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 the differences between Furscape's universe and the official Chakat universe.

Chakats are a predominantly feline centauroid-like species. 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.). Life expectancy is approximately 150 years.

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.

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.

Like many other morphs, the Chakats are a genetically engineered species. However, unlike most others, 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 space colonies to continue the species – helped by the fact that, as hermaphrodites, each Chakat was capable of bearing cubs. Note however, Chakats are very different geneticially from common recoms and are emphatically not able to interbreed with other recom species.

Chakats generally love the great outdoors, so the devastation of Earth hit them hard. Tremendously adaptable, Chakats survived and even prospered in the habitats of Luna and Mars, but they always suffered from an underlying sense of loss. It wasn't until after interstellar travel opened up that Chakats found their finest role as explorers and colonists of new worlds. Many Chakats joined the SDF's exploration arm, and Chakats have played a vital role in opening and settling the colony worlds of Annyrion, Planet Amazon, and Oceania. 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.

Copyright info

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