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Original artwork, Copyright 2000, by W.D. Robertson, eviloverlord668@yahoo.com
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NOTE: CAMPAIGN IDEAS AND SETTINGS ON THIS PAGE MAY NOT REFLECT THE "ORTHODOX" 2300AD UNIVERSE.
SPOILER WARNING!!! AT LEAST ONE KAFER SOURCEBOOK SECRET IS REVEALED HEREIN!!!
THIS MATERIAL IS INTENDED FOR USE WITH THE PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED KAFER SOURCEBOOK AND CHALLENGE ARTICLE.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO WILLIAM KEITH, JR. AND LIZ DANFORTH FOR DESCRIBING THE YLII AND TO CHARLES GANNON FOR EXPANDING ON THEM.
BY THE WAY, IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO PRONOUNCE "YLII", PLEASE EMAIL ME THE PHOENETICS!!!
Using Ylii in 2300AD Campaigns
The Ylii are perhaps the most enigmatic of the known sophonts in the 2300AD universe. The Ylii are unknown as a living species to humanity in 2300AD at the beginning of the First Kafer War.
During the course of the war, humans may come in contact with the Ylii in one or more of the following ways:
1. Ylii artifacts found in association with Kafer artifacts. Size and construction differences between Ylii and Kafer devices as well as the differing environmental needs of each species will clearly point to the presence of a second type of sophont among Kafer forces if "Kafer" artifacts are subjected to careful scutiny by an astute observer.
2. Ylii dead found among Kafer dead. The Ylii corpses, however, could easily be mistaken for Kafer livestock to the casual observer. An alternative scenario is that the corpses of escaped Ylii slaves could be mistaken for previously unknown native species on planets where Kafer-Human battles have occurred. This could eventually result in an academic wild goosechase as exobiologists begin looking for native populations of Ylii on non-Ylii worlds.
3. Ylii observed in Kafer bases (not likely on the front lines). An alternative scenario is that humans attempting to contact Kafer forces might inadvertantly contact an Ylii technician instead.
4. Captured humans may observe or even make contact with Ylii among Kafer forces. This is very unlikely even if the Kafer are attempting to communicate with the humans - but the discrepancy between Kafer computers and Ylii computers may indicate to the observant (and less injured) prisoners that the Kafer are using trans-specific equipment. On the other hand, the organic appearance of Ylii artifacts might cause observers to mistake the devices for Pentapod constructions. The political ramifications of that mistake would be interesting to say the least...
5. Escaped (or lost) Ylii may come into contact with human forces hunting down surviving Kafer on liberated worlds. In our 2300AD campaign, Ylii were first discovered on Aurore in the aftermath of the defeat of the Kafer occupation forces. Ylii technicians, being unable to fend for themselves, approached human troops in an attempt to find food and shelter (they apparently mistook humans in high-threat environment armor for Kafer soldiers). This resulted in knowledge of the Ylii, but how they reached Aurore and what they were doing there was less easy to discover.
6. Ylii from SS -27 6854, DK +32 2390, or DK -33 1023 may be able to travel out-system and enter Human Space along the French Arm. Given the Ylii emphasis on organic solutions to technology, it is possible that Ylii spacecraft might be mistaken for those of the Pentapods at first. An equally possible scenario is that Ylii contact ships might blunder into human military fleets and come under attack as stressed human forces resort to a "shoot first and ask questions later" posture.
7. Considering that the Ylii, Pentapods, and Ebers each established at least one interstellar colony, knowledge of the Ylii might originate in the files of the Pentapods or ancient records recovered from Eber ruins. Likewise, human exoarchaeological expeditions among the ruins of Ross 863 I and/or DM +5 3409 I might turn up evidence of the ruins' origins. This still will leave the Ylii-Kafer connection unknown to humans. A less likely scenario is that Kafer "historical records" (assuming such things exist) might yield evidence of prehistoric Kafer contact with ancient spacefaring Ylii.
Ylii Trivia
1. They are polytaxic, with at least two genera and two dozen species.
2. They have had a technological civilization in one form or another for over 100,000 years.
3. They evolved on a world orbiting a dim K2 V star.
4. They rely on biotechnology supported by inorganic engineering (exactly the opposite of humanity).
5. They have played a pivotal role in the development and support of Kafer technology for at least 300 years.
Ylii Physiology
Warning/Disclaimer - Some of this information is NON-CANNON: I've always felt the Ylii were far too "humanoid" in appearance as presented in the Kafer Sourcebook (sorry Bill, Liz, etc.). Ergo I've altered some aspects of Ylii physiology in my own 2300AD campaign.
1. Ylii are covered in thick "fur". This fur is derived from structures that were more similar to insect hairs than to mammalian fur. Ylii "fur" and "hair" originally evolved to serve as a sensory organ rather than for insulation.
2. Highly elongated hairs (vibrissae) are utilized to sense air movement, for touch/distance, detection of sound, etc.
3. Eyes are enlarged - the Ylii, in addition to evolving on a world orbiting a K2 V star much dimmer than Sol, are nocturnal. Their vision becomes greatly impaired in "normal" human lighting conditions. Anything brighter is physically painful to the Ylii and can result in permanent blindness after prolonged exposure (such as light sources used by the Kafer). Ylii vision can be most readily compared to a combination of an IR/thermal imager combined with a starlight scope.
4. Skeletons are lightweight cartilaginous struts using ball-and-socket joints; most joints can easily rotate through 180 - 270 degrees.
5. Despite evolving on a smaller, low-gravity world, Ylii reflexes are at least twice as fast as humans and Kafer. On the other hand, Ylii are physically quite weak and require mechanical or biotechnological exoskeletons to move in environments with gravities greater than 1.2 G.
6. The Ylii mouth is located anterior to the stomach. The jaws are extruded when in use and retracted when not in use. Muscles anchoring and powering Ylii jaws are attached to the Ylii equivalent of the pectoral/shoulder girdle - exteriorly, Ylii appear to have exaggerated "collar bones" and shoulders in comparison to humans. Ylii jaws are fairly weak, reflecting the Ylii diet of soft vegetation, fruit-analogs, and slightly decayed flesh. The Ylii stomach produces a variety of digestive enzymes and acids to aid in dissolving and breaking up food materials.
7. The Ylii brain is a part of the spinal column. In gross anatomy, the Ylii brain resembles a series of 3 or 4 medulla oblongatas with variegate and rugose surface texture. Additionally, the Ylii brain is relatively diffuse, and spreads in a sheet along the sides of the abdominal struts that serve as ribs and a sort of cranium.
8. A six-chambered sequential pump serves as the equivalent of a human heart. Four of the chambers are associcated with the ung lobes and are used for routine circulation of blood-analog (which is a blue-purple). The remaining two chambers are used as "reserve" chambers in the event of damage to one of the other chambers, and as a sort of "supercharger" allowing additional blood-analog to be oxygenated for bursts of energy when needed. This arrangement is analagous to the adrenal gland systems of terrestrial mammals. This arrangement also serves to supply the Ylii brain with proportionally more oxygen that a human of equivalent size.
9. There are four lung lobes just anterior to the brain. Respiration is accomplished through four breathing slits in the upper chest (two on each side) parallel to and just above the pectoral girdle.
10. Ylii language is fluid, high-pitched, and sibilient, with a distinct "nasal" quality. The sound of the Ylii language, to the human ear, could be best described as a combination of hoots, hums, whistles, buzzes and hisses. Despite their lack of vocal cords, Ylii can adjust the shape and width of the breathing slits at various intervals along their length. This allows them to mimic many of the sounds found in the languages of other sophonts. Some Ylii are able to speak the Kafer language without a computer interface or voder, augmenting their normal vocalizations by snapping their jaws sharply to approximate the Kafer sound "!".
11. The overall appearance of the Ylii is similar to a semi-upright quadrupedal spider. Forelimbs and hindlimbs are used for both locomotion and manipulation. Likewise, Ylii hands and feet are indistinguishable and can function equally well for location or manipulation. When used as walking, Ylii phalanges rotate up from the ground, allowing Ylii to "palm walk". As a consequence, Ylii tracks do not evidence digits and appear as oval to round depressions similar to tracks left by terrestrial horses.
12. Ylii are capable of brachiatorial movement similar to that of terrestrial primates, but typically move in a fluid crawl using all four limbs. This movement is much more reminiscent of that of a terrestrial spider.
13. Ylii range in mass from 20kg to approximately 100kg and in bipedal height ranges from approximately 0.9 to 1.7 meters, depending on an individual's genus and species.
Taxonomy: Pending.
Examples of two species of Ylii - note the differences in number and length of vibrissae as well as orbital morphology.
Locations of Ylii Ruins
American Arm
Ross 863 I*
DM +5 3409 I*
Ross 867 (undiscovered)
DM +3 3465 (undiscovered)
DK +17 4521 (undiscovered)
*No clues discovered yet as to builders, culture, or technology; considered to be unrelated sites constructed by unrelated sophonts.
Kafer Space
BK +00 2334
HC -6 2111
BK -1 1423
BK -2 0075
Ylii Homeworld
SS -27 6854 (K2V star)
Ylii Colonies
DK +32 2390 (raided frequently by Kafers)
DK -33 1023 (raided frequently by Kafers)
HC +3 1919 (conquered by Kafers)
SS -22 4654 (conquered by Kafers)
DK +21 6825 (conquered by Kafers)
Oneil 723 (conquered by Kafers; Kafer name for Oneil 723 is Anach*ah)
HC +25 1902 (conquered by Kafers)
Ylii Technology
1. High-tech; low energy requirements; minimal environmental impact.
2. Chemical fuels are used in place of burning wood.
3. Ylii cities were originally constructed in trees. Modern Ylii cities are slender, interconnecting columns/towers that can be several kilometers high; "roads" are networks of cables stretched between the towers (up to several kilometers above the ground) - the Ylii climb along these cables like a spider or a gibbon.
4. Mines and factories almost always underground.
5. Solar panel farms in deserts.
6. Computers - more like personnal adornment; powered by wearer's body heat; Ylii computers are sophisticated enough to write their own programs.
7. Ylii may have attained spaceflight as early as 100,000 years ago.
8. Ylii are not hostile among themselves and have very few natural predators on their homeworld. As a result of this, Ylii weapons technology is virtually non-existant. Up to this point in time, the natural pacificity of the Ylii has prevented their extinction at the "hands" of the Kafers. As the Kafer occupation of several Ylii worlds continues, however, and Kafer raids increase in violence and frequency on unoccupied worlds, Ylii scientists and technicians are developing weapons and crude tactics with which to employ them. The end result could be either a weakening of Kafer forces, allowing humanity to gain the upper hand in the Kafer War, or complete obliteration of the Ylii by the Kafers. The most likely form of weaponry the Ylii are likely to develop and deploy will be biological and chemical weapons.