Myriad

Myriads bear one of the most unique anatomies out of any race. Instead of being a singular organism formed by a complex collection of cells, they are formed by a colony of small bugs called micronoids. Two millennia ago, before the Myriads had met any other races, their primary shape was more similar to that of a spider. However, upon expanding outwards into the galaxy and meeting the other civilisations surrounding them, they slowly began to mimic their humanoid forms. Overall, they now express traits very common amongst the space-faring races - a main head, two five-fingered hands with arms and two legs. The Myriads' ability to see through basic photoreception carried out by most muscle micronoids in the head means they do not need to turn their head. This ultimately led to the lack of a neck, one of the only structural deviances present.

Micronoids behave similarly to individual cells, carrying out basic functions. There are three types of micronoids: muscle, skeletal and neural. Each type performs a specific task required for the colony and its hive mind structure to survive. Muscle micronoids make up the majority of a Myriad's total mass. They give the colony its overall shape and are five millimetres diameter on average. Skeletal micronoids regulate the physical structure and movement of the "body". They tend to be around one centimetre in diameter. Neural micronoids are the largest and most important micronoids, working together in the head area to act as a "brain" for the colony. Averaging about two centimetres in diameter, neural micronoids cannot carry out mitosis in an existing colony.

Myriads reproduce when a "rogue" micronoid breaks off from the colony. In general, the process requires a great deal of luck. Assuming the rogue micronoid survives longer than a few hours on its own, it will begin carrying out mitosis. Due to the lack of pre-existing neural micronoids and memories, it is safe for the new colony to begin producing them as well. However, this requires a substantial amount of sustenance, which usually must be supplied to it by a parent Myriad (in most cases the parent being the one from which the rogue micronoid broke off from). After approximately one year of dependent activity and growth, the colony forms a new Myriad who is able to behave independently. The new Myriad does not complete its growth until after around 15 years.

Despite appearing menacing to most, the majority of Myriads are generally very kind and considerate. Although they are naturally competitive, especially so in combat, they often remain respectful towards their opponents. Although they do not worship any gods, this behaviour mainly originates from a long-running cultural history of communal work. It is believed that it may even go back further in time, to when most Myriads were still singular hive-minds with limited intelligence. While the overall average intelligence of the Myriads has increased in recent centuries, they still remain somewhat outclassed by other races.