The Ildiran species is polymorphic. Different kiths have attributes and abilities that place them into appropriate castes on the Ildiran landscape and also on other planets within the Ildiran Empire. Thinkers love being thinkers; workers love being workers.
Kiths occasionally interbreed, sometimes out of love and attraction, other times as a conscious effort to enhance certain attributes (i.e., swimmers, scalies, fighters). In their culture, mongrels are rare but not completely uncommon. It often turns out that the best singers and poets and artists are half-breeds, thus implying a genetic strength that the purebred castes do not have.
Each kith ends its name with a particular phonetic sound, and crossbreeds combine the sounds:
’h rulers/nobles
’n soldiers, warriors, guards
’nh military leaders/generals
’k workers
’v bureaucrats
’t singers
’l lens kithmen
’f scientists
’o technicians
’of engineers
’a teachers
’th artists
’sh rememberers
’x miners
Despite their kith variations, though, the Ildirans are a very homogeneous society, all under their Mage-Imperator.