Dobraxu

The Dobraxu are a species with serpentine tails, three arm-like limbs, and a single large eye on their bulbous heads. They are very clever at creating machinery, but have not yet mastered any form of programming, so their technology is all powered by Dobraxu individuals, rather than being autonomous.

After centuries of “progress”, one Dobraxu nation took over the planet and is now the only government there. One Dobraxu named Marjantar is a villain known as Exomek who is trying to take over the planet Zunoltia, and that mission is an official one given by the Dobraxu government, but mostly the species is peaceful. They just have some jerks in charge.

Veedab is a member of the World Council, the government body that votes on the best actions for the planet to take. Veedab has been trying for years to change the way the hospital system works, because as it is right now hospitals are built as boats that are sent to where they are necessary. This can be handy, if some disaster strikes they can send some hospitalships there to help, but the drawbacks are numerous (Not the least of which: just imagine going in for tail surgery only to wake up and be told you are on the other side of the continent because they had to head towards a city where there was a fire. It’s inconvenient). Veedab has tried to convince the other council members that permanent hospitals being built on land in major cities would be wise, but it goes against tradition, so nobody listens.

Sittul is a citizen of the planet’s largest and oldest city, Haraza Mataa. The city is so old and central to Dobraxu culture that its denizens are considered the “simple” folk and the ones that are considered sophisticated are the ones living small rural locations. Sittul may dreams of one day moving out of the city to become a big success somewhere small.

Heaff is a wacky sort of Dobraxu. Heaff refuses to play by society’s “rules”. When society says “Heaff, you should settle down and do things right” all Heaff does is wander around and do things wrong. Heaff is the life of the party, but also everyone kind of hates Heaff a little bit. Sometimes it is lonely being wacky.

A Fact About the Dobraxu: The Dobraxu do not consider theft to be a crime. If you can’t keep your stuff secure, they feel, maybe you don’t deserve your stuff.

Universe: Green

Aado Vvuk

The Aado Vvuk are an aquatic species that evolved in the oceans of a world they call Mnaara. The Aado Vvuk have five tentacles, two functioning as we would call arms and the rest, though still functional, are more rigid and are used primarily for motion. They have one eye, which they can bulge out to improve their peripheral vision, and their stomachs can be extruded from their body (from around the “armpit” region) to engulf food.

Aado Vvuk culture is highly ritualistic and the vast majority of them have daily routines that they prefer not to vary from if at all possible. Acts such as eating are personal, so the length of the involved rituals can vary from person to person, but more public acts, especially those involving the election of government, are more consistent. Almost all rituals involve a stupid amount of chanting, though.

Shntaa is on a quest to circumnavigate the oceans of Mnaara in the hopes of gathering together the pieces of an ancient artifact that have been spread all over the world. The Tubes of Aaanaaav are spoken of in stories in various Aado Vvuk cultures, supposedly a device that could generate power unlike anything seen to this day. Shntaa’s research has determined that the Tubes were broken during a conflict between two communities and the pieces were spread as symbols of friendship to the leaders of various other communities and so it has been down the centuries. Shntaa dreams of tracking down and reassembling the Tubes and being a rich energy provider. Unfortunately for Shntaa, the Tubes actually created only small amounts of energy that, while impressive back in the day, have been greatly exaggerated by legend and actually pale in comparison to modern technology. Hopefully, when Shntaa learns that, the archeological victory will be comfort enough.

Nnntn is a butcher, an occupation very similar on Mnaara to its equivalent on Earth. The fish-like livestock of the Aado Vvuk are given to Nnntn, who then chop them into the good bits and gives them to consumers. It is good, honest work and Nnntn finds it rewarding, if unfortunately messy. Cleaning up after a bloody mess is harder underwater than in the air.

The badly scarred Rrrntr is a veteran of the most popular “sport” on Mnaara. The sport involves a performer standing before a crowd and committing various acts of self harm. Generally, when it comes time to retire, these self-harming athletes will perform a final exhibition in which they damage their eye and live the rest of their life being supported by their fans. Rrrntr was fairly successful, gaining a fan following that still respects the aging athlete to this day, but the idea of being blind has no appeal. It may result in a lost of respect from the fanbase, but Rrrntr would rather be able to see.

A Fact About Aado Vvuk: Since they live beneath the surface of their oceans, the Aado Vvuk do not study celestial bodies by the light that reaches their world (though they know of their sun, at least), but they have begun to get a sense of their stellar system by close study of the effects the moons have on the tides. They are developing a great understanding of gravity.

Universe: White

This unfortunately unnamed beekeeper comes from a comic called Nailbiter. I will be trying to avoid spoilers, in case people reading it stumble upon this site through a search engine or whatever, but here’s what you need to know: there is a small town called Buckaroo that has produced a higher number of serial killers than any other place, and certainly more than would be expected from such a small place. Obviously, people get curious.

One of the protagonists of the book is an FBI agent whose investigation leads today’s beekeeper. Actually, he first meets the beekeeper’s grandson Roger, who runs the honey farm in his grandfather’s stead. Gramps is too busy being contained in the basement, because Roger seems to think he would be dangerous to the world at large. From what we see, Gramps mostly spends his time just dissecting bees.

Whether the cause of the serial killers is supernatural is part of the comic’s mystery, but as in so many cases, I am here to argue that the beekeeper, at least, absolutely has supernatural powers. Let’s get to it. First of all, there is near constant rain in Buckaroo, and the bees don’t mind at all. That’s cool. That’s a start. Is he immune to bee stings? Not really. He says he is “for some reason invulnerable to their many stings. It hurts and I blister, but I… do not die.” I mean, that’s something, but not enough to really build my case upon. He makes a comment that suggests he could smell bee pheromones, which is better. But perhaps the biggest sign of preternatural power is actually present in his biggest downfall: the Beekeeper Rage.

When he flips out on the investigator, his bees attack for him, which suggests a connection. He specifically says that he delights in watching his bees attack the intruder, and he barely notices that his grandson is collateral damage in that attack. There is no doubt that this guy suffers from the Rage. But in spite of that, he is not one of the town’s serial killers. He is in on the secrets of the town (and may have even been involved long ago), but instead of givin’ in to the killin’, he notes that he has only killed once, when he was young and stupid. What’s more, he has used his time as a crazy basement person studying bees because he believes he can learn from them to save the town and improve humanity. It is almost as if he saw the evil the world could offer and directed his Rage toward trying to change it. That’d be a good thing if he were better at it, but at least he tried. At least he resisted that allure of serial killing.

Anyway, neither he nor his grandson survive the story.

3 Honeycombs out of Five.
For posterity, Roger, who is a more normal beekeeper would rate a 2. It is mentioned that honey farming used to be a big industry in Buckaroo until about twenty years before the story. If that is when Roger took over, it’s a sign that he’s not supernatural enough to have kept things going.

Sopachoans

The Sopachoans are a humanoid species from the planet Sopacho. With hairless green skin and four digits per hand the Sopachoans seem fairly standard for a humanoid species, but at birth they are implanted with technology that grows with them, essentially making them robots on the inside. Their fusion of flesh and technology can be via the panels on their chest, but for the most part is as natural to them as a skeletal system is to us. One other feature of the species is the barbs that grow on their elbows. This is a vestige of a venom-distributing spike that the species had as a defense mechanism long ago, but they no longer contain enough venom to harm anyone. It is not uncommon for Sopachoans to have their elbow barbs removed if they get infected.

We have seen one Sopachoan before, in the form of Groff the bounty hunter. He first tried to capture the multiversal adventurer Jenny Everywhere, and after that failed he was forced to live in the desert where poor people live and got mocked by Little Choy. What a coincidence that he was always wearing something that covered up his computer panel…

Umbow is an advisor to the Sopachoan government specializing in issues relating to interplanetary conflict. Generally, Umbow is in favor of such conflict. It keeps him employed, after all. If Umbow had his way, the Sopachoans would just be in a perpetual state of war with every alien planet that has ugly aliens on it.

Professor Forg teaches environmental theories at the university in the town where smart people go. Sopachoan professors are treated fairly well, given their own palatial estates with servants and luxuries that most of the world doesn’t have access to. This makes sense to them, since the professors are there to raise the intelligence level of the populace. Unfortunately, Sopachoans aren’t willing to spend money on financing the education of any but those youths who seem guaranteed to be successful, so there is not really much benefit to the process. But Forg sure isn’t going to complain about it.

Marjog is a money destroyer. Sopachoans use electronic credits as currency and, to keep them valuable and rare across a planets-spanning society, the government pays people like Marjog to seek out unnaturally large accumulations of wealth and to delete it from existence. As could be expected, those who have the greatest wealth are usually able to afford means to protect themselves, but Marjog’s skills as a hacker are truly something to behold. Now the rich ones are just trying to have her killed.

A Fact About Sopachoans: For the first five times that the Sopachoans established a colony on another world in their system, they did it by taking a physical chunk of land from Sopacho and transporting it across space to the other location. Though they eventually gave up on that expensive process, it is still an important idea among their culture of bringing part of their homeworld to other planets.

Universe: Green