Platies

The Platies are one of the True Alien species in the Alliance.

They are fully aquatic, and the only reliable communication with them is through the Naysha.

Appearance

Platies appear similar to Terran flatworms, and are velvety, frictionless and dense in texture.

Biology

Small Platies are female, and stay in one place to have babies; large ones are male, and travel, protecting the territory. The larger Platies somehow 'choose' which of the smaller ones will grow into males. Though females, and males under the influence of a more mature male, are restricted in their growth, mature males never stop growing until their deaths.

When a mature male and a catalyzed immature male share the same space, the mature male can control the immature male's size. In addition, females and immature males can recognize a mature male's domain instinctively. In the wild, two Platy males of similar size and power would fight for territory, but they generally do not desire to do so and attempt to avoid it.

Communication and Perception

Platies can communicate with one another over very long distances when in the dense water of their homeworld (or an equivalent), and the Naysha have a similar ability to communicate with them. This communication seems to be the fundamental basis of their civilization. They have spatial senses and abilities to move through space unlike those of humans and Pelted, and difficult for those species to understand; they may also have the ability to perceive and even move through time.

Platies can feel, to some degree, the intentions and emotions of one another and of other species through their dense, soup-like native water environment. To some degree, they can feel the truth through the water, or at least are made uncomfortable by lies expressed in their water; they like "clean water."