Kell (species)

The Kell were a race of s who originated from the  Kellan, a world in the most remote expanses of. A naturally -like yet intelligent, the Kell used their military prowess and advanced technology to create a vast interstellar empire and establish themselves as one of the dominant civilizations of and.

Biology and appearance
The Kell were a species of bipeds known for their great strength and intelligence. Humanoids in overall appearance, Kell shared many biological and aesthetic traits with both s and s.

Kell skin—which varied in shades of —was resilient and capable of safely absorbing excessive amounts of harmful s to protect their internal organs. Perhaps their most distinctive features were the thick ridges of scales on their necks, chins, limbs, and spines, which made them instantly recognizable; due to the thickness of these scale ridges, Kell were incapable of growing anywhere on their bodies except for their scalps. They had long, pointed s and keen s that allowed them to sense spectra and frequencies that most other races could not.

Kell were also naturally robust. Their s and muscle tissue were incredibly dense, which granted them impressive levels of strength and durability. In the case that a Kell did receive extreme injury, their rapid healing factor allowed them to recover quickly—they were even capable of limbs if they suffered dismemberment, although this ability depended largely on the individuals health and age.

Kell possessed advanced mental capabilities. They often used a form of that allowed them to transfer and receive large amounts of information nearly instantaneously and made it possible for them to become comfortably familiar with a new acquaintance within seconds. Because of this ability, Kell did not understand the process of first meetings in the ways that most other races did and were considered socially awkward at times by non-Kell. Kell were known to have high Force-resistance and were immune to the potent s produced by such species as s.

Kell were a naturally long-lived species, with most living roughly 250 s and some living as long as 400 years on rare occasions. While the Kell produced, they did not give birth to live young and instead laid. They were capable of with a handful of other races such as, though their chances of successfully producing offspring with a  was only one chance in four. There were at least two subspecies of Kell; the heavily-muscled Buranians and the rare -skinned Amonsenites.

Early history
The Kell originated on the world of Kellan, a rocky world on a secluded edge of the Rishi Maze galaxy. It was there, in 100,000 BBY, that the forebears of the Kell were visited by the s. Over the course of thousands of years, the Celestials traveled to and from Kellan to conduct genetic experiments on the primitive Kell which ultimately shifted and accelerated their evolution by eons. The many genetic and intellectual attributes that the Kell gained from the Celestials' intervention in their gene pool allowed them to quickly spread and dominate their homeworld. The last of these Celestials hadn't been seen since 80,000 BBY but they became the deities of the ancient Kell.

By 30,000 BBY the Kell had established a powerful interstellar civilization that spanned a third of Rishi Maze, purposefully limiting themselves to a territory this size to allow the other races of their galaxy to expand comfortably. During this period, they worked diligently to be a viewed as a benevolent, peace-loving species and were friendly with many alien cultures within Rishi Maze -- because of this, they prospered. In roughly 24,000 BBY however, their civilization was obliterated and their species nearly wiped out by a catastrophic stellar cataclysm known as the Great Judgement -- the exact cause of this downfall was of much debate thousands of years later since records of the event were scarce, though the most popular theory presented in 2,000 BBY was that a chain of numerous in their territory was responsible for the collapse.

After their severe decimation, the remnants of the Kell were scattered throughout the ravaged remains of their territory but were all too convinced that aid would soon come from the alien societies whom they were once close to. These aliens did come but they brought no form of relief for the Kell -- instead, they swarmed the ruins of fallen Kell worlds and looted everything of value. The Kell were initially shocked and saddened by this, but the unbelief swiftly turned to rage; the once-peaceful and kind Kell became violent and distrustful. Bands of Kell rose up and met the raiders with surprisingly overwhelming brutality, taking back as much of their artifacts as they could. By 22,000 BBY, Kell Space had been established as locus non grata -- an "unwelcome place". All incursions into the region by the spacefaring governments of Rishi Maze ceased and travel their was forbidden since most non-Kell who ventured into the region were unlikely to survive. Even though raids against their worlds came to an end, the Kell still did not find peace. They became a clan-based nomadic species, devoid of any centralized leadership except for the numerous s who rose up and fought against one another for territory and resources.