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The story of the Lithos was, for many thousands of years, one of cyclical tragedy. From the violently volcanic moon of Lith II-C, the Lithos are a mineral-based lifeform closely tied to the fury of their homeworld. Passionate and fiery in nature, the Lithos were prone to arrogance and pride, and when disaster struck or competition for resources grew tense their society would erupt into terrible wars. Their species had gone through many repeated cycles of slow development towards a technological civilisation, only to descend into brutal conflicts that ravaged their moon and cast them back into another Dark Age. It was during the tribal stage of one of these cycles that the Lith system was surveyed by the Elysians, who found a world strewn with wreckage and the debris of the Lithos’ ancient pattern of cyclical societal collapse. Their survey teams uncovered layers of ruins and the impacts of terrible weapons, inhabited by migrating tribes of Lithos herders and artisans. The Elysians made contact with some of the tribes, learned their language and various scripts, and applied the knowledge to their archaeological work.
They uncovered the history of a species with a tremendous ability for building, a passion for creativity and perseverance in the face of the harsh conditions of their moon, but one that was a slave to its fiery passions and wild emotions. The Lithos were judged to be a prime candidate for indoctrination into the wider truths and way of life that the Commonality had to offer, in hope that it could break the cycle of development and destruction. The Lithos had Life, Mind, and more than enough Will. Their Knowledge was lacking, and thus they fell repeatedly to Entropy
In one of the great successes of Elysian intervention, the Commonality sent teachers, philosophers and psions to the Lithos homeworld. They brought technology to hold back the raging weather and predict the most dangerous volcanism, scientists and doctors to study Lithos physiology, and above all scholars, teachers and translators, laden with texts on philosopy and the Commonality way of life. The theory was that the Lithos, slaves to their emotions, could harness and direct their energy towards the good of the Commonality, with themselves a part of it. With the Lithos unable to break free themselves, the Elysians intervention proved decisive – within a generation they had embraced the new philosophies, within two they had joined their saviours amongst the stars as steadfast warriors and labourers, passionate artists of all stripes and even highly dedicated scientists that dove into their fields of study with unbridled zeal. For their part, the Elysians saw the race as an abject lesson; with the help of the Elysians superior Knowledge, they had prospered and stood fast against the forces of destruction within themselves, and the Elysians were vindicated in their continuing guidance of this primeval people.
The personality of the Lithos tends to reflect their stormy and volcanic homeworld. They are passionate and exuberant, and filled with a deep reserve of energy. Modern Lithos are tempered somewhat by their belief in Commonality Philosophy – they try to direct their stormy temperaments and volcanic energy towards bolstering their community, combating ignorance and protecting their allies. They do tend to be rather more active and passionate about these causes than the Commonality norms, however, and sometimes chafe against the more introspective and quiet aspects of Elysian society.
The appearance of the Lithos reflects their mineral physiology. Their flesh is rough, stony and grey, occasionally punctured by outgrowths of crystals. Crystal outgrowths are particularly common around the brow or crown of the head, shoulders (which are often left bare if they hold larger crystal growths), forearms and hands, although crystal growth in other areas is not uncommon. Lithos crystal outgrowths do not typically tend to communicate touch sensitivity, and can be considered to be analogous to nails, claws or horns in organic species. They do tend to hold a certain degree of flexibility near the outer skin interface, so rarely impede movement or are uncomfortable as other species might imagine. These growths can be inconvenient to accommodate certain styles of clothing with, so in these situations a Lithos might visit the equivalent of a hair stylist to file or cut down some of the growths.
Lithos are physically strong and powerful, and tend to be bulky around the shoulder area, often giving them a “top heavy” look compared to the frame of slighter species. Their silicon-based organ-analogues occupy more volume than organic equivalents in several cases, mostly due to a lower comparative degree of flexibility in their operation. As most of their organ-analogues are located in their central section for protection, this necessitates a large torso.
More powerful Lithos psions begin to form greater numbers of psychoactive crystalline deposits on their skin, especially those that regularly consume psi crystals to heal themselves. These crystals often glow brightly in the presence of a Psionic Aura, and may glow faintly with their own internal radiance even in normal conditions. Unlike non-psion Lithos crystal growths, these crystals form an extension of the psions psi-crystal nervous system, and as such carry sensations and are detrimental when damaged. For these reasons, powerful psions are more likely to be festooned with crystal outcroppings on their exterior surface, as they cannot have them easily removed as an average Lithos would.
The stony bodies of the Lithos are extremely hardy and durable, giving them 4 Locational hits and a 300 second Death Count. Their silicate physiology makes them difficult to treat, however, and other characters cannot use the Physician skill on Lithos unless they also possess at least 1 rank of Corporeal Science (or are themselves Lithos).
Lithos brains are composed of a lattice of solid-state memory storage crystals, interconnected with tiny micro-veins of condensed psionic energy – known by the Elysians in a larger form as Psi Crystals. These psychoactive conduits grant the Lithos a measure of psionic power that allows them to manipulate stone and rock in sympathy with their moods. Lithos character start with 1 Psi Point, and can buy powers from the Lithokinesis Root Path and its Branch Paths. The psi crystal pathways also resonate strongly in the presence of external emotional energy – Lithos characters are more strongly affected by emotions delivered by the EFFECT call. Emotions conveyed by the EFFECT call last for twice as long and are more intense in Lithos characters that in others. However, the lingering resonance of these emotional effects can be short-circuited by another incoming source of emotional energy – if a Lithos character is targeted by an EFFECT call, then any pre-existing EFFECT call that they are experiencing immediately ends.
Lithos biochemistry is also completely different from most sophont species, which makes them immune to most illnesses, but also renders them unaffected by most treatments and biological substances as well. Lithos characters are immune to all Disease and Toxic Conditions that do not specifically affect Mineral species or are universally harmful. They are also immune to all Medicaments unless they have been doped with the Spectrum Inhibitor Exotic Reagent – this reagent bonds to the active component of most Medicaments and allows them to interact with Lithos mineral-cell processes. A Medicament with Spectrum Inhibitor applied to it will have its normal effects on a Lithos character - disregard the effect of the Spectrum Inhibitor. The only exception to this is if a Condition or similar has a cure that requires the administering of Medicaments doped with another specific Exotic Substance, in this case (because a Medicament can only be doped with a single Exotic Substance), the normal cure applies.
