Lepterans

Lepterans

Information
Homeworld	Chitara
Habitats	Caves and Tunnel Systems
Unique Traits	Small, Insectoid, Fuzzy
Writer(s)	Nico, Bella, Dani

"Mom! Mom! Come on! C’Maitikki is gonna be over before we get there!" - Young Lepteran to its mother

Lepterans are one of the two races on Chitara, living alongside Carcids within The Hive. They are known for being extremely adaptable; however, they often have better mental fortitude due to their work environment. Most tend to work in management and are very data-driven and often use cybernetic augments to maintain this work ethic.

Core Worldview

Lepterans and Carcids are unique among other species that share planets as they have developed a symbiotic society. As such, many cultural elements are shared between species.

Chitaran society puts a lot of emphasis on collective good (as in, the good of your guild. Not everybody) and de-emphasizes individual ambition. People do have their own lives, hobbies, goals, etc. and are encouraged to pursue them, but not at the detriment of their guild’s success and power. Chitarans also emphasize the principle of “waste not, want not,” probably due to relatively recent resource scarcity. They reduce, reuse, recycle, macgyver and jury–rig things to keep them working as long as they can.the everything. Knowing the worth of material goods is a commonly taught skill. Even if times are tough and your guild isn’t doing well, a valuable item is a valuable item. Storing wealth in luxury or functional items is seen as a better idea than keeping money as cash or in banks.

Physiology and Design

Lepterans are bipedal aliens with mammalian and insectoid traits. They are covered in soft fur that is chitinous instead of keratinous like humans.

They have keen senses, 2-8 compound eyes, large ears, and robust antennae. These antennae enhance their sense of smell and are also used to sense proximity in a manner akin to whiskers. Their muscular structures are built for climbing, and so are their clawed hands and feet. They are extremely sensitive to light.

Lepterans tend to be on the shorter side, 3’9 to 5’5. They tend to live until around their sixties, but artificially increase their lifespan to live well into their hundreds.

Lepterans are primarily resemble moths, bees, flies, and beetles.

Social Structures and Community

Chitarans live under a modernized version of an ancient societal structure called The Caste. The Caste splits into multiple corporate “guilds”, with the biggest guilds consisting of CEOs ruling like kings and queens.

Guilds and The Caste

Guilds started as a way to keep communities alive in a broken world, but they have developed into oftentimes noxious and predatory environments. Smaller guilds tend to be based on genuine camaraderie and passion but offer less clout and power in society. Big guilds demand time, attention, and your personal aspirations but offer more security. Business becomes your whole life. Chitara is deeply mir ed in corporate warfare, new guilds popping up and cannibalizing each other, either succeeding at making it on their own or being folded into a bigger guild.

Currently the top guilds at the moment are 9 guilds who desperately hold their dwindling reputations as they slowly whittle down from both outside and inside forces. They are known as the “9 Pillars”.

• Rockston Mining and Energy: Led by Gaia “Goldbug” Rockston of the Rockston Family, the guild specializes in harvesting energy sources and producing the equipment required to run it. Infamously incompetent at repair and known for being corrupt and prioritizing the upper class, as well as using ferrans from Singulon for expendable labor. Currently in a deal with C.U.B.E., deporting lower class residents to make room for mining operations. Currently dabbling in arms manufacturing.

• Containment of Unlicensed Biological Entities (C.U.B.E.), Chitaran District: A multi-race and multi-planet organization that specializes in containing creatures and entities to protect the public. They are the only guild on Chitara so far that has succeeded despite having offworld origins. Along with their job of containment, they also serve as the planet’s police force. While not all of C.U.B.E is corrupt, the Chitaran District has become notoriously corrupted, working with Rockston and Unite to puppeteer an endless war against the Raid for their own gain. Currently the number one arms manufacturer in the Hive, in ownership of Chitara Penitentiary and responsible for the Bulwark Program.  

• Hermitt Engineering: Top engineering guild that grew big from its construction business and heavy assistance in reconstruction after the Final Sunset. Moved onto transportation and infrastructure. Ran by Tefiti Hermitt of the Hermitt Family, the guild remains on top by keeping to themselves and avoiding conflict, which has allowed them to dip their fingers in robotics and androids. It is the only top guild run by a Carcid, making it an anomaly on Chitara.

• Leavanny Emergency and Aid Facilities (L.E.A.F.): Specializes in medical services/ hospitalization, including rapid response EMT work. Led by Apis Leavanny of the Leavanny Family, whose crushing workload and constant struggle to maintain ethical practices within the company force him to remain in his office, hooked up to the very medicines and medical procedures his guild sells. How the company has survived is nothing short of a miracle; but without it Chitara would cave in on itself.

• Unite: Company that specializes in genetic engineering, microbiology, and pharmaceutical research. Led by Ophelia Unilateralis of the Unilateralis family, the guild has survived by overtaking other research guilds, consuming constantly regardless if things fall within it. It is running a secret project known as Project: Mi-Go, involving developing strains of the Raid for multipurpose use.
• Lightning Live!: A well-known entertainment corporation across the galaxy, especially for their game shows and news networks. Led by Lenny “Light’nbug” of the Lucano Family. They prioritize what gets views over the truth, but because of how well-oiled of a machine the entire company is under Lenny’s rule, the company has been able to push past all their controversies. Their media is simply too entertaining for them to be held accountable. Known for using Sonyx and Lagorans as cheap and crude entertainment, which is their current top controversy. Don’t forget the exclamation point.

• Oakworm Banking: The biggest banking guild in the Hive, responsible for over 85% of its citizens. Led by Pluto Oakworm of the Oakworm Family, no one has successfully robbed the bank in the time the Hive has been around. Everyone who’s tried has never been found. Nevertheless, people still try; people desperate enough to go out with a bang. Similar to L.E.A.F. in that they have an extremely low corruption rate, however the company is extremely cutthroat. Anything short of perfect is viewed as beneath Oakworm.

• Mosca : Cybernetics, Cybersecurity and Robotics corporation. Led by Agosta “Grandmomma” Mosca, the company is fragmented by the family members within it, which is why there are so many branches. Every single sibling hates and is after each other, kept together only by Agosta herself. So many deals on so many sides. Probably the easiest corporation to make a deal with, as there’s so many options to choose from if you need a sponsor.

• The Cybernetics division is joint-run by Agosta herself and her youngest Octubre. The division is extremely honest, sustaining a great majority of Chitara’s middle-class with affordable (albeit standard) cybernetics. Unfortunately their product is very susceptible to getting stolen, leading to it falling into the wrong hands and their division getting neglected the most. Octubre is working on it.

• The Cybersecurity division is run by Noviembre Mosca and is taken extremely seriously. Known for having counter-measure products that are extremely brutal to intruders, often being capable of killing via brain-fry, systems failure and even detonating cybernetics. Her firewalls can burn intrusions to the point of bricking. Those who can afford her products are often deemed “untouchable”.

• The Robotics division is run by Septiembre Mosca. His automated machines rival flesh and blood, and he’s fully willing to make a world where that is so. Ironically refuses to dabble in artificial intelligence out of sheer spite and arrogance. Easiest to make a deal with out of all of the other siblings, hardest to reason with.

• The Lady: A corporation/hotel that specializes in all things luxury. A top hospitality and tourist company with an iron grip on premium fashion and high-end jewelry, The Lady essentially has the power to determine what the current trends are in Chitara. Secretly led by a nythera under the false name “Cleopatra”. Nobody truly knows her origins nor do they really care. Her services greatly outweigh any prejudice she’d face on Chitara (that’s if her secret was ever revealed). They partner a lot with Lightning Live, but currently it’s kept under wraps.

Chitarans exiled from guilds are basically unemployable by other guilds. Exile can happen for a lot of reasons, from committing a severe enough crime, not being able to follow through on a deal, or (in more vindictive guilds) just pissing off upper management. These Chitarans often make a living by selling scrap, and usually try to save up money to get off of Chitara where their opportunities are better.

Many young Chitarans who want to make a name for themselves dream of leaving Chitara to see the stars. The guild system can be stifling even if you are in an “advantageous position.” Young Chitarans are often denied agency and instead are shuffled into whatever their family does. Marriage is often a tizzy, deciding which guild to retain membership to as a couple. Ties remain to the former guild, but they are diminished. More powerful guilds may even arrange marriages between their heirs. Only the most major guilds operate off-world, which has contributed to the lack of Lepterans cultural exports in the Empire at large and the misunderstanding of their

Religion and Spirituality

Religion in Chitara does exist, however it’s not very common. Most Chitarans are agnostic; they know something is there, but simply do not have the time, energy or care to practice worshipping them. By that logic, they have no care for the Nullstar, but have tolerance towards people that do worship it.

There is, however, a rampant problem regarding cults on all levels of the Hive, specifically one by the name of Four Wings. Four Wings is a dragonfly-themed cult led by a mysterious ex-scientist from Unite corporation that worships the Raid, believing them to be a better alternative to the life they currently live and utilizing the generally miserable life of lower-class Chitarans to bolster members. Many rumor the leader has been infected by the Raid themself.

Technology and Science

Chitaran technology and medicine is famous all over the galaxy, with the only thing stopping profit being how much can be produced and how much Chitarans themselves depend on their own technology. The secret to their impressive technology is the utilization of crystals within their planet that contain massive amounts of heat magic called “Cores”, which they use like batteries to power their massive factories. If you’re using a disposable product, it most definitely came from Chitara. Quantity over quality is their way of life.

When it comes to industry, Chitrans dominate. They are masters of manufacturing prosthetics, arms, cybernetics, mining equipment and tools.

Their medicine field is also unmatched, a product of extensive genetic engineering of the remaining creatures and plant life from the surface before the Raid. Countless flock to Chitara for their pharmacology, pathology, chemistry and genetics. Big is their study on the Raid, and they are more than willing to take up excited (but capable) fodder to use in researching the deadly supercolony.

Artisanal craftwork is found all over Chitara, with the most common expressions of art involving weaving silks into tapestries, clothing, crochet and plushies. Metalworking, kitbashing and even woodworking are more common the lower you go down the layers.

Traditional Clothing and Fashion

Temperatures can change quickly based on volcanic activity, but most inhabited caves on Chitara are between 50-70 degrees fahrenheit (some exceptions apply), getting warmer the deeper they go and colder closer to the surface. While Lepterans’s coats are quite soft and fuzzy, layered clothing is an adaptable solution to temperature fluctuations. This layered clothing is designed to be more practical or casual depending on the distance from the surface.

Capes and cloaks are the most popular outer layer. Many wear loose clothing to enable easier movement, as Lepterans casually climb up walls as easily as walking. Shoes are uncommon and considered formalwear because it’s hard to climb wearing them. If they are worn, it’s usually only indoors.

Occupations

Occupations are often dependent on what guild you are in. Guilds are always evolving, and the amount of guilds in Hive City grows and grows with each day. However there is a place at the top.

Chitaran Society tends to shuffle Lepterans into bureaucratic jobs. Stereotypical Lepteran jobs consist of a lot of dexterous, office and research-based work. Examples are desk jockeys, engineers, architects, accountants etc.

Starships and Space Travel

Chitarans have horrific space travel when compared to the other species since all of their space travel technology was stolen by [REDACTED] during the Final Sunset. As a result, space travel has been subsidized into cargo transport, utilizing the little space technology left for profit. Furthermore, ports are also difficult to work with, since the Raid also makes it hard to transfer goods on the planet’s surface consistently. It is much easier to get stuff off-planet than on-planet. This forces Chitara to use highly experimental teleportation technology on space stations, or just shoot them down from the sky in bullet-like structures crudely called Bullet Pods. Rather than participating in dogfights with starships, Chitara utilizes the Raid’s presence and artillery emplacements to defeat threats and defend the planet.

Cultural Quirks and Daily Life

Daily life for a Chitaran is very bleak, often consisting of working all day and a little bit of time spent with family or friends once the work is over. Found families are surprisingly common on Chitara, which often contradicts the stereotypical dislike Lepterans and Carcids have for eachother. They really do care about the ones they love.

Chitarans (specifically native Lepterans and Carcids) have both grown resilient to most medications used by other species, including recreational drugs. The dosage of anything has to be very high to work for them. Lepterans need pain medication dosed for someone three times their size and Carcids typically have to be sedated for surgery with tranquilizers made for large animals. Trying recreational drugs developed in Chitara is unadvised for other species. lest you smoke “forever weed” or some shit and either die of overdose or go insane.

Chitarans (specifically Lepterans and Carcids), have short attention spans comparatively to other races, which is why the most popular sports broadcast are fast-paced games with high energy like soccer or mixed martial arts.

A generally curious subject for Chitarans is new frontiers and creatures, so naturally the media they consume reflects that. They are responsible for a lot of spaghetti western, creature feature and b-list-adjacent movies. Chitaran filmmakers take great pride in their formulas. They also make a lot of open-world and fast-paced video games, and are responsible for some of the most popular online FPS shooters in the galaxy.

Chitarans are masters of sweets. Tasting, creating, advertising, selling they have a firm grip on the market and the culture. They have an entire festival in honor of Chitaran’s birthday filled with sweets and history.

On the subject of festivals, Chitarans have a couple of festivities that they celebrate.

• ChikChik: Roughly translated to “Yippee-Yippee”, it’s a week-long celebration of the Hive and Chitara’s birthday. It is so important that efforts are made the week before to get ready and there is a week after to get everything back into business. During the week everyone puts on their most flamboyant colors and different treats and activities are set up each day. Each of the three layers have their own celebrations.
• Ctitit-triii: Roughly translated to “Month of Rest”. Chitarans produce so much stuff that it gets to a point where their production outweighs their ability to export. This leads to December becoming a month of pure rest. Chitarans use this month to give gifts to others and remember what they’re grateful for. Indulgence is a given, and the majority see this as the one time year-round they may pursue their passions un-faltered. Very similar to Christmas.
• C’Maitikki: Roughly translated to “Market Day”. Chitarans use this weekly event as the one day they can get extremely fresh food. Furthermore, Chitarans share recipes, advice and the most optimal ways of survival. It occurs every Sunday and is supported by L.E.A.F. Apis himself comes out to market day if it lands on his birthday, and it’s very nice to see him.

Notable Locations

• The Hive is a sprawling subterranean megacity that serves as the only livable location on Chitara. Shaped like a massive ant farm, most of it is constructed haphazardly, buildings just stacked on top of itself as fast as possible to fit as many people as possible. The bulk of the city along with its operations was constructed in less than a year, a feat accomplished by the Nine Pillars. While it started as one large district, it slowly split itself into three layers, each one with their own way of living.
  • Lumos is the land of leisure. Originally built to be a place of relaxation for all Chitarans, it slowly became a place of the rich and powerful as the rest of society slid through the cracks. Ironically though, if the walls were to cave in and the Raid finally pour in, they would be the first and quickest to fall. Life up here has become a land of starving artists and political warfare, the only difference is that it’s all covered up in elegance and honey-gold glamour. Here you will find the most luxurious museums, malls, plazas, restaurants, clubs, and anything imaginable. It is very cold due to being so close to the surface.
  • Humidus is the second layer, the land of the everyman. The white collar elysium. Flashing bright lights, advertisements, damp and moist streets as a result of condensation from Lumos. This layer takes up the mass majority of residence and work for many Chitarans. Here professionality is the standard, but to one-up and con is what many deem the true way to climb the ranks. Easy to fall out of, hard to make a name in, the middle layer is full of convenience stores, corporate buildings, apartments and the smallest patches of leisure for those who can’t afford Lumos. The area is relatively cold but not enough to be truly fashionable, only practical.

Interactions With Other Species

Lepteran-Carcid Relations

The relationship between Carcids and Lepterans is a symbiotic one that stretches back millions of years. The two species often relied on each other for tasks the other could not do. As the two races began to modernize, they slowly began to distance themselves from each other; Lepterans viewed Carcids as stupid and unambitious while Carcids viewed Lepterans as weak and arrogant. Everything changed after The Final Sunset though, and the two species learned to put aside differences and worked together to quickly build The Hive megacity. Now their relations are balanced on a delicate fluctuating chart of highs and lows. Hybrids of the Lepteran and Carid variety are heavily looked down upon, taken advantage of, or simply killed on the spot.

Relations with Foreigners

Within Chitara, there is a notable foreign population on Chitara but they tend to be pretty spread out. Oftentimes travelers come for strictly business and business alone, while others come for secret tourist goldmines made off the sweat of Chitaran labor. Lagorans, another burrowing people, tend to be able to navigate the cave systems well. Ferrans also find themselves quite at home in the competitive rush of business as well as find great companionship in the Carcids due to their similar armored nature. Despite this, Chitara is not really accessible to other species and oftentimes guides are needed.

When it comes to off-planet relations with foreigners, Lepterans and Carcids are stereotyped heavily by outsiders. Lepterans are often assumed to be “goblin-like” in behavior and deemed greedy and selfish. Carcids are assumed to be “orc-ish” in behavior and deemed stupid and violent. While Carcids are oftentimes more oppressed than Lepterans, both receive their harsh treatments due to their unsettling appearance and brutal stereotypes. Examples of Chitaran slurs include “cave-goblins”, “fairies”, “emergency food”, and “grubs” for Lepterans and “claw-hunchers”, “crustbacks”, “rollie-pollies” and “raid-bait” for Carcids.

Concept Art

Art by Dani (@duckitape)