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

Zunoltians

The planet Zunoltia is homeworld to a species that has become very technologically advanced and is beginning to reach out into the larger galactic community of other alien species. It has only been a generation since first contact was made between Zunoltians and other life forms, so many individual Zunoltians are still growing accustomed to the idea that other aliens exist at all. It doesn’t help that not all contact with other species has been pleasant. Several Zunoltian cities welcome alien immigrants (though only a few have come), and other cities have tried to seal themselves off from the rest of the planet, becoming insular and xenophobic.

One individual that has been trying to smooth relations between Zunoltia and outside worlds is the Astro-Hero, a cosmic Zunoltian superhero who saves the planet from threats like Exomek and other alien invaders, as well as helping friendly aliens both on their own worlds, and on Zunoltia.

Naming conventions of the Zunltions are quite strange to humans, their names being a phrase that is relevant to the individual’s naming ceremony, which takes place a Zunoltian year (almost two Earth years) after they are born. Most of the time, though, the phrase contains a word that does not translate into other languages, which can be used as a proper noun. So, for example, when When Swez Leaves is speaking to an alien with a language more similar to a human one, she would be called “Swez”. This is relevant to Swez’s job, as she is employed by the Zunoltian government as an envoy to other worlds. She’s personally had to be saved by the Astro-Hero dozens of times.

Jimny is Near is a veteran of the war against the Dobraxu, an event that was devastating to the planet and is the source of many a Zunoltian’s anti-alien sentiment. Jimny’s life was actually saved by a Dobraxu soldier during the war, so she tries to think of aliens as potential allies, but still has trouble. It would be so much easier to like aliens if they just didn’t interact with Zunioltia, Jimny thinks.

And Lesna the Quick is a young Zunoltian and therefore has never known any world without knowledge of alien life, or without the alien culture that has been imported since first contact was made. Lesna has been raised in a world where alien music has been popular among the youth and greatly irritating to the elders, who consider it meaningless noise. Lesna has been creating music of her own that uses Zunoltian traditional sounds with alien vocals. It hasn’t caught on yet, but she plans to keep trying.

A Fact About Zunoltians: Several hundred generations ago there was a war on Zunoltia that nearly brought the species to extinction. The world-spanning Zunoltian culture of that time was wiped out, leaving scattered survivors to pick up the pieces. Tales of that original culture lived on in what was believed to be mere myth until recent archaeological discoveries of ancient ruins.

Universe: Green

Vyvtyx

The Vyvtyx of the planet Dwennuar are a quadrupedal species with face tendrils. Though they are as adept with their tendrils as any human is with their hands, the Vyvtyx have yet to create tools in the same sense that humans have. They do, however, have methods of using the other animals and plant-life of their world to the ends they need.

Niidal is a reclusive loner living in one of the least populous sections of Dwennuar. Niidal just got sick of all the complications of ordinary Vyvtyx life, like the mandatory social service, the morning chanting, and the swebzy fuangnag. Who can keep up with modern life? Not Niidal, that’s for sure. So he’s living off the grid, in some cave where he doesn’t have to see any Vyvtyx and doesn’t need to meet with their standards. It can be lonely and hard to live a life along, but at least he doesn’t need to put up with swebzy fuangnag.

One of the most popular technologies of the Vyvtyx is the use of symbiotic lifeforms. For example, they are known to ingest one species, similar to Earth’s tapeworms, that will live in their insides, but will provide some benefits to the host. Myndin is a breeder of such worm creatures, his particular livestock being used by Vyvtyx who suffer from allergies. Myndin’s worms alleviate their symptoms for as long as they are present in the host body, so Myndin’s particularly clever addition to his livestock is a “planned obsolescence” created by breeding them to lower their lifespans. Though Vyvtyx have no currency as we do, they do operate on a barter system, so when allergy sufferers need to replace their worms, they have to give more goods to Myndin. If Mindyn plays this right, he could amass a fortune of wealth in a way no Vyvtyx has before. If the customers catch on that he’s actually making his product less efficient on purpose, he may have to face their wrath.

A popular form of entertainment on Dwennuar is to watch races in which a group of Vyvtyx will pursue an animal and the first to catch it and get it back to the starting line declared the winner. Vyrtym is a professional racer, and is quite successful. Though the modern Vyvtyx may not be as built for speed as their evolutionary ancestors, who hunted for food, the event still thrills them on an instinctual level. Unlike Earthly races, contestants here are encouraged to sabotage their opponents, so long as no serious injuries are incurred.

A Fact About Vyvtyx: When a Vyvtyx gets old, they are seen as being a burden on the rest of the species. There are different methods throughout the species various cultures, but among all of them the elders are ceremoniously killed. If a Vyvtyx doesn’t want to die, it can get very unpleasant.

Universe: White

The Multitude of Blong

The species that calls itself the Multitude of Blong believe very strongly in the concept of fiction. Their system of belief states that all stories made up occupy a mythical realm called the “Ocean of Ideas” which, when full, spills into reality and all the stories come true. They posit that at the start of the universe there was only the “First Storyteller”, a lonely mind that told itself stories to keep occupied, until all those came true. The characters from within those stories then went on to tell more stories. And the cycle continued, on and on like that, until the present day.

Nine Fire is a member of the Blongian equivalent of the police, but a division we don’t have on Earth. Nine Fire’s job is to investigate storytellers who have told stories that contradict other stories. Since they believe that all stories will come true, any contradiction could be ruinous to the fabric of reality itself. Nine Fire’s specialty is examining stories being told on the streets for recurring elements that might be useful in tracking down the original storyteller.

Seventy Throng is very unhappy. Seventy Throng has been told, as every Blongian has, that their life is a story that someone told in the previous cycle now come to be real. Well, Seventy Throng thinks that the person who told that story was an idiot. Seventy Throng’s life has been a total mess. There’s been plenty of suffering, but not an excessive amount. That would have at least make it clear that it was a tragedy. Instead, Seventy Throng’s life has been confusing and utterly mundane, full of events that don’t seem to come from anywhere or lead to anything, and individuals who never seem to stick around long enough to serve any narrative purpose. Long stretches of boring peppered with hasty nonsense. If this life was a story ever told by anyone, what was the point? What could possibly be interesting about any of this? Seventy Throng would like nothing more out of life than to meet that particular storyteller and cause them a lot of bodily harm.

And then there’s Sixteen Dunce. Sixteen Dunce is a stunt performer. Driving vehicles off ramps and climbing steep cliffs while juggling. Death-defying feats that really bring in the crowds and make Sixteen Dunce famous all the world over.

A Fact About the Multitude of Blong: All three of these examples from the Multitude of Blong are from a culture with a specific naming convention. Newborns on this planet are hatched in caves, and the number part of the name represents the order in which they climb out. So, Nine Fire was the ninth to climb from that cave during that hatching season. The last name is related to the year the hatching took place, years in the Blongian calendar being given titles. Other cultures on the planet have different ways to name individuals, but this is by far the most common.

Universe: Blue