Kovian

Kovians are a humanoid species native to the extremely dense and metal rich planet of Kov in the system of Shun in the Outer Core  of the galaxy. They have reached tier V of the civilisation scale quite recently in their history aggressively expanding into surrounding systems.

Etymology and Definition
Kovians take their name from their home-world which they consider to be their spiritual mother. Originally naming themselves Crius, meaning the people, the adoption of their new name was agreed to be used in dialogue with alien races to avoid confusion and has caught on as their official name in the galaxy.

Evolution
Kovians became the dominate lifeforms on their planet after a shift in diet to include a greater variety of metals allowed for easier adaptation to change in environment by their ancestors.

Civilisation

Kovian society is broken down into various aristocratic families that control various companies and territories throughout their space. They have a single unified army and astral navy with each family contributing recruits annually.

The Kovians achieved intra-solar travel relatively early in their history, landing explorers on worlds in their solar system before they invented a link global network of communication. Their species seems uniquely suited for life in space, suffering few detrimental effects from long terms zero-gravity living.

First Contact
First contact between Kovians and the rest of the galactic community occurred when an Observer vessel sent to monitor reports of intelligent life encountered an expedition sent to gather data on the various asteroids that surround Shun's outer gravitational influences. The Observers informed the Kovians in the vessel of the galactic community and the Kovians began a project to develop faster than light travel as quickly as possible.

The Ghendars Conflict
The Ghendars Conflict was a war between the Kovians and the Mantos over the sector of Ghendars and its resources.

Home-world
The Kovians evolved on a planet extremely rich in all many forms of metal with very high gravity due to the density of the core. In the different regions of Kov, metals were absorbed into the flora and fauna it was ingested and incorporated into the Kovian's bodies when they ate. Their bodies are therefore coated in an eexoskeletonof mixed metals, usually whatever metal made up the dominate part of their diet dictating the colouration.

Population
The population of the home-world of Kov is just under nine billion with a further billion living in orbit. Across all territory claimed by the Kovians there are around twenty billion individuals.

Biology
Unaugmented Kovians lived to be two hundred years old, with augmentation this can be extending to three hundred. Puberty begins around age twenty five when an exoskeleton begins to develop which is also when they reach sexual maturity.

Body Type
Kovians share the standard humanoid body type of a torso, a head, two arms and two legs. Their bodies feature heavy amounts of metal incorporated into it with their bones made of a mix of calcium and whatever metals they ingested in infancy and adolescence. Their flesh is then surrounded by an exoskeleton of metal that begins to develop during puberty when their appetite for different metals expands.

The colour of the exterior exoskeleton of a Kovian is dictated by its diet during and after puberty with different metals seen as being fashionable and others a sign of social class. Many Kovians choose to consume metals based off their desired profession with certain metals being popular or required for certain fields.

Adaptations
Within the torso of the Kovians is a collection of stomachs that is capable of breaking down and extracting the metals from ingested material. Most of these are chemical based that dissolved the surrounding material and then deliver the metals to a central chamber that spread the metal throughout the body.

Kovians have adapted to live on a harsh planet that has made them uniquely suited to survival in space. Their bodies suffer almost no degradation from being in zero gravity for extended periods due to their lack of mammalian muscles, instead having ligaments throughout their bodies that control the movement of their extremities. Another adaptation is the closed system of their body that allows them to survive in the vacuum of space for extended periods of time.

Psychology
According to Observer writings on the Kovians, they are a race of pragmatists and can be quite difficult to befriend due to their cold demeanour. Their faces lack the muscles to facilitate expressions which are replaced by subtle body language.

Culture
Kovian writing was standardised early in their history due to stemming from a central route based of body movements.

Clothing is rarely worn by Kovians and with the exception of jewelry which has a complex system of meanings and signals associated with them.