Kish

Kish

(Creature)

Type

Humanoid
(kish)

CR

By class level

Environment

Any (Nejeor VI)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

kish

Source: The Ruined Clouds, pg(s). 58

Kish are a primitive race descended from the kishalee, an advanced race that once lived among the stars. They live among the ruins built by their ancestors on the planet Nejeor VI, ignorant of the power they once held.

Appearance

Kish are tall, hairless humanoids with three eyes, long, powerful limbs and sharp teeth. Kish skin colour ranges from gray to sky blue, with gradations in hue across their bodies. Kish appear sexually monomorphic to other races, only differing by subtle differences in the shape of the central eye.

History

Kishalee civilisation arose and flourished when Golarion was still in the stone age. One of their most important colonies was Nejeor VI, a gas giant with virtually inexhaustible natural resources, where kishalee colonists built floating cities among the clouds.

During the war between the kishalee and the sivvs, the resources of Nejeor VI were vital for the kishalee war effort. Eventually, the sivvs created a superweapon named the Stellar Degenerator, but kishalee agents won the war by capturing the weapon before it could be fired. Bankrupted by the creation of the superweapon, the sivv civilisation collapsed soon thereafter.

The kishalee then turned many resources to studying and understanding the Stellar Degenerator. In time, the kishalee decided that they currently had no need for the Stellar Degenerator's destructive power, so it should be hidden away. Kishalee technomancers created a demiplane in which they would store the weapon, accessible only through a titanic structure called the Gate of the Twelve Suns, which was constructed far from the Nejeor system.

Years passed, and the kishalee came into conflict with other species. Though the Stellar Degenerator could destroy the home system of any opposing force, the kishalee used it only once, horrified by how it cursed worlds to orbit around a dead sun.

After thousands of years, the kishalee civilisation eventually deteriorated. The colonists on Nejeor VI, cut off from their kinsmen and regular supply runs, either fled the planet, died out were forced to fend for themselves. Over the centuries, the survivors evolved into a less fragile subspecies, called the kish. The modern kish, a preindustrial society, have forgotten much of their people's history, achievements and understanding of the scientific wonders they lived among.

Society

Kish are hunter-gatherers that worship the spirits of their ancestors by studying the ruins of civilisation around them. Kish have no written language and pass down their traditions orally or via paintings. Kish faith consists of a reverence for the spirits and accomplishments of the kishalee. Their often-fantastic myths, based on what little information they can glean from abandoned buildings and barely functioning technology, pale in comparison to the actual deeds of the kishalee, who once controlled an extensive interstellar empire that made incredible advancements and fought in vicious wars. Devout kish leave offerings at sacred sites, usually hoping to gain their ancestors' favor or find the answer to a question. They sometimes find what they seek, whether in the form of previously undiscovered technology or a cryptic message from an old computer.

Kish tend to congregate into tribes that are led by either the strongest or the wisest. Some kish tribes pass leadership peacefully, while others put potential leaders to a test of might and/or wits. Each kish chieftain is advised by huntmasters (who lead others in hunts for food) and curates (who have an almost instinctual understanding of ancient technology they discover). The kish view cooperation as critical to their continued survival, so to maintain unity, the chieftain's word is usually considered law.