The Laogrup

The planet Shekko Laotance is a world packed with extremely tall tree-like plants, their canopy covering almost the entire landmass, very little light makes it to the ground beneath them. But life thrives even there in the darkness, including the Laogrup, a bipedal species with four hands and a shell on their heads. The Laogrup do have small photosensory organs on their hands, they have no other eyes and do not rely on sight almost at all, instead perceiving the world largely through sound and smell. In human measurements, they stand roughly a metre tall. A large part of their diet is made up of meals cooked out of various forms of a moss-like growth abundant at the bottoms of the large trees. Laogrup tribes, generally democratic in nature, dot the dark surface of the world. In some places they live in rocky caves, but mostly they build homes out of stone.

Muppley Treg is a member of a tribe that is in near-constant warfare with another tribe. The territories of the two groups are separated by the downed remains of a few of the massive trees that fell many generations ago. Muppley Treg is a scent-marker, a job that entails rubbing spit onto various landmarks so that those who pass by can tell what tribe owns them. This is dangerous work, it keeps Muppley Treg on the outskirts of the tribe’s territory, but it also gives them high status in the community.

Gibit Gri is a prisoner in the planet’s largest prison, known by a name that would translate as “The Place of Unheard Shouting”. This prison, which is jointly used by several tribes, could be described as an oubliette city, with its one entry point highly guarded and no other means of escape. Gibit Gri and all other prisoners are their for life, and the only way for them to survive is to form tribes and act as though civilized. Gibit Gri’s role in this is to examine newly arrived prisoners to see if they seem mentally stable. If not, they must be killed.

Kednar Gets lives with a tribe on an isolated peninsula. Theirs is one of the few places on the planet where a view of the sky would be possible along the horizon, if they had the means to see it. The tribe, being near the sea, has access to sand, which other tribes do not. They like to ritualistically bury things, and Kednar Gets in particular buries tools for later use, with the superstitious belief that they will be more effective.

A Fact About the Laogrup: The Laogrup expel their waste through a sphincter on the top of their heads. To do so, they lean over so that they are almost upside down, then fire the liquid waste several feet away from their bodies. Usually, they will try to aim for a river or stream that has been designated for such a purpose. It is considered a source of some humor to talk of spraying waste on enemies instead.

Universe: Indigo

Ixkruns

The Ixkruns are a small lizardlike species native to the planet Szunkring. While the technologically advanced Szunkruns would be seen as the dominant species of that world, communication between the Szunkruns and the Ixkruns makes it clear that they are each intelligent beings. The Ixkruns are content to coexist with their planetary brethren, but the Szunkruns don’t care enough to even think about it. If something makes a profit, that’s what the Szunkruns value. Unfortunately, that means that the jungle homes of the Ixkrun have been invaded by Szunkruns seeking resources for short-term gains. Mux is an Ixkrun.

Vep lives a peaceful life in the dense jungle of one of the planet’s remotest islands. This is the ideal existence that all Ixkruns wish they could have. Vep has no sense of the troubles that other Ixkruns over the world are facing, and no idea that they could eventually reach even that little island paradise.

Har lost his home when the jungle he was born in was demolished by a Szunkrun rich person who wanted more warehouse space. Now Har is an “Urban Ixkrun”, trying to eke out a living in the unnatural environment. Often, those in this situation have to resort to stealing, and Har is no exception, having to live one step ahead of the security robots just to survive.

Dop could be called a traitor. While most Ixkruns are happy to spend their days in the wilderness, Dop wants power, and gets it by working with the Szunkrun Council of Bosses. Nobody thinks anything about an Ixkrun wandering around in the jungle, so Ixkrun is able to get close to the secret bases of the outlaw hero Montoroloxi and report what he finds back to the corporate masters.

A Fact About Ixkruns: All Ixkruns are biologically male until mating season, during which some will take on female traits if they are the dominant part of a mating pair. After mating season or gestation ends, they return to male form.

Universe: Orange

Alright. Let’s see what I need to update us all on:

Most significant is the fact that I had to get a new computer after my last laptop failed on me. It was a fairly gradual death at first, getting slower and slower as it went, so I had backed things up fairly recently. I lost about two weeks of research notes and the bookmarks in my browser. That is such a small amount of loss that I can accept it happily, but I’d sure like to be able to hop back on there long enough to get those notes back…

Anyway, the new laptop is nice and fast and has as much space as my external hard drive (I ought to get a new one of those by this point). I already expect that the problems with this one will be focused around the power charging outlet thing. The little prong inside looks worryingly fragile.

I have not quite had time to really organize things on the new computer yet, but it definitely could be a good computer from what I can see, and could have been a much worse loss of information.

Apart from that, the main detail of the last few weeks is that I twisted my ankle. If anyone wants to see a picture of my bruised foot all swollen up so it looks like a big gross baby foot, I have such a thing. In spite of how much time I have already lost to hospitals this year, I was convinced to have this injury examined by medical professionals. It turns out that I did chip a bone, but it also turns out that the medical advice was basically just rest and cold and elevation and all of that is what I would have done without spending hours in hospital waiting rooms. Oh well.