[hider=The Skippers of Pale Harbour]
Slender arthropods with ceramic exoskeletons and a keen sense of vibration, Skippers are variously described as 'hairy-kneed crabs', 'jagged snow earwigs', 'roach wolves' and 'porcelain scorpions', in ascending order of poetic merit. Two stalked eyes sit atop complex mouthparts used for short-range visual communication (sign language), all between the forelegs. The three body segments following the head contain several pair of legs each, with an additional seven body segments forming a flexible 'tail'. All segments are spiked, all joints are furred, all limbs are clawed.

Their stark white shell retains heat, and they breathe using the chinks in their segments, 'swishing' their tails left and right when at rest. Long-range communication is conducted through ground vibrations, for which Skippers have astonishingly strong 'chest' muscles. Once obligate carnivores, they also tolerate plant food.

Skippers live communally, almost eusocially, for about six years each. Their brain and uterus intersects, and offspring (twins or triplets) are born with much of their parent's cognitive development intact, including vivid hereditary memories. Mating is hermaphroditic.
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