Biology

The Vari vary in form, size and colour – but they are all invertebrates with hard carapaces and striking antennae. A mature Vari has four functional limbs; two back legs on which they walk, and two front limbs with dextrous claws for manipulating objects. The more malleable chitin on their cephalon allows them to make facial expressions which are legible to humanoids.

Vari lay soft ridged eggs, which hatch into six-legged “grubs” after roughly six months. These larvae are raised in large communal nurseries for up to 18 years, during which time they slowly grow to their adult size and shape on a diet of nutritionally dense protein jelly (traditionally derived from domesticated Vari livestock). From the ages of 4 to 18, the Vari is considered juvenile – their middle limbs will generally have degenerated by this time, and they will be capable of speech and of being taught.

Vari do not pupate, but they do experience a shedding of their exoskeleton every five years. Removal of the exoskeleton is an intensive and intimate process, which often requires assistance from loved ones and/or medical professionals. A Vari with no complications in shedding – which can lead to asphyxiation or the loss of limbs if it goes poorly – can live for up to 50 years in the oxygen-rich environment of their homeworld. Vari with access to medical technology and reuptake implants can live for longer in environments with lower oxygen concentrations; as much as 90 years.

Adult Vari that exhibit traits from either their juvenile stage (such as a more developed set of medial limbs, or a soft tail-like abdomen) or their evolutionary history (such as non-functional wings, or heavier elytra-like shells) are known as Vestigii Vari. These traits have been considered to be burdens or signs of good fortune at different times in Vari history, but they are seen as simple natural variations in modern times. Vestigii traits that are lost through injury or illness do not grow back, with the wound simply healing over as a scar.