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Diet: They hunt hyperspatial life forms,
and as well absorb cosmic radiation.
History: Native inhabitants of Hyper-Space,
their race has for millenia gone unnoticed by the other Major Races until
only recently. Allies and assistants to the Patrons, Burchyll have helped
maintain the Nexwork apparently since it's inception some time in the distant
past. Their presence was actually only discovered by accident, when researchers
at the Eiffelstadt Institute were conduction experiments to document the
nanosecond lags in Nexwork communications. A junior research assistant,
a Humon no less, noticed a pattern in the delays which did not correspond
with either the distance the messages were being sent, or the length or
complexity of the message. Though the Institute's chief sophontologist
at the time was convinced that patterns of the lags were underlying messages
in their own right, exhaustive attempts at translating the messages proved
fruitless. When at last members of the Eiffelstadt Institute the Patrons
on this phenomenon, the Patrons were at first reluctant to speak on the
matter. However, once the Burchyll consented to having their presence revealed,
the truth finally came out; though Burchyll do not in fact communicate
by means of the delays, they are used to relay their ancestral 'mating
songs' across Hyper-Space, in much the same way that early Burchyll churned
the hyperspatial currents to carry those songs.
Physiology: Their internal structures are
indeterminate, as they are a hyper-spatial, energy-based life form, thus
making their nature incompatible with most known medical sciences. (and
thus, in instances when they are injured, medical teams can but look on
and hope for the best.)
Culture: Little is actually known about
their interactions among their own kind, but it is known that they have
very little contact with their own kind. (save for courtship and in times
of need.) Burchyll have only recently seeking to form 'friendships', but
even these are only sought with non-hyperspatial life forms.
Communication: Though not native
to our universe, these energy-based creatures originating in Hyper-Space
are fascinated by our 3 dimensional, temporal, physical universe. Burchyll
can not exist naturally in our world, but may access it by 2 methods; via
Cathexis -small Patron designed artifacts that allow them to communicate
and interact with beings of this reality, or by possessing the bodies of
sentient beings in this reality. Due to the damaging effects such possession
would have on any sentient being, Burchyll codes of morality preclude their
making use of the bodies of living creatures. Instead, Burchyll are capable
of temporarily (3 to 12 days) inhabiting and animating bodies of dead beings.
Names: Burchyll names are translations
of descriptive terms of personality traits, and preferred forms and angles.
Examples include: Caprice Straight-Forward; Seeker Slope-Down; Playful
Wave-Form, etc.
Trade: Aside from their maintaining the
Nexwork, Burchyll have little to trade and do not actually 'need' anything
from our universe. Burchyll, however, love attention and company. They
are more apt to contact ships carrying a Cathexis, as it makes them feel
welcome, but are known to tap into Nexus Globes to chat with denizens of
our universe. (they'll usually want to chat a moment or two at most, and
will usually return to hyperspace once they become bored.)
Psychology:Their personality is best described as 'flighty'.The Burchyll language is in a sense pictographic, with names and concepts being reduced to similar forms, angles and properties.There are few subjective terms in their language, such as 'good', 'evil', 'beautiful', etc. Certain terms may convey preference, but they are not in and of themselves subjective.Thus, a Burchyll stating that a friend is 'possessed of many curves' refers not to their shape, but to the Burchyll preference for physical objects that lack sharp angles. (thus, they are stating their admiration of said person.) Conversely, anyone described as 'jagged' is clearly disliked. As well, they tend to parallel physical objects as a means of identification; the original Burchyll term for humons was 'squishy SIRE Units', as the humon form most closely resembled (to the Burchyll at least.) that of SIRE Units. In the spirit of their language, sophontologists who met them named them after a species of elegant wild flowers, to reflect the Burchyll's capricious nature and the energy patterns they manifest in our universe.