I have just not found the time to draw another scene of life on Planet Gurx, so I’m just gonna do a post with a bunch more of the Gurxian animals I’ve already drawn, aren’t I? I sure am. Here they go.

Drovoo

A predatory armoured Vootuph with four eyestalks, which allow them to seek out smaller creatures along the Gurxian beaches, and two stabbing appendages, which allow them to kill that prey. Drovoo are the largest of this branch of the Vootuph line, and often prey on smaller examples such as Pwiak.

Twel

Docile river-swimming creatures, the Twel use their hindmost limbs to gather fallen debris to build complex nests in which they, in monogamous pairs, raise their young. Early Strondos (and other Varians of those ages) would hunt Twel and they were a mainstay of their diet.

Hotaein

An Aehubar relatively near the Strondovarians on the evolutionary tree, the Hotaein occupy a similar place to them as monkeys do to humans. That said, Strondos don’t have the sentimentality toward their cousins that some humans have toward theirs, and generally consider Hotaein to be pests.

Urloay

A rare kind of Lapaouger whose hindmost limbs have adapted into tendrils that can snare prey. These, when joined by the claws on the forelimbs, are the weapons that make Urloay one of the most fierce hunters on Gurx.

Guoar

Living in the crowded branches near the canopy of the rare green forests found on some of Gurx’s more isolated islands, the Guoar like to calmly climb around the branches and eat the tiny Vootuph who also live on the trees. Guoar are mellow and slow.

Ayaih

With topmost limbs adapted to digging, the Ayaih live in large systems of tunnels beneath the grasslands, coming out to forage for meals. They’re skittish creatures, used to fleeing back to their tunnels to avoid predators and have a complex language of chirps used to warn each other of threats.

I often entertain myself with thoughts about how, after we die, we should be presented with a table of statistics about stuff we did in life. Like, how many steps we took, or how much ice cream we ate, or our how many frogs saw us. Just stats about everything. And the one I wonder about perhaps most often is what percentage of my life I’ve spent nude.

I mean, I sleep nude. I even shower nude. Honestly, if I’m home and don’t have anyone over and I’m not cooking or cleaning or cold, I’m probably naked or close to it. I just find it so comfortable. Honestly, I think I’d be classified as a nudist if I cared about a sense of community or being outside. But no, those aren’t for PDR. Just being naked.

This line of thought has also made me wonder if this is why I carry so much stuff when I’m outside. I’ve often likened it to having an inventory like an adventure game character, but maybe what I’m actually trying to do is make it so that I’m still naked in an apartment. An apartment made of the clothes I’m wearing. “See, I’ve got all this stuff, I must still be comfortable inside and hidden away from the world, right?” That must be it, right?

Anyway, this level of self-insight surely deserves some kind of honorary psychology degree.

Hey, maybe my brain is weird.

Gloueb had not seen the skies of planet Gurx in many years. Though born here, in this very city of Dalennep, Gloueb had spent more than half of their lifetime so far working in space. Gurx didn’t feel like home anymore.

And now Gloueb was stuck here, along with the large percentage of the Strondos who had been working as astronauts, but had now been called back to their home planets. They were being treated like they were Nexvar, being put away until they were needed again. But unlike Nexvar, Gloueb wasn’t being put into suspended animation between jobs. They had a chance here to fill their time with all sorts of experiences on Gurx, but did they want to?

That’s what Gloueb was wondering as they looked out the window at Dalennep. Then, rubbing a tapestry, Gloueb activated lights woven into the fabric and turned into the room. They wondered what it meant that they didn’t like it here. It was comfortable at least. Anyone credited as working on the New Gurx project could stay at any of the city’s hotels, so Gloueb had taken up residence in the hotel nearest the spaceport, as though, they thought, staying close to it would ensure that the news that they could get back into space would reach them that little bit sooner. But why did they want to go back? There were innumerable fresh experiences on this planet, lots to do and see.

The problem was how slow it was here. The stars, even Ahan, sat so still. Sure, Gloueb knew that planets and stars all moved quite quickly. But compared to spaceship with a buloggo engine? Gurx was a standstill.

Gloueb turned to a tabletop terminal and switched on a connection to the Knowledge Base. For the first time in their lifetime, they looked up what it takes to become a registered Nexvar.

Wise Chargan sat and looked out the window of their mountaintop home. They did not spend as much time on Gurx as they once did, but the automatic units kept the home in perfect order. It was a comforting feeling to sit in a familiar chair and listen to audio updates from the Knowledge Base. Chargan could use any comfort they could get.

The audio updates were full of the latest news approved to be heard by the masses, but Chargan knew things that had not, and may never, make it into them. Worrying things.

A Rootfolk armada found lifeless, recently destroyed, within Strondo space. It was a mystery how a fleet of ships designed by their most frequent enemies had made it so close to Gurx without being spotted. It was a further mystery how they had been destroyed without a battle being noticed. And it was the most disturbing mystery of all that their destroyer remained unknown. The Rootfolk fleet had been technologically advanced, Chargan had seen it. More advanced than anything the Strondos possessed at this time. Finding them dead was the best outcome. Certainly better than it would have been to learn of them only when they attacked.

Who killed the Rootfolk fleet? Where were these killers now? What could they want? What could Strondovarian culture do to protect itself? The Wise had agreed to decrease unnecessary activity in space for the time being, to avoid attracting attention, but construction of New Gurx had to continue. It was unrealistic to believe they could avoid notice for long. And whose notice were they trying to avoid?

Chargan could, for now, only worry about potential answers.