Niftari

The Niftari are a species that lives on a planet called Carasteranak. They are a furry, slow-moving species that walks on hooved back feet and the elbows of their forelimbs. They are very solitary creatures and, once they leave their litter, they only join with other Niftari for the purpose of mating. Any natural predators the Niftari once may have had were gotten rid of in earlier times, so now Niftari are free to leisurely wander their planet occupying their time as they like.

The planet Carasteranak is smaller than Earth but its gravity is actually stronger owing to its unique makeup. Also, its days and years are both much longer than Earth’s. In most ways it seems like a very slow-paced world.

Vennis is a clockwork maker. The most advanced technologies of Carasteranak are clockwork masterpieces and Vennis’s are quite advanced among these. Though Vennis has created many things, the last several years have been spent on the latest project: a vast, complex device that can do complex mathematics, which Vennis suspects will make it even easier to calculate the best way to make still more complex clockworks.

Beodsom is an expert at mixing ingredients (plants, fluids, etc.) to create powerful potions of medicinal value. Though they are an asocial species by nature, Niftari “medics” like Beodsom are wont to track the scent of others who smell sick and give them potions to make them well again. There is no exchange of goods or currency for this (or for any other occupation on the planet), and the only reward the medics get is knowledge that they have helped others, and respect for doing so. These rewards are enough, though.

Igidup is an explorer. Though Carasteranak is small, and almost all of it has been traversed by Niftari of the past, no maps were ever kept. That means that every new place Igidup reaches is new to Igidup, at least. There’s little danger in exploring either, so it really is a nice quiet life.

A Fact About the Niftari: Niftari eyesight is such that they have never seen the stars in their sky, except the one around which their planet orbits. Still, they are a contemplative enough species that the idea of other worlds with other life has occurred to them, at least on a theoretical level.

Universe: Silver

Tkrkvts

The Tkrkvts are a species that live on a moon of a gas giant planet they call Vvk. They have not yet realized the cosmological position of their moon world, but think of it as just the area “Under Vvk” so that is what we must call their world. There are many larger species Under Vvk that would potentially be predators of the Tkrkvts, were it not for the fact that the Tkrkvts have evolved to be extremely poisonous. It can still happen that a Tkrkvt will be eaten, so they absolutely do not think of themselves as the “top of the food chain” of their world, but the fact that predators will almost always die afterward gives them the impression that they are, in a way, being avenged by the universe, so they must be some kinda special.

Tkrtk lives in the largest city-hill Under Vvk, amid a massive bustling population, and Tkrtk wouldn’t have it any other way. An active go-getter, Tkrtk is always seeking out new ways to help out the city-hill. A lot of the rest of the population thing Tkrtk is an idiot for that. (City-hills being, basically, hills that have been hollowed out and turned into cities, of course. They live in those.)

Hrkrtr has gone missing. Nobody Under Vvk is sure where Hrkrtr has gotten to. Ain’t nobody seen Hrkrtr in years. It’s weird. Of course, we know that Hrkrtr was abducted by aliens, but you can’t expect the Tkrkvts to know that. They haven’t even thought up the idea that there places other than Under Vvk. Anyway, Hrkrtr eventually made friends with the aliens and now travels with them. It’s fine.

Crsytk is a nomadic plumber. The vast pipe system of the Tkrkvts is probably their most advanced technology, so the plumbers are well respected, but few in number. Crsytk and fellow plumbers will often travel vast distances to whichever part of the world they are needed. They’ll be honored guests in the home of those they are helping, and their coming will be big news in the area around. It’s all very nice, but Crsytk has an ulterior motive for travelling, Crsytk is trying to locate the Tkrkvts who killed a plumber years ago, and who got away with it. Crsytk will get revenge even if it takes the rest of time.

A Fact About Tkrkvts: Though the Tkrkvts have a vocal language (one which incorporates noises made by scratching at the ground), they also possess the ability to mark things with a pheromone-like system. Because of this, no form of written language has ever been produced. Instead, they have worked to develop methods of saving pheromone-information by applying it to materials that will sustain it for generations.

Universe: Green