Domibian Races 9a: K’t’so (Bottlenosed dolphin)

The K’t’so are a group of six different species that were all created by the same god. The name is a human-pronouncable version of “” which is difficult for human mouths to reproduce. The six different species are Bottlenose Dolphins, Yangtze River Dolphin, Narwhals, Beluga Whales, Orcas, and Sperm Whales. These are the only marine mammals on Domibia (except for unintelligent seals and otters) and they all are of human level intellect.

The K’t’so spend their lives much as their Earth counterparts do, swimming, eating, mating and avoiding predators. but they also have a fairly rich history of oral literature. The stories are rather odd to human(oid) ears and seem rather alien. The smaller K’t’so (the two dolphin species) interact regularly with humans and will form alliances with some maritime cultures. These alliances usually consist of food sharing arrangements, “we help you catch a bunch of fish in your nets and you dump a bunch overboard afterwards for us to eat without chasing”. They tend to have good relations with the Klombasi and often will provide them with information they have collected from fishermen and sailors.

Unlike on Earth, nobody eats the K’t’so or uses their oil for lamps (at least no more than humans are eaten).

Each of the six species have their own spawning grounds in different parts of the world, and while they range all over, they do return home to give birth and raise the children to a safe age for travel.

SAFUG stats

The Bottlenosed Dolphins average about 425 lbs and are 8′ long (females are 375 lbs and 7′ long). The have a Strength of 16 (females a 14) and a Health of 11. Their Dexterity is a fixed 3 (due to having no hands) and they have an Education of 4.

I’m going to keep the ST attributes at 16 and 14, with the males getting SM +1. The Health of 11 seems unneccessary, so I will give them the default HT of 10. DX is going to be 10 (with No Fine Manipulators) and finally they will have the usual Illiterate & Social Stigma: Uneducated to represent a cultural lack of formal schooling.

There are quite a few Advantages and I tried to make them real-world based, so they aren’t “optimized”.

K’t’so (Bottlenose Dolphin) male [34 points]

Attribute Modifiers: ST +6 [*30]
(* -50% for SM+1 and No Fine Manipulators)

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: None

Advantages: Breath-Holding 3 (length x 8) {leisurely dive ≈ 6 min} [6]
Enhanced Move 1/2: Water 1.5 (average Move 7.5 with “sprints” up to 9 (18 mph)) [10]
Pressure Support 1 (335 feet) [5]
Racial Skill: Breath Control (HLT +0) [4]
Scanning Sense (Sonar) [20]
Sharp Teeth [1]
Striker: Tail (crushing) Cannot parry, Clumsy-1 [2]

Disadvantages: Congenial [-1]
Illiterate [-3]
No Fine Manipulators [-30]
No Legs (Aquatic) [-5]
Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5]

Features: SM +1.

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K’t’so (Bottlenose Dolphin) female [28 points]

Attribute Modifiers: ST +4 [*24]
(* -40% for No Fine Manipulators)

Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: None

Advantages: Breath-Holding 3 (length x 8) {leisurely dive ≈ 6 min} [6]
Enhanced Move 1/2: Water 1.5 (average Move 7.5 with “sprints” up to 9 (18 mph)) [10]
Pressure Support 1 (335 feet) [5]
Racial Skill: Breath Control (HLT +0) [4]
Scanning Sense (Sonar) [20]
Sharp Teeth [1]
Striker: Tail (crushing) Cannot parry, Clumsy-1 [2]

Disadvantages: Congenial [-1]
Illiterate [-3]
No Fine Manipulators [-30]
No Legs (Aquatic) [-5]
Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5]

Features: None (SM 0).

Italicized disadvantages are cultural or just common rather than racial, so they may not be universal.

What do I do with them?

The K’t’so aren’t a major force in the world, they just kind of go about their lives. But occasionally they can be helpful if you can find something that they want (magic most likely). They can assist survivors from wrecked ships, help locate wrecked ships and possibly assist in recovering loot from the wreckage and act as scouts for humans that they are friendly with.

Other Racial Write-Ups

#9a K’t’so Bottlenose Dolphins
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