Post by Otterling on Aug 16, 2008 7:10:25 GMT -5
(Please let me know what needs to be changed to make this an active race.)
Nex Humus
Nex Humus is a small and as of yet little explored planet just beyond the edge of the outer rim. Too far away from any shipping lanes to be of any real commercial use, the planet’s lack of exploration can also be attributed to the inhospitable atmosphere that clings to it’s surface. The air itself is a thick and pungent fume that reeks of sulfur mixed with what smells a lot like decaying flesh. Most unfortunate passersby are quick to hop right back in their space craft and beat a hasty retreat and it is for that reason that they miss the hidden secrets of this world. The planet is small by comparison to many others on the Outer Rim and as the second planet from the sun, its temperatures are fairly extreme. A single moon wobbles on an uneven axis around Nex, a huge chunk of it missing due to some massive collision with an asteroid which occurred too far back in history for many to recall. Almost half of the moon has been torn right off and it seems to teeter in it’s orbit around Nex.
Surfaces and environments:
A topographical map of the planet’s surface shows a world with no discernable oceans whose surface is pocked and scarred with many deep crevices. From a distance, it almost appears the planet itself is wrinkled due to the many canyons and steep ravines that mar it. The air is thick and heavy with large dark storm clouds rolling across its surface, blowing away all in their path. The clouds themselves are a sight to behold, sometimes reaching as high as four miles into the air and sweeping across the land like massive yellow walls. Sulfur content is heavy here and it renders the air un-breathable. The few travelers who have stopped here for repairs have also reported that even through masks and breathing apparatus, they can smell a foul odor on the air itself that seems to stick to everything. The planet has a 34 month rotation around its sun and a 10 month rotation on its axis. The planet does not do a full turn however and half the planet is in darkness for longer than the other. Which side this is seems to switch about every 16 years or so.
Flora and Fauna:
Due to Nex’s rotation, which leaves one half of the planet bathed in darkness for 8 months out of the year and the other half baked to a crisp, there is very little vegetation. On the sun bathed side, the ground is scorched and greenery is no where to be seen, though small reddish plants called “Sanguine Roses” do grow in the crevices of many cliff faces and during the short summer months when the planet is turning and they are no longer facing the star directly, they bloom with bright white flowers. On the dark side of the planet, some additional plants can be found which include thick stalked plants that reach up to fifty feet into the air, known as “Bantha Ears” due to their shape. Spreading out a large fan-like leaf at the very top whose sheer size allows it to gather what meager sunlight reaches the dark side of the planet, the plants cut off even the smallest of light to the surface in the areas where they are thickest. The leaves are slightly translucent and bear thin blue veins which glow faintly when the moon shows its undamaged side. Beneath these canopies are a number of low growing ground cover plants with three pointed leaves.
There is a very limited number of animal species living on the surface of the planet. What life there is seems to avoid the sun side of Nex and with a natural instinct, all of them migrate so as to stay within the safety of the shaded half. A handful of insect species have made their home in the large Bantha Ears and all of them are large sized but most notably are the Massive Sapphire Beetles which nest in the stalks. They can be easily seen in moonlight due to the blue-black gleam of their shells which has given them their name. They can also be heard from a long distance away and are easily identified by the high pitched rattling cry they make as a form of communication. To hear a swarm of them take off is likened to an army roaring to life and taking to the sky. The sound is deafening.
The largest and only real herd animal on Nex is the Khvrihim. These quadrupedal omnivores roam in herds of up to three hundred at a time and their walk can shake the very ground. Weighing in at 4,000 lbs, a fully adult female can reach up to twenty five feet high at the shoulder. Long thick necks are ended in small heads and a thick mane of silvery hair runs the whole length of the animals back. A long whiplike tail balances out the broad ribcage which tapers back into a far more narrow set of hips. Each back hip is tipped with a long bony protrusion that curves up and away from the body. It is unknown if these are weapons or mating displays. The Khvrihim have three toes on each foot with thick padding on the soles. They are slow moving and cumbersome, often having to walk for miles to find their way around the ravines on the planet. They lay eggs but produce milk for their young. The hatchlings bear a single small horn on the top of their heads which is capable of secreting a very toxic poison.
The Underground:
Deep beneath the surface of the planet, the sights are vastly different. Huge complex cites span miles, their bulk nestled within soaring caverns and an entire civilization of sentient beings flourishes. These beings refer to themselves as the “Unasi” meaning “The one people” but the very few space travelers lucky enough to catch glimpse of one refer to them as the “Humassians”, taken from the name of their planet in the way that most racial nomenclature does.
Far from the dark and dreary place one would expect to find in a subterranean cavern, the home of the Humassians is bright and vibrant due to their cultivation of a particular lichen known as Lumiat. Lumiat grows solely beneath the planet’s crust and has evolved a singular attribute that benefits both it and the Humassians. Its roots are strong but completely transparent and network for miles. The plant is never seen on the ground but instead attaches itself to walls and ceilings, extending its root system up through the rock and soil to break the surface. With only the tough ends of its roots exposed to the intense heat of the sun, the more tender leaves are spared and can flourish in the darkest of tunnels. Acting much like fiber-optic cables, the roots channel the sunlight down their length, delivering it to the leaves on the other end. The moss like Lumiat radiates this light on the receiving end and can even nourish other plants with the surplus of sunlight it channels.
The Humassians have learned to harness this plant for their own uses and specially trained farmers cultivate the lichen on the walls and ceilings of caverns, tunnels, and even the inside of buildings. Almost every Humassian home boasts a tall thick stalk which juts up from the center of the building and extends all the way to the top of the cavern. Within the home, this pillar acts as a central point for the Lumiat to send its roots up to the sunlight above. The result of all these stalks on each house is that all Humassian cities resemble great stone forests into which ornate homes have been carved. The roofs of all major caverns have been completely coated in Lumiat and as a result, the appearance of these caverns is one of an eternal summer midday.
Major roads intersect each city, leading from one residential area to the next and some cities span multiple caverns. All essentials save for a very small few are made or gathered below the surface and the Humassians rarely go topside. Almost all of the surface below the planet’s crust has been settled though may cities lay dormant for long periods of time with no one in them. As the planet makes its sixteen year full rotation, allowing the sun to hit all sides of the planet, the Humassians are forced to migrate much as the animals above do. They must stay on the sunny side of the planet to prevent falling into total darkness as the lichen loses its ability to shed light when it falls into shadow above. The entire civilization has become semi-nomadic due to this.
Due to the Humassian love of all things ornate and delicate, almost every inch of available surfaces have been covered in art and decoration. The Humassians have developed inlay to a very fine artform and many of the homes in the cities glitter with swirling designs. The people gather semi precious stones and fossils, shaving them paper thin and then applying them into massive murals along with precious metals. Unknown to outsiders, Nex Humas is rich with various ore deposits and metals are as abundant as air. There is almost no wall in any Humassian city that doesn’t sport a shining vein of copper, silver, gold, or titanium. The locals see no real intrinsic value in them simply because of their commonality and so they decorate almost everything they own with large quantities of stones and filigree. Glass, however, is considered a rarity and is highly sought after. Most lower class homes have thin quartz windows rather than glass. The quartz is shaved down until it is transparent.
The Humassians:
The average Humassian stands approximately seven foot tall. They do not normally exceed this height and anything below six foot would be considered a dwarf. These odd looking beings bear the upper torso of a humanoid but their lower halves are reptilian. They stand upright on two digitigrade legs and have a long tail that acts as a counter weight, with this lower half being covered almost entirely in small scales. Most Humassians shave their heads from the time they reach adulthood to include all women though some females will leave a long top knot of hair which they will continue to grow out for most of their lifetime. Their hair naturally tends to be black or dark brown with auburn being a rarity and blond being almost unheard of.
Their skin color ranges from a caramel brown to a dark mocha, mostly due to the amount of time spent under the sunlight filtered in by the Lumiat. Some Humassian children are born with fairer skin but it is a rarity that is most often rectified by the time they reach adolescence. All Humassians share the common trait of two large spiraling horns which protrude from either side of their heads. The horns have been likened to that of a ram and range in color from ivory to black. Horn color is often a determining factor in helping one place what clan a Humassian is from as the color is genetic and passed from mother to child.
Humassians have a subtle shine to the skin of their upper torsos and some even develop small splotches of scales which extend up from the lower halves of their bodies. These most often form on the elbows, spine, and throat. The lower half of the Humassians is almost always either a dull brown, green, or some value in between though it is considered a mark of beauty for the females to buff their scales to a high gloss shine.
Humassians have a third nictating eyelid which they use when light is minimal. The eyelid contains additional rods and cones used for gathering light and focuses this into the pupil of the eye, thus allowing the Humassian to see in almost pitch darkness. However, with the eyelid in place, Humassians can only see in tones of red and thus things in their surroundings that were red to start with suddenly become invisible to them. The eyelid itself is a dark crimson in color and covered with a thin layer of naturally produced slime used to keep the membrane moist. Humassians must blink this third lid at least once every four minutes, fully retracting it, to keep it from drying out painfully. The lid ceases to function if it is not kept wet. Due to its color and the shine of the slime, a Humassian with their third lid down appears to have blood for eyes and this often startles those who do not expect it.
Culture:
Humassians are a patriarchal race though they differ from the norm in that the females of the species are actually stronger and larger than the dominating males. They have a centralized government with one sole chieftain known as the “Kabbatso”. Beneath this figure head are the twelve head clansmen. They work together as a democracy with the Kabbatso breaking any ties that might arise during a voting session. Females of the species are not treated poorly by any respect but are not allowed to hold office. They can own land and even businesses, but cannot hold any positions of authority such as local law enforcement or public officials. Females tend to gardening and most menial labor and all of the Lumiat farmers are women. Raising of the children is considered a male position as he is to train the offspring from birth on how a proper Humassian should act.
Humassians live to around two hundred and fifty years of age. They mate for life normally and will lay up to three clutches of eggs in their lifetimes. Due to their low reproductivity rate, wars are particularly detrimental to this species.
The Humassians value courtesy above all else. With clans living in such close proximity to each other and resources having to be shared, civil wars are far more costly than on most planets so from birth, Humassians teach their children to get along with each other as best they can. While extremely polite to one another, this race of people is xenophobic and view strangers with distrust at best and open hostility at worst. They are slow to attack one of their own kind but quick to strike down what they feel is a threat to their homes and way of life which includes any foreign races that make the mistake of happening upon them. So few know this race exists due specifically to the fact that discovery works both ways and those who happen upon the Humassians find that their first encounter is also their last.
While very few Humassians ever leave the underground, there are a select group of females who do. Only the hardiest and best warriors are chosen to go above ground, traveling for weeks to reach the dark side of the planet where they ranch large herds of Khvrihim. The Humassians live almost entirely upon the backs of these animals once they reach the surface, counting on the beast’s natural survival instincts to keep them safe, and they have learned to ride with a true proficiency. Khvrihim are killed for their thick hides, meat, and hair, while the calves are milked for the toxic poison which the Humassians use to make weapons. The Humassians lack most common forms of technology and rely on the poison to hunt with.
These few surface dwellers often venture very far from their homes and families while herding the Khvrihim. Runners travel back and forth, tracking the herds and catching up to the ranchers to collect meat, hides, poison, hair, and the occasional plant or insect shell along the way. It is only the surface ranchers who have encountered any outsiders on their homeworld as the inner cities have never been breached.
Force Sensitivity:
Force sensitive peoples are rare but not unheard of for this planet. No Humassian Jedi or Sith have been yet trained however due to the Xenophobic nature of this species.
Reproduction:
Humassians lay a clutch of eggs, usually three to five, which hatch after five months of gestation. The mother takes care of the eggs until hatching and then turns over all parental care to the father. Humassians are not genetically compatible with any other species making half breeds impossible.
Average Height: 7'1" for females, 6'5" for males
Average Weight: 210 lbs for females, 180 for males
Average Lifespan: 250 years. A Humassian hits middle age at around 150. They reach adulthood at 50.
Nex Humus
Nex Humus is a small and as of yet little explored planet just beyond the edge of the outer rim. Too far away from any shipping lanes to be of any real commercial use, the planet’s lack of exploration can also be attributed to the inhospitable atmosphere that clings to it’s surface. The air itself is a thick and pungent fume that reeks of sulfur mixed with what smells a lot like decaying flesh. Most unfortunate passersby are quick to hop right back in their space craft and beat a hasty retreat and it is for that reason that they miss the hidden secrets of this world. The planet is small by comparison to many others on the Outer Rim and as the second planet from the sun, its temperatures are fairly extreme. A single moon wobbles on an uneven axis around Nex, a huge chunk of it missing due to some massive collision with an asteroid which occurred too far back in history for many to recall. Almost half of the moon has been torn right off and it seems to teeter in it’s orbit around Nex.
Surfaces and environments:
A topographical map of the planet’s surface shows a world with no discernable oceans whose surface is pocked and scarred with many deep crevices. From a distance, it almost appears the planet itself is wrinkled due to the many canyons and steep ravines that mar it. The air is thick and heavy with large dark storm clouds rolling across its surface, blowing away all in their path. The clouds themselves are a sight to behold, sometimes reaching as high as four miles into the air and sweeping across the land like massive yellow walls. Sulfur content is heavy here and it renders the air un-breathable. The few travelers who have stopped here for repairs have also reported that even through masks and breathing apparatus, they can smell a foul odor on the air itself that seems to stick to everything. The planet has a 34 month rotation around its sun and a 10 month rotation on its axis. The planet does not do a full turn however and half the planet is in darkness for longer than the other. Which side this is seems to switch about every 16 years or so.
Flora and Fauna:
Due to Nex’s rotation, which leaves one half of the planet bathed in darkness for 8 months out of the year and the other half baked to a crisp, there is very little vegetation. On the sun bathed side, the ground is scorched and greenery is no where to be seen, though small reddish plants called “Sanguine Roses” do grow in the crevices of many cliff faces and during the short summer months when the planet is turning and they are no longer facing the star directly, they bloom with bright white flowers. On the dark side of the planet, some additional plants can be found which include thick stalked plants that reach up to fifty feet into the air, known as “Bantha Ears” due to their shape. Spreading out a large fan-like leaf at the very top whose sheer size allows it to gather what meager sunlight reaches the dark side of the planet, the plants cut off even the smallest of light to the surface in the areas where they are thickest. The leaves are slightly translucent and bear thin blue veins which glow faintly when the moon shows its undamaged side. Beneath these canopies are a number of low growing ground cover plants with three pointed leaves.
There is a very limited number of animal species living on the surface of the planet. What life there is seems to avoid the sun side of Nex and with a natural instinct, all of them migrate so as to stay within the safety of the shaded half. A handful of insect species have made their home in the large Bantha Ears and all of them are large sized but most notably are the Massive Sapphire Beetles which nest in the stalks. They can be easily seen in moonlight due to the blue-black gleam of their shells which has given them their name. They can also be heard from a long distance away and are easily identified by the high pitched rattling cry they make as a form of communication. To hear a swarm of them take off is likened to an army roaring to life and taking to the sky. The sound is deafening.
The largest and only real herd animal on Nex is the Khvrihim. These quadrupedal omnivores roam in herds of up to three hundred at a time and their walk can shake the very ground. Weighing in at 4,000 lbs, a fully adult female can reach up to twenty five feet high at the shoulder. Long thick necks are ended in small heads and a thick mane of silvery hair runs the whole length of the animals back. A long whiplike tail balances out the broad ribcage which tapers back into a far more narrow set of hips. Each back hip is tipped with a long bony protrusion that curves up and away from the body. It is unknown if these are weapons or mating displays. The Khvrihim have three toes on each foot with thick padding on the soles. They are slow moving and cumbersome, often having to walk for miles to find their way around the ravines on the planet. They lay eggs but produce milk for their young. The hatchlings bear a single small horn on the top of their heads which is capable of secreting a very toxic poison.
The Underground:
Deep beneath the surface of the planet, the sights are vastly different. Huge complex cites span miles, their bulk nestled within soaring caverns and an entire civilization of sentient beings flourishes. These beings refer to themselves as the “Unasi” meaning “The one people” but the very few space travelers lucky enough to catch glimpse of one refer to them as the “Humassians”, taken from the name of their planet in the way that most racial nomenclature does.
Far from the dark and dreary place one would expect to find in a subterranean cavern, the home of the Humassians is bright and vibrant due to their cultivation of a particular lichen known as Lumiat. Lumiat grows solely beneath the planet’s crust and has evolved a singular attribute that benefits both it and the Humassians. Its roots are strong but completely transparent and network for miles. The plant is never seen on the ground but instead attaches itself to walls and ceilings, extending its root system up through the rock and soil to break the surface. With only the tough ends of its roots exposed to the intense heat of the sun, the more tender leaves are spared and can flourish in the darkest of tunnels. Acting much like fiber-optic cables, the roots channel the sunlight down their length, delivering it to the leaves on the other end. The moss like Lumiat radiates this light on the receiving end and can even nourish other plants with the surplus of sunlight it channels.
The Humassians have learned to harness this plant for their own uses and specially trained farmers cultivate the lichen on the walls and ceilings of caverns, tunnels, and even the inside of buildings. Almost every Humassian home boasts a tall thick stalk which juts up from the center of the building and extends all the way to the top of the cavern. Within the home, this pillar acts as a central point for the Lumiat to send its roots up to the sunlight above. The result of all these stalks on each house is that all Humassian cities resemble great stone forests into which ornate homes have been carved. The roofs of all major caverns have been completely coated in Lumiat and as a result, the appearance of these caverns is one of an eternal summer midday.
Major roads intersect each city, leading from one residential area to the next and some cities span multiple caverns. All essentials save for a very small few are made or gathered below the surface and the Humassians rarely go topside. Almost all of the surface below the planet’s crust has been settled though may cities lay dormant for long periods of time with no one in them. As the planet makes its sixteen year full rotation, allowing the sun to hit all sides of the planet, the Humassians are forced to migrate much as the animals above do. They must stay on the sunny side of the planet to prevent falling into total darkness as the lichen loses its ability to shed light when it falls into shadow above. The entire civilization has become semi-nomadic due to this.
Due to the Humassian love of all things ornate and delicate, almost every inch of available surfaces have been covered in art and decoration. The Humassians have developed inlay to a very fine artform and many of the homes in the cities glitter with swirling designs. The people gather semi precious stones and fossils, shaving them paper thin and then applying them into massive murals along with precious metals. Unknown to outsiders, Nex Humas is rich with various ore deposits and metals are as abundant as air. There is almost no wall in any Humassian city that doesn’t sport a shining vein of copper, silver, gold, or titanium. The locals see no real intrinsic value in them simply because of their commonality and so they decorate almost everything they own with large quantities of stones and filigree. Glass, however, is considered a rarity and is highly sought after. Most lower class homes have thin quartz windows rather than glass. The quartz is shaved down until it is transparent.
The Humassians:
The average Humassian stands approximately seven foot tall. They do not normally exceed this height and anything below six foot would be considered a dwarf. These odd looking beings bear the upper torso of a humanoid but their lower halves are reptilian. They stand upright on two digitigrade legs and have a long tail that acts as a counter weight, with this lower half being covered almost entirely in small scales. Most Humassians shave their heads from the time they reach adulthood to include all women though some females will leave a long top knot of hair which they will continue to grow out for most of their lifetime. Their hair naturally tends to be black or dark brown with auburn being a rarity and blond being almost unheard of.
Their skin color ranges from a caramel brown to a dark mocha, mostly due to the amount of time spent under the sunlight filtered in by the Lumiat. Some Humassian children are born with fairer skin but it is a rarity that is most often rectified by the time they reach adolescence. All Humassians share the common trait of two large spiraling horns which protrude from either side of their heads. The horns have been likened to that of a ram and range in color from ivory to black. Horn color is often a determining factor in helping one place what clan a Humassian is from as the color is genetic and passed from mother to child.
Humassians have a subtle shine to the skin of their upper torsos and some even develop small splotches of scales which extend up from the lower halves of their bodies. These most often form on the elbows, spine, and throat. The lower half of the Humassians is almost always either a dull brown, green, or some value in between though it is considered a mark of beauty for the females to buff their scales to a high gloss shine.
Humassians have a third nictating eyelid which they use when light is minimal. The eyelid contains additional rods and cones used for gathering light and focuses this into the pupil of the eye, thus allowing the Humassian to see in almost pitch darkness. However, with the eyelid in place, Humassians can only see in tones of red and thus things in their surroundings that were red to start with suddenly become invisible to them. The eyelid itself is a dark crimson in color and covered with a thin layer of naturally produced slime used to keep the membrane moist. Humassians must blink this third lid at least once every four minutes, fully retracting it, to keep it from drying out painfully. The lid ceases to function if it is not kept wet. Due to its color and the shine of the slime, a Humassian with their third lid down appears to have blood for eyes and this often startles those who do not expect it.
Culture:
Humassians are a patriarchal race though they differ from the norm in that the females of the species are actually stronger and larger than the dominating males. They have a centralized government with one sole chieftain known as the “Kabbatso”. Beneath this figure head are the twelve head clansmen. They work together as a democracy with the Kabbatso breaking any ties that might arise during a voting session. Females of the species are not treated poorly by any respect but are not allowed to hold office. They can own land and even businesses, but cannot hold any positions of authority such as local law enforcement or public officials. Females tend to gardening and most menial labor and all of the Lumiat farmers are women. Raising of the children is considered a male position as he is to train the offspring from birth on how a proper Humassian should act.
Humassians live to around two hundred and fifty years of age. They mate for life normally and will lay up to three clutches of eggs in their lifetimes. Due to their low reproductivity rate, wars are particularly detrimental to this species.
The Humassians value courtesy above all else. With clans living in such close proximity to each other and resources having to be shared, civil wars are far more costly than on most planets so from birth, Humassians teach their children to get along with each other as best they can. While extremely polite to one another, this race of people is xenophobic and view strangers with distrust at best and open hostility at worst. They are slow to attack one of their own kind but quick to strike down what they feel is a threat to their homes and way of life which includes any foreign races that make the mistake of happening upon them. So few know this race exists due specifically to the fact that discovery works both ways and those who happen upon the Humassians find that their first encounter is also their last.
While very few Humassians ever leave the underground, there are a select group of females who do. Only the hardiest and best warriors are chosen to go above ground, traveling for weeks to reach the dark side of the planet where they ranch large herds of Khvrihim. The Humassians live almost entirely upon the backs of these animals once they reach the surface, counting on the beast’s natural survival instincts to keep them safe, and they have learned to ride with a true proficiency. Khvrihim are killed for their thick hides, meat, and hair, while the calves are milked for the toxic poison which the Humassians use to make weapons. The Humassians lack most common forms of technology and rely on the poison to hunt with.
These few surface dwellers often venture very far from their homes and families while herding the Khvrihim. Runners travel back and forth, tracking the herds and catching up to the ranchers to collect meat, hides, poison, hair, and the occasional plant or insect shell along the way. It is only the surface ranchers who have encountered any outsiders on their homeworld as the inner cities have never been breached.
Force Sensitivity:
Force sensitive peoples are rare but not unheard of for this planet. No Humassian Jedi or Sith have been yet trained however due to the Xenophobic nature of this species.
Reproduction:
Humassians lay a clutch of eggs, usually three to five, which hatch after five months of gestation. The mother takes care of the eggs until hatching and then turns over all parental care to the father. Humassians are not genetically compatible with any other species making half breeds impossible.
Average Height: 7'1" for females, 6'5" for males
Average Weight: 210 lbs for females, 180 for males
Average Lifespan: 250 years. A Humassian hits middle age at around 150. They reach adulthood at 50.
