Nane

The Nanes are an artificial species. Their name means "Not a man". They were created by the Human inhabitants of Arkuu, of the star Allubane, in the Perseus Arm, during the Golden Age of its civilization, to be servants. When the civilization collapsed and abandoned their once great cities, they became packs of feral predators. While incapable of breeding, they are practically immortal, and thus survived for a very long time.

Appearance
The Nanes are humanoid in size and shape, white, with faces that have large eyes, no noses, and very small mouths. Their fingers are deceptively delicate, their feet are toeless. They can emit a sound resembling a sobbing, shivery laughter.

Physiology
The Nanes are very strong, capable of matching or even overpowering a Human born on a high-gravity world, with speed to match. They are immune to stunners. A heavy-worlder striking one in the neck failed to break it, and described the experience as "hitting pure gristle and muscle without a bone". A strike with a knife sounds dull, like stabbing a sponge, with the Nane anatomy allowing them to survive numerous strikes to no ill effect. Having been created to take artificial liquid food, they have very small mouths, but are capable of living on meat once it is ground into paste, which they were smart enough to figure out. The Nanes were initially programmed for absolute obedience, but over time, the ongoing chemical processes in their bodies destroyed that restraint.

Culture and society
The Nanes do not appear to have any society to speak of, do not use technology, and wear no clothing. They attack Humans entering their territory, and tend to hunt any sizable animal in their territory to extinction for food.

Appearances

 * Starwolf 2: The Closed Worlds, by Edmond Hamilton (1968 novel)