Their faces are flat, with small mouths and no nose or external ears, and their rounded heads are supported on long necks. Their eyes are narrow and almond-shaped, blue irises over darker blue sclera, with pupils that slit vertically like a cat's. They are hollow-boned, lightweight, and extremely fragile little creatures.

Sotiel possess wiry tails, about equal in length to the individual's height, which are quite prehensile but limited in grasping ability by the spade-shaped blade at the tip. Thin spikes run from the forehead, over the head, down the neck and back, and all the way to the end of the tail. The spikes are longest at the top of the head, between the shoulder blades, and for the last quarter or so of the tail, reaching lengths between four and seven inches, depending on the individual. Elsewhere the spikes are merely an inch or so long. These spikes are actually a form of antennae, receiving not only scent, but also telepathy. They are extremely sensitive and full of nerve-bundles, so thankfully they're much stronger than they look.

The sotiel are a race that relies strongly on scent, and each individual has its own unique, identifying pheromone. To the human nose, these scents are extremely faint, and may not even be noticed. Most often, the scent is compared to a spice or herb or some kind.

Sotiel can use their psionic abilities to affect other creatures. They are not capable of mind-control, but a standard sotiel method of self- defence is to strike an opponent's mind with a powerful mental blow. Depending on the sotiel's personal strength, such a blow could merely daze the target for a few moments, or could be powerful enough to render the target "brain-blank." A brain-blanked individual is totally incapable of thought or action until the effect wears off on its own after a period of several minutes.

A sotiel's psionic range in such 'blast' attacks is quite short. Because of the focus it takes to power such a blow, the target cannot be further than about 10 feet away. The simpler speech telepathy has almost no range, as long as the sotiel can see the target, and thus knows where to direct their mind. Telepathy without a visual target, such as to address someone in another room, cannot exceed about 50 feet without serious concentration. (These numbers are generally not so rounded, but are simplified for this description.)

Like flies and spiders, sotiel can stick to and climb just about any surface, even upside-down! This is possible due to microscopic "hooks" on the hands and feet, and the extremely minimal weight of the sotiel's body.