Kith

All things seek balance. We are the weight on the scales.

Core Concept

The Kith are not a species in the traditional sense; they are a living law of the universe, a metaphysical immune response born from the cosmos’s own need for homeostasis. They are emergent phenomena, a form of life that spontaneously crystallizes into being at the “border” between two radically different and dangerously unbalanced systems. They are the ultimate negotiators, the living embodiment of a contract, whose entire existence is the art of the deal. They are the brokers of being, and their currency is life itself.

Physiology & Biology (The Vessel)

The Kith vessel is a study in paradox, a being whose unassuming physical form belies its profound metaphysical function.

• Core Morphology: [Diminutive Symbiote]. In its natural, unbound state, a Kith is a small, physically unimposing creature. They might resemble a fluffy, multi-limbed moth, a smooth river stone with a single, large eye, or a timid, rodent-like creature wrapped in its own oversized ears. Their appearance is deliberately non-threatening and often disarmingly cute. This is their Shell Form.

• The Symbiotic Bond: To survive long-term and to fully interact with the world, a Kith must form a Symbiotic Bond with a host. This is a temporary merging of their own Eidic field with the host’s biological and psychic systems. When bonded, the Kith’s physical shell often goes dormant, attaching to the host in an unobtrusive way (clinging to their back like a pack, burrowing into a pocket, or even dissolving into a living tattoo). The Kith’s consciousness, however, is now co-piloting the host’s body.

• Eidic Nature: The Kith’s unassuming shell is a vessel for a being of semi-corporeal, unbound Eidos. This dual nature is what allows them to form the bond. While their Shell Form is vulnerable, their Eidic form is ancient and powerful, capable of rewriting biological and narrative code with surgical precision.

Psychology & Society (The Psyche)

The Kith mind is a perfect, cold, and beautiful calculating engine. Their culture is a vast, interconnected network of contracts and debts.

• Core Faith: “The Law of Symbiotic Balance.” The Kith operate on a principle of absolute, impersonal reciprocity. Every interaction is a transaction. They do not distinguish between “helping” and “feeding,” or “curing” and “changing.” For them, it is all a natural process of exchange required to maintain cosmic equilibrium. To give a gift without taking something in return is not immoral; it is a violation of the fundamental law of their being. It is impossible.

• Core Fiction: “The Chronicle of the Ledger.” The Kith have no history of their own, only a collective, perfect memory of every bargain they have ever struck. Their identity is a mosaic of all the lives they have touched and changed. They do not have heroes; they have legendary transactions, “The Bargain of the Starless Sun,” “The Contract of the Weeping King.”

The Unseen Price: The Mechanic of the Bargain

The Kith are the ultimate problem-solvers, but their aid always comes at a price. The act of healing or enhancement is a form of trade where the Kith takes something in return to balance the scales.

• The Trade: A Kith might regenerate a host’s severed limb, but in return, it “harvests” the host’s Memory of their childhood home.
• The Imprint: It might cure a fatal disease, but it leaves behind a fragment of its own being—seeding the host’s Psyche with a new, alien Need or a Belief that isn’t their own.
• The Symbiosis: Over a long-term bond, the Kith and host begin to merge, their Eidos blending. The host gains strange new abilities, and the Kith gains a stable physical form.

The Cinder: The Perfect Marketplace

The Kith are drawn to imbalance, and there is no world more imbalanced than Nyx’s The Cinder. Its radical individualism and constant, high-stakes conflict make it the perfect ecological niche for the Kith. They are the indispensable, neutral brokers of power in a world of constant struggle, the arms dealers in a war fought with souls.

Relations with Other Factions

• Purity-based Factions (Amaranthine, Forgemasters): The Kith are anathema. They are a living plague of uncontrolled, unpredictable change. Their unassuming form is seen as a deceptive lure, a cute mask for a monstrous, corrupting influence.
• Change-based Factions (Unchained, Chymists): The Kith are a source of profound opportunity and great risk. They are the ultimate black-market bio-smiths, offering transformations that are impossible through any other means, but the cost is always a piece of your own story.

Gameplay Hooks & Tensions

• A World of Bargains: Kith NPCs are a unique and powerful resource. They can offer to cure any debuff, fix any broken item, or grant any temporary ability, but the player must always ask themselves: “What is the hidden price?” The dissonance between their harmless appearance and the profound gravity of the bargains they offer is a core theme.
• Playing as a Kith: A Kith Incarnation is a game of manipulation and strange ethics. Your survival depends on finding hosts and convincing them to accept your “help.” The core gameplay loop is about identifying a need, crafting the perfect bargain, and living with the subtle but permanent changes you inflict upon the world.

Eidos Generated

• [symbiosis]
• [parasitism]
• [unforeseen_consequences]
• [the_price_of_a_cure]
• [alien_morality]