A Kius (which means "Person" in their language - and yes, I know using the phrase "Kius People" is a misnomer) is a sentient inhabitant of a planet called Hal Keone. The different races live all throughout their world in just about every climate. Their technology for the most part is neolithic with only the Mountain People creating metal tools and other utensils on a large scale; Crystal Kiuses do use metal tools made by the Mountain People on a limited basis and the People of the Whole use metal only in their brands.
Kiuses are usually a quiet, peaceful species with most races living in small, self-sustaining villages. Only a couple races are nomadic.
Kiuses are omnivorous and hunt and gather food as well as grow crops. Killing any flying animals - especially birds - is considered taboo in their culture as is eating eggs of any kind. They don't directly domesticate animals - for food or for labor - though many races form mutual partnerships with various species - see the Animals section for details.

There are eight different Kius races and though each is distinctive in appearance, they all share some basic physical traits: Aside from the Deer Kiuses (who have four legs), all are humanoid bipeds who stand upright on short, blunt feet with four thick toes, the two center ones being larger than the two outer ones. They have human-like torsos and arms with four digits on each hand (three fingers and a thumb). Kiuses have tails similar in appearance and flexibility to a lion's with a tuft of hair at the end the same color as their manes whose colors run close to humans, though orange is far more common than with humans. Very pale colors - like blonde - are rare. Brindled colorings, which occur even less frequently, do crop up on occasion.
Their heads are horse-like with front-facing eyes. Their eye colors also run along a similar spectrum to humans, though black and brown are the most common with lighter shades - especially light blue - being rarer.

Kiuses tend to have a dark, grey-ish skin tone and are covered with short white fur (similar in length and texture to a horse); their palms, bottoms of the feet and the backs of the knees are furless and the skin tends to be lighter in those places as well as on the nose. Black and brown spots are rare and are similar in placement and frequency to freckles in humans. Often if a child is born with spots, they'll lighten with age. Very rarely a child is born with all black or all brown fur; these colors too, lighten with time.

For the most part Kiuses wear no clothing - though those in colder climates, like the mountains and the extreme north and south will cover themselves, it is always for warmth rather than modesty. There is little difference in physical appearance between male and female Kiuses as all reproductive organs are internal. Lactating women will have swollen breasts but there's no fatty tissue there so, when not nursing, they look very similar to males.
All roles in Kius society - hunting, gathering, weaving, crafting, tending crops, etc. - are open to both genders and tasks are broken up more by age and marital status than by gender.

All Kiuses have acute sight, hearing, taste and smell. Every race also has - to varying degrees - multiple mental abilities which are: telepathy, telekinesis and pyrokinesis and the ability to teleport.