Species Application
Species Name: Wolkar
Human Ancestry: N
Racial Orientation: Cunning and voracious fighters with a great curiosity for new technology and discovery. Heavy tech focus fighting with group strategy and tactics.
Home world Type: A lush forest planet with sky cities hovering overhead. The Wolkar designed intricate systems to distribute light to the forests below to simulate the day cycle despite the planet’s constructed hi-tech shell. Primarily civilians only go down when they are certified to show they can survive on their own in case of emergency due to the vicious predators down below. Despite the few civilians that go down, it is used often by the military and guard units for training.
Physiology: The Wolkar are best described as wolf men capable of traveling on both to legs or moving on all fours for heightened mobility. Their musculature ranges from light and quick to hulking berserkers, varying mainly thanks to variances concerning where they choose to apply themselves within the pack. Those who are more tech oriented have smaller frames and builds to better fit within repair conduits and tend to have fur colors that match more with the metal grating they find themselves in. Their fingers are also much more nimble to handle the smaller tools needed for their jobs, dexterity gained by working with small circuits over time. The packs that are more warrior based will be much larger in build with stronger limbs for fighting, even their claws gaining length and a keener edge for that added combat advantage. Typically the claws would only be used when challenging another for dominance if done in the more traditional style of challenge or as impromptu tools for carving out arrows and spears should they find themselves running low on supplies and need to create improvised weapons. The more modern tech has removed the need to use these claws as weapons to the point that it is almost taboo to use them for most combat situations. Though some fur colors are more easily found in certain packs most colors can be found within the collective. The ears of the Wolkar are typically canine with tufts of fur inside to act as a barrier for extremely high pitched noise. Typically these ears can move on their own, coming farther up to hear more clearly or press close to the head and tight over the fur tufts to muffle ear piercing sounds like the roar of a ship’s engine. Wolkar can see easily in the dark, their eyes easily adjusting to various levels of light. However, quick changes from one extreme to another, such as going from jet black night to a piercing white light of a flashbang grenade, can strongly disorient them and leave them recovering for several minutes without eye gear to lessen the effect. Sense of smell has over the years been muted down over the years due to the recent rush of exposure to starship fumes and other pollutants, being somewhere below tracking dogs and a standard human in terms of smell sensitivity. The few packs who have their warriors spend most of their time in the forests below the sky-cities can however train their sense of smell to return to their original sharpness.
Government Type: Pack-type hierarchy. Similar to wolf packs, the Wolkar believe in strong leadership and right of challenge by combat. The Alpha is the overall leader of the pack with a Beta and Omega below him. In order to become the Alpha, one has to first defeat the Omega and keep his position for one month before he can then challenge the Beta. Once he becomes the Beta he must wait a year before he can challenge the Alpha. This is only within the pack and there is a collective known as the Alpha Council. The head of the council is known as the Sirius, the only one the other Alpha’s follow and obey. This tiered challenge system ensures strong leadership while also ensuring that power is not constantly changing hands. Even after an Alpha is defeated he is then made into the Beta so they can guide the new Alpha in their duties. Despite the competitive nature needed in such a society, it is well recognized that you only call a challenge when there is no immediate danger or when it will not cause chaos in a time of trouble. In times of war a challenge would only be issued if the majority believed the current Sirius was incapable or negligent. The Wolkar are surprisingly a close knit community, acting as a massive family while even accepting outsiders into their pack so long as they pass the proper tests and trials to prove their resolve to join the pack.
History: Originally a tribal culture, they were primarily hunters and farmers for centuries. They were at the stage of going from using skilled artisans to industrialization when a freighter ship crash landed on their planet, causing first contact to be established with the rest of the galaxy and allowing the Wolkar their first grasp of true technology. It had been such a large leap from where they were that many had delved headlong into studying, and soon mastering, these new devices. In short order the Wolkar went from catching up to the advances in technology to becoming pioneers in the fields, using their cunning and analyzing gained hunting the predators of the wilds to figuring out new advances and applications of technology. Today they have made floating sky-cities which cover almost the entirety of the forest below, using advanced systems to deliver sunlight and rain water to maintain the ecosystem. They have also made themselves well renowned for their mercenaries and bounty hunters, becoming a base of the galactic mercenary guild in exchange for access to the advanced battle armors and weapons the Wolkar have created under the condition they not be sold to the other nations behind their backs. While the Wolkar have been happy to sell their technology used for agriculture or medicine, trading military equipment is highly regulated and dealt with most harshly if any smuggler is found trying to smuggle Wolkar tech off of the planet. Their overall specialization lies in their advanced power armor and cybernetics augmentation. While they only use robotic limb weapons in the case of wounded veterans on active duty, they do have most Wolkar set up with a cybernetic connector port at the back of the neck, serving to connect them directly to technology. Whether it be citizens connecting directly to the galactic net or soldiers wiring their brains to work their armor weapons with a thought, this connection gives the Wolkar unrivaled control over technology. They have even created strength assist technology that works in tandem with their body’s motions, acting as added muscle that works in sync with the user’s actual body. These advancements were later pushed to the next level when they discovered a new mineral ore which they later called Beskad, becoming many times more durable than what had previously been the galaxy’s strongest malleable metal that can be found naturally. To this day all Wolkar ships are plated with this rare metal, used only when durability was the absolute top priority in the construction of anything that could use metal. While even Wolkar children are capable of creating basic robotics, there is a university dedicated to creating new machines. There is already a host of high grade war mechs and tanks, not limited to the newest weapon in the Wolkar arsenal: The FERALS.
These armored mechs can be heavily modified to suit different roles in battle from heavy missile support, to artillery, to high speed close combat specialist vehicles. They are designed to only be operable through a Wolkar neural connector and sport a wide arsenal. They are all equipped with flight boosters, quick boosters for evasion, as well as a energy armor system which, with the right tinkering and modification, can be expended to create a shockwave of devastating energy. In addition, each part is highly customizable, even capable of exchanging the standard two leg design for a tank leg unit or even four legs for stability. A FERAL can hold several weapons. Typically it has one for each hand, and two back units. While most FERALs found in the field will carry missiles, standard energy rifles, and a grenade launcher, most of the more notable and specialized FERAL pilots equip their units with an energy blade to cut through heavy armor. The back units can carry EX boosters to boost maneuverability, carry missiles, or even energy and rail cannons for doling out a long ranged barrage. While the NORMALs are used for the standard soldier and are only about 16 feet tall and lack the mobility and armor of their companions, the NEXTs used by the more elite pilots are 32 feet tall and are much more powerful.