Claestoi

(Stats for Claestoi PCs in Elyrion can be found here)

The Claestoi are a species of highly magical lithivoric bacterial colonies hailing from a large and unusually dense debris field in the Ponaeri system. Although they are culturally and morphologically distinct from terrestrial species, they have proven themselves industrious, robust, and adaptable. Despite unusual appearance and unique biology, many claestoi are able to co-exist in spaces built for other species with surprising ease. However, Claestoi-built homes and facilities are often difficult or impossible for other species to navigate or interact with, and despite the number of Claestoi living as expats in wider society their communities are highly insular.

Origins

The Ponaeri star system is believed to have once had several planets whose orbits crossed into its habitable zone. It is believed that a violent divine intervention in the first ages caused several of these planets to collide, producing a dense field of magically charged debris orbiting in the suns goldilocks zone. By some miracle, an extremophile clade of chemosynthetic bacteria survived the annihilation of their home planet, and were spread across the new asteroid belt. The subsequent evolution of these bacteria was driven by radiation, magical exposure, and genetic intermixing caused by cascading impacts of life-bearing asteroids with one another. From this maelstrom emerged the Claestoi, who for millenia lived a nomadic life in the belt, using their self-propulsive abilities to float in large amalgams between rocks, upon whose nutrients they would feed.

The Claestoi were discovered an interplanetary species with iron-age technology by Terran explorers in the pre-Silence era. The early days of contact were defined mostly by trade, with the Claestoi exchanging art and products made from larval secretions for advanced technologies. The hardware gained through this exchange allowed the Claestoi to construct their first colony fleets, and they have plied the stars ever since.