Kalleth

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

@71452K

During the first half of the first week of the voyage to the Lightless, an elegantly scribed note appears without being noticed on Ricardo De Vigil's cot. It reads as follows;

Dearest Alchemical Addict,

While I gladly thank you for your uncharacteristically generous behaviour as to the haranguing of everybody's favourite innkeeper, and said man's insistent attempt to throttle yours truly, I thought it in your best interest, in light of certain remarks made during the encounter, for you to do some light reading.

You will find, listed below, an abridged recounting of my many conquests, be they woman, man, or Savolin. And yes, they're awfully small, I don't recommend using the traditional technique on the last, else you might inflict undesired contusions or avulsions. Do not be surprised if some of the names that appear on the aforementioned list are those you recognize from popular tales or songs, as no doubt, you've heard some of my compositions prior to now, but were as of yet unaware of their composer.

I have been compiling this list since we set sail, and owing to its volume, I was unable to render this note to you sooner, however I have thanked you personally, and in doing so, hope I conveyed the appropriate amount of assiduous gratitude. After all, those pungent fern saplings seemed awfully impressed by my gravitas. Or at least, they bowed quite dramatically when I rubbed against them on my way to deliver this note.

-Sincerely, your humble travelling companion,

Vice-Captain Fiers Hartwine

P.S. I was being serious while taunting him you know, in fact, it's actually twice as bad as I made it out to be! She initiated the kiss! I suspect her father keeps her pent up in her room and the tavern serving people instead of letting her go out to find a proper boyfriend. In any event, perhaps you'll indulge me in an academic question, as to why those pungent ferns are turning an unfortunate shade of orange?

Underneath the elegantly scribed note is an actual journal, filled cover to cover with names ranging from those of Giltaris' lover, to that of a consort of a prominent member of the Council. A cursory examination will quickly make clear that this journal is comprehensive in the ages, names, and countenances of its entrants, and the tally numbers well into the thousands.

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

Whomever posts next, Fiers has found you. :D

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

---

Betrayal, came for the bard as he sat on his cot, restringing his lute. He'd been unbearably sea-sick, and aside from his own personal flask of whiskey, he'd consumed nothing the whole day. And even he, fool though he might be, inferred the full implications of the black-clad men charging into his quarters. It was of course, impossible for him to do much of anything at all, but he managed two reactions, both fairly thoughtless. The first, was to whisper, "Fuck," and his second reaction was to take the spools of his lute strings wound tight, and shove them in his breeches.

The men seized him by the wrists, the bard took another breath to shout, give warning, anything, and then they knocked him out.

---

When Fiers felt the coarse wetness of the beach against his cheek, and a wash of saltwater swept over his bottom half, he knew they'd been fucked. He opened his eyes and tears welled, the stinging of salt burning, and he slowly lifted himself into a kneeling, half-bent position. Something was grinding against... his balls? Fiers went south, fished around, and found to his pleased surprise that there between his legs was one set of spindled strings for his lute.

That set his heart beating in a panic, not that there was only one string of course, because that in and of itself was a godsend, but because he hadn't been wearing his lute when he was presumably thrown off-shore. He finally straightened to a semi-erect posture and looked round. Just to his left, as loyal as they come, lay his lute. Fiers didn't really pray to any god, but he thanked all of them for this miracle. He brought the instrument to his chest and clutched it softly. It was damp. He didn't have any semblance of dry cloth to use to dry the lite and that pained him, but he'd seen lutes go through worse and still carry a tune. It saved him the troubles of stealing or carving a new one. His lure on the other hand... that was solid metal, and he somehow doubted that it would be anywhere other than the bottom of the ocean. Fuck, I'm lucky I'm not at the bottom myself!

Fiers finished taking stock of what he'd been left. His rapier of course, was a familiar weight at his hip. He would actually have to kill with his rapier now, no training left, no chances to try again. He also had both of his coin purses, for the thief and for himself, though he suspected gold didn't carry much value out here. Could you eat, fuck, or skin gold? No, you couldn't, but you could be damned sure that any of those three worked just fine on people carrying around gold. Fiers bit his lip, biting off a stream of curses. He hated being backed into a corner, with no outs. He felt the medallion dangling from his neck and rubbed it loosely. He had that as well, so all couldn't be lost just yet. But aside from his lute, his blade, his damp clothes, and what amounted to a pile of useless shiny metal in terms of survival, Fiers felt naked. No supplies, no disguise, and no knowledge of what to do next.

Fiers looked up, past his immediate location on the shoals, and scanned the beaches, the caves and rocky promontory, the sinister wooded area beyond. They'd been sent here presuming full equipment, organization, and support from the crew of the Sea-Stalker. Assuming then, that support amounted to throwing over their equipment along with their unconscious bodies, Fiers had about as much support and equipment as he was going to get for free. As for organization...

Fiers groaned, both drugs, fatigue, and a well-deserved bruise to the gonads weighing him down, but he managed to get into an unsteady crouch, and that was both all he could manage and all he wanted to accomplish. In this half-light, any obfuscation Fiers could gain from unfriendly eyes was worth it. He could barely make out a silhouette in the distance, and so Fiers made for it, lure in hand, strings pocketed, clutching his few possessions tight to prevent any unnecessary noise. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but the sounds of the waves lapping against the coast seemed eerie. There was something underneath it, bearing a lingering semblance of menace.

OOC

So, who's Fiers going to find?

The Inhospitable Expanse

The Cook

Payne

---

Everyday Outfit



EVA Suit (W/O gun or Jolly Roger patch.)

---

Age

22

Species

Urhusasja (Rukhkah Native)

Profession

Cook / Bartender

Personality

Payne is a down-to-earth, reliable, and generally peaceable fellow. He tends towards patience, and careful consideration of his choices, before deciding what to do. He enjoys the company of others, but expects most people to be alienated by how different he is to them.

Payne also enjoys feeding people, sating their hunger, and creating a cozy atmosphere. Given the choice, he'd settle down in a nice civilized part of space, and probably open a tavern of some sort. Given the circumstances, Payne doesn't fear death, but if it's inevitable, he'd like to make the journey as comfortable as he can.

Payne has no tolerance for naysayers and nihilists, and he's a perpetual optimist. In his heart, he believes that if he could show everybody in the galaxy what it means to share tasty food around a warmly lit table with friends, that there would be no more war. And while his ultimate goal would be to make everybody happy, he has no qualms with using violence to put an end to those who terrorize others. He especially thinks poorly of large organizations, because he has a paranoia about them being inherently controlling and manipulative of lesser peons in any given society.

Biography

Time long ago, Payne was just makin' his way through life on Rukhkah, minding his own business. Unfortunately he got tangled up with one of the friends he probably shouldn't made, who convinced him to go catch a ride through the magma pillars. Suffice to say, he had to be dragged over, and when they actually managed to blast free out onto the surface, Payne was just about ready to turn right back around and find a way back below the surface.

Unfortunately, at this point his concern for his friend outweighed his need to return home, and so when this intrepid Urhusasja found an ancient ship and decided to try and make it work, Payne reluctantly joined him, assuming that the two of them would be trudging back to the caves in a few minutes after the inevitable disappointment. Then, the ground began to shake. Normally, underground this was no real issue, save perhaps for falling rocks and earth and such. However, the source of the earthquake was an erupting volcano, directly above them.

Needless to say, Payne was much more interested in getting the ship to fly, and miraculously, they managed it. Too well in fact, when the FTL drive engaged before they were out of the atmosphere. Before they even had a trajectory. Payne and his companion, catapulted out into space. Which would be worse? Being stranded with no fuel? Or...

Arriving right in the middle of a space battle. No shit.

But that's another story entirely. The long and short of it was that Payne ended up separated from his friend on the Qari side, and was quickly swept aside as the battle raged on. The humans were thrown off-guard, and unintentionally Payne and his companion had won the battle for the Qari, at least, that particular skirmish. The Qari intended to off-load the strange alien on the nearest habitable world they came across but immediately after the battle, they were called back to Nirola, heeding the call of one particularly demanding Captain.

Payne managed to convince the officer of his ability to assist the Qari Military, and in doing so, succeeded in procuring a new life. He was never entirely certain where his companion had ended up, but Payne being the optimist he was, assumed he'd gotten out of things okay. He started as a lowly servant, cleaning the ship, and eventually made his way into the kitchen staff, where over the course of long months he managed to show his proficiency for cooking, bartending, and general Martha Stewart-ing. The head chef took him on, and began to show him all the facets of culinary tradition, especially when they would stop off for regular visits to foreign or alien planets, with unique dishes.

Payne also began mixing drinks, and became so accomplished at this that he began to run an in-ship bar for those of the crew who wanted to unwind after a long shift. The crew nicknamed it the Payne Locker, owing to both the irony of their bartender's name, and the fact that Payne literally kept much of his stock in an unused locker. As it soon became clear that Payne was a fixture of the ship, the crew, and the Qari Military, he made a bold move, and asked sincerely to be given a rank and position in the military proper, even under the acting role of chef. After much consideration, and sampling of Payne's delightful mixed drinks, it was decided that the Urhusasja could be granted a lowly rank, but a rank nonetheless, so long as he continued to serve the Qari military loyally, and with distinction.

Thus procuring the necessary wages to actually truly invest in his passion, Payne purchased a very high-end matter analysis gauntlet, and a needlessly expensive cleaver, which he intended to hang on a wall and show off to guests. So expensive were these two items, that most of the backpay that Payne was granted was spent on these items, but Payne didn't mind overly much. After all, he'd heard word that they were setting course for a new planet, filled with new ingredients, new opportunities to experiment with the culinary art form! He'd resolved to go on expeditions and perhaps make use of his newly acquired tools, seeing as they might be useful should his guides prove less than knowledgeable about the environment they found themselves in.

Little did he know...

Equipment

Primary Weapon

Renalthis Metal Cleaver, a type of metal that never needs to be sharpened, due to futuristic forging techniques, can be used to perform most any action that requires a keen edge, or just an edge in general. Payne tends to make use of it whenever somebody challenges him in the kitchen.

Payne's Pain-Maker

Gadget

Matter Analyzer, a one-size-fits-all glove that allows the wearer to analyze matter. Much of the technology is hidden in the glove itself, as it is a marvel of miniaturization, however the basic mechanism allows the wielder to identify chemical composition, possible reactants, properties both physical and chemical, interactions with an individual's anatomy and even acts as a compendium, storing previously recorded information to be accessed at the user's pleasure. As a general rule, the longer the glove has to analyze something, the more in-depth the analysis can become. The glove is also solar-powered, and can perform analysis through direct/short distance (faster) or long-range/indirect contact (slower). The glove has an inner ear component for only the user to hear from, as well as a speaker for less discreet sharing of analysis results.

Payne's Swiss Army Knife

Relationships

Payne has solid relationships with the crew of the ship, owing to his running of a speak-easy type bar called The Payne Locker. He also formed a strong and eventually friendly relationship with the head chef, who was kind enough to give Payne the reins when they parted ways. Other than that, Payne is acquainted with the Officer who allowed him to board the ship in the first place, but the relationship itself is paper thin.

Other

In The Kitchen Theme - Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf


Barkeeping Theme - One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - Amos Milburn


Payne's Theme - Let The Good Times Roll by Ray Charles


Payne has a plethora of knowledge about galactic cuisine, as well as the bevvy of beverages that are consumed from system to system. He's learned from some of the best chefs around the galaxy, and he's as competent as they come. He also professes to make a secret sauce for which there is no equal, and as of yet, everybody agrees; It's awful. Luckily, he only gives people who don't know that a chance to try it, as he continues to experiment with his recipe for the sauce.

Payne has a spice rack he wears on his shoulders, which also contains many assorted ingredients and flavour enhancers which can be transported in large quantities of little to no weight. He does procure all his fresh ingredients, well, fresh, however his back-rack, so to speak, can hold an impressive amount of contents and may even be able to help if the medic requires a certain herb or medicine, depending on its assortment of uses.

Payne tends to also carry around the rudimentary tools needed to make a basic meal. He's got enough of skill with his hands to work some of the tools he needs out from raw materials, but for example, there's no good replacement for a nice cast-iron pot. The eccentricities, and the rare things, are the tools Payne holds onto hardest.

The Inhospitable Expanse

The Cook

Payne

---

---

Age

22

Species

Urhusasja (Rukhkah Native)

Profession

Cook / Bartender

Personality

Payne is a down-to-earth, reliable, and generally peaceable fellow. He tends towards patience, and careful consideration of his choices, before deciding what to do. He enjoys the company of others, but expects most people to be alienated by how different he is to them.

Payne also enjoys feeding people, sating their hunger, and creating a cozy atmosphere. Given the choice, he'd settle down in a nice civilized part of space, and probably open a tavern of some sort. Given the circumstances, Payne doesn't fear death, but if it's inevitable, he'd like to make the journey as comfortable as he can.

Payne has no tolerance for naysayers and nihilists, and he's a perpetual optimist. In his heart, he believes that if he could show everybody in the galaxy what it means to share tasty food around a warmly lit table with friends, that there would be no more war. And while his ultimate goal would be to make everybody happy, he has no qualms with using violence to put an end to those who terrorize others. He especially thinks poorly of large organizations, because he has a paranoia about them being inherently controlling and manipulative of lesser peons in any given society.

Biography

Time long ago, Payne was just makin' his way through life on Rukhkah, minding his own business. Unfortunately he got tangled up with one of the friends he probably shouldn't made, who convinced him to go catch a ride through the magma pillars. Suffice to say, he had to be dragged over, and when they actually managed to blast free out onto the surface, Payne was just about ready to turn right back around and find a way back below the surface.

Unfortunately, at this point his concern for his friend outweighed his need to return home, and so when this intrepid Urhusasja found an ancient ship and decided to try and make it work, Payne reluctantly joined him, assuming that the two of them would be trudging back to the caves in a few minutes after the inevitable disappointment. Then, the ground began to shake. Normally, underground this was no real issue, save perhaps for falling rocks and earth and such. However, the source of the earthquake was an erupting volcano, directly above them.

Needless to say, Payne was much more interested in getting the ship to fly, and miraculously, they managed it. Too well in fact, when the FTL drive engaged before they were out of the atmosphere. Before they even had a trajectory. Payne and his companion, catapulted out into space. Which would be worse? Being stranded with no fuel? Or...

Arriving right in the middle of a space battle. No shit.

But that's another story entirely. The long and short of it was that Payne ended up separated from his friend on the Qari side, and was quickly swept aside as the battle raged on. The humans were thrown off-guard, and unintentionally Payne and his companion had won the battle for the Qari, at least, that particular skirmish. The Qari intended to off-load the strange alien on the nearest habitable world they came across but immediately after the battle, they were called back to Nirola, heeding the call of one particularly demanding Captain.

Payne managed to convince the officer of his ability to assist the Qari Military, and in doing so, succeeded in procuring a new life. He was never entirely certain where his companion had ended up, but Payne being the optimist he was, assumed he'd gotten out of things okay. He started as a lowly servant, cleaning the ship, and eventually made his way into the kitchen staff, where over the course of long months he managed to show his proficiency for cooking, bartending, and general Martha Stewart-ing. The head chef took him on, and began to show him all the facets of culinary tradition, especially when they would stop off for regular visits to foreign or alien planets, with unique dishes.

Payne also began mixing drinks, and became so accomplished at this that he began to run an in-ship bar for those of the crew who wanted to unwind after a long shift. The crew nicknamed it the Payne Locker, owing to both the irony of their bartender's name, and the fact that Payne literally kept much of his stock in an unused locker. As it soon became clear that Payne was a fixture of the ship, the crew, and the Qari Military, he made a bold move, and asked sincerely to be given a rank and position in the military proper, even under the acting role of chef. After much consideration, and sampling of Payne's delightful mixed drinks, it was decided that the Urhusasja could be granted a lowly rank, but a rank nonetheless, so long as he continued to serve the Qari military loyally, and with distinction.

Thus procuring the necessary wages to actually truly invest in his passion, Payne purchased a very high-end matter analysis gauntlet, and a needlessly expensive cleaver, which he intended to hang on a wall and show off to guests. So expensive were these two items, that most of the backpay that Payne was granted was spent on these items, but Payne didn't mind overly much. After all, he'd heard word that they were setting course for a new planet, filled with new ingredients, new opportunities to experiment with the culinary art form! He'd resolved to go on expeditions and perhaps make use of his newly acquired tools, seeing as they might be useful should his guides prove less than knowledgeable about the environment they found themselves in.

Little did he know...

Equipment

Primary Weapon

Renalthis Metal Cleaver, a type of metal that never needs to be sharpened, due to futuristic forging techniques, can be used to perform most any action that requires a keen edge, or just an edge in general. Payne tends to make use of it whenever somebody challenges him in the kitchen.

Payne's Pain-Maker

Gadget

Matter Analyzer, a one-size-fits-all glove that allows the wearer to analyze matter. Much of the technology is hidden in the glove itself, as it is a marvel of miniaturization, however the basic mechanism allows the wielder to identify chemical composition, possible reactants, properties both physical and chemical, interactions with an individual's anatomy and even acts as a compendium, storing previously recorded information to be accessed at the user's pleasure. As a general rule, the longer the glove has to analyze something, the more in-depth the analysis can become. The glove is also solar-powered, and can perform analysis through direct/short distance (faster) or long-range/indirect contact (slower). The glove has an inner ear component for only the user to hear from, as well as a speaker for less discreet sharing of analysis results.

Payne's Swiss Army Knife

Relationships

Payne has solid relationships with the crew of the ship, owing to his running of a speak-easy type bar called The Payne Locker. He also formed a strong and eventually friendly relationship with the head chef, who was kind enough to give Payne the reins when they parted ways. Other than that, Payne is acquainted with the Officer who allowed him to board the ship in the first place, but the relationship itself is paper thin.

Other

In The Kitchen Theme - Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf


Barkeeping Theme - One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - Amos Milburn


Payne's Theme - Let The Good Times Roll by Ray Charles


Payne has a plethora of knowledge about galactic cuisine, as well as the bevvy of beverages that are consumed from system to system. He's learned from some of the best chefs around the galaxy, and he's as competent as they come. He also professes to make a secret sauce for which there is no equal, and as of yet, everybody agrees; It's awful. Luckily, he only gives people who don't know that a chance to try it, as he continues to experiment with his recipe for the sauce.

Payne has a spice rack he wears on his shoulders, which also contains many assorted ingredients and flavour enhancers which can be transported in large quantities of little to no weight. He does procure all his fresh ingredients, well, fresh, however his back-rack, so to speak, can hold an impressive amount of contents and may even be able to help if the medic requires a certain herb or medicine, depending on its assortment of uses.

Payne tends to also carry around the rudimentary tools needed to make a basic meal. He's got enough of skill with his hands to work some of the tools he needs out from raw materials, but for example, there's no good replacement for a nice cast-iron pot. The eccentricities, and the rare things, are the tools Payne holds onto hardest.

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

Seems I killed the rp.

@ManoftheNorth

I literally cannot do any more without pretty much asking Zel to come in and have Fiers killed. So I'm waiting for Zel. Dunno about the others but, I'd rather have Fiers' reactions interspersed with his actual actions.

Quantify how one kills an RP, anyway.

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

Fiers finished his short insolent little tune, and the cacophony of voices he elicited from his fellow members filled his heart with glee. Given as he was to causing mayhem, his mischief was interrupted by a pair of voices, each giving their own kind of answer to his previous question.

Elsie's reply made Fiers crack a smile, and he formulated a reply instantly. Letting the syllables roll off his tongue like raindrops, he exclaimed, "Why, the only thing that I've gotten stroked is right here between my-" At this point Fiers actually registered what Reiggy had said immediately after.

"Ahem, my uh, my pride." Fiers looked at the faces of each of the members of the company, and even at the innkeeper, searching for a hint that they were pulling his leg. "Seriously? They made me Vice-Captain? Not Captain? Is it because they heard about my legendary history, and renamed the title of Captain Vice-Captain? No... Reignald the Old as our Captain eh? I suppose you probably have the most military experience of the bunch, so it's only fair. But me? Vice-Captain? That's not funny at all..."

Fiers hopped back onto the dock, snatched up the letter that the innkeeper was holding onto and tore it open. After reading it a couple times, he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Well fuck me softly and call me a new whore! This is in writing! Does it say this on all of your letters?" Fiers skipped from member to member, trying to peer at their letters, before finally coming to a rest back where he'd started, next to the innkeeper.

Fiers put a caring hand on the man's shoulder, and looked deeply into his eyes, adopting a sincere expression. "My good man, in light of my recent promotion and in order to live up to the responsibility and dignity of the station that has been bestowed upon me, I feel it is my honour and my obligation to inform you, that I stuck my tongue down your daughter's throat."

In the blink of an eye, Fiers darted back over the gangplank and onto the ship, his lute swinging wildly around his neck as he twirled past Ricardo, and planted himself on the gangrail, his head in his hands. His voice took on a mournful and regretful tone, one of such sorrow as could actually bring tears to one's eyes.

"Humble innkeeper, furthermore, your daughter... she," Fiers paused for dramatic effect. "She stuck her tongue down my throat too!" And the bard collapsed into a heap behind the rail, cackling and shaking with delight. Whatever else happened today, the look on that sorry man's face would be worth everything else.

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

Fiers' shoulder was weighed down by the gauntleted hand of Reignald the Omen, and he half-snorted in laughter, and half-choked in a panic. He'd gone rigid, and his mind was fluttering from jibe to jibe but in what seemed half a heartbeat, Reignald had already taken his hand off of Fiers and was turning to address...

An orc? That's odd. He seems like a jovial fellow, though I can't imagine why he'd-

Fiers burst out laughing, his howls drowning out both Rosha's admonishment, and the crooning of Alya's flute for a span of seconds.

"The Virginal Company? That's hilarious! And what a gathering of innocent virgins we are! A seasoned general, a cold bitch with fists for her tongue, a Songweaver without a tongue, an alcoholic orc, and myself, well, I need no introduction! Yes, truly we are quite the group of untested whores," Fiers cackled, pointing to each present member of the group, before his eyes fell and he spotted R'Ornn. "Ah yes, that most revered and weathered of us all, His Most Feared and Respected member of the Virginal Company, rumoured to have actually been in the bedchamber of a member of the opposite sex while a modicum of danger transpired outside its doors, I present to you; our crystal puppy. I'm told that women are quite fond of his adorably childish features. And you'd be surprised what you can do with a crystal, given the proper inspi-"

Fiers paused in his tirade, cocking his head, had he heard that? Completely forgetting his address to the other company members, the bard sprang up the gangplank and dropped his newly purchased things into a bag which he then tossed down into the brig. A clattering sound ensued, followed by angry shouts but the bard had already turned back towards the docks, to face the others and asked, "Why are the juniors talking about Vice-Captain Hartwine? Is there something I've not been told?"

With a flourish, Fiers took his lute off his shoulder and played a flurry of arpeggios and a veritable storm of notes, subconsciously infusing the musical barrage with a raw form of inquisitive anger that implied that he should have been the first one to know the information that had been withheld. In the deep and thunderous rolling of the short piece, he captured the size and authority, the tempered expectation and stern iron-clad strength that Reignald seemed to carry on his shoulders as naturally as Fiers would his own lute. He rarely did solely instrumental pieces, and even more seldom improvisation, but the emotion took him and he bombarded the crew and company with a true outpouring of righteous indignation. He kept it brief, so as to avoid dulling the sensation, but ended with a high contrast note that set their ears ringing, hoping his point would come clearly across.

Mistborn (Era 1 or 2)

Interested!

The Inhospitable Expanse

Urhusasja Race App

Species Name:

The Urhusasja (UR-oo-SAH-SHA)

Homeworld

Rukhkhah

Rukhkhah (ROO-kuh-KAH)

Planetary Views

Surface Views

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.

Appearance

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.

Physiology

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.

Adaptive Genetics

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.

History

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.

Religion

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.

Culture

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.

Government

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.