Race Designation: Cerebi
Universal Range: Andromeda Galaxy
Original Habitat: Voe
Lifespan: 150 years
Sex: Male/Female
Size: 6'5 to 6'10
Diet: Unknown
Communication: Telepathic
Notes: Voe is one of five moons of the gas giant Sonteri and an all around hellish world. It is a tropical world, consisting of one, slowly dividing, supercontinent, bombarded by near-constant rain showers that fuel the growth of trees that stretch high up into the troposphere, and inhabited by massive beasts on land, in the trees, and in the skies. Hardly the most ideal place to live, but for the cerebi, it is the only home they've ever known. The cerebi are an ancient, mysterious species; based on their art, at the very least, they date over four hundred millennia. Lacking mouths (don't ask how they eat; you don't want to know), they communicate through their innate telepathic abilities, similar to the asari. Being a nocturnal species, they possess incredible eyesight, along with excellent coordination, both of which are perfect for navigating through the vast network of trees in the dark of night. When they die, they believe that their spirit ascends up to Sonteri where it will join their gods and ancestors in a battle against the demons that threaten to invade their world. Then, one day, that battle was lost. Large metal birds descended from the heavens, carrying with them hideous creatures armed with strange, powerful weapons. Surely these were the demons, is what they figured. The battle on Sonteri had been lost, and these beings of pure evil had come down to finish them off. The normally proud race of warriors had their spirits crushed, all prayers to the gods fell on deaf ears, and any attempt at putting up a fight was thoroughly squashed by the invaders. They had managed to survive on this dark, cruel world because they believed that honor and glory awaited them when they died. With the arrival of these demons, that hope had been stolen for good. Some were killed, others were taken away into the high heavens by the metal birds, whereas others simply ran away as far as they could. Most didn't get very far, getting captured or meeting their end one way or another. Of course, these demons were, in reality, the species you might know as the kett. As they had done with so many species before, they had planned to have the cerebi undergo the exaltation, but they were unable to find a way to assimilate their natural psychic abilities into themselves. Because of this, they instead made them one of their vassal races, often using them as soldiers. However, the kett don't give up so easily. I feel they're still trying to find a way to assimilate the cerebi, stealing both mind, body, and spirit from them once and for all. Who knows if they'll ever succeed in this endeavor.
Character Notes: Conari was one such cerebi that managed to escape deep in the jungles of Voe to evade the demons and their metal birds, though her husband and children weren't so lucky. Like many of her people, she was distraught, as it appeared that the entire cosmos was coming to an end and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The gods and her ancestors were most likely extinguished by the invading demons; she was truly on her own. However, despite hopelessness following her wherever she went, she couldn't bring herself to give up. She wasn't sure why, but she kept on moving, heading to a destination that she herself wasn't aware of. She ventured to parts of Voe that neither she or her tribe had ever laid eyes on. For months, she wandered in these strange lands, almost forgetting what it was like to be part of a tribe and interact with others. With no gods to hear her prayers, she was truly alone. That all changed again when, once more, the demons found her. One of their metal birds spotted her and spawned ten of the foul creatures to capture he. Despite her best attempts to run and hide, she couldn't escape them. Realizing that there was no hope, she decided that she would fight to her dying breath. With her spear, she stabbed one straight through the heart and proceeded to, with great difficulty, slay the rest of them. As she stood above their corpses, her body bloody, beaten, and riddled with holes from their strange weapons, she realized how strange it was that these demons bled as they do before passing out. When she awoke, she found herself in a strange environment. She was laying on a bed, and her surroundings seemed to be near-completely metallic. Immediately, she thought she had been taken up in one of the metal birds and leaped from her bed, only to be subdued by a group of demons. Except, these demons didn't look like the ones who invaded her world at all. Of course, these demons were really humans, members of the Andromeda Initiative. Upon subduing her, they told her the story of how they'd arrived, and the true nature of the kett. It was a lot for Conari to take in, and she spent several weeks in pure anger and denial; having your entire view of the universe shattered by mysterious strangers will do that to you. However, as they ventured through space, landing on various worlds, she found their words to be true. While she didn't fully trust these strangers, she could no longer deny what she saw right in front of her. She saw many races, each with lives and families of their own, just like the one she had lost. The dots in the sky that she had always viewed as some far off realm were just a few of the countless worlds that existed in the vastness of space. This revelation was both horrifying and freeing. Everything she'd been brought up to believe had been a lie, but her ancestors also hadn't suffered a second death at the hands of the demons. However, that didn't erase what the kett had done to her people or do anything to lessen her anger towards them. Upon arriving at the sixth planet in their voyage, a shocking turn of events happened. A lone kett, probably separated from the others, ran in horror as a strange lizard-like creature chased it down, eventually killing by biting its head clean off. Strangely attracted to the brutality that this creature treated the kett, she tried to get a better look at it, only for it to try and attack her. However, when she communicated telepathically with it, the creature calmed down, it's hive-mind instincts finding such a method of communication familiar and comforting. It introduced itself as Sa 'Ccott, a member of the sirinde race with a grudge against the kett. That was all Corani needed to instantly form a connection with it. Nowadays, Corani works as a bounty hunter, mostly taking jobs from those brutalized by the kett. It's dangerous work, and she's faced death countless times, but she refuses to give up. In her mind, she only has one life to live, and she wants to spend it slaughtering the demons that plague the galaxy.
