The Zesstak

Planet Zesstak is home to a species that have used their technology to become a unique sort of dual-bodied entities: two forms combined by a single consciousness. Unfortunately, the rulers of the planet are violent dictators intent on conquering other worlds, so this fascinating technology is primarily used to create soldiers sent to other planets. The tradition is to send a single soldier to a world targetted for invasion, one of a their forms being a shape known to be successful on the target planet and the other to be a flying serpent creature. If the lone soldier finds the planet worthy of conquest, and can beat the locals into a weakened state, a much larger fleet is sent as a follow-up. The Zesstak species has gone to war with several other species, and when they’ve won, they’ve wiped those species into extinction.

Krytag is a Zesstak soldier who has been sent to Earth as an invader and was featured in a Supervillain Sunday post.

Emmernan is a young Zesstak soldier being groomed for a trip to Earth, as a replacement for Krytag. The Zesstak government has grown impatient with Krytag, who seems more interested in battles against Earth’s superheroes than in furthering the invasion of that world. Emmernan has been given a similar humanoid dual-body is being given all Krytag’s reports on the planet and its occupants. His mission will be not only to neutralize the human heroes, but also Krytag himself, who is now considered a liability.

Millvok is the Zesstak soldier sent to scout the Pllvm homeworld. Millvok has been captured (one of the six aliens who have attacked Bubllpub), and is now held in the planet’s most significant prison. As the Pllvm have recently entered into contact with other species, they are discussing what to do about Millvok among their diplomats, but all Millvok wants to get out and kill in the name of Zesstak.

Guigarr is not currently assigned to any world as an invader, but is one of the thousands of soldiers being trained as an part of the invasion force to be sent in once one of the scouts has accomplished enough for a follow-up team to be sent. Guigarr’s four-legged form is designed for hunting down fleeing targets. The training for this kind of soldier focuses less on intellect and strategy and more on breeding an indiscriminate hatred of other species. In Guigarr’s case, this has been wholly successful.

A Fact About the Zesstak: The rulers of the Zesstak government, and some of their non-altered citizens, are still dual-beings connected by tethers, but both halves of their being resemble the flying serpent form, albeit less armored. Presumably their original forms, before the use of their modern technology, must have in some way resembled these.

Universe: White

Kymarks

The Kymarks are a bipedal species with four forelimbs, tails, and tusks. They evolved on a planet they call Bruundac that orbits a binary star system. Bruundac is a planet largely covered in water and sandy shores. The Kymarks live in cities along these shores. They eat by digging with their tusks to root out worm-like creatures that make up most of their diet. The Kymarks have learned how to breed these worms in immense number, but unlike our farming they don’t keep the animals around. Their goal is to make sure there are plenty of animals in the wild, instead of in custody.

The clothing worn by Kymarks are meant to be permanent. They are designed with colors and designs relevant to family histories and presented to Kymarks at their adulthood ceremony, and are intended to be worn for life. But that makes it easier for Kymarks with something to run away from, such as Wirpdi, to slip away. It does require surgery to remove ones outfit, but to Wirpdi that’s an easy price to pay. Now wearing a counterfeit outfit and having run away to a city on the other side of the world where nobody knows that Wirpdi has been completely submerged underwater and then come back to the shore, a crime punishable by death (Ancient Kymark myths insist that anyone who has been completely submerged could easily have been replaced by an evil duplicate. Modern Kymarks don’t believe this, but the rule is still there.)

Soffdo is a corpse sniffer. That’s a job, not a hobby. It’s Soffdo’s job to smell around the city for any Kymarks who may have died unseen in some hidden corner (Kymarks sleep hidden under piles of cloth or other similar holes). When Soffdo finds a corpse, it is given a proper burial at sea. Soffdo’s lower right forearm is damaged. Damaged arms are unfortunately common for the species.

Evdok is an orator. In the system that the Kymarks have set up, the orator is not giving their own point, necessarily, but is hired by others to make a point. Evdok may believe that razing a forest to make room for more city is a bad thing, but will passionately argue the opposite if hired to do so. It isn’t considered hypocritical in this culture, because Evdok would not be pretending to actually believe it, the audience is aware of the way it works, but is instead simply a Kymark doing their job.

A Fact About Kymarks: Kymarks have six eyes, with one large center eye surrounded by five smaller eyes that each specialize in registering a different range of the light spectrum. If one of the smaller eyes is lost, through disease or injury, the overall vision can become colorblind to that eye’s specialty (if the large eye is lost, that’s just blindness no matter the health of the other eyes).

Universe: Orange