Zam'Ari

''This page concerns the Zam’Ari as a species, focusing on the biological aspects of the race. For information about their culture and empire, look for the “Zam’Ari Empire” page.''

The Zam’Ari are a species from the planet Iscaraan. They are also the dominant and the sole intelligent species of the planet.

Physical Description
The Zam’Ari are a tall (2.13 meters per average), humanoid race. They are notable for their tentacle limbs and notable hair. On the top of their head are four antennae with glowing ends. They are tied to the psionic abilities of the race and work as psionic receivers, being vital to their extrasensory, clairvoyance and telepathic abilities - losing them can be akin to becoming deaf or blind.

Their faces are rather plain,with two eyes and no other outer organs. However, a large amount of nerves is concentrated in their face, making it a weak point-a direct hit in the face would stun them for several seconds. Their torsos are slim with two tentacle arms, these arms are very slim and feeble though, so they are not used to hold onto things for the most part, used solely in their psionic practices, working as psionic transmitters. For mobility, they have a set of numerous, slim tentacles to slither around.

The Zam'Ari lack any sort of skeleton or similar body support structures, giving them very flexible, malleable bodies and the ability to squeeze through tight spaces. Their bodies are covered in smooth skin, which is slightly sticky to the touch.

Their most notable feature is their hair. It is very long, with females having the longest hair, covering most of their body, and males having it slightly lower than their waist. This hair is very thick and very sturdy, doubling as armour. Each individual strand can also be moved by them, like tiny, individual limbs. As such, they instead use locks of hair to hold onto objects. An interesting feature is coloration of their hair and skin: Males have warm colours while females have cool colours.

PSI
The Zam’Ari are one of the rare species where all individuals have PSI, most likely due to the specific PSI-sensitive organs, the antennae and the tentacle arms. However, the males generally have stronger PSI. This means that males are usually better employed in roles that make use of their better PSI while females are used for more physical labour thanks to more hair, which can be likened to having more limbs.

However, their Psionics, or the way they are cast to be exact, are not perfect. This could again be traced to the psionic organs. When casting spells, they exude more psionic energy than is necessary to manifest the spell. This excess energy, altough sometimes in low amounts that does not hamper efficiency, it can still be wasteful. However, technological solutions made sure this excess psionic energy does not go to waste.

Diet
Zam'Ari nourish and sustain themselves by absorbing the light of the stars, similar to the process of photosynthesis found in chlorophyll-bearing flora. Their people also have the power often commonly called "Knowledge eating" - an alternate way of sustenance, where they use their PSI to extract knowledge from other lifeforms. As to how this form of basically learning via stealing the knowledge from other living beings works as an alternative for their already peculiar diet is not known.