Zeti

The Zeti are one of the species of Shaktar found on Miranda. They are the smallest and least intelligent of the shaktar. They are capable of using simple tools, but have not advanced beyond fashioning sharpened stones and sticks for themselves. They understand enough to a favor a steel sword, but cannot forge one nor use it properly - using it as a solid heavy instead.

The zeti are intelligent and sentient; although they are far less intelligent that most other sentient creatures. Instead, they are driven by their instincts to feed, fight, and breed. They have very good eyesight and can spot movement equally well in both bright sunlight and dim moonlight. Their sense of smell is not as good, relying on a combination of nostrils and tongue, but they have “heat pits” along their jawline that give them near 360-degree “vision”.

An adult zeti female will average about one point eight meters (1.8m) tall with a very slim build and overly long arms and legs - males are 30-40 cm smaller. Aside from their chest build, their legs are actually very muscular making them very fast runners and exceptional jumpers. An adult zeti at a full run can jump over a four meter (4m) wall with no assistance.

The are fully capable of speech and in most cases they use a combination of gestures, speech, and heat patterns to fully communicate with each other. Unlike the shoag, the zeti are not intelligent enough to communicate with other intelligent species that lack the ability to adjust their body temperature. This leads most encounters with the zeti as physical attempts by one side to drive off the other.

Owing to its more carnivorous life and lack of technology seen in many advanced sentient creatures, the zeti live a fairly short life of only thirty to forty (30-40) years. Older males fall victim to the pack, either driven out or killed when they cannot defend their position. Females will live ten to fifteen (10-15) years longer as fertile females have very little to competition from older females. In addition the older females will often care in child-rearing, making the group more successful.

The zeti are non mammals so they feed their young by regurgitation for the first months of their life. When the young reach their eighth (8th) month they can feed themselves. They are fully mature by their third (3rd) year, which is when the young males are driven out. Males will remain fertile until they near their twentieth (20th) year, while females will be fertile into their mid-thirties (33-37).

The Zeti form single sex communities except when females become fertile. Male zeti form as packs around a single alpha male, while small groups of females stake out and defend their territory from other female groups. The male groups do all of the hunting and bring back food and “gifts” to female groups they are courting. Each female groups wants a large number of young females to attract the most successful male packs. Stealing female children is a very common occurrence, while male children are driven off once they have been weaned.

When the females are fertile they will mate with the most successful of the males that are in the area. Weaker males will be driven off by the stronger males. Older, non-fertile, females will often mate with these less successful males as the alpha males will reject their advancements.