Physical Description

The typical aptropoise is a legless, pudgy ex-marine mammal. They possess two fin-like arms, each having three fingers, and one long tail fin, that of which they use to scoot their bodies across the ground for locomotion. In spite of lacking any legs in favor of a tail fin, aptropoises are notoriously terrible at swimming, even more clumsy and awkward underwater than they are on dry land. The beak of a aptropoise is usually scrunched, bent up or down, and filled with uneven snaggle teeth.

An aptropoise's most notable feature is its head, large and bulbous due to the size of their melon. The melon is soft and squishy, an organ that aids in not only verbal communication, but also in focusing their psychic abilities given that the individual has them. Adored on the middle of their melon is a single, fin shaped horn. This horn is much more durable and protected than the rest of the aptropoise, as it contains a portion of the aptropoise's brain inside of it. This brain piece is also the center of an aptropoises' psychic abilities; when removed, they lose all and any mental powers that they once had, as well as a great portion of their memories. A 'lobotomized' aptropoise can live just as comfortably without their horn, as it does not often contain any important motor skills or vital functions that would kill the aptrpoise to go without.

Aptropoise skin coloration ranges from shades of grey to vibrant, bright blues. In incredibly rare cases, an aptropoise may be born pink. The cause for this is likely known between aptropoises, who have chosen not to share this information with anyone else.

Personality

If one should ask an aptropoise, with their horn intact, to describe their species' personality traits and demeanor, they would go on to explain that aptropoises are the most intelligent, high esteemed species that ever crawled up onto dry land, as well as the most handsome of marine mammals across all of the galaxy. However this only clues into the true nature of the aptropoise, as the majority are highly egotistical, selfish creatures that care not for anyone but themselves and the preservation of their ever growing knowledge.

Above all else, aptropoises value the concept of having information, gathering information, and hoarding this information to themselves. Information that is vital and beneficial to the growth of their own species is encouraged to be shared among peers, however they are not inclined whatsoever to share knowledge with anyone outside of their own species. As such, being an alien trying to work with an aptropoise may be as easy as pulling teeth, and an aptropoise will gleefully watch others squirm if they hold sensitive, vital information over another species. When cornered for interrogation, many aptropoises will take extreme measures in keeping information to themselves, such as willingly smashing the horn on their head that contains part of their brain, as so their intel will 'die' along with them.

Between each other however, while it's encouraged to share among your peers, knowing 'dirt' on others is presented as a status symbol in aptropoise culture. To know the secrets of your neighbor is to be socially above them, and an excuse to flaunt and threaten blackmail. Aptropoise political leaders are often individuals that claim to know everyone to some extent, whether it be by surveillance or having intel gatherers to obtain dirty secrets for them. No aptropoise has been known to openly admit how flawed the social hierarchy is within their own culture, even when it has been known to collapse in on itself several times within aptropoise history.

This, however, only covers roughly a little over half of the aptropoise population. The aptropoise most widely known are those who have their horn, the pinnacle of their hyper intelligence. The second half of the population are those known as the 'lobotomized' group, these being aptropoises who have had their horn removed, often willingly. It is said that the aptropoises' intelligence is a double edged sword, as smart as they are, many aptropoises report feeling an unshakable nihilism, and just as many can be described as being emotionally stunted. For some this becomes too much for the aptropoise to handle, and giving up their horn, and subsequently a portion of their brain, becomes the answer to their woes.

Lobotomized aptropoises are much less haughty, less concerned with the preservation of information and overall much more passive. Any psychic ability that the aptropoise may have had will be lost with the removal of their horn, as well as a cut of their memories. The lobotomized group have reported to generally lead happier lives, unburdened by expectation to outperform their peers as it's believed they no longer have the capacity to do so. In truth, the result of horn removal greatly varies between individuals, depending not only on the individual themself but the level of skill in which the horn was removed. A lobotomized aptropoise, while lead to believe that they are free from what is normally expected from an aptropoise, may still have about as good brain functionality as one that still possesses their horn. Others may not be quite as lucky, as the surgery involved in horn removal can be very tedious, and removals done by brute force, or even just a simple slip of a scalpel can lead to a myriad of problems, such as brain damage.

As a lobotomized aptropoise becomes more passive, they also are more willing to give in to influence and suggestion. About 75% of all lobotomized aptropoise are swiftly indoctrinated into The Pod, a cult of the Singer, upon release back into society. The Pod members are ostracized by other aptropoises, so much so that many of the Pod compounds are located far from the bustling, high population cities and towns, closer to the oceans as it is thought to be closer to their god.

History

Aptropoise history is rife with drama, most of which pertains to religion, particularly that of the worship, and anti-worship, of the Singer.

In the earliest accounts of aptropoise history, the Singer was widely accepted as the de facto god, the one most important limbo god of them all. Religious scripture varies between the two halves of the aptropoise species, one belonging to the horned and the other belonging to the lobotomized. In texts studied and practiced by the horned, early aptropoise were once immaculate beings, those closest to the Singer as a near mirror image of him. They lived in the grand blue oceans of 133-C-Whorl, living in perfect sync and harmony with each other. However, in their bliss, they were also ignorant, as it is said that the Horn was later given to the aptropoises as a blessing by the Singer. The Singer felt ignored by the happy species of marine mammals, as time passed they strayed further and further away from him as the species would slowly advance. So Singer enacted something that would bring on a dependence. Singer shall give them the greatest intelligence in all of the universe, but unless they relinquish it and return back to Singer, they shall never truly be happy. This is the belief system of the limbolist aptropoises, now turned bitter towards the Singer and his calls back to the ocean from whence they came.

On the opposite end, is the obmilist interpretation of the aptropoise holy scripture, that is mostly practiced by the lobotomized group. In the beginning, aptropoises were not all blissful and happy. Instead it is believed that they have had hyper intelligence from the start, crying out to the Singer for release from the crushing weight of knowing that all is meaningless. As Singer does, he granted the aptropoises his help, and gifted the species with their horns. A horn that can be destroyed, and taken in under the wing of the Pod once their shackles have been removed.

Outside of religious fanaticism, the aptropoise species has been sitting along the sidelines of the universe for years and years, before only recently gaining their species rights. While not having gone entirely unnoticed, the aptropoise government, and a few particularly maniacal individuals, have been quietly gathering what information they can from the universe just outside of the comfort of their own planet.

Home Planet

Roughly 87% of 133-C-Whorl's surface is covered in water, and dry land is densely populated. As the aptropoises have evolved away from swimming on a regular basis, the oceans become less and less populated with underwater sealabs and secret bases with how much less convenient they've become.

133-C-Whorl was once home to a large variety of different fauna including fish and marine mammals, but upon receiving species rights and species protection status in exchange for hosting O-6's "Smooth Tigers", a type of giant aggressive dragonfly-like creature, the local fauna count has gone down so significantly that most of it has gone entirely extinct due to the ferocious appetite of 133-C-Whorl's new occupants. Because of this, an exodus has slowly emerged as the aptropoises' main food source became too scarce to sustain, and paying for shipments of fish from other planets to feed a whole planet became overall too expensive. Those who remain have attempted to develop synthetic fish in the wake of the pestilence that they cannot legally kill, but results have varied from "tastes alright" to "entirely inedible to anyone."

Subspecies

None / Unknown.

Special

Brain Drain: 1 in 3 aptropoises are born with some form of psychic ability. These abilities vary greatly, and can be anything from telekinesis, telepathy, Xmancy. However, the most common form of mental power in aptropoises is the ability to steal thoughts or ideas from others. It is the main method that aptropoises will use in gathering information for themselves, not by learning on their own but by plucking directly out of the brain of someone else. While other psychic abilities will work just as well on other aptropoises as they would on other species, the ability to steal thoughts is one that cannot be used on the same species as themself.

Being in the company of an aptropoise for extended periods can present itself as a danger if the aptropoise does not stop stealing thoughts away from the other party involved. In extreme cases, those who stay within the company of an aptropoise can drastically stunt their ability to learn, as any new thing learned by the individual is often immediately stolen by the aptropoise. Symptoms of what has come to be known as "Brain Drain" bears eerie similarities to the consistent exposure to a marsue's mind editing abilities, whereas a victim may slowly become more and more dependent on the aptropoise over time as they chip away at their intelligence.

Trivia

• Since their introduction as an official, protected species, many other species have shown their distaste for the newcomer aptroises. Aside from the notails, who ushered them in as an accepted species, there is only one species that the aptropoises have made peace and alliances with- The gorgorses. Although the relationship between aptropoise and gorgorse seems to fluctuate between bitter rivalry and a comfortable, almost loving companionship between each other, it is said that in spite of butting heads quite often, deep down there is a sense of familiarity and solidarity between the two, abhorrent sea life.

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