Shlafes

The Shlafes are a powerfully built bipedal race of furry mammal-like creatures. Early Shlafes were nomads who roamed the plains following animals as the seasons changed until eventually a tribe of Shlafes settled near a lake when they took up fishing. There the first Shlafes city grew for centuries and a royal family became its undisputed rulers. As other cities popped up elsewhere on the planet, the first city had a head start and conquered the newcomers, essentially becoming world rulers. There came a time when two twin princes both claimed rule of the city upon the death of their father. The populace was divided and a bloody civil war probably would have broken out if spaceships hadn’t landed in the palace courtyard that day. The Ugder had landed.

The Shlafes homeworld is in the same star system as the Ugder homeworld. The two species are neighbors. So when the Ugder reached out into space, the Shlafes were the first alien life forms they encountered. It didn’t go well. The more technologically advanced Ugder saw the Shlafes as little more than animals, and treated them as beasts of burden as they colonized the planet. It was an unfortunately bad first contact and only generations of struggle have made things somewhat better, as the Ugder came to realize the Shlafes were intelligent, and now treat them as equals.

Bongk Hayken lives on the Ugder homeworld, which is where his family had been brought as slaves and remained after they were freed. Bongk has a job working in a spaceport, serving food to many different species that visit the planet, which is pretty complex work.

Tuck Sherm lives on the Shlafes homeworld, in the same region his family in which had always resided. Though his ancestors may not have been taken away by the Ugder, that isn’t to say they didn’t suffer. The planet-wide disturbance caused by the arrival of aliens collapsed many of the structures that kept the society running, and this region in particular was left impoverished. Tuck is now an activist trying to improve the state of the region.

Roghad Dukkik is the Bloodking of the Shlafes. When the Ugder derailed the path of Shlafes society, the royal bloodline that ruled for so long was all but forgotten. When it was eventually decided to reestablish the royal government of the Shlafes, genetic testing was done to find any descendants of the original line still existed. One did, and it was Roghad. He is a young, irreverent slacker and he doesn’t even know the history of the royal family. It’ll be a wacky adventure having him as the new ruler of the planet.

A Fact About The Shlafes: Grooming rituals make up an important role in Shlafes society. Though they had no concept of germs or bacteria or anything like that, they naturally came up with many techniques that created a good level of sanitation for their living environments. Comparatively, the Ugder were a mess until they arrived on Shlafes and they learned a lot of from their neighbors that saved many Ugder lives.

Universe: Narsidon

Eebaks

The Eebaks are a species with two powerful legs, six eyes, beaks, and soft fur that covers the core area of their body. They are an extremely social species, living closely together in “Houses” made up of individuals who will stick together throughout their lives, for better or for worse, with everyone supposed to pitch in.

Dorinto Pront is, as the name suggests, a Pront. Pronts are members of the “House of Houses”, which is a group of representatives from different Houses who meet regularly to discuss matters of the public good, and Dorinto does a lot of good there. Unfortunately. Dorinto’s House is particularly well off, with very little suffering in their lives, so the others don’t quite understand why Dorinto should spend so much time meeting to discuss the well-being of lesser Houses. Most of Dorinto’s housemates actually see it as a waste of time, and think of Dorinto as lazy and not contributing to the well-being of the House.

Fakrang is a professional mater. Eebak reproduction is done with two participants, one creating a shell-like object and the other filling it with genetic material and the burying the result in the ground (they are an agendered species and any individual can contribute either component). Fakrang, being a particularly attractive Eebak, travels from location to location finding those who have a desire to mate and helping them out. Eebaks don’t care for their offspring, so there is not much of an emotional component to Fakrang knowing that they’ve fathered hundreds of children.

Maureraw is a hunter. The Eebak diet consists mostly of smaller animals, which they prefer to eat alive, so hunters like Maureraw are expected to capture the animals alive and then bring them back to their House, or to trade them to other Houses. As a side-project, though, Maureraw has invented a method of working with a flying-insect-like species to gather the products they produce. Maureraw has invented this planet’s version of beekeeping.

A Fact About Eebaks: Only a generation ago, the largest episode of warfare in the planet’s history erupted across the planet, caused by a matter of etiquette. Wars had happened among the Eebak before over things such as territory or resources, but this first World War began when a well-respected Pront in a highly civilized region travelled to a less developed region and was taken in by locals and given shelter and food. The Pront returned home and had a message of thanks sent, but it was discovered that the message was worded not by the Pront themselves, but by an assistant. This was seen as a scandal and an insult to the poorer region, and when the other poorer regions joined them in standing up against this affront, thousands of regions were drawn into the conflict to show the reality of their thanks to their allies. This was the cause of the bloodiest war the Eebaks have ever known.

Universe: Red

Horbhorb

On the planet Foreygo are the Horbhorb, a species of large four-legged species who stand over twenty feet tall at the shoulder. Horbhorb vision extends well into the ultraviolet and infrared ranges, so they can see much more than humans. Their skins, and the fans on their heads, are decorated with colors that we just can’t see, which is a shame because they look very pretty.

Horbhorb society is one in which individuals are assigned an occupation at the end of their education period, which they must do as their penance for being born, and thus becoming a burden on others. If one rejects their assigned occupation, they go into exile, living on their own in the wild.

Mallo is an assigner, which is perhaps the occupation most important to Horbhorb society. When a child comes out of the education system, the child and the trio of educators assigned to it will meed with Mallo and discuss what occupations are needed to be filled in the world, and what skill the child has shown. Mallo is a particularly socially conscious Horbhorb, who genuinely puts the good of society at the forefront of decisions, but many other assigners are somewhat corrupt, and will be influenced by bribes.

The Horbhorb have the ability to take in food and compress it into dense balls which they can then regurgitate and eat later. But who has time for that in today’s fast-paced modern life? Blusmar is a professional regurgitator, who spends the days gorging on food to create foodballs for others to use when they get hungry. Blusmar’s tail decorations look especially nice to Horbhorb vision, so Blusmar manages to land quality mates every mating season.

Qwedy is a Waker-upper, which is an occupation based around staying awake all night to wake up others when they need to arise for their jobs. Essentially, Qwedy is a living alarm clock. Qwedy loves the job, since it allows one an excuse to be active in that relaxing period when most of the population is asleep.

A Fact About Horbhorb: Horbhorb count in base-568, which is based on the fact there are 284 days in one of their planet’s years, during which each day and night has an individual name, from which the words for their numbers are derived. Binary has been becoming popular among philosophers, but rather than replace the usual system, it is seen as a compliment to it (and the connection is made to night and day cycles).

Universe: Green

The Muchsufferers

In Universe Silver, all mortals are playthings caught in the whims of the Space Gods we call the Astrolympians. Most mortals are lucky enough to not know that, but on one planet there is a species that has developed a sense that allows them to interpret the divine. They can detect the movements of the Space Gods and that has left them fully aware of how small they are in comparison.

They call themselves the Muchsufferers. They are an aquatic race, though roughly humanoid in shape, with big heads and three digits on each limb. Their form of propulsion involves shifting various internal organs around as ballast.

Xixogoz wants to rise to the level of the gods. Since the Muchsufferers can actually see that level of existence, it makes sense that one would think it was attainable. Though none has ever ascended to a state above mortality, there are tales of old days when an individual’s hubris would make the gods take notice of them. That sounds like a good starting point for Xixogoz, who is striving with plans involving the planet’s most advanced science, solely as a challenge to the gods, with the intent of trying to study, or even capture one when they manifest.

Vindoobi wants nothing more than to serve the gods. Unlike the religions of Earth, the Muchsufferers have concrete evidence that there are spiritual entities that control the mechanisms of the universe. In a lot of ways, it would be foolish not to want to serve them. Vindoobi starts every day consulting the oracles, asking for some indication of what the gods want, and then spends the day trying to do their will. Some of the gods have actually taken notice of Vindoobi’s actions, and are totally messing with him. They’ll tell the oracles that they a hole must be dug in the mud on the outskirts of town, and they’ll laugh as Vindoobi spends a day doing it. The next day, they tell the oracles the hole needs to be filled with different mud, and Vindoobi spends a whole day doing that, and they get to laugh again. Vindoobi would be devastated to learn this, but in the meantime at least feels useful.

And then there’s Wusselll. Wusselll is one of the most gifted sculptors in the universe, capable of conveying emotion with an abstract hunk of rock. The gods pay attention to this mortal because they actually appreciate the beauty of the works, and several gods have rewarded Wusselll in order to entice the artist into creating works dedicated to them. Other Muchsufferers see how the gods favor their fellow, and they can grow jealous, which sometimes puts Wusselll in danger.

A Fact About the Muchsufferers: Muchsufferers have a mouth-organ on their chest that they keep covered by their clothing except when they are eating, which is an important ritual. Meals are taken at temples and large portions are sacrificed to the gods. Their diet consists largely of star-shaped vegetation that grows in bushes with sharp thorns that are gathered during a ceremony in which the Muchsufferers sing their prayers.

Universe: Silver

During the Supernatural Sundays I did a bunch of alien wizard called Wallfixers and several members of that group were of a species called the Pllvm. These undersea octopusish people, I decided, exist in many alternate universes because humans aren’t the only ones who get to be ubiquitous. Today, let’s take a tour of some of those universes:

Bubllpub is an aide to the Pllvm’s royal family. In his universe the Pllvm homeworld is ruled by a single government, a monarchy whose lineage stretches back many generations. The royal family is not perfect, a few of the members are particularly cruel and set upon conquering other worlds, but most of them are decent enough rulers of the planet. First contact with alien species was only made in the current generation, and it has not always gone well. Bubllpub has been personally assaulted by six different alien beings. Still, he holds out hope that the planet’s entry into the galactic community will end up being beneficial for all involved.

Universe: White

On a Pllvm homeworld that has not made first contact and has hundreds of separate nations spread over the oceans, Bublupp is just a working class “normal” person. He makes a living by delivering batteries to businesses with energy subscriptions and it is pretty easy work and he doesn’t hate it. Bublupp is focused on raising a family, and has two children, though his mate was killed in a tragic accident. He tries to be a good father, but the pressure gets to him sometimes and he will eat illegal intoxicating plants to relax.

Universe: Blue

Lollipop, whose name being similar to an English word is just a coincidence, is a criminal for hire. Living in a significantly corrupt society, this sort of criminal mercenary work is about the best one can manage. But that doesn’t mean that Lollipop doesn’t have other ambitions. He daydreams of being able to make a living doing comedy. He stays up late at night working on his material alone.

Universe: Red (also home to Plplppow)

Though her homeworld is the capital of a federation that spans several star systems, Pulubbul has never been off-planet. She’s a homeworlder who thinks that the planet has everything she’s ever going to need and that other planets are basically for rustic idiots. That attitude is going to give her trouble when her rich uncle on a farming planet dies and leaves her his estate at the same time she gets kicked out of her apartment and has to go live with the “country bumpkins” she had no respect for. It’s a real fish out of water situation, except still very much in water.

Universe: Green (also home to Polpplplo)

Lubgug‘s version of the Pllvm homeworld is beset by demigods. Some of the Astrolympians have visited this world, so naturally they’ve had children here. Those children of the gods have, as is their wont, been unruly and tend to fight one another. Lubgug is in the employ of one of the nicer demigods, called Helper, a compassionate being who pities the Pllvm and tries to stop the meaner gods. Lubgug and the other members of Helper’s following try to clean up and repair the damage after the fights.

Universe: Silver

The Pllvm homeworld of Vmblb was once twisted by a dark magical entity, and Vmblb was among the Pllvm who were mutated and forced to serve that being. Though the monster was driven away and the mutated horde regained their free will, Vmblb has had trouble returning to normal society after all he’s been through.

Universe: Brown (also home to Lupplol)

Bvplob is a scientist on her version of the Pllvm homeworld. This version of the planet has two rival governments waging open warfare and Bvplob is employed by one of them to create super soldiers. Bvplob does her job, but she has doubts about whether her side is any better than the other side when it comes down to it. As she goes about perfecting her formulae, she makes plans to use the resulting super powers on herself to try to put an end to the conflict she sees as pointless.

Universe: Orange