Here’s another batch of animals that you might find wandering in the wilderness of planet Gurx.

Ailonaig

One of the aquatic species of Vootuph, the Ailonaig are noted for their showy colours and complicated mating dances. It is not uncommon for Strondovarians to keep them in aquariums and admire their beauty.

Beegloy

The bearded clapbutt is a variety of Ekkpay notable for its facial hair, which it drags along the bottoms of slimy rivers. All the little bugs and slime and stuff get stuck in the beard, which the Beegloy can lick all day. It’s a great life.

Yityoal

A Yityoal is possibly the smallest air-breathing Vootuph on Gurx. They are so small that their presence can easily be missed by larger animals, which is handy because their goal in life is to be eaten by those larger animals. Almost completely indigestible, the Yityoal can pass through the digestive system of the larger animals unharmed, all the while eating the other food being broken down in there. And then they come out and mate in the poop, then try crawl out to get eaten all over again.

Henouto

Numerous throughout the slimelands, Henouto are amphibious Vootuph that burrow into the slime. Though they have some similarity to Earth ants, they are not generally eusocial, instead living in large familial packs. Henouto care for their offspring until they are old enough to mate, at which point they wander off to join other packs.

Oudaihib

Also living in the slimelands, the Oudaihib is a kind of Lapaouger that specializes in eating Henouto. Their sticky Rel is specialized at wiggling into the Vootuph tunnels and catching a snack while their bony faceplate protects them from the defensive bites of their prey.

Ellea

Ellea are a kind of Vootuph that at the tops of forest canopies, feeding on the leaves of the vast Gurxian trees. Their tongue, always protruding from their bottom side, contains enzymes that eat away at the plant matter, digesting it before the Ellea can take it in. Their purple colouring does help them blend in among the foliage, as they freeze in place when they see a threat approach.

Daembeb

A solitary hunter dwelling in some of warmer forests, the Daembeb are and Aehubar species whose hunting technique is all about sneaking up on small prey and grabbing them with their four upmost limbs, which force the prey into their mouth. Daembeb are terrible climbers and have to focus on animals on the ground, so when something occurs that draws out smaller animals (such as the death of a Tessen) they will lurk nearby, intent on picking off some distracted creature.

Seampway

The largest of the Ekkpay species, the Seampway are more solitary than most of their cousins. Though they still breathe air, they have adapted to a fully aquatic life, preferring to dwell in the waters lazy rivers and swamps and feed on the smaller animals that swim through. Their size, and their leathery shells, offer a decent amount of protection from predators and allows the Seampway to have long relaxed lives.

Begounis

Begounis is a Nexvar Strondo who has devoted their life to the repair and improvement of Gurx Pants and other woven technology. While most Nexvar have to spend a lot of time in suspended animation between their uses, Begounis is kept busy, because everyone needs pants.

If one has really paid attention to the Strondos depicted in this series, they will have noticed that they all wear pants. Gurx Pants aren’t just a decorative genital-cover to Strondos as they are with humanity. Strondovarians have excelled at developing technologies that can be woven into fabrics. Their carpets and tapestries are almost always actually electronic devices. A wall hanging that looks like a simple design may actually be a light source that is activated when there is someone in the room, walking on the carpet. What seems like a curtain may be able to constrict and reshape itself into a hook when one needs a place to hang up some baskets. The possibilities are endless.

Gurx Pants were first developed in the early days of Strondo space travel, when they found that walking on planets other than Gurx wasn’t always easy or pleasant. To help solve this, Gurx Pants were designed to support the weight of the wearer as if they were moving within Gurx-normal gravity. Over time the pants were improved: they can now simulate the temperatures of pleasant climates, sync with other devices, store data, play music, and perform a host of other functions.

Understandably, Strondos have become quite dependant on these things. So, Begounis travels from various pants-manufactuing plants all over Gurx and, of course, beyond. And they are treated like a hero for helping to maintain these important garments that are technological marvels.

I’ve been exploring the animals of planet Gurx three at a time, with a little shot of their habitat. That’s all well and good, but I recently noticed that I still have about sixty of these things left and I don’t want to go past a year on this planet. Howzabout we just bang out some larger posts about animals real quick? No objections? Let’s go.

Awua

A kind of docile aquatic Lapaouger that lives along the island coasts. Counting their limbs, they taller than the average Strondovarian and their “upright” kind of posture led ancient Strondos to think of them as the people of the sea, though they’re actually very dumb by Strondo standards. Awuavarian is an insult (though one considered childish and corny, kind of like calling someone a “stupidhead”). They happily graze on plants on the ocean floor, usually until being eaten by predators visiting from deeper in the ocean.

Okkealil

A forest-dwelling Aehubar species whose top limbs have bonelike hard protuberances that aid in scraping the Gurxian equivalent of trees, which are often covered with nutrient-rich mosses. There are different types of Okkealil, ranging in size from ones that could fit in your hand to ones that (standing on their two lower limbs) would rival a Strondo in height. Most live in small family units and are preyed upon by predators, but their scraper-arms can be used in self defense, so they tend to go down fighting.

Yibbeau

Another animal native to some Gurxian forests is the Yibbeau. Though they evolved from Lapaouger, they’ve managed to lose their limbs in favour of a serpentine bodyplan that lets them climb all over the trees and act as an ambush predator. Rather than using fangs or constriction like a snake, they prey on smaller animals by firing their Rel out of their mouths in a manner reminiscent of Earth frogs.

Thoybrai

An aquatic Vootuph species of extremely venomous predators. The front of a Thoybrai opens into four grasping limbs, each with an eye and, more importantly, each with a stinger. A Thoybrai will stick its prey, then grab it until it dies, then eat at its leisure.

Oshooding

This horned clapbutt is a type of Ekkpay that lives near shallow streams where they stick their nose into the slimy muck and shake it around. Then they gulp in the resulting roiled water and fliter-feed to get all the little stuff that lives in there. They do, of course, also use the horns when fighting over territory of mating.

Gairan

Tiny air-breathing Vootuph that live most of their lives living on other animals. With a tongue that can pierce even thick Gurxian skin to drink blood, Gairan thrive on larger beasts, especially Lapaouger. Strondovarians have creams they rub onto themselves to prevent Gairan from living on them, but wild animals are often covered in the things.

Oyel

A type of flying Vootuph that tends to fly around larger animals and pick the Gairan off them. Even though Strondos have other ways of keeping Gairan in check, they still consider Oyel a symbol of cleansing and they are quite fond of the buzzing sound they make.

Pwiak

An armoured Vootuph that lives along the shores and build nests in the mud. To eat, they wade into the water and prey on smaller animals it catches swimming beneath it. They were a delicacy to Strondos in olden days, and their shells were often used as a decorative material.

As discussed in other posts about Planet Gurx, the Strondovarians have been expanding far from their homeworld across space for about nine thousand years now. They have colonies on other planets and space stations and are building a new homeworld from scratch. In that time, they have encountered multiple species also capable of space travel and the Strondos have had to admit that these alien beings are as intelligent as Strondos are. They call such beings Pwotuvarian, which translates to English best as “Wrong-folk” or “Alien-minds” or something to that.

For various reasons, no Pwotuvarian has yet been made welcome on planet Gurx. Still, making contact with alien life has greatly affected the Strondovarians, so let’s take a look at how Strondos relate to some of the other intelligent species they’ve met.

Pwot Pharvarian
These strange creatures with plant-like appendages were the first “intelligent” alien species met by the Strondos, and it went poorly. The “Rootfolk” are long-lived, so they remember the Strondos as their enemies in the Great Cosmic Conflict and they still hold a grudge. While the Strondos learned from that giant war that they should be more cautious as they explore space, the Rootfolk only learned that they need to be more powerful. Even now the Rootfolk will attack Strondo ships and colonies on sight.

Pwot Tibgeddavarian
Another species that the Strondos first met on the fields of space-battle, the “Omnivoroids” suffered badly in the Great Cosmic Conflict. Their planet’s technological progress was blasted back significantly. With considerably shorter lifespans than either Strondos or Rootfolk, the Conflict was thousands of generations ago and lives on in their memory as myths. The Omnivoroids of today are reaching into space once more, and they’ve met the Strondos again. Though the Omnivoroids hold all other beings in contempt (seeing them primarily as potential food), the Strondos are in a more powerful position, so the two species are occasionally able to work together and exchange goods.

Pwot Bulongivarian
Of all the species the Strondos have encountered, they are on the best terms with the “Multitude of Blong” a six-legged people who have not yet travelled far from their home system. Relations between the Strondos and this younger species are so good that the planet Blong has been given devices that allow them access to the Knowledge Base of the Strondovarians, an honour bestowed on no other species thus far. This means that the Multitude of Blong have the information needed to learn the location of planet Gurx, something not given to other species. The Blongians don’t quite have the technology to get there yet, though.

Pwot Verrmiss
A bipedal species that has rarely even managed to leave its home planet, the so-called “Pwot Verrmiss” are not even recognized as “Varian” by Strondos. But some more enterprising Strondo scientists have reached the homeworld of “Earth” and begun experimenting on the Pwot Verrmiss, but most of the primitive people have no idea Strondos exist. Perhaps someday the Pwot Verrmiss will be seen as worthy of the Strondo’s respect.

Infiltrators
The Strondos don’t yet know about the Infiltrators. There is no name for the Infiltrators in the Knowledge Base. And while no Pwotuvarian has been welcomed to planet Gurx, hundreds of Pwotuvarians are there. Posing as Strondos (and other Bwotyaxgurx), they have been working their way into roles of influence and preparing the world for the next wave of their kind to arrive.

A Strondovarian stands on slime farm grounds. Near a building, an Embivel drinks from a dish of water. A Nathaie flies above. Visible in the distance is a slime pool.

Embivel

Embivels are one of the first animals that the Strondos domesticated, at some point in history long forgotten, and they now occupy a place in Strondo culture similar to dogs or mules to humanity. An Aehubar species capable of carrying or pulling a lot of weight, most of the work once done by Embivel on Gurx is now done by machinery, but it’s still generally seen as useful to have some around.

Nathaie

A Glounaph species known for bright crests, Nathaie are very territorial and quite intelligent. Strondo farms will often provide a home for Nathaie, and treat them well, so that they will chase off small animals that try to sneak onto the grounds and raise alarm should larger creatures show up.

Palooath

Unseen in the picture, but ubiquitous on the farm, are the tiny creatures known as Palooath. A distinct worm-like branch of Vootuph, Palooath can live beneath the purple grass-equivalent of Gurx and draw nutrients from the soil. At some point in history, Strondos noticed that when creatures ate Palooath, the resulting biological waste was quite good at helping slime to grow. It’s now standard farm procedure to have a lot of palooath around to be eaten by the other creatures and gather the resulting waste to drop into the slime pools.