[hider=Urhusasja Race App][h1]Species Name:[/h1]

[h2]The Urhusasja (UR-oo-SAH-SHA)[/h2]

[center][img]https://rr.img.naver.jp/mig?src=http%3A%2F%2Fimgcc.naver.jp%2Fkaze%2Fmission%2FUSER%2F20150814%2F43%2F4830263%2F11%2F978x1600xe7452c0709b31ba3e777f55.jpg%2F300%2F600&twidth=300&theight=600&qlt=80&res_format=jpg&op=r[/img][/center]

[h1]Homeworld[/h1]

[hider=Rukhkhah][h2]Rukhkhah (ROO-kuh-KAH)[/h2]

[hider=Planetary Views][img]http://www.rebellesociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/bigstock-Solar-Eclipse-In-Space-86288054.jpg[/img][img]http://randomwallpapers.net/fantasy-space-autumn-planet-1920x1080-wallpaper362670.jpg[/img][/hider]

[hider=Surface Views][img]http://pre08.deviantart.net/e910/th/pre/i/2005/160/4/f/a_cave_on_a_desert_planet_by_hoevelkamp.jpg[/img][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/20/3f/c1/203fc1ede7abddbbe5d0ef0dcadbf1fc.jpg[/img][/hider]

A superplanet, with sub-crust biomes entirely submerged beneath the planet. The surface of Rukhkah is a featureless desert, bereft of anything beyond rivers of acidic water and rough mountainous terrain of volcanic rock. Beneath the harsh crust, the sub-crust region spreads all around the planet, with special adaptations which allow life to flourish below the surface. In essence, volcanic tubes allow the heat of the planet to escape into the atmosphere, allowing a funnel for the seismo-volcanic activity through massive "pillars/shafts." There are porous filtration ducts in the upper crust through which flow the acidic waters, gradually becoming purified as they flow further down. The delicate ecosystem is balanced through the extremely flourishing ecology of high-oxygen-dispersing plants as well as the presence of UVR-emitting fungi. These fungi do not produce the UVR, but rather cluster in high places near the "ceiling" where crevices and cracks allow trace amounts of UVR to then be redistributed by the fungi. Other sources of light include lava flows, bioluminescence, and of course, the Urhusasja's artificial presence. The flora is vastly more diverse than Terra's for example, but leaning towards that of subterranean, nocturnal, and extremophile strands of life. 

The flora are relatively scarce, however primitive forms of life are developing on Rukhkah, yet the certainty of their continued growth is balanced on a knife's edge. On Rukhkah, there are a few general patterns when it comes to biomes as follows;

-Steam Channels, wetlands with hot geysers that occur most frequently near the magma pillars. Most abundant resource is purified and neutralized water, and the sanctity of the Steam Channels is guarded almost religiously.

-Fungi Sponge-Caverns, deeper and hotter webs of caves digging even further beneath the crust, wherein their most useful purpose is for the cultivation of the edible groups of fungi. However many Sponge-Caverns can be infected by hazardous or even lethal invading kinds of fungus, thus they require near constant investigations and monitoring.

-Stalagmite Mountain Ranges, where acidic waters seep through the "ceiling" the water evaporates when falling from such heights however much of the ionized elements crystallizes around the particles floating through the air and results in an "earthen rain", and over the course of many years, this unique precipitation has in various locations led to the rise of Stalagmite Mountain Ranges, truly staggering and beautiful formations. The prime resource of these ranges is the raw valuable mineral and element deposits that can be mined with considerable ease.

-Igneous Highlands, where lava flows harden and cool, forming long and flat slabs of stable foundations for building settlements. The basis for most of the Urhusasjan cities and residential areas, with their greatest resource being real estate.

-Igneous Lowlands, further down than the highlands in terms of lava flows, the lowlands grow from when the slabs of lava above give way to the even smoother and more secure flat expanses of igneous rock. Unlike the highlands, under which lies still-flowing magma, these lowlands can be measurably found to stand on earth and purely solid rock below. Though the lowlands are very fine real estate, many of the less replaceable buildings are located here, as well as production centres.

-Seismic Oceans, large chasms along fault lines fill with excess waters which are rocked by the high levels of seismic activity can cause tsunamis. Possible applications include hydro-electric power, and surfing.

[/hider]

[h1]Appearance[/h1]

The Urhusasja are a humanoid bipedal species whose specialized characteristics are based off of a much older and more archetypal biological blueprint. Purely in terms of appearance, the Urhusasja can range in height from 2'6" to 5'0" with weight tending to correspond fairly closely to human equivalents of size. Urhusasja possess thick leathery skin with a range of hues, including brown, green, gray, and red. Though certain colours are dominant in select populations, the skin colour of an individual remains constant. Eye colour is determined to be either a pupil-less yellow, orange, or red when using their secondary vision, or a more normal range of pupil-showing eye colours when employing their regular vision, with these being brown, blue, green, and black. Urhusasja retain their ability to grow hair, however it is considered about as useful to them as humans consider the appendix to be useful, given the Urhusasja's environment. If an Urhusasja did allow their hair to grow, and were also in an environment where the hair could remain for a long period of time, it would be able to grow in black, brown, blonde, or red, and unlike skin colour, Urhusasja actually can influence the colouring (melanin content) of their hair. This too, is seldom seen as relevant or important to any of the Urhusasja on Rukhkah, but may have been of greater importance to their archetypal ancestors. Lastly, in terms of build, most Urhusasja begin life with average builds, and continue to specialize over the maturation, leading to a wide variety of speciation among Urhusasja, where exceptional individuals can even push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible, in terms of body-sculpting. In practice, this means that Urhusasja can be skinny, fat, tall, short, muscular, slender, or any mix of these, with some extremely specialized individuals even breaking the barriers of average height and weight by considerable margins.

[h1]Physiology[/h1]

Using humans as a basic demarcation point, we rapidly see that the differences between the Urhusasja and humans are both vast, and simultaneously almost non-existent. For example, all of the major organs that are present in humans have an equivalent in Urhusasja, and despite their relatively smaller size overall as a species, Urhusasja retain a human-scale for brain matter. In addition to their overall dimunitive size, the musculoskeletal system of the Urhusasja is several degrees of magnitude denser than that of a humans, meaning that an adult Urhusasja male can match the strength of an adult male, on average. Attributes such as speed, agility, and endurance are similarly scaled, and it can be inferred that the archetypal base species was not quite as small as the Urhusasja.

Urhusasja have made several adaptations unique to Rukhkah which can be quickly summarized as follows;

Acid/Base-resistant Skin Cells, with thicker cell membranes that more closely resembled those found in plant-life.

Ultraviolet Vision, capable of seeing ultraviolet spectra of light, as well as having the ability to detect faint heat signatures due to this vision adaptation. However this special eyesight can be negated through 'heat blindness' which means that heat signatures require significant contrast to be visible, and there cannot be a stronger source of UV that swallows up that lesser source.

Heightened Inner Ear, allowing effective precognition of seismic activity, and in addition superhuman hearing in general.

Elongated Third Finger, used primarily for climbing, this forefinger (which also takes the place of the index) can grip ledges, find handholds, and is one of the stronger parts of the Urhusasja in terms of physical toughness in general.

[h2]Adaptive Genetics[/h2]

In what is considered a highly unusual and all but certainly artificial manifestation, the DNA of Urhusasja is inured with certain structural weak points, purposefully placed by the engineering of their creators to allow for what rapidly reveals itself to be the Urhusasja's greatest strength as a species. Environmental adaptability, which as an Urhusasja goes through its life, is acquired in fits and strokes. Due to the inherent malleability of the DNA, this allows any given Urhusasja to become specialized in a highly specific fashion to any one environment, granting them an almost mold-like capability to cling to life. The benefits of this, while obvious, are overshadowed by the consequences of this structurally unstable DNA. The rates of cancer and other gene defects are proportionally far higher in Urhusasja than in that of more DNA-typical races. Naturally, individuals who do not succumb to the cancer eventually manifest adaptations that allow them to live in such conditions, however it does not take a very large imagination to realize why an existence of near-constant self-cannibalism might best be ended as soon as possible. Furthermore, while the processes of engineering this variant of DNA are largely unknown, it is known (and indicated by the uniformity of offspring) that each individual Urhusasja starts off life with the basic blueprint of DNA from which to build off of.

The crucial weakness inherent in this DNA-trait is clear as day, in other species with replication, rather than recombination of DNA, such as plants. Were a targeted attack to be made, on the offspring of the Urhusasja, perhaps in the form of a disease or other biological weapon, the race could be brought to its knees. This was never a possibility considered by the Ancients, for whom this simple "test-species" would never have had to face off against other forms of sentient life. Indeed, if this eventuality were ever considered by an Ancient, it is possible they would have regarded it favorably, given the ease with which the incursion could be swept away to allow the natural progression of life on that planet.

And as a final note, any and all attempts to breed Urhusasja with non-weakened DNA will necessarily fail, in the post-zygotic stage, pre-birth. This is due to one of many engineered genes activating as a kill switch, to prevent the Urhusasja from growing out of the Ancients' control, or breadth of knowledge. That being said, the reproductive process functions normally intraspecies, and is analogous to that of the human reproductive system.

[h1]History[/h1]

The Ancients made Urhusasja to gauge the life-potential of different planets, and gave them a fairly human-like form in order to best judge whether other sentient and spacefaring races might develop on said planets. Albeit, the Urhusasja were intentially flawed, so that they could presumably never achieve what they were meant to predict. Whether or not the Ancients realized the irony of this design implementation, is unknown. What is known is that the Ursasjan ancestors were larger, possibly more advanced, but likely sub-human in other capabilities such as innovation trends, innate curiosity, and social cohesion.

And then the Ancients put Ursasja on Rukhkah.

Whether the Ancients ever came back to check on the Ursasja is unknown, but the ones that did would not have seen any signs of survival, with plenty of signs of death. The surface of the planet was a graveyard, a waking nightmare of an ecosystem. High levels of oxygen reaching into poisonous concentrations demanded breath modulators, tech the Urhusasja could not possibly access. So they fled, all over the wide world in search of refuge. Many did not make it far, and yet a remarkable amount found their way into caves, cracks and crevices in the planet itself, and in doing so, discovered tunnels leading down into the earth.

This is how the first of the Urhusasja found their homeland, and they've been there ever since.

Rukhkah is one of four known planets from which space-faring Urhusasja have appeared. While they are still quite an obscure species, and might be mistaken for separate species given their specialization, they are recognizable to each other at the least, and to those whom are not Urhusasja, with a keen eye for morphology. It is not known how two differently specialized Urhusasja would react to each other, however it is possible they would treat each other similarly to the way that human ethnicities archaically view each other.

[h1]Religion[/h1]

The Urhusasja have a pantheistic belief system where in their gods and goddesses all have solid roles, but fluid names, and wherein two Urhusasja may call the same god (of fire, for example) two completely different names. 

Generally speaking, this highly specialized and diverse religious pantheon consists of;

Gods of natural forces, e.g. fire, water, earth

Gods of abstract concepts e.g. war, civilization, good cooking

Gods of personality e.g. wielders of divine power, legendary figures, heroes, villains

Religious customs seldom go beyond stated devotion and prayer, however certain fanatics perform elaborate sacrifices to please their chosen god. Devotees and priesthoods often congregate for regular rituals, be they daily, weekly, or annual. Another prominent belief across all Urhusasja is that there will always be new gods to discover, and thus they should always prepare an empty altar, a breathless line in prayer, and a third offering in sacrifice. In fact, more than any alternative name, or obscure god, breaking with the tradition of the new and unforeseen god is the most likely to gain an Urhusasja the label of blasphemer.

[h1]Culture[/h1]

On Rukhkah, culture is little more than an accessory to survival. The Urhusasja have a religion, however it is a primitive, sacrifical thing, wherein they still grapple with existential questions, and there are near-constant schisms of belief.

Urhusasjan art, as near as can be ascribed to the rough-shod species, consists of ululating songs of hymnal prayer to their gods. 

Urhusasjan history, is unrecorded, except in generational stories, passed down orally.

Urhusasjan language is harsh-sounding, filled with inflections from the back of the throat and tonal modifiers. 

Urhusasjan fashion is limited in that there is little in the way of textile production. Utilizing the best resources at their disposal, Urhusasja make do with woven fabrics made from silk, as well as sturdier pieces fashioned from dried mushroom caps and leaves. 

The only customs the Urhusasja have devised spawned from convenient overlapping of convenience along with practicality. For example, Urhusasja always eat in large groups, and tend to exclude those who bring no food, but also shun those who steal the food of others. 

Another example of Urhusasjan culture can be seen in the relatively untouched nature of the planet they find themselves on, despite many generations of life. Urhusasjans are reverent of the dangerous aspects of the planet, to the point that they are scrupulous in maintaining a balanced existence in concert with the ecosystem. Several of the largest conflicts among the Urhusasja have surrounded this core precept of their society, and growing desires to break from it or otherwise change the status quo.

Lastly, a popular sport/pastime for the most foolhardy and adventurous of Urhusasja is to tuberiding. The gargantuan magma pillars are not only pumping lava up to the surface, but they are also porous with many tunnels appearing when the magma retreats, and streams of water soak into the tubes, forming geysers within the tunnels, pumping steam up and through complex networks of tunnels. Urhusasja who wish to prove themselves will often bring a shale of volcanic rock roughly the size of their body to an open shaft at the outskirts of a magma pillar and wait and listen for a geyser. Once they've done so, they time a leap so that the geyser catches them and propels them on a truly thrillsome ride through pitch black caverns at speed. Naturally, the fatality rates for this form of entertainment are severe, however that hasn't stopped the practice from continuing. There are legends that tell of tuberiders from generations ago, though the why of their reasons for tuberiding has been forgotten. However, as is common among the youth of a population, rumours of what lies beyond the "ceiling" of Rukhkah abound.

[h1]Government[/h1]

The Urhusasja are a tribal society underneath Rukhkah's crust, however that is merely due to their limited technological capability, and by and large, those Urhusasja who break free using space-faring technology tend to hold anarchistic or apathetic views towards government, and are highly resistant to authority.

In the tribes themselves, a circle of adults make decisions for the tribe. These adults are the strongest, most capable, and best adapted. The old are actually discouraged from remaining in the circle because they are seen as withered, and outdated, almost. The old tend far more to form circles of teaching for the young, and in this regard they hold more relationships in common with the youth than with younger adults.

Overall Ursasjan societies favour innovative ways of adapting, while holding true to traditions and customs that have yielded strong results in the past. Success of the species is valued over success of the individual, but if an individual can lead the species further, then that individual is prized above all else.

[/hider]