A byproduct of Nepleslian unstable DNA from years of conquest and interbreeding with various races both interdimensional and unadvised; Mutants are the end result of what happens when Nepleslian DNA unravels at its seams and mutates into something beyond the baseline of the Nepleslian form.

Early-stage mutant	Late-stage mutant

A part of Nepleslian society for as long as anyone can remember Mutants are a relatively young (compared to the history of the existing Nepleslian species) addition to Nepleslian society dating back several centuries before but only coming into notable population numbers in the past six decades when they became more notable and recorded in census data.

As Nepleslian expansion and settlement eventually overturned the Kikyo sector and beyond it subjugated, enslaved, and more often than history would like interbred with other species over its extended history to result in various generations of hybrid offspring. While eugenics programs and selective breeding with the most desirable of species (read: Those that appealed most to human tastes such as other humanoid-human appearing species) kept these offshoots of base humanity appearing almost entirely human it would eventually cause such expansive interbreeding between humans, hybrids, alien species, and even interdimensional races to alter the base human DNA into what would become the Nepleslian species; Human in appearance but tougher, stronger, and more capable of a species than the base humans that they eventually overtook as a majority as the Kikyo sector until it was filled to the brim with rampant expansion and the continued mixing of genes with xenos subjugates and slaves.

Eventually, however, through the continued mixing of foreign and barely-compatible DNA into the ever-changing Nepleslian strain it would start to wear and fray and create deviations spanning across generations. Seemingly stable bloodlines entire generations from an alien interposed into their bloodline would find a normally perfectly normal son or daughter either being born with or eventually developing seemingly at random a non-humanoid trait that could be as minor as an off-color pigmentation to the skin to even outright mutation of cells to the point where patches of scales or the stubby growth on the tailbone would become dominant over their genes.

Seeming random and unplaceable at the source such occurrences were considered a basic disability by some and more conspiracy by other Nepleslians as the stuff of tall tales told to scare more anti-xenos Nepleslian advocates.

But as the generations continued and even as Nepleslian expansion dwindled, cases of recorded mutations continued and even grew in number and depth until full-blown cases of what could only be aberrations became more the norm as un-nepleslian looking humanoid-anthro mutants with clear alien or animalistic-traits-began-to be born or eventually develop and could not be weeded out of the genetic pool without the purging of entire bloodlines now far-too mixed amongst the sector-spanning populous and appearing seemingly at random.

As Mutants began to become a more regular part of note amongst Nepleslian society they were shunned and looked down upon as bad luck and poor omens that if not discarded or driven out of a family could advertise the instability of their bloodline or get them barred from society as outcasts. Mutants quickly became synonymous with misfortune and were self-fulfilling prophecies to become undesirable members of society as social stigma, lack of education, and mistreatment more often than not turned what could have been average and upstanding citizens if only given a chance into distrustful and violent dregs within society who often stole or committed violence by necessity to survive, further cementing the stigma against them.

As Nepleslians as a concept condensed and their expansionist tendencies dwindled with the elves being one of the last subjugated races to join the Nepleslian bloodline-mutants had become a facet of life hidden behind a veil and a charade to be ignored as if not existing at all as they continued to fill the lowest parts of the culture. When Nepleslia was broken up into various factions Mutants were driven out or exiled from all but the predominant Green faction, more tolerant of xenos and foreigners than the precursor to Yamatai or the Reds where no mutants would be found, the greens tolerated mutants within its population much like another Xenos race like the Delsaurians, Freespacers, Abwehrans, or… Cattle…

As of post, YE:0 mutants are members of Nepleslian society but still hold a low social standing due to social stigmas and learned violent tendencies from their treatment throughout their history. New mutants are born or made from seemingly average Nepleslians either at birth or at random or by exposure to factors that cause a slight cascade in their DNA such as extreme (more so than usual) radiation or unstable effects as to allow mutations to seep through during birth or even during adulthood. There is nothing stopping them from contributing to Nepleslain society, becoming citizens, or achieving social standing and some still do.

But regardless the majority of the millions of suspected mutants that can be found within the cities of Nepleslia has only increased in recent years and as of YE:45 are suspected but not confirmed to make up at least 7% of Nepleslias population but cannot be confirmed as no census is possible.

Mutants are categorized into three separate categories; Early, Middle, and Late-stage mutants. While each is considered a mutant the three different categories describe how far into a phase of mutation an individual has progressed. Each phase of mutant progression corresponds with how far their DNA matrix has degraded, how inhuman or alien they appear, and how their mutations affect them. A Nepleslian with an unnatural protrusion, or too many eyes is likely to fall into the early stage of mutation. While another with animalistic ears, tail, and slightly obvious canine features who acts sometimes on base lupine instincts would fall into middle stage mutations. Finally, late stage mutations are those that have altered the body completely beyond the Nepleslian form and look entirely alien such as full anthropomorphization, full-body fur, hulking behemoths that look more like a brick wall than a person, and other features and likely a baseline xenos or animalistic instinct or drive to them not comprehended by basic understanding that is a coin flip between a horribly mutated and almost primitive thought process or perfect cognition of thought but with an overlaying through process towards their base instincts brought about by mutation.

While it is possible for a Nepleslian with Early mutations to further mutate when exposed to various factors it is highly likely that a mutant will not further regress into deeper mutations throughout their life unless certain unknown criteria cause their DNA to further destabilize.

Likewise, it is impossible to regress from a mutated state a lesser or even baseline Nepleslian. Treatments to tackle mutations, surgeries, DNA stabilizing treatments to ensure no further mutations progress if at all possible, soul transfer into a new-species body¹⁾ are all possible stopgap measures and responses to mutation.

For practical purposes, all three stages are more often than not just referred to by non-mutants as… Well… Mutants…

Early-stage mutants are the most common and by far the most socially acceptable within the Kikyo sector. Early-stage mutants often have the most minor of visible mutations and in some cases, their mutations might be entirely uncosmetic or benefit them completely unlike the considered disability.

Early-stage mutants have considerably stable DNA almost identical to base Nepleslian standard if only a step off the norm and what traits do show are often very minor and sometimes very easy to pass off the individual as being, to the naked eye, just a very humanoid alien or a somewhat alien human.

What's more early-stage mutants can even benefit from their mutations when an individual mutates an increased adrenal gland that makes them stronger, a much more potent olfactory solution that they might smell things better, mutated eyes that give sharper clarity of focus or visual range without the need of cybernetics, higher bone density, or other such factors that their mutations have given them an edge without the social stigma that later mutations often bring about.

A common mutation for early-stage mutants, however, are external and animalistic as the eyes, ears, skin, and other such features often take on an alien or animalistic trait that could be anything from uncanny goat eyes or ribbed horns like a demon-like creature, ears like a cat/wolfs/bats/elfs/ all the way to different patterns or colors of the skin/patches of scales, claws, teeth, etc.

Another common mutation is something extra, foreign to the regular look of a Nepleslian. A new set of eyes on the head (or more, giving a spider-like appearance), hands that are too big and nails that are too sharp to be considered anything other than a claw, boils that help nought, or even elongated body parts like lanky legs or shoulder-blades that extend a foot too tall. There really is no limit to the small but dehumanizing changes that an early-stage mutant could live with.

As such early-stage mutants are aesthetically similar to baseline Nepleslians but with one or sometimes more traits either physical, biological, or aesthetic from more often than not a xenos or animalistic DNA sample far down their biological line.

Not all early-stage mutants display alien or animalistic traits either. Some develop unnatural skin tones and patterns from more humanoid species in their gene line such as different colored skin or patterns on the skin, others develop unnatural body proportions such as longer or larger limbs/ different numbers of joints or digits/ barrel or sunken chest cavities/ etc.

As stated early, however, they are also the most socially accepted of the mutant classes and can or do pass more often as Nepleslians themselves or sometimes random aliens. They rarely face the same social stigmas and treatments of other mutants and are more likely to find in an open society and contribute to it sometimes may even benefit from organizations like the NYRDs who more often than not are militant against Mutants but sometimes give exception to early-stage mutants. They are still mutants, however, and such treatment is not always the norm.

Middle-stage mutants are the most common and numerous of mutants within the Kikyo sector. They have mutations that are not only much more pronounced and unable to hide but that change them on a physical and biological level entirely.

Middle-stage mutants have a DNA structure that has diverged considerably and can more often than not be considered Nepleslians at a glance unless the conditions favor them. Because of this middle-stage mutants often are distrusted, harassed, and vilified by Nepleslian xenophobia due to their sometimes alien appearances and by some on superstitious reasons more than anything else and as such are not common in polite society.

What sets middle-stage mutants apart from their early iterations are the order of magnitude of their mutations compared to early-stage mutants that change them entirely either at birth or through exposure and encounters that might unravel already fragile DNA sequences in early-stage mutants or baseline Nepleslians.

Entirely biological and physical changes are the norm with Middle-stage mutants with this stage of mutation more often than not changing the individual to appearing as a new species altogether. Entirely alien, xenos, or animal mutations occur such as fur covering the body, having a part of the body such as the head/arms/legs/etc. as that of another species like the head of a bat-like species, goat-like legs, extra limbs or digits or a different body structure altogether.

Middle-stage mutant have additions to their body that make them obviously and uncharacteristically other, like long tendrils that sprout from the back of their head and neck or six legs that end in sharp points. Bodies that do not fit the standard but, rather, create a new one. They may have an entirely different type of skin, covered in suction cups or a writhing mass of inky dark worms could be what is seen to cover them instead, for instance.

As such it might seem common to mix them up with Yamatian anthro species in some cases if not for the lack of many such anthro in Nepleslia and some middle-stage mutants having animalistic traits that go much further.

These mutations are almost always also beyond just aesthetic as the traits and instincts that come with them are the norm which has only increased social mistrust of mutants when alien or animalistic instinctual behaviors cause violent outbursts or attacks, lack of social norms, and sometimes territorial displays.

The fact that regardless of how it occurs that middle-stage mutants are wholey unnatural and alien in appearance often conflicts against Nepleslian xenophobia even when recognizing a middle-stage mutant for what they are either a social bias or superstition will follow them.

Like with early-stage mutants soul-transfer and the like are possible but is almost unheard of due to few mutants ever leaving their under hive settlements during daylight hours, let alone their birth planet. While not ever confirmed the lack of any confirmed past or present mutants of this stage in Yamatai or confirmation of any having transferred have established rumors of mutants not being welcome in the star empire as undesirables which true or not has become believed by most middle-stage mutants who, for the most part, have never even met anyone from the Yamatai star empire to confirm it or not.²⁾

Late-stage mutants are the end result of mutation. Gone beyond any form of human or Nepleslian form late-stage mutants have had a majority of their DNA converted to something other than Nepleslian and appear entirely alien in origin despite distant traces otherwise.

Rhino-men who walk on two legs with leather skin and a facial horn, pale lanky elf-eared beings with too-long limbs that are covered in oozing slime, blue-skinned beings with heads ending in tentacles; All far gone from once being the image of baseline Nepleslians, late-stage mutants are as varied and far-gone as they are erratic in their moods and behaviors.

The fact that such unnatural mutations have taken place and supplanted not only the biological form but the mental as well it is often very common for late-stage mutants to think much differently than most Nepleslians where common sense is replaced with alien thought processes, instinct, and biological responses where a large elephantine mutant might be mentally slow to process or a widely lurker of a late-stage might against all common sense follow abject paranoia and lash out randomly at perceived threats.

Because of this, late-stage mutants are rarely found anywhere but in the deepest parts of Nepleslian hives where they can, if not coexist, than at least form loose communities where they are safe from the scrutiny of the NPF, and their often illicit or less than legal attempts at survival when unable to work or function in society conflict with established norms.

It should also be noted that late-stage mutants are the broadest of categories. Where progressing further into mutating often results in monstrosities who are a danger to not only themselves but anyone and anything around them which only further cements mutant-mistrust and hatred when such abominations find their way to the surface of Nepleslian worlds and attack its citizens.

Mutant dietary habits are wide and varied. Ranging from everyday foodstuffs in early and middle-stage mutants some mutants, if by specious trait or preference may lean towards certain preferences depending on their mutations such as carnivorous or vegetarian habits.

It should be noted, however, that more mutants than not are much hardier than most Nepleslians and can (and sometimes do) consume biomass from what others may balk at. In some mutant communities, it is not uncommon for middle or late-stage mutants with particular quirks or traits to eat garbage or even perform cannibalism.

Mutants are found almost entirely within the deeper parts of Nepleslian hives or their underground components. Lower-income living communities, apartment complexes, or being entirely homeless are more often to find mutants than those living in middle or upper-class neighborhoods with even the most successful of mutants preferring to own property in rundown areas where there are fewer authoritative eyes on them.

Planetside is not the only place Mutants may be found, however. Space stations and particularly large space-faring ships are more likely to have mutant laborers or even stowaways living in crawlspaces and their darkest parts where they might make temporary lodging or micro-communities.

The most common place to find more heavily mutated mutants is underneathone's feet, however. In most Nepleslian cities hundreds if not thousands of miles of sewers often open up in some places for large canals and waterways or are lined with old bunkers or rooms where Mutants will often settle and create communities. These may be as small as a couple dozen mutants occupying a series of spread-out maintenance bays, or as large as thousands of them creating a settlement in large and open underground silos where a family of above-ground life is recreated with markets, stores, housing, infrastructure, entertainment, and power tapped in from the grid take place where those mutants unable or unwilling to subsist on the surface make their homes. Oftentimes mutants will take to above ground activities at certain times of night, finding comfort in the quiet streets and secrecy within the shroud of darkness during other Nepleslian's restful hours.

Mutant life cycles are as varied as they are depending on how far mutated they are. It goes without saying that early-stage mutants live much longer than late-stage mutants but this is as dependent on how far mutated they are and how they are living.

No exact lifespan is known for any stage of mutation but it is likely that with the exception of the most mutated of them, it is not uncommon for mutants to live as long as most Nepleslians barring health exceptions brought about by mutation.

Mutant culture often revolves around a mix of solitary and communal cultural practices. Where most of the sector vilifies mutants it is common to see mutants of all shapes and sorts gravitate towards others of their kind and share in communal cooperation where they might look after one another.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are some mutants who prefer solitude or specific groups of relative mutants of their own type such as those sharing similar traits or habits.

Beyond this, the most common cultural trait of mutants are learned socially and often revolve around hoarding, scavenging, tinkering, and stealing. These habits often come about from those amongst mutant kind who have little their own and must often steal or invent/make what they need and is often seen amongst their kind as completely innocent and justified to do things such as re-route water pipes, tap into electrical grids, and commandeer what they feel others might have in unecessecary excess.

A shared trait amongst most of mutant kind is to revel in entertainment and activities like many others. But beyond most Nepleslians is a mutant-fascination in the InterNep and other online outlets where mutants often tap into to experience life vicariously through its various outlets.

Beyond just videos, games, and entertainment most legitimate (and usually illegitimate) money made by mutants is done so on the net where money can be made anonymously. Hacking, salvaging, information, mercenary work, thievery, and other services are common to find ran through underground mutant hovels where entire collectives will get together and tap into underground net-grids making them unable to be located as they hack or sell or steal en-mass for not only profit but also fun and is seen as a type of familial bonding in communities to work together on the net.

Famous amongst mutants most of all is one of their own; Shasta Archeletta, also known as the Mad Mutant is known and in most cases beloved by most of mutant kind. One of their own, Shasta is a known hacktivist in the mutant communities and a favorite streamer often broadcasting her variety of exploits to the InterNep such as bounty hunting, hacking, singing, streaming, and other activities more often than not entertaining mutants who tune in to watch and live vicariously through her very publicized life.

Beyond just that the Mad Mutants incredibly infectious charisma and endlessly optimistic personality is that Shasta is one of the very few mutants who 'made it'; Being an extremely successful and rich³⁾ through her corporation who continues to attempt to uplift mutant-kind and constantly employs her fellow mutants in her company where she has been shown to be generous in pay and opportunity.

This fondness for the Mad Mutant ranges beyond just that and sometimes leans into parasocial behavior and a rose-tinted lens that Shasta has never dispelled as she continues to interact amicably and fondly to all of her kind regardless of their intended interaction and has led to a cult-following of personality around her and a growing consensus of the nets most influential mutant as its official representative often giving Shasta an inflated title of being the queen of the mutants to the point that a circlet of crudely forged radium was sent to her and opened up on one of her streams and is considered to be her official status of royalty spread constantly by a parasocial minority of her followers as what denotes the ruler of mutantkind.

Mutant clothing and fashion is often whatever one might prefer to, or can afford. Surface-dwelling mutants may dress the same as any Nepleslian current fashion that is available while those dwelling in the sewers or underground might prefer clothing or items that are more durable, easy to produce or maintain, or are waterproof.

All mutants capable of speech have a fluent grasp of Trade (language) as all that live in Nepleslia do. Some may have a middling grasp of Yamataigo (邪馬台語) through osmosis on the net but any other language skills are on an individual basis.

While some mutants are bone and others are made, there is no unique or conventional naming schema for Mutants. Some may have simplistic names laking a surname, some nicknames or pseudonyms. Most, being just regular people themselves, have the same Nepleslian names⁴⁾ as any others living in Nepleslia.

Mutants, being dwellers of Nepleslia have no official body of governance and are, for the most part, Nepleslian citizens if only by living within the DIoN. The closest authority amongst mutant-kind are community leaders which are more often than not established by no static means such as merit, strength, or ability but usually by whatever means they come to power.

While there are some notable or powerful figures amongst the established groups, none, not even the popular and proclaimed queen of mutant kind have any actual political ground or claim to lead the united mutant species.

There are a number of established groups maybe predominately or entirely of mutants. Their numbers, locations, and motives all vary from the harmless to minor threats to Nepleslia and its people.

Shasta no Sekai, also known in trade as Shastas' World is the salvage and mercenary corporation led by the Mad Mutant; Shasta Archeletta. Primarily focussed on salvaging leftover technology under the surface of Freehold Factory the corporation also has a security force called the Strays, and a mech-based mercenary unit called the Terror Wolves of Freehold.

The corporation is made mostly of Mutants with a minority of Freespacers and Kuzynetski-Nepleslians. Shasta is commonly seen streaming her misadventures and that of her Corporation on the InterNep much to the enjoyment of many mutants who turn in to her antics.

Shasta is widely considered to be not only the most popular and Notable mutant in the Kikyo Sector but also the unofficial queen of mutant kind by a vocal group of online mutants and fans.

The Path is a radical group of mutants who prophesize the evolution of the human through mutation. Operating in a series of underground⁵⁾ cells throughout many of the more populous planets of the DIoN the path, or pathers as they are called are a group of religious terrorist zealots who actively seek to harm the peoples of Nepleslia and advance their own goals.

The pathers act mostly through covert cells and over the years have attempted on several occasions, all thwarted by the NPF and IPG respectively, to detonate highly-radioactive dirty bombs in Nepleslian cities seeking to turn average Nepleslians into mutants through extreme radiation exposure.

Likewise there have been attempts to contaminate water supplies with chemicals, sabotage both nuclear and Aether reactors, and spread contaminated substances through the mail.

While constantly thwarted by the NPF the pathers constantly increase their numbers through kidnappings and brainwashing; Often kidnapping Nepleslian men and women off the streets and exposing them to various means known to cause mutations and then brainwashing them through unknown means as new zealots for the cause.

The pathers are very unorganized, chaotic, and random in their actions and motives which has made them hard to pin down. The only identifier pinned to them insofar is the covering of the body in a red, chalk like substance which coincidentally masks and biological leftovers amongst their crimescenes.

Cherry Vanguard is a loosely-aligned group of mutant hackers and hacktivists that operate on the InterNep. Spread across multiple underground communities and even some cherry-exclusive vaults deep underground the hackers of Cherry Vanguard operate on a loose set of ever-changing goals and morals.

The group is somwhat more efficient compared to most Nepleslian-aligned hacker groups due to being based in deep, underground cells hard to locate and across the entirety of Nepleslia with some signs even pointing to locations originating but never located on even Nepleslias mishuu worlds.

Cherry Vanguard, while seeming chaotic and unaligned are often content to simply act as online pests; Stealing peoples private information, hacking corporate bank accounts, and taking over the occasional broadcast, the group will come together for specific moral causes like attempting to take down corrupt politicians with dredged up information leaks, stealing money from syndicates, releasing classified IPG documents on the net, and exposing corruption and hypocracy throughout Nepleslia.

A running gag theme that the group often hides behind online seemingly for fun is posting very professionally made photoshopped nude images of the 2nd-assault fleets grand admiral Violetta De Luca, the NNN girl of the Nepleslia News Network, one-time propaganda idol captain Judith of the NSN, pre-cyborgization Minnie Valentine, and other notable female Nepleslians onto official government net-sites and then when clicking any of these images or trying to save them will then automatically self-reporting the user to the IPGs online anonymous hotline, flooding it with useless information as a smokescreen for their actions.

Based off the abweheran word for Night the Nacht are a group of unchartered mutant mercenaries who specialize in underground⁶⁾ and urban warfare.

Specialists in their trade the nacht excel in operations of urban engagements such as in heavily congested streets or buildings, and especially in underground settings such as dark tunnels, sewers, and complexes. What sets the Nacht apart is their silent professionalism and discretion where beyond established contacts and mediaries the mutant mercenaries neither speak nor make so much as a sound when operating to an unsettling decree and often communicate through hand gestures or simple clicks of the tounge easy to misplace as just the clicking of sewer pipes underground.

Their mute manner also extends to their client confidentiality; Giving them a degree of separation when hiring that many clients hire them for exclusively for deniability reasons. This has, on more than one occasion set the nacht mercenary group up as a proxy used on several occasions by the IPG with the mercenaries asking no questions for questionable work.

Beyond all this the most interesting thing about the nacht are their looks and rumors about their tendencies. Appearing of all similar mutation the nacht mercenaries are all white-gray skinned humanoid mutants with sometimes black or dark-gray facial markings with points, almost elf-like ears, sharp teeth, and sharp facial features. How so many of the same mutants came to be in one group and how more fill their ranks in known only to them but is rumored to be a massive inbred mutant family dedicated wholely to combat and killing while using merceanry work as a medium.

Rumors of cannibalism and blood drinking by the nacht are also as of yet confirmed as few enough witnesses are left and the mercenaries themselves obviously do not comment.

Below is a gallery of various examples of mutant kind, all made using AI-generation.

• Shasta Archeletta
• Morgan Mackenzie
• Letty Wendigo Bayogora
• Maxwell "Max" Jaeger
• Samantha Wheelwright
• Lawrence Harbinger
• Amit
• Lena Aldea

Charmaylarg created this article on 2023/02/21 08:10.

The article was approved here by Wes.

Concern was shown that mutants have the ability to be just nepleslian versions of the Anthro species of yamatai. Any future updates or overhauls should address this if possible without losing the spirit of what the mutants are, or may affect any player's desire to play one. Players often have certain aesthetics they desire and the mutant species was created to have both more desirable mutants(Said anthro) that players will want to play and other players might want to interact with, and much more traditional mutants that are fully inhuman in most ways. Please keep this in mind in any future overhauls of this species.