Starfaring Races

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Artemis
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Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Well, to start with, I'll just put up a short description of each race, for a quick refresher for old readers, and a nice intro for new ones.

Algians

Algians hail from the predominantly desertic world of Maonessa, though they evolved in the narrow, deep oceans that separated the desert regions. They are aquatic, oxygen-breathing mammals who can walk and speak on land and breath in open air, but who require frequent dips in the water to maintain their blood circulation. Their fluidic, mediative physical nature also informs much of their society, and most Algians, especially native Maonessans, are very moderate and diplomatic, polite but honest to a fault, and well-practiced Devil's Advocates. They are, on a whole, a very easy-to-get-along-with people.

Which is probably a good thing, considering that they, as the economic and political leaders of the Interstellar Commonwealth, are very much the people with their fingers on The Button. Many of the other races, including the other Commonwealth members, are not comfortable with the amount of power that the Algians hold. Many of their own people, specifically those who were born and have led lives far from the homeworld and other Commonwealth core worlds, would like to see greater integration into the society the Algians helped to craft.

Adult Algians stand at slightly over a meter and a half tall, and have silver-blue pebbly skin. They have cetecean-like heads, but with greter-developed expressive facial muscles. They walk on webbed three-toed feet, and have twelve fingers and two thumbs, which can flatten and expand to act as flippers when in the water. Their voices sound like a mixture of whalesong and bird chirps, and they tend to speak very slowly compared to most other races.

Carepakeh

The Carepakeh are a race that Terrans might initially call insectoid or arachnid, but are in fact neither, owing to the fact that they are vertebrates, though they maintain a chitin shell somewhat akin to an exoskeleton. Carepakeh are broken up into three life stages/social castes, these being female Workers, male Drones, and female Queens. All Carepakeh begin life as Workers, a fraction of these will later enter cocoons and become Drones, and a very small number of Drones will then later become Queens. This caste system is integral to Carepakeh society, which, despite their extremely high population, is very homogenous. Their homeworld of Pakethar is now inhabited only by the Emperor (see below) and his retinue. Most Carepakeh live on artificial habitats called webworlds or gigantic vessels called sendworlds, similar to the space station complexes of Terrans.

The Carepakeh were once an expansionist, optimistic race with a race-wide belief in a manifest destiny to unite all other starfaring races under their guidance, bringing the universe into harmony. However, a period of political turmoil combined with a succession of wars with the Algians and Hamechels have turned this once-proud race toward isolationism. This has caused vast cracks in the once-singular Carepakeh culture - many long for a return to the glory days, while just as many wish to abandon their conquistador worldview and seek true harmony among the other starfaring races.

Workers are, as their name implies, the manual laborers, miners, minor officials, entertainers, and footsoldiers of the Carepakeh. While many progressive Queens have given their Workers full rights by the standards of other races, some are still kept in what amounts to indentured servitude. Drones are the captains of industry, the managers, the military officers, and the high advisers, held, as a group, with at least as much respect as the Queens, if not with the same power. Queens, of course, are at the top of the social hierarchy, and rule over their Broods of children as more or less benevolent dictators. It is a matter of faith among the Carepakeh that there is an Emperor, a single individual who has advanced beyond the Queen stage to become the sole ruler of all Carepakeh, but this being has never been directly observed by any outside his Imperial Guard and Speakers.

Hamechels

A felinoid race from the planet Hartess. They display a great deal of sexual dimorphism, with males standing easily two meters tall even as adolescents, while females are rarely taller than the average Terran female. Males have distinctive mohawk manes that extend from between their eyebrows to the base of their spines, have much larger teeth than females, and have much greater upper body muscles mass; females have slightly longer hair on the scalp, much lither bodies than males, and tend to have much larger leg muscles. This suggests that, in the evolutionary past, females were the hunters of packs early Clans, while the males were the protectors, fighting off other predators or scavengers. Hamechels have a wide variety of fur colors, from mottled camouflage patterns to stripes, spots, or flat colors.

The Hamechels are a wildly culturally varied people, a result of geographic separation before the Age of Flight, and strong factionalism among the different clans that has only ended with their inclusion into the Commonwealth in the year 1983. They are therefore not as homogenous as the Algians, their co-founders of the Commonwealth, and are harder to pin down with any particular characteristics. One thing that all Hamechel cultures share, however, is a love of storytelling unparalleled in any other race. They are naturally a very passionate people, and the ability to tell a tale with a healthy dose of drama, metaphor, and raw power is a point of pride amongst Hamechels. It is the center of their society, history, and morality.

Hamechels, as the most physically powerful and martially experienced of the Commonwealth races, dominate that polity's military, both in numbers and influence. However, they are more than just the soldiers of the Interstellar Commonwealth - the Hamechels are the polity's cultural soul, and their outgoing and adaptable nature allow them to form positive relations that the diplomatic but somewhat distant Algians might not be able to.

Klashnoi

The Klashnoi of Nor'kass are the youngest starfaring race in the galaxy. They are a very physically imposing people, with the smallest of them standing at two and a half meters tall, with thick, armored skin, a nasal horn, and bone crests that extend from the back of the head to cover the neck. Despite their fearsome appearance to most other races, Klashnoi are typically very phlegmatic, though this is a generalization - plenty of veterans of the T-K war will tell you otherwise.

Klashnoi have historically been divided into twelve Tribes, whose existences extend as far back as any reliable Klashnoi history tells. Since the forming of the Confederation, these Tribes have become less like nations and more like unions or political parties, drawing together Klashnoi of similar skills and goals. The three most populous and influential of the Tribes are the Sun Horn, White Tree, and Stone Seer, with the others being far less consequential (just don't tell them that). Status and respect within a Tribe is an important part of a Klashnoi's life, though as more progressive elements within the race gain greater influence in the cultural and political scene, it is not unimaginable that the Tribes may be phased out in time, in preference of a more individualistic society.

On the whole, Klashnoi are a very cautious people, rarely jumping into anything lightly or spontaneously. Some might say this has stunted their growth culturally and technologically, but on the other hand it means the Klashnoi are a very resilient and tough people. They are just as inventive and adaptive as other races, they just tend to be very perfectionist about whatever it is they are doing, be it developing a new technology or wording a speech. This trait also tends to make Klashnoi seem isolationist or stand-offish, but they simply enter into alliances and friendships with the same attitude.

Krioli

The bright, outgoing, and passionate Krioli are Commonwealth's heart to the Hamechel's soul. Kriolon, their homeworld, is a harsh and unwelcoming place, wrought with year-round icestorms and destructive volcanic activity, and seemingly the only safe and stable place is in the extinct lava tubes and massive cave systems in which the Krioli survivors built their cities. This perhaps informs the Krioli outlook on life - the world is a dangerous and unsure place, and so it is the responsibility of those who live in it to help each other out as best they can, to built a community that can thrive in such a world. The Krioli managed to do this with very little of the factionalism and paranoia that typically arises from survivalist cultures, and they now seek to build that same kind of community throughout the rest of the galaxy.

Krioli are shorter beings, rarely taller than a meter, with a superficially primate-like anatomy. They are marsupial-like in that women carry a child in a pouch for the first two months of life. They have three fingers on each hand and a thumb on either side of the fingers, all of which end in short, thick claws, ideal for climbing on rock faces and holding purchase on unstable ground. They have a prehensile tail, and rather than cranial hair a system of "dreadlocks" which are also prehensile, and much stronger and dexterous than their flimsy appearance would imply. Krioli have a third gender - common in Kriolonian biology but unseen anywhere else in the galaxy - called dimales, who do not produce sperm, but rather an enzyme which can remove genetic defects from their female partner's eggs. This explains the extremely low stillborn and SIDS rate among Krioli, and therefore their huge, healthy population.

As previously mentioned, Krioli life is entirely based around community. They tend to have lots of friends, and form huge extended families which may or may not be comprised of actual blood relatives. They like densely packed, close-knit living situations, making them ideal starfarers - this is offset by a race-wide agoraphobia which, though it can be overcome, can hamper a Krioli's first steps into space. That said, they also like to expand and move around a lot, and there are more Krioli living in the United Nations and the Klashnoi Confederation than all other traditionally-Commonwealth races put together.

Saryans

Saryans are highly intelligent, choleric beings form the planet Blackworld. Their anatomy is vaguely serpentine or draconic, with vestigial wing-like membranes which extend out from their arms, which proto-Saryans used to sun themselves before they became warm-blooded. Fully extended, their bodies can reach 4 meters in length, though most "stand" at about a meter and a half with the rest of their body coiled under them. Saryans move in a sidewinding motion, rather than moving directly ahead as most races do - this fits with their sometimes sideways methods of innovation and invention.

Saryans are widely known as the greatest scientists, inventors, and explorers in the galaxy, and it is not an uncommon, or unfounded, theory that they might have been genetically engineered for that very thing. They share a home system with the now-extinct/disappeared/mythical Thrau race, and early examinations of their own genome showed an unusually well-organized, lean DNA structure, implying (though not proving) an artificial make.

Terrans

Tekks
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Added some more of the races. Old readers might notice a few small changes to mythology and terminology.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Ford Prefect »

I thought I'd be able to put my finger on any changes, but apparently your'e either too subtle or my memory is even more terrible than I thought. :)
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

They're pretty subtle. A slight difference in the way Klashnoi Tribes work, and an inclusion of the quasi-mythical Empress life stage.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Ford Prefect »

I thought the Empress seemed new! :D
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Yep. She's a sort of strange case - if you can imagine the god-like status of the Japanese emperors with the myriad of legends and stories surrounding King Arthur, that's what the Empress is like.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Added everyone's favorite vertically-challenged party animals, the Krioli!
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Ford Prefect »

I'm going to miss their hair. ;)
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Yeah...my original vision of the Krioli will always have a special place on my hard drive. But the current incarnation just makes more sense, and gives them a more distinct look.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

At loooooong freakin' last (we're talking a few years worth of thrown away sketches, half-hearted height diagrams, and the odd commission form other folks that just didn't quite do what I had in mind justice), I present to you the races of Universal Constants!

Well, the dudes anyway. The ladies are on their way. You know girls - they always take longer ;)

*Dodges flying heels*

WARNING 1: If you're operating on a 56k modem, this link may take a while to load. It's BIG and COLORFUL. Just like a Klashnoi... house.

WARNING 2: There is technically no nudity here, but it IS an anatomy study, and the Krioli dimale probably was just caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. Hence, just be careful where you open that link - it's probably not precisely safe for work.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

Awwww! The Carepakeh are so anthro-faced! And man, those Klashnoi are like space rhinoes (because they ARE)! The Algians look sleeker, more like humanoid yang-tzee river dolphins than the more rounded space whales I thought they'd look like. Those Sirians seem more muscular-armed than I thought they would, but then again they don't have to be limp-wristed and if you lacked legs, I'm sure you'd build up your upper body mass too (like Jake Shroomy!). Ah Hamechels. The Krioli look like tiny trolls ( :D ) and the Tekks are, like, totally Micheal Clarke Duncan.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Siege »

The Krioli will always be space squirrels for me, no matter what you change about them :D. The Algians, Hamechels and Klashies though look pretty much exactly as I'd imagined them. Love the weird snake-y Syrian, and jeez, the Carepakeh are scary, especially when you're a wee Krioli...
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Booted Vulture »

That's a nicely diverse bunch of species Arty, that snake man looks wicked cool.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

@Shroomz: Oh mang, snakes are STRONG sonsabitches, I couldn't just let our Saryan bro be the weak link in the lineup!

Also, good call! I based the Algians almost exactly on Yangtzee and Amazon river dolphins, with a splash of eel and seahorse for good measure. I'm gonna change up their homeworld a bit, so I modified my idea of what they'd look like to fit accordingly.

@Siege: If it makes you feel any better, they definitely evolved from rodents. They used to be even teenier :D And if it's bushy tails you're looking for, wait 'til you see the Krioli ladies.

As for the Carepakeh, they SHOULD look scary - they're alien communist samurai spider cyborgs from OUTER SPAAACE. Still, I hoped I could give the Drones a more noble quality, something vaguely draconic, to set them apart from every other bug-race you see in sci-fi.

@Booted: Thanks dude! Yeah, the Saryan was insanely fun to do, too. Every now and then I let myself consider using the Color Dodge tool in Photoshop - that was one of those times :D
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

I mean, I know all about how snakes are strong (I love snakes as a kid!), but I thought their arms would be kinda vestigial. Then again, they ARE a tool-using society, so it's ridiculous to think their arms would end up atrophying to the point where they'd end up becoming like the tiny sex-spurs on boas and pythons.
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Re: Starfaring Races

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In one incarnation they were basically two extra tails that split off at the mid-section, and they just had tentacle-like appendages, like octopuses. I like them better with hands, though, mostly because I could give them roughly a billion fingers and thus come up with a form of sign language that might be their preferred method of communication with one another, perhaps even an integral component of Desertspeak itself.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

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That's brilliant. I mean, give the hands super-sensitive stuff like how Earth snakes sense vibrations, and for the Saryans tactile sensation can become very important culturally too. Imagine a Snake Man touching all over you as a sign of friendship! While flicking his snake tongue and pronouncing his Sssssessss while ssspeakinggggsssssss.... ;)

You could have Saryans tinkering with stuff all the time with their hands, and like they could instinctually "figure things out" like simple but alien tools by handling them like Rubik cubes. Saryan hand-toys, Saryan sleigh of hand games, everything!
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

That's actually some really great stuff, Shroomz! Especially that bit about figuring out tech but literally poking at it!
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Shroom Man 777 »

It shouldn't really BE a magical sense, but their hands could be all full of sensory whatsits that makes it like any other organ like the eyes or ears or nose. Their sense of touch would really be acute in their hands, and that might help them "figure out" simple objects. Kinda like blind people reading braille or something. But different. They can probably visualize things through simple hand-touching alone, guess its rough composition, and through sheer finger-manipulation eventually get it working.

Like, the Saryans could have a natural knack of just playing with things. Whereas people, humans, use their eyes to look at things and size it up, the Saryans could do the same with their hands too. They would be INSTINCTUALLY inclined to poke and poke and poke!
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Re: Starfaring Races

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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Ford Prefect »

Nice stuff Art, good to see your art in full swing. I have to admit that it's not quite how I envisioned the paks, but that's to be expected. Nice colours though, and the Saryan looks fantastic.
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Re: Starfaring Races

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@Shroomz - oh man, nice find! That's probably how the Saryan's version of Australopithecus looks/looked, a bigger, beefier version but without the refined manual dexterity.

@Ford - hey man, nice to see you around again! Oh jeez, the paks tooks FOR-FREAKIN-EVER to get to where I was happy with them. I wanted to move away from traditional "evil space bugs" but I still wanted to keep some of it, so I ended up going for this weird mix of spider, grasshopper, mantis and dragonfly. What was different about how you saw them?
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Ford Prefect »

I always imagined them as being much heavier set and with more eyes. More like insectoid centaurs with really solid limbs, as opposed to the more spindly, spidery style. Admittedly I always imagined them as being quite colourful, too, so that works for me. :)
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Re: Starfaring Races

Post by Artemis »

Hmm. I was kinda thinking centaurs when I designed them, but evidently not in the same way you were ;)

They do have six eyes, though admittedly the second and third pair are a little tougher to see. One pair sees infrared and visible light below the yellow wavelength, one sees visible light above the yellow wavelength, and one is telescopic, though it can't see in color. Their brains can switch back and forth between sights at will.
"The universe's most essential beauty is its endlessness. There is room and resources enough for all of us. Whether there is room for all of our passions is the question, and the problem that we work tirelessly to find a solution to."

-Qhameio Allir Nlafahn, Commonwealth ambassador, during the signing of the Kriolon Treaty.
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