[hider=Sumris]
[h3]Character Description[/h3]
[list]Name: Sumris of Teriani
Species: [s]Kiel[/s] Ettec (mutated variant of the Ettecean Moth) - A large and long-lived—though not traditionally sapient—species, found in the forests of Kikkar, is known to undergo a chimerism metamorphosis where multiple larvae coalesce into a single pupal mass. Strangely, there seems to be traces of Kiellar genotypes in this particular specimen…
Sex: Chromosome pairings seem to vary depending on where cells are sourced, though they claim to be female.
Age: 83
Role/Job: “Fake” credentials? Identity theft? Has [i][b]anyone[/b][/i] even seen one of these bugs before? Regardless, they seem to be one of our non-iced Navigators.
Appearance: Standing around 7’ tall, they appear frail and lanky behind the masses of chitin and fuzzy sensory fibers. Bulky wings fold crudely behind their back to make way for movement in less-than-open spaces, and similar membranes can unfold from their head to enable expressive body language.  A set of mandibles folds elegantly along their mouth to mask the jagged teeth-like edges of their exoskeleton that allow them to eat.
[hider=The Bug In Question]
[img]https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/030/282/522/large/shi-huan-shenyu-wasp-insectoid-1.jpg[/img]
Art by Shi (Huan) Shenyu over on artstation.
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[h3]Strengths and Weaknesses[/h3]
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Skills:

Navigation Specialist - Astrodynamics, applied mathematics, years of experience aboard the SS 2393-08—a freighter owned by the shipping company “DwarfSun Carriers”—and several industry-standard certificates. Beyond the portfolio carried by their name in the remnants of Eden’s systems, they boast many practical skills: memorized starmaps, lidar operation, and even basic maintenance of common navigation equipment, to name a few.

Quirks of Nature - The effective use of four arms and their subsequent use of that many hands comes with a small advantage in both daily and work-related life. Thick pads of chitin covering their body provide an incredible buffer as biological armor, though it still fails to compare to the well-researched and standardized body armor used by security personnel. By far the most utility they gain from their chimera physiology is in their exotic neurology, possessing a structure both capable of putting that many limbs to use and allowing them to go significant amounts of time without rest.

Weaknesses:

Quirks of Nature - With eyes developed for low-light conditions and nocturnal hunting, well-lit spaces are quite the headache for the insectoid, and their large wings make for a distinct disadvantage in some of the ship’s narrow passageways. Additionally, it makes them completely unable to even awkwardly stuff themselves into one of the onboard EVA suits without at least some amount of self-mutilation.
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[h3]Background:[/h3]
[list]Backstory:

Red-stained cigarettes rested in the mud, and the thin paper had already started to melt away and return to the dirt—as all things eventually do. A sickening crunch broke through the idle sounds of grinding mandibles tearing away, and it was trailed closely by a brief wince from Sumris. There wasn’t much she could feel at this point between the shock and scorched nerves, nor could she care. It wouldn’t help, anyway.

She twitched a finger enough to kick at the butt of one of those tubes, knocking half of it away as the wet thing tore itself apart. Blasters were such a cruel weapon. The scorching-hot plasma effortlessly converted flesh to ash, but it cauterized the wound in the process. Without a sure-fire fatal shot, a poor few were left to wait—and worse than that. Think, and reflect.

All that time in the academy, the years working in the dim-lit control stations aboard corporate spacecraft, the people and faces she met along the way… Just for it to come to an end at the hands of some pirates. Boarded, blasted, and then dumped off one of their landing shuttles into some deep chunk of forest.

[i]’What a waste,’[/i] the thought was weary, accompanied by her gaze lazily flicking toward the sound of some shifting grass. More forearm-sized things were inching over, probably drawn in by some pheromones released by the one that had already been feasting away. Maybe they were some type of caterpillar? It was hard to say with the fucked-up nightmare fuel ring of mandibles it had for a face. She didn’t know much of this world beyond the view from the spaceport.

A dulled sigh left her lips, and the eyes of Sumris drifted shut for the last time.

And sometime later, the [b][i]thing[/i][/b] that [b][i]thinks[/i][/b] it’s Sumris of Teriani tore through the thick silks of a cocoon with large stinger-like protrusions from its upper set of arms. Tough layers of grey and black chitin existed where pale skin should have stretched and deformed under their movement, and the feel of their tightening muscles beneath that exoskeleton hinted at the absence of bone. Even stranger, though, was that none of it felt unnatural…
[hr]
There was so much panic aboard the waves of survivors disembarking the countless streams of evacuation shuttles that security couldn’t keep up. Plenty of eyes cautiously traced the towering insectoid, but with the simple swipe of a standardized identification card at one of the spaceport’s entry terminals, any residual concern toward what was effectively an unregistered species slowly faded. Many didn’t know, and others didn’t care. The world was ending, after all.

Word spread of Eden’s remaining government scrambling to put together a crew for a colony vessel, and from there, it didn’t take much for Sumris to take on a last-minute contract.

[hider=Additional Notes]
Biology: 

Very little of the Kiel remains within this creature outside of a sizable chunk of their brain, which is encompassed within a segmented neural mass analogous to a number of close-knit tumors buried within the insectoid’s head. Several once-independent chunks of grey matter work together to form a singular, somehow sapient brain. A hybrid mind-melded monstrosity, some could say, but this unique structure comes with a couple of advantages—portions can be put to rest to sustain consciousness for long periods at a cognitive tax.

Other notable traits include their effectively vestigial wings, which are hindered by the weight of their mutated body structure. For the natural non-sapient variants lacking a humanoid shape, they may be large, but they are more than capable of carrying their weight. Here, they are capable of little more than poor gliding outside of specific conditions, namely low to zero gravity. Additionally, as some would notice from the reference, there are some hybrid characteristics between a moth and hornets, and some traits carry relevancy.

Psychology:

Much of their behavior will be familiar, as they seek social connections and the friendly (and sometimes unfriendly) banter that accompanies them. They do believe they are, or were, a Kiel, after all. That much will show. But by the twisted nature of it, much of their actions will carry an air of imitation, and it will only grow more extreme in instances where the kieloid chunk of their brain is put to sleep.

Some thoughts and actions are warped, showing a disconnect with empathy and sympathy, and more crude, insect-like behaviors could surface. As a quick example, let's say the party is boarded and held at blaster-point by some pirates? Self-defense is justified, right? What if you carry the cold, ruthless hunting instincts of an insect, known to actively eat their prey throughout a fight until one victor remains standing?

Additional info/Direction:

By no means am I intending to write some horrific monster lurking within our crew, biding time until they can ruthlessly put them through their paces. They are very much a part of the team, but I’m playing for some drama around their nature. Sure, they might eat a chunk of a living pirate or two to put them down, but let's not focus on that too much! There will be much more fun in the lies, twisted truths, and eventually they’ll get caught up in them.
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