Skydreth

The skydreth are a species of bird-like aliens from the Space Investigators universe.

Physical Traits
The skydreth greatly resemble birds, with feathers in place of fur or hair and large feathered wings located on their back. The bottom half of their legs and the top halves of their arms tend to be smooth, but anywhere else is a possible location for a feather. The colors of these feathers vary based on the caste of the skydreth involved, though all tend to be brightly colored. The terrians tend towards warm colors such as shades of reds and oranges. The empyreans tend towards greens and yellows. The aquinians tend towards cool colors such as blues and purples. These castes affect their body type as well, with the terrians muscular, the empyreans thin with lean muscle, and the aquinans skinny and soft. All of the castes tend towards heights comparable to humans, though more tend to be taller than six feet than is seen in humans, and being over seven feet is not as much an anomaly.

They have a cloaca for both waste and sexual purposes. Males have a penis on the inside that is hidden most of the time, but that can be extended when wanted or needed. Males also have a bundle of nerves inside their cloaca that are very pleasurable to the touch. Females lack both of these, and this is the primary reason they have not adapted a sex drive the way the males have. For them, the cloaca is no different to touch than their hand, and its primary sexual purpose is in laying eggs. Males, on the other hand, can be pleasured by either topping or bottoming, leading to rampant male/male partnerships.

Culture
Skydreth culture is based upon a caste system, with each individual placed in a caste before birth based on genetic aptitude testing. A democratic and open-minded people, these castes are not seen as strict social classes, with each one being deemed equal and necessary parts of the society. Indeed, the caste system originated from biolgical differences resulting in three basic types of skydreth who naturally gravitated towards different activities and habitats.

The terrians, an all male caste, make up the bulk of the military and the entertainment industry. The skydreth are particularly fascinated by physical displays as their arts. Elaborate dances are perfected all year long before being performed for an audience, and dancing is used in mating, making friends, and to generally show off. Though terrian dances pull the highest esteem and crowds, they also engage in sports and plays. Though filming is more than possible for the skydreths, they still prefer to watch their entertainment in person, and it yet pulls the prestige once held in human society for live shows. The terrians value strength, social matters, and speaking ability above all.

The empyreans, a unisex caste, make up the bulk of the working class. The champions of flight, which plays a huge role in skydreth society, they spend the majority of their time up high. To them, flight symbolizes freedom and possibility, and is held with even more reverence than a human learning to drive. Having one's wings clips is seen as a sign of ultimate dishonor and labels them as a pariah for the rest of their lives. Using their ability to fly, the empyreans deal with the day-to-day smooth functioning of skydreth society. They value flight, cleverness, and knowledge of a concrete profession above all.

The aquinians, a mostly female caste, make up the majority of the highly specialized positions. They are very highly respected, as they are the reason the skydreth are so scientifically advanced. Their specialties lie in many of the professions that make the skydreth stand out, such as science and engineering. They also hold other jobs associated with higher learning, including law, medicine, and psychology. Moreso than the other castes, the aquinians decide to leave their home planet and see the universe without a particular professional reason, often working as exotic dancers or prostitutes. They value intelligence, creativity, and logic above all.

One member of each caste makes up the ruling triad, with the terrian standing in for the executive branch, the empyrean standing in for the legislative branch, and the aquinian standing in for the judicial branch.

In skydreth culture, gender means quite little, with very few obvious physical differences even existing between the sexes. There are no gender roles to speak of, with caste being paramount to one's sex. Males and females are viewed equally. However, the skydreth place no value on male/female romantic love, seeing breeding as a purely mechanical and impersonal activity. The genders only show sexual interest in each other during breeding season and are otherwise not driven sexually as a human is. However, romantic love has long been of high value in male/male partnerships, which they consummate sexually much as a human would, believing that bonding physically is an ultimate show of trust. The females find these partnerships incredibly attractive, and will generally seek out mates who have or have had male partners. They, however, do not believe in engaging in sexual relationships themselves, instead focusing on strong platonic or purely romantic relationships, which in themselves come with rituals of strong affection, however never with the sexual connections of the male/male ones. These beliefs have begun to change slightly as the skydreth have mingled with other species more.

Their greatest strength is in their intelligence. They are also known for their successful democracy, egalitarian society, culture, and wisdom. Their military is medium-level, when compared to other race's.