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chakat

Chakat

Hermaphroditic Feline-taurs

Note: A huge amount of information is available about Chakats from Bernard Doove's website (The Chakat's Den - www.furry.org.au/chakat/ ), and particularly “An Introduction to Chakats” ( www.furry.org.au/chakat/Intro.html ). Anyone who wants to play a Chakat character on Furscape is invited to explore that site, but THIS page is mostly concerned with summarizing the basics and explaining some of the differences between Furscape's universe and the official Chakat universe, and this page remains the official Furscape MUCK canon. Keep in mind that the same rules of physiology apply to chakats as to any other recom, and likewise the same physics (e.g. psionics do not exist in the Furscape universe).

Physical Appearance

Chakats are a predominantly feline centauroid variety of recom. The basic body structure comprises two main torsos joined at right angles at a common 'waist', with the head appearing on top of the upright upper torso in the same manner as upright bipeds. While technically quadrupeds, Chakats in fact have six limbs in total - the four walking limbs are attached to the lower torso, while the remaining two limbs function as arms and are attached to the top of the upper torso.

The height of a fully grown adult Chakat is about 1.5 to 1.7 metres (5 to 5' 8“ approx.), and an adult Chakat weighs between 180 to 220kg (400 to 480lb approx.).

The head is densely covered with hair which, left uncut, can grow to resemble a mane which extends partly down the spine. The rest of the body is covered with dense fur which is resistant to the worst of cold and windy weather. However, Chakats do not like extremely hot conditions although they can tolerate them for a while. They are most comfortable at temperatures between zero and twenty degrees Celsius.

Due to an oversight during their original creation, fur color was never specified. As a result of their mixed heritage, they are in the unique situation where color and pattern is nearly totally random. Chakats can be tiger-striped, leopard-spotted or plain-coated, light or dark. Non-feline patterns also occur. No two coat markings are completely alike, which is a good thing as they tend to look very similar otherwise. It is rarely possible to tell family members by fur pattern as usually they look nothing alike.

The lower torso is quite solidly built and is very strong. Without a load, they can move very fast and leap a couple of meters high effortlessly. With an appropriate harness, they can carry the load of a pack horse. All four paws have retractable claws and the front paws have elongated toes with the dewclaw modified into a semi-thumb. This does not interfere with walking or running, but it does enable them to grasp objects. When in a sitting position, they have the use of an extra pair of hands, the grip being crude but very strong. Along with the ability to rotate their forelegs freely, this enables them to climb extremely well.

If all this seems to good to be true, remember that they were designed to be ideal beings. However, nobody's perfect. They weigh a lot more than a bipedal recom, require more food and plenty of sleep. They hate confined spaces, although a very flexible spine partially compensates for this liability. As mentioned earlier, they cannot tolerate high temperatures for very long. They enjoy water and bathing but drying the fur can be a long and tedious job if they are not prepared to drip dry naturally. They must spend a lot of time grooming, although they tend to use this time for socializing with other Chakats.

Little things that bipeds take for granted make life difficult for Chakats, such as revolving doors and turnstiles. Special furniture and facilities must be produced for their needs. A rug on the floor is fine for a lounge room but their bathroom facilities are more complex. Automobiles need to be specially modified both for access and driving. Their relatively small population means that there is a shortage of mass-produced goods suitable to their needs.

History

The original creation of anthropomorphic recoms during the 21st century was a widely abused science. They were created as personal slaves, sex kittens, vicious fighters, slave labor, and so forth. However, the status of recoms varied in different regions of the world. One particular haven included both Australia and New Zealand, countries which managed to stay mostly neutral during the times of chaos before and during the Apocalypse War. It was in Australia that the Institute of New Generation Genetics was formed to study and create ways of improving life in any way through genetic engineering. This included gene therapy for inherited diseases, stimulated regrowth of injuries including loss of limbs, curing birth defects and of course studying the possibilities inherent in anthropomorphic lifeforms. The concept for what was to become the Chakat species was a culmination of much of this research.

The team of scientists who created Chakats had members drawn from around the world: researchers who had become disgusted with the never-ending drive to create more efficient factory workers or more deadly soldiers. They wanted to prove that their craft could be turned to a higher purpose – and so the Chakat species became a rebuke to the mega-corporations and the authoritarian regimes that controlled genetic engineering research around the rest of the planet.

Chakats are a genetically engineered species. However, unlike most other recoms, they were not created from just one type of creature, but are a hybrid of the most ideal characteristics of many species. They were designed to be an ideal blend of physical and mental abilities intended to produce a superior being in an attractive form, with the dominant criteria for selection being survival characteristics. Anything that enhanced their ability to survive and prosper under adverse conditions was used to enhance their genetic structure.

The name of the species is derived from the husband and wife partners who led the team who developed their species: Charles & Katherine Turner. They were nick-named as Chas & Kat's babies, a term which rapidly was shortened to Chakats and stuck because it suited such a feline-looking species.

After the Earth was ruined and left uninhabitable by the horrors of the Apocalypse War, enough Chakats had escaped to Luna and other colonies to continue the species – helped by the fact that, as hermaphrodites, each Chakat was capable of bearing children. Note however, Chakats are very different geneticially from common recoms and are absolutely not able to breed outside their own species.

Chakats generally love the great outdoors, so the devastation of Earth hit them hard. Tremendously adaptable, Chakats survived in the habitats of Luna and Mars, but they always suffered from an underlying sense of loss. In some circles there has even been talk of Chakats finding a habitable planet or moon and establishing a special colony world of their own – but others argue the time is not yet right for that, as the Chakat population is not yet large enough to support such a project. Like the leonine recoms who eventually populated the savannahs of Annyrion's southern continent of Lopanga, Chakats were included as part of the colonization effort, and also participated in ground-based surveys of Planet Amazon and other worlds.

Due to their size and off-axis body structure, Chakats have always tended to have difficulty maneuvering in an enclosed microgravity environment such as those found on 253 Mathilde or other colonies in the Belt. Additionally, older belters who have grown up within a generation or two of the Apocalypse War will, when remembering the lean times, point out that a Chakat consumes the food, water, and oxygen of two to three bipeds, while only doing the work of one.

Credits

The Chakat species is © 2002 Bernard Doove (a.k.a. Chakat Goldfur).

chakat.txt · Last modified: 2013/08/26 23:52 by zobeid