Qhirat (KEE-raht)
Qhirats are a sapient species of winged humanoids whose intriguing pre-Edenian relationship with the dwarves has led to the widespread belief that qhirats stalk the skies looking for unsuspecting people to work in their mines.
In the world before Eden, the qhirats and dwarves occupied neighboring planets. The qhirats, though they preferred the skies of their planet to the ground, were keenly aware of the fact that the mountains of Pinion were rich in Edenite. Trouble was that the qhirats—with their big wings and clawed feet—were ill-suited for mining. Much to the qhirats surprise, however, their dwarven neighbors on Thün Büldar had a solution: convicts.
The dwarven prison system at the time was overflowing, but reformers were blocking funding for new penetentiaries. If the qhirats would fly on over and carry some convicts away, they were welcome to press said convicts into service in their mines—in exchange for a percentage of the Edenite they harvested, of course.
The qhirats said yes, and the seeds of a long-lived partnership were planted.
That said, each time a Calamity wipes out an iteration of reality and sends the survivors to Eden, the qhirats have a rough time of it. The stories that spread about them are harsh. In particular, the start of the Second Age was brutal. Only a few qhirats survived the Calamity and there was but one left by the year 141—one who’s murder would be used as the casus belli for Oscar Diggs’ Invasion of Oz.
Anatomy & Physiology
Qhirats are winged humanoids with four-digited hands and feet. Each hand is comprised of three clawed fingers and one clawed thumb, while each foot is comprised of three forward-facing toes and one backwards-facing.
Their wings are big and strong, but not nearly big enough or strong enough to lift a qhirat’s body off the ground on their own. Instead, the qhirat’s body generates a localized gravitational field that reduces the individual’s effective weight. This same physiological mechanism partially disconnects the qhirat’s body from the forces of inertia, which allows for quick turns, rapid climbs, and impossible dives—and keeps the individual from passing out due to high g-forces.
Other adaptations include a reinforced skeleton; lightweight, air-filled bones; a larger heart; and a bird-like respiratory system.
Reproduction
Unlike many other humanoid species in Eden, qhirats are only able to reproduce with their own kind. They are egg-laying mammals with a reproductive cycle not unlike that of the Earthling platypus—and therefore not compatible with their more placentally-oriented cousins. Following copulation and impregnation, a qhirat egg develops in utero for a period of 28 days before being expelled for an eight-month external incubation.
The true challenge of a qhirat incubation period is the fact that the egg begins to float at three months, owing to the development of the fetus’ gravitational field. The strength of this field increases over time, so that while a three-month-old egg will only hover a few inches off the ground, a seven-month-old egg will fly away if it’s not attended to.
This reality led to an interesting development in the relationship between the qhirats and their dwarven counterparts. The qhirats, in recognition of good behavior in the mines, gave time off to any and all dwarves who were willing to lay upon maturing eggs—and petitioned the government of Thün Buldar for the prisoner’s unconditional parole at the end of a successful incubation period.
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