Codex：卡塞利人

“欢愉是放纵，完美则意味着死亡。我们的道路是渴求成就。只需环顾四周，感谢祖先的决心为我们带来的援助。看看吧，当我们屈从于贫乏的妄想，与堕落的生物无聊地嬉闹时，最终会变成什么样。看看他们，看看那显而易见的过时！”——卡塞利大使帕·雷吉斯在一段录音广播中如此表达他对斯莱弗伦的蔑视。

名称：Caesseli（单数：Caesselian；复数：Caesselians）

Sex: Males and Females.

Height: 5’ to 7’ tall; ‘Overking’ and ‘Overqueen’ specimens recorded up to 9’.

Weight: 180-450 lbs.

Eyes: Vertically slit pupils; wide iris colorations, with red, brown, black, and green being most common.

Skin: Hard scales atop tough hide, which both dissolve into soft, supple flesh around genitalia, buttocks, and snouts.

Ears: Imperceptible holes deep in their small, cobra-like hoods

Face: Attractive ophidian muzzles blended with humanoid traits

四肢：胯部以下是粗长的蛇尾，用于移动；拥有类人手臂。

尾巴：巨大的可缠握附肢，负责调节卡塞利人的大部分身体机能，例如平衡与体温。极高的肌肉密度使任何卡塞利人都能抓住并制服所有已知物种，施加的压力甚至足以弯曲强化塑钢。

外貌

蛇形的卡塞利人与遍布银河系的普通蛇类有着自然的相似之处：巨大的粗壮尾巴是在横向与垂直环境中进化出的惊人力量与敏捷性，短小的爬行动物吻部适应了坚硬猎物，优雅的蝰蛇状颈罩通常饰有各种彩色标记和图案，用来表示母族以及个人在更大层级中的地位。颈罩与脖颈连接处有数十个听觉开口，能在 270 度范围内提供出色的听力，但身后会有一片被闷声遮蔽的盲区。

雄性卡塞利人拥有类似吻部的面孔，雌性则有丰满的口鼻；两者都有裂瞳、退化的鼻孔，以及宽阔多肉的分叉舌头，用来嗅探周围环境。每个卡塞利人的湿滑口腔内都有一对半可收缩的獠牙，大小足以媲美 UGC 休闲狩猎论坛上列为“致命猎物”的任何捕食者。被激怒时，这些醒目的牙齿会露出来，并因持续渗出的麻痹毒液而始终闪闪发亮

。不同于柔软脆弱的皮肤，粗糙的皮革状表皮从额头一直保护到卡塞利人的尾尖。表层的龙鳞让他们本就强悍的体魄获得近乎坚不可摧的防护。虽然人形特征相较其主要特征大多处于次要地位，但这些原始属性会在生殖裂隙与毒囊周围柔化成更加柔韧的“皮肉”。

成年卡塞利人会长出两只“乳房”；不过这些器官并没有乳头，而是负责储存并快速再生高效麻痹剂的小囊，这种毒素至今没有已知的药物解毒手段。这些毒囊的形状差异极大，雌性卡塞利人的轮廓通常呈银河边缘地区熟悉的女性形态。雄性则常常拥有略微隆起的胸肌，类似健美运动员的体格。

起源与历史

尽管被提升的过程出了名地艰难，卡塞利人仍对自己的起源与发展守口如瓶。外交官和历史学家结合卡塞利大使们尖锐的言论，以及他们访问蛇人母星时在奢华博物馆中见到的荣誉陈列，拼凑出一份简要概览。

在庞大而干旱的 Drethfoll 世界上，一百多万年的演化让卡塞利种族从在 hostile 荒野中争夺霸权的原始野兽，变成拒绝协同行动、只顾搜集资源的自私采集者，最终形成严格的氏族结构，推动一个繁荣、坚定合作却仍未被银河大众充分理解的文明。

他们文化中沉稳的思索，以及横跨大陆的大都市在精心规划下的发展，都发生在恰当的条件之中。卡塞利历史上最重要的事件或许是持续一千年的文艺复兴时期，母语称作“Magtheode”。那是哲学、工业与科学不受束缚地突飞猛进的熔炉时代，始于氏族首次建立时召开的奠基峰会。

他们并不服从单一形式的政府。无论大小，每个氏族都在 sprawling 城市中心或传统的边远聚落中占据一片领地，各自自治，运作方式如同国家或省府。氏族之间的冲突不可避免，但凭借一张密不透风的关系与协定网络，无论是否结盟，各氏族实际上都会彼此监督。

卡塞利氏族由一名霸王或霸后领导，他们拥有巨大的权力与责任，负责监督整个种族的核心职能。与大多数等级制度相反，位居顶层者的职责是为底层者劳作。这些天生的领袖及其亲自挑选的随从以誓言承诺维护并推进卡塞利社会，亲自承担重大远征或荣耀任务，扩展势力、探明未知，并把获得的奖励与知识传播给同族，从而为自己和所守护的人实现某种意义上的永生。据说最有天赋、最有能力者只凭功绩，就能吸收较小氏族，甚至接管更大的氏族。

It is thought that the caesseli never intended to venture far beyond their atmosphere. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that although there exist powerful clans akin to megacorporations, no one ‘family’ oversees any particular field of science or area of innovation. Most of these clans remain unknown to off-worlders, save for the largest ones in control of massive population centers, such as ‘Orenjule’ and ‘Phanjel’.

Adherence to tradition makes the caesselians strong, yet it is a source of fascination that, following their uplifting, a vast number of caesselians departed their world in search of a different future, becoming known as the Slyvereen, whose beginnings are fraught with peril and distress. This unprecedented event is reported to be a sore spot for all caesselians, who have become far more regimented than previously indicated.

Relations between caesseli and slyveren are thus said to be dour.

Reproduction

Caesselians are an egg-laying species whose reproductive speeds are competitive with the more consummate breeders of the galaxy, although this will never be tested, as the snake-people are united by a disdain for wanton hedonism.

Males and females share a typical sexual configuration with the rest of the galaxy, possessing long, lizard-like phalluses and curiously mammalian vaginas and clitorises respectively. Genital slits protect these organs, which only emerge during arousal. The men have four internal testes and are diphallic, either penis elongating up to ten inches when erect, whereas women are abnormally elastic and possess a uniquely slippery wetness that allows for very pleasurable, exhilarating sex.

Every two months, a female will begin ovulating, incubating up to six eggs in her uterus. In one month, she will lay the clutch, special lubricating glands ensuring painless birthing. If during this period the female is inseminated by a compatible male, the egg will be fertilized, and a young caesseli will quickly hatch upon its ejection, its level of growth determined by the quality of sperm and the time of impregnation. It is believed that the tallest and strongest caesseli are conceived at first sign of ovulation, while the smaller and less-developed are born late in the egg’s gestation period. Regardless, caesselian young are born capable of providing for themselves, and often begin hunting for the first meal long before they speak their first words.

Cross-pollination between caesseli and other races has been confirmed through breedings with terrans, ausar, kaithrit, and suula, with the children often possessing more of their ophidian heritage than the alien mate’s.

One marvelous quirk to caesselian reproduction is the genetic subset of ‘overkings’ and ‘overqueens’. Not chosen, but born, these scions of their race are once-in-a-million births to normal caesseli, yet far more frequent to extant specimens. Rarely, a fertilized egg will grow even larger, committing the mother to an uncomfortable maternity leave. Unlike regular eggs, an ‘overqueen’ or ‘overking’ will cause pain throughout the process, and take up to three or four more months to fully develop.

It is unknown to all but the caesseli what the determining factors are to such a spawning, but the event is always recorded as a momentous occasion. Scions born to an over-parent will inherit the clan, while those born from nothing will set out to establish their own.

Current Intergalactic Relations

Relations between the Caesseli and the UGC are lukewarm at best, but the naga-people cannot deny the promises of the Planet Rush. Fledgling Overkings and Overqueens have responded to the call, leaving their homeworld for the first time to seek fame and fortune in the beyond, bringing together likeminded individuals not under a maiden clan, but in mercenary groups, salvager teams, logisticians, and supply runners.

Ordinary caesselians are a rare enough sight in the Core. Scant few dare to tread the established rimworld colonies, preferring to remain at home unless requested by their patriarch or matriarch.