Obeli

Kur Atalan (ex), Grey Ones, Bone-faces.

Tall, proud creatures that make up a vast number of the Combine's forces.

Most Obeli weigh in over 190 pounds with an ideal diet and healthy lifestyle.

Humanoid with somewhat awkward leg shapes, almost goat-like.

Shades of grey, with darker tones being more common than lighter ones, and "White Obeli" being extremely uncommon.

They average out between six and seven feet tall with a good diet.

There is a distinct lack of a mouth below their nostrils, with it instead being tucked under their chin, near the neck. It is uncertain what prompted this adaptation, but it has rendered Obeli incapable of proper speech with their orifice. They instead communicate via telepathic voice projection, an inborn psionic gift.

They also possess short, fleshy horns (usually under 6") from their temples, long arms, six fingered hands, and broad, flat ,three-toed feet.

Depending on the circumstances of their birth, both geographical and parental, an Obeli's skin tone will change. Those born in colder areas tend to have darker pigment. Females are usually on the lower end of the average height, with more fat stored in their torso than their limbs. Males tend to get more fat in their limbs if it's allowed to build.

Typically none, but there are garments of animal pelt and leather primarily used in ceremonies. As of their induction into the Astral Combine, there are armors designed for use by Obeli in combat.

An inability to form verbal words or any loud noises with their mouth-parts puts a psionically suppressed Obeli in a dangerous spot. They would be unable to call for help.

The Obeli you actually meet on Earth have been genetically altered to resist bacteria and viruses commonly encountered on the planet. This keeps them from getting the smallpox treatment, same as the rest of the Combine's warriors.

Like most Combine participants, the Obeli are capable of psionically reinforcing their bodies and minds with diligent training. It is hypothetically possible for an Obeli to have sufficiently tough skin to take a 7.62mm rifle round without being punctured, or even resist the powerful muscles and razor-sharp claws of melee-based Hellions.

They have night vision about on par with predator animals from Earth and have highly resilient minds.

Being required to communicate via telepathic voice projection, the Obeli can not communicate with creatures that lack he ability to receive these projections. Thankfully most complex forms of life can perceive them, including all races they have had contact with so far.

Anything liquefied or soft. Chewy foods can be seen as a rewarding thing to eat to keep the "jaws" worked out. Meats are vastly popular, typically tenderized into oblivion.

The Obeli had many "gods" they acknowledged before the fall of their homeworld, but their original culture and heritage has been largely wiped out. Modern-day Obeli typically believe in the Void and the uncertain destiny it guides its followers to, holding onto hope that it is a glorious and prosperous one.

Before their induction into the Astral Combine, the Obeli were quite low on the tech scale. They had only just begun working metal, their social and economic progress was always kept to a minimum by their stiff hunter-gatherer traditions. Nowadays they're a space-faring race, but non-Combine Obeli space travelers try to stay close to home.

Obeli are typically seen in combat positions, having joined the Combine in great numbers to exact revenge on Sheol for the loss of Kur Atal.

Hunter-gatherer lifestyles, minimalistic weaponry (melee and thrown weapons) and the celebrations of great personal achievements with food and drink are a big deal to the Obeli. Their preference for fighting in melee has put them on terrific terms with their Sangheili allies. I promise I didn't steal a race from Halo.

The Fall of Kur Atal

470 years before the beginning of Hell's Bells, an Arkworld dubbed Kur Atal by its inhabitants was invaded by Sheol. It happened without warning, and spread across the entire planet within a single day. Demons and their Hellion pets scoured the surface of the planet, covering entire continents and tearing all life they could find to pieces, all while the Kur Atalans tried to fight back with their poor, shoddy weaponry, little better than bronze at the time. The natives fought and died in the millions, and others tried to hide, rarely to any avail. After 26 hours, the sky trembled, and a vast fleet of alien structures appeared overhead - a large fleet belonging to the Astral Combine.

The ships landed on short notice, clearing huge landing zones with onboard weapons, and deployed thousands of soldiers over three dozen different points on the planet, with the goal of evacuating as many Kur Atal natives as possible. While nearly 200,000 natives were rescued over the course of the next 18 hours, it didn't feel like a successful rescue. The Kur Atalans took a significant amount of time to adjust to their new situation, and were resettled on another world a few lightyears away to recuperate from their insurmountable loss. The Combine fleet returned to Kur Atal later and bombarded its surface until seventy percent of it was but glass, effectively sterilizing it of all remaining life to starve out any Sheolean forces that might've survived.

The Kur Atalan's new planet was named Obe, meaning 'Hope', and its inhabitants gradually came to refer to themselves as Obeli, which caught on throughout the Combine. More in Notes.

There is no way to describe the fury that the Obeli as a collective feel toward Sheoleans after this incident. Over the next thirty years and forward, mass-repopulation of the Obeli people led to an immeasurable swelling of their numbers in the Combine, with 65% of Obeli that came of age turning to the ways of war and joining the endless fight against Sheol. They hope that one day they will properly avenge their dead and put an end to the darkness once and for all.

Matriarch Pandora is an exceedingly popular figure to Obeli, as the leader of the Kur Atal rescue operation and resettlement mission. There are some lingering emotions in the oldest Obeli, those who were around for Kur Atal's fall, regarding her decision to sterilize their homeworld.