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Kansas City
A city on Earth, the location in 2320-67 of the headquarters for Skyhook Enterprises. Douglas Hooker lived in a skyscraper there.

Reference: "The Ethics of Madness"
karate
See martial arts
Kdaptist
A follower of the religion founded by Kdapt-Preacher.

Reference: Ringworld ch. 19
Kdapt-Preacher
A Kzin who founded a heretical religion, or cult, after the defeat of the Kzinti Empire in the Fourth Man-Kzin War. He believed that God the Creator created man in His own image, and that His favor is why Humans kept winning the wars. Kdaptists wore masks of Human skin when they prayed, hoping to confuse the Creator long enough to win a war. Kdapt-Preacher was killed in single combat by the Patriarch of Kzin himself, but in 2851 Speaker-To-Animals claimed the cult still existed in secret.

Reference: Ringworld chs. 17, 19
Kdatlyno

"Kdatlyno"
by Bonnie Dalzell

An interstellar species of Known Space.

Physiology: Kdatlyno are huge, 10 foot bipeds with great flat feet, and arms long for even their height. They have an armored brown hide, curved silver-tipped claws at knees and elbows, and retractile claws on the knuckles of their huge hands. Their heads are eyeless and noseless, with a gash of a mouth. Above that is a goggle-shaped tympanum (eardrum). They constantly emit a supersonic whistle, one tone; they "see" by sonar.

Behavior/Psychology: Kdatlyno are said to be "touchy" and have a strong sense of honor. They need plenty of room, hence cannot travel on a small starship. In a confined area they will soon go insane.

Culture: In 2645 the Kdatlyno sphere was half the size of Human space. Their worlds were impoverished due to their former enslavement by the Kzinti. In 2647 they were building industries.

Interspecies relations: By searching the 21-centimeter radio band (which is free of galactic background noise) for interstellar signals, the Kdatlyno located the Kzinti Empire, which then conquered them. The Kdatlyno worlds were freed during the Man-Kzin Wars, but as late as 2657 some Kdatlyno remained legal Kzinti slaves.

See also: Lloobee, Hrodenu.

Reference: "At the Core", "Grendel", "There Is a Tide", "Fly-By-Night", Ringworld ch. 8

Canonical Notes: Science/Continuity

Kemplerer rosette
See Klemperer rosette
"Kidd, Captain"

"Captain Kidd"
Copyright © 1997 by The Icon Factory

[Spoiler alert: "A Relic of the Empire"] The alias of a Jinxian pirate, captain of the starship Puppet Master, who claimed to have discovered the Puppeteer homeworld and plundered three Puppeteer starships. Soon after, in 2644, he took Dr. Richard Schultz-Mann captive on Mira Ceti-T. See "A Relic of the Empire" (story summary).

Reference: "A Relic of the Empire"
kitchen
see autokitchen
kitchen slot
A small, compact autokitchen with limited functions. The control cabin of the starship Long Shot had a kitchen slot. The flycycles used by the First Ringworld Expedition in 2851 had kitchen slots. [Spoiler alert: Ringworld] Nessus’s flycycle had a more complex unit included some autodoc functions. This provided life support for Nessus after his head was cut off by the shadow square wire trap.

Reference: Ringworld chs. 4, 23
Klemperer rosette

Pentagonal rosette Image by Wikipedia user "Beowulf314159"

(misspelled Kemplerer in the published account) [Spoiler alert: Ringworld] Three or more equal masses, equally spaced, in the same orbit about a common center. The Puppeteers’ Fleet of Worlds, described as such a rosette, has five planets of approximately equal mass in orbit around a common empty center.

Reference: Ringworld ch. 5

Canonical Notes: Science

Known Space

Map of Known Space
by Rick Sternbach
copyright © 1975 by Del Rey Books

The entire volume of space explored by Human-built starships "Introduction", Tales of Known Space p. xi, about 33,000 light years from the galactic axis "Known space is a little bubble of stars thirty-three thousand light years out from the galactic axis" (Ringworld ch. 3, p. 40).. In the pre-hyperdrive era (before 2411), most exploration was by ramrobot. By 2645, Known Space included Human Space plus the Kzinti and Kdatlyno spheres of influence, and was more than 60 light years across. In 2850, it was 70 light years across.

Reference: "The Ethics of Madness", "At the Core", Ringworld chs. 3, 5, 24
Krushenko’s
A luxurious restaurant in New York on Earth, located near the United Nations (UN) Building, which catered to alien customers. Nessus, accompanied by Louis Wu, recruited Speaker-To-Animals for the First Ringworld Expedition there, in 2850.

Reference: Ringworld ch. 1
Kzin (planet)
The Kzinti home world Ringworld ch. 2, p. 28. Its population has always been less than 1.8 billion Kzinti. Its year is 1.06 Earth years long.

Reference: Ringworld chs. 2, 6
Kzin (alien)
An individual of the Kzinti species.

Reference: "The Warriors", "A Relic of the Empire", "The Soft Weapon", Ringworld (throughout)
Kzin telepath
A Kzin forced to take sthondath lymph extract, which turns him into a highly effective telepath, able to read both Kzinti and most alien minds with ease. However, attempting to read the mind of a herbivore, such as a Puppeteer, would drive the telepath insane. The drug also makes a Kzin telepath highly neurotic. He typically suffers from depression, and has a generally unhealthy appearance and lack of personal grooming, with matted, unkempt fur, a drooping tale, and red eyes. Despite the rarity and value of telepaths, they are treated as very low-status individuals, hence are almost always named Telepath, for their profession. See also Telepath.

Reference: "The Warriors", "The Soft Weapon", "Fly-By-Night"
Kzinti

Art by Lisa A. Free
copyright © 1984 by Chaosium

A highly aggressive, cat-like and warlike interstellar species, one of the most prominent in Known Space. The Kzinti Empire fought, and lost, four (or six) interstellar wars with Humans.

Physiology: The ancestors of the Kzinti were plains cats. Larger than Human, a Kzin appears as a very fat tabby cat. A large male may be eight feet tall and weigh nearly 500 pounds. They are bipeds, standing erect on short legs. They have rich, bright orange fur with individualized black markings, most commonly on the face, and pink skin under the fur. They are powerfully built, with thick limbs and torso. Their hands are like four-fingered black leather gloves, with sharpened, polished, retractile claws. Their feet likewise have four clawed toes. Although mammalian, they do not have a mammal-like rib cage. Instead they have a latticework of bone struts encasing their torso, connected by cartilage. The head is quite cat-like in appearance, although with a large cranial bulge and needle teeth. Their eyes are strangely colored, with round pupils instead of cat-like vertical ones, but still have "night vision" Louis Wu said "Evolution gives Speaker his night vision and his balance" (Ringworld ch. 10, p. 142. Their fan-like ears fold like Chinese parasols. They have a naked, pink, rat-like tail, and lack external genitalia. Kzinti have a hunting carnivore’s keen sense of smell, capable of distinguishing between individual Kzinti and between individual Humans. Kzin (their home planet) has a gravity of approximately 1.2 gee "On Kzin, low orbital velocity was around six miles per second" (Ringworld Engineers ch. 21, p. 213). On Earth, it’s around five miles per second.. However, the Kzinti colonized other worlds millennia before Humans did, so different Kzinti are adapted to different gravity levels A Kzin says "The ship [Angel’s Pencil] was generating one and twelve sixty-fourth gee before it stopped rotating" ("The Warriors", Tales of Known Space p. 145). Presuming the ship was using 1 gee, the most obvious interpretation would indicate a Kzin "gee" is 0.84 that of Earth standard. (The gravity of We Made It, the ship’s destination, is only 0.59 gee, so that doesn’t appear to be what the Angel’s Pencil was using.) However, since there is direct evidence the gravity of Kzin (the Kzinti homeworld) is higher than Earth’s, there must be some other explanation. It may be that Kzinti use the gravity of whatever world they grew up on as their "standard gravity", or it may be they inherited their measurement from the Jotoki.. Kzinti and Human biochemistry are very similar; they can eat Humans without allergic reaction, and gain nourishment from the meat (see food yeast). Kzinti do not experience circulatory shock in reaction to injury and trauma, as Humans do.

Sex and Reproduction: Female Kzinti are only semi-intelligent (or at least non-verbal) and are kept closely guarded in harems. They are never carried aboard Kzinti warships or intentionally exposed to the dangers of war. Kzinti females are in heat only when fertile, like most mammals but unlike Humans Referring to a harem of female Kzinti, Chmee said "Six were in their mating period" (Ringworld Engineers ch. 28, p. 288).. It appears likely that Kzinti engage in sex only for reproduction, also unlike Humans Concerning Kzinti, Niven states "Large warm-blooded animals that have to fight don’t have big impressive dongs. There’s no flexibility in their mating habits (We have some partial understanding of why humans are an exception.)" ("Introduction", Man-Kzin Wars IV pp. vii-viii).

Art by Lisa A. Free
copyright © 1984 by Chaosium
Behavior/Psychology: Although no account states this directly, it seems that the Kzinti are on average less intelligent than Humans. Aggressive and territorial, Kzinti have much more need of "elbow room" than do Humans. They have little concept of patience, and none of mercy. A Kzin "grin" is not a smile; the Kzin is baring his teeth for an attack. They raise their ears when interested or astonished, and fold them flat when angered or startled. When one Kzin challenges another, he screams and leaps. Kzinti have a killing yell which may cause their prey to freeze, and this may affect Humans. When time permits they frequently perform grooming, such as brushing their fur.

Culture: The Kzinti Empire is ruled by a militaristic feudal-style aristocracy with a rigid code of honor. Perhaps the closest Human analog is feudal Japan, ruled by the Samaurai aristocracy. Kzinti with high status have full names; those with low status have not earned a name, and are described by their profession. A moderate status earns a "partial name", for example "Chuft-Captain". Unlike Human aristocrats, even a Kzin born to a high-status family must earn his name. According to a Puppeteer (who may have a biased perspective), Kzinti refuse to perform menial work or practice animal husbandry. Therefore they must have slaves to perform these tasks, "or be barbarians roaming the forests for meat" "At the Core", Neutron Star pp. 65. The Heroes’ Tongue, the Kzinti language, sounds like cats fighting. Kzinti do not practice planned population control. When a Kzin world grows crowded, more opportunities exist for one Kzin to take offense at another, so challenges become more frequent and the population adjusts itself. A "conquest leader", leading the conquest of a planet, is entitled to one percent of its wealth for life. Kzinti use a base eight number system, reflecting their eight fingers.

Interspecies relations: Kzinti believe they should rule the galaxy, and until decisively defeated by Humans in the Man-Kzin Wars they conquered all intelligent species they encountered, enslaving the Kdatlyno and the Pierin, and apparently exterminating the Chunquen. Even after the Man-Kzin Wars were over, the Kzinti still owned Jotoki and Kdatlyno slaves. In 2850, their numbers were less than an eighth of what they were when Kzinti first met Humans. In times of peace, Humans sell foodstuffs to the Kzinti, buy metals from them, and employ them as games theorists "At the Core", Neutron Star pp. 64.

Reference: "The Warriors", "At the Core", "The Soft Weapon", "There Is a Tide", Ringworld chs. 1-2, 10, 12-13, 15, 19, 23
Kzinti alphabet
It appears as a series of dots and commas.

Reference: "The Warriors"
Kzinti Empire
When first contact with Humans occurred 2366, the Kzinti Empire was much larger than Human Space, and ruled several slave races. Over the course of four Wars with Men (or six, including two "unofficial" wars; see Man-Kzin Wars), the Empire was greatly reduced. Two worlds were confiscated at the end of each warRingworld ch. 2, p. 18, and in 2850 the Kzinti numbers were less than an eighth of what they were when they first met HumansRingworld ch. 1, p. 13. The Covenants of Sasht, negotiated at the end of the fourth and last "official" war in 2505, restricted the Kzinti and their spaceships to police weapons only. Worlds belonging to some or most of its slave races, including the Kdatlyno and Pierin, were freed during these wars. However, after the wars the Jotoki and some Kdatlyno legally remained Kzinti slaves. In 2645 the Kzinti Empire was still slightly larger than Human space"The human sphere of colonization is some thirty light-years across... the Kzinti [sphere] is fractionally larger" ("At the Core", Neutron Star p. 54)..

Reference: "The Warriors", "At the Core", "The Soft Weapon", Ringworld ch. 2
Kzinti ghost legends
The Kzinti had legends of captured weapons haunted by their dead owners.

Reference: "The Soft Weapon"
Kzinti "incidents"
In addition to the four "official" Man-Kzin Wars, there were a number of "incidents", both minor and major. It appears that two "major incidents" are characterized by some as wars, although not officially recognized as such. Niven states "There were major ‘incidents’ as well as the four wars... ‘Six times over several centuries, the Kzinti attacked the worlds of men...’ I’ve forgotten where the quote comes from, but at least two ‘incidents’ must have been major ones" ("Canon for the Man-Kzin Wars", Scatterbrain p. 293).. The following incidents are documented:

(a) A series of Kzinti ships hid on Cue Ball, waiting to ambush starships visiting scenic Beta Lyrae. This began at the end of the Fourth Man-Kzin War (circa 2505) and ended in 2657. See "The Soft Weapon" (story summary).

(b) Circa 2615 there was a "major incident", which Beowulf Shaeffer calls a "war", during which men earned a hellflare tattoo, worn on the shoulder, by learning to kill adult Kzinti "...he wore a hellflare tattoo on his shoulder, which meant he’d been in Kzin during the war thirty years back, which meant he’d been trained to kill adult Kzinti..." ("Flatlander", Neutron Star p. 129).

Reference: (a) "The Soft Weapon"; (b) "Flatlander"

Canonical Notes: Continuity

"Kzinti lesson"
"The more efficient a reaction drive, the more effective a weapon it makes." This lesson was taught to the Kzinti by Humans during the First Man-Kzin War, circa 2367-2420.

Reference: "The Soft Weapon", Ringworld ch. 6
Kzinti military medical supplies
Among the medical supplies carried by the First Ringworld Expedition was a highly effective medical foam which was used to treat Speaker-To-Animals after he was burned over much of his body by Slaver Sunflowers. This foam dried into a covering, like a foam rubber pillow, for the burnt areas. Speaker was angered to learn Puppeteers had been able to purchase such restricted military supplies.

Reference: Ringworld ch. 15
Kzinti spacesuit

Detail of Chmeee in a Kzinti spacesuit by Paul Marquis, copyright © 2009

Speaker-To-Animals’ pressure suit was composed of multiple balloons and a heavy backpack.

Reference: Ringworld ch. 9
Footnotes

Copyright notice: All characters, settings and situations relating to Known Space and the Man-Kzin Wars are copyright by Larry Niven, and are used here with his kind permission. The Known Space books and stories are copyright © 1964 through 2010 by Larry Niven (and where appropriate, also his collaborators). Fleet of Worlds, Juggler of Worlds, Destroyer of Worlds and Betrayer of Worlds copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 by Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner.

Quotes and information from the Ringworld Roleplaying Game and the Ringworld Companion are copyright © 1984 by John Hewitt. "Telepath’s Dance" copyright © 1998 by Hal Colebatch. "The Niven Project" copyright © 2004, 2008 by Aerospace Imagineering & Aldo Spadoni.

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