Description:  The kybus are humanoid in appearance.  They stand an average of 1.7 meters tall and weigh about 85-100 kg.  They appear lanky, with egg-shell colored skin tightly stretched over their bones.  Their faces are one of their more alien features.  Dominating the face are two pitch black oval eyes.  Below this is the kybus' small mouth, with two sharp small mandibles used to draw food in.  Each hand has three fingers and an opposible thumb, with each of the fingers having sharp small retractible claws on its end.  Their feet have three toes at the front, and a fourth on the heel of the foot.  Each of these also have sharp retractible claws.  Their biology intrigues many as the kybus have no need to breathe.  They have a system of "lungs" but it doesn't matter if they are filled with oxygen or methane or whatever, just as long as they are filled with something to maintain equal pressure to the outside.  Also note that kybus never wear clothes of any type:  rank is displayed by tatoos.

History:  Up until about 500 years ago, the kybus lived in small towns on their homeworld, Klysus, a harsh world with high levels of chlorine in the atmosphere.  These towns were more like small fortresses as they constantly warred with one another for scarce resources, territory, etc.

They had reached about PL1 when they were found by a space-farring race, the gorene.  The gorene abducted several of the kybus for study, much like the fraal abducting the humans.  Intrigued by the kybus' hardiness when it came to atmospheric conditions, the gorene race decided the kybus would make valuable servants and labourers in some of the gorenes' less hospitable colonies.  The gorene invaded one town at a time, slowly enslaving the entire kybus race.  The kybus fought like mad but were easily outgunned by the gorene troops.

For roughly 200 years, the kybus were enslaved.  Although the various clans didn't get along back on their homeworld, their disagreements paled in comparison to the contempt they had for the gorene people.  The kybus quietly learned bits about the gorenes' advanced technology.  When the time was right, several kybus slave colonies revolted, using their biological adaptability to their advantage, and using guerilla tactics against the gorene.  Many kybus went on suicide raids against their masters.  It soon became clear that the kybus were too much of a liability to keep pacified.  Several military vessels were seized by kybus rebels.  Each stolen vessel added to the damage the kybus caused to the gorene, every kybus killed only added to their hate of the gorene, and every gorene killed served as a reminder to the kybus that their enemy was defeatable.  The kybus-gorene wars lasted for nearly 150 years.  Finally, the kybus fought the gorene back to their homeworld and proceeded to bomb much of it flat.  As repayment for their treatment, several hundred thousand gorene were kept alive to be used as servants by the kybus.  However, as the kybus don't actually need the gorene, as the gorene did the kybus, they are much more brutal to their former masters than they were ever treated.  It isn't uncommon for an entire small town to be killed by the kybus if a gorene kills a single kybus.

About 50 years ago, the kybus encountered the jendevi.  It was soon after this that the kybus contacted and made a deal with the jendevi:  instead of enslavement, the kybus would let the jendevi travel the stars in unarmed ships as scouts and spies.  The peaceful, adventurous jendevi agreed and joined the growing kybus territories.

17 years ago, the kybus encountered the mercantile kar'soran.  Although the kybus would've probably tried to enslave the kar'soran had they been planet bound, they quickly realized that a war with the kar'soran would be a costly one, as the kar'soran had a fleet of armed merchant ships nearly ten times that of the kybus fleets.  Instead, the kybus have been trading with the kar'soran for over a decade now.  Thats not to say that they'll remain peacefull forever though....

Today, the kybus travel the stars in modified gorene vessels.  They've long since learned how to duplicate gorene technology, and have built a very large military, and a very solid economic infrastructure.  Their government is known as the Union of Klorr, named after a great hero of the kybus-gorene war.

Psychology and Culture:  The kybus are a warrior race through and through.  They see art as wasteful and useless.  Most kybus believe that they are the highest form of life in the universe, and although there are some who pose a threat to them now, in time they believe that they will dominate all of existence.  They will do anything to win a fight with another race, from backstabbing to biological weapons, but with each other they are highly honorable.  Virtually all kybus are staunch aethiests, with those who do believe in gods being killed.  Kybus youths are taught to hate the gorene, and show no mercy towards them.  They have no form of entertainment other than "self-improvement".  This means physical combat and mental sharpness.  Kybus mostly fall into two groups:  the warriors and the scientists, each of which are marked by a tatoo.  The warriors constantly train for combat.  They are the only ones allowed into government.  The scientists are respected by the warriors, but are not allowed into any significant positions of power.  Elderly kybus are usually killed when they cannot serve the race anymore.  As for kybus law, it is very draconian:  for virtually every crime, the penalty is either life-imprisonment (slavery) or death (more often death).  As a result, most of kybus society is as regimented as the strictest of human military bases.

Racial Characteristics for Playing a Kybus:
STR 7-15
INT 4-14
WIL 6-15
DEX 8-14
CON 4-14
PER 2-9

Advantages
Kybus don't breathe.  They need atmosphere only to maintain equal pressure inside and outside of their bodies.  As a result, poison gases don't affect them in the least (although other poisons, such as injested and contact poisons still affect them normally).
Their small claws can be used as weapons:  d4s/d4+2s/d4w

Disadvantages
Kybus cannot use psionics to any extent.  They cannot even be talents.  They can still be affected by psionics however.

Free Broad Skills
Constitution-Stamina
Intellegence-Knowledge
Strength-Unarmed Attack
Willpower-Resolve
Strength-Athletics
Constitution-Survival

In general, kybus fit into two catagories:  combat spec warriors, and tech op scientists.  Kybus do not excell at diplomacy, and as stated above may not be mindwalkers or talents.  Kybus free agents are almost unheard of as well, except for a few specially trained assassins.