The Gelt were a humanoid species who invaded Compact territory in 429 IE. Humanoid with gray skin and five fingers, they could be classified as primate. They had an extra set of canines in their mouths. Initial sensor readings indicating they preferred an open-air environment of roughly twenty-seven degrees Celsius while they averaged a body temperature of thirty-six degrees Celsius. These readings allowed the AI entity Persephone to conclude they were mammalian.
Tishla, who became First Citizen of Hanar in 429, worried about walking in ocean water on Amargosa as salt water irritated Gelt skin. However, she also realized that sea harvesters, similar to fishermen on human worlds, endured it with little trouble. However, like both known species of humans, the sea harvesters were “waking callouses,” indicating their skin adapted to hard labor and harsh environments the way human skin would.
The Gelt possessed a sexual dimorphism very similar to most primate species in that corner of the galaxy. They had two sexes, male and female, and reproduced sexually. However, their genital arrangement differed from most primate aliens. The male tongue doubled as a penis, which would penetrate the female’s navel during intercourse. Most Gelt found the more common arrangement of lower torso genetalia “gross.”
John Farno was the first known human to see them when they returned about a month after destroying the terraforming colony on Farigha. He found the similarities to humans unsettling. Upon first encountering them, JT Austin thought they looked like gray-skinned Orags with few differences.
Gelt, like some Pacific Rim-descended humans, put their surnames first. So Lattus Kai‘s given name was “Kai.”
Gelt had the unusual ability to extrapolate languages by listening to them over a period of hours, sometimes days. Tishla learned Humanic while in a secure hospital on Metis by watching entertainment, sports, and news feeds. As a result, most Gelt interacting with humans spoke, if somewhat roughly, Humanic. Occasionally, a word or phrase did not translate and took a person time to learn despite obvious connotation or sound.
Gelt had the ability to produce antibiotics in their bodies, making them immune to all but the most severe bacterial infections. This type of immunity developed between three or four. Unborn cubs could be susceptible if mother was pregnant and her body did not filter out the pathogen. They also had the ability to vomit at will. Biologically, it allowed them to expel toxins from their digestive tract, which prevented hangovers that plagues other primates. The function also had cultural implications. One could vomit on a plate to insult whoever prepared their food. Furthermore, it was considered a challenge to single combat to vomit on someone’s boots.
Appearances: No Marigolds in the Promised Land, The Roots of War, The Children of Amargosa, Broken Skies, Warped, Tishla, Second Wave, Among Wolves, The Exile, Flight Blade, Storming Amargosa, Suicide Run, Checkmate