K'schar

The K'schar are one of the Minor Aliens in The Long Journey Home.

Description
Once upon a time the K'schar were bred by their old masters, the Charasharn. They genetically engineered the avian species to have extremely delicious flesh and to breed rapidly. This is a fact that not only the Raxact delight in today as they prefer K'schar meat over most other, but also the K'schar have accepted that fact. As a carnivorous race, the K'schar have an addictive tendency for autocannibalism and not only eat each other, but also themselves whenever they are bored and can't think about a worthy research topic. This has gone so far, that the end of a K'schar's life is celebrated in a great ritual for his kin. Every K'schar's fate is to be consumed in the great feast by fellow K'schar. With green herbs and sliced unolia their still plump and juicy body is served to their peers.

K'schar by nature are barely more intelligent as normal cattle, even today. The Charasharn developed a hybrid system for their biological brain. The cybernetic computer is affixed to a young K'schar and allows it to access higher brain fuctions without any biological precedent. It also carries a plethora of knowledge about the Charasharn culture and their technological marvels. If those helmets are inherited after a predecessor's feast or get remade each time is unknown. The creation of these cybernetic implants and its offer to the K'schar was a violation to a hidden secondary directive of the Entrope. The Maylaa implanted them with the demand to never play god, as such the Charasharn were seen as being in violation of this directive. It might have led to their 'harvest'. Today the K'schar are all that is left of their creators.

Maybe due to their own origin as a scientific experiment, their general outlook on life is more than morbid. They just don't care! Their aggressive research doesn't shy away from kidnapping and life experiments. During Energy Drain they have successfully captured the half-ascended energy race of the Cueddhaest, a feat only the Tchansu and Maylaa were able to reproduce before them. It is unclear if the Charasharn were able to as well. Their overall goal is to turn them into an unlimited energy source without any concern for the victim. Something similar happened with the gate network. In their seventy four attempts to recreate it, the K'schar have ruined and destroyed several habitable solar systems. As consequence of these crimes their entire species was banished to the edges of the controlled sectors and most of them left for the dark sectors. It is unclear if they succeeded in their attempt to build a new gate network there.

Despite the extreme lack of ethics and their aggressive support for science, the K'schar are more than willing to share their knowledge and their discoveries, for a fair price. They successfully cured the shivering rot and sell the only cure in the universe. They also offer to cure Kirsten from her cancer in return for a life risking experiment with a new cure for the shivering rot that is meant to even save terminal cases almost instantly. By a twisted fate, the cynic approach of the K'schar to science and evolution might one day save the galaxy.

In the quest The Brain Trust, the Meorcl guard shuts down the stations life support. It is revealed that the K'schar breath nitrogen and would thus be able to have a normal embassy on Earth.

The Wolphax call them 'Felsidhe' and tell children scare stories about them. They consider all of their deals to be detrimental to the other party and thus use them for an allegory of power hunger and a devil's deal.

Simon is more concerned with the chance to attain a lot of knowledge and to advance humanity. It is all about their place among the galactic community. The unethical aspect of the K'schar doesn't seem to matter to him, as long as they don't experiment on humans and sell their knowledge. This general lack of ethics of him towards non-humans isn't unique to the K'schar.

Trade
K'schar pay: In rogue mode all the prices are 75% of the ones in story or adventure mode.
 * 100% for all resources
 * 100% for all items

Whenever they make a first offer they will always offer 66.67% of the real price.

Only K'schar offer the Experimental Burst Drive for sale.

Laboratory
Laboratories are equipped with a merchant and repair facilities. A hospital offers the possibility to heal all injuries of a crew member for 100 and the shipyard sometimes sells the Experimental Burst Drive. Alas, not all quests offer a possibility to interact with the laboratory.

Ship
K'schar ships are identical to Subbeq ships, but are extremely rare and do not play any important role in the game. They can shoot 2 rockets to the front and have 3 static cannon dealing shield damage to the sides. They are protected by 4 shields, one on each side.

Diplomacy
K'schar have no friends, only enemies. They only have a neutral opinion on the %$^£."What price a few habitable systems in experimention? - K'schar Scientist"

Notable Individuals

 * Doctor T'szati - An ingenious, but dangerous doctor: He might offer A Cure For Kirsten's cancer - he might also save one life and take another...

Assessment of the Entrope
(only accessible with Entrope Administrator Password on Entrope Stations)

Livestock, illegaly uplifted by the Charasharn. The helmets provide their intellect. "Self-cannibalistic when not actively distracted by pursuit of science."