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- #1Skrell
Keys: Skrell
The skrell (skrel) are a species of amphibious humanoids, distinguished by their colorful gelatinous appearance and head tentacles. skrell come from the world of Qerr'balak, a humid planet filled with swamps and jungles. Currently more technologically advanced than humanity, they emphasize the study of the mind above all else.
Skrell names either consist of chosen human names or rough transliterations, as their own language is largely inaudible to humans. Transliterations vary widely when converted to human language, so there is a wide variety of names possible. The structure of skrellian voiceboxes lends itself to names heavy in Qs, Ks, and vowels
Skrell appear gelatinous, but are opaque, with moist pliant skin covered in a layer of mucus. Skin color varies, including colors such as black, red, green, blue, pink, purple, orange, and teal. Where a nose would be on a human are slits. Their eyes are completely black, making judging emotion by the eyes alone very difficult. They are able to see much better than humans underwater, and slightly better in darkness. Their hands and feet are similar to those of humans, with five fingers and toes, but are slightly webbed. On the head of each skrell is their three large head tails. They are are limp tails, not tentacles, and have no muscles. Skrell missing a part of a headtail, let alone an entire one, are seen as disfigured and usually do their best to cover or restore the wound. They serve two purposes, one of which is largely antiquated. The first purpose is keeping eggs in the moist, dark, sticky places between the headtails. While popular with nomadic primitive skrell tribes, modern skrell, with much more structured child-rearing than their ancestors and a much less aquatic lifestyle, prefer to keep their egg sacs in specially prepared nests near bodies of water. The second use is ornamentation. Metallic chains, cloth wrappings, and even piercings are popular accessories, and can be used to signal richness and good taste. Skrell skin dries out uncomfortably if removed from water for more than about twelve hours. Skrell in human space take frequent showers if not afforded accommodations. They prefer to sleep in small watery pools with a layer of fine sediment on the bottom and will often retrofit a human bathtub as a bed when in human space. Their brains are similar to frog or salamander brains evolved to the same level as human brains, and are compatible with most Nanotrasen technology. The average height of a skrell is 5'10” to 6'0“ for males and 6'0” to 6'2“ for females. Raskinta-Katish skrell tend to be taller and Kanin tend to be smaller. Racial slurs towards skrell include 'Frog', 'Salamander', 'Squid head', and various other amphibious creatures. The skrell find the usage of such remarks childish and immature.
Skrell have no external reproductive organs and use external fertilization. They have a very minimal nudity taboo and view the obsession many species have with covering themselves as slightly comical. The average skrellian clutch is fifty eggs, most of which successfully hatch into small tadpoles. Due to their weak immune systems, less than five usually make it to maturity. While these tadpoles are not legally considered children, most skrell find the idea of killing them deliberately quite offensive. Skrellian fertility rates are incredibly low by human standards. skrell experience the adverse effects of overpopulation on fertility much earlier than other species, and the modern skrellian arcologies and space habitats are usually close enough quarters to trigger this response. Skrell in environments like new colonies have much better fertility rates, and for those in the species' core worlds adoption is a popular choice. The skrell are best described as serial monogamists. They find romantic human notions of long-term fidelity and “soulmates” risible, although they have some pull among young skrell raised in human space. However, for the purposes of child-rearing, skrell form close companionate bonds with a coparent, called a Kala-Qua, and remain together for the children's most important formative period. Skrell generally remain lifelong friends with former Kala-Qua, and continue to act together as parents for most of their children's childhood. While historically parental pairs were designated along biological lines, adoption within one's caste is common among modern skrell. Decoupling the emotional role of co-nurturer from the genetic role of coparent is, after all, only reasonable to the logical skrell, and appeals to their interest in genetic fitness. Adoptive parents need not be of opposite sex, and skrell find human notions of homophobia almost impossible to understand. Relations between two litters who share one or both parents are quite distant : At best, they will see each other as something akin to cousins, but generally, siblings and half-siblings outside of one litter are viewed as mere acquaintances outside of any compelling reason to associate further. They have no special legal rights of inheritance towards each other. Skrellian legal genealogies are monolateral. Children are attached to the lineage of a primary parent, called a Qarr-Maqa, usually the older or more distinguished of the Kala-Qua. The Qarr-Maqa bears the responsibility for raising children, as their performance will reflect on the Qarr-Maqa more than anyone else. The secondary parent, the Qrri-Maqa, has a more diminished role in child-rearing, but generally assist both materially and emotionally. It is not terribly uncommon or stigmatized for one skrell to be raising two liters at a time– one as a Qarr-Maqa and one as a Qrri-Maqa
A traditional skrellian family is composed of: The Qarr-Maqa, as explained earlier. The main parent figure, tutor and caretaker of the children. The Qrri-Maqa, secondary parent figure, financial and material support. On an emotional/relational standpoint, they might be compared to a very close human uncle or aunt. The Qarr-Baqa, siblings from same clutch. Because of the monolateral family structure, Qarr-Baqa are often closer than human siblings. The Qrri-Baqa, children from another clutch of one or both the parents. Somewhere between cousins and strangers, depending on the family's structure. The Maqa’lak, Qarr-Baqa of one of the parents. Because of the close bonds between Qarr-Baqa and the intellectually intensive nature of skrellian childhood, they tend to take a more involved role in child-rearing than human aunts and uncles, especially in castes with large numbers of clutches.
It is extremely difficult for most non-skrell to tell the gender of a skrell from appearance alone, as body shape and general appearance does not change between them. Female skrell usually talk in a higher register, though this is not a fool-proof way of telling. The most noticeable difference is that a female's headtails are slightly longer than a male's, though the difference can be difficult to tell for non-skrell crew and pales in comparison to genetic caste differences. Skrell abolished gender roles before humans invented the wheel. Although they have some clothing styles considered to be “for” men or for women, these are based on how they interact with the average male or female skrellian body and are more suggestions than rules. The average skrell refrains from using gendered honorifics and finds human gender customs strange and difficult.
Normal life expectancy for most skrell is 100 human years. Through technological enhancements, some may live until about 135 years old. 20 years old is considered an adult.
The preferred food of the skrell is fungi, although they are capable of eating most plantlike substances they come across, where as meat does not agree with their bodies. Because of their herbivorous diet, many plants that would be toxic or hallucinogenic to humans or other omnivores are a skrellian delicacy. While capable of eating meat, they are usually incapable of digesting it, and sulfur-rich animal protein complexes are often toxic to them. Skrell have found ways to augment the ecology of their digestive systems to better handle meat, but this is only done for scenarios wherein a supply of meat is far more readily available than plants. For example, most visiting desert worlds like Virgo-Prime will undergo such augmentation. However, most still do not enjoy eating meat. The densely-folded skrellian brain uptakes alcohol five times faster than the human brain. A cheap beer is even repugnant to a skrell, and many border-world bars host young skrell drinking wine out of shot glasses. Adult skrell tend to find being drunk extremely unpleasant and stick to fruit juices.
The skrellian media portrays themselves as peaceful scientists who wish for nothing more than a harmonious galactic community, where the strong help the weak to advance and war is a sad, distant memory. The skrellian media is also controlled by ambitious, powerful, secret-keeping Qerr-Katish who have certainly not shared all their technologies with humanity. Most races struggle to keep on good terms with the skrell, as their secrets are many and their industrial and technological bases enough to turn the tide of any war.
The skrell language is a series of hums, warbles, or croaks, impossible for unathi, tajaran, and humans to hear or produce without computer assistance. With other languages such as Sol Common, skrell take on the accent of the person who taught them the language, often with lilting changes in pitch. Tonal languages like Sol Common are easier to learn than guttural language such as Gutterspeak. Skrell are naturally sensitive to very small changes in tone when speaking, and can come off as a little flat to observing aliens. Skrellian written language is, similarly to the spoken language, hard to understand for a non-skrell. Based on logograms, it contains thousands of different signs, leading to homonyms differentiated only by context and complex visual puns many skrell find delightful and many humans find obtuse. In practice, however, someone wishing to have a non-specialized, common conversation in skrellian can reduce this number to a few thousand words, the rest of them being related to precise parts of skrellian society, sometimes to a caste, sometimes to more restrained groups (the psychiatric vocabulary, for example, contains nearly a thousand different words which are useless outside of that context). This form of U/non-U distinction has sometimes been described by human linguists as hundreds of related sub-languages, although skrellian linguists maintain that it's all Common. Should the non-skrell learner overcome these first difficulties, they would be confronted to a much deeper problem, which is the influence of emotion in skrellian written language. Indeed, no consistent punctuation can be observed in a skrellian text : the rhythm, intent and sometime the literal meaning of a word is conditioned by the way in which it is written. The last word of a sentence might be indicated by a sharp logogram, whose extremities are prematurely ended, in the case of a formal text, while in a more sentimental context the same character would be elongated, slowly fading on the same extremities. skrellian literature is often too ingrained in particularly skrellian idioms and practices for lay aliens to understand them. This particular method of writing makes skrellian literature quite different from its human equivalent. The visual presentation of a work is often more important than the words it contains, with many modern skrellian writers eskewing semantics entirely to focus on visual appeal. Skrell works tend to contain visual references to other well-known works, and a particular spattering of an character can become a cultural idiom if the book is well-regarded enough. Skrell employ a simpler script for ease of interface with computers, but tend to find more than punctual experience with this interface depressing, like a human forced to stare at a screen of monospaced capital letters all day. Drone intelligences capable of rendering computer output in a more aesthetically pleasing way are a common skrellian import from human space. The modern state of skrellian language is a result of thousands of years of careful upkeep by skrellian language academies, who are also responsible for Common skrellian being the only widely-spoken skrellian language. The academies' focus on interesting nuance over practicality bled into Tradeband, indirectly complicating the lives of billions of human grade scholars.
Skrellian culture is highly regimented. Skrell feel a deep sense of psychological ease from having things in their proper place, and this extends to their social life, with a carefully maintained caste system encouraging the skrell to focus on performing their best function for the collective. More than one human sociologist has drawn parallels between the skrell and state socialism, and while sometimes misleading they share the same sense of the vital importance of community well-being… and the highly ill-advised nature of dissent. There is an underbelly of skrellian counter-culture, inspired by human democratic systems, that seeks to reform or overthrow the entrenched skrellian bureaucracy. — The average skrell is incredibly well-read by human standards. The skrellian pursuit of mental perfection leads young skrell to be taught to read voraciously, both skrellian authors and the most important works of other species. The skrellian caste-collective is based not around keeping the “proletariat” ignorant, but around stressing a deep philosophical understanding of each skrell's role in society.
- #2Teshari
Keys: Teshari, Tesh
The teshari are very small, rarely reaching more than 3-4'/1-1.2m in height, and weigh less than 100lbs/45kg. They have rapid metabolisms and very efficient digestive systems, and thanks to sharing in the medical technology of the skrell, they tend to have robust and effective immune systems. They lack sexual dimorphism between the sexs. They are naturally adorn in earthen colors, however richer teshari are known to dye their feathers and skin. They evolved for very cold and very barren areas, generally the polar regions. Because of this, their skin is a fine insulator and many of their internal processes are not particularly energy-efficient; they cannot cope well at all with high temperatures. Their hearing is exceptionally sensitive to the point that they can detect a person moving on the other side of a wall, but comes at the cost of being extremely vulnerable to sonic weaponry like flashbangs. The teshari are omnivorous but generally prefer to eat meat wherever possible.
A breeding pair of teshari, generally supported by their social grouping/pack, will lay a clutch of eggs and tend to them until they hatch. The parenthood of the resulting children is generally irrelevant; the entire pack is their family and protectors, although their blood parents may have a status similar to that of an favorite uncle or aunt in human culture. Depending on the culture of their society, as well as how tied to the skrell they are, teshari children may enter the workforce as soon as they are old enough, be placed in education, or take up a vocation.
Teshari culture is extremely social and open; privacy is not important to most teshari other than the most skrell-integrated groups, and communal activities like grooming, eating or watching entertainment are part and parcel of teshari life. A teshari pack tends to share a bedding space, often sleeping in a communal pile as a method of conserving body heat originally, but is continued as a social sign of trust in the pack. Those teshari who are able to leave the planet via spacecraft will generally be more aware of the social expectations of other cultures, especially if they have spent much time around skrell in a social setting. Some skrell cities, generally those bordering teshari territory, may have sections of the city inhabited by teshari exclusively; this is largely because standard skrell construction and buildings are utterly unsuitable for teshari habitation. While each district tends to differ in societal nature, these quarters tend to be open-aired and heavily decorated, and due to the communal nature of the teshari are often treated as a single large dwelling. Generally speaking, modern teshari living in urban areas will find work easily as hospitality staff, clerks, technicians, or any number of tasks that require little heavy lifting. Many of them also work as personal assistants and house staff for skrell individuals or businesses, although among the teshari this is seen as rather demeaning as they feel it leaves them being seen as a pet race. Teshari are also found in more intellectual programs, often sponsored by or apprenticed to skrell.
Several well-known teshari packs exist. Many more packs than these can exist, but below is a summary of ones well-established in lore. Traditionally, a Teshari's pack name would precede it's given name, however it has become increasingly common for Teshari to take their own unique names to fit in better with other species.
Teshari rely heavily on the skrell for most of the formal sciences, having easy access to their mentor race's knowledge base. Most of the technology that they use is converted from skrellian technology, but teshari produced technologies are becoming increasingly common.
The teshari military is practically non-existent, relying on the skrell for any situations that would require a military presence. What they do have to help out, however, is the Teshari Auxiliary Spacefleet (TAS), which is dedicated to the more logistical aspects of the military, made up of supply ships, ship tenders, hospital ships, and survey ships. The fleet is mostly made from donated skrellian ships, retrofitted for ease of use for their teshari crews, though the fleet is gradually adding teshari built ships. The TAS only has two warships at present. The TAS Raptora Victore, a teshari built destroyer that serves as the flagship of the fleet, and the TAS Curiosity's Endeavor, a teshari built corvette used as a testing platform for experimental weaponry.
- #3Akula
Keys: Akula
The akula is a species of amphibious humanoids like the skrell, but have an appearance very similar to that of a shark. They were first discovered as a primitive race of underwater-dwelling tribal creatures by the skrell. At first they were not believed to be noteworthy, but the akula proved to be such swift and clever learners that the skrell reclassified them as sentients. Allegedly, the akula was also the first sentient life that the skrell had ever encountered beside themselves, and thus the two species became swift allies over the next few hundred years. With the help of skrellean technology, the akula had their genome modified to be capable of surviving in open air for long periods of time. However, akula even today still require a high humidity environment to avoid drying out after a few days, which would make life on freezing world like Sif nearly impossible if it were not for skrellean technology to aid them.
Most akula today consider Qerr'Vallis to be their home where they live alongside their skrell allies, while their true homeworld has been forgotten over the ages. akula still tell legends of their homeworld, passed down through word of mouth, talking of great magical cities on the bottom of the ocean in a galaxy far away. skrell historians believe a great tragedy befell the akulan race which led to their near extinction, and the tribal akula they eventually discovered had actually descended from the survivors of this once technologically advanced species. The most widely accepted theory is that the akula originally hail from the Andromeda Galaxy. This is supported by the fact that varying races of akula have been found in scattered tribal communities across the galaxy, some more technologically advanced than others, but all without space travel of their own. Unfortunately, no one has the technology today to make such a journey to find out.
Gender as a cultural identity has little meaning to most akula, which is a result of skrellean cultural influence, but the difference between male and female among the akula is much more obvious than with the skrell. Like humans and tajaran, female akula have large breasts and curvaceous bodies, along with similar reproductive organs that appear almost mammalian in nature. Food also plays a huge role in their sexuality. The best way to an Akula's heart is through their stomach. Their demeanor will often change to docile and flirtatious while engorged with food—similar to Earthly sharks, or other shark-like creatures on other worlds with life. It would turn out that the shark is a popular evolutionary path for water-dwelling predators throughout the cosmos.
Unlike the skrell, akula tends to be more arrogant and less intelligence focused, and will often find themselves in trouble with the law outside of skrell controlled systems. Popular professions for akula include piracy, smuggling operations, mining, and mercenary work. However, due to their mutual respect of the skrell, most will not engage in hostile activity against skrell or other akula.
- #4Unathi
Keys: Unathi
The unathi (ᴇᴡ-nahth-ee) are a race of tall, reptilian humanoids that possess both crocodile-like and serpent-like features. Their scales are hard and plate-like, save for the softer ones that line the inside of their legs, armpits, and groin. Originating from the planet of Moghes, the Unathi live in an extremely religious society. Unathi are a species of carnivorous, reptilian bipeds. Their back scales are hard and rigid, but those that line the inside of their legs, armpits, and groin, and those on their underbellies, are softer, though still rather thick. Hide patterning tends to err towards high contrast in neutral tones of grey, tan, or green, though some shades of other colours are not unknown, and albino unathi have special significance in many of their cultures. Unathi never stop growing, though it does slow as they age, and the average adult can range anywhere between 200 and 260 centimeters in height, and weigh between 250 and 400 kilograms. Females are usually slightly larger than the males of similar age. A large amount of their weight is taken up by thick bone, especially the ribcage. Their ribs are very thick, and extend down to the pelvis to protect their organs, which gives them a broad stature and a near-universal bow-legged stance. This bone density contributes to their sluggish movement on land, but does provide legendary durability. Additionally, unathi physiology is able to regrow any non-vital body part, so long as the unathi can survive without until it is regenerated, which may take years, depending on the extent of the damage. As a cold-blooded species, they suffer fatigue and even short comas when exposed to extremely low temperatures. Their hearts have two valves that are spread across their chest, which makes it sound as if they have two heartbeats at once. Unathi do not have kidneys, but rather a complex filtration organ, sharing the functions of a liver and kidneys. Unathi have a roughly ellipsoid skull, with forward facing and slightly elevated eyes. Females tend to possess more rounded snouts than their male counterparts. Their eyes have slit pupils, with irides in many possible colors. Unathi have no lips, which gives them a distinctive look with slightly protruding upper teeth. Unathi have two rows of serrated, triangular teeth, which are regrown when lost. They also have very long black tongues, which may stretch up to a foot and a half long, forked just like a serpent's and in much the same manner as snakes, Unathi can sample the air around them using their tongue. Some unathi have spines, frills, or horns on their heads, depending on their ancestry. Additionally, on many unathi, a line of spines extends from the back of the head down to the base of the tail, and while these lay flat in normal circumstances, they pop up when the individual is riled up. Unathi have five digits on their hands, and three on their feet, and these are capped with sharp claws. Though they stand plantigrade, their size, toe claws, and semi-webbed extremities make it somewhat uncomfortable to wear human or skrell made equipment without modifying this gear to suit Unathi physiology. This is further complicated by the fact that unathi have a muscular rudder-like tail extending from the base of their torso. Unathi are crepuscular, sleeping through the brightest and darkest parts of the day-night cycle. Unathi can, with some effort, adjust themselves to a more “stable” human sleep cycle, in which case they prefer being nocturnal to diurnal.
Unathi speak Galactic Common and other human-made languages with a hissing, guttural accent. They address each outsiders by clan or family name, rather than by personal name.
Sinta’Unathi - The language spoken amongst unathi, in a manner similar to that of SolCom. It incorporates the natural snarls and hissing of the unathi into a mostly unified format. The exact slang and grammar of the language varies slightly from region to region, but is overall kept intact by the vigilance of the Hegemony’s linguists.
Anti-Unathi sentiment remains fairly common in SolGov space, and many employers, NanoTrasen included, have a tendency to pass over unathi for promotions, especially for supervisor and security roles. Unathi are not usually hired into Colony Director roles or Head of Security roles, and are strongly discouraged from taking Command roles or stepping into Acting Command roles. Anti-Unathi sentiment remains fairly common within controlled SolGov space, although this is lesser seen on the outskirts of space. Many believe the Unathi to be little more than aggressive warriors, and as such it is common within SolGov space for unathi to be turned down for jobs or promotions. Because of this it is more common to find unathi employed on border and outskirts installations, where they can find more success.
The unathi were humanity's second alien contact, but due to their aggressive nature, engaged in an interstellar war with humanity known as the Sol-Hegemony Conflict. Although the conflict has long since ended, and relations have slowly improved, unathi are still often considered to be 'second-class' citizens and are rarely seen in jobs other than where muscle is needed. It is also still common for racial tensions to run high, although this is less common on the outskirts of SolGov's grasp.
- #5Tajaran
Keys: Tajaran
Tajaran are a furred bipedal race with feline-esque traits from Meralar based in the Rarkajar system. Tajaran are a species of omnivorous, bipedal mammal-analogues. Their body is covered almost entirely with a thick fur coat, the only exceptions being the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet and directly around their various mucous membranes. On many individuals the fur near their neck and head grows into a shaggy “mane”, not unlike a lion or horse's mane, which is made of tougher, wiry hairs. Tajaran fur colors generally have a singular color, with the mane generally being significantly darker than the rest of the fur, though stripes and other patterns of different colors are present among some ethnicities. The practice of dying sections of one's fur a different color is also not unheard of. Tajaran males on average range between 150 cm and 200 cm in height and 50 kg and 95 kg in mass. Females are typically slightly smaller in stature. Tajaran have two fairly large and well-developed eyes set above a slightly elongated muzzle. Their pupils are generally large and oval when relaxed, and contract very quickly into a horizontal aperture in bright light. Their irises are narrow while relaxed, large when contracted, and are most typically shades of brown, gold, green, and rarely, blue to purple. Tajaran teeth are sharp and needle-like in the front and slowly grow thicker towards the back. The closest analogous tooth structure in a Terran animal is the raccoon. They do not have well developed grinding molars and have a strong dietary preference for meats, fats, and fruits, but are capable of eating other plants. On the top of their head Tajarans possess two normally erect ears that are roughly triangular and rounded. Tajaran ears have a wide range of motion, and are capable of rotation up to ninety degrees and folding entirely back to the skull. Because of the structure and wide range of motion, Tajarans have a noticeably more fine range of hearing than other crew species. Tajaran hands and feet both have five digits and are somewhat stubby compared to human extremities, with short claws as fingernails, similar in shape to cashew-nuts. Tajarans are digitigrade, and most equipment designed for humans or skrell that interacts with the legs (eg voidsuits) requires modification to fit. All Tajarans also possess a flexible, non-prehensile tail. This appendage is muscled and is capable of an exceedingly large range of movement. Tajaran have a notably longer sleep cycle than humans, the average waking period for a Tajaran is between 30-32 hours with a subsequent 11-13 hours of sleep. This wake period is often punctuated by short (15-30 minute) naps. Tajarans can avoid sleep for up to 75 hours without experiencing severe negative effects in the short term, but tend to grow lethargic and unfocused over longer periods, or if skipping sleep regularly. The Tajaran body is generally lithe, slender, and extremely flexible. Sexual dimorphism in body shape between males and females is generally slightly less distinct than in humans, though by what degree can vary depending on ethnicity and cultural norms.
The average lifespan of a Tajaran can be measured in 70 human years as of now, but statistical predictions say it might be 90 or even 100 years in the near future due to rapid technological advancements in the medical field due to the conception of FTL travel and contact to other sapient life.
Tajaran are capable of expressing many tones and pitches, leading to usually very expressive languages. The myth that they incorporate body signs into them mainly comes from the fact that Tajaran sometimes indicate mood with their tails and ears. However, there are no such components present in any of the main languages, only Canilunzt incorporates body language. Tajaran speaking galactic common or human tongues often roll and extend R sounds, which is attributed to their accent. They can consciously avoid rolling their Rs. Siik - A language originating from the large Hharar agricultural communities scattered around the Meralaran temperate zone that evolved through trading caravans into a broad and nuanced, if complex and sometimes unwieldy, shared language of the trading houses and the rich. For humans, the language is difficult to speak without a great deal of practice and experience as it incorporates a great deal of pitch variation, yowls, and trills that are difficult to replicate with the human palate. As a Seleminite language, they have the archetypical third person usage to refer to themselves, often carrying over to galactic common and other languages as the first person represents trust or affection. Hakari - While lauded as the holy language, Hakari is a poor attempt to speak the ancient Selem language, filled with bastardizations, slurrings and a very simplified grammar. The melodious, almost fluting language is very simple to understand, but difficult to learn. The rules are arbitrary and have many exceptions, disregarding said rules completely for the sake of “flow.” Native speakers get offended by foreign accents “polluting” their “exalted tongue.” As a Seleminite language, they have the archetypical third person usage to refer to themselves, often carrying over to galactic common and other languages as the first person represents trust or affection. Siikelem - Siikelem is the revival of the ancient Selem language, modernized and merged with Siik grammar structures and lend words for new concepts and objects previously not represented in old Selem. Siikelem is the best approximation of “modernized” ancient Selem and is widely used by both scholars and the finer society of the Third Selem Empire. It's a language of prestige and learning it is either native by the parents or needs to be paid with orpulent fees for those who made it their profession to teach it. As a Seleminite language, they have the archetypical third person usage to refer to themselves, often carrying over to galactic common and other languages as the first person represents trust or affection. Rrhangarr - Rrhangarr is mainly spoken in the harsh northern regions of Meralar, a simple and harsh language with heavy emphasis on the R consonant and context-based grammar. Due to the relative ease of learning it, Rrhangarr is especially useful in trading on Meralar - although not on the coasts, where Akhani is overwhelmingly dominant. Akhani - The ancient tongue of the Njarir'Akhan, dubbed Akhani. While today's Akhani is somewhat polluted with lendwords from Siik due to its use up and down the coasts of Meralar by the crews of trade ships, Akhani is still a distinct language family on its own. Akhani has a very structured and formal grammar, with words mostly formed by common syllables and compound nouns.
- #6Sergals
Keys: Sergal
There are two subspecies of sergal, Southern and Northern. Northern sergals are a highly aggressive race that lives in the plains and tundra of their homeworld. They are characterized by long, fluffy fur bodies with cold colors; usually with white abdomens, somewhat short ears, and thick faces. Southern sergals are much more docile and live in the Gold Ring City and are scattered around the outskirts in rural areas and small towns. They have short, brown or yellow (or other "earthy" colors) fur, long ears, and a long, thin face. They are smaller than their Northern relatives. Both have strong racial tensions which have resulted in more than a number of wars and outright attempts at genocide. The southern sergals have mostly been on the losing side of this long conflict. Sergals have an incredibly long lifespan, but due to their lust for violence and a nasty habit of occasional cannibalism, only a handful have ever survived beyond the age of 80, such as the infamous and legendary General Rain Silves who is claimed to have lived to 5000. Although General Rain's historical existence is disputed, she is nonetheless a symbol of the Sergal's warrior culture. Despite advances in technology, militant sergals still wear metal or leather armor and usually favor polearms or bladed weapons, and are capable of great physical feats thanks to their strong, wiry limbs with much denser muscles than humans, more akin to a chimpanzee's muscles. They are reluctant to embrace new technology and pride themselves on the old ways. Despite this, they have made great use of short-range space travel and have colonized much of their home system. This is not, however, to say they are not intelligent. Their intellect rivals that of the skrell but is focused mainly on military tactics and strategy, rather than science or history. Among sergals, females tend to be the dominant gender with larger, more muscular and bulky bodies, and a much more aggressive demeanor, especially among the northern race. This gender divide is most likely born out of the legacy of General Rain, or perhaps General Rain is a fictional character who is the result of this culture where females are often commanders and warriors in vast armies while males are hunters and farmers who may be one of multiple mates to a single female. Unlike many mammal-like creatures, sergals lack breasts and females also possess a unique prehensile hood over their genitalia which protects it from dust and infection. Humanity encountered sergals in the year 2524, when the USDF Pathfinder discovered the planet Tal, but did not join the intergalactic community until late 2558 due to The Vilous Incident, wherein a total of 1,057 USDF personnel and somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 native sergals were killed in a brief military conflict. The Vilous system has been under USDF occupation ever since, and has only recently been officially annexed into SolGov's influence.
- #7Nevrean
Keys: Nevrean
An avian species hailing from the planet Eltus in the Vilous system, characterized by their long whiplike tail-feathers. The species is generally matriarchal, with females tending towards duller, brown coloration and bulkier bodies, while males are slight and brightly colored. In both typical mannerisms, culture and physical build, the sexes are directly reversed when compared to traditional human society. Their build is somewhere between a bird and a feathered dinosaur. Females tend to have short feathers on their arms that are not capable of flight, while males often have more developed flight-feathers - on-station, these are often kept tucked away and folded under their jumpsuit sleeves. There are no remaining records describing how the nevreans came to leave Eltus and relocate to Tal - they have little to no written history from that time, having a tradition of oral history and song, and most of what little history survives of their former homeworld is couched in myth, legend, stories, fairy tales and adventures. Humanity has not yet had time to study these stories and separate fact from fiction, and reality from metaphor, or what parts of the stories might hint at the then-primitive race having a visit from a spacefaring species. As a result, Eltus has attracted no small amount of interest from xenoarchaeologists. After the exodus, nevreans coexisted alongside Sergals, though tend to be much more forward-looking when it comes to new technology. While sergals still tended towards traditional melee weapons and armor in battle, nevreans have no such hangups when it comes to more modern armaments and has earned a reputation as crafters and engineers in urban communities. Likewise, the urban groups have tended to adopt the written languages of other cultures, nevreans lacking any written form of their own tongue. During The Vilous Incident, most nevrean communities avoided confrontation, though a handful of urban groups took to asymmetric warfare tactics against USDF special forces when fighting entered the city.
- #8Diona
Keys: Diona
Dionaea, Diona for singular, are sentient plant-like (note, not actually plants) creatures that have a three stage life process: seed, nymph, and 'adult'. Seeds grow into diona nymphs, which eventually evolve into adults. They are not a race meant for science experimentation, and killing one is considered to be murder.
The dionaea are a group of omnivorous, slow-metabolism plantlike organisms that are in fact clusters of individual, smaller organisms. They exhibit a high degree of structural flexibility, and come in a wide variety of shapes and colours. An adolescent diona, known as a diona nymph, will take genetic material, usually blood, from a variety of sources. On human stations this has earned them a reputation for being 'bitey', as they will often and without warning steal a droplet from some interesting individual to encorporate into their emerging gestalt. Dionaea have no planets, government, or society. The diona reproductive cycle eventually results in the humanoid diona, in their 'seed' or 'samen' state, making a pilgrimage of sorts to a communally agreed-upon site - either a gas giant or a star, depending on the 'strain' of the individuals. Once there, they interlink their bodies and enter an orbit around the celestial body, fusing and merging into a fledgeling superorganism that will eventually grow to the size of a space station. The gestalt feeds on the gasses and emissions of the star or planet, converting them into myriad useful forms or storing them in sacs and bladders for buoyancy in atmosphere, or in recent years, for trade with interested bodies. Prior to this transformation, the dionaea spread their samen throughout the galaxy. They do so by imitating the forms and modes of speech of the races that they encounter, picking facts and thoughts from minds and using them to shape ambassadors. The trade of energy and rare matter from stars and gas giants is used to facilitate the dispersal of the seeds throughout cultures, and the seeds will gather as much information as they can, developing into wildly unique and interesting individuals to bring as much variation as possible to the gestalt when they merge. They will also collect scientific information on bioengineering, genetics, chemistry and biological science in order to improve their gestalt state and therefore the seeds that will eventually be produced.
While smaller dionaea are capable of vocalizing languages from all manner of other races, thanks to their fluid form, they tend to do so in a monotone or as a series of heavy bass rumbles or grinds. They come across as very slow and not very smart in Siik'tajr due to the relative slowness of their 'ear' and 'tail' growths, but communicate very well in Sinta'unathi. They cannot speak skrellian at all due to the pitch variations required. Their own language, colloquially called Rootsong, is based predominantly on the emission of radio and heat waves and as such is very very difficult to speak without several hundred kilograms of specialized machinery. Luckily, a diona nymph can harvest the rudiments of language from blood samples and communication is rarely an issue.
Dionae are highly curious, intelligent (if slow) and passive. They feel pain of a sort, though in a very different manner to humans, but are only able to emulate emotion. An 'adolescent' diona will generally take on observed traits of the entities around it as a side-effect of the instinctive information-gathering and hoarding that each diona conducts. They do not have names as such, and when asked for one by other races will often supply an excessively long and poetic description of a memory they consider fundamental to their makeup ex. 'the spatter of starlight across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the planetsong'. This has been known to make Heads of Personnel need to go have a lie down when filling out ID cards. They have no concept of personal or mental space, and those who are new to human culture tend to be excessively touchy-feely or invasive of privacy.
Dionaea for the most part don't 'breathe' in any sense. They sometimes intake and expel gasses as a means of discharging waste and assisting in internal cooling, but they have no dedicated exchange membranes or respiratory channels. They don't have a central circulatory system either, instead using capillary action within the segments of their bodies to move fluids and nutrients around (similar to many plants). Their nervous system is underdeveloped and decentralized, with the neural matter of the component dionaea merging into a complex strata of tissue that can often take up many cubic meters of space. For this reason, the large a diona becomes, the slower it will think, but the larger its information processing capacity will become. Dionaea don't have DNA. Their precise means of storing reproductive information is unknown to modern science but does not match any currently known form of cellular life. Dionaea are cell-based, but their cells are very large (visible to the naked eye), fibrous and lack distinct nuclei. Every diona is physically and functionally identical to any other, barring acquired injuries and conditioned behaviors or attitudes. Skrell research has sketched a rough picture of how the diona clusters function. Much like all earth life, dionaea maintain complex systems of internal flora and fauna. The gestalts are host to virus-like symbiotes that take complex molecules apart into their components and recombine them into useful forms. Over time, these strains have diverged and mutated, serving the dionaea gestalts as a means for disassembling and manipulating genetic material within the depths of the mass. The tremendous distributed processing power of a large gestalt combined with a means of controlling these strains allows for the examination and archival of the material, which the dionaea find quite interesting. The gestalts themselves maintain a state analogous to the diploid state of cell development. They are reproductively viable at this time, spawning new nymphs and maintaining their own mass by synthesizing more growth and food. Nymphs are analogous to haploid cells, only becoming viable for growth when merged with other dionaea. Station-grown nymphs are distinct from this (reproductively viable due to a single nymph) due to extensive conditioning developed by Skrell scientists and applied to the 'seed' nodules by volunteering gestalts. For this reason, such wandering dionaea tend not to form single gestalts, preferring to merge with other masses from other spawning sites to maintain 'genetic' viability. All gestalts will normally contain at least one member from a mature gestalt as a means of transferring the molecule-parsing viruses into the new mass. A mature gestalt is structured in several layers. The topmost and thinnest is for the most part ridged and finned for heat dissipation and signalling via Rootspeak. Below this is a layer of 'flesh' and cavities in which nymphs move and thrive, as well as gas and matter storage analogous to fat in animals. The neural strata and nutrient capillaries are spread throughout this layer and several dedicated layers below it. Between the neural strata and the outer husk lies a layer of cavities and tissue responsible for maintaining the radiation-harvesting blisters dotting the diona underside. The blisters are iridescent meter-wide bubbles of layered crystalline material that absorb several wide varieties of radiation for use in photosynthesis. The layer surrounding them is a combination of dead, hard diona-flesh, harvested rock, and synthesised 'filler' intended to absorb heat and hold the gestalt together. While the only dionaea contacted so far have existed in the upper atmosphere of gas planets and the photosphere of stars, the gestalts have made oblique references to 'deep dwellers' that live within the surface of the stars themselves. Such a state makes them impossible to contact with conventional transmissions, and no pattern or encoding has been detected in the emissions from the system; it is unclear if the gestalts still exist or if they ever existed at all.
- #9Zorren
Keys: Zorren
Zorren are the native species of Virgo Prime and were the undisputed hegemons of the Virgo-Erigone System… Thousands of years ago. A cataclysm has happened in the distant past and destroyed their nascent interplanetary empire and hurled their homeworld into a catastrophic climate crisis. Zorren today are the remnant of the survivors of this catastrophe and have generally regressed into a more primitive society, roughly equivalent of the late medieval age of Humanity. Nonetheless, they are acutely aware of what they were once and some even try and reach this stage again and beyond, both by assimilating technology of aliens and rediscovering their own, lost knowledge.
Zorren bear a striking resemblance to the standard sapient found in the galaxy and share similarities with the Skrell, Unathi and Humans. Commonly defined body systems are the nervous, the cardiovascular, the circulatory, the digestive, the endocrine, the immune, the integumentary, the lymphatic, the musculoskeletal, the reproductive, the respiratory, and the urinary system. These are very similar to the common skrell or even human, with only some difference. Most notably, their blood has no red blood cells - Instead their gas transport within their body is carried by free floating proteins called Hemocyanin. These use copper instead of iron atoms to bind gasses. The result is a light, transparent blood colour which becomes deep blue when exposed to oxygen, whether due to respiration or due to blood loss. Zorren reach an average height of 132 cm (4 feet and 4 inches) for both male or female, although this might be caused by the general lack of proteins and calories in their diet. The highest recorded Zorren has reached heights of 168 cm (5 feet and 6 inches), leading to the conclusion that the real average height of a Zorren is around 145 cm (4 feet and 9 inches) when properly fed. Zorren’s sexual dimorphism is not readily apparent as mammary glands are relatively small and sometimes covered by their fine, voluminous fur, though females have generally wider hips and smaller shoulders. Smaller Zorren sometimes lack these, however. A Zorren’s ears can range from upright and small to slightly splayed and very large. This is largely dependent on ethnicity and is not ascribed to a particular sub species as Zorren are too genetically similar to each other for this - It is a simple expression of particular phenotypes. Zorren reproduce sexually per internal fertilization with a gestation period of 32 to 34 weeks, usually in litter sizes of one or two. Birth is generally an arduous endeavour with an increased risk of the mother Zorren to die during childbirth without proper and adequate medical attention. Children are generally born blind and helpless and remain non independent for a long time. Zorren reach sexual maturity at 15, where they are considered adult in most of their cultures, however they keep on growing and maturing until the age of 20. The lifespan of the average Zorren is 50 years. However, this number is estimated by the current medical standards on Virgo Prime. Genetic profiling and living examples show that Zorren could in theory live much longer, up to 90 years with proper medical care.
- #10Vulpkanin
Keys: Vulp, Vulpkanin
Home System: Vazzend
Vulpkanin or "Vulpa" is a species of sharp-witted canid bipeds residing on the planet Altam just barely within the binary Vazzend system. Their politically de-centralized society and independent natures have led them to become a species and culture both feared and respected for their scientific breakthroughs. Discovery, loyalty, and utilitarianism dominate their lifestyles to the degree it can cause conflict with more rigorous and strict authorities. They speak a guttural language known as 'Canilunzt' which has a heavy emphasis on utilizing tail positioning and ear twitches to communicate intent. Vulpkanin are an omnivorous (with preference of meat and fish) bipedal furred race vaguely reminiscent of Terran vulpines, and in some cases, reminiscent of Terran canines. Colorations are usually subdued but vary considerably on genetics, climate, and personal taste. Vulpa descended from the northern latitudes tend towards whites and rarely, very slight, almost unnoticeable blue tints. Vulpa descended from a more equatorial climate tend towards brighter browns and dusty reds. Vulpkanin in the between of both latitudes tend towards greys, muted reds, blacks, and tans. Bright colors, excluding whites from the arctic region, are unnatural as they are often dyes used by younger minded vulpkanin to stand out from littermates. Genetic resequencing can make an otherwise impossible color a standard which has become a trend not unlike human 'tattoo' culture. Vazzend is a system undergoing significant solar activity due to the orbital habits of the primary F class star, Vazzend A also known as 'Kol', which due to the interaction between it and the M class star, Vazzend B 'Gol', causes large bouts of electromagnetic energy pulse out at significant range. The cycle is infrequent, but of great fascination. It was also a terror during the early industrial age of the vulpkanin peoples when they had just started to unlock the principles of electricity. Altam is the second planet of 4 orbiting Gol, which is near Earth-like conditions, if a touch warmer during summer. Jungles are thick, Forests are about the same, deserts larger and oceans a smidge smaller. These flares promoted the cultural drive to discover what, why, and how and gave the entire civilization a means to reach for the stars through scientific focus. One of their most prized technologies is the degree of EM resistance built into everything they develop; enabling the small fleet of space, then starships to be nearly impossible to disable with ionic weaponry. It was this tech that promoted interest from the Federation and NanoTrasen directly for use in insulating sensitive power equipment, such as harnessing singularities larger than a few microns in size. With access to both the stars and employment, vulpkanin people are quickly finding themselves as honest working Engineers and Scientists for hire, their propensity for group efforts using the meticulous use of their materials ensures they're highly prized to any project team. They are also apt security officers and wardens due to the hierarchical mindset of the pack, but only a rare handful have the traits to actually lead as an alpha.
- #11Vasilissans
Keys: Vasilissan, Vasilissans
Vasilissans are an arachnoid race featuring many characteristics similar to that of a spider such as their metalimbs, eyes, and ability to produce and weave silk. They were discovered on a jungle-ridden planet comprised of rich ores and gems, following a religion surrounding said gems, and abiding by a matriarchal culture. About on the same technological level as tajaran, they're masters of architecture and weaving.
Vasilissan skin is primarily a thick chitin of varying color, iridescence, and texture, though this relies mostly on the race or region of the individual, from bumpy and rigid to thick and smooth. Their faces are mostly similar in texture and composition as the rest of their skin, though they are mostly flat and lack a nose, one aberrant feature about their head is their four eyes, bubbling out instead of being indented to allow their already sleek face to become flush. Accompanying their lipped mouths are two mandibles that can protrude outward from their face, and within their mouths are many fanged teeth, a long, bulbous tongue, and spinnerettes, allowing them to shoot strands of silk. Perhaps even more strange are the limbs and feelers on top of their head styled as what could be considered hair, which one likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference between from a glance, and their "hair" color doesn't usually depend on the color of the rest of the individual's chitin. One rather large feature of vasilissans is the presence of four metalimbs on their back, which normally opt to face backwards, but are capable of stretching forwards to assist with tasks in front of the individual. Most tasks involve scaling walls, subduing prey, keeping balance, or just general chores if the individual is dexterous with them. The average height of vasilissans is six feet (183 cm) and higher, though females tend to be seven feet (213 cm) tall. Vasilissans, being an arachnoid race, are cold blooded and may suffer greatly due to extreme temperatures. It's been noted that in extreme heat their chitin will begin to boil before the rest of their body hardens and curls up due to an (obvious) lack of hydration in their limbs, similar to arachnids. In circumstances of cold temperatures, however, a vasilissan will begin to "shut down," starting with memory loss and headaches before escalating to a coma if left in cold conditions for a long period of time. Interestingly enough, taking the individual out of the cold climate will bring them out of the coma. Much like the latter portion of death due to extreme heat, however, their limbs will begin to curl as they suffer systemic organ failure from freezing temperatures. Physically, females tend to be taller than males, averaging between 7 to 8 feet tall while males manage 6 to 7 feet. Females retain softer facial features and wider hips while males have rougher characteristics as well as spindlier limbs. It should be noted, however, that because vasilissans are non-mammalian the females are devoid of breasts, having a flat chest. Socially, vasilissans tend to wander towards matriarchy, with males working for a female's attention and treating them with respect much more so than what females would care to reciprocate.
The typical lifespan of a vasilissan is normally within the range of 120 to 130 Earth years, though some have lived past the age of 150. 18 is generally considered the beginning of adulthood.
Vasilissans are almost entirely carnivorous, though their eating habits are what most would consider normal, and some are capable of allowing small supplementary amounts of plant matter into their diet. Some individuals have reportedly eaten large meals whole, however this is rarely seen in public instances.
After seemingly evolving from large spiders on their home planet, and therefore becoming arachnoids, vasilissans are naturally somewhat territorial, seldom fond of gathering with others that they don't know very well for anything social, one might say they're a reclusive race. While many are exhausted from social interaction, females tend to revel in attention, which ultimately becomes the driving force in their culture. Respect for personal space and possessions - whether it be their own or another individual's - appears to be a tenet of their values. Respecting personal space doesn't seem to be too important to a vasilissan regarding other races, however.
The native language of vasilissans is comprised primarily of clicks, buzzing, and some body language. A subset may include vibrations being channeled into the ground through their metalimbs. Most surfaces will work, though taut silk carries through spectacularly.
- #12Vox
Keys: Vox
Vox (voks) are a nomadic species which lives in the outskirts of known space, rarely venturing inward with their primary ships. Largely due to piracy and a closed, alien culture, the race as a whole tends to carry a bad reputation with others. Their homes consist of arkships, colossal vessels which gradually wander through the stars just beyond the sight of most ‘civilized’ races. Physically, an average vox is a digitigrade reptilian biped with pronounced, rigid quills on their head; a long prehensile tail with small barbs at the tip; and a sharp, three-sectioned beak. They have a flexible, lightweight skeleton and a redundant two-channel nervous system. They generally stand anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 meters (5 to 8 feet) with green, grey or brown coloration. Their bodies are scaled with rigid, non-conductive feathers and plates in overlapping rows which can bristle or flatten at will to optimize cooling or form a seal capable of protecting their bodies from complete vacuum. Although they breathe in a similar manner to most races despite heavily alien physiology, they require only nitrogen and find oxygen toxic. In general, their builds tend to be geared toward sudden bursts of rapid movement with vulnerability to exhaustion if maintained extensively. Vox prefer certain varieties of fungi and meat commonly grown on their ark ships but are quite capable of surviving on near any diet, doing so without complaint if necessary. Growing such cuisine attracts pests, necessitating the introduction of small, pest-eating creatures; while introduced deliberately, vox often hunt these creatures out of boredom when pressing needs are lacking. This behavior carries over to other stations; vox with nothing to do tend to hunt anything small enough to cram into their beaks. Their digestive tract is unique and highly efficient, capable of wringing out sustenance from almost anything that fits down their beaks (including certain inorganic material). Food is ingested through the beak and travels down a relatively short esophagus into an unusually spacious stomach which takes up most of their abdominal cavity, capable of expanding without hindrance from the skeletal system. This stomach is the deepest point for solid meals, acting as both stomach and gizzard with rocks, metals, and other hard things helping break down the meals to a fine slurry before slowly filtering the liquid into a smaller, sack-like organ just below the stomach for nutrient absorption. The digestive system proceeds no further than this. While the stomach can digest anything given sufficient time, it can be incredibly slow with large meals. To resolve this, vox may cough up their meals, let the stomach filter out processed slurry, then re-swallow their food to restart the process, sometime for many cycles depending on the size of the meal and the patience of the vox. Vox possess a singular lung filling the dorsal space of the abdominal cavity with a largely internal ventilation mechanism lacking the rise and fall of the abdomen visible in the breathing of many civilized races. The lung consists of a dense honeycomb web-like structure which efficiently absorbs nitrogen and sheds carbon dioxide but possesses little defense against oxygen. Due to its toxicity to vox, oxygen quickly damages the delicate structure and may cause significant damage. Vox claws are sharp and somewhat metallic, capable of digging into rock and metal enough to allow easy walking in the absence of gravity. Additionally, vox scales and feathers conduct electricity exceptionally poorly compared to most civilized races. Low voltage weaponry, such as that commonly deployed as non-lethal security solutions in NT space, produce minimal effect against Vox, insufficient at reaching the sensitive tissue beneath their scales. Vox tend to take full advantage of this fact, often targeting facilities which rely primarily on tasers and stun batons as a first line of defense. However this describes only standard vox, as there are two more known types of vox; the Apex and Auralis. The major differences for Apex are their size, often twice the height of a standard vox, and a hollowed out tail. At the base of the tail Apex possess a small, internal sack filled with genetic material, analogous to reproductive organs of other races and utilized to inseminate vox growth pods (detailed below). Holding the key to reproduction, Apex often act as leaders to lesser vox, focusing on issues which affect arkships or the entire species as a whole while relying on lesser vox to fulfill more mundane needs. One may compare Apex to the queens of bee hives, although the analogy is far from perfect. Auralis are the most mysterious of vox, never spoken of to outsiders and held to a reverent, almost deific status by typical vox. Hidden deep within arkships, Auralis can barely be described as vox, existing as huge constructs of greenish-grey flesh stretching from ceiling to floor, weaved into the surrounding plant life (including the pod tree) and integrated with the machinery of the arkship itself. Perhaps only vox by origin alone, little remains of the Auralis’ original bodies: a large torso and head protrude from the central stalk of flesh, largely featureless and appearing asleep. Once the leaders of vox civilization, Auralis are best described as transcendental in thought and mind due to their integration with technology known as the bluespace network. Likely the crowning achievement of vox technology, the bluespace network is best thought of as a communication and data storage system existing entirely within bluespace which stores the vast, mysterious minds of Auralis. From a practical standpoint, the bluespace network allows all Auralis to communicate with one another independent of physical distance and for each Auralis to be fully and constantly aware of everything existing within thousands of kilometers. This awareness coupled with integration into the arkship allow Auralis to quickly and silently jump arkships should outsiders wander too close, albeit without warning to lesser vox. Due to loss of technology which facilitated communication, Auralis have become largely detached from lesser vox and serve no practical purpose beyond maintenance and protection of arkships. Often seeming erratic or insane when spoken to, Auralis’ minds operate at a level beyond comprehension for ordinary vox while Auralis themselves have tremendous difficulty simplifying their thoughts to levels which lesser vox can understand.
Vox technology is ancient, advanced, and built to survive to the end of the universe. Few vox understand their technology beyond how to use and maintain it, entirely unable to replicate what they once made. Vox FTL technology is especially advanced, capable of engaging near-instantaneously with minimal use of fuel, but complex enough that only Auralis seem capable of operating it. Vox prize their technology above all other goods and jealously guard what they can no longer create, taking great effort to prevent even a single piece of it from falling into non-Vox hands. Some of the Enlightened vox study their technology closely in the hopes of reverse engineering it but have not yet been successful. Re-establishing communication with Auralis remains a high priority, particularly as Auralis may retain knowledge lost to lesser vox.
Vox primarily speak Vox-pidgin, it uses mainly the glottal and velar sounds, with a large emphasis on the plosive group, alongside the frontal vowels. Their generally loud speaking voices, shrill tones, and the nature of their language make it noisy and irritating most other races. In return, vox often find other languages similarly harsh and irritating to speak and hear. Vox can learn other languages and must learn Common to work on NT stations while those looking to trade often learn it for better success in negotiations. Common is painful on their vocal cords so they like to speak in as few words as possible, often coming off as dumb or slow as a result. This tends to work in their favor as vox tend to be cunning and intelligent and are quite content to trick others with this misconception. While Vox that speak common have a pronounced accent, speaking in short sentences, and few words, though they prefer to speak in smaller words than bigger ones, when speaking common they have a pronounced hiss to their speech at times.
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