Kotha

The Kothar (//, singular "Kotha") were a sentient, species from Haerch.

Biology and appearance
The Kothar had skin in shades of brown, from mocha to bistre. Aside from their black pupils, the irises and sclera were vibrant shades of yellow or orange, which contrasted sharply against their skin.

Kothar had no hair, but instead short stalks of flesh-covered cartilage. These stalks, rarely wider than a Kotha's finger, grew progressively from birth (when they were distinguishable only as bumps on the scalp) until the Kotha reached physical maturity around the age of twenty standard years. The cartilage "hair" of a Kotha could twitch or move to match various emotional states, but was usually the same color as the rest of the Kotha's flesh.

In addition to their distinctive stalk "hair", the Kothar had large, wide ears which were sensitive enough to perceive sounds from greater distances than Humans. Their ears could flatten back slightly to allow a marginally wider range of auditory input.

Society and culture
Because they used their stalk "hair" as a means of communication and to relay emotional markers and cues, the Kothar were not as dependent on facial expressions to convey meaning. As a result, Kothar usually seemed unemotional to other species for whom facial expressions were vital. The Kothar also wore fashionable veils and mouthpieces in the way other species wore hats and head coverings, making them even more unreadable to most sentients. Conversely, wearing any sort of head covering was taken as a sign of trying to hide one's intentions.

Although Haerch was an under both the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob and the Golden Empire, the popular perception of the Kothar as a race of farmers was not supported by reality by the time of the Great Liberation. Much of Haerch's agricultural production was maintained by droid labor, and while millions of Kothar were dedicated to agriculture, countless more pursued other trades.

History
Xenobiologists were certain that the facial inexpressiveness and the matched-color sclera and irises (which diminished the capacity for emotional expression through the eyes) of the Kothar were connected to the development of their expressive stalk "hair". However, there was no scientific consensus about which had evolved first and caused the other.

Kothar society developed with the varieties of government common to other sentient species, including monarchy, oligarchy, democracy, and dictatorship. Prior to the arrival of the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob, the Kothar were not distinctly agricultural as a species. While their temperate homeworld allowed them to produce all the food they would ever need, it was only when the Tetrarchy arrived that cultivation of foodstuffs became a worldwide obsession.

Haerch was a "vassal world" of the Tetrarchy, and thus suffered heavier tax rates and had fewer rights than full member worlds. The planet was tasked with producing food not only for itself, but also for Mezlagob, Hudrel, and other and semi-ecumenopoleis, as well as the Tetrarchy military. Initially, the Kothar turned to agriculture in droves. However, as the Hudrel Robotics and Android Corporation introduced labor droids to do much of the work of farms at substantially lower costs, millions of Kothar became unemployed. The resulting depression on Haerch caused many Kothar to seek their fortunes offworld, although their status as second-class citizens made travel more difficult. The ultimate result was widespread unemployment and hunger on a world which produced more food than its population could ever require.

When the Great Liberation erupted, little changed on Haerch, which was safely ensconced in the Vall`to sector. However, as the Golden Empire attacked Baes and Vall`to, the Kothar organized a rebellion and simply stopped the exportation of foodstuffs. As the rebel leaders had predicted, the Tetrarchy was too busy fighting for its life to bother with reprisals. The Empire arrived shortly thereafter and found the Kothar ready and willing to join the new government.

Although sympathetic to the plight of the Kothar, Queen Rin Sakaros could not dispute that it was more economical to have droids do farm labor than sentient beings. However, she provided the Kothar and other exploited races with offworld opportunities. To prevent a mass exodus, Haerch was also allowed to host other industries, and the Kothar lured some corporations with their homeworld's pleasant climate and position near the Keblygrin Way.

In the galaxy
Many other humanoid species were uncomfortable around Kothar, whom they found impossible to read. However, this same trait led many Kothar to positions as mediators, arbitrators, and diplomats, as their faces gave away very little to species which required facial cues. Popular opinion considered playing or any other card game with a Kotha as tantamount to suicide unless one was capable of reading the shades of emotion in their cranial stalks.