Sentients
The galaxy of The Scent of Gravity contains many types of sentient species, or sentients, more of which come to light as the story unfolds. Apart from AIs and robots, here are the main sentient species found on Sapog Kuabure (“Free Boots”). Generally speaking, these species all are carbon-based, breathe an atmosphere similar to Earth’s, and are close to humans in size, but that’s because those are the kinds of sentients the designers of Sapog Kuabure (who were Masters–see below) had in mind. Elsewhere in the galaxy, very different kinds of sentients can be found.
Humans (Zenovek or Zenovekylen) average five and a half to six feet tall and range in color from deep mahogany to bronze, pale gold, off-white, or pinkish. They are recent additions to galactic society and tend to be more individualistic than most of the other social species.
Masters (Saitaralen) average two and a half feet tall and have suction feet and a crown of eight eyes. Most are obsessed with dominance and status.
Kanilen are crab-like aliens about three feet across with extra digits besides their pincers. They tend to be personable and mild-mannered.
Erymitylen average in height around ten feet tall, including their prehensile necks. They are usually solitary and reflective.
Memylen, or “Interchangeables,” can be orange, yellow, or brown and look a bit like salamanders that walk on two legs. They have four tentacles at the base of their necks and are usually four to five feet tall, though they vary. They exchange memories with each other through touch, and a colony of Memylen is so interconnected in this way that they don’t think of themselves as individuals, but instead as an expression of one individual who is the colony.
The Kha’al (Ziulen), also sometimes called The Symphony, are a highly cooperative species that perceives and communicates largely through smell. They average around seven feet tall and resemble ferrets, but with large noses having multiple nostrils.
Zorylen, or energy people, appear as columns of light of varying sizes and colors. They can travel short distances in empty space.
Taniynylen, or dragon people, were a large, highly intelligent, warlike species that is probably extinct.
The Revised are an advanced alien species of almost unimaginable knowledge and intelligence, each individual tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years old. They are rarely seen, and when they are seen take a variety of forms.