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

Skwivs

The Skwivs are a large snail-like species who have abandoned the shells they evolved with in favor of robotic shells with arms and legs and stuff. They call their planet “Skwivda” and the world is make up of numerous city-states, most ruled by monarchs who have inherited the role from progenitors. There is a near-constant state of war on the planet, with the city-states sending battle parties to raid each other as a matter of course. In addition to stealing wealth from each other, the taking of slaves remains a common practice.

Vukpuk is a warrior for one of the world’s richest armies. At the start of the warm season, the army leaves their city state and begins wandering the lands raiding whatever cities they happen to come across until they return home in time for the cold seasons with all their new wealth. Every third year of such service, the warriors get the option to stay home as guards, but Vukpuk has never taken that option, preferring the life of a wandering pillager.

Leckvar is a shell builder, designing robotic bodies for use in special circumstances. That includes bodies designed for mining or deep sea travel and so on. While that is rewarding work, Leckvar’s real passion is creating “soul shells”, which is what Leckvar calls shells intended for the ghosts of the dead to wear to return to the world of the living. There has not yet been any sign that soul shells will work, but that does not stop Leckvar.

Burgsel is a slave who is forced to work as a medic/shell repairer for a wandering army. Though Burgsel hates having to care for slavers, the other option is death, so Burgsel does the job as well as can be expected, all the while fantasizing of finding a way to take down the whole army all at once.

A Fact About Skwivs: All Skwivs have an inborn sense of proximity to others of their kind. A Skwiv can tell innately if another Skwiv is nearby, or if a crowd is in the distance in a particular direction.

Universe: Silver

Bosonobes

The Bosonobes live on the planet Zips. They are a furry bipedal species with massive hoof-like feet that evolved from a herd animal that lived in the planet’s marshy lowlands. The species is even more obsessed with mating rituals than humans are, and it colors most aspects of their society. A physically attractive specimen of the Bosonobe equivalent of a male is will display large horns and a large club tail, while female-equivalent Bosonobes show off long and shiny fur.

Senek Loww is a Bosonobe lawmaker, which is a hereditary position passed down family lines to those who have produced an adequate number of children (the exact number varies among different Bosonobe cultures). Senek inherited the job after her third child was born. Senek has been a champion of laws that prevent the childless from having a say in society. After all, if they don’t have children, why do their opinions matter?

Thaver Tumm is a manual laborer in the big city. He has no real attachment to his job, he just considers it a halfway decent way to make a living. Like most Bosonobes, most of Thaver’s energy is spent on attempting to mate. He spends all his free time at the watering hole trying to impress potential mates. Though Bosonobe society has become too advanced to actually condone fighting rivals, there is still a lot of posturing involved, mostly showing off one’s club tail by shattering trees and ice sculptures and so on. If Thaver has ever had any doubts about this being the best way to spend his free time, he certainly hasn’t thought too deeply about them, and his society absolutely reinforces the message that this is what Bosonobes are born to do. That said, Thaver has not been especially successful and has begun setting aside a significant part of his stipend to save up for prosthetic horns that would slip over his real ones to make them appear massive.

Guvv Chay is considered a particularly Bosonobe, so life is good for her so far. She is frequently courted, but has yet to conceive a child. Guvv doesn’t know it yet, but she is incapable of having children, and this coupled with her good looks makes her an example of one of the most reviled groups on the planet: the Mate-Ruiners. Even through it is through no fault of her own that she cannot reproduce, Bosonobe culture treats Mate-Ruiners as if they were purposely trying to sabotage the species. In a few years Guvv’s lack of offspring will be seen as suspicious, and after that she will be reviled.

A Fact About Bosonobes: Although over sixty percent of the planet’s surface is covered in water, the Bosonobes have not yet developed any kind of technology for travelling on it such as boats. The closest they’ve come is making small rafts for carrying things through marshy areas, but even then the Bosonobes generally wade through the water while pulling the raft behind.

Universe: Narsidon

The Jinnarri

The planet Jinnar is in bad shape. Long ago the world was a paradise of high-tech cities, but centuries ago as we reckon time, a group of self-proclaimed “wizards” made contact with mystical intelligences that exist beyond the universe. In exchange for worship, these beings granted magical power to the Jinnarri wizards, and those wizards used that power to try to take over their world. An epic war ensued and, though the wizards were stopped, most of Jinnarri society was reduced to rubble. The few survivors had to eke out a life in the ruins, and slowly they have pulled back together to form new villages and try to pick up the pieces.

Konwaag the Magic Hunter is a Jinnarri, though he has left the homeworld behind on a quest to wipe out magic throughout the galaxy. He says he’s doing it because magic is evil, but it sure is a convenient excuse to get away from this hellscape.

Aavokus is a pretty standard example of a Jinnarri civilian. Just a child during the last days of the war, he was raised in a prisoner of war camp among other starving prisoners. When the final days of the wizards came, those who could get out of the camp did so, only to find starvation waiting again in their freedom. In those days there were mystical monsters, slaves to the wizards, that wandered the ruins attacking Jinnarri. It was a constant struggle for survival, and Aavokus lost many friends along the way. But eventually the monsters were wiped out, and the Jinnarri who remained were able to band together. Aavokus was one of the founders of a village, and is now one of the elders there.

Like Konwaag, Mounei has managed to get his hands on some sweet wartime anti-magic technology. He only has a helmet, but it is complete with working sensors and display screens, so it is a formidable tool in this world of scavengers and survivors. Unlike Aavokus, Mounei and his pack of fellow survivors have not yet settled down, instead living a nomadic lifestyle guided by the information given by the helmet.

Apestis is part of a cult that seeks to retrace the steps of the Jinnarri wizards who once tried to conquer the world. Facing a terrible life of suffering and turmoil, it is only natural that they would try to find mystical short cuts to bring themselves succor. But the simple truth is that they are not magical. They do not have access to the otherworldly energies that the old wizards used to warp reality, so the cult are merely a superstitious batch clinging to traditions and rituals they don’t understand that accomplish nothing. Worst of all is the fruitless blood sacrifices they make to beings that just aren’t paying attention.

A Fact About the Jinnarri: The digestive system of the Jinnarri is such that they eat small pebbles to help their stomachs break down their food, which is mostly made up of grassy vegetation swallowed whole.

Universe: White

Drutag

The Drutag are an aggressive warrior race who believe proving oneself by the domination of others. But they are not the stereotypically angry warrior race who revel in pointless violence. They are actually considered to be cold and emotionless by most outsiders, for among the Drutag there is a lot of tradition, ritual, and bureaucracy that determines one’s social standing. It just happens to involve a lot more physical combat than usual.

Standing about a foot shorter than a human on average, the Drutag have a single eye and a set of head-prongs. Though the prongs are technically sensory organs, used to detect magnetic fields and such, they can also emit an electrical pulse that will do damage other species. This was used when the primitive Drutag hunted prey, and it is often used now on other species when the Drutag try to conquer them.

Neep Zern works in the Drutag Astronomical Offices. This is the planet’s foremost operation for charting out the cosmos, with a special focus on finding places to conquer. Neep is in charge of the telescoptery division, a job he got by challenging his predecessor to a duel to the death. By standing outside the building and performing a challenge dance, he declared his intentions, and his predecessor had the choice to either accept and fight, or to back down and lose the respect of her peers, and probably lose her job anyway. She chose to fight, but Neep defeated her. In general, it is actually pretty rare for a challenger to depose a high-ranking worker, but it does happen, and Neep is proof of that.

Teg Farr is part of the Drutag Imperial Expansion Army. He and thousands of soldiers like him are shipped to other worlds to make other species subservient to the Drutag. It is a career perfect for those physically strong enough to rise in society, but not smart enough to do so without being forced to risk their lives on other worlds.

Dow Dow is a simple farmer in one of the smaller villages of the planet’s wettest regions. While the Drutag in more important parts of the world commandeer most of the good produced by the smaller farmers, the farmers do get to provide for themselves and thus have a freedom from the bureaucracy and military that most of the Drutag don’t have. Dow has been using her position as the strongest in the village to gather the loyalty of those beneath her, dreaming of one day overthrowing the big city governments, though she has no idea just how out of reach that dream actually is.

A Fact About the Drutag: In addition to proving oneself physical superior, a popular Drutag occupation is proving ones skills by being the first to do things. It’s for this reason that Drutag scout ships will often warp off to unknown planets and solar systems just for the claim of being pioneers. It’s actually made this warrior race one of the most successful groups of space explorers in their universe, having even visited galaxies beyond that from which they originate.

Universe: Orange