THE KENTYANS

The Kentyans are a humanoid race sharing many characteristics of humanoid races throughout the galaxy, and this is believed to be a consequence of the seeding of the planet by a primordial race called the "progenitors." Evidence of the existence of this mythical race has been found recently, through the DNA sampling of many races to produce a code that could be decoded into a message. Kentyan DNA was not used in this analysis, although some speculate that additional messages lie in the DNA codes of all humanoid races in the galaxy. Proto-Kentyans first appeared about six million years ago on the southern coast of Uspats, where they evolved as a consequence of climatic change, which reduced the range of the heavy forests where the primate species lived to a more open savannah-like environment with fewer trees. Taller primates that evolved a bipedal posture tended to become favoured in this environment, leading, ultimately, to the establishment of two higher-order hominid species, a taller, more robust species later termed usboto depsatsomis, and a more gracile, slender species called kento ledimois. The two were separate species, and co-existed for at least a million years. The usboto species spread to the northern part of the continent while the kento species occupied the southern part. The latter became more advanced technologically, but the usboto species had numerical superiority and strength and evolved a more warrior culture. They began to attack kento species, and excavations have revealed evidence that the usboto species tended to regard the kento species as food.
        About 1.2 million years ago, an asteroid impact just off the north coast of Uspats devastated the planet, destroying approximately thirty percent of the species-including usboto depsatsomis. Further to the south, kento ledimois survived, and within two hundred thousand years had spread to the rest of the continent as the ecology of the planet recovered. By this time, modern Kentyans, kento omois, had fully evolved, and this species has remained in the time since. For almost all of that time, except for the last hundred thousand years or so, the Kentyans were confined to Uspats and then to Rezesblan, as they expanded along the isthmus that connected the two continents. It was not until a hundred thousand years ago that the climate warmed enough to remove the ice caps and allow the humanoids to spread across the polar land bridge to Anguu. About fifty thousand years ago, the Kentyans arrived at Vutur, completing the colonizing of their planet.

Kentyan basic body plans, male and female
showing their standard humanoid shape

Kentyans are, on average, shorter, less massive and physically weaker than humans from Earth. The average Kentyan male stands about 170-175 cm tall, and the average female is about 155-160 cm tall. There is very little variation in height among the population, with males reaching 200 cm being exceedingly rare (estimated one every twenty-seven million will reach this height). Average weight ranges from 60-65 kg for males and 50-55 kg for females. Kentyans have the basic humanoid body plan, but there are some differences, including the fact that the limbs tend to be narrower and longer than on average. Kentyans have long, narrow fingers, and long, narrow arms as well. Their feet are similar to humans as well, although the foot is a bit longer and the weight when walking is born by the three inside toes. The two outside toes on each foot are very small and almost vestigial. Kentyan eyesight is a little weaker than in humans, and their night vision is noticeably poorer as well. Hearing is about average, but their sense of smell is a bit stronger than in humans. Taste and feel are comparable. Kentyans have a more vegetarian-oriented digestive tract, with a small stomach but a long coil of small intestine, where the food is primarily digested. They have the typical mammalian four-chambered heart, which interacts with the lungs in a fashion similar to humans. Instead of a liver, the Kentyans have a series of organs that take care of the liver's main functions. Blood is not created in the marrow of bones, but in specialized organs located around the liver substitutes. Kentyans have iron-based blood, so it appears red. Their overall complexion is generally described as ruddy, almost like a Caucasion human with a noticeable sunburn. Hair colour ranges from reddish brown to a pale pinkish colour, but black is unknown. Body hair is extensive in males, and less so in females, as this is considered a secondary sexual characteristic. Hirsuteness is considered a male trait, and females tend to be attracted to males with extensive body hair. The opposite is true of females, with a lack of hair being a desired characteristic. This connection with hair also extends to head hair, where the males tend to let it grow long to formulate that hirsute look, while the females tend to keep their head short or, in many cultures, shaved off. In some Kentyan cultures, females like to express their "defiance" by letting their hair grow too, but it is a very rare male that will feminize themselves by cutting their hair too short. Another aspect of Kentyan head hair is that the length that it grows to increases with age, so children of both genders generally have short hair, and the older the Kentyans get, the longer their hair tends to get. It can fade with time, but tends to a light brown or pinkish colour instead of gray. Among women, breasts are not pronounced and are almost not noticeable at times, while on males, nipples do not develop, which is similar to Odonans but unlike humans.
        Kentyans are susceptible to a full range of viral and bacterial diseases, although advanced Kentyan medical technology has kept those diseases under control. Genetically transmitted diseases are not as prevalent among Kentyans, mostly because of the lack of extensive racial and cultural mixing. Genetically-transmitted diseases tend to be confined to small populations that eventually are eliminated. A main infliction among Kentyans is gaengko, which is almost the opposite of cancer. Instead of cells reproducing and growing wildly, a change in the genetic code of a cell would cause it to die, and to emit proteins that infect other cells, causing them to either shut down or die. In essence, the person begins to rot from within, and the problem with this disease is that it does not become apparent until it is almost too late. Advanced medical technology has been developed to detect and cure gaengko, but at one time, this suite of diseases (like cancer in humans, gaengko had many different causes, including viral, genetic and environmental) was the leading cause of death, killing up to one half of Kentyans who had reached their eightieth birthday. Kentyans, nevertheless, are generally long-lived. When their level of technology was comparable to medieval on Earth, their life expectancy was upto sixty to sixty-five years. When their technology was comparable to late twentieth century on Earth, where lifespans on Earth in the more advanced states were upto seventy-five to eighty years, Kentyan lifespans approached a hundred. In the twenty-fourth century, the average Kentyan can be expected to live upto a hundred and twenty. The oldest Kentyan known died three days shy of his one hundred and sixty-first birthday.
        The Kentyans are divided into a number of races, usually identified by the continent or region that they came from, and the races show a greater degree of variation than races on most other humanoid planets. In fact, cross-breeding between races is limited, with some matings producing stillborn or seriously defective babies half of the time. Some anthropologists classify some of the Kentyan races as separate species, but the Kentyans themselves resist this since it would imply that some races have evolved more than others, and so are more "advanced."
        The most numerous race of Kentyans is called the "plains" Kentyans, since they tended to congregate in the temperate lowlands regions. The plains Kentyans tend towards the average for their race in terms of height, ratio of height to mass, hair colouring and skin colouring. Because skin colouring tends to be reflective of the location of a particular cultural groups, with darker individuals towards the equator, colour alone cannot distinguish plains Kentyans from the others. In fact, plains Kentyans range through the virtual full spectrum of skin colour except for the very lightest tones. These individuals tend to be slender and tall, with generally straight head hair with a maximum length of just beyond the shoulders. The second largest racial group is known as the "uplands" group. Uplands Kentyans tend to be slightly shorter than the plains group, but retain the same height to mass ratio as the plains group. Their hair tends to be longer, bushier and coarser than the plains Kentyans. Because they are more tolerant of colder conditions, and have larger than average lungs and ability to take in oxygen, uplands Kentyans tend to dominate athletic events on Kent, especially those requiring endurance. Uplands Kentyans tend to live in regions of higher altitude or higher latitude. The third group are called the "equatorial" Kentyans. These are the tallest of the Kentyans, with males averaging 185 cm. Because they live in tropical regions where the sun is strong, their skin has become somewhat dark, a very dark red to reddish brown. Physically, equatorial Kentyans are the weakest of the races, because their bodies are more geared to dissipating heat than strength. Historically, the equatorial Kentyans have been the most discriminated, as they are often judged to be lazy and slothful. Even in the present time, the equatorial nations in the western hemisphere, where most equatorial Kentyans live, are the least developed of the nations on Kent. The eastern hemisphere equatorial zones tend to be inhabited by darker-skinned plains Kentyans.
        The fourth group is perhaps the most interesting, since they have shown the most adaptation. The "polar" Kentyans live at high latitudes, and they are much shorter than the typical Kentyan, with males averaging 155-160 cm, and the females upto fifteen centimetres less. They are also more squat, with stockier, shorter limbs. Their skin is unusually pale, but their hair tends to be long and bushy and a dark brown, perhaps an adaptation to the cold conditions as the hair forms insulation for the upper body and head, and being dark, can absorb sunlight when it is present. Both male and female polar Kentyans tend to be more hirsute than the norm, again for insulation. Polar Kentyans tend to be intelligent, and many of Kent's best known scientists, especially theoretical scientists, and many of the more renowned artists and philosophers, are polar Kentyans, which is remarkable since only about eight percent of all Kentyans are polars. One physical problem suffered by the polars is deteriorating eyesight. Without modern medical intervention, about sixty percent of all polars go blind by the time they are eighty. So different are the polars from the other Kentyans that when the first Earth ship arrived, the crew assumed two different sentient species arose and co-exist on Kent.
        Because most of Kent's most important cultures appeared in the areas occupied by plains Kentyans, it is this racial group, which makes up just over fifty percent of the population, that has come to dominate the planet culturally and politically. Most Kentyans seen off-planet are plains Kentyans or uplands Kentyans. Equatorial and polar Kentyans rarely leave the planet, or serve in the Federation Starfleet.