The Strondovarians have plenty of kinds of vehicles, including wheeled ones, flying craft, and boats. We’d recognize all of that here on Earth. But one of the most popular kinds of conveyance on planet Gurx are what we’d call “Mechs” (and they’d call “Strenyacav”). You know the ones: armoured machines that are like big robots with a living pilot. Strondos love those.

One element of Strondovarian technology, relevant not just to the mechs, but all electronics and machines designed by Strondo culture: it’s all designed to be modular and universally compatible. Parts and components can be salvaged and reused with easy. And planned obsolescence would make designers into pariahs. All this, combined with the generally lackadaisical Strondovarian attitude toward possession of material goods, has resulted in a culture of mech pilots that have their own unique custom designs, but don’t specifically own their own mechs. When they need a mech, they’ll grab the nearest available one and quickly modify it to match their preferences. Often this is done simply by bringing the mechs into large hangars that perform the customization based on the pilot’s profile as it is registered in the Knowledge Bank. In a way, this makes mechs the largest reactive devices a Strondo is likely to use.

This is a pretty standard Personal Mech as one might find being used by security forces. Designed for a single pilot, they can probably fit a single passenger if they’re not specced so heavily that there’s no room left. In addition to security or combat, single-pilot mechs will often be adapted to roles such as construction or exploration of dangerous areas.

The standard design of a Personal Mech is made to emulate the exoskeletal Vootuph species found on the planet Gurx, and as such will occasionally be referred to by the names of such species if the resemblance is enough that the Strondos find the comparison funny.

This second example has a body plan much more like that of a Strondovarian, and is much more massive in physical size, standing as they do around 50 metres tall on average. While they’re often designed so that a single Strondo can pilot them, to operate one of these to the full extent of its potential usually requires two or three pilots working together in the cockpit.

These massive machines have peaceful uses, they have much more room for transportation of passengers for example, but they are generally designed for combat. On planet Gurx, it is now rare for combat of this sort to be necessary, but every city has several such mechs waiting for a day when gigantic fighting machines may be needed.

Once again I’m seeking to speed up the process of working through all the Gurxian animals I’ve drawn by posting a bunch of them that aren’t connected by any single region.

Iakeab

A species of nocturnal predator that hunts in the dense forests of Gurx, the Iakeab are stealthy creatures with excellent lowlight vision and a tendency to grab onto their prey and just hang onto it until it tires itself out. Iakeab like to build nests in the rotting remains of vegetation.

Uuggovoau

Uuggovoau are a grasslands species that has specialized in eating nests of smaller animals, especially small Vootuph that live in tunnels in the dirt. Their claws are perfect for digging open the tunnels and they can insert their long Rel to catch their prey.

Simauginis

Living in the shallow waters near shorelines, Simauginis are soft-tissues filter-feeders that walk along the sands in the day, and burrow into it at night. If they are divided into chunks, each can grow into a full-grown Simauginis over time. This, and their rapid reproductive rate, makes them a plentiful food source for a variety of predators.

Otyanoa

Large, aquatic creatures with eyes on stalks, the Otyanoa are docile and often farmed by Strondovarians in cooler oceanic regions. It is generally assumed that Otyanoa would be extinct if not kept by Strondos, so they’re treated as an example of the Strondos’ mastery over shaping their planet.

Tesses

The flying Vootuph species called Tesses fill the same niche on Gurx that honeybees do on Earth. They fly around collecting the Gurxian equivalent of pollen and turning it into a honeylike substance called Vaumian. And yes, there are Strondovarians who care for Tesses colonies to farm that Vaumian, the Gurxian equivalent of beekeepers.

Imbaukla

Another predatory species from the dense forests, the hindmost limbs of the Imbaukla have curled forward into limbs used to move the detritus that gathers at the forest floor to flush out smaller animals to eat. Imbaukla are tall creatures, standing as high as an adult Strondovarian, with eyes that can move independently to help them spot prey to grasp with their sticky Rel.

Oaushaue

A flightless species related to the Glounaph line, the Oaushaue are nearly endangered and now only exist in captivity. This has made all three-hundred and seven remaining Oaushaue extremely notable and they are prized possessions of famous individuals and organizations. It is good luck for the Oashaue, at least, that their captors want to take care of them, lest they lose their status symbol.

On a mountain in the foreground, a Pholbunu tries to keep still to avoid a passing Ougliahai. On a lower mountain a handful of Ealpaia are gathered.

Ealpaia

A white-furred Aehubar not too distantly related to the Strondovarians, Ealpaia are larger than but nowhere near as intelligent as their cousins. As omnivorous pack animals that live in small packs, they are highly territorial and have been known to chase away even Strondovarians who wander too near. As such, Ealpaia are a symbol of aggression in Strondo culture.

Pholbunu

Although the primary diet of the Pholbunu is vegetation that grows on the lower parts of the mountain, these small creatures often climb higher to travel greater distances when migrating, and to build little stone nests during the mating season. This puts them at risk of being snatched up by predators who operate in the skies above, but Pholbunu have some of the strongest hearing of any creature on Gurx and that helps to keep them aware of their surroundings.

Ougliahai

Unlike their more populous herbivorous relatives, the Tessen, Ougliahai are predators that dwell in the skies near mountains. Sensing the world through echolocation, the Ougliahai have venomous spittle that they can rain down on a target, paralyzing and killing it, allowing the predator to float down and eat. This is an expensive evolutionary advantage, so they have to be eating almost nonstop, and if they prey on creatures too low in the mountains, there could be other predatory creatures that sneak up on the feasting Ougliahai while they are eating and make a meal out of them.

At this point we’ve covered a lot of the animal life that can be found on planet Gurx, and we may have seen some of planet’s version of plantlife along the way, but we haven’t focused on it. Here’s where we remedy that:

For the most part, the type of life forms that the Strondovarians classify as “Aataa” have roots that they use to anchor to soil, and extract nutrients and water, and many can use photosynthesis. They are as similar to the plants one would find on Earth as anything on Gurx.

Ovauep

One of the most common kinds of Aataa on the planet are the Ovauep, which have petal-like leaves on top of a large bulb. In addition to taking in sunlight, the leaves will, when in the presence of moisture such as rain or dew, react by forming a sort of funnel to help the plant drink it all up through its top. The Ovauep uses this moisture to make a kind of “juice” that seeps out of its sides to attract animals who drink it. This juice contains the Gurxian equivalent of pollen, which can travel via the animals to mingle with other Ovauep and allow for reproduction.

Aeklay

Found mostly in batches alongside rivers and streams, Aeklay are essentially straws that draw moisture from the wet soil to produce a fruitlike bulb that, when matured and pollinated, will dry up and blow away in the wind usually falling into the water that will wash it to some other wet soil where it can begin again.

Aeossolay

Similar to the Ovauep, the Aeossolay attract animals with the promise of a meal and will send them away with pollen. There are some differences in technique here, though: the meal of an Aeossolay is not juice, but a nut-like substance that is, by most accounts from Strondos, quite delicious. But don’t get too greedy, because if an animal digs in too deep (where the food is softer and easier to eat) while the plant is hungry, it can trigger the Aeossolay to release a chemical that will paralyze and digest the animal.

Aishiaro

Considered beautiful by Strondovarian culture, the Aishiaro are an ancient form of Aataa that grows in a sort of layer-cake form. Each year, a new tier of the Aishiaro grows from the middle of the last, building up and up until the time comes for it to release a cloud of spores, which are followed by the beginning of next year’s tier.

Ooabbi

Located on the dark floors of the Gurxian forests, the Ooabbi are named something close to “blinkers” for the bioluminescent patterns they use to attract their prey. Like the Aeossolay, these are carnivorous Aataa, but they do it with poisonous pollen-juice that can drop a victim dead near-instantly when it comes into contact. Luckily for the Ooabbi there are some species of small Vootuph flying about the forest floors that love to scavenge and are immune to this poison, so these Aataa can still pollinate and reproduce effectively even as they pile up corpses around them.

In a swampy region near the slimelands, an Ekilaei returns to the stream while other animals nearby watch for a potential meal.

Ekilaei

An Ekkpay species that has evolved to live a mostly aquatic life, the Ekilaei still come to land for things such as escaping aquatic predators and, more importantly, burying eggs. Full-grown Ekilaei have barbs on their forelimbs that can deliver a small amount of toxin to a predator, but Ekilaei young hatch under sand then make their way to the nearest body of water, with only luck helpinig them to avoid predators along the way.

Sesennrel

Lurking among the grassy plants is a Sesennrel, whose name means something close to “Stabtongue” in English. This is because the Rel of the Sesennrel is split into three sharp tendrils, each coated with a paralyzing ooze, that can be used to stab prey. Their primary mode of attack is that of an ambush predator, waiting among foliage until a victim wanders within range, but they are not unwilling to act as scavengers when the opportunity presents itself.

Elleero

Hidden in the water here is an Elleero, a type of air-breathing, river-swimming predator. A cousin of the Ekkpay, the rear end of the Elleero is developed for swift bursts of speed in water and their beaks allow them to grab smaller animals. The flexible snorkel allows them to remain still and wait to pounce, acting as another ambush predator. Things like infant Ekilaei make a good meal to an Elleero.

Chirgen

There are a couple more animals in there, but sedentary ones that could be easily mistaken for a weird sort of plant. The Chirgen look like balls of gelatin with tendrils that hold them in place along the flow of rivers and streams. The tendrils extend into the water to leech nutrients from slime runoff. After reaching maturity, about once a day they will deposit a tadpole-like offspring into the water which will swim off to find its own place to anchor, though only a few survive the trip. Mature Chirgen are quite poisonous, but they were a useful ingredient for Strondo medicine in the early days of the species.