Physical Characteristics
Smarmels have light tan skin except for the back, which is a rough hump of dark, craggy skin as if covered with plates of rock. They have a rather pudgy torso with knobbly appendages and three digits, thin and short on the hands but quite thick and wide on the feet. The head is wide and oval, with a short snout with small nostrils and rather flat teeth. They stand at an average of 1.7 meters in height.
I don’t know why, but the fact is that smarmel always have their eyelids shut, yet they still have eyes. What the carp do they use them for? If a smarmel opens its eyes it will go insane. Or, if a smarmel goes insane, it will open its eyes. The cause and effect has never been properly researched.. Whether or not this means the eyes actually function when they’re open is open to discussion.
Exactly what is the sense of purl is a mystery that could probably be solved if I was a biologist, but regardless of that, it involves the cooperation of two organs, one in the head and one in the back hump. Smarmels have a lifespan of 100 years or longer. Though they do not mature physically until age 25, they often mature mentally by age 10. The bodies begin to grow frail after age 70, but they remain mentally sharp until death. Those who live past 100 tend to have the back hump began to soften significantly.
History and Culture
Smarmels originated from eastern Hackney on the planet Mintop, forming a city thousands of years ago that would one day become Gelago City.
Smarmels are often considered to be intelligent and calm-minded. This probably comes from the closed eyelids making them seem to be in a sort of Zen-mode where they take things as they come, which would contrast sharply with the supposed insanity of smarmel with their eyes open. However, this isn’t particularly the case. Another view on smarmel is that they are often set in their ways, shutting out other ideas—but, once more, this probably comes from the shut eyelids.
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 