Physical
 Average length 2.5 m.  Avg. height in erect posture 2.1 m.  Skin colors in blue range, often tending to green or violet.  Manes naturally black, brown, or white, but usually dyed in one or more rainbow colors.  Eyes are chameleon-like and lidless.  Olfactory bristles on muzzle surround numerous respiratory pores.  Locomotion is through hopping, in the manner of a Terran kangaroo; shock-absorbing tendons in the neck and padding in the skull protect the brain from the repeated jarring of this motion.

Reproduction: Chirrn are serially hermaphroditic, changing genders at the annual mating season.  Thus, females who have just given birth can be allowed to recover by becoming male and devote their energy to raising the young, while those who have been male can take over the production of young to keep the birth rate steady.  The synchronization of reproduction is important to Chirrn culture, since too many males at once reduces the viable pairings.

The sexual organ is the tongue, secreting semen when male, absorbing it when female.  Essentially all Chirrn have both male and female gonads, but they are not active at the same time.  The change is triggered hormonally.  Chirrn recognize sex through scent and pheromones, and through behavioral cues.

Behavioral/Cultural
 Omnivorous; descended from herbivores.  Divided into two subspecies, the spacegoing Chirrn and the planetbound Shayaln.  This began 10,000 years ago, when wars arose between the spacegoing and planet-dwelling cultures within their native system.  Ultimately the Chirrn left the system in roving space habitats, and developed a cultural prejudice against planetbound species.  To this day, they are highly reluctant to interact with planet-dwelling cultures, even in matters of life and death.  However, they are friendly toward space-dwelling cultures, and highly peaceful among themselves.

Principles of inclusion and exclusion are important to Chirrn society.  Chirrn are strongly motivated by regard for behavioral propriety; this manifests itself in civilization as a sense of justice and legal order.  Social status is determined by merit and behavior.  Those deemed to have violated propriety too badly can be shunned by society.  The Chirrn's rejection of planet-dwellers is a manifestation of this exclusion behavior.  For excluded individuals to win inclusion into a Chirrn social group, they must first endure a period of trial, ordeal or ritual humiliation, symbolically rejecting their past identity.

Spacegoing Chirrn culture also includes a strong belief in balance.  Those who do harm to society are expected to make amends by providing service to the community, so that the balance of the habitat's closed system is restored.

 The culture of the modern Shayaln is unknown at present, though it is fair to assume that they no longer go by that name after 10,000 years.
 

Homeworld
 Shayal, 2nd planet of Roj, an F8 star located somewhere in the Transscorpine region of the Orion Arm, 600-700 ly from Sol.  Surface gravity 0.889g.

 Chirrn space habitats are large cylinders with gravitonic propulsion.  Their interiors contain high, elaborate skyscrapers, neatly sculptured parks, and large zero-gee areas in their cores.  Habitats travel through space at sublight speeds, clustering in "pods" of four to eight members.

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