Ketran

:For the town in Armenia, see Getamej.
The Ketrans are a fictional race from the Animorphs book series; they lived in giant crystals hovering above a lava-covered planet. The Ellimist was once a member of this race, apparently one of the first technologically advanced sentient life-forms of the galaxy. The Ketrans were later wiped out by the Capasins.The Ketrans kept the floating crystals aloft by having many of them flapping their wings while attached to the crystal.
Ketrans are winged creatures who have 'quills' rather than hair. They have 2 arms, 4 eyes (ranging in colors like pink, magenta, aqua, black, etc. - similar to the colors described in their home crystals), 4 feathery wings, 2 'pods' of some sorts (possibly the Ketran equivalent of feet), docking talons, and are highly intelligent. The description provided by the author indicated they may appear as angels, which would fit in with their God-like powers over their games.
Ketran society is composed of many occupations like biologists, technicians, analysts, physicists, astronomers, and theoreticians. The portion of Ketran society that involved the Ellimist was based around a game, akin somewhat to god sims of human video games. In this game, the player would choose a species and make small changes to the planet and to genetic structure, etc. of the species, then see what the outcome was. Two opponents could each make respective changes and see which species survived and which did not, and why.
It was this game (broadcast throughout space, much in the same way that humans broadcast messages about their society via radio waves) that caused the Capasins to come and wipe them out. The Capasins believed that the Ketrans played with the lives of real species, they didn't realise it was a game (they couldn't grasp the concept of games.)
The last of the Ketrans escaped with an experimental spacecraft, and spent the next several decades searching the galaxy for a planet to call their new home. The Ketrans eventually came to a moon covered almost entirely with water, which they believed could have been favourable save for some vital characteristics that needed to be discerned. As they came close to the surface of the water in an effort to probe the moon, their craft was seized by the tentacle of a creature whose tentacled body covered the entire surface of the moon. It pulled the ship into the water, and there were no survivors save for Toomin.
Toomin would go on to become the Ellimist.
Due to their lives of flight, Ketrans are instinctively claustrophobic, to the point where they are absolutely terrified of closed space, even when windows and such allow the illusion of open air. This is a fear that they must conquer after they become a nomadic, space-faring race.
Ketran terminology
* The Crate: The name the Ketrans gave the Capasin ship they captured.
*Dam: The Ketran word for "mother".
*Dance By: An event which occurs whenever two crystals on Ket float near each other. Ketrans from each crystal fly out and meet Ketrans from the other crystal.
*EmCee: A Ketran space exploration ship.
*Memm: To "memm" someone is to send them a message via the planetary uninet; comparable to sending someone an e-mail or a private message, though the uninet is accessed through the minds of the Ketrans and not technologically. Essentially a slower form of thought-speak.
*Deep worms: A general curse-like invocation.
*Sire: The Ketran word for "father".
*Face-Face: Ketran slang similar to "hitting on" or "flirting".
*Mones: The Ketran term for the phenomenon that is described very similarly to pheromones emitted by females to attract a male. Ketran females appear to have an ability to pick and choose which male they want to 'mone' and subsequently drive him into state of delirious euphoria.
*Juvie: The Ketran word for "child" or "offspring".

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