Codex: Kerokoras/zh-hans

U.G.C. survival guidelines recommend you do not lick them.

Name (Singular & Plural): Kerokoras

Sexes: Purely Female

Height: Between 4’ 6” and 5’ 6”.

Hair: Hairless

Eyes: Bulbous, featuring broad pupils and wildly varying sclera coloration.

Features

Kerokoras have bald and round heads, almost human in shape, but with large eyes and a complete lack of a protruding nose or ears. Instead they have a pair of broadly spaced nostrils above a wide mouth, and a pair of shallow pits where ears would be expected. Their mouths are able to open extremely wide, with jaws designed to dislocate, allowing them to consume large prey whole. The insides of their mouths are a reddish purple, with a thin, pale ridge of cartilage in place of teeth, making chewing tough food nearly impossible.

The most notable feature of the kerokoras face is their tongue. On average, their tongues can extend between eight and twelve feet, roughly twice their height. These prehensile tongues are made of twitch muscle, and capable of extending at nearly the same speed as a traditionally gunpowder-accelerated kinetic projectile, allowing them to hunt with the slightly sticky appendage. Like the insides of their mouths, their tongues tend to be a deep red with a purple and veiny underside.

Kerokoras lack not only hair, but mammaries as well, their flat chests lacking breasts or nipples. With the lack of breasts, their bodies are largely regarded as somewhat tomboyish, further reinforced by their narrow, feminine shoulders, each leading to a pair of slender, albeit well-muscled arms. Webbed, five fingered hands adorn the other end of their lithe arms.

The races evolutionary history is further evident in their lower bodies, with impressively thick legs intended for superior jumping and running speed. The power evident in the leg structure persists in their feet, with three large toes, featuring similar webbing to the hands, further aiding the race with movement through water and air.

A short stubby tail protrudes from the base of their spines, just above their asses and, unlike most unevolved amphibians, they have both an anus and a vagina, instead of a cloaca.

Kerokoras feature very individual colors and patterning of the skin, with varying shades of green, earthy browns, vibrant orange, blue, red, green, yellow, black, and some with spotted combinations of these colors on their backs.

Typical Environments

Kerokoras are usually only found in swamplands, preferably with large insect populations and plenty of dense foliage. They tend to live high in the trees, only approaching the ground to defend their young, find a mate, or feed. Oddly, kerokoras can be found on multiple worlds, despite their complete lack of interest in technology and their primitive tribal structures.

Reproduction

The kerokoras are an opportunistic species, sexually. They have the ability to reproduce with males of almost any species that produces sperm. Their elastic reproductive organs allow them to accommodate a mate of almost any size, and always feel vice tight, regardless of how small or large the male might be.

The kerokoras produce a venomous sweat that greatly enhances the ardor of any creature who comes into contact with it. When searching for a mate, they will often lick their own back with their long tongues, gathering their sweat into a concentrated mix. They then find a male and repeatedly whip them with their tongue until the subject is in a rutting frenzy and doesn’t care that he is mating with an alien species.

It should be noted that while any given kerokoras is resistant to their own venom, they are not immune to the sweat of other kerokoras. This sweat covers their entire body, and also acts to keep their skin clean.

Upon being fertilized, the kerokoras will begin to develop an eggsack with anywhere from two to six eggs. After a relatively short initial gestation period of two weeks, the eggs are laid, generally in shallow, swampy water. These eggs typically hatch about a month later.

Kerokoras young are born without limbs, and with a long tail, and spend the first year of their development in water, before their limbs develop and they join the tribe in the trees. They reach full adulthood shortly after growing their arms and legs, and are able to breed soon after that, though most wait several years before contributing to the tribe.

History

The history of the kerokoras race is confusing to say the least, as they tend to have different stories on each world where they are encountered. Verbal folklore hints at an ancient age when they built great ‘stone insects’ that they rode on the backs of to distant stars, hinting that they are from a civilization in decline.

Research into their genetics reveals clues, hinting at past genetic tampering to allow them to mate with virtually any other species, and as the root-source of their ability to produce venom. Kerokoras raised entirely in captivity are quite malleable when it comes to beliefs, and can be raised in a tech heavy environment as long as they are supplied with adequate room to move.

Other Notes

Kerokoras venom is somewhat valuable for its aphrodisiac qualities, but when ingested in large quantities can have an invasive quality. The genetic alterations that the kerokoras have been subject to in the past lingers in their venom; strange transformations have been noted in test subjects ingesting large quantities of the venom.