Post by Otterling on Nov 27, 2009 18:19:57 GMT -5
Species Name:
Species Type:
Planet of Origin: Nex Humas
Average Maximum age: 250 years
Age of Maturation: Humassians reach adulthood at around 50-70 with females reaching sexual maturity faster than males.
Average Height: 7' for females, 6'5" for males
Average Weight: 260 - 300 lbs for females, 180 - 210 for males
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 (a phosphorescent moss). 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 and are considered a sign of strength and attractiveness. 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.
Four limbs. Two normal human looking arms with slightly longer than normal fingers and two digitigrade legs that resemble a reptile. They are also equipped with a long tail which can be considered as a fifth limb due to its dexterity.
Deep beneath the surface of Nex Humas, 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.
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 250 years of age with 215 being venerable. 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, a local herbivore species. 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.
Eme Gir - often referred to as Anasazi (meaning ancient enemies) by outsiders.
Author's Note: The Humassian language is based partially off of Summarian though elements of Germanic have been thrown in. The language is very guttural and usually considered unattractive by those listening to it.
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.
The Humassians have existed on Nex Humas since before the great cataclysm that caused the planetary shift which now renders the surface inhospitable, though they themselves believe that they have simply always been there and always will be. The original Humassians were a peaceful surface race that dwelled within thick natural forests on Nex Humas. The planet at that time had been slightly farther away from the sun and had a full moon which orbited it and helped maintain tidal flows. Sadly, a meteor swarm struck their solar system. It utterly obliterated their sister planet and the shift in gravity shoved Nex Humas closer to the sun. The moon also lost half of its bulk during this time after taking a particularly bad hit from a stray chunk of planetary debris. This event almost wiped out the entire species and the sudden shift in orbit caused the Humassians to flee underground. There, they began setting up cities and first discovered the Lumiat which would enable them to survive. Over time, all memory of their lives on the surface was forgotten and over millennia, the Humassians adapted to the darkness of the tunnels. Frequent excursions to the surface for supplies led to the adaptation of the Khvrihim as stock animals. Very few outsiders have ever interacted with the Humassian people and those who did had little good to say. Short tempered and volatile with outsiders, the Humassians killed most of the crews that landed there, salvaging their spacecraft for supplies.
There are a very small handful of Humassians who have ever ventured off planet in stolen spacecraft and those who have never return to Nex Hummas.
These individuals are not common and finding one off world is rare but CAN happen. I reserve the right to be notified if someone wants to create a Humassian so that I can verify that the character fits with all the standards that the race should adhere to. Hopefully they will be a fun addition to the universe though and it would be interesting to see them used as NPCs.
Species Type:
Planet of Origin: Nex Humas
Average Maximum age: 250 years
Age of Maturation: Humassians reach adulthood at around 50-70 with females reaching sexual maturity faster than males.
Average Height: 7' for females, 6'5" for males
Average Weight: 260 - 300 lbs for females, 180 - 210 for males
Notable biological features:
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 (a phosphorescent moss). 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 and are considered a sign of strength and attractiveness. 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.
Number of limbs and Type:
Four limbs. Two normal human looking arms with slightly longer than normal fingers and two digitigrade legs that resemble a reptile. They are also equipped with a long tail which can be considered as a fifth limb due to its dexterity.
Culture:
Deep beneath the surface of Nex Humas, 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.
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 250 years of age with 215 being venerable. 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, a local herbivore species. 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.
Language:
Eme Gir - often referred to as Anasazi (meaning ancient enemies) by outsiders.
Author's Note: The Humassian language is based partially off of Summarian though elements of Germanic have been thrown in. The language is very guttural and usually considered unattractive by those listening to it.
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.
History:
The Humassians have existed on Nex Humas since before the great cataclysm that caused the planetary shift which now renders the surface inhospitable, though they themselves believe that they have simply always been there and always will be. The original Humassians were a peaceful surface race that dwelled within thick natural forests on Nex Humas. The planet at that time had been slightly farther away from the sun and had a full moon which orbited it and helped maintain tidal flows. Sadly, a meteor swarm struck their solar system. It utterly obliterated their sister planet and the shift in gravity shoved Nex Humas closer to the sun. The moon also lost half of its bulk during this time after taking a particularly bad hit from a stray chunk of planetary debris. This event almost wiped out the entire species and the sudden shift in orbit caused the Humassians to flee underground. There, they began setting up cities and first discovered the Lumiat which would enable them to survive. Over time, all memory of their lives on the surface was forgotten and over millennia, the Humassians adapted to the darkness of the tunnels. Frequent excursions to the surface for supplies led to the adaptation of the Khvrihim as stock animals. Very few outsiders have ever interacted with the Humassian people and those who did had little good to say. Short tempered and volatile with outsiders, the Humassians killed most of the crews that landed there, salvaging their spacecraft for supplies.
There are a very small handful of Humassians who have ever ventured off planet in stolen spacecraft and those who have never return to Nex Hummas.
Author's Note:
These individuals are not common and finding one off world is rare but CAN happen. I reserve the right to be notified if someone wants to create a Humassian so that I can verify that the character fits with all the standards that the race should adhere to. Hopefully they will be a fun addition to the universe though and it would be interesting to see them used as NPCs.
