• Distinctions: The most distinctive physical trait of the Keptuvé Karis is, of course, the large spider body they possess from the waist down. Although an individual may have a masculine or feminine humanoid torso, they lack reproductive organs altogether, something Erebus intentionally designed so that their numbers may be kept in check. They are created fully mature and capable, and an aged specimen might be identified by deep lines, wrinkles, and blemishes on their humanoid body in much the same way as a human might.
• Races: There are two culturally-classified races of Keptuvé Karis, simply called the Warriors and Hunters. Warriors are those who tend to rely on their physical strength and venom, while Hunters prefer to utilize their senses and webs.
• Force Sensitivity: All Keptuvé Karis are innately Force sensitive, and as specially designed Sithspawn are formed with heightened Force Senses and the ability to create Dark Side Webs.

Strengths:

• Webspinners: All Keptuvé Karis are created with the ability to create dark side webs to ensnare their prey.
• Venomous: Keptuvé Karis are capable of producing a potent paralytic venom to coat their mandibles as well as the tips of its claws. Keptuvé Karis are fond of coating their blades with this venom, using it in tandem with their webs to disable and capture their prey.
• Force-Hunter: All Keptuvé Karis have the innate ability to sense the presence of the Force and differentiate Light from Dark to more easily hunt down their preferred prey.
• Alchemized Exoskeleton: The spider portion of a Keptuvé Karis is covered in an exoskeleton that has undergone Sith alchemy, granting it a durability like that of similarly alchemized armor and resistance to lightsaber blows.

Weaknesses:

• Light: Their eyes are weak to bright light, whether natural or artificial, and sudden flashes of bright light leave them stunned and disoriented. Receiving a blast of Force Light will leave them extremely weakened and strip their exoskeleton of its alchemical protection, while a sufficiently concentrated blast will kill them outright.
• Upper Body: The humanoid torso of a Keptuvé Karis lacks the alchemized exoskeleton that the spider body possesses, making it more vulnerable to damage.
• Force Nullification: A Keptuvé Karis's webs and Force sense can be disrupted by the usual means one might resist the Force, such as a ysalamir or voidstone. Voidstone weapons and ammunition are especially deadly to Keptuvé Karis.

CULTURE

• Diet: Keptuvé Karis are carnivorous, preferring to consume raw meat. As expected of a Sithspawn, they have a particular taste for the flesh of those who wield the Light Side.
• Communication: Keptuvé Karis communicate between each other in a chittering language using their fangs and mandibles. However, they are also capable of communication in the Sith tongue, necessitating that those who wish to command them possess at least a modicum of knowledge of the Sith culture.
• Technology Level: The Keptuvé Karis are relatively primitive, wielding alchemically hardened armor and blades rather than vibroblades, lightsabers, or blasters.
• Religion/Beliefs: Keptuvé Karis follow the ancient Sith religion, with a particular reverence for death and necromancy, adorning themselves with the bones of their prey, and they worship the Sith as godlike beings.
• General Behavior: Keptuvé Karis are created with the sole purpose of serving the Sith and as such their every action is devoted to them. They follow the rituals and customs of the ancient Sith religion, are loyal to those that wield the Dark Side, and have a particular appetite for the flesh of those that wield the Light. New Keptuvé Karis are created, not born, as they lack reproductive organs, an intentional measure to keep their numbers in check.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Keptuvé Karis are a species of Sithspawn created by the Sith Lich Erebus Ignosi in the swamps of Dagobah after experimenting on the world's native knobby white spiders. By fusing a near-human subject with the spider a deadly new beast was created, one capable of serving as a dangerous warrior and relentless hunter for the Sith. Imbued with potent alchemy, Keptuvé Karis are a fearsome weapon to be deployed against the light.

The bone-white exoskeleton of the lower spider body has been treated with Sith Alchemy, granting it a supernatural resilience and resistance against lightsaber blows. Additionally they are capable of producing a potent paralytic venom, which they usually coat their blades with to increase their chances of capturing their prey. Their most dangerous ability, however, is the ability to produce dark side webs, which they use in tandem with their venom and an innate heightened Force sense to hunt Light Siders, whose flesh is their favored sustenance.

They are, however, not without weakness. Their upper body lacks the protective exoskeleton of the spider portion, necessitating them to wear armor, and the usual methods one might utilize to protect against the Force work just as well on the Keptuvé Karis as anyone or anything else. Their most glaring weakness, though, is their sensitivity to bright light both natural and artificial, which will leave them stunned and disoriented. If one was to be subjected to Force Light they would be massively weakened or, if the blast is concentrated, killed outright.

Keptuvé Karis are sentient, and possess a level of advancement on par with the ancient Massassi. They carry enchanted blades and armor into battle rather than vibroblades or blasters, and follow the Sith religion. As one might expect from creatures spawned by a Sith Lich, Keptuvé Karis have a reverence for death and necromancy, often adorning their arms and armor with the bones of those they have slain. Being sentient Sithspawn, it is not impossible for an individual Keptuvé Karis to become more intelligent and further hone their Force potential, but those are the exception rather than the rule.

Erebus has taken a particular liking to the Keptuvé Karis, them being among the first of his new Sithspawn created after his reawakening and arrival on Dagobah. A band of the Sithspawn guard his Midnight Ziggurat, while others wait to be adopted into the ranks of other enterprising Sith wishing for new playthings.